Island of the Gods

by C. M. Kane

  Island Of The Gods

  C. M. Kane

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2016 by C. M. Kane

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  First Edition 2016

  C. M. Kane

  Cover design: Les (German Creative)

  Formatting: Polgarus Studio

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Well where do I start? First and foremost I have to thank my family for encouraging, and helping me in this little endeavor. So if you’re looking for someone to blame for my scribblings, it’s their fault entirely. For the cover, a big thank you goes to Les at German Creative, and also to my wonderful niece, Candice Hutchison, who graciously agreed to pose as Tae. I think she looks incredible.

  I also wanted to thank my Beta readers – Jenifer Winterbine, Val Bryant, Heidi Commons and Lyn Lougoon. I have to say, they have proved invaluable to me with their opinions. It was good to have people I could bounce ideas off, especially having them tell me when they thought the characters were taking a wrong turn – sometimes in excruciatingly painful detail. I’d also like to thank my niece Vanessa Lougoon, for her help and tips on how to navigate the terrifying world of self publishing.

  A huge thank you must go out to, Kat Betts, for the original first line edit … Ahh the first line edit, a terrifying prospect for anyone who has ever put pen to paper. Kat did teach me a lot though, not only about writing in general, but about crafting what I wanted to say a little better.

  Another thank you goes out to my trusty formatters at Polgarus Studio. I just turned everything over to them with the simple instructions of, HELP! They took care of everything, which is exactly what I needed.

  Lastly I wanted to thank you, the reader, for taking a chance on me and downloading, Island of the Gods. My goal in writing this book was to just make a fun little story that people would, hopefully, enjoy.

  Well I guess that about sums it up except for, I really hope you like it.

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  THANKYOU FROM THE AUTHOR

  SAMPLE: Realms of the Gods

  CHAPTER 1

  Tae increased her pace appreciably as she moved down the mountain. She had no idea how stupid she was being until she barely stopped in time at the edge of a crevice. A small screech escaped her as she flung herself backwards. Trembling in fear she started to crawl back the way she had come as quickly as possible. It was as she began moving that she felt the first telltale shifting under her hands. To her horror, she realised the ground was starting to give way beneath her. Slowly, inexorably, she felt herself slipping back toward the precipice she had just barely avoided.

  As she began her slide backwards she noticed a small outcropping of rock off to her right, in desperation she lunged sideways, grabbing hold of it with both hands. She closed her eyes and lay there panting, her mind screaming no, no, no, over and over, as all rational thought fled and panic took over. She could hear the rocks and dirt from the small landslip dropping away into the void just behind her. Paralyzed by fear she clung to her lifeline for what seemed an eternity. Just knowing that long drop was just a couple of meters away, waiting for her, had her frozen in terror. Her life was now the rock. She clung there, unmoving, until finally the ground beneath her stopped shifting. It was the sound of a seagull’s cry that broke through her fear. As she listened to the birds distinctive caw she found herself remembering her Warrior mentor, Brohan, telling her that the seabirds sometimes came inland. It was that thought that finally bought her back to her senses and allowed her to start thinking rationally again. It took another ten minutes of enforced stillness before she managed to bring both her fear and her breathing back under control, and she was finally able to think logically again.

  Holy crap, that was close. C’mon, Tae, stop being such an idiot and start using your brain. You’ve gotta be more careful if you want to survive. Too much is riding on this for you to stuff up now. She looked back up the mountain whilst taking slow deep breaths, forcing herself to calmness. ‘Damn it! How the hell did I manage to get myself into this mess?’ she whispered.

  But, thinking back, she knew exactly when the bottom had fallen out of her world, and she knew she had no-one to blame but herself.

  ***

  Tae was annoyed, she walked back to Jason’s desk as he made his way to hers. She hated swapping desks but her twin brother wanted to be near his best friend Trevor for the last two hours of their school day. To discuss “man stuff” as he’d put it. Tae snorted aloud at the thought, it was more likely he wanted Trevor’s opinion on what caste he should apply for, yet again.

  In a little over three weeks time when they finally finished their schooling they would have to attend their towns Gathering. It was where children of age would decide on their future careers by picking which caste they wished to join, Religious, Warrior or Worker. Jason had no interest in the worker caste; he was torn between the Religious Caste, with a sub-application to be a pleasure giver like their mother once was or, like Trevor, apply to the Warrior Caste with a sub-application for their security division. The trouble with the Warrior Caste was he might be put onto war-footing immediately, which usually meant an early death.

  Tae had decided on joining the Warrior Caste, with a sub-application for technical analyst, specifically in battle strategies. She knew she surpassed the requisite grades, so the chance of her being put onto a war-footing would be minimal. She had also tested as extremely adaptable and an excellent tactician, with the added ability to think outside the box. At last she felt that all her hard work and study would pay off, all of her dreams were finally with-in her reach. Still, Jason had become so hopelessly confused he’d started sneaking into Tae’s room of a night time to question her repeatedly on what she thought he’d be best suited to.

  Pushing aside her musings she settled into her new seat for the remainder of the afternoon as she waited for their teacher, Miss Bayfour, to start their next lesson. She idly switched her attention to the faceless, sexless statue of a God on the small altar in the corner of the room. The statue only served to ignite her anger, which had been lurking very close to the surface all the way through their final exams. She resented that anyone who broke one of the gods’ laws, no matter how trivial, ended up on the Island, and she certainly didn't like that the gods allowed warriors to fight battles on any of their worlds without much cause. All that did was leave a trail of dead in their wake, and cause decent young men like Jason to question which caste to apply to, which in turn kept her awake half the n
ight.

  Hell, the only time anyone even seen a God was when one or two of them came to watch the Island from the Pavilion of the Gods, and the last time that had happened was well over three years ago. Tae was pretty sure they only turned up to remind people they were still around. It wasn’t as if anyone was likely to forget. When they had returned to Earth just over nine hundred years ago they had almost wiped out the entire human race, leaving their cities uninhabitable ruins before they'd finally relented.

  Arseholes!

  ‘Your assignment this afternoon is to pick a god that you admire and write about how he or she has influenced your life.’ Miss Bayfour’s voice cut through Tae’s musings. She looked at her small class and retreated behind her desk, smiling as she sat. ‘Now get to it, surprise me with your utter brilliance.’ She laughed.

  Tae smiled in amusement at the request given her latest musings, still, she immediately started flipping through the profiles of the gods searching for one she could at least say she admired. It was hard, because truth be told she didn't like any of them at the moment. Although she thought this would probably change after the Gathering was over, and all the tension and excitement of choosing a cast was finally done with.

  She sighed tiredly as the afternoon sun filtered through the half-closed blinds onto her back, sapping her of what little energy she had. It seemed that lately all she ever did was study or train with Jason, but their final exams were over at last, the test results had now been sent to all the castes. Tae knew they would be on hand for consideration when the school’s students applied to join them.

  She focused back on the image now being shown to her from her computer, surprised to see the dead god Loki looking at her from the small holographic display on her desk. Unlike his blonde, blue-eyed brother Thor, Loki had long black hair, tied back with a piece of leather. He also had the wickedest black eyes she had ever seen. His eyes seemed to be staring straight at her, almost into her. She suppressed a shiver, not entirely sure if it was induced by fear, or if it came from something more primitive. Loki, now he was compelling. Handsome in a dangerous, I might either kiss or kill you kind of way. There was a look of cunning intelligence in his eyes, as if he were assessing her, challenging her to try to outwit him. She touched the computer screen again and focused her mind to search for the most recent events listed under Loki’s name. She sat quietly, waiting for her Nanites to kick into gear

  Tae loved her nanites with a passion, these microscopic little machines had revolutionized life on her planet, and came in a variety of forms, the most common being the health nanites, but for those with differing abilities they could also be programmed to be able to access computers worldwide with ease, and bring information directly to the users mind.

  Every child was injected with simple health nanites at birth. They were programmed to fight disease from birth until the age of eighty when they were switched off. This was because they were also used as a means of keeping the planets population under strict control. Turning them off caused the human body to rapidly age, so much so that everyone died within a week or so of turning eighty. It was a fair trade, when she thought about it. A disease-free life and a quick death in exchange for a few of your later years, that without the nanites could have been pain-filled, lonely or, even worse in Tae’s view, entirely uneventful.

  She had been ten when her new teacher, Miss Bayfour, discovered her ability to quickly learn whatever was set in front of her. The teacher had immediately petitioned the Medical Review Panel in Thortown for the approval of more specialized nanites for her. Three years later, and after much begging and cajoling by her teacher, Tae had been collected from school by her mother and delivered to the hospice in Ballan. There she was given another injection. This one was inserted directly into her brain stem. These new, specially designed nanites, then progressed to wherever they were needed in her brain, including her visual cortex. They could now funnel information directly to her mind from the schools computer. She could now “see” information in her mind as if she were actually there. All she had to do was touch any computer screen, focus on the link, and then request whatever information she needed.

  To this day she still remembered how the tech had been so nice to her throughout the procedure, encouraging her in her love of learning. The man had praised her as the best patient he had ever had, and as she left he had winked at her and said. ‘Don’t ever stop exploring your limits or pushing yourself Miss Tae, you’re an extremely lucky and talented young lady, we’re hoping for big things from you, very big things.’ She’d thanked him and smiled through her pain, at the time it had given her a blinding headache, but it had turned out to be so worth it. In the future, when their second tier coding was unlocked, she would be able to access other larger computers, anywhere on the planet.

  Well that was the way they were supposed to work, unknown to anyone Tae already had access to wherever she wanted her nanites to go. The technician who had injected her must have entered the wrong set of commands, because her nanites had been unlocked right from the beginning. Tae certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone about this and, except for Jason, no-one knew. She suspected there would be some highly unpleasant consequences for the tech, and possibly herself if she were to say anything, besides which, they were fun.

  As it was she had already snooped through places she knew she shouldn’t have access to without permission. The History Museum’s library was her favorite place, and where she most often visited, it was where she had discovered the Ancestors’ music for the first time. If combat was her life, then music was her passion. She now downloaded and listened to it every chance she got. Although she could have gone through the request process to access it freely, there was something exciting about taking what she wanted unofficially. She was clever though, she always made sure she left predated request slips in the Museums systems so no-one knew what she had done. She had now filled part of her own and her schools computer systems with songs, movies, and television series from her favorite era’s, 1950 to 2023, so that everyone could access them.

  Her thoughts were interrupted as images of Loki, along with a brief description, filtered into her mind from the school’s central computer bank. There wasn’t much to go on. A short description of the god’s return to Earth spoke of how he was ambushed and murdered in an attack by the Ancestors. It was followed by the usual stuff, great god of blah, blah, blah. Capable of great feats of blah, blah, blah. Tae huffed in frustration at the typical god description.

  She did however find out he had originally thought up the idea of the Warrior Law Enforcers, the WLE. He was also the one to suggest the creation of the Island, a place where all of Earth’s convicts were sent. It was seen as an easy, almost elegant way, to make sure the god’s laws were followed. Food and housing were now plentiful, and everyone got to work to earn credits for goods, so theoretically there should be no need for lawlessness. Obey the rules and you would be left alone to lead a happy and productive life.

  That’s why there was no prison system anymore, there was simply no need. Break any law and you would get sent to the Island where you had to fight other prisoners to the death. Unless you could earn one hundred kills there was no reprieve, and as no-one had ever reached that milestone it was basically a death sentence.

  The gods had effectively left the choice up to every individual as to how they behaved and what choices they made, but once a law was broken, big or small, there was only one punishment. The Island.

  Still, there wasn’t anywhere near enough information for Tae to write anything good, and she was definitely interested in this God and what he’d done. She looked around guiltily, as if someone might be able to see what she was about to do, then she sent her nanites to search for records of Loki’s death and all relevant vid sources from the WLE computer base.

  Like everyone else, she knew the WLE consisted of a mixture of beings from most races in the galaxy’s realms. They were the elite of the Warrior Caste. Unfortunately she also k
new if she got caught doing this, she’d be in serious trouble. Accessing the WLE computer system would be forbidden, even if she couldn’t find an official law against it.

  What can go wrong? She thought smugly. Loki’s death was centuries ago, besides, what they don’t know can’t hurt them. I’ll just cover my tracks, like I do at the History Museum.

  While she waited for her nanites to find something she wondered about Loki’s death. She had to admit the Ancestors deserved kudos for taking out a god, after all, it must have been an enormous shock to them when the gods returned to Earth. According to all the texts the Ancestors had thought of the gods as myths dreamed up by their forebears.

  They had believed this right up until the day two Orion class battleships had arrived, and the gods announced their return. This was quickly followed by their demand of immediate obedience. To the Ancestors’ credit they’d refused, and they’d fought against impossible odds. They were nearly wiped out of course, but Tae thought they were brave, in their own incredibly stupid way. And somehow they had managed to bring down Loki’s battleship before the war ended, so kudos to them.

  She shook her head ruefully. The Ancestors had thought the return of gods were the only myths they would have to deal with. It must have come as an even nastier surprise to find out that some of the gods’ servants were members of numerous races from Earth’s ancient myths as well. From the other planets in the gods’ realms came the Vampire, the Wolven and the Elves, right along with a few other, previously unknown races, like the Thalien.

  She fidgeted a little as she waited for her nanites to find something, finally she felt information being downloaded and quickly turned off her computers 3d display to watch it privately. A picture materialized in her mind, ending her thoughts on Earth’s history abruptly. She watched as a massive space ship slowly descended above what appeared at first glance to be a smoking mountain. Tae realized quickly it was a large volcano.