Relics

by K. T. Tomb

  “The Daughters of Eve. I am here to protect the Garden of Eden and use the flaming sword to kick some serious ass if you want to be present for that action scene.”

  “Actually, I will be using the sword, Evan Knight,” Jess corrected.

  Knight flashed her an angry grin.

  “My bad. Anyway, I am The Chos—”

  Jess shook her head ‘no’ as her eyes widened.

  “I’m the one leading this little group,” Knight concluded.

  The Russian paced back and forth around them while they continued to kneel in the sand.

  “I believe you, Mr. Knight. Since I am in a generous mood and satisfied with your answers, I will help you. I am the squad commander of the Spetsnaz.”

  Geronimo and Knight’s mouths drop as Jess wondered what he was talking about.

  “I see that most of you have heard of us,” the Russian continued. “For the one person among us who is unfamiliar with who we are, we are like the Russian equivalent to America’s Black Ops forces. It turns out that we have a mutual enemy. You know, ‘the friend of my enemy—’”

  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Geronimo sighed as he corrected the Russian.

  “Yes, that’s the way it goes. My English does not always work well, yes?” He laughed. He stopped laughing as abruptly as he started. “Let me explain our situation. We have been on the trail of Alexey Konstantin. He is well known in our country as a pharmaceutical pioneer. He has, however, turned his attention to other things recently. He has hired an army to storm the Garden of Eden and take the healing oil of the Tree of Life for himself. He has military trucks… 27 trucks to be exact. He has also acquired some other military vehicles. Fortunately for us, and for you too, we have intercepted some of his toys.”

  The Russian looked behind the jeep he arrived in, as two Zulfiqar tanks rumbled to a stop about thirty feet from Knight.

  “Holy—” Geronimo started.

  “Be careful,” warned Jess.

  The Russian stood by his jeep.

  “These are my gifts to you, Mr. Knight. I hope that you will make good use of them to stop Konstantin and help us with a rather burdensome task.”

  Evan started to make a comment about the Russian’s motivation, but his response was cut off as the man continued.

  “I have acquired intelligence which I will give to you for the sole purpose of stopping this madman and preserving the Garden of Eden. I don’t have the extra men to give you, but before you leave, you will have full operational knowledge of each tank.”

  Geronimo and Knight’s eyes lit up.

  “Are you serious?” asked the unbelieving Knight.

  The Russian pulled out a pocket knife and went behind each of them. He cut the zip ties and helped each one up.

  “Скорость Бог. I am sorry. Godspeed.”

  Knight shook the Russian’s hand with more sincerity than he ever had.

  “Thank you… uh. I’m sorry. You know who we are, but we don’t know who to thank.”

  “Forgive me, Mr. Knight,” the Russian responded. “My name is Boris Milek.”

  Chapter Six

  Alexey Konstantin’s war seemed to have been stalled. His tanks still hadn’t arrived and the nameless Iranian wouldn’t answer his phone. His men were restless and Sulina hadn’t made it any easier on him with her barrage of questions and threatening looks. He could still feel her grip around his throat and he remembered the gnawed arm in the refrigerator back in Azri.

  Sulina kept her gaze fixed upon the Mountain of God, which was so close. This attack was her ticket to glory and she fumed as she stood there, waiting for a mortal to bring her to victory over Eden. A mortal!?

  She walked over to Alexey. He didn’t seem to want her company, but she really didn’t care.

  “Well, Alexey? Your trust in these friends of yours has now caused a problem with my trust in you. It’s amazing how these things tend to spiral out of control once the ball starts rolling, isn’t it?”

  “Your problem, Sulina,” he retorted, while forcing himself to remain calm, “is that you are not used to the ways of men. You say you trust, but you don’t have a clue what that is. You look for excuses to see faults in others that are not of your kind. In some circles, that might be considered a discriminatory attitude.”

  Sulina snarled at Alexey.

  “You pathetic bastard! You dare call me a racist? What about your own countrymen Lenin and Stalin?”

  Alexey laughed, which irritated Sulina even more.

  “Stalin? Lenin?” He continued to laugh. “Joseph Stalin was scrutinized for his ideals by Lenin himself! Stalin believed in Russification, where only Russians would be put in authoritative positions! Get your history correct, before you decide to confront me with ridiculous statements about my own country! You! You have the nerve to try to belittle me and the things that you think mean something to me! You do this to mask the fact that you have doubts about your own abilities! Sulina, you hide behind your strength, when in reality, that is all you have! This war is mine! I do not need to hide behind another name to gain the advantage! I am Alexey Konstantin! I am not related to Lenin or Stalin, so your words do not affect me! You are the queen of nothing! But me? I am the destroyer of the Garden of Eden! At this moment, you are nothing but a bystander who has no choice but to wait for my next move.”

  As Alexey released his tirade, he had forgotten about the fact that she could snatch him by the throat and squeeze the life out of him. He quickly regained his composure as the image entered his mind again. Just as he got himself back under control, he could tell that Sulina was about to respond to his tirade, but stopped herself short. He wasn’t sure what had stopped her until he heard a distant sound beginning to grow in volume as it drew nearer.

  The sound of engines? No, not engines… helicopter blades.

  ***

  Ellisia was partnered with Shala when the Daughters of Eve paired off to find food and weapons outside the fortress. It was not the first time they had drilled for what they were going through, but it was the first time that it was for real.

  In spite of being surrounded by mountains, Eden was expansive. The glory which it had once been was still hinted at, though the dense overgrowth which had overtaken it choked out and obliterated what had once been the paradise where man and God walked together in peace. It was a great reminder of the enormous chasm which had been created between man and God because of the disobedience of the garden’s first human occupants. It was impossible for Ellisia to avoid feeling an enormous sense of sadness and loss whenever she passed through the garden.

  Traveling toward the darker side of Eden meant going through the dense brush and forest that ended at a place where the mountains met. A pool of water that had been sacred to them for centuries lay at the base of these mountains. Before the lair was built it was only used to cleanse the female warriors. The pool’s water was always one temperature and was perfect to meditate in. The pool ran deep and clear. No one ever cared to see just how deep. Instead of bathing in it, they would need to gather drinking water from it in order to survive and they would have to make use of the limited supplies of food and weapons which were stashed in various places throughout the garden.

  The only known entrance, which had remained open to the garden, was under the Mountain of God and through the Daughters’ fortress. That option had been taken from them. They wouldn’t have willingly abandoned Eden anyway, since they were supposed to protect it, so they were forced to use methods which had existed for centuries before modern technology had been added to the garden’s defenses.

  Though there was not one among them who did not desire to see the outside world, duty and love for their charge still remained strong in her. In spite of the circumstances, Ellisia and the others had to make the best of them. The Daughters had to prepare for war. She looked up as she considered the dense growth around them and saw Shala’s smirk.

  “Ironic. Isn’t it, Ellisia? We are now forced to prepare f
or battle, utilizing only the tools that we had before our monstrous electronic fortress was constructed.”

  Ellisia was sure that Shala had something to do with Mother Daughter coming up missing and the computer virus that had crippled their lair, but without any sort of proof, she would never attempt to level an accusation. Still, her partner’s levity bit at her.

  “You laugh, Shala? Is this a huge joke to you? Someone took our weapons and Mother Daughter away from us. It was not from the outside world, but from within! Does the thought of Eden being at the mercy of a traitor make you smile, Shala?”

  Shala looked away into the thick forest, avoiding Ellisia’s eyes.

  “I smile with memories of Mother Daughter. I do not wish to think that anything bad has happened to her. Why is it that you are so quick to bury her, Ellisia? Do you know something that the rest of us don’t?”

  Ellisia stopped walking. She couldn’t believe what Shala had just insinuated.

  “It is a dark day when Daughter turns against Daughter and not a day for smiling or veiled accusations.”

  Shala smiled.

  “I have hope and faith, Ellisia, which is why I smile. Where is yours?”

  “I will keep my eye on you, Shala.”

  “You do that, Ellisia. I will be fighting for Eden while your interest lies in digging up conspiracies.” She looked directly into Ellisia’s eyes as with one hand, she motioned her forward. “Would you prefer that I go first, sister?”

  There was no answer from Ellisia. Her eyes were wide with horror and she had a pained expression on her face as blood started to trickle from the corner of her mouth. Ellisia started to fall but Shala reached out and caught her. She guided her gently to the ground. Ellisia tried to talk, but she only succeeded in gurgling up blood. She reached out for her sister’s help; Ellisia’s hands were flailing as Shala looked around, as confused as her fallen sister.

  Had it begun already?

  Shala put her hand under Ellisia’s neck for support. That’s when she felt it. A hole? Shala positioned Ellisia so that she could see what made the hole. A bullet.

  Shala laid her flat and tried to comfort her. In the confusion, Ellisia never felt Shala remove her vial of healing oil from around her neck, neither was she aware of what was going on when Shala slipped it into her pocket.

  Shala distracted her sister with conversation. “Ellisia! This is the first time you’ve been shot. I’m sure it’s unnerving, but we know that it takes more than one bullet to kill us. You are only panicking because you have never been shot before. I’m sure it’s a most unpleasant experience you are going through. Close your eyes and relax. I will take you a few yards into the forest to protect you. One bullet will not kill you, sister.”

  She dragged Ellisia into a thicker part of the forest where the trees formed a protective canopy.

  “There, see? I didn’t kill you like you thought I would. I hope it’s also proof that I did no harm to Mother Daughter either!” she lied.

  Ellisia grabbed her throat and tried to sit up. The oil!

  Shala’s acting was flawless as she gave Ellisia the impression that she had just noticed the missing vial of oil.

  “It’s gone. It must have been broken or been lost when you were shot,” she said, trying to comfort Ellisia.

  Ellisia pointed to the vial of oil around Shala’s neck. Shala looked confused.

  “You can’t be serious? We are each given a specific amount of healing oil for ourselves. Although it may not be your fault that you lost yours, it is still your loss. I will try to take you to the Tree of Life for more if I’m able.”

  Ellisia glared at her and, in that moment, realized that she had been right about Shala, but there was nothing at all which she could do about it.

  Shala realized that she had to prepare for whoever shot Ellisia or befall the same fate. She looked around and saw a small yet sturdy sapling with several branches. She grabbed it and pulled it up by the roots. As she started to clean the roots, she heard a commotion in the distance. There were voices shouting from above them.

  Men’s voices. And a lot of them.

  She broke off the roots and all of the branches. She then pulled out a knife with an 8” blade and started to carve one of the ends of the tree.

  Ellisia started to recover, but she was still weak. Shala saw that she couldn’t speak. That could be a real blessing if it lasts.

  Shala finished carving a small spear from the tree and hid behind a larger one to see what was coming. She snuck up the line of trees to where the forest thinned in order to get a better view of what was going on. She saw more men than she could count slowly drifting toward the hallowed ground of Eden using parachutes. Her heart raced as she knew the beginning of the end was about to start.

  She had to get word to the intruders somehow that she was on their side. Her chance to escape Eden presented itself in the form of these mortals, and she had planned and prepared to use them to make her escape the moment she had first spotted the convoy.

  The idea of being free in order to experience the world’s pleasures wasn’t a new one for her. She had hoped that the opportunity would come and she would be selected to retrieve the Chosen One. When the other two had been selected for the mission instead, she had gotten in contact with Sulina and became an integral part of a plan which would allow her to have all that she wanted.

  After scouting ahead, she returned to Ellisia and stared at her as a lion would its prey. Without feeling any sense of remorse or hesitation, she walked up to her fallen sister. In one swift move, Shala kicked Ellisia in the face, knocking her backward. Before she could recover, Shala kicked her sister’s knee with all of her might, shattering the patella. Ellisia tried to scream, but no sound came from her injured throat.

  The end justifies the means, she reasoned as she grabbed Ellisia’s shoulders and pulled her into the clearing. She used all of her strength to throw Ellisia out as far as she could in front of the men.

  Ellisia landed with a thud on the soft earth, facing her betrayer. No sound exited her sister’s damaged throat as she pulled herself to her knees and pleaded with Shala through her clasped hands. Shala watched as the intruders landed, unclipped from their parachutes, and turned toward her fallen sister. The first tear of remorse trickled down her cheek as she watched them riddle her sister’s body with bullets. A sudden realization; a touch of guilt, perhaps?

  That is no way for a Daughter of Eve to die. Like a dog; robbed of the chance to die with honor or in battle, but it is the only way to accomplish the purpose of my new master.

  Shala held up her hands and backed away from the men, disappearing back into the forest. Ellisia’s vial of healing oil was all that was left of her. She knew she had to retrieve all the other vials from the other Daughters as well.

  The war has begun.

  Chapter Seven

  Evan Knight rubbed his wrists where the zip ties had almost cut off his circulation. He had just completed his training on the Zulfiqar tank and waited patiently for Geronimo to finish.

  Jess approached him.

  “So now you can destroy many things at once, Evan Knight?”

  “Hopefully, we won’t have to Jess,” he replied with a lack of confidence in his answer. “I hope we can use them to keep the peace and maybe to prevent this from escalating into a major war.”

  Jess’ calm demeanor turned into an instant of sharp anger as she slapped Evan.

  “You are no fool, Evan Knight, so stop acting like one. How dare you take the desecration of Eden lightly! The only way to defend her is with the same amount of force that it takes to destroy her!” She turned sharply away from him.

  Evan rubbed his cheek as he tried to collect his thoughts and choose his words carefully. He put his arms around her from behind, surprised that she did not push him away.

  “Jess, listen to me. Sometimes the outcome can be determined by peaceful negotiations without the threat of war. I was just making a comment.”

  He turned h
er so that he could face her.

  “Mark my words. If force is what we need, then force is what we will use. No one will destroy Eden as long as there is a breath of life in my body! I know there’s more to Eden than what you’ve told me. I get it. The jury’s out as to whether I really am this Chosen One you keep talking about, but that won’t stop me from kicking ass to save the birthplace of my beloved!”

  Jess’ face softened as her eyes filled with tears of joy. Beloved. He said it! She pressed her head into his chest. She could feel his strong heart beating and she regretted her outburst instantly.

  The abrupt pain in her abdomen came on suddenly, robbing her of all strength and she began to sink to her knees from its effect. The look of confusion on her face and the dead weight she had become in his arms was all Knight needed to ease her gently to the ground.

  “I need help over here!” he bellowed. “Something’s wrong with Jess!”

  Jess looked up at him in desperation. He wasn’t about to let her down. She was in pain and a trickle of blood ran out from the edge of her mouth. Her eyes glazed over and her pupils dilated. She was in another trance. After a few minutes, she spoke again.

  “Evan Knight,” she whispered. “We have to go. You must take us to Eden now. The attack has begun. Flying machines have crossed into the sacred garden, dropping men from the sky like leaves. You know the way, Evan Knight. Take me… home.”

  Knight’s call brought several men rushing to his side; one of them was Geronimo.

  “What’s wrong?” Geronimo asked, seeing the same look on the beautiful face of the Daughter of Eve as he approached. “She doing it again?”

  “Yes,” Knight answered. “Things hit her whenever something happens in Eden. Like she feels whatever pain or anxiety the others feel. We have to get her back to Eden. Are you ready, Geronimo?”

  “Hell yeah, Evan!” Geronimo replied with enthusiasm. “I’m itchin’ to get this party started!”

  Knight turned his gaze on Jess and made a solemn oath that he would get her back to her home and save it from destruction, even if it cost him his own life. When he looked up into Geronimo’s eyes, he spoke through clenched teeth.