The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell

by Douglas Howell

  “Oh really! You should have mentioned that sooner.” Ramirez said with a very big smile. That caused Vaistll to have the look of, ‘Oops; I guess that I shouldn’t have mentioned that.’ Seeing that caused Ramirez to laugh out loud. He then said, “Well... I guess I’m gonna have to get you drunk then.” She then gave him the look of ‘Oh no you don’t. Not in front of the men.’ That caused Ramirez to laugh a little. He then said, “I’m teasing.” She knew that he was, but she still didn’t say anything. He then said, with a smile, “Go on.”

  “Well... anyway... like I was saying... the last time that I seen either Okuoyk or Ryyuoxx, they wanted me to come with them and help them track down this group of rogue guards who, not only killed the king, but also all of the nobles of a small kingdom. And then they took off with the kingdom’s wealth. I didn’t take them up on their offer because I had a better opportunity that I wanted to take advantage of. After that I never saw or heard from either one of them again.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know why. Knowing both of them, they probably pursued those guards to the ends of the universe. So if you see a couple of Apollinarian males around here... it’s probably my brothers.... still looking for those guards after all of these years.”

  “Well... I’ll try to keep that in mind then.”

  “All of my siblings disappeared, a short time after...”

  “’After what?’ ‘A short time after what?’”

  “After Natas gave me an army and told me to use them to take a city. I’ll tell you about that later. I really don’t fell like talking about that right now.”

  “Okay.”

  “I made have been close with my parents and my siblings, but not with the rest of my family.”

  “Why?”

  “Why are some families like that? Where they just seemed too distanced from their own family. That the only time that they care is when somebody dies. I hardly ever seen, or heard, from any of them. No, that’s not totally the truth. I did hear from at times, or rather about, my aunt. She was a faith healer and was pretty good at it. Unfortunately, my aunt put too much of herself into it. So it probably caused her to die early. The only time that I seen her, is when my father died.”

  “What about your mothers? Did she come when they died?”

  “Nope. Only for my dad. They were siblings.”

  “Well... that not right. Your mothers are still family.”

  “I know. But that’s my family for you. They cared, and they didn’t care about us. If it had any thing to do with us being upper middle-class, then it would be that we would never loan them any money. Not my parents, or my siblings, let alone myself. We would have if they cared more about us then the money that we had. Then again, only my sister and Ikknustll could be called upper middle-class. Not Okuoyk, Ryyuoxx, or myself. We were more like upper lower-class.”

  “Were the rest of your family upper middle-class? Or just yours?”

  “Just mine. The rest of my family was between being lower lower-class to middle lower-class. My aunt, the faith healer, made people pay for her services. So she was the only who could be called upper upper-class. And yet... the rest of my family seemed to love her, even though she too wouldn’t loan them any money. It’s hard to believe that she’s my father’s sibling.”

  Vaistll drank from her glass that had some soft drink in it, and some whiskey. She was thinking about her family, and how much she missed her parents and her siblings. The death of her parents brought her and her siblings closer. Despite the pain that each of them felt at their loss, it did change them in a positive way. Neither one wanted to dishonor their parents’ memory, or the love that they gave to them, by becoming a bad person. But it still hit each one very hard. Especially Vaistll.

  Vaistll continued on, “When it comes to the Apollinarians ability to perform a faith healing, I don’t know if we could, or if there was some trick to it. If so, then it probably has something to do with the fact that we have better control over our bio-electrical field than a human does. If it’s not a trick, then it probably would work as follows: An Apollinarian faith healer uses their body ability to heal itself, and then transfer some of that energy to a person who is sick. Once they do that, the faith healer would then become weaker.

  When I first arrived on the Earth people mistook all of that to mean that we were psychic. They also mistook hyper-sensory perception to mean telepathy, which it is not. As you already know the reflexes of my right arm is quicker than that of a normal human. So, people took me seriously when I jokingly said that I could catch an arrow. And I didn’t care if people thought that I could.

  You know... if the condition is right, and I’m wearing the right type of glove, then there is a slight possibility that I could catch an arrow in my right hand. But no fllustl could do it without the right type of training, and closing their hand at the right moment before the arrow got to their hand. I mean a person would have to be able to close their hand five times faster than a normal human could. Only cyborgs can do that. I can hear it... the arrow that is. I know where it is coming from, and where it is going. And yet, I was not trained to catch it... I was trained to avoid it. Not to do something dumb by trying to catch it.

  I remember reading a story that indirectly explained how fllustls got that form of muscle memory. Basically it said that a very long time ago a fllustl and her... well I guess you can say husband, had to team up in order to kill this one type of an animal for food. That animal was as big as a buffalo, fast, and worst of all... it had armor. So spears and arrows just wouldn’t work on it.”

  “Do you remember its name by any chance? And why is it that they had to kill it? Why not go after something else, something without armor? And why didn’t other couples help out?”

  “No I don’t remember its name. The animal was extinct in my time. Because of my age at the time, I found the story more interesting than its name. The story made the excuse about family honor as to why other families couldn’t help. But yet, in my time it would not have went up against family honor, but rather compliment their honor if they did help.

  What I found interesting about the story is what they had to go through just to kill it. When I was becoming interested in boys, I started to think more about that story because it helped to explain the complex feelings that I was having. As I got older, I remember it because of my poor relationships that I had with men.

  As time dragged on... I forgot a little here and a little there of that story. But the only thing that I always remembered is what they had to go through just to kill it. A man and a woman... who obviously loved each other... were doing something together. A man and a woman... who are soul mates... just like... Tsk’llk and Llyysta.”

  “So what do you remember about the story?”

  “That story is probably as old as that one ice age story, if not older. And both of them are lost to the sands of time in the minds of the people. And yet... from all of my travels, on each of those continents that I’ve been to, I found that story in some form or another. But not the ice age one. The ice age story can only be found on Iraxxan.

  On the continent to the southeast of Iraxxan, I found a cave with some paintings in it. Since I never saw any cave paintings similar to those on any other continent, I always assumed that the story might originated there. In that same cave I found the skeleton of the animal in question. As for the other continents, I don’t know if it ever lived there or not. Either the caves didn’t have it’s skeleton in it, or there were no caves on that continent. To the best of my knowledge.

  The story said that, in order for both of them to kill it, they had to lure it to a cliff and have it go over. Of course it isn’t stupid, and since spears and arrows, or a large group, wouldn’t work there was only one way that they could lure it. One of them had to make a long enough rope made of vines, and tied one end of it to a tree. The man stayed behind while she went and look for it. The story suggested that it could take her days just to find it. Once she did f
ind it she had to provoke it to attack her. Not one story was clear on what she had to do in order to provoke it. But all of those stories agreed that it had a great deal of stamina, determination, and will pursue her to the ends of the world. After she provoked it, all she had to do was head back to her husband. Once she got back, she had to run in a straight line to where he was. Then he would throw the rope to her. She had to run in a straight line because its speed, and its inertia, is what would cause it to go over the cliff.

  Now, I don’t know if that story is true or not, but it would explain a lot. Such as; why is it that an Apollinarian male always seems to have a great deal of patience. Or why a fllustl never gets lost in the woods and can find almost anything, people, or things, in the woods. Well... that’s what they say. I got lost in the woods before. And I knew guys who had absolutely no patience what so ever. But that story, in whatever form it came in, was told to explain the existence of an fllustl. And why she was the way that she was.

  What made that animal so important that they should risk life-and-limb over it were two things; one, part of it was an appetite suppressant, and two, it could feed their family for a few days. Some stories said five days, others said eight or more. As for its armor, each story said it could have been used for many different things.

  So I guess that is the sole reason why a fllustl is strongly bounded to men. And I guess it’s partly the reason why it is so hard for us to get pregnant. Why we have the need to find our soul mate. Help our husband to provide for the family when he is away. If there are any slaves... then we must assist him in keeping them under control... while he keeps order within the family.

  So a fllustl became the type of a person who might turn out to be a control freak, or even has self-hatred. If she is a lesbian then she would turn out to be confused since part of her is drawn to men, but not sexually. A lesbian fllustl might turn out to be a psychopath who hates men, or she might turn out to be normal, but stay in the closet. I don’t know about those who are a bisexual. Like myself, most fllustls are straight.

  Some fllustls don’t have self-hatred; instead they... hate the Apollinarian race. Some of them even make poor overseer of slaves. Drawn to men... but can’t have children. Stuck in-between men who run the world, and fllaistls who can give birth. Trying to find our place in the world... searching for the meaning to our existence... we typically find it in being talented. My mom Nincylste was quite glad to find out that both me and Iakuoyr could sing.

  All of the men who came into my life were nothing more than a nogoodnik. Just one disappointment after another. One lonely night, one drunken day. Only my pets and my friends to keep me company. In my old age I gave up on trying to find someone. Then I got to the Earth and became young again. And what did I find? The same old situation as before. Either I can’t tell him who I really am, or he’s already taken. Then by the mid part of the 22nd century.... I found something new. A new desire.... a new taste.... a new longing. A longing to go back... to that desire that I left behind.”

  Ramirez for the first time since he knew her finally understood her with all of her complex emotions. He understood why she always acted like she hated her own species. The real reason why she always seemed to love the human race. He understands why she always has something negative to say about the Apollinarians, but not the Iomiyyans. He finally understands why she doesn’t like to talk about her past. It has nothing to do with her pain. Yes she is haunted by that pain, as anybody else would, but she has always been too strong. She always has been too intensely strong minded for things to get to her like that. And that includes her pain. She has that strength of personality that draws people to her. That conviction of purpose in knowing that there is a higher purpose for everything that she goes through in life. Everybody who serves under her finds strength within her when they are weak. They find the confidence in knowing that they can survive. Yes he does truly understand her.

  “When my parents died... it was like I didn’t have any family. Most of my family was either too busy, away from home for long periods of time, never kept in contact, or they acted like they didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Apollinarians could be bad at times in doing stuff like that. Not always, but sometimes. Even the mothers could be like that, at times. Fllustls aren’t like that.”

  “You mean.... even an Apollinarian mother can be like that?”

  “Yes... even an Apollinarian mother, but not mine. Lucky for me. My fllustl mom, Nincylste, was the one who had the most major impact upon my life. Without her.... I can’t even begin to imagine what I might turn out to be like. It was Nincylste who sent me away to be trained as a warrior when I was young. Once... I got mad at her over something... so I kicked her. Not hard, I was just a little kid. The next thing I remember was her saying, ‘By the Gods she’s a handful. That’s it... I’m sending her to be trained as a warrior.’ It was her who also inspired me to go to the library and read a lot. But not in the way in which you might think.

  When I was being trained as warrior, my friends and I would get to spend time with our families during the summertime. So as soon as I got home, Nincylste decided to take it upon herself to drive me crazy, or something. She made go outside and chop firewood.”

  “Why?”

  “For the same reason why she would stand there at times, watching me as I chop firewood, and smile at me... she missed me. It was only after she’d died that I realized that. I got that fiery temperament. I can be feisty. And I’m red. So I guess you can see why, when she makes me chop firewood, it would cause her to miss me. The fire reminded her of me. What’s more, she had to nerve to give me the nickname, ‘Firewood.’”

  Ramirez laughed a little and said, “God... that’s rich.”

  “Yeah... and I don’t want you to tell anyone. Got it.”

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Now you know where I got my sarcasm from. There I am standing outside, sometimes in hot weather, chopping firewood and making sarcastic remarks. And sometimes... yes sometimes, I catch her standing there, smiling, looking at me through the window. God... that was so annoying. Now you know why when somebody says something really nasty to me, why it doesn’t bother me.”

  “Or how you are really good at using a sarcastic remark that catches someone off guard.”

  Vaistll laughed a little and said, “Yeah... I guess that would be true to.” At that moment, she’d thank her mom from the bottom of her heart. But it also caused her to miss her that much more. It caused her to wish that she could have spent more time with her.

  “I always tried my best to get away from her. But it wasn’t easy. And the only place that I could go to without getting into trouble... was the library. Because I was a warrior, even if I was being trained as one, it was one of the perquisites that they gave us. At first, I did get in trouble with her, but then she’d stop. Unfortunately, she kept up that charade of making me chop firewood, or at least catching me if I didn’t go to the library.

  After she’d died, I felt so horrible when I realized why she made me chopped firewood during the summertime. I just kept on getting that image of her, during the wintertime, sitting by the fireplace putting in that firewood that I chopped... and thinking about me. It probably explains why I always thought about her during the wintertime.

  Nincylste is also the one who indirectly taught me that I could do a mind-meld. When I was a little girl...“ Vaistll started to laugh a bit. “When I was a little girl, my dad and I was watching her trying to kill this mouse in the kitchen. Like me, she really hated them. So she’d already had it in her mind to kill it. So...“ She started to laugh again. “So she was standing there... looking for that mouse. When she turned around... that mouse.... was on her foot.” Vaistll started to laugh again. “She then turned around again... and that mouse.... was still on her foot.” Both Vaistll and Ramirez started to laugh out loud. Vaistll try to continue on but she kept on laughing. “My dad and I, was sitting down on a couch trying not to laugh. At one point I had t
o put my hand over his mouth to stop him from laughing out loud. She then noticed that both of us were laughing at her, and she’d asked us what we were laughing at. My dad then pointed to that mouse... still on her foot. She then got mad, turned around, and kicked it out the window.

  Later that day I went outside to play, and I found that mouse. It was slightly injured, so it didn’t run away when I came near it. Being a little kid, and not knowing any better, I picked it up and held it in my hands. When I did... I felt the fear of being eaten alive. I then looked around to see if there were any wild animals around. There were none. So I calmed myself down and put the feeling out of my head. After I did that mouse stop trembling with fear.

  It then looked at me and I had the thought that it was hungry. And the only thing that it was doing was looking for food. I then had the thought that if it stayed, then it will get killed. I then remember this one sweet old street vendor who wouldn’t kill a mouse if any food fell on the ground. But, like any other street vendor selling food, he just didn’t want them to get on the food that he is selling. With that, I let the mouse go. As it left, it turned around and looked back at me, as if it was saying, ‘Thanks for not killing me.’ I smiled and waved bye at it. When I did that, it raised its paw at me as if it too was waving bye at me. It then left in the direction of the town.

  Sometime later, I was with Nincylste, and we were in town for some reason. When I was near where that street vendor was, I noticed that there was a mouse near him. I then came closer to see if that was the same mouse. It then noticed, and recognized me. I then laughed and mentioned what I did. That street vendor laughed and said, ‘So you’re the one who taught him that.’ I was confused by what he meant, so I didn’t say anything.