Here is the first installment of my project for Nanowrimo 2010. I hope you enjoy it as I return to my regular rotation of writing. More chapters will come as I edit and polish them. As always please take a moment to review.
The Transhuman War
Time travel makes following the flow of history especially difficult. The Transhuman War or the War for Transhuman Freedom as some have begun to call it, or as Runeclaw has been heard to comment, “that recent unpleasantness with the UN” is a perfect example of this. Exactly where did the whole mess begin?
Historians have set its beginning point at three main points: the destruction of Orlando by a devastatingly powerful nuke in late December of 2001; the creation of Krieger by the Axis powers in May of 1941, or in the Atlantean Civil War back in in prehistory.
If we were to use the destruction of Orlando, Florida as the beginning of the war, then we might as well include the September 11, 2001, or even the bombing of the USS Cole. Although the Orlando bombing did have some overtones to the Transhuman War, this author rejects it as the beginning. Events of the war were already in motion, the bombing of Orlando, tragic as it was, was not in this author’s opinion the real beginning of the war.
A stronger argument can be made for gift of the secret of the Transhuman gene to the Nazis by Shadu at the beginning of World War II. It was certainly the first appearance of a known transhuman since fall of Atlantis. The subsequent theft of the process by Aaron Stryker who eventually would undergo the process to become American Ace and its accidental release by Doctor Griffin in December of 1941 are of course the events that triggered the wide scale return of the Atlantean Gifted Gene to the human race. There is a strong argument for these events being the genesis of the “modern” transhuman war.
However, it is the firm belief of this author that the true origins of the war are lost in history and are probably not even truly understood by the key players themselves- the House of Atlyn and the sorcerer Shadu. We know that Shadu and his hatred for all things both Atlyn and Atlantean were the genesis for a great many of tragedies of history. His single minded pursuit and murder of every human family carrying the AG gene throughout history; his attempted genocide against the race known as the Mideanites; and his aid to Brother Bartholomew in founding the organization known as the Directive are all signs of a deep wound from somewhere in the past that he was trying to expunge.
In the opinion of this author, the Transhuman War began with the arrival in Ancient Atlantis of a group of teenage heroes from the early twenty-first century.
Imperial Garrison at Thule approximately 299,500 years ago- give or take a week.
Force Commander Dantienne was not a large woman. In actuality she was exactly at the minimum height and weight for an Atlantean imperial ground force soldier. Too, she was on the thin side and sometimes complained that her hip bones rubbed uncomfortably against the kilt of her armor. Her long black hair was pulled back into a regulation pony-tail to keep it from falling into her hazel eyes. Only the slight copper cast to her skin gave any indication that her great grandmother had been one of Kiera-Atlan’s Gifted- the reason she’d been put in command of this Gods-forsaken outpost in the first place. The throne hoped that her pedigree would help her win over the locals. So far that had been only marginally successful.
She blew a stray lock of raven hair out of her eyes as she studied the terrain around the garrison trying to determine from which direction the enemy was likely to attack. The door chimed and she pressed the indicator on her desk to allow entrance to the bad news she suspected as coming. She looked up as the messenger came into her office. She could tell by the look on the young man’s face that she was right: it as bad news. “Yes?” she asked.
“Commander, we just got news that the Mideanite transport bringing reinforcements was shot down two hours from here. All hands were reported lost,” the soldier told her. She could hear the resignation and near hopelessness in his voice.
“Any word from the Gifted?” she asked. Kierra Atlan’s Gifted were a dangerous force to put on the battlefield- as dangerous for the force using them as it was to the enemy. They were very unpredictable, and showed little discipline, but their raw power could be devastating.
“No Commander. But Intel says they don’t think they’ll come,” the young man said. “They’re still in chaos from the rebel attack on their town last night.”
Dantienne nodded her head and sighed. “I guess I‘d better tell his Imperial Highness. We are in serious danger of having a prince of the realm captured by rebel forces.”
“Ma’am there’s more,” the messenger said.
“Go on,” she asked feeling her heart sink into her boots.
The messenger swallowed obviously nervous at the news he was about to deliver and then said, “Intel says that Shadu’s forces have captured a battleforce of grav tanks and is closing on our position. Also, the mages say that there’s something building in the air. Granted Ma’am, I don’t understand half of what they’re talking about, but they’re saying something about a huge magestorm building.”
Dantienne nodded and said, “Thank you. I’d better tell Prince Valyn.” Then turning she left the room to head down to the Prince’s quarters. She would like to get her hands on whatever bureaucrat that approved the Valyn’s visit. This mess was about to turn into a disaster that could reach all the way to the stellar colonies.
Arriving at the door to the Prince’s quarters, the two guards outside were standing at attention. Nodding, she knocked and waited.
“Enter,” Valyn’s voice called.
Doing as she was bid, Dantienne opened the door to find Valyn strapping on his battle gear with the help of his bodyguard, Andrath. Valyn was a whipcord thin man with long luscious red hair and a ruddy complexion. He had piercing green eyes that seemed to cut one directly to the soul. From what she’d come to know of him, was that he took his role as the “spare” quite seriously and worked to find ways of being useful to his father the Emperor, his sister the heir, and his brother- her twin- who would become the High Quester, the head of the Atlantean Church. Some of the talk Dantienne had been hearing around the garrison was that it was a shame that Valyn’s sister would inherit the throne and not him.
Andrath however was short, heavily muscled with his long brown hair pulled back into a functional ponytail. He was a serious man who wielded his mindblade with a deadly efficiency in battle. The binary star burst etched into the breastplate of his armor marked him as a member of the Mideanite royal family. He was shaking his head in disapproval as helped to attach Valyn’s heavier combat armor.
Looking up Valyn said, “Ah Force Commander. I’m glad you are hear. My friend Andrath seems to be upset about something and is insisting that I get ready for battle.” The banter may have been light, but Dantienne could see worry in the prince’s eyes. One did not lightly disregard the suggestions of a mideanite guard- as they were only ever assigned to guard the personages of the imperial family.
“We’ve received some bad news, your highness,” Dantienne said. “I’m afraid your personage is in considerable danger and we have no way to get you out of harm’s way,” she said.
Andrath and Valyn looked at each other and then the prince asked, “What bad news?”
“The mideanite reinforcements were shot down, the Gifted are in disarray, and it looks like Shadu has a battleforce of grav tanks on the way. Intel says that the mages are concerned about a magestorm too.” she told him not honey-coating anything.
With a grave nod of his head he and Andrath looked at each other. “I suspected as much.” With a determined look he pushed his shoulders back and said, “I will not be captured to be used against my father or my sister.”
“Every soldier here will defend you to the death, Highness,” Dantienne told him.
The prince shook his head and said, “No. I’ll stand with them and if they go down, so will I.”
Dantienne began to think that the consensus of her troops was fairly accurate. She turned to Andrath and asked, “And you?”
Andrath gave her a look of pure contempt for daring to ask such a question. “Since the empire gave shelter to my grandsire and his brother, the Mideanite people have stood with the emperor and served as the personal guardians of the throne. I stand with my charge and my friend,” Andrath said. “Where can an old six-finger and a prince of the realm be of most use?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. The grav tanks have changed the dynamic of the situation. If they were just attacking with small arms, mortars, infantry and some light air cover we could hold them off. But those tank guns can cut a hole right through our heaviest defenses. I don’t know how long we can stand against them,” she said.
“Any chance of retreat?” Valyn asked.
“None, Highness. This is the last imperial stronghold on Thule. Shadu has managed to kill just about everyone else,” Dantienne said. “His attack on the Gifted town last night did considerable damage. Most of the adults were killed and the children have fled into the forest. It was a particularly brutal assault. Shadu hates the Gifted almost as much as he hates the throne.” She paused a moment and looked over at Andrath before adding, “and the Darkmother’s Children.”
The prince nodded and finished snapping his helmet into place. With a wan smile, he said, “In that case let’s go see where we can be of the most use. I didn’t want to live forever anyway.” Dantienne chuckled and followed the young man out. That one had just a little too much fire in his soul and she feared that he would burn out before the battle was done.
~*~
It did not take long for Shadu’s forces to arrive. There was none of the usual posturing; no demands for surrender or the sending of messages or threats. The grav tanks simply pulled up and started pounding the reinforced walls. The garrison’s big gun took out two tanks before it went up in a huge explosion raining hot metal and plasti-steel down on the compound and breaching a hole in the wall.
As the imperial troops scrambled to seal the huge hole, Shadu’s irregular forces, consisting mainly of small squads made up of highly trained clone-troopers backed by Kheltian and Hesperian mercenaries charged the walls. Prince Valyn wasn’t sure which of the latter concerned him more. He had only pity for the clone-troopers as they had no life, no existence but to serve their twisted master. Of those that he dispatched, he did so with a sense of releasing them from their horrible fates.
The Kheltians looked like a miniature bipedal version of the of the dragons they worshiped- minus the wings of course. They were big, clawed and and carried pulse rifles that doubled as clubs. They could literally rip a man in half or even eat him- something they were known to do. Some- the soulsaurians- were capable of devouring an enemy’s life force and his very soul before eating the body. Fortunately, Shadu didn’t have many Kheltians out of fear for his own troops.
The Hesperians on the other hand, an all-female force mounted on sky riders, were very fast and extremely maneuverable. Their mounts were armed with mini pulse cannons that could punch a hole through heavy armor. Their sidearms on the other hand consisted of mono-filament blades and a rather nasty slug thrower that could bring down a saber cat with a single shot. Centuries of enmity between the Atlanteans and the Hesperians made this battle especially sweet for them. Valyn knew that he’d rather be eaten by the Kheltians than captured by the Hesperians.
The battle around him surged and ebbed as the garrison forces slowly closed the breach, but not without the cost of considerable lives. A soulsaurian had broken through and cornered a gun-crew. Before he could move to aid the soldiers, Force Commander Dantienne waded into the fight.
As he and Andrath closed with the dueling pair, he watched as she leapt onto its back, and boxed the great creature’s ears with both hands. Much to Valyn’s surprise the Kheltian psychic vampire dropped the gunner it was trying to eat, and reached around to grab the garrison commander. With a grace and power that surprised him, the woman rolled over its shoulder and came down between it and her men. Reaching into her belt she pulled out a kinetic grenade and popped the primer.
Valyn and Andrath skidded to a halt behind the Kheltian. Like a striking hood-snake Andrath’s mindblade lashed out and cut deeply into the dark blue protective plate-like scales on the Kheltian’s back. There was a bubbling and a hiss as the annihilation energy of the blade met the matter of the scales. As the molecular bonds were broken there was a flash of blackness and the blade cut through to the bone. There was not much that could stand up to the energy of one of those blades.
The soulsaurian reacted and threw its head back in agony. As it opened its great toothy maw, Dantienne darted and shoved the grenade down its throat with one hand and fired her pulse rifle directly into its right hip joint with the other. Before she could clear the area, the creature bit down.
Valyn watched in horror as black veins of power began to pop out on her skin and her life force began to flow into the creature to heal the damage to its back. Quickly he darted in, shoved his own pulse rifle under the great black jaw with one arm and grabbed the Force Commander with the other. As he pressed the trigger, he yanked back as hard as he could. With a sickening pop, her wrist pulled free as the 1.21 gigawatts of energy poured into the creature’s throat. As Valyn and the Force Commander rolled backwards, the soulsaurian’s brains were blown skyward and splattered on the plasti-steel wall behind them. Valyn was unsure if it was the k-grenade or the pulse rifle that finished it off.
Looking over, he saw the woman was definitely in shock. “Healer!” he called into his radio. “The commander is down.”
As he looked around to see the medical technician running toward them, he felt Dantienne’s hand rap on his chest. Through the haze of pain and the sheer exhaustion of having part of her life force stolen, she pulled him toward her. She gritted her teeth and said, “Save my men, Highness.”
All Valyn could do was nod. Turning to the healers as they arrived, one of them said, “Highness you’d better fall back. The enemy’s massing for another attack.”
A red haze began to grow behind Valyn’s vision. He looked over to where Andrath was rallying the soldiers to seal and guard the breach. Shaking his head, he walked determinedly toward the stairs leading to the upper levels of the outer wall. Taking the steps two and three at time he cleared the parapet in time to feel the wind began to pick up.
Looking up he saw a great black and purple cloud begin to form over the battlefield and wondered if this was the magestorm the Force Commander had warned him about. Looking down, he could see where the remaining eight grav tanks were forming up in a line about two thousand metrics away from the garrison.
He knew what they were planning. With the garrison’s main gun out, nothing they threw at the tanks would penetrate. They’d concentrate their fire to a single point on the wall and blow a hole straight through the complex. Try as he might, Valyn could think of nothing he could do to stop them.
Suddenly a levin-stroke slammed down into the clearing between the tanks and the garrison. Like a space-based bombardment, energy poured into the ground until the protective lenses of his visor completely blacked out.
When the blackness cleared, five forms stood in the middle of the battlefield. Three on the ground and two floating in the air above them. Tapping the side of his visor, Valyn zoomed in on them and saw they looked very young.
The biggest of all five stood between the rest and grav-tanks. He was wearing some kind of blue body suit with a long white cloak flowing from behind it. He was well-built with broad chest and well defined muscles. His jaw was just showing the beginnings of what would be a strong angular form in a few years. His eyes were a deep blue and his hair was a light sandy blond. He also looked as angry as a saber cat.
Next to him was another male, this one too was blond and built only slightly smaller. He was wearing a multi-colored body suit of red, white, and blue. There was something about him though that surprised Valyn. Although his form was as young as the first boys, his eyes spoke of a greater age and wisdom.
The last form on the ground was a medium sized boy with brown hair. He was wearing a black and white body suit, with a black and red jacket over it. Some kind of tool kit was around his waist and he had what looked like an energy weapon in his hand.
The first in the air was a smallish boy in a blue, yelow, and white bodysuit. He was floating the air under what seemed to be his own power. Valyn had seen some of the Gifted do this as well as the occasional Mideanite telekinetic, but never anyone so young. He looked to be barely old enough for his voice to have begun changing. His blond hair did not quite hide the blue eyes beneath them.
Lastly was a single female. She had long flowing blond hair and the beginnings of what Valyn suspected would eventually be a very attractive figure. She wore a dark blue dress-like tunic over a white bodysuit. She too floated in the air as if under her own power.
Their appearance seemed to have shocked Shadu’s forces as much as it did those of the garrison. Valyn could see the blond scalp-lock of the sorcerer sway in the wind for a moment as he studied the five new comers. Then to the imperial prince’s surprise he ordered his tanks to fire on them.
All five reacted in unison. The girl flew straight up, the boy dropped in front of the kid with brown hair. The other two closed ranks in front of him. Energy poured into the spot where they were standing. One of the cannon bolts slammed into big guy in blue. Much to Valyn’s surprise, he was not vaporized on the spot, but instead picked up and hurled back into the garrison wall by the force of the blast. A second later, the same thing happened to the other big guy as energy poured into the spot where the other two two were.
Suddenly one of the tanks rose higher into the air, turned a hundred and eighty degrees onto its back and then slammed down onto the one next to it. Then with a speed and reaction that surprised Valyn all of newcomers sprang into action. The two at the wall launched themselves out onto the tanks and in an exhibition of raw power the likes of which Valyn had never seen, they literally began to tear them apart with their bare hands.
A sudden series of bursts from the youngest punched neat holes through the what was left. Sky riders began to crash into the ground for no apparent reasons and the Kheltians turned onto each other. A glimmer of hope began to rise in Valyn’s soul as Andrath joined him at the wall. It would appear that the Gifted had joined the fight after all.
Castle Berkklam High in the Austrian Alps January 1941
He was a tall muscular man with a slight almond complexion. His blond hair was cut short in the style popular in Europe at this time and although his face did not show the signs of his true age, his gray eyes were not quite so obliging. They showed many more years than his face carried.
He was not quite the oldest human to walk the Earth, but he was definitely the oldest that was still alive. He’d used many names throughout history, but for some reason he always came back to his chosen name, his sorcerer’s name. The one he’d been given as a child had long since been lost to three hundred thousand years of memory, as had the people who’d given it to him. It had been seared away along with his magegift and his manhood by the High Quester of ancient Atlantis for daring to rebel against the throne.
It had been a long and difficult fight, but he’d eventually brought down the throne, but at a great cost to not only to him, but the Earth and the stellar empire as a whole. His second civil war had done so much damage to the planetary ley-lines that it had set off a catastrophic flood that had scoured away most of civilization. What the flood had not removed, two several subsequent ice ages had.
He’d lived the whole time; slowly hunting down the last remnants of the empire, destroying those with any sign of Kiera Atlan’s gift; anyone who carried the least bit of Mideanite blood, and wiping out as many of the non-human races as he could. He was on a one man mission to see that the last tidbits of Atlantis in general and the hated Thulian provinces in particular were relegated to the trash bin of history. Now that the gene was so subsumed into the general human DNA, it was time to bring back Kiera-Atlan’s children: to serve his purposes not hers. To bring about his final retribution on a world that would abuse him so.
Shadu looked over at the culmination of his work. He’d gone to a great deal of effort to preserve various technologies from his own time. It was not easy, and much had been lost through the intervening centuries. But he’d managed to keep what he thought he’d need, and keep it well-hidden. Now he was putting his plan into action. Bring back the Gifted, stripped of their connection to the accursed Atlantean Goddess’ influence and bend them to his own will. He would become her children’s master.
The data on his portable electronic pad- a piece of electronic technology that was still far ahead of the best even the Nazis could produce was well within the parameters he'd predicted. The serum was finished. It had already been applied to the first series of subjects and would be used to infect several more specifically chosen soldiers. They would in turn have other soldiers exposed to them. It should spread through those infected quiet easily. It would have little to no effect on those without the dormant AG gene. Those in possession of it would contract flu-like symptoms. His projections were that it would kill eighty percent of those. There was no avoiding that, the AG gene was buried to deep, or was too weak. Of those who survived between two and four percent would have the gene activated. It was a very low percentage of success, but it was all he could manage given the limitations of modern technology. Still it would also produce a much higher end product.
As his eyes scanned the names and the data on their genome, he smiled. He’d overheard the discussions from his hosts about using the survivors to breed a race of super strong highly durable soldiers. Shadu knew the secret of those particular gene structures. Creating the Gifted was far easier than getting them to breed- at least with women. Keira-Atlan designed her children in a specific manner and tying that particular gene combination to same sex attraction was part of her plan- or at least that’s what the Atlantean Church had always said.
Still he was not sure about the information his hosts had given him about some of the subjects. Based on his own projections, their favorites- the SS Captain, and the two Gestapo operatives had a less than thirty percent chance of surviving the process, and if they did and if they were endowed with gifted powers, he did not suspect they would be the impressive juggernauts the Nazis wanted. Baron von Tottenstein’s oldest son however was very likely to outclass them all. It was irony in action, that the young man sent to the experiments as a punishment to his father was most likely to survive.
There was a knock at the door, and Doctor Klaus Hauer entered the room going over a ream of paper. Shadu slipped the electronic pad into his pocket, looked up and smiled at the man’s grumblings. Although Hauer gave off a gruff exterior, he was one of the few scientists working with Shadu that he actually liked. The short man with steel gray eyes, a thick blond mustache and thinning hair said, “Herr Doctor Shadu, surely your predictions are off.”
“In what way?” Shadu asked with a smile as he looked at the hard copy of the file he was just viewing that the other researcher was holding.
“Surely Hauptmann Amsel, and Sergeants Mueller and Vogler have a higher percentage of gaining the desired adaptations than Von Tottenstein. The Fuhrer’s own geneticists picked them for this experiment.”
Shadu smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Luitger, you know my opinion of that particular group of so-called scientist and their work.” He turned from the man toward a coffee pot he had set up in the corner and asked, “I was about to prepare myself a cup of coffee. Would you like one?”
“No thank you, Shadu. I can’t stomach the stuff the army gives us claiming it is coffee.”
Shadu turned back and smiled at the man and said, “This is real, Luitger, not the chicory and acorn mix our hosts want to try and pass off as coffee.”
The other scientist raised and eyebrow and asked, “Where in Austria did you get real coffee?”
Shadu smiled and said, “I have my sources for many things.”
“In that case, I will definitely have a cup of your coffee,” Doctor Hauer said. Then as if remembering what came brought him to Shadu’s lab in the first place he asked, “Are you sure about Amsel and Mueller?”
“I’m sure, Luitger. If anyone had bothered to actually ask me I could have chosen a selection of candidates with a far better chance of success than the batch the high command has sent me. Of the three hundred we’re discussing only the four you mentioned stand even the slightest chance of having the gene activated. The rest will most likely get the flu and possibly die.”
“Then why go on with the experiments?” Hauer asked.
“Because there are things I wish to gain for myself out of this process, Luitger,” Shadu told him with a smile. “The fact that there is a higher percentage of the Gifted gene in North and Western Europe simply makes your Fuhrer’s goals and my own compatible. Nothing more and nothing less, my friend.”
Hauer looked around concerned and said, “I wouldn’t toss comments around like that too openly, Herr Doctor. The SS has eyes everywhere.”
Shadu smiled and said, “Not in this room.” He began preparing the coffee as he continued to speak. “My research indicates at its height, the Atlanteans had an outpost on an island somewhere in the North Atlantic, and that outpost was heavily populated by what they called the Gifted. When the Empire fell and Thule disappeared, those not on the island migrated and settled in isolated areas of Western and Northern Europe. They took locals as their spouses and passed the gene into the population.”
“And where do you get this kind of information?” Hauer asked.
“It’s there if you know where to look and how to dig. The problem is that the Fuhrers archaeologists have no patience for the real research that has to be done to find out these kinds of things. Instead they destroy evidence that disproves their eugenics theories and twist other finds until they are unrecognizable. I’m not here to prove the Nordicism theory correct. Yes, some of the Nordic peoples are descended from the Atlanteans, so are some of the Semitic peoples and so are some of the American Native Indian peoples. I am here to bring back that gene,” he told Hauer. "Not give credence to a racist." In three hundred thousand years, Shadu had come to realize that just about any person no matter what race was capable of the same greatness and the same depravity. Culture played a far greater influence on civilization than race ever did.
As for the the Gifted and their genes being part of the Nordic people, granted there was a higher concentration of the gene in the Nordic peoples, but it wasn’t a pure race as Hitler claimed. It was there because of the hybridization of the Atlanteans with the locals- and not a few Neanderthals from the last ice age as well. The Nordic people were not a “pure race” but an amalgam of several local groups of people who managed to survive the Great Flood and two ice ages. That was impressive enough, but it in no way made them genetically superior to humanity. He was not about to tell Hauer, the Nazis, or anyone else that there was just as high a concentration in the mountains of Scotland, Ireland, and the Southern United States- the latter due to the colonization of by the former over the last few centuries. “How are our patients doing?” he finally asked Hauer.
Hauer shook his head and said, “I hate to admit it, but you are correct. All four men we discussed earlier are showing symptoms of the flu. High fever, severe dehydration, and diarrhea have surfaced in all of them. Amsel also has a sever rash on his back and is complaining that his eyes are itching. Mueller does not look well. We cannot keep fluids in him at all. I’m afraid if the fever doesn’t break soon, that we’ll lose him.”
“And Von Tottenstein?” Shadu asked.
“High fever- to the point of delusional. We’ve had to submerge him in ice several times to avoid brain damage,” Hauer said with a slight cough. “He also appears to be gaining muscle mass.”
“I am not surprised,” Shadu said with a smile. “He will be your Kreiger. He will be the warrior you are looking for. I would suggest you get that idiot, Emdum to leave him alone. He’s very likely to eventually lose his temper and make that fool a permanent part of a wall somewhere.”
Hauer smiled and said, “I would almost pay to see such a thing.”
Shadu smiled at the man and said, “As would I my friend. As would I. The interplay between our subjects and their handlers is going to be interesting to say the least. The serum is going to be almost as valuable to the Third Reich as it will be to me." Of course what he did not reveal was that he'd weaponized virus so that it was self replicating. For several years after their survival- if they survive- these men would be carriers infecting others so that it would rewrite their genetic code. Those with the potential for a gift would become ill and those with a strong enough constitution would survive to become the new race of Gifted. Those with weak gifts would simply be destroyed. Shadu intended for the race he'd stolen from Kiera-Atlan to be stronger than the original. After all, he would be their recreator, and he intended HIS army to be like nothing ever seen on Earth. He smiled and added, "Although I'm curious about Amsel's rash. Exactly where is it?"
"In two large patches along the inside of both of his shoulder blades," Hauer said.
Shadu smiled and nodded. That indicated a bit of irony all in itself considering the man's name. He'd seen the same kinds of symptoms back millenia ago among certain of the Gifted. It was a somewhat rare modification but a useful one. He indicated a couple of chairs near a small table in his suite and said, "Please sit down old friend. I'm curious as to your plans after the war."
Hauer took the offered seat and laughed at the question. "After the war? This thing has already gone on for five years and doesn't show any signs of ending in the near future. I would like to retire somewhere and do a little theoretical research, but I don't see that happening." Shadu could sense the man's discomfort. He knew that many scientists just wanted to be left alone to do their research, and that the war was an obstacle to that.
Before he could reply there was the sound of an alarm bell ringing throughout the castle. The Nazis were nothing if not efficient, as it was only a few seconds later that the sounds of boots on the stone floors came through the door. Hauer looked over at Shadu questioningly and asked, "What?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out," Shadu putting his coffee cup down and rising from his chair. Suddenly an explosion echoed off the walls around them with such force that the coffee pot was shaken to the floor where its glass globe shattered, spreading the steaming hot liquid in all directions. Shadu grabbed the table to maintain his balance and then when the shaking subsided he headed out the door. Behind him, he heard Hauer shout, "That was from the direction of the lab!"
Realizing that the man was right, he tore down the hall with more vigor than his hosts would have given him credit. In the distance, he heard the sounds of men calling for the fire brigade. He suddenly had a sinking feeling in his gut. This was not going to be good news. His fears were borne out as he skidded to a halt at the edge of the corridor leading to his lab. The stone walls were scorched, the heavy wooden door lay in splinters all around the floor and there was a inferno-like blaze pouring out of the lab.
Without considering his own safety, he strode down the hall, past the men trying to put out the blaze. He reached up and touched a talisman on his throat as he heard Hauer gasp behind him at the destruction. With a wave of his hand, he released the mana trapped in the talisman and commanded the spirit to do his bidding. In a matter of seconds the flames were gone and only the devastation was left.
Entering the lab with a confused Hauer right behind him he took stock of the lab. It was all gone. His equipment that he'd worked so hard to protect and maintain, that was totally irreplaceable was completely destroyed. The safe where the formula was kept had its door ripped from the hinges and was empty of all his notes- which would do nobody else any good as they were written in Imperial Atlantean- as well as the four vials of the serum he'd managed to develop were gone. "What?... How?...." Hauer asked from behind him.
"It would appear to be sabotage or espionage," Shadu said quietly. "The question is which and who."
"How can we find out?" Hauer asked.
"We, Doctor?" Shadu said turning on his colleague.
The man must have caught his suspicion as he quickly said, "We, Herr Doctor. I have a great deal of time and energy invested in this work as well. I do not like to see it undone."
Shadu thought and considered the man's words. He had, as he said, invested a great deal of energy into the work. And he did seem to be much more of a pure researcher than any kind of spy. Finally, nodding his head, Shadu replied, "I will find out."
"How?" Hauer asked.
Shadu simply nodded coldly and said, "Watch." He pulled another talisman from his pocket as Hauptmann Emdum peeked cautiously into the room. He was a big man with a lantern jaw and close cropped hair the color of freshly mown wheat. His blue eyes that normally showed only cold contempt reflected worry at this time.
“What happened to the fire?” Emdum asked.
“I happened to it,” Shadu told the soldier as if to dismiss him. “Now I will find out who did this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled forth another talisman. A few quick words and a spiral of energy began to flow out of the crystal embedded in the small piece of jewelry. He heard both Emdum and Hauer gasp as several small bat-winged beings took form.
Quickly they fell into a jabbering formation as their ugly little faces stared up at the ancient sorcerer. One of them jabbered at him in the language of imps.
“Tell me who destroyed this room, and why,” he commanded.
The imps turned to look at each other and then began to fly all around the room sniffing at things, peering into corners and staring a burnt and broken glass. Shadu knew that they were seeing time in a completely different way than humans and mortals were capable. He knew that they could tell him far more about what had happened in the lab. He was somewhat surprised though when one of them flew out the door, circled Hauptmann Emdum three times and then flew down the hall.
“What are those things?” Hauer asked.
“Mandragora, a minor form of demon,” Shadu told him. “They will get to the heart of the matter.”
Emdum swallowed hard and watched the demon who’d buzzed him fly off. He turned back to Shadu, his face much paler than it had been before and asked, “I thought you were a scientist.”
Shadu raised an eyebrow to him and said, “I am more than that, Hauptmann, much more.” He began inventorying his equipment. Most of it was beyond repair, and was irreplaceable. He’d been so careful for so many millenia with it. Against his better judgement he’d allowed the Nazis to talk him into moving it here. Now this had happened. “It is all lost.”
“You can rebuild it,” Emdum said rather quickly. “Our scientists can help you.”
“No Hauptmann, I can’t. Your vacuum tubes and radio dials are of no use to me here. You do not have infrastructure to supply me with even the most basic components.” He stopped and looked at the officer for a moment. “You do not understand just what has been lost.”
“Then explain it to me,” Emdum said. “Or better yet, explain it to Hauer and the others and stop hiding your technology. Share it with the Third Reich.”
Shadu began to explain when the imp who’d disappeared winged back into the room. In a small gravelly voice that bespoke of care to avoid damage to the tongue it said in its native tongue, “Two beings. They slipped through several unguarded passageways and into this room. They stole what was in that box, and then destroyed the contents of this room.”
Shadu asked, “Why were the corridors unguarded?”
The small impling pointed to Emdum and said, “That one ordered the men away to dispose of the body of the girl from the village that he’d murdered.” The impling looked at the Hauptmann admiringly and added, “We like him.”
Shadu raked the officer with his gaze. “I can teach the ignorant, and I can tolerate honest mistakes, Captain Hauptmann, but I have no use for stupidity.” Turning back to the impling he said, “You may have him. Recover my property and you may have the soldiers who were away from their post as well.”
“Have me?!” Emdum asked in surprise.
“Have you,” Shadu said coldly. “Your stupidity cost me equipment that I cannot replace. I have no more use for you.” In a flash all the small imps sprang toward the SS officer, their claws and teeth gleaming in the low light of the room. In a grisly blur of light and blood, and a single agonizing scream, the man was torn to pieces and devoured just before the swarm flew off into the night in search of the intruders.
Clearly shaken, Hauer looked over at Shadu and asked, “Exactly what is happening Herr Doctor? What did Hauptmann Emdum do?”
Shadu stopped a looked at the obviously frightened scientist. He knew Hauer would be useful, even necessary for his work in the future. And to be completely honest with himself, he genuinely liked the man. He was a pure researcher, a man of science, and had an inquisitive mind. If for no other reason than he enjoyed the man’s company Shadu took a moment and explained. “The Hauptmann killed a local girl tonight. I suspect she was not his first, and I suspect that murder is not his only crime on her person. He ordered the men whose job it was to guard this corridor to dispose of the body. While they were away from their posts, two agents, possibly English infiltrated the lab, stole the serum and my notes, destroyed my equipment and then left. I have sent my implings to recover what can be recovered.”
“This is serious,” Hauer said. “If we cannot reproduce the serum then...,”
“We will have to go to other options, Herr Doctor Hauer. These spies, these saboteurs have now interfered in my plans. I will not let that go unpunished. I will see the return of the Gifted to this world, and I will see that they are under my control,” he said.
The other scientist swallowed hard and asked, “What can we do now?”
“Now we clean up this mess and wait for my implings return, we will then decide on which path we must follow. Those four vials of serum are the only ones in existence.” He gestured toward the devastation in the room and added, “Because of this, they will be the only in existence for quite some time.”
“Exactly who, and what are you, Herr Doctor Shadu?” Hauer asked.
“I am the past, Herr Doctor Hauer,” Shaud said. “And the future. I am far older than I appear, and have far more power than you suspect.”
Hauer nodded and Shadu knew the man was weighing his options. He was not a stupid man and understood the situation quite well. He nodded and said, “Then we wait.”
It was nearing dawn when about a third of implings returned to the lab. Their wings were torn, their limbs were broken, and they had large bloodless wounds all over their bodies. The one who’d went on the first mission spoke again, this time in German. “They escaped. We cursed two of the vials and the papers however.” The last was added in a hopeful tone.
Shadu knew that they were hoping to avoid being punished for failure. However, he also knew that he had lain down the parameters of their agreement when he’d sent them out. Punishing them now would gain him nothing. “How is it that two humans defeated a nest of mandragora?” Shadu asked suddenly worried.
“One of them, the woman, was one of Freyja’s own,” the impling said. “She had great strength and power.”
“Freyja’s own?” Hauer asked. “Doesn’t that suggest an alliance with the Reich? She is after all supposedly a Nordic diety.”
“That has nothing to do with it. The Nordic Gods will not ally themselves with this government, no matter how much Hitler and his idiots invoke their symbols. Hauptmann Emdum’s as well as every other SS officer who wear those suwello pins so proudly are only telling the Odin’s folk where to put the blade,” Shadu said. “As for Freyja, she is her own woman. She charged her children to stand between mankind and those that would the free enchain. Your Third Reich is attempting to enslave the world. No, the Norse will fall behind the English before they will Hitler.”
He turned back to the impling and said, “How did you curse my property?”
“It will bring fire and destruction, and death to those who possess it,” the impling said. “They will still do as you intended them to do, but at a great cost to the user.”
Shadu nodded his head. It was typical of the mandragora to attach a curse to the nature of the object instead of destroying it. That way their curse would be less likely to be countered. He still had hope for the return of the Gifted, but realized now that the experiment was out of his control. Nodding, he looked at the imp and said, “You may return to your home. You’ve served me to the best of your ability. Our pact is finished.”
The imp looked warily over at Hauer and then asked, “What of him?”
“He is my friend. Do not harm him,” Shadu said, and much to his surprise realized it was true. The imp gave the ancient sorcerer a look of disbelief before disappearing in a swirling cloud of fire and brimstone.
HQ
ABOUT M&M
SUPER-VISION
GIMMICK'S GADGETS
M&M SUPERLINK
ATOMIC THINK TANK
M&M SHOP
Saving the world, one d20 roll at a time
Saving the world, one d20 roll at a time
