MOBIUS INSIGHT ©

By Allen D. Furford

CHAPTER 6

"The place had been sterilized. The tech boys can wade through the slag and analyze it, but don't expect much. We did come up with some thoughts, as well as a direction to search, though. The next problem was fighting our way out."

"You did find something then!"

"A meaning or name chiseled in the stone. We had to translate it, of course, but the translation was even obscured. It was not Mycenaen and was the same script as the map. It was "First" something, Mr. President. Someone had been or worked there at some time, long enough to make his own mark. There were other names also etched into the wall, graffiti if you will, and one of the other words was Shem."

The President looked at the papers before him. He was dying to read the bottom report, but he could not do this in Miles presence. It was time to arrange a emergency call out and he could check the duplicate file on the secured computer. He did not realize there was no such thing as a truly secure computer system.

He pushed a hidden button and a light flashed on the wall panel.

"I have an emergency."

Miles looked at the wall and back to the world leader. "I can wait," he wryly stated.

"This should not take long. Should I send for food while I am out?"

"I have a craving for ice cream."

"A man after my own heart."

Miles watched him exit and looked at the pile of files on the desk before him. He knew better than to try to read them. Some things were best left alone, especially when they were so well guarded. It wouldn't do to use the chewing gum at this point...

The president walked quickly down the corridor and ducked into another office. The aid at the desk looked up expectantly. "Get me through to the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense immediately!"

"Yes Sir!"

The President waited and collected his thoughts as the calls went through. At the aids nod he picked up the phone. "It's the head man, fellows. Are you both receiving me? Good... now listen carefully. I have been interviewing a man by the name of Miles Horn in the lower unit of the White House for the last few hours. The N.S.A. people will give you the file on him. I need other information from them, the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. about one George Landau of the University of Washington, one David Meir from the Israeli Language Institute, and another man who is a doctor..."

His family had started the modern Swiss banking industry. The only other thing the country really had was winter sports and mountain climbing, which was strictly controlled by certain advertising media.

Switzerland was now a keepsake, more than anything else. There really was no mountain fortress in the nuclear age, and that was the original idea of the location, namely it's defensive capability as well as being a European centralized hub. The new center was America, and he controlled that also, by way of the clandestine services council, and the American defensive capability was awesome, they had seen to that. The meetings of the full family might take place in London, but it was Switzerland that was the real jewel in their hearts, and America was their largest creation.

Just as Russia was their most dismal failure. This was another problem. The "good" and the "bad" concept. Someone had to become the bad guy again, something to give his politicians to work to keep the minds of the worlds' people off their economic troubles.

The original idea was to bring the world to a fairly even level with his people to holding all the cards. Someone had to give and someone had to receive. The Argentina experiment was a prime example of this. Purposely instituted run away inflation to keep the country from expansionism. The Queen was upset about the Falklands. They took care of the problem before the cancer spread into the Brazilian holdings, and utilized inside information to protect themselves in Argentina at the same time.

The Fascists were given Argentina, but they would not be able to hold it forever. The winds of change were sweeping the planet.

His private scrambled phone rang and he answered a call from America. The conversation was both brief and to the point. Smiling he hung up. It promised to be a glorious day.

He loved the feeling of the power he actually had. It was as the Book stated, it would be King to King for the final confrontation. He had decided to insure the Kingship for his people. No one could stop him now...

He felt no remorse for the man. After all, he was stupid enough to get caught so easily. Maybe this would be a lesson to the rest of the slave population. Maybe the word would get out the example had bid too high. If it did not work, he would have to find another dumb slave.

Pepolis had no slaves himself. He paid free men and paid them well. It was true he had purchased some of them as slaves, but he also chose very carefully after interviewing them before auction. They were freed the same day they were purchased. They were loyal and terribly envied by the other section of the servant industry in Mycenae.

Of course, they could not leave his employ without notice. If they went into business, he financed them and took a percentage of the profits at the same time, and provided them with other customers to deal with, customers he also had financed.

At the end of the year he took his payment in gold, metal that was well hidden in the northern mountains. He now had more hidden then there was left in the entire country of Egypt. In fact, Egypt had supplied most of the gold he had.

His biggest problem was keeping the price of gold up, because more of the metal was pouring in from the south and the east. He could control the gold in the north country. He controlled the trade routes land communications in that direction. Egypt was the problem and the Nile was the access route most used. If they could get ships along the east coast of Africa, the Egyptian power hold would be broken.

Pepolis had no ambitions of ruling anyone directly. He was into the game of it all. Chronos would be the one to supply the morality as Pepolis was sadly lacking in this commodity. Pepolis knew this and just cringed at the thought of how much it would ultimately cost.

His men just looked at one another. What in Hades was that flashed through all of their minds. Was Chronos truly mad? The gods were still in residence! Stealing from dead gods was one thing, but stealing from possible live ones did not seem like such a good idea.

Chronos saw the look in their eyes and suddenly grinned. "Trust me."

They looked at one another uncomfortably. Every time he said that they got into deep trouble. They had always gotten out of it though...

"I knew you would not let me down. That glass box is an oracle and I think we all have a lot of questions to ask it."

Persus, one of his men, stepped foreword. "What if the gods wake up?"

"They have been sleeping for a long time. As long as we are careful and do not disturb anything, I am sure we are safe. This box is already speaking and once I started talking to it, it started speaking our language. The more you say to it, the better it gets. It talks all the languages we know."

The Sea People continued their discussion as they moved down the corridor, the men in the rear nervously keeping close watch behind them. Chronos was not always right.

"Take it easy, George. I kind of expected this," Miles gently stated. " You didn't really think these people were going to make it easy on us, did you?"

George shook his head. "The fire must have been intense in here, and yet the walls still fluoresce."

"Good paint. Notice the symmetry of the place?"

"You mean the precisely uniformly shaped puddles of metal in two rows? Do you think I am blind?"

"Just making sure your not slipping. Keep to the centers and let's carefully scout this hell hole out."

They were able to vent the level above it, the level that at one time housed a computer. One that had been removed before the fire. There was no puddle of metal under the obvious mounting location, though the control cables left their imprint on the floor and walls. It was missing...

Chronos had made sure that no one disturbed the caskets or cables while they visited with the machine. This did not take any effort at all as the men were still on guard. No one wanted to upset the god box.

The ancient Greek leader carefully examined the connectors and was perplexed. Somehow he knew that cutting the metal snakes would not be the thing to do. While his men kept asking questions about their physical world, Chronos made his decision.

"I wish to speak to one of the gods."

The machine had already translated "gods" to hibernating crew. It also had built in instructions regarding possible interference by unknowns. The time in stasis had been twice extended and the machine had a choice. It had not received an instructions from orbit since the flood, and the auxiliary atomic power pack was running down.

The computer named Promo picked ancient Ea, now called Enki by some......

The group slowly picked it way through the strewn boulders, clearing the way for the two that were carrying the god box. Walking behind them was Chronos and the god Enki. The Sea People were somewhat confused about their religion with the release of the gods. First of all, of the gods only Enki and a woman botanist called Gay survived the prolonged ordeal. That made the deities mortal after all in their eyes, and this was not deemed proper. The third survivor made them nervous, for he was a strange very pale man that almost seemed to glow. Secondly they had been giving god status to a box for giving them fire and other things, but it turned out to be the owner of the box that was responsible and that was Enki.

On top of everything else, Enki was known to them, but in legend he was Hephaestus, blacksmith of the gods. There had been a man named Hess that had been one of Enki's assistants on one of the earlier missions, but religion had become so distorted with multiple deities including animalism, Hericles, one of the men carrying the box and not noted for his high intellect, added to the confusion by calling Enki the real Apollo and asked him to compete with him in a show of strength.

It was easier for Chronos. He was an atheist in the first place. Religion was just a convenience to use in his eyes, and the man walking beside him and talking in Old Tongue left him at ease with his own personal convictions. As for the Old One that walked in front of the computer, that was different! Chronos had something else on his mind that troubled him. He had lost his knife and the golden map in the handle went with the weapon. What worried him was the fact he had added the latest destination of his treasure, which had been ordered by his father, the message delivered by a scout just two days before. Of course the map would do no one any good unless they had other information...

The Old One looked at the men clearing the path in front of him and grimly noted their armor. Ever since the men from off world had broken their word and recaptured him, he trusted no one, least of all these crude people.

The Old One was truly the last of the long lived genes. The sky gods had made a mistake retaking him, he grimly thought. Ea or no Ea, this time he would hide as soon as he could get away. He knew just where to go this time. The question was Ea, almost a prisoner in his own right for helping man too many times. He was aging before their very eyes without the god food, though he really didn't seem to care, and had confided the computer was winding down fast. In his heart, The Old One knew his friend was not going to be with him for long. The woman would be around for awhile for she was much younger, and a hybrid at that, but he didn't know her. He was very attracted to her, however....

What had happened to his people? What had been the fate of his last wife and children? How did man end up like this? They didn't even know who the Creator really was! Above all, what terrible thing had happened to the replanted garden while he slept, cycle after cycle? It was now a land of foreboding and death seemed to hang in the air like the shrouding fog they passed through in the mountain pass...

It was a surreal scene for everyone was wearing gas masks or O.B.A.s while trying to aim their various weapons through steamed up goggles.

George saw one of the enemy trying to stick a knife into David and snapped off a shot with his pistol that took the man through his unprotected throat, almost decapitating him. He dove to the ground and shot another as he came around the corner in the corridor. Where in the hell is Miles, he thought as he looked back at the others. Was he still trying to break through to the outside?

Miles scrambled down the side of the mountain, the O.B.A. mask swinging wildly at his side. There, he thought. The vent other vent is there! Reaching the hole that led to the lower level, he cautiously peeked in. The corridor was clear. Checking the clip in the Uzi he had picked up from one of the dead Israelis, he slid back into the mountain, almost forgetting to replace the O.B.A. He was praying the others were still holding out.

Doc was looking at the Uzi in his hand as he scrambled forward to George and David's position. What had he been told? Oh yeah, he thought, don't aim for the body because of armor but take shots at the legs or head instead...

Anderson looked at the five remaining men and shook his head to stop their suicidal advance while he pulled a grenade from his harness. Those that did not open their mouths before it went off would lose their eardrums in the corridor. He positioned himself to throw it around the corner.

Miles could see the company men before him and knew what the big man was about to do. Charging forward and yelling into his mask, he sprayed the enemy with bullets which knocked the grenade free from Anderson's hand, causing it to roll toward the charging engineer. Miles dove for the floor of the corridor just before it went off.

The ensuing explosion knocked everyone remaining alive in the mountain flat...

Doc, David and George picked themselves up and waited momentarily before cautiously moving forward, their ears ringing but still intact. David peeked around the corner and then waved at the others to follow him. There were six men lying motionless and a seventh was staggering to his feet. It was Miles.

Suddenly another body moved and tried to raise his weapon. Doc instinctively blew the man's head off with a burst from his Uzi. It was the last thing Anderson ever would try to do for the company.

Horne led them to the outside where they could take off their breathing apparatus and talk. "Christ, I was afraid I wouldn't be in time..."

David slumped against the rocks and looked at him. "I surely under estimated all of your abilities, Mr. Horne. You guys saved my life three times in there, and I won't ever forget it. We have to go back in as soon as the gas clears and try to find out who has been causing us all these little problems. We owe that to the others who were not as fortunate as we were."

Doc was busy throwing up. When he was finished he looked up. "I killed a man..."

George put his hand on the surgeons shoulder. "There is a lot of difference between murder and self defense, Doc. Keep in mind your saved three lives in doing it."

Miles wearily nodded. "That's right Doc. Say, did I ever tell you about the time I was shanghaied?..."

They were now down to a party of four. Doc, George, David and Miles were all that had survived the fight relatively unscathed between the factions in the mountains. One of the men they had visited in the hospital joked he had so many stitches he looked like a crossword puzzle.

Miles knew the feeling. He also had a feeling about the next location they would have to investigate. Delphi...

"That isn't where it ended, Mr. President. It seemed to become so simple for me at the time, but I really was in for a rude awakening. We all were...."

Enki told him of the ships from off world arriving to find the predecessor of the Neanderthal, and how they had tried to help the creature become man like only to be reduced to failure. Then came Adam, their naturally mutated "clay", and what followed.

He didn't believe either one of them. Chronos had heard too many tales and saw the results of too many religions. The shrewd trader he was, he respected those beliefs because it was the most pragmatic thing to do, but his youth was geared more to action than reflection.

The Old One carefully watched the young Mycenaen and slightly smiled to himself. Enki would get no where with this one, he thought, for this one it was not love and understanding that motivated the world, but something they called "wealth", which was merely the accumulation of more goods and comfort than a man could possibly need. This somehow became "power", which was something mankind punished itself with. To lead because it was requested of you was one thing, but to rule for the pure pleasure of it was something he could not understand. It was such a thankless job...

Then there was this thing called "wine", which they said was raised from grapes. It had made his head hurt when he tried some and he did not like the feeling of losing control. It was much stronger than the beer the gods had partaken of, and did not seem to provide any nutrition. The man Hericles seemed to be addicted to the fermented grape juice and after partaking any quantity of the brew, he always wanted to fight him for some reason. The warrior kept calling him "Apollo" in front of the simple fisher folk that lived on the island, taunting him and adding fuel to the fire.

Enki had grown old before his eyes in all the time he had known him, but the Offworlder still retained the awesome power of his mind. Hericles had absolutely no inkling that the god could kill him with merely a glance, such were his mental powers, and yet Enki had allowed the warriors to take him without a fuss. This fact also made the Man of Fame a little nervous. He knew that the Offworlder was there to guide man, and was biding his time for some reason.

As for himself, the island folk looked upon him with awe and avoided him if they could. It was the abnormal projection of his aura that made them fear him, a definite color barrier. They didn't know his name, but they knew where he came from, The Men of Fame... The Old Ones.

Here it was, the one place Miles always wanted to visit. Six miles inland from the Corinthian Gulf and nestled against Mt. Parnassus at the two thousand foot altitude, Delphi and the rugged country was beautiful. After a day examining the ruins and visiting the museum, the party returned to their lodging.

Miles plopped into the chair and threw his hat into the corner. "Christ it's hot!"

David handed them all cool drinks of ice water and also took a seat. "I still can't get the fact out of my mind that one of the enemy was a top Mossad agent and the other I know for sure was working for the American Central Intelligence Agency. Gentlemen, we are targets and we can't trust anyone but ourselves at this point."

Doc looked at David and observed his puzzlement. "Is that why you staged your death before we snuck out of Turkey?"

"It was the most logical thing to do to buy a little time. It seems Tri-Omega owns everyone, does it not?"

Miles grunted. "I wonder if they control this weather too?"

George grunted and wiped his brow. "It is supposed to be cooler tomorrow. Anyone have any ideas?"

David and Doc just shrugged their shoulders. Miles had the lead for the moment....

"The original documented building was said to be made of stone, and covered or trimmed with bronze, so we are looking from 6000 years ago to the first known renovations, roughly 500 to 600 years B.C." What does that symbol "E" mean above the door? The curator said they thought it was the symbol for the Earth goddess, but I am not convinced of that. Miles scratched his head. "In what shape was it after 1190 B.C.?"

"Good question", George mumbled. "It may not have attracted attention. It could have been just a hole in the ground or a cave. There have been so many earthquakes in this area that the ground has undoubtedly shifted somewhat."

Chronos turned and smiled. "Pytho! We await my father here."

"You are not frightened of me....the others are.

Chronos gazed gently at the Ancient. "To me you are just another man. I have some friends that would just shit if they saw your face, others I know would kill you outright. There is no place for you here, at least not for any extended period of time. Wine talks..."

The Old One nodded in agreement. "The Nephilim will be back, you know, and they will not be happy to find their people dead and their box stolen."

"We'll take the chance. We know them for what they are now. "

The ancient man shook his head. "I am afraid you are wrong. You know them for what they are, but the rest don't. Others will equate their machines to god powers, which is not true. Is the thing you call an oar "god power"? No! Your mind is sharp and clear. I cannot say the same thing for the others I have met. They are as sheep...."

Chronos was suddenly in doubt. Maybe they had really over stepped their bounds. "You know them better then I. What do you think they will do?"

"Punish us. Throw rocks from the sky at us. Wash us with sky fire or possibly worse. Confuse us with what you call the Song of the Sirens and most people will not have access to bees wax. Any or all of these things. Some of the sky people are like Enki and Gay, and call themselves the Sons of Light because of the bright planet they come from, and the innocent will be spared. Others are bad, and come from the far blackness of the Heavens. They truly are the Sons of Darkness and no one will be safe.

Chronos looked out to sea. "It is a big world..."

The ancient but youthful appearing man looked at him and shook his head. "Not to them, it isn't. They look down on us from the heavens."

Hesphaes frowned at the report. The targets were still at large and what was left of some of his best men wasn't much. There was no need to rush now, merely keep close tabs on the group. Let them do the work, then take their prize from them.

The President chewed on his sandwich and waited for Miles to continue......

"You see, Mr. President, Pytho was the original name before the place became famous as Delphi. How the cult got started is not known, but the temple was thought first to be dedicated to the earth goddess Gae, after Apollo killed the dragon guarding it."

The president looked pained. "If it had an "E" carved above the door, one of the oldest symbols known and arguable thought to have stood for Ea or Enki, who was also the first god of the sea before Poseidon was even invented, and this temple was built on an island by Sea people..."

"...you find it hard to believe it was dedicated to someone called Gae. Mr. President, the Mother Goddess and the Earth Goddess were the same. Two persons were directly involved in the creation of man according to the oldest written record we have at our disposal. Gae, Ishtar and Asarte are the same person, the goddess of fertility, the bringer of created life. Ea, Enki and Poseidon are the same person. All life came from the sea. The mother and father of mankind..." Miles just looked at him from that point.

David scratched his head. "Your suggesting some kind of transmitter?"

Landau looked up at the others. "Why not?"

Miles looked around then walked out of the ruins. Turning, he gazed at the mountain rising above them and proceeded to start hiking upward to what was called the Corycean Cave, which was dedicated to Pan, and was 2600 feet higher than the temple.

The others watched him climb and went back to their own figuring.

The team that was protecting them split up, and two followed the engineer up the hillside, trying hard to look like tourists.

Hours later he returned, dusty and tired, but looking relatively pleased when he walked into their room.

Doc looked up from the book he was studying. "Well?"

"Bingo!"

Miles looked at the world leader and merely nodded. "Yeah..."

Miles pointed at the top of the cave."That seam was open at one time and that is all it takes for a signal such as F.M. Pan's cave is above us as near as I can estimate and there are several other galleries in that direction."

"How did you find this place!"

"Kids! When I started back down from Pan's cave, I asked a kid about hideouts they played in and he showed me the small hole we crawled through. It had uncovered in the spring rain last year some time. Then it was a matter of moving the small stone pile we crawled through and finding the galleries."

The rest were carefully examining the floor and noted the worn trail in the limestone that led to an earthquake sealed wall. George ran his hand over the stone rubble, noting the warmth of the material. Stepping back, he looked upward into the darkness that his light could not penetrate. "There is another vent here, and it looks man made."

Doc could use his height to good advantage again and climbed the pile to stretch upward as far as he could while David held the light for him. "There is a metal strip of some kind here...gold!?"

Hericles chuckled and mirthfully exclaimed, "Ho old god! You have slain a fearful dragon!"

"I suggest you pay more attention to the tripod, least your master below becomes angry and denies you your favorite beverage, strong man."

The gallery they ultimately landed in was also being used as a secret treasury, and valuables were stacked all over the chamber.

Chronos pointed the way and the others manhandled the box down an adjoining tunnel, carefully picking their way through the passage. Chronos winched as the pitch torch spattered his face. Someday they would have a way to light things in the dark without burning themselves, he thought. Enki had said that someday man would walk on the moon, but that seemed more like an old man's fanciful dream to him. He would take cold light first, and they could bury the moon in the river Stix as far as he was concerned.

The Old One and Chronos were grateful when they finally could put the computer down. What really hurt was the fact Hericles handled the other end without raising even so much as a sweat. Now they had to get Enki's life support casket down and set the entire system up. That just was going to beginning of the technical work. The metal smiths on the mainland were already drawing gold wire...

"You won't find any torch stubs though. Some really cleaned this chamber out," Miles added.

David looked again at the blocking pile of rubble. "Better to leave thieves some than the entire pile. That is how they thought in those days, using other excavations as an example, and that is a strip of gold up in the chimney. Do we notify the authorities?"

Miles got a grim look on his face. "Later....."

The rest nodded and carefully went to work. Ten feet inside the rapidly clearing tunnel, the gold strip started again.

"It is really packed in there," Miles remarked after backing out on his hands and knees. "I think that gold strip is part of an antennae system. We need to get some digging equipment."

Doc shook his head. "It needs more than that, Miles. What about the portable generator?"

Miles nodded his head. "We need a full wave rectifier and a good old fashioned rheostat to go with it. I'll make up a list and tomorrow we can give it a try."

The portable Onan genset was only rated at 5 K.W. but that was 220 A.C. With no other hookups drawing power from the box, it was more than ample. In fact they had to be very careful they did not try to feed in too much power through the rectifier, which changed the alternating current into D.C. Miles slowly increased the current by way of the rheostat until lights on the box began to softly glow.

Miles looked at the rest and centered everything on 60 volts. The lights looked about right.

"Okay...okay let's watch the damn thing for a while," Miles muttered more to himself than the others.

George crouched down by the capsule and suddenly began to notice a glowing gas fill the window inside, obscuring the mummified being that they had noticed through the dusted view plate. "Miles....the capsule is activating..."

David and Doc scrambled over to view the phenomena while the engineer never took his eyes off the ancient computer. "Keep me posted, fellows. This contraption is looking to the capsule first and I would bet it will continue to do so until it is satisfied it has enough juice for other purposes."

Doc looked up. "So far so good. Are you going to give it more power?"

"Just a squeeze, chum. I don't want to overload it. It will be fused but we would play hell trying to find any kind of circuit breaker if it decided to shut down."

David looked up and slightly smiled."I thought you were infallible..."

"Like Einstein said, all things are relative..."

Miles glanced down at the desk in front of him and looked back up at the leader of the country. "Is Hanger Thirteen in that stack?"

"Much more than Hanger Thirteen, Miles. You do know why these documents were classified, don't you?"

"There should be a treaty in there..."

"There is....We'll get to that later. What of other deities, such as Enlil and Baal? How do you explain them?"

Miles shrugged. "Well, that is a good question. We talked about quite a bit but like everything else there were no real conclusions. Cattle worship was wide spread, keeping in mind cattle were also a gift of the gods to the planet. Cattle flourished during the ice ages because of the loess or the grass of the Steppes. Anu, Ea, and Enlil were the key players in the Sumerian genesis until the flood, which is when they supposedly left the planet to be self ruled. Other than very isolated groups, the cow was never a deity in itself, for one did not eat his god. It was a symbol for a person or group."

"...and Enki?"

"Why do we call George Washington the father of our country? Because he was the first president. Never mind men like old Ben, Thomas and John laid the foundation. Enlil was the first governor of the planet, but council really ruled. Anu was top dog for the whole show, but only came to Earth when he had to."

"Now, about the box?"

Miles sighed. "Yeah, the box. It was multi-powered and the emergency supply was nuclear. I didn't fool with that at first. Actually we found the nuclear facts out later. Instead we hooked a D.C. supply to the obvious input and started feeding current by the use of batteries. It sucked every battery we had available right down to nothing and the was very little response that we could ascertain..."

When the glaciers receded and the oxygen-16 levels rose, any long term colonization was out of the question unless those from off-world mutated and that was possible for only a small percentage of them. The rest had to rely on a constant flow of anti-rejection compounds to keep their new genetic pattern intact, and hemoglobin compounds to properly assimilate oxygen 16.

The best they had been able to do was live underground during the non-glaciated periods where they could keep the "-18" levels high enough to displace the lighter "-16" molecules, stay out of the direct sunlight, and control the micro-organisms that were life threatening. In short, the Earth slowly poisoned them and shortened their life spans to a level that they found to be intolerable, if they lived on the surface.

And then there was the earthmen to contend with. They bred too fast, and were far too violent and advanced too quickly. In fact the general consensus of opinion in the fleet council favored the destruction of the species below, relatives or not. They were bound to spread sooner or later and they were extremely competitive. In reality they should have left the species well enough alone for they had created something they felt would ultimately find and possibly replace them in the long run.

Later men would call them the Olympians and sing of their skirmish with the Titans for the earth, a battle that ancient man had watched as a pro-Cro-magnon and as a Neanderthal take place in the sky above them, not understanding what they were actually seeing.

Both species of earth man knew of the spiritual world and thanked the Creator for the abundance He provided. They had not yet been issued the Universal Laws, but the Olympians had and so had the Titans. They would answer for their misdeeds against man, but that would occur on the other side, known as the spiritual plane. In any case they were going to fare much better the Sons of Darkness, the real enemy.

The Neanderthal would watch the pro-Cro-magnon change into modern man, limitedly spread and be destroyed by flood except for one small group during the thaw that took place 58,000 years previously. They got that punishment from the gods for the breakout from the underground facility after one of them killed a guard with a stone weapon shaped like a sickle, the guard being sexually diverted by a breeder that wanted her children, which were the new hybrids.

Man moved out in waves, sensitive to climate fluctuations. The Flood would not be forgotten. There would be others, but nothing as disastrous as the first one.

Man was neatly trapped between the coming and goings of two different sets of sky gods, whom the Bible would later claim to be the sons of God, and the Creator, whom Hesiod mistakenly called Uranus after the last working base in the solar system.

It had been decided to return and scout the situation out at certain intervals and make sure the beings from the third planet did not evolve too fast without proper moral instruction. They left one ship in a long elliptical orbit to be a close base for the returning scouts.

That evening by the campfire the Old One looked at his wife and softly stated in Old Tongue, "This was the last pass. There will be no other people in my chosen area until our children come of age if my estimates are correct."

She stirred the fire with a stick, then looked up to the stars. "Is that so important?"

"Your people will come with a vengeance. Those we have left behind will pay a terrible price for the knowledge they sought. We dare not be taken, or we shall never see this world again, and they will surely look for us."

"What about our signaling implants?"

"Enki turned them off before he went back to the base. He put the dead Offworlder, the one Chronos brought back when the warrior returned to Eden for the additional hardware Enki had demanded, in his own old capsule on the island. He destroyed all the transmitters. Ours are still in our heads, but they don't work anymore. As long as he is in stasis, his will not work, either. We must get some rest. I do not want you to lose our child..."

"What of the other bodies in the in the Garden? Did not Chronos say someone or something had broken the face plates in all the capsules inside the base? How will Enki survive?"

The ancient man slumped against a rock and smiled at her. "Enki is an excellent engineer, Gae. He told me his son had another hidden base, somewhere in the Sinai... and he will use a ME to get there. He told me many things before he left... so many things... including how to find our destination."

Gae could not help noticing the tears forming in her husband's eyes

"I am sure we could, Doc, if we knew how. Oh sweet Jesus...David!"

David looked up from the gas filled capsule. "What do you have in mind, Miles?"

"You speak old Hebrew and classical Greek. What else?"

"A smattering of Sumerian and Egyptian...some Hittite..."

"Can you form a simple statement in all of these languages as well as modern Hebrew and English?"

"You would like me to play Rosetta Stone!"

"What else?"

Promo had felt the first power trickle into it's circuits and waited until the special batteries held enough charge to reactivate the capsule. Before long the computer was able to turn on the remote sensors for it's physical world allowing it to "see" and "listen". The machine quickly noted the humans and their style of dress. The language had some sounds that it tried to correlate with Old Tongue up through Mycenaen into Greek, but it needed more input to communicate.

"Are you sure this is the spot ?" She asked for the fourth time.

"You must have faith in me. I have been here before through memory implants and the mountain tops I sighted on have not changed for many thousands of years. There! We have broken through. Now we must make sure the air is good and I will make the hole large enough for you to crawl through."

"The child is growing fast."

"So is this hole. We were lucky the ice cleared the large rocks it was sealed with. This used to be a plateau and ships landed here, but the glaciers are relentless even in their slowness."

Gay looked around the steep hillside and abrupt drop-off caused by eroding water. No ship can land here now, she thought. Time had been their salvation. Now if the units inside were intact...

It had been many years since he had last heard the warnings passed down to him from his father. The warnings which were secrets of his family passed down from father to son, information that dated back as far as the original Oracle and the secret base of the gods he had personally checked on. He was thinking about them when the runner collapsed on the flagstones just inside his gate, bringing the terrible news.

The captain decided to put a landing party down in the Anatola Plateau, the original laboratory landing site and location of what had taken place so long ago, where they had signed a treaty with the Sons of Light...

He knew the Sons of Darkness were coming because Enki had told him it was their turn to check out the neutral zone and he realized it was going to be just like the last time. Progress was going to be halted, cities would be destroyed, places of higher learning obliterated, and the survivors would be dispersed.

Some of the gods maintained this was done to accelerate evolution, but The Old One knew only too well that the Council of Twelve opinion changed with new personal. It was like the Flood, the big one.

There was no way the Offworlders could get all the personal off the planet after they had found out the predicted meteor strike would set off a chain reaction in conjunction with the arrival of the planet Eden, now known to the earthmen as the Planet of the Crossing. When the lower Antarctic ice pack slid into the sea, and the Earth's rotation slowed down from the incoming forces, the flooding was going to be terrible in the northern hemisphere. Because of the wall of northern glaciers and the position of the surrounding mountains, it was predicted to take at least six months for the water to drain back. It took a good year, instead.

The colonists were looked upon as a lower life form because their blood lines were not "pure" Eden anymore. Factions on the mother planet had not been happy with man in the first place because of the ability to think independently. Then after they had trained man to war and kill for them, they discovered the colonists had learned only too well the governors from Eden were mortal. The final straw was the amount of cross breeding that had taken place. It was not acceptable to the older council members.

Man was not the most relevant factor, for the Sons on Darkness were also mining and in the ground as the treaty allowed. The "fallen angels" from Khumarbi's ship in reality had set up camp first because they had to. Their bases were all underground and comprised of a now mixed bag of misfits from everywhere, as well as the "fallen" version of "Man" which had also managed to contribute to the planet wide gene cesspool.

They had forgotten one thing. Enki's blood ties to his own creation, by way of Eve, were stronger than any council decision pressured from his brother Enlil. Enki insured there would be survivors... his calculations were accurate enough for a worst case scenario and he knew what the outcome would be.

The Offworlders in orbit were appalled at the total devastation of their facilities, and almost starved to death before Anu and his meager supplies reached Earth orbit. When they went down to the planet surface to seek food and make fuel for the return flight home, they found the surviving colonists who were able to provide them with the rations. It was at this point the politics governing Earth changed...and changed again...and again...

The Old One looked around the cavern and was satisfied they were well sealed in. The computer they had at their disposal had been written off thousands of years before, and it was his people that had hidden it in this spot upon secret instruction from Enki and his consort. His tribe had done their job well before they had passed into the vale of time.

The gods would not rest until they found the other machine and recovered or destroyed it. He had been told long before that at all costs, man was not to receive the secrets of space flight, that man was an experiment that had failed in a terrible way, and the computers contained all of that knowledge. This was Enlil's argument after man had been dispersed for building a launching tower after the flood, determined to get off the planet. In the Hebrew texts that Chronos's father Pepolis had provided him, the pad was called the tower of Babel. When he pointed out all of the inconsistencies to Enki, the Offworlder merely smiled and told him to leave well enough alone. Climbing into his own unit and positioning himself, he reached up and pushed the button in the lid. His eyes searched the cavern ceiling for the last brief moment before the gas pulled his mind into darkness... He was thinking of Enki, and there were tears on his cheeks as the peaceful darkness pulled him under.

Herm's mind was in a turmoil. Man had stolen another computer, only this time he was not centralized but spread all over the planet. He had his shore party totally flame wash the chambers at the Anatola site, and there was no technology left for earthmen to analyze, but the fact remained they had the machine. The other base of the three was far south, functioning well and not activated nor to be disturbed in any way at this time. He was not sure where the Sons of Light had set up their base, but it was rumored to be even farther south.

He only had one ship and it would take time, he thought, but starting in the north country and working down through what would later be called Persia, man would be dispersed again. Egypt would be mostly excluded. They were the natural enemies of the Sea People and Herm knew who was not responsible for the theft of the machine. Man in Europe had spread up the old trade routes established by the Neanderthals and built their communities out of the most abundant and easiest to work material at hand. Wood...

Herm's battle crew readied their powerful ship's lasers as they began to make their first run through the northern amber settlements.

Miles cleared his throat. "We had small short range communicators and the last thing I heard from the guys inside the chamber was the capsule tubing had broken and they were going under. The cave in sealed off the chamber and from what we had learned from the machine about its functions, I just kept filling the gas tank of the generator and prayed like hell until I was sure the batteries were fully charged. The nuke power was just about depleted, according to the machine. Those men are now either dead or are in suspended animation without preparation. That means time is running out."

"What about the power?"

"The machine will function for years on the charge it has stored, but to get back into the chamber, there is a special procedure we now have to follow and that has to be supplied by another machine or everything will self-destruct. I know the location of another machine!"

"Why didn't you go to the authorities? "

"Can you picture Greece with that machine? "

"A good point. So being pursued, you clandestinely got out of the country and made your way here, by way of my niece."

Miles sighed. "You make it sound so easy...but yes."

Entering the country by way of Canada, he made his way to New York and got lost in the crowd. His next move was to get in touch with Lisa Cranston, which was easier said then done. In her own respect, she was as famous as her uncle, the President of the United States...

It was a small bistro buried in city of Washington D.C. and was considered by the media as their own personal meeting spot. Miles walked into the dim bar area and looked around, trying to pick out females in the gloom. None were the person he was looking for. He made his way to a small empty table in a far corner, and waited for the waitress to take his order. Service was excellent.

As he was sipping a coke, a young man suddenly appeared through the growing crowd and made his way toward Miles and then addressed him.

"Your party is outside. Please follow me."

Miles got to his feet and left a tip as he cleared the table. He felt the gun nestled snugly under his jacket and it gave him a great feeling of comfort as he followed the stranger through the door. There was a cab waiting in front and Miles was motioned inside, the young man climbing in after him.

The man gave the cabby an address and sat back in silence, so Miles decided not to speak until spoken to. When the cab driver found there was not going to be any conversation in his vehicle, he turned the radio up and proceeded to the address. He was used to it. Washington D.C. was known for tight lipped people as well as its drunks.

He pulled up to a motel and the young man handed him a twenty and told him to keep the change. As he pulled away, he shrugged to himself. Sexual preferences were not his primary motivational interest. Money was...

Mile followed the young man to another vehicle and they got in. It was not until they were driving down the street that the man quietly spoke. "O.K., this car is clean and we were not followed. The only reason I am meeting with you is I have a gut hunch you are for real."

Miles was startled. The voice was distinctly female. "Lisa Cranston?"

"In the flesh, but I must admit I do look better with the disguise stripped away. The place you were at crawls with spooks. You were most likely photographed at least four or five times. Will this fact constitute a problem?"

"Maybe... I am not really sure."

"Give me a quick overview of what you have and I will make the decision about our course of action."

"I am a spokesman for a group of scientists that has a very unique computer built by persons unknown."

"That is what you told my secretary, and that is not good enough to warrant my time."

"It seems to have been built over one hundred thousand years ago for sure, and could actually be much older than that. The machine makes everything we currently have look very crude in comparison. Does the name Dr. George Landau ring a bell?"

"Bingo! You said the magic word. I have met old "Crazy" before, and he is not nuts..."

"Well, George sent me to you because I have to see your uncle about a national security situation. There is a trail of dead and wounded behind me to prove the importance."

Lisa pulled the car to the curb side and glanced around the deserted residential street. "Give me some more detail, Mr. Horne. I did check out your bonifieds through the Department of Transportation. I would like to know how a Chief Engineer in the United States Merchant Marine got himself into this situation..."

Miles turned the Coleman lantern up and looked for reading material in the snug cabin. The fire place with the heat insert worked by convection and the result was a very cozy feeling inside. The family that owned it let Lisa use it when she wanted to, so long as it was vacant from family doings. She had done them a huge favor years before, just what that favor was Miles did not know. She told him it was none of his business.

"Find anything worth while to read?"

Horne looked up and smiled. "Popular Mechanics..."

Lisa suddenly smiled. "Somehow it fits. Listen Miles, it is going to take a couple of days to get you into the White House. There is dehydrated and canned food, reading material and a good transistor radio. The other supplies we picked up should keep you going just fine. I have to get back tonight."

Miles smiled at her. "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate everything you have done for us, Lisa."

"My price is the exclusive news story when we are able to use the material, sport. Watch for strangers..."

Miles passed the president a piece of hand written material in such a way the monitors could not pick the transaction up. He looked the chief executive in the eye and winked. "You have to get me into the Carpathian mountains. There could be difficulties..."

"I will get my people on it. Meanwhile, come with me and we will get you a decent place to sleep. That was quite a story, Miles. The ending should be more interesting."

The large sub began to settle until the surface was 300 feet above her, then she continued on with the first part of her around the world voyage.

Three days later 200 people that looked like Miles left the United States from various points. All had identical I.D. They made it a point to leave a huge U.S. Government electronic trail, none of which led to Greece.

Chronos did not blink so much as an eye as he ordered all of his runners together as well as his scribes and gave them his instructions. They had drilled this routine over and over until the system ran as smooth as a watch. Used primarily for business purposes, his communications system was now an early warning system, the best in its time. It took less than an hour to get the messages under way. The Sea Peoples were under attack from the sky and the enemy was merciless, methodical and very slowly coming this way...

Years later at what the archaeologists would call the 1190 B.C. level, nothing but ash and shattered brick would be found in many areas where records were kept, all being located north of Egypt and west of India. Earlier civilizations, those that built the few stone edifices and buildings found in Europe; which are the oldest ones recorded to date, would disappear and nothing would really be heard about civilization in that direction until the Etruscans established themselves.

The Mycenaen civilization was utterly destroyed and a period of dark ages that lasted over 300 years set in, even in relatively untouched Egypt. It was noted that the break in the Bible between the book of Joshua and Samuel is approximately 350 years.

Earlier experts attributed this destruction to an invasion of the Sea People, as a few skirmishes were fought. Later experts believe any fighting was to clear the path of a full retreat.

A later Hellen named Hesiod would write his Theogeony and much of his history would be treated as a romantic tale, and the fact his was the earliest recorded war, a war between the sky gods in which man got involved, would be lost on scholars.

When it came to destruction, man had good teachers...

In short, those who were now running through the passes into eastern kingdoms were acting as decoys for him. The southern Sea Peoples were trying to get into Egypt under retreat, but the Egyptian Army and small navy held the line. This much his runners had told him before he took refuge.

He thought of his own family deep in mountain caves or fleeing across the sea. They had split up to insure blood line survivors. How many of his brothers and sisters would survive? Was the god box really worth all of this? Something inside of him told him it was. It was said the ancient gods took away the ability to see into the future but gave mankind hope in its place. Chronos wished he could renegotiate the deal. Time, he tiredly reflected, it always came down the mere passing of time...

At the sound of the knock code, the men inside unlocked the door and opened it, allowing Miles to hurriedly step in and secure it. When he turned from this duty he could see the anxious but smiling faces of David, George and Doc, who

broke the silence.

"You made it!"

"It wasn't easy...we have to get the hell out of here. I have a boat waiting. How is the machine?"

"Surrounded as you said it would be. There are more "tourists" here now then the locals have ever seen."

"They think you are down there with it. The people who have been giving us trouble are waiting for us in Transylvania. Even the President thinks you are still entombed. I forgot to mention I dug you out fairly rapidly."

David shook his head and grinned. Miles really had a sense of humor. The enemy would be just far away enough to stay out of their hair while they got the rest of the job done, at least that was the theory. He turned and grabbed his things. It was time to go.

The boat was Turkish and cleared for the new Black Sea trade agreement. It was also owned by a personal friend of David's, a man who could keep his mouth shut and ask no questions. His most trusted man was captaining the vessel. He was to drop the party at the northeastern side of the Black Sea. A piece of cake for an old smuggler...

Using a map they had put together, they wound their way into the mountains and searched for certain landmarks that time would have left intact. They used no camp fires and avoided any paths the locals might travel on. It was not an easy journey.

Miles held his hand up for the others, signaling them this was the place the machine had pinpointed for them and it was time to start digging. It was odd to think he was being directed by a man most likely long dead, to this place in the remote Caucasus mountains. He looked around, double checking the landmarks and then spotted the denoted fissure at the base of the shear mountain wall before them.

They fanned out and began to inspect the face of the granite. It was Doc again who found the markings chiseled in the stone, higher than the average man would look. It took them eight hours of hard work to break into the tunnel, only to find another blockage forty feet farther in. At least they were out of sight, invisible to infrared and radar scanning from the satellites above.

Much later in the day as they stopped to rest, they stared at the three natural branching tunnels they had found past the second obstacle. David groaned. "A natural cavern system! "

"This particular area is not noted for it's caves, especially ones volcanically made instead of limestone formations, George calmly stated. Would you believe we are most likely the first scientists to stop in this valley for thousands of years?"

Miles got to his feet and walked over to one of the passages to inspect it for signs. From the chamber it was like looking at three nine foot tunnels, one fourth full of sand deposited by some ancient sea. "I believe it. There is nothing here for anyone. No water other than snow melt, no protection from the wind, and no game animals larger than ground squirrels. Locally glaciated I would guess from time to time but semi-desert during the recent ice ages with some areas here better than others."

Doc nodded his head in the glow lit cavity, their lamps comfortably certain to outlast them while supplying all the light they needed. The fishing vessel had also supplied them well. "This was a hideout all right. What are you looking for Miles ?"

The engineer looked up from his hands and knees, a position he had moved into while he carefully shined his light down the sand in each tunnel. The texture of sand in the tunnel to the left was slightly different in appearance subtly to him. "I think I found what we are looking for. Someone tried to conceal his tracks along time ago in the left tunnel. This sand his been undisturbed for hundreds of years at least." George told them to get some rest at that point. He would take the first watch.

The day came when he had to depart the system. The war was still going on in other areas of the galaxy and another supply patrol was due according to a set schedule. The problem with Earth would have to wait for a while...and he did have the precious bovine produced enzymes and hemoglobin he was required to return with. He had harvested these before the destruction. As for the gold, it was so dispersed now that it was not worth retrieving, and they did have other sources available since they discovered star flight.

He hoped he had made the correct decision. It all boiled down to home planet politics, which varied because of stasis cycles...

"This machine is larger than the other one," Miles stated.

"Mostly power pack, I'll bet," observed Doc. " Is it time to play the tape from the other machine to it?"

Miles looked amused. "I would say so, seeing as how the lights are starting to go crazy. It senses our presence. Play the tape, David."

"Punching the play button now."

There was no audible noise to the humans, but the computer responded in perfect verbal English after the tape was finished. It simply asked them what the hell was going on.

Miles turned to the rest. "Do you get the impression this is a first class outfit compared to the one we started with?"

The machine spoke out before anyone else could reply."I am generations newer. The other machine was the first on this planet and was a converted ship computer. I am a private machine donated by a being you now call Fire Giver. My instructions, which cannot be changed, are to help man in any way possible without breaking Universal Law."

"What laws are those?" David asked quietly.

"You call them the Ten Commandments. They are known throughout the galaxy under many names. They are of the dimensional spiritual world recognized by all higher life forms. I am considered a special higher life form of crystalline structure."

Of course, Mile thought. You are also an arrogant pile of nuts and bolts that I am going to have a lot of fun with...

Hours had gone by and they had looked into the capsules, after cleaning the windows, far more than once or twice. The obvious humans inside were alive, and the men were afraid they would blow the entire procedure of awakening them. As Doc had pointed out, that would be considered murder in any court room.

Miles stirred the freeze dried concentrate into the boiling water, and carefully turned down the Ultra-Pack cooker. "I know they will need the nourishment, but by the time we combine all of this together and throw the honey in, there will be no bets they won't puke."

Doc grinned. "What does it remind you of, Miles?"

"Hospital grub...government hospital food at that."

David smelled the brew. "Oh boy... the Arab terrorists fed me better than that. Maybe the honey will camouflage the vitamins. These people look like us, but what if they can't eat this stuff?"

George looked at Doc. "Well...?

"Water! Lots of water. I'm going to empty the rain traps again. That should give us a reserve of seven gallons in the plastic cistern." Doc got to his feet and headed out of the tunnel. He needed the fresh air, anyway.

Miles glanced nervously at the computer and other equipment it was controlling. "Come on baby...", he softly muttered. "Don't blow it for Daddy Miles..."

Doc looked up. "The gas is starting to evacuate now...Hey! He opened his eyes! He's breathing on his own!"

The lid suddenly released its seal with a slight popping sound. The computer broke the silence. "You may remove him at any time, but I suggest the newly awakened be allowed to make the attempt himself."

Miles looked at the machine. "Everything is normal, then?"

"Everything is normal. Do you wish me to start on the female?"

"No! Not until we talk to this guy, first."

"As you wish..."

The Old One sat wrapped in a space blanket and gratefully excepted the warm gruel. He tasted it and then looked up at Doc. The look in his eyes was obvious to the physician.

"Well Miles, he might not understand what we are saying, but his eyes are telling me your witches brew tastes like doggy doo..."

The Old One smiled at the strange sounds and bravely started swallowing. Doc poured him some more water and kept him eating and drinking until the man shook his head negatively. Then he pointed to his head, at Doc's head, and then waved his hand toward the machine. He spoke several times, and obviously each sentence was a different language.

Doc turned to the others. "He wants to use the machine. What do you think?"

George nodded his head. "He knows we mean him no harm, that we are trying to help." George waved his hand toward the machine for him. The Old One started talking to the computer and it was answering back...

Miles watched the man put on his clothes, a simple woolen tunic and sandals, which had been stored in the capsule. The engineer noted carefully as the Old One opened a compartment on the side of the computer and took out two odd looking head sets. He handed on to Miles and put the other on his own head, showing the engineer how to position it. It was time for them to go to school...

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