Max Quick

by Mark Jeffrey

  Sasha, Casey, and Ian all looked at Max uncomfortably. Mr. E said nothing.

  “Jadeth said the Pendant could be used to remove free will,” Max continued. “To make zombies out of everyone, make them do whatever you want. Why would anybody make a thing like that in the first place? How can we even trust you?”

  A terrible pain creased Mr. E’s brow. “I wish now that I had not created it,” he said heavily. “But at the time, it was the lesser of two evils. You see . . . if I had not provided the Pendant to my brother, Enlil . . . every man, woman, and child on Earth would have been slain.”

  Chapter 18

  The Tale of Enki

  Mr. E paced the stone floor. His hands clenched and unclenched several times. The event that had forced him to create the Pendant had clearly been horrible.

  Finally, Mr. E sat in his chair by the fire pit. He motioned for the friends to be seated as well. Ian and Sasha sat next to each other on the sumptuous rug, Sasha still marveling at the color Vreen. Casey and Max sat on a stone step near the fire pit.

  “It was thousands of years ago in the ancient world that this happened,” Mr. E said. He looked down at the ground for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. He sighed heavily and then resumed speaking:

  “It is a tale of the First Times.

  “Imagine a time before human history, before civilization, before the sowing of crops . . . a time before anything that you know even existed.

  “The Earth in that age was a primitive place—wild, raw, savage, and untamed. True humans did not yet exist and Wild Men, who did not yet have speech, roamed the savannas.

  “It was in these times that we came to your world. Ah! What a sight that was, when we set foot for the very first time: the green lands of the Earth, untouched, unknown!

  “We established the first city, Eridu, which means, ‘The Home in the Faraway,’ in the land we called Shin’ar. You know it today as ancient Sumeria. There are many tales I could tell you of those times. But I must be brief.

  “It came to pass that Nibiru suffered a terrible cataclysm.”

  Mr. E bowed his head for a moment as though the memory was too much for him.

  “In an eyeblink, our climate shifted. The sun seared our lands. Our crops withered to dust.

  “When we looked for the cause, we found that a naturally occurring layer of gold particles in our upper atmosphere that normally protected us had burned away.

  “So my father, Anu, King of Nibiru, called for a plan.

  “We needed to replenish the gold. But the sheer volume required was staggering. And then, quite by accident, we discovered that your world was full of gold.

  “At first, our people, Niburians, mined it. But very quickly, the Niburian miners rebelled. Who could blame them? They spent their days in a dark hole in the ground, drudgery upon drudgery. The price was harsh and fell sorely on a few shoulders.

  “My brother, Enlil, had been put in charge of the mining operation. With this rebellion, he was in danger of failing miserably. And that was intolerable to him.

  “It was in that moment that I gained the courage to speak of an idea I had been contemplating for some time. It was an idea that would have never been entertained by our people under normal circumstance, but now seemed to be the only way to accomplish our task.

  “So I summoned all to a council at Enlil’s table.

  “‘Brother and sisters,’ I said. ‘I have traveled this world and found many astonishing things. Yet the most astonishing thing I have beheld is the Wild People.’

  “At that point, I had a cage brought in. Inside was a Wild Man. Everyone gasped. He was hairy and dirty, of course. He had no speech, only a howl. But it was clear to all present who looked into his eyes that there was a form of intelligence there.

  “‘The savannas of the Abzu are filled with these creatures,’ I explained. ‘They are like us in many ways, but primitive. But here is what I propose:

  “‘What if a sort of primitive worker could be created from them who could mine the gold for us?

  “‘We can domesticate the Wild Man. We can give him speech. We can give him rudimentary reasoning. He will not be our equal, but he will understand simple verbal commands and have a primitive intelligence.’

  “‘How will you guard against him rebelling?’ Enlil asked me.

  “‘He will have very few words,’ I replied. ‘He will have a limited, inborn vocabulary. The key to everything is words. He will not have the ability to invent new ones. And without the words, the thought of rebellion is not possible.’

  “Enlil’s eyes widened as he realized that I had just given him a way out of his impossible dilemma.”

  “Wait,” Ian said. “Are you talking about genetic engineering?”

  Mr. E nodded. “There is much more involved than just genetics. But basically, you are correct.”

  “But,” Ian said, clearly baffled, “what else could possibly be involved?”

  Mr. E laughed softly. “Patience, Ian. Human knowledge is still far too simplistic about these things. The shaping of consciousness, for example, is outside the scope of pure genetics. Then there is the matter of morphic fields—but I digress!

  “And so I departed for the savannas of the Abzu in my Sky Chamber. Another Niburian, Ninti, joined me. Once there, we settled into our work in earnest.

  “Ah! Ninti was among the most beautiful and stunning of Niburian women. She was lovely and brilliant beyond measure. We were very much in love in those heady days, and our task was a wonderful one. I relished the time we spent together.

  “For many long years, we toiled in Abzu. Enlil impatiently awaited the result of our efforts. It took some time, and there were many missteps along the way, but in the end . . . we succeeded.

  “Triumphantly, Ninti and I returned to Eridu. With us was our star pupil, whom we had named Adapa.

  “We showed him off to the court of Enlil. Unlike the last Wild Man we had paraded there, Adapa was clean. He wore clothes. He did not need a cage. Politely, he went around the room and bowed. We showed that he could speak—a few words only, but enough to impress. Thunderous applause broke out: Adapa was a hit.”

  “Adapa?” said Casey. “That sounds a lot like Adam.”

  Mr. E smiled. “Well spotted, Casey. The Sumerian version of Adam is Adapa. They are in fact the same name.”

  “So this is the Adam story?” Sasha said. “The Adam and Eve story?”

  “A version of it,” Mr. E replied, nodding. “Myth and legends are usually based on actual events. As stories are passed down from generation to generation, they change somewhat.

  “Anyway, when Enlil saw Adapa, he burned with a mute fascination. Adapa offended his sensibilities by simply existing. He felt Adapa was unnatural, an abomination, a thing that should never have been. On the other hand, Enlil was enormously relieved that I had given him a way to mine the gold at last.

  “Enlil promptly ordered the mass production of these domesticated Wild Men.

  “Before long, there were hundreds of domesticated Wild Men toiling in our service. And they regarded us as gods. Who could blame them? Our Sky Chambers, chariots of fire, ascended to the heavens.

  “And the gold flowed! The plan was working! The gold yields were supremely impressive and the shield layer showed clear signs of improvement.

  “For a time, all was quite well indeed. And then . . . then I went and did something rather rash.” Mr. E bowed his head for a moment. “Not that I’m sorry. I’d do the same thing again if I had it to do over.”

  Again, deep pain shone in Mr. E’s eyes. All four kids had been leaning forward with rapt attention. Now, they blinked in annoyance at the sudden halting of the tale.

  “Why?” Ian asked, prodding Mr. E. “What did you do?”

  “Did you do something to Enlil?” Max guessed.

  “In a way,” Mr. E replied. “You see . . . Ninti and I had grown to love the Wild Men and Women. We were fond of them . . . much in the same way you would be fond of a pet.
We knew all of their personalities. We took care of them when they were sick. Their lives were miserable: They were slaves. Yet, we tried to make them as happy as we could.

  “One day, Ninti’s house servant, a Wild Woman we had named Padma, did something astonishing. She laughed. At the sound, Ninti and I jumped up from our dining table. We peered into the kitchen in amazement and found Padma humming a simple song as she washed dishes.

  “You must understand, this was something we had thought was impossible. Laughter takes intellect. It sets us apart from the beast.

  “But if that were not enough, here was Padma, actually singing! Laughter and music were not Wild traits. They were Niburian traits!

  “Ninti and I had no explanation for how this had happened. Our best theory was that proximity to Niburians had influenced them in some way.”

  “Influenced?” Ian interrupted. “How? That’s impossible! Your genetics would have had to jump somehow from you to them, it would have—”

  Mr. E nodded. “Yes, precisely. That is what we thought. And yet, the evidence was undeniable. And the natural world is far more powerful and mysterious than even the most precise science suspects sometimes.

  “In any event, Ninti and I took it upon ourselves to spy upon them. And quickly, we received yet another shock: The Wild Men and Women had been inventing their own secret words! When they thought no one was around, they spoke to one another in this secret tongue. Yet they were always very careful not to allow Niburians to overhear them speaking it. Somehow they sensed these things—language, music, and laughter—were dangerous. It was the forbidden ‘knowledge of the gods.’

  “It was then that I gathered some of the Wild Men to me. I spoke to them in their invented tongue. They were immediately terrified. I calmed them and told them that I would keep their secret.

  “But I knew in my heart of hearts it was just a matter of time before this was discovered by my people.

  “So I did the unthinkable. I taught these humans—for they were humans now, just as you are—how to make weapons. I taught them how to defend themselves from what I saw as inevitable conflict between them and us.

  “And of course, I was discovered.

  “Enlil summoned me to court. He demanded to know why I had done this thing.

  “‘They have saved us, Enlil,’ I said. ‘It is they who work the mines that save Nibiru. We owe them something in return. We owe them knowledge—’

  “‘I think you forget yourself, Enki,’ Enlil replied, voice dripping with hate. ‘These creatures of yours have had their use, but they are not like us. They are animals, nothing more. They are things.

  “‘And now, because of what you have done, they will be harder to kill. They will multiply and multiply. Like a swarm of locusts, they will blot out the face of the Earth. And when they learn the secrets of riding the skies, what then? Where will this end?’

  “Enlil weighed seriously whether he might be able to get away with killing me on the spot. But in the end, he knew that Anu would destroy him if he did.”

  At that, the foursome flinched visibly. Max’s mouth twitched and crinkled as if this were particularly distasteful to him. Then Mr. E continued his tale:

  “Later, Enlil summoned me again. A black mood had taken him. Dark thoughts muddied his mind.

  “Enlil feared a human rebellion. The revolt of the miners was still fresh in his mind. He had seen how quickly the human population had grown. Enlil thought that they would soon be so numerous that they would be impossible to rule. So he demanded something terrible: Enlil wanted an off switch that he could use anytime he wanted.”

  “What do you mean, an off switch?” Ian asked suspiciously.

  “Exactly what it sounds like,” Mr. E replied. “He wanted a way to kill every human on the planet instantly. Of course I protested. Over a period of several hours, I eventually managed to talk him out of that particular request.

  “Yet Enlil would not let go of the core idea. If he could not have a way to kill them, then he wanted to control them. ‘You will give me this thing, my brother, or I will begin slaying them this very night,’ he said.

  “I saw that it was either I do this—or he would commit genocide. I had no choice.

  “And so, I began work in earnest on the Pendant.

  “Enlil forced me to swear an oath so that there would be no trickery and I created an artifact exactly as I had promised: a device capable of nullifying the power of free will.

  “However, when the Pendant was complete, I informed Enlil that it would be hidden. At this, he flew into a rage. He demanded that I hand it over instead. I declined, pointing out that I had taken an oath to create the Pendant, but that was all.”

  “So why didn’t you use it on Enlil?” Max interrupted. “You had the Pendant at this point. You could have just taken over Enlil’s mind and told him what to do. It would have saved a lot of trouble. Right?”

  Mr. E drew close to Max and said in a shaking voice, “Because that would have been evil. One should never seek to own the will of another, for any reason at all. There is never, never, ever a reason good enough.”

  After a moment, Mr. E continued. “Of course, Enlil was reluctant to accept my stewardship of the Pendant at first. But then I asked him: even if I gave the Pendant to him, what then? He would then have the problem of how to keep it. How would he guard such a device?

  “Obviously, Enlil could lock it in a vault and set his centurions to guard it. But what would prevent one of them from using the Pendant on him? The temptation would prove too great.

  “Or he could keep it on his person at all times, wear it about his neck, perhaps. But this would cause distrust within his ranks. The Pendant was a power of last resort, not something to be used on a daily basis. The word tyrant would be grumbled. Plots would be hatched. Pendant or not, even Enlil had to sleep and it was likely that Enlil would be slain by his own guards as he did so.

  “And in truth, the Pendant was most effective as an extremely powerful threat, a deterrent.

  “In the end, Enlil grudgingly admitted that even he would be forced to hide the Pendant. And he knew that my way of hiding things would be far better than anything he would come up with. In return, I swore an oath to retrieve it for him upon demand.

  “Thus the Pendant was hidden here on Earth. Perfectly hidden, as I could take no chance whatsoever of it falling into the wrong hands. And that is where the Pendant has stayed from that day to this.”

  “So Enlil never actually used the Pendant?” Max asked.

  “No,” Mr. E replied. “He did not need to. He made certain humans knew about it. Just the threat of the Pendant was enough to keep them from open revolt. And at last, Enlil was satisfied that he had a way to control the human population.”

  The foursome was silent for a few long minutes.

  “But why is Jadeth having such a hard time finding it?” Sasha said. “I mean, with stopped time and all . . . you’d think she’d be able to.”

  Mr. E smiled. “Because, as I said, it was hidden perfectly. It is quite literally impossible to find. Even if you knew the exact location, you still would not be able to retrieve it.”

  “Wow. How did you manage that?” Ian asked.

  “You will know in time,” Mr. E replied with a cryptic smile. “In fact, you, Max, are the only person in the world able to retrieve it.”

  “Me?” Max yelped in surprise. “Why me?”

  “I’m sorry,” Mr. E replied. “I cannot tell you yet. But you will know soon enough.”

  Max felt his stomach sink. Yet another secret.

  “Wait. Why don’t we just leave the Pendant where it is?” Casey asked. “I mean, if it’s so evil, and it’s hidden perfectly, maybe it shouldn’t be found.”

  Mr. E shook his head. “No. You must retrieve it. That is the way of it. The perfection I achieved in hiding the Pendant came with a steep price, as perfection always does.

  “In this case, that price is time. When it is time for the Pendant to be fo
und, it must be. And that time is now: It can no longer remain hidden.”

  “Will getting the Pendant help us get rid of the Pocket?” Ian asked.

  Mr. E nodded. “Oh, yes.”

  “And do you know why the Pocket doesn’t affect us?” Ian asked. “I mean, why are we immune?”

  “Max is immune because he is Niburian,” Mr. E replied. “That much is clear. But as for the rest of you and the Serp kids, that is more mysterious. But I do know this much: There is something of Nibiru in all of you.”

  “Do you mean . . . we’re all part Niburian?” Casey asked.

  “No,” Mr. E replied. “Not necessarily. But something attuned you to Nibiru before the Pocket. I cannot say what. I suspect it was something different for each of you. It may have been a Niburian artifact that you came in contact with unwittingly. There are a thousand ways it could have happened.”

  “But why only kids?” Sasha asked.

  Mr. E smiled. “Young minds are more open. They can be attuned more easily.”

  “What about Johnny Siren?” Casey asked tentatively. “How does he fit into all this?”

  Mr. E’s brows furrowed and he leaned toward Casey. “Jonathan Roseblood Cyranus has already managed to live far, far longer than most humans ever manage to. Yet he has actually lived life itself very little. His long centuries have been consumed with a singular thought—to live longer. He has—”

  “Hold on,” Ian said. “I thought Siren was Niburian.”

  “No,” Mr. E replied. “He is quite human.”

  “But how has he managed to live so long?” Ian asked.

  “Cyranus has penetrated many of the secrets of Nibiru. This has extended his life, but he is not immortal and he will eventually die. Like Gilgamesh of Sumer before him, Siren wishes to live forever . . .”

  “And that’s why he’s bargaining with Jadeth,” Max said, finishing the thought. “He wants to trade. The Pendant for immortality.”

  Mr. E nodded. “But Cyranus does not yet understand how truly dangerous Jadeth can be. And the simplest of people who are born, live, and die in this world in the shortest span of years will have lived a far, far richer, fuller, and happier life than Cyranus in all his centuries. If he would only let go of his obsession he might find happiness at last. Perhaps he will before the end.”