

Godship

# by Peter J. Ponzo

### CHAPTER ONE
### Part 1.1

### It was my standard ritual: clobber the alarm until it stops ringing, fall ungracefully out of bed and stagger to the window, drag the drapes to either side and open the sliding door to the balcony. It was still early and the sky was packed with gray clouds, but it was still there–after four years.

### I stepped out onto the balcony and leaned heavily against the railing. Seventeen stories below, the morning traffic was strung along Lakeshore Road, the joggers were out in full force and stores were opening for the early morning coffee and doughnut crowd. Nothing had really changed for months. Even the lake seemed complacent, unchanged, tranquil. Everyone seemed to have accepted the presence of the colossal, ellipsoidal vessel that hovered over the city.

### After a quick coffee, black, no sugar, I jogged down the seventeen flights of stairs. That would be my only exercise today, almost. I'd be in a meeting all morning and a series of meetings all afternoon. The concern expressed at the last meeting of the local Space Council suggested that today's discussion would be witless and naïve. I was convinced that the Godship (the name we eventually gave to the massive ship) was definitely not menacing. It hadn't fired unwelcome weapons nor had it uttered unkind words or even so much as moved from its fixed position. Whatever alien intelligence contrived the vehicle, it was far beyond our capabilities and, were it intent upon our destruction, could probably have done so years ago. Yet the Space Council discussions continued to revolve about eliminating a perceived threat. I say 'continued' because they never tired of discussing the vessel and imputing its malevolent intent.

### I arrived at Brant Towers a few minutes late, still breathing heavily from the climb to the third floor. That would definitely be my last exercise for the day.

### I was a junior member of the Council: Gordon Blend, secretary, Space Council.

Halfway through the twenty first century, Space Councils had sprung up everywhere. Some Nobel Prize winner had suggested that we'd better be prepared for alien visitations and poof: Space Councils. The curious thing? This guy had won a Nobel Prize in economics. However, he was quoted in the media until it became mandatory to establish Councils in all major countries. All, except China. I had actually admired the Chinese for ignoring the rush to establish Councils. They weren't giving in to public pressure. However, soon after the Godships arrived, China began a Council and was now among the most diligent analyzers of Godship behavior. In fact, the old SETI project, which had dwindled due to lack of funding, arose again with renewed vigor. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence had been alive and well in the last century but, until recently, was pretty well comatose.

### Since college days my career has concentrated on electronics and communications, but I've always been fascinated by astronomy and things cosmological...and I read a lot, mostly science fiction. I think I graduated near the bottom of my class–I normally forget such things–and it wasn't easy to find a job after graduation. However, I didn't need much. Frugal was my middle name. I rented the cheapest apartment on the Lake and furnished it with flea market and garage sale items: an ugly purple couch which I painted brown, a kitchen table with Formica surface, a bed with springs that had a mind of their own and a really small TV. I didn't have costly habits, like an expensive car or an expensive girlfriend. In fact, my last girlfriend, Barbara, was when I was twelve or maybe thirteen. After a bunch of us kids had a picnic on Toronto Island I got a phone call from one of the other girls. I hardly ever get phone calls, so this was special. She phoned every night for two weeks and I looked forward to her calls. I eventually admitted that I wasn't that fond of Barbara. That's when this mysterious caller confessed that she was, in fact, Barbara. That ended the relationship with my one and only girlfriend.

### My current job didn't require much skill or cerebral prowess, so when an ad appeared which requested applications for council secretary, it was the name 'space council' that appealed to me–so I applied. Then, I assumed discussions would be cerebral. Today, I realize that discussions were mostly fatuous with a touch of tedium.

### The Council meeting had begun without me. Eleven guys and two gals sat about the huge table, all in casual dress. The chief Pooh-Bah was Harry Clemens: short, bald and annoying. He was partially standing, his hands resting on the mahogany and his oversized gut hanging beyond the confines of his belt.

### "It's imperative," he groaned, "that we either communicate with them...or eliminate them."

### How often have I heard that? Harry was a mental midget. He began every meeting with that haggard phrase.

### George, the associate chairman said, "Harry, we've tried communicating before, without success. And eliminate them? C'mon Harry. How do you propose...?"

### And so it went–so it always went. I was beginning to think that the Council had nothing better to do and called pointless meetings to justify their existence and small stipend. Each of the members had other jobs. Being a council member was a status symbol or so it seemed. I noticed that Beverly, sitting at the end of the table, was falling asleep. She was, in her other life, a real estate saleswoman, a good one, I understand. Harry, the chairman, was the owner of Clemens Autos, a used car lot on the corner of Grant and Fairview. I always wondered why he ran for council. He was more a parasite than a paragon. The only other council member of import was George Falcon. George was bright, balding and beautiful. I mean beautiful in a good way; well-pressed suit at all times, bowtie, crisp white shirt and cuff links. I'd never seen him in jeans or a colored shirt. Even his fingernails were manicured. He was some senior chief of a local steel mill and seemed to enjoy the convivial discussion. I always felt that George was a lonely fellow.

### I volunteered to be Council secretary about two years ago. My normal job was tech support at a local electronic supply store. Among all my passions, electronics was my primary passion. I often spent hours in a corner of my apartment with a soldering iron and microcircuits, building some useless thing that turned lights on and off or adjusted their brightness depending upon the time of day. I had built a short wave microstrip antenna that sat on my balcony and scanned the lake: pointless, but fun. I was easily bored, so I did the secretarial thing for amusement and, as I've noted, the word 'space' in the letterhead. Alas, it was the most wearisome and uninteresting activity imaginable.

### The meeting went on for over an hour. It was difficult to remain silent, however my job was to take notes, summarize and distribute a report befitting the grandeur of the clowns who comprised the Council. Well, I guess most members aren't clowns but are good and interesting folk. I'm not sure why I mentally paint every member with the brush I usually reserved for Harry, the chairman.

### There had been many attempts to eliminate the Godship. That was soon after it arrived. Missiles veered off course and there was concern that they would land somewhere uncomfortably close to human habitation. No one understood how the space craft managed this redirection, but eventually the bombardment of our vessel was discontinued. I say 'our' vessel because similar hostile acts were being conducted at all the Godship sites across the globe.

### Communication? We had no idea how to do that. Every frequency was used, every language, every mathematical formula, every graphic image...and, as every teenager knows, sequences of prime numbers would be immediately recognized by any self respecting alien. No response. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Nichts.

### There had been a couple of years when scientists of every stripe gathered beneath the crafts in order to determine how they managed to hover with no sign of propulsion, gaseous exhaust or movement. It was determined that the gravity field directly below each vessel was about 1% weaker than elsewhere. The craft evidently managed to manipulate gravity. An interesting feature of this effect was the exodus of butchers and grocers from areas beneath the vessels. Food was sold by the kilogram and if it weighed less, customers insisted upon paying less. I thought that was hilarious. Indeed, I often went to a butcher directly under our local Godship to buy my top sirloin–just to hear the debate between Jake the butcher and his customers who wanted a small reduction in price.

### In my mind, the biggest problem with the Godship was not any hostile act on the part of the alien ship, but rather the effect their presence had upon the population.

### As I recall, it was Autumn, about four years ago, that the Global Space Council first noticed the approaching vessels. If memory serves me, there were about three hundred of them and they were within the orbit of Saturn. In fact, GSC first thought the horde was nothing more than a separation of some of Saturn's rings. Now, in retrospect, that seems ridiculous (as many astronomers were fond of pointing out). But I must remember that Space Councils everywhere were mostly populated by ordinary people with little or no scientific training. They represented 'the people' and that meant they were simple folk unadorned by advanced degrees. They are selected sort of like a jury of one's peers is selected, from voter registrations, driver license renewals and suggestions from the public at large. It's been said that in no other body of such social significance do we settle for such haphazard membership with no requirement of experience. Sometimes it showed.

### When the spacecraft were first identified there was no attempt at warning the citizenry for fear of global panic. It'd be 1930-something all over again when some radio broadcast concerning a war of the worlds initiated mass hysteria, more than a century ago. I remember reading about that broadcast and thought it was a good idea to keep things quiet since the general public is easily spooked. However, when the gaggle of ships was visible to the human eye and especially when they parked themselves near major world centers, it launched an unprecedented state of panic. That was when the first ineffectual attempts were made to "eliminate" the ships. As if to emphasize the public's need to hyperbolize, it was generally believed that the spacecraft actually grew in size as they approached planet Earth. Scientists around the globe quickly pointed out that it was an optical illusion, just as the sun and moon appear to be larger when they're on the horizon. No way a metal ship could change size or shape.

When two years had passed and the vessels had remained stationary and non-threatening, they became objects of curiosity. They were discussed in social clubs, government offices, bars and especially in church meetings. Initial thinking was, perhaps, predictable. If there is an intelligence so much greater than ours, then what was God thinking when He created Adam and Eve? And why are we so arrogant as to imagine ourselves created in God's image? And why are we so gullible as to accept the teaching of the bible without question or reservation? Adam and Eve? Are we kidding ourselves? And if we are God's children and our God is omnipotent, then why did He allow these creatures to invade our space? After baseball and soccer, it was the world's most talked about subject. It was also the subject of almost every evening news hour and Hollywood lost no time in generating Godship movies with sequels ad nauseam.

### What was most alarming was the eventual reaction of the church-going public. The church elders began a concerted effort to rationalize the existence of the ships and clarify God's plan. However, by the third year, church attendance had dropped dramatically and cults formed which worshiped the aliens. That was when the word "Godship" arose as an identifier. Once the word had been adopted and used in everyday conversation and insinuated into the national lexicon it was just a matter of time before the vessels became God, Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah...all of them, everywhere, different components of the same God. There were no Godships–just Godship. One ubiquitous, omniscient entity whose components extended across the planet.

### And did the absence of alien interaction bother the Godship worshippers? Not at all. It was much like the old biblical God. You prayed and hoped for the best. In fact, many were convinced that the vanishing of a cancerous growth, the regained ability to walk or hear or see–these miracles were all due to the presence of the Godship. Indeed, when rain fell on parched earth, people cried real tears and lifted their hands in thanks to the nearest vessel. Over time, meteorologists became convinced that the alien vessels had control of Earth's weather. Television weather reports often ended with the phrase: 'Godship approved', whatever that meant.

### No one expected what would happen by the fourth year.

### Part 1.2

### I had finished the latest periodic report of the local Space Council. I had distributed it to all members as well as to members of the Global Space Council. My council duties were over for the week. There wouldn't be another meeting until responses arrived from the Global Council. It seemed unlikely that there would be any worthwhile response. Our report reiterated the concern of local members but had no reasonable suggestion concerning a procedure for eliminating the perceived threat. It had been like this for years. For some reason, our local council felt it necessary to send a report to the Global Council after each meeting, presumably to apprise them of our continued existence.

### I spent much of the week bringing my notes up to date. Note taking was clearly my forte and I enjoyed keeping track of the daily activity reported in the news, revolving about the Godship. That's when I ran across a news item on page nineteen about an old guy who said he had been taken aboard our personal Godship, the one that hovered over Burlington. It was curious that our Godship had chosen Burlington. Ours was not a large city, but it was near a large metropolis, Toronto. It seemed that the space vessels were mostly stationed near, but not directly above, large cities. They were also near large bodies of water. No one could understand why.

I read and reread the article about the abduction. There were always stories about alien abduction, but this seemed different. The old guy vanished after telling his story to the Burlington Times. Although there was a concerted effort, after a couple of weeks the police gave up the search. They had gone over his apartment with a fine toothcomb. It had worn and broken furniture, bent pots and pans, an empty fridge and a telescope that stood by the window. The telescope was pointed in the general direction of our Godship. However, the photos in his apartment were revealing. They seemed to show a plan view of our city as would be seen from our Godship.

### Since I was reading yesterday's paper, I decided I needed to read the latest issue just in case there were new details. This time I took the elevator. I'd get my daily exercise some other time. I went out the front door into a driving rain. Rather than returning to pick up a raincoat, I crawled along the building wall, beneath the overhang, and slipped into Susan's Grill next door. Susan was surprised to see me.

### "Same ol' same ol'?" she asked.

### I wasn't really hungry but nodded and sat at my usual booth by the window.

### When she returned with the pork hamburger, fries and chocolate shake she sat across from me. She was thirtyish, not beautiful but very pretty with dark hair and even darker eyes and one front tooth was slightly longer than the other. I never tired of watching her smile, watching her eyes and mouth as she spoke.

### "You look tired," she said.

### "No, just frustrated," I said.

### "Harry Clemens, right?"

### "Yes, he's such an ass."

### I guess I talk too much, but Susan was such a good listener and she seemed to soak up everything I've said in the past, my problems at work, the childish rituals at the weekly meetings, the nonsensical suggestions regarding our Godship.

"However," I said, "there's an interesting story in the Times about a guy who says he's been on the Godship. In fact, there are even photos he took, apparently from inside the ship."

### "And that's why you're out in the rain," she said, smiling. "Well, finish your snack and get the paper. I know you won't be happy until you read today's issue."

### "What's curious," I said, "is the fact that whoever is flying that contraption seems to ignore our efforts at communication, year after year. You'd think they'd at least give us some indication of their motives for being here."

### "Have you tried screaming?" Susan almost giggled. "Everybody at once, shout! The whole city..."

### I raised my hand, my palm asking for a moment of silence. Susan stopped talking.

### "The Global Consciousness Project," I said. "Susan, that might work. You're a genius!"

### Why hadn't I thought of that before? I rose to rush out without even starting on my hamburger. Susan started to complain so I stopped just long enough to explain:

### "Computers across the globe can be influenced by a common, synchronized global feeling...when Princess Diana died, when the twin towers went down in New York, when Kristof Richter, the U.N. chief was assassinated...maybe that's what we need to do...everyone on the planet...gotta go. See ya."

I grabbed two fries and stuffed them in my mouth then left. I hadn't paid, but Susan would just put it on my tab and I'd pay at week's end as I usually did. It was still raining but I didn't notice. I ran across the street and grabbed today's Times then back to my apartment, soaked. News these days came on rather small laminates filled with electrostatically charged particles and electronic ink. Rain didn't bother them. That was good, because the so-called 'paper' was dripping wet.

### I phoned Harry Clemens and explained my idea on how we might communicate with the Godship. When I had finished there was silence on the other end.

### "Harry?" I said. "Are you still there?"

### "Uh...yes. Call a meeting for this Friday."

### Then he hung up.

### On Friday I was determined to be there early, but Harry had already begun.

### "... some 70 nodes worldwide," he was saying. "The random number generators at each site have statistically significant deviations from expected randomness as a consequence of some global event."

### Harry had evidently been googling. He was reciting what he had read.

### "Data is stored on a server at Princeton. Now, in an effort to communicate with our Godship, I thought we could..."

### The associate chairman, George, interrupted.

### "You're not suggesting that the whole world get together and say something to attract the attention of the aliens."

### "That's exactly what I was thinking." Harry was beaming.

### George was the only skeptical member of the Council. The others seemed quite pleased with the idea. Perhaps it was because we rarely had any suggestions to make to the Global Council and this was better than nothing. Even Beverly, who usually slept during the meetings, suggested shouting: "Hey you up there!" Although everyone laughed, even George, most members thought it was a brilliant idea. I agreed. How could I do otherwise? It was my idea.

### Within a month, the Global Space Council had discussed the idea, congratulated Harry on his brilliance, decided upon a "message" then set the worldwide media in motion to advertise the event. It would take place in about a month.

### Part 1.3

### A month later, I sat at my corner table in Susan's Grill. Susan came over and sat down.

### "So, Gordie, I read about the big Earth-wide thought process. We all say the same words, think the same thing, everywhere on the planet, and the Godship picks up our thoughts and..."

### "Yeah," I said. "It took over a week to decide what we'd all say. Some had suggested a long essay, some suggested a single word. It's ridiculous. I can't believe that the best minds on the planet could generate such a ludicrous message...and with a deadline?"

### "But wasn't it your idea, this Global thing?"

### "Yes, but Harry led the discussion at our local chapter and, ultimately at the global chapter. Why couldn't our message be a bit friendlier? Why are we so mesmerized by the notion that the Godship is menacing?"

### "I see," Susan said. "So that explains the thoughts we are to think. But what about that guy who said he was abducted. The guy who then disappeared?"

### "I understand that his name was David Granger and he was poor, lived in a shabby, government subsidized apartment and survived from one government check to the next, eating rarely and, according to his neighbors, swore that he'd get revenge. There was a picture of the guy, wild hair sticking out at all angles beneath a baseball cap, a missing front tooth and a hooked nose. His neighbors often complained about his loud, gurgling laughter in the wee hours of the morning."

### "And he hasn't been seen since?"

### "Apparently not," I said. "However, I'm beginning to believe that he was actually seized by the aliens. Why do I believe that? Because his photos seem authentic and were taken in late September, judging from the color of the foliage, and taken from a point precisely where the Godship is located."

### "Who knows," Susan said with a grin. "He may be the one who receives our global message."

### Although Susan's comment was made in jest, I began to think she might be right–especially since the global message that we were to think was:

### We are a civilized, compassionate and tolerant race.

### We wish to terminate our current relationship in the New Year.

### Please leave.

### These words were 'thought' by peoples about the world, in a hundred different languages.

### It's as though we had tolerated the aliens and they now had our permission to leave. Our decision was their command. It was a ludicrous message. Did anyone really think the aliens would just grunt and say, "Okay boys, they want us to leave now, so let's go."

### Old man David would certainly not agree with the first part. Compassionate? Tolerant? Hardly. Our first response after their arrival was to fire rockets at them.

### I wondered whether the aliens understood "New Year", but if they were studying us, examining our culture, then surely they understood our languages. But what New Year? Where, on planet Earth? And what would they understand by "terminate our relationship"? I guess there are many ways they could "terminate". Maybe old man David was now living in a space ship and could interpret for them. If we wanted them to leave, couldn't we have been less abstruse? Like, maybe, you're scaring the hell out of us and would appreciate an early withdrawal.

### At one minute after midnight, Greenwich Mean Time, on New Year's day, the entire planet thought the same thought. I stood on the balcony waiting for any kind of response. By three minutes past the hour our Godship began to glow. In another three minutes I could feel the heat. By ten minutes the sky glistened, scarlet, like a rising sun. This was not the expected response. Were the aliens angry? Why the heat?

### When it became too hot to stand out on the balcony, I went inside, closed the door and turned on the air conditioner, sat on my brown couch and watched TV. At various locations about the globe people were feeling the heat. Everywhere there was scarlet sky. On TV, the news anchor was interviewing a well known scientist, Dr. Christopher Terpit.

### "So, do you think they mean us harm?" the news anchor asked.

### "No, I think they are warning us. In the past it has been observed that they could control weather patterns, so turning on the heat seems to be an appropriate scheme."

### "How long do you think it will last?"

### "I have no idea, but since our worldwide message seems to have made contact, perhaps we could ask them."

### I thought that was a curious response by the distinguished scientist. They might just as well have asked some six-year-old the same question. They'd get the same answer. Talk to them and ask them to stop. Simple solution. Why not?

### In any case, the heat began to dissipate after a couple of weeks and by mid-February temperatures were back to normal. For those of us living in northern climes, the snow had all melted and crocuses had begun to peek out at the world. As expected, many assumed that the Godships had provided relief from winter's bite and church attendance increased with ministers praising the warm spell as an act of God brought about by God's messengers: the aliens.

### Part 1.4

### It was almost summer when it happened: the slow movement of the spacecraft. It appeared to be random. Observations worldwide showed no discernable pattern. Our Godship slowly drifted north, about 250 kilometers to a location known locally as 'cottage country'. Many small lakes girdled with cabins, marinas and campgrounds. In fact, I had a cottage on Lake Simcoe. It wasn't really mine. It belonged to my parents, but they divorced many years ago and now never used the cottage–so I did. Although I see my mother from time to time, or at least phone her, I haven't seen or talked to my Dad in years. I wasn't surprised when they divorced. Dad was a cheat, a liar, a drunk and an all around bad guy. From conversations with Mom I understand that Dad is now a changed person. I guess it's about time I made contact, however I still think it's best to pretend he isn't there. Maybe, some day I'll try to contact him, maybe–but not soon.

### I sat on the balcony gazing out over Lake Ontario. It was a beautiful morning. When I was about ten, as I recall, Dad came home from a drinking binge and pushed Mom around, demanding some specific kind of meal–I can't remember what. Mom said she didn't have the proper ingredients, but she'd make do. I think she was afraid of my old man. I only remember his sitting on the couch with his feet on the glass coffee table. That was a no-no. His hair was a mess and his nose seemed pink and much too large for his face. When Mom returned with a steaming bowl of something, he ate some then spilled some, then struggled out of the couch and staggered up to bed. I learned later that Mom had heated a bowl of dog food and added lots of ketchup. She said she saw that in an old movie. I believe it. In fact, we didn't have a dog and never had, so I think Mom kept dog food for exactly that purpose.

### My Dad worked days and sometimes evenings and sometimes weekends. I never knew exactly what he did but I guess it was hard work and he felt it necessary to bury his distaste for his job with alcohol. I don't recall his ever actually acting in a threatening manner toward Mom, not really. Maybe he did push her–sometimes. Actually, as I recall, he often kissed her and hugged her–when he was sober. I know he often whispered into her ear and she would blush. She seemed to love him, as far as I could tell. Maybe he has changed. I do recall going fishing with him, by the Humber River. We'd catch tiny fish with a net–can't remember the name–and Mom would fry them whole, like potato chips. Then, too, there was that time he took me to some entertainment park in Niagara Falls and I ate cotton candy until I was sick. When I think back, we did have some good times, my dad and me. Maybe, one day, I'll try to contact him–but not soon. His brother was a much nicer guy. His name was William and he'd often take me north, on fishing trips, with his girlfriend. Uncle Willie laughed a lot, told the same jokes over and over, and treated me as a friend, even though I was a teenager. He taught me how to select a fish lure, depending upon the weather, time of day and the conditions of the lake...and he taught me how to drive. He let me drive his van when I was just fourteen years old and didn't seem upset when I put a dent in the fender. How could brothers be so different? I wish Mom had married Uncle Willie.

### Since our spaceship left, I actually missed seeing it each morning so I decided that, this Summer, I'd spend a week or two at the cottage. That's where it went. I silently prayed that it'd still be there when I arrived.

### It was on a sunny Saturday morning in June that I packed assorted summer clothing, a small bag of edibles and a case of beer and headed north in the van. It was a three-hour drive and I stopped along the way for a hamburger, fries and diet Coke. It was becoming a habit to check the calorie count on things I ate. I wasn't overweight and I did exercise (when I remembered), but it seemed that healthy eating was the main topic of conversation at parties. I looked at the can of Coke. Diet Coke had no calories, but tons of sodium. Actually, my eating habits were far from healthy. Hamburger and fries? That's healthy? Hardly. In fact, I usually had a thousand calorie chocolate milkshake. I didn't care. I exercised–when I remembered. A half hour's worth of jogging and I'd undo the calories associated with a handful of peanuts or maybe a third of a milkshake.

### About an hour before I got to the cottage it started to rain, but I could see the spacecraft hovering on the horizon, below the ashen cloud cover. It seemed lower than usual. When I pulled off the highway and down the country road leading to the lake, I noticed that it also seemed a different color, rust with a hint of maroon. Perhaps the change in color accompanied the change in location. But what was so special about being above a lake? And why this particular lake? There were over a hundred small lakes within a few hundred kilometers. In fact, there are hundreds of thousand of lakes in the Province, so why Lake Simcoe?

### I stopped directly in front of the cottage, waited several minutes for the rain to subside, gave up waiting and ran to the front door. The keys were under the pot, as usual. I suspect that every cottage on the lake had keys under a pot. I was soaked by the time I got in. I'd leave my belongings in the car until the rain stopped. Now I needed a hot shower. I started the water heater–it was the kind that required a match to light the pilot–then changed into dry clothes from the bedroom closet and sat in the old overstuffed chair by the patio window. It overlooked the lake and I had an excellent view of the craft. In fact, it was almost directly above the cottage. It was definitely reddish in color and even seemed to be flashing small red lights. Flashing lights? That was something I had never seen when it stood over our city back home. It also seemed to have small rust colored panels across its hull. Curious. Maybe they were windows of some sort.

### It stopped raining by 9:30 P.M. and I gathered my stuff from the van. I had my hot shower earlier and I felt great. The sliced ham was hot in the frying pan along with the onions and potatoes so I grabbed a beer and took my dinner out to the back patio, dragging a dry patio chair from the living room. I leaned back and stared at the sky. It was incredible. A jillion stars in a jet black sky. Something I never got to see in the city. After dinner I just sipped the beer and relaxed, staring at the Big Dipper and looking for Orion and Cassiopeia. Constellations were my passion. I usually learned lots of trivial things about lots of topics, never anything too deep or complex. Keep it simple, stupid was my motto. Come to think of it, I had passions too numerous to count. When I was a kid I'd sing this tune that named a dozen constellations. It was a great memory aid, however at my current age, I not only forgot the words to the song, I couldn't remember what times of the year these constellations appeared. I didn't think that thirty-five was really that old and that memory loss...

### Wait! There was something wrong. Stars were missing. That was when I noticed that around the space craft there were no stars at all, just an ebon sky. I stood up, leaned on the railing of the patio and stared intently at the craft. Yes, there was definitely a black halo, no starlight. I hadn't seen that before–never, in four years. Or was it five years? It seemed a long time ago that the Godship first arrived. I guess seeing too clearly was hindered by the obtrusive artificial light of the city. Besides, the craft seemed much lower than it had been in the city. The rust colored panels across its hull were new to me. In fact, I was pretty sure that the vessel I remembered had no distinctive marks at all.

### So, this alien thing could manipulate gravity and block starlight. What else was it capable of? I sat and pondered the question when I heard the cackle. It was after 10 PM and it was quite dark and someone or something was cackling. I recognized it at once.

### "Gordie! I saw your light on, how are you? It's been a long time."

### It was Mrs. Candy, the annoying gal who owned the next cottage. She was almost spherical in contour, her hair was dirty blond and always untidy and she had been married several times. Although she was now a single lady, she kept the Mrs. appendage as a sort of badge of honor, as if to say: 'See? I've been married'.

### "Hi Mrs. Candy," I said in my most agreeable voice. She was annoying, but meant well and I found it difficult to get upset at her constant presence while I was living next door. She pulled up a deck chair and sat.

### "Oh Gordie, after all these years, can't you call me Sophie?"

### "Okay...Sophie."

### "Did you see the Godshit?" she said, giggling. "It showed up a while ago. Sometimes it glows. It's like a jewel in the night sky. It hasn't moved a mite since it arrived here. It's quite pretty and all my friends hope it never leaves. Jean–do you know Jean? She's that old lady on county road seven, just past Jetson Variety? Jean says her arthritis has gotten better ever since it arrived. I believe it. I know it's affected my eating habits. I usually just nibble, but these days I sit down for a full meal. Meat and potatoes, that's ol' Sophie. Meat and potatoes. Especially potatoes. Do you like potatoes, Gordie? I bought a bushel last week and you're most welcome to come over for potato salad or mashed or fried. I make great scalloped potatoes. You'll love it. I use extra butter and I don't use milk, I use yogurt. Especially that Greek yogurt. Have you tried it? It's so rich and creamy and..."

### I was falling asleep. The drone, the verbosity, the audio throb, the oscillating rhythm, her monologue was a sleeping pill, a sure cure for insomnia. My globephone buzzed.

### "Oh Gordie," Sophie said. "I'm so sorry. You must be tired from the drive and here I go talking a blue streak and...you'd better answer your phone."

### "Hello," I said.

### It was Harry Clemens.

### "Gordon, you've got to get back immediately. Something's come up and we need to have a meeting of the council, right away."

### "What's come up?" I asked, still half asleep.

### "I'll tell you when you get here," Harry said, his voice full of urgency.

### But Harry regarded everything as urgent. Every pointless council meeting was urgent.

### "Harry, I'm on holidays and..." I began. I sure as hell wasn't going back. I decided to lie. "... and my van broke down and I'm stuck miles from any garage and I couldn't call them anyway because my phone isn't working, but rest assured, I'll be there just as soon as I can."

### "Your phone isn't working?" Harry said. "Then what are you using now, to talk to me?"

### What an ass I am.

### "Uh...I mean the cottage phone. I'm at the cottage. I have to use my globephone and it's on its last legs. The battery light is flashing. I..."

### Then I scraped the phone on the arm of the deck chair to generate some static and turned it off.

### "You can use my phone," Sophie said. "Come on over to my cottage. I have some leftover potato salad and we could..."

### "Ah, Mrs. Candy, that's very kind of you, but I'm weary and think I'll hit the sack."

### I got up and collected the dinner plate and fork and beer can and waited for her to leave. She gave me a melancholy look then heaved out of the chair and waddled off the deck. It was dark, but I could see that her backside was wet. Her chair had been sitting in the rain. Now, after her occupancy, the chair was quite dry.

### "See you tomorrow," she said.

### I wasn't looking forward to it.

### Part 1.5

### After a good night's sleep I gulped a cup of strong instant coffee and headed into town to pick up groceries and buy a paper. Jetson Variety had been a local landmark for over thirty years. It carried groceries, clothing, camping gear, fishing stuff and, in season, worms as bait. The sign out front was unreadable. The paint had faded to a pale pink, but Bill Jetson didn't mind. The locals knew the place.

### "Hey, Gordon, how's it hangin'?"

### Bill was a heavy set fellow with bushy reddish hair that looked chaotic. His nose matched the color of this hair and his brows hung low and shaggy.

### "I heard from Sofa that you were in the neighborhood," he said.

### "Sofa?" I asked.

### "Yeah, your neighbor. Mrs. Sophie Candy. She's known around here as Sofa. Ya know, soft to lie on." Bill laughed until he coughed. "I reckon most of the bachelors and even some of the married guys have been on that sofa." He bent over the counter, coughing and chuckling.

### "I'll take a paper," I said. I didn't think it was very funny. Bill suddenly went silent. He even looked embarrassed.

### The newspaper headlines were in huge type:

### Godship communication

### It seemed a curious heading. We had already communicated with the vessels through that Global Consciousness message. There had been further such attempts without any noticeable response. I figured, whatever the headline meant, that was the reason for Harry's call last night. I waited until I got back to the cottage, made another coffee and began to read the article. It seems that the medley of spacecraft was talking...to each other. That was a first. Although attempts had been made to intercept messages between ships, worldwide communication networks hadn't picked up anything. Now, digitally coded, pulse modulated signals were being received. No one had been able to decipher the messages, but there seemed to be a continuous transmission.

### I decided that I'd just stay at the cottage and keep in touch by TV and Earthnet and I wouldn't answer my phone. I had paid for Earthnet access for the summer so I turned on my laptop, set it to google news and placed it on the kitchen table. The screen was filled with Godship articles, mostly old stuff: their initial identification, their positioning about the planet, our attempts at communication, our attempts to destroy the craft, the study of gravity abeyance, the global message, the days of heat, the slow movement to neighboring sites (mostly over water) and now, the phenomenon of starlight blanking. When I was in the city, I figured I couldn't see the blocked starlight because of the city lights, but it was apparently something quite recent. How did they do that, block the light from space? The best minds on the planet were stymied. It seemed clear, however, that starlight blocking was somehow associated with the start of inter-craft communication or at least with the movement of the vessels. Global guessing became a popular pastime.

### Artists had a field day. Very clever paintings, hilarious cartoons and comic book heroes appeared almost everywhere on Earthnet. Hollywood now had three Godship movies, all big box office hits. The aliens themselves were portrayed as little green men or lanky lizards or wormlike creatures. I couldn't understand how a worm without hands or similar appendages could build a spaceship let alone operate it. That didn't seem to bother the viewing public. There were long lineups at theaters. Kids and grandparents alike. All movies had one thing in common; the shape of the alien vessels. They weren't the regulation saucer shape, they were cigar shaped. Everyone had seen a Godship and knew their geometry. Hollywood couldn't mess with that.

### The Godship seemed to generate a lot of religious fervor. Perhaps that's what happens when there's some unknown and little understood presence. Be scared, be belligerent, be curious then be reverent. On TV, there was a video of an evangelist in the Painted Desert, Arizona, surrounded by hundreds of adoring fans. You could see the outline of a Godship on the horizon. That was curious because I understood that the Godships liked to be near water. The TV announcer was saying that hundreds from Phoenix had followed the evangelist and the spacecraft to the desert and set up camp. There was widespread fear that the world was coming to an end and the only salvation was to be in constant contact with the aliens. To this end, the crowds practiced a mini version of global consciousness communication. There was little to show for their efforts; the craft just hovered, stationary and silent. After several days the crowds had became rowdy and sexual encounters became common. In fact, the evangelist encouraged the practice. If these were the last days, then all cultural norms could and should be discarded. Within hours of the TV broadcast, the number of people joining the desert cult doubled. A cult that encouraged rampant sexual activity? Why not?

### Near the Neolithic columns at Stonehenge, a dozen people were arrested for indecent behavior. Their excuse was always the same: 'The Godship made me do it'. In Saudi Arabia, Islamic law was reinterpreted and the desert cults flourished with husbands sharing and exchanging wives. In Thailand, the old laws which permitted polygamy were reconstituted. In India, prostitution diminished and rape became common. Sex on a global scale, all out of respect for the Godship presence.

### I didn't understand why the consensus seemed to be that the world was coming to an end. Just because the space ships had moved a few hundred kilometers? Because of the black halo where the stars weren't visible? Because they manipulated gravity? Why? Most people are just plain dumb.

### It wasn't until late, during the evening news, that I understood the worldwide feeling of doom. Although most of the ship-to-ship communication was encoded and incomprehensible, some of the audio was played on the TV. It sounded like gurgling laughter. I recognized it immediately. It was the laugh of David Granger, the old guy who had photos of Burlington, taken from the position of our Godship, the guy who vanished, perhaps abducted. That ominous laugh needed no translation. In every country, in every language, it sounded perilous, foreboding, menacing. The aliens were about to annihilate life on planet Earth. I understood the global anxiety. I couldn't help but chuckle. Alas, if it weren't so sad it'd be hilarious. Old David was getting his revenge.

### I looked at my watch. Susan's Grill would be closing soon. I called Susan. She answered on the first ring.

### "Hello, Susan here," she said.

### I began to cackle, trying to imitate the laugh of David Granger.

### "Hi Gordon," she said. "You heard it too, eh?"

### "Yeah, so I guess ol' man David is on that Godship after all."

### There was a long pause. I waited. Susan hesitated.

### "David was here, three days ago," she said, almost in a whisper.

### "What! In your Grill? You kidding?"

### "I know, I'm always kidding, but this time I'm not. He looked rather spiffy. Well shaven, clean clothes, hair combed, neat and pristine."

### "Did you talk to him? What did he say? Was he on the space ship? Did he..."

"I only said hello. I don't really know the guy and he just came in to buy a pack of cigarettes then he left. But I recognized him from his pictures in the Burlington Times."

### "I wonder if he's back in his apartment. I'd like to talk to him," I said.

"No. The Times said he disappeared again, yesterday, I think."

### "Just in time to get back on the ship...and laugh," I groaned.

### After talking to Susan I didn't know whether I should head back into town. If I did, then Harry would definitely get me to arrange council meetings, print agendas, write and distribute minutes. I decided to stay at the cottage for a while longer. It was past my bedtime so I turned off the TV, shut down the laptop and headed to bed. I lay there for over an hour thinking of Susan. Why was she the first person I thought of calling? She was a great gal. Although she had a degree in English Lit, she quit her job as a high school teacher and took over the store when her father became too old and was admitted to a retirement home; she changed the name and has been flipping burgers for several years. I think her father would have been proud of the way she took over. Her burgers were clearly the best in town. In fact, they were the only pork burgers in town.

I really liked Susan. Like a sister, maybe. Or something more serious, maybe. I wasn't thinking sex. Come to think of it, I almost never think of sex. I guess that's unusual, but Susan was just somebody nice to talk to. She was clever in her way though ignorant of most things technical, she was fascinating to watch, the way she moved her lips, the dimples, the flashing eyes. Maybe my interest was something more serious.

### I must have fallen into a deep sleep because I didn't hear the loud knocks on the door. The next morning, when I awoke, Sophie showed up with bacon, eggs Benedict, hash brown potatoes, sausage links, English muffins, marmalade and a huge pot of coffee.

### "I was here last night," she said. "I knocked but I guess you was sleeping, but thought you might be hungry this morning." She was holding a large tray scattered with the breakfast victuals. "I've already eaten but I had some leftovers and thought you may be hungry. There's lots to eat, so you can just dig in. I've already eaten. Did I say that already?"

### "Come on in," I said.

### I was actually looking forward to eating her preparations. We walked to the kitchen table and I hunkered down to eat directly from the tray. She ate nothing, she just watched, radiant, an ear to ear smile, her chin resting on her knuckles. After two cups of coffee I sat back and burped. It was completely involuntary, but Sophie seemed glad to hear it.

### "Did you hear the laugh," I said.

### "Laugh? What laugh? I didn't hear nothin'. Was it last night? Was it our neighbor, the guy with the limp? I sometimes hear him talking, he talks so loud. Or it may be my radio. I know I have the volume turned up when I'm on the porch. Sometimes..."

### "No, I mean the laugh recorded from the space ships."

### "Ooh, no, I didn't hear that. Are they laughing at us, them alien guys?"

### I explained my theory about old man David, his abduction and his curious laugh. Sophie became nervous.

### "If he's angry, this old guy, maybe he'll get the aliens to do something bad, don't you think? If he's upset with people, then he's sure to make them aliens upset, don't you think? Maybe the bad guys..."

### "I don't know," I said. "I doubt if they'd listen to that old fella. Besides, I have reason to believe that David has turned a new leaf. He's clean and decent. Maybe it's good that we have a fellow human on board the Godship."

### We chatted for perhaps an hour, then I said I'd have to go into town for some important business. Sophie didn't ask and I didn't say, but my important business was to buy another case of beer. She left with empty plates and coffee pot and jars of jam and I waved goodbye. She was a sweet gal, though sometimes tiring. I couldn't imagine a husband listening to her all day. I also couldn't imagine why I sometimes found her so distasteful.

### Part 1.6

### At week's end I closed up the cottage and drove home. There was a note from Susan on my door when I arrived. It said: 'drop by', so I did, without unpacking. Susan's Grill was full of the lunch crowd. Susan was in the corner talking to the cook, her two hired girls were running about with trays of food, customers were raising their hands to get attention and the whole place smelled of frying oil. When she saw me she waved the cook off and beckoned. I couldn't find an empty table, but she pointed to a back room. She had flour on her nose and I wiped it off. She actually looked delicious.

### "That old guy David what's-his-name? He was in again this morning," she said. "I asked if he'd like a complimentary burger and he nodded vigorously and sat at your favorite table. I brought him a burger and a Coke and sat down to watch him. He looked fabulous, all cleaned up, but it was as though he hadn't eaten in days. I complimented him on his tie and said the Godship must have blessed him. He stopped eating and just stared at me."

### Susan paused and looked pensive. I was eager to hear more, so I grunted. She understood and continued.

### "He said that he'd been in the Godship and it was empty. I asked him how he got in and he said he just woke up inside. I asked about its being empty and he said there was no sign of any life, but there were lots of flashing lights and colored pads–very smooth walls and ceiling and electronic panels. I asked him if he could communicate with the aliens and he nodded energetically. He talked and they could hear him, somehow. He didn't know where they were, but he was sure they could hear him. One time he was on board for several days and a table showed up, much like the one he had in his apartment, and food kept appearing on the table: nothing hot, just fruit and nuts. I was about to ask if it was his voice we heard on TV, but he looked at his watch and hurried off. He shouted a 'thank you' as he left, then he stopped and laughed that gurgling laugh."

### "So it was him," I said. "I knew it! If he comes in again, I'd like to talk to him. I have an idea."

### "Sure, if he comes again," Susan said. "How about you? Want a burger and fries?"

### I said no and left. No exercise, no excess food.

### In my apartment I turned on the computer and the TV. The announcer was excited:

### "The Godships are moving again!" He was shouting. "They're coming together somewhere over the Pacific. It's not clear where, but...wait, I'm just getting something...all spacecraft are descending to the surface of the water...one is still high above the...wait, there's new video...hundreds of vessels are now in the water, they're disappearing below the surface, but one is still at about a thousand meters...I'm now being told that the vessels are over the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans..."

### It didn't make sense. All ships had stayed for years over large cities, yet they were always near water. Then moved a few hundred kilometers to nearby lakes and now, the Pacific Ocean. Why? There were so many unanswered questions and the only person who might answer them was a strange old man who apparently spends time inside a Godship.

### It was a couple of days later that Susan called. She was excited to tell me that David had just entered the Grill. She'd feed him, gratis, and try to keep him there until I arrived. It took me about five minutes to run down the stairs and next door to the Grill. Susan saw me enter and pointed to the table by the window, my usual table. I rushed over and sat down, puffing and wheezing from the run. David looked up, surprised.

### "I got me this table," he snorted.

### "Yes, I know. You're the fella who's been on the Godship, right?"

### "Damn! I told her to shut her trap and..."

### "Who? Susan?" I asked.

"Who's Susan?" he said. "Oh, that Susan over there. No. I mean the reporter for the Times. If I told her my story and she said she'd print it, but until I told her it was okay to print she'd shut up about it."

### "What's she paying you?" I asked.

### "Thet ain't none of your damn business," he grunted, then continued attacking his fries. He paused just long enough to say, "I got me some new clothes, though." A short smile, a giggle then back to the fries. He did look rather spiffy in his new clothes.

### "I have a proposition for you. One that'll make you a few bucks." I sounded earnest.

### He wiped the mustard from his mouth. His fries were buried in the yellow stuff. He looked up and stared. "How much?" he said.

### It didn't take much to convince the old guy. I figured that, if he got excited about a new jacket and tie, then a hundred bucks would sound good to him. It was a simple scheme. Even this old guy couldn't get it wrong. However, it depended upon David being taken into a Godship, again. That didn't happen that often, but I guess there wasn't any rush. It has been almost five years since they arrived, so a few more weeks would do no harm–unless the coming together over the Pacific was somehow the beginning of a new phase. It also depended upon an old friend from college days, Jim Wilson.

### Part 1.7

### That fella gave me a hundred bucks to do nothin', really. I jest wait till they suck me up and then I turn on thet tiny camera stickin' on me belt. Then I walk about like they ain't nothin' different happenin' and take a movie picture. I was getting' free burgers at thet grill, so I weren't in no hurry. I even stopped by fer breakfast once and got me pancakes. I reckon it took the best part o' a week afore I got sucked up. I had got drunk and went to bed and was sleepin' then I woke up and I was in the Godship, jest like thet. I walked about, pointin' meself here 'n there. They is a winder which only looks out. Ya cain't look in 'cause the winder's all got a rusty color. I seed thet when I was down below. Now I look out and see lots o' Godships way down below, next to the water, jest sorta sittin' there. That's when I hear a noise and I look up to see some real funny animals comin' right outta the flat walls. They is tall and skinny and kinda gray and they got wee red eyes shinin' and they got long skinny arms and I git kinda scared 'cause thet ain't happened afore and I figure they don't like the picture-takin' so I put me hands over me belt and start a-walkin' to my bed to mebbe crawl under the covers but all the walls come loose with the skinny gray things and they is slidin' to where I is and I rub me eyes 'cause mebbe I is seein' things and...

### Part 1.8

### I had called Jim about the received camera transmissions. He said it was encrypted so he came by with decoding software and left the decoded video on my hard drive. He was in a hurry and left immediately so I could look it over at my leisure. Jim had made the tiny camera with a radio frequency transmitter which old man David had taken to the Godship. Jim had arranged it so that, without the decryption software, nobody could see the video. He didn't know what I was using it for. I had been eager to watch the decrypted video so I grabbed a beer and sat in front of the monitor.

### The previous day, all of the Godships had sunk into the Pacific Ocean–all except one. It was now generally agreed that only one Godship had aliens and the others were just clones, controlled by the head honcho. However, the debate continued for months. It was also generally agreed that all ships contained only automatons or androids and the 'chief' ship just held the main computer control systems. The others were slaves. I went along with that theory, too. However, I think there were as many Godship theories as there were Godships. When I say 'generally agreed', I mean that that was just the current theory–but it seemed to change from day to day.

### It was also noted that water levels had decreased at many of the lakes over which the vessels had kept vigil. The Godships had apparently captured water, slowly, from a hundred bodies of water. After a few hours, the Godships that had sunk into the Pacific rose again. The assumption was that they had taken on large quantities of seawater. Water was a scarce commodity in the universe. Our blue planet had plenty, but it seemed preposterous that they stayed around for almost five years just to collect water. They were huge and apparently hollow as I observed on David's video. Lots of room for water.

### The main spacecraft had slowly ascended and headed out to space. All the others followed. We haven't seen them since. Well, that's not exactly true. Apparently they had gathered over the Atlantic Ocean for a day or so and some even over the Indian and Arctic Oceans. That was curious.

### Our greatest minds have not figured out how they managed to defy gravity, nor has there been an explanation of the blocking of starlight in the immediate neighborhood of the ships. The consensus was that a bevy of travelling aliens just stopped by for a drink of water. It seemed absurd, but I couldn't think of any other more reasonable explanation. In any case, they evidently had a passenger: David.

### I've watched David's video at least a hundred times since that last day, almost a year ago. Susan often joined me. I've become quite fond of that gal. We frequently discussed the comings and goings of the Godships. Susan thought that their time was much slower than ours. For us, five years was a long time. For them, maybe not. That seemed reasonable and perhaps explained the length of time they stayed in our neighborhood. I thought that, one day, I might explain special relativity to Susan–as I understood it. Maybe Susan wasn't so dumb after all, when it came to scientific things. Time much slower than ours? She may be right.

### David has evidently been on the chief Godship, the one that stayed well above the surface of the Pacific. The video image was fuzzy, but David had been able to capture much of the hollow interior and smooth walls. The walls had tall gray panels and small flashing red lights. Then a strange thing. A section of wall had detached itself and started sliding toward the camera. Then another section of wall until it seemed that a dozen or more tall, skinny panels were moving toward David, each with flashing lights. It had been observed that, just before the Godships had left to continue their galactic journey, they had shrunk to about half their size. The video capture of the collapsing of the wall panels seemed to confirm that assumption.

### When the craft had first arrived, years ago, it was felt by many that they had increased in size. Those first impressions must have been correct. They must have become larger. Now, before leaving, they reverted to their original size. Perhaps the smaller size was galaxy roaming size as opposed to planet hovering size.

### There was no audio on David's transmission, but I imagine that he was saying something because the camera became very jerky as though he were jumping or shaking. Then his hand appeared to cover the camera and the video went black. Global communication networks had picked up a communication between Godships, just before all the clones had resurfaced from the Pacific. They managed to isolate a single audio passage. It was a gurgling cry–a cry more of alarm than laughter.

### CHAPTER TWO
### Part 2.1

### For years I had been going almost daily to Susan's Grill. I came to realize that it wasn't for the burgers, though she made pork burgers served with a mountain of fried onions and they were delicious. It was Susan herself: she was always cheerful, radiant, she made me feel good, I couldn't wait to see her again–and again. I guess it was just a matter of time before I asked her to marry me. She hesitated, looked at the ceiling, placed her chin in her hand, began to hum, then said yes, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I'm sure she noticed that I looked upset at her hesitation. So she gave me a big hug and kissed me hard on the lips. That was actually the first time we kissed. In fact, we had never been on a date, not even to a movie or dinner or anything and certainly no sex.

### Now that I look back, it was a strange relationship. I guess couples are expected to sample the wares before committing themselves, but that never occurred to me. I just couldn't imagine life without Susan nearby. It's always seemed sort of abnormal that she should accept my proposal when we never had a close relationship. In fact, shamed as I am to admit it, I'm perhaps the dullest guy around. My range of interests is Lilliputian. I don't like classical music or opera or tear-jerking movies or even Japanese cooking. I can't stand people who talk about themselves as though I were interested. I avoid social gatherings for that reason. If I have to attend some meeting, I sit next to some old codger and he tells me about his job, his kids, his travels and the tools he has in his garage. Should I be interested? Hell, no! In fact, now that I think of it, I usually talked about myself to Susan. I can only recall one occasion when we talked about her and that was when I asked her how she came to own a burger joint. So why did she accept my proposal of marriage?

### After Susan and I married we spent a lot of time each summer at the cottage. She was a great cook as one might expect, having owned the Grill for years. After six years of marriage, her father died and she sold the Grill and got a job as assistant professor in the English department at Burlington College. It was something she always wanted to do: teach. She had taught high school, but it was a compulsory course and the students hated it. At the college, her students loved her, as I did.

### She had kept Susan's Grill in deference to her father, but she was happy to get rid of the headaches after he died. In fact, her father had insisted she change the name to Susan's Grill. After she sold it, it became a McDonalds. We never ate there. The hamburgers were no longer pork burgers with fried onions. Besides, I was on a low calorie kick. I was always on a low calorie kick and I read the labels on any box of cereal or can of soup I bought. Although it didn't prevent my consuming the contents, it was something to talk about: 'Did you know that All Bran only has a hundred and eighty calories per cup and a dill pickle has just five?' Everybody was concerned with eating healthy. Everybody listened. Having people listen was a novelty, for me. Usually I did the listening. Except for Susan, of course. She always listened and seemed thoroughly interested. At a party, if you want to be known as a great conversationalist, just ask the guy next to you to talk about himself. He'll provide a thirty minute monologue and think you're a great guy.

### When I married Susan, I didn't know she had a dog, a Yorkshire Terrier, Sandy. I don't particularly like dogs. With a name like 'Sandy' I didn't know if this mutt was boy or girl, but when it pissed on the rug I knew: it squatted. When I asked Susan how she chose the name Sandy for the gal dog, she said Sandy was a boy dog. Now I was sure I didn't like dogs. This one didn't know enough to piss properly. Any self respecting boy dog would lift its leg, not squat–and certainly not piss on the rug.

### And it barked at everything: when the mailman dropped off letters, when a car horn honked, when the phone rang, when the TV first came on and even when we spoke certain words, like 'let's go' or 'okay, do it'. However, Susan loved the little mutt so I learned to tolerate its presence. In fact, each day when I returned from work, Sandy would get all excited upon my arrival. I never had any one or any thing get excited when I showed up and it was kind of nice. The little mutt insisted that I pick him up so he could lick my face. That was really disgusting. I had no idea what he had been licking last, so I always held him at arm's length then placed him on his doggie-bed. What was also disgusting was taking the dog for a walk. He'd shit on the sidewalk and I had to grab the shit with my hand wrapped in a plastic bag. I'm convinced the dog had a smile on his face when he hunkered down to drop a load.

### It was hard for me to understand what Susan had for this animal: a bed, a pee station, sweaters, shoes, toys that looked like tiny bears and a dozen treats that looked just like his poop–but lighter in color. Anyway, Sandy and I got along. What was more important, Susan and I got along.

### Susan was everything I could want in a woman and a wife. She's smart except for scientific things. She has a pretty face and a great smile and a remarkable body that can only be appreciated when we shower together. I only had one girl friend when I was a teenager and that didn't last long. I always suspected that girls found me boring, uninteresting, given to talking about myself. I recognize these shortcomings and now try to refrain from hogging the conversation. I seem to spend a lot of time examining myself, my faults as well as my virtues. The occasional times I've been at a party or summer picnic, I sit next to some old fella and ask a question. He then talks continuously for ten minutes and, when done, believes that I'm a great conversationalist. People are funny that way. Have I mentioned that before? Maybe. I should also mention my lousy memory.

### Susan, however, always asks me how work went, or what I'd like to do on the weekend or what the council meeting was like or what we should have for dinner. Is she really interested in all that stuff? Is she just asking to be nice? When I remember, I try to ask similar questions of her. Often, in bed at night, she lets me go on and on about my day, my dreams, my goals. I can smell her perfume, lilac. She's one cool gal. I can't imagine growing old without her by my side. Still, I sometimes think she finds me boring. In fact, I know I'm boring.

### I was still with the local Space Council, but I was now a regular member, representing Lakeshore South. Harry Clemens was still chairman and George Falcon still the associate chairman and Bev was still sleeping at the end of the table. She had retired from real estate and was looking slightly worn, but when she was awake her remarks were right on the button. Alas, there was little for the council to do these days. At the last meeting, Bev had stuck her finger in the air and said, "All in favor of dissolving the Council raise their hand". Almost all hands went up. However, like a bad habit, the Council was still around.

### The last interesting meeting was after the Godship left, almost seven years ago. I wrote up a mammoth report which included a reference and description of David's video. Copies of the video were in libraries in most major cities and the original was held by the Global Space Council. I had been interviewed a thousand times. In fact, I had become a sort of celebrity, an expert on the aliens. My only claim to fame was the video, but I put on a great show, making senseless comments for the benefit of every reporter. When I think back, it was a foolish display on my part.

After the Godship left, church attendance rebounded. Ministers spent months giving thanks for the messengers that God had sent. Sex-cults that had sprung up around the world still flourished. They expected a return of the alien messengers to coincide with the end of the world. That was their vivendi ratio, their reason to live involved being carried to a paradise flowing with milk and honey and cannabis.

### Susan and I had moved to a larger apartment, still overlooking the lake but near the College. There was a play area for the dog. I had become rather fond of the mutt and actually enjoyed watching him run about on the grass. He was ecstatic, racing from one end to the other until his tongue hung out. Susan would walk to work in good weather. Since becoming a full member of the Council, I was rarely required to do anything to earn the small stipend so I took a tech job with Burlington Communications. It was involved in providing local residential cable, phone and Earthnet services.

### Since my major at college had been electrical engineering, I felt right at home. The nice part, for me at least, was access to the antenna array just outside the city. It was directional and I could point it in almost any direction except straight up. The array didn't move, not physically; it was an electronically steerable directional array. It was used to download, from various remote locations, software and documents and sometimes audio and video files. When the array wasn't in use I could point it east, over the lake where there were no structures to impede reception. Pointing just above the horizon, I'd pick up curious radio signals that no one in the office understood. In fact, they made a point of ignoring the signals. Just static, noise they said. It had a flat power spectral density and contained no useful information. However, I often felt I could discern certain patterns. When I told Susan she would pat me on the head and say, "Yes, dear. It's the Godship talking." Sad to say, but I missed the alien craft.

### It was late in September. I heard a gurgle. I had built some digital audio conversion hardware and turned it on so it could work on the radio reception from just above the eastern horizon. That way I could listen and tell if it was just white noise or something more contrived. I usually spent the day at the computer, modifying and storing files, so I'd listen to the audio while I worked. It was definitely a gurgle. My heart was pounding. It was something real, not just static. I reached over and switched on the audio recorder. I'd take a diskcopy home to let Susan hear it. It only lasted for a few seconds and was almost unrecognizable with all the background noise, but I'm sure she would identify it as old man David. Were the Godships returning? Was David on one of the spaceships? I couldn't wait to get home. Susan would be astounded- and happy, I'm sure.

### The clock showed 5:00 PM when Jerry came in. He was my replacement for the evening shift and always arrived at exactly 5 o'clock. I already had my briefcase packed and my coat on. I said nothing about the audio I had captured. I had returned the antenna array to point due west, away from the lake, turned off the audio conversion software and wished Jerry an uneventful evening. Then I grabbed my briefcase, stuffed in the audiodisk and headed home. Susan would be astounded, and happy, I was sure.

### Part 2.2

### "C'mon Gordon, that's just static."

### Susan was not convinced, but I'm sure it was old man David. She always called me Gordon when she was upset or angry or disagreed with a comment.

### "Listen to it again," I said. "Try to ignore the background noise."

### I played the few seconds of audio many times, but Susan was not buying it.

### "I think you're devoted to some kind of Godship fable," Susan sighed. "Aliens visit Planet Earth, they abscond with an old man who giggles, they return years later to fill up their water bags again and..."

### "Okay, let's just wait," I said. "Let's see if I hear it again tomorrow."

### "Have you told Harry Clemens?"

### "No. He's such an ass and..."

### "Gordon Blend! Stop being so negative about people! Harry tries hard to manage the council meetings. He barely graduated from high school, so you have to admire what he's made of himself. He has a thriving business. Have you got a thriving business? He drives a BMW. Do you drive a BMW? At the last council party he was kind and thoughtful and spoke softly and I never heard him criticize others. Do you? In fact, he spoke highly of you. Imagine that!"

### I was taken aback by Susan's outburst. She was usually so quiet, reserved.

### "Okay, Susan. I'm sorry. You're right. I don't know why I'm always running people down. Do you think it's because I'm not too happy with my own life?"

### "Oh, so marrying me was a big mistake, was it?"

### "No! No! I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. In fact, marrying you was the only good thing I've done in years–in my whole life. It's just that...well, I don't particularly like my job and I haven't really done anything to brag about and you, on the other hand, have all these bright young minds hanging on your every word and..."

### "Yeah, right. Okay, so feel sorry for yourself, but don't take it out on others. You're just like your father, hypercritical of every one."

### That was a low blow. Susan only knew my father from my descriptions. I felt like an ass. Perhaps I'd made my father out to be worse than he was. I was the ass, not Harry Clemens. In fact, Harry wasn't such a bad guy when I think about it.

### "Sorry. I don't know, maybe I'm just imagining things–like that giggle."

### I began to wonder whether I really was hearing things. Maybe I was desperate to hear a giggle. Maybe the old days of the Godship were so fascinating that I wanted to relive them, again. Working at Burlington Communications was boring. Every day was the same as the day before. At least Susan had students with personalities, who laughed at her jokes, who visited in her office, whom she could enlighten. I had a wall full of monitors, a table strewn with keypads and acres of disk storage. The only thing of any interest was the antenna array and even that provided little relief from the monotony.

### For the next few days I heard nothing but noise. I spent so much time just sitting at the console that it was hard to stay awake. I needed something to do, some cerebral activity, so I decided to write software to analyze the frequency spectrum of the noise. The power associated with each short frequency interval would be the same. That's white noise. However, when the giggle occurred–if it ever occurred again–there'd be something different, a different power spectral density. I'd be able to demonstrate something unique, something...

### The phone rang. It hardly ever rang. I grabbed the phone.

### "Burlington Communications. Gordon Blend here," I said.

### It was Harry Clemens.

### "Gord, we need a meeting of the Council, soon," he said.

### Horrible Harry always forgot that I was no longer council secretary.

### "What's up," I asked.

### "The Global Council has reason to believe that the Godships are returning."

### I almost dropped the phone. I knew it! That giggle was old man David! My Godship was coming back!

### I was sitting at the kitchen table by 6:30 PM. Susan was fussing with pots and pans by the stove and chopping vegetables.

### I said, in my most casual voice, "They're coming back." I guess my smile said it all: I was happy.

### Susan said, "I thought they had moved to Mexico, permanently."

### "Mexico? Who moved to Mexico?" I asked.

### "Michael and Jill," she said.

### "Why are we talking about Michael and Jill," I said.

### "You said they were coming back," she said.

### "No! No, I'm talking about the Godship."

### Susan stopped chopping vegetables. Her back was to me, but I could see she was surprised. She turned slowly.

### "The Godships are coming back? Why? For more water?" she said. "And do they expect mass hysteria?" Susan asked, her chopping knife poised.

### "You mean like the H.G. Wells radio program," I said. "In 1930-something, about a war between worlds? I remember reading about that one."

### "You got the wrong Welles, Gordie my dear. It was Orson. He was reading an adaptation of the novel by that other Wells."

### "Oh. Anyway, I have no idea why they're coming back," I said. "We're having a Council meeting tomorrow. There'll be information from the Global Council who said they have evidence of their return–the Godships. Back to Earth. No doubt with old man David on board. Water? Maybe, I guess. If old man David is on board we may get a chance to talk to him, see where he's been, what he's done, whether he saw any..."

### "Hold on, Gordie," Susan said. "Don't you think it's unlikely that they'll stop at the same places as last time? If it's water they want, there are lots of watering holes available on the planet. I'd suggest an ocean or, if they don't like saltwater, then there's Lake Superior, the largest in the world. It'd accommodate a hundred Godships."

### "Yeah," I agreed. "I guess you're right."

### "But they've been away for years," Susan said. "Why do they come back now? Did they collect water and it's taken four or five years to consume so now..."

### "It's been years to us. Maybe not to them," I said, remembering Susan's earlier comment about their time being different from ours.

### Susan brought the plates of vegetables to the table and sat down. Since our marriage, we've eaten mostly vegetables. After years of running a burger joint, it was a surprise to find that Susan was quasi-vegetarian. She wasn't too excited about eating dead animals, she said. Though I loved a good steak, her vegetable preparations were delicious and I rarely pined for red meat. In addition to the vegetable medley there was a sweating bottle of Chablis, the genuine article from France. It had always been my favorite white wine and now it was Susan's as well.

### "Maybe not to them?" she said, between mouthfuls of broccoli and melted cheddar. "What did you mean by that?"

### "By what?"

### " It's been years to us but not to them. That's what you said."

### "Oh, well, if they travel the galaxy at near-light speeds, then time goes slower. If you travel close to light speed then a year can seem like a few months. That's a well-known theory that's been around for a while. If I remember correctly, at 97% of light speed, three months to the traveler is a year for the stay-at-home. Maybe the aliens think they've been away just a few months. Anyway, I'm hoping that they'll show up nearby so we could speak to David. He'd surely have some fascinating stories to tell."

### Alas, that was not to be the case.

### At the council meeting, Harry read the communiqués from the Global Council. The Godships seem to be locating away from large population centers. It wasn't clear, yet, but some seemed to be hovering over desolate locations in Africa, South America and China. Places where there are few humans, mostly jungle or, sometimes, desert. That seemed strange. Were they after water? Obviously not. Then what? If no ship was near Burlington, then how would I talk to old man David? Maybe David wasn't even on one of these Godships. What then? As Susan so often pointed out, I was obsessed with the alien spacecraft.

### There was a long debate concerning the purpose of the return of the spacecraft. No one had a single creditable idea. It was decided that water couldn't be their goal. The locations seemed to be near dense jungle, where water was relatively scarce. At the end of the meeting Harry asked me to remain.

### "You need to go to London," he said.

### "What! Why?"

### "You're our expert on the Godships and they want you there." Harry seemed dejected.

### Although the Global Council usually met in Geneva, the Geneva building had a fire and was under reconstruction, so the location was changed to London.

### I could tell that Harry was disappointed that he wasn't asked to attend the meeting. I wasn't surprised that I was singled out. Although my celebrity had waned over the past few years, I still got phone calls from people writing articles on the Godship phenomenon, asking about the David-video I had distributed. Just wait until the most recent Godship arrival became known. I'd be expected to answer a million questions: How do they do the anti-gravity thing? Will stars be absent from the halo surrounding each ship? Why return again, now? Why hover over jungles? What is their purpose? Are we in any danger? Will sexual conduct be scrutinized? Will that old man be on board a Godship?

### I wasn't sure I'd appreciate the attention, especially since I didn't have any answers. Susan sure as hell wouldn't like the attention she'd get. On the other hand, Harry would revel in such attention. In fact, he had the ability to provide a reasonable response to every question, even if he didn't know the answer. Besides, he was a nice guy. Maybe he should go, not me.

### Part 2.3

### I had never been to London before, so was pleased to get the invitation to join the Global Space Council in its deliberations. Unfortunately, it was at a time when classes were in full swing so Susan couldn't come with me. She did however, pack my luggage with a variety of paraphernalia which she assumed I'd need. In fact, I knew I'd use just half of the clothes she packed. I appreciated the reading material: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Susan had a peculiar sense of humor.

### It was the night before I was to leave for London. "I was thinking," I said.

### I waited for Susan to stop reading and pay attention. She put her book down and smiled. That was my cue. "I think Harry should go to the Global Council. He'd love it and he deserves it."

### Susan's smile grew larger. I could tell she was pleased.

### "What do you think?" I said. "I'm not prepared to answer a thousand questions."

### Susan got up, walked across the room and gave me a big kiss on the forehead.

### "Did I ever tell you I love you?" she asked.

### "Not today," I said.

### While Susan watched, I phoned Harry and told him I wasn't feeling well and asked him if he'd be so kind as to go to London in my stead. There was a long pause, then he said "I'd love to go–and I hope you feel better soon. Please take care of yourself."

### Harry was a nice guy. I put down the phone. Susan placed a cold beer on my side table. She was happy. Harry was happy. I was happy. I hate going on trips without Susan. Besides, I made many people happy today. I knew that Harry was very, very happy. I felt good about myself for the first time in quite a while.

### I was determined to follow all Global Council developments via globemail from Harry, radio, TV and Earthnet broadcasts. By the following day, the media was filled with reports of Godships sighted across the globe. Amateur astronomers had taken pictures of the cigar-shaped vessels, short wave enthusiasts were convinced they received voice communications and the number of sex-cults had blossomed. What was very strange was the location of the ships: directly above almost uninhabited jungle. 'Almost', because the only human populations seemed to be aboriginal. Natives without modern conveniences, without electricity and, in particular, without means of communication. That meant that reporters, anthropologists and specialists of various stripes were invading these locations in great numbers in order to provide daily updates on Godship maneuvers.

### If it wasn't water the aliens were after, what was it? And what did less-than-civilized, primitive cultures provide that the general urban population didn't? I expected a flurry of reports from the Amazon rainforest, the African Congo, the jungles of Sri Lanka and the Daintree Rainforest of Australia. I suspect the indigenous peoples would not like the attention they'll be getting. In particular, I suspected that, by the time the Godships left, jungle soil would be littered with pop cans, plastic containers and fast food stands.

### The first concrete news I received was from Harry. He began by expressing his appreciation for giving him the opportunity to attend the Global Council. He said he felt inadequate among the other Council members until he had a chance to speak. I had given him all the notes I had intended to use as well as maps, videos and audio recordings. He said that, after he gave his presentation, he was surrounded by members asking a thousand questions. I knew that Harry would be able to handle the questions with ease. Harry is a good guy. I can't understand why I didn't like him and that was just a few months ago.

### Harry's globemail was recorded on my computer while I was at work and I spent much of the evening going over it. Susan would occasionally look over my shoulder or hand me a beer or a snack. Sandy, our delightful little mutt, lay on my foot. He was getting old and seemed to have taken a liking to me. According to Harry's messages, the Godships had abducted several natives in a manner similar to the abduction of old man David. However, there was no evidence of audio transmissions and certainly none of David's giggling laugh.

### It has never been clear what the aliens expected to gain from David's abduction and it was even less apparent what a native would provide. Susan had suggested a human zoo, implying humans of varying characteristics: civilized (that was David, I guess) and primitive. That seemed unlikely since the Godships had been around for years and David was the only 'civilized' person taken, as far as we know. Surely they'd want several samples, Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid...but they only took old David and he wasn't such a good sample of anything.

### After ten days, Harry returned and we had a meeting of our local council. Harry was splendid in his presentation. Even beautiful George was impressed and Bev, who usually fell asleep, hardly even blinked.

### "The assumption," Harry said, "is that there is interbreeding going on inside the Godships. But no one could understand how, unless natives from various Godship sites were transferred back and forth. Although everyone understood that David Granger was probably on board one of the ships, it seemed unlikely that he would be involved in a breeding program."

### There was subdued chuckling. Bev said, "I suspect David would be happy to service all the women." Everyone laughed.

### I was confused. "How did the Council decide it was interbreeding?" I asked.

### I could see several heads nodding. Harry rubbed his chin.

### "The natives that were...uh, lifted to the Godships were mostly women and very few men. The women were apparently young and healthy, as were the men. I think the preponderance of women made Council members think of breeding." At least Harry was convinced by the arguments, but I wasn't. There could be many reasons for selecting mostly women.

### "First it's water," said George softly, as though deep in thought. "Now it's females. That's quite curious."

### Bev was convinced. "Healthy women to propagate the species," she said.

### "But what species?" I was still doubtful. "The human species or perhaps some other species."

### Harry was shocked by the thought. "Good heavens! That never occurred to anyone at Council meetings. Maybe the aliens have sucked up other kinds of species during their travels and are now attempting to interbreed them."

### Now everybody had a comment to make.

### "Breed something entirely novel. A cross between a human and a Martian."

### "Homo Galaxian."

### "Yes, a new species emerging from native wombs. What a thought."

### "We really need to bring this up with somebody who's now on the scene."

### "The scene? You mean the Brazilian jungle scene?"

### It was the longest meeting we've had in years. At the end it was decided to bring up the possibility of breeding other aliens with the Global Council. Harry was eager to describe our discussion. That night I had my first bad dream.

### David had said, in his video, that the aliens were tall and skinny and kind of gray and they had wee red shining eyes. His video showed the wall panels collapsing. That was coincident with the spacecraft decreasing in size just before they left. In my dreams, they were the aliens: tall, skinny, gray metallic panels. There was a circle of such panels. Within the circle was a group of half naked women. They were obviously frightened. The panels sprouted robotic arms. Each arm seized a woman, dragging her across a polished floor. The women screamed. A single male native appeared and tried to extract a woman from the metallic grasp. The panel turned to engulf the native. The crush of metal suddenly stopped. A voice from the far wall. In an alcove left by a departed panel was David Granger. His hair was wild, his eyes were red and flashing. He barked an order in some alien tongue. All the panels receded and were replaced by an army of robots, each with several heads. I woke up, sweating.

### Part 2.4

### It was a sunny Sunday morning when I first told Susan about my dreams. Sunday was always bacon and eggs day and she made eggs benedict over toasted English muffins slathered in butter. Since the sun was shining, the sky blue and the weather warm, we sat on the balcony overlooking the lake. Bare feet and pajamas, delightful. Susan was fully dressed, of course. She had a class in the afternoon, but she was always well dressed, from the moment she awoke until she went to bed at night. I couldn't understand why she'd arranged a Sunday class. She was dedicated to her students and this was a special, off-campus meeting.

### We watched the seagulls soar overhead and we could hear the Canada geese honking below, at the waterline. Our dog, Sandy, got his morning treat of peculiar green cookies. Only Susan knew what they were, but the mutt enjoyed them.

### "I don't know why you're concerned about your dreams," she said. "I'd be more concerned if I couldn't fall asleep."

### "I'm not concerned. I just don't know what they mean."

### "Ah, you're looking for a Freudian explanation. Freud thought dreams were an expression of primal impulses, pleasures, urges and unfulfilled wishes. That's the reason for the naked women."

### I grinned. "C'mon Susan, you know that's not an appropriate interpretation. Primal impulses? That's why I have you."

### She flung a piece of toast which fell to the floor and Sandy was pleased to devour it. When we were finished breakfast, we both stared out across the lake. It had several personalities, this lake. It could be quiet and serene, angry or sad. There were sometimes curious currents that ran haphazard across the surface. Often there were frothy rivulets. This morning it was like glass, reflecting the far shore like a mirror. We both loved our beautiful lake.

### "I love this place, don't you?" she said.

### "Yes, I've always enjoyed living here, facing the lake. Especially here, at the extreme end of the lake where I can see Burlington Beach. The rest of the world lives on the opposite side of our building, the traffic, the crowds, the noise. It's a pleasant walk to Spencer Park, with lakeside paths. I was born just over there." I pointed to a spot across the lake. "But you weren't born in Burlington," I said. "Why did you move here?"

### Susan became reflective. "I was very young when my mother died. I never really got to know her. I can remember Daddy crying in the evenings. That's when he decided to eliminate everything that reminded him of mother. At first he just redecorated the house and changed the garden plants that my mother was so fond of nurturing. Eventually he quit his job–he was a high school principal–bought the hamburger place in Burlington, sold the house and moved here. We lived up on the hill and could see the lake in the distance. Now I'm hooked. I wouldn't want to live any place else."

### "Yeah, me too," I said. "I used to jog down by the park and..."

### "Jog? Now you rarely get off the couch," she chuckled.

### "Hey, that's not fair. I often take the stairs instead of the elevator. I also do a lot of running on the spot."

### "What spot? Where? You know something? You're putting on weight."

### "That's not fair, either. I inspect the labels on everything I eat or drink to check the calories and fat content. I can recite the nutrient content of several...

### "Right! Then, after checking, you go ahead and eat it regardless of what it says."

### Now Susan was laughing hard. Sandy was intrigued by the sound and started to bark. I suddenly realized that Susan rarely laughed these days.

### "It's good to hear you laugh," I said. "Even the mutt enjoys it. Maybe we should take some holidays, give ourselves a chance to laugh, no worries, no phone calls, problems left behind, just sunshine and a few beers."

### Susan looked contemplative. "Hmm, go where? To the cottage?"

### "No, Miss Sofa would make our stay miserable."

### "Miss who?"

### "Sophie Candy, the gal in the next cottage."

### "You said 'Sofa'. Another Freudian error?" Susan started to giggle.

### "Actually," I said, trying to change the subject somewhat, "I was thinking of a trip–to Brazil, maybe. Don't they have some kind of Mardi Gras, a festival? I took Spanish for a few months when I was in college and..."

### "They speak Portuguese in Brazil. You want to go there to see your Godship. That'd mean traveling down the Amazon to some remote native village with half naked women. No thanks. Sandy and I will stay here."

### Susan seemed able to read minds. That was disconcerting, to say the least. I gave up talk of holidays in South America. Maybe the cottage wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe we could put up with Sophie. Sandy would love it; running about on the grass, nipping at the waves...

### "Gordon! Look! Is that what I think it is?"

### Susan sounded distressed. I stood up so quickly that I knocked the table and my plate fell to the floor, much to Sandy's delight. I stared out over the lake but could see nothing.

### "Over there, by the water tower." Susan was pointing almost due south.

### I had to rub my eyes. It couldn't be, could it? In a few minutes it was quite unmistakable, gleaming in the morning sun: a Godship, hovering.

### Susan's voice quivered. "It's not moving, is it?"

### "No...wait, yes! It's coming this way. See the shadow on the lake? I can't imagine what it's doing here."

### "Gordon!" Susan's voice sounded frightened. "Gordon!"

### I could hardly take my eyes off the spacecraft as it moved slowly across the lake then stopped, almost directly above our apartment building. It seemed to shiver in the sunlight, like a reflection in moving water, shimmering then disintegrating. I looked at Susan. She was flickering, like bad TV reception. The world seemed to darken, then the sun blinked out and I was in total darkness. I could feel something cold on my feet. There was a noise. I couldn't make it out. It sounded like...giggling.

### CHAPTER THREE
### Part 3.1

### I was dizzy and baffled. As the darkness diminished I could make out the figure of a man, standing against a wall. It was David Granger and he had a huge smile on his face.

### "Welcome to my sanatorium," he said. "My home for a year or more. You'll love it here. Just think what you want and you get it. Our hosts are very obliging that way."

### It was now quite bright and I saw that I was surrounded by those familiar gray panels with the flashing red lights. I had seen them often, in my dreams. David was dressed in a tuxedo and bow tie. His hair was neatly combed, greased to the contours of his head. He smiled, gleaming white teeth.

### "Recognize me?" he said.

### He sounded different, cultured. His manner was imperial, his attire exquisite.

### "David?" I said. "Is that you? You look, well, different."

### "Like I said, our hosts are very obliging. I saw myself in a mirror, saw video of some well dressed gents on the planet and indicated that I'd like to be like that. Poof! I woke up dressed in a blue suit, starched shirt and red tie. When I knew you'd be my guest today, I asked for something fitting the occasion. See?"

### David ran his hand down his lapel and straightened his bow tie.

### "You knew I'd be here, on a Godship?" I said, baffled.

### "Yes, of course. I asked for it. Well, I actually just think it. That's how we communicate, me and my hosts. It seems they send and receive mental radiation, brain waves, something of that ilk. I really don't know, but it works quite well."

### I was stunned. This was not the same old gent I knew.

### "You're stunned, right?" he said, grinning. "Where's the old degenerate David, you're thinking. He's gone, vanished, rehabilitated by my hosts. I learned suitable pronunciation without studying. It was a mental melding: me and my hosts."

### I watched David's mouth, his flashing teeth, exquisite, like an ad for toothpaste.

### "My teeth?" he said, flaunting a wide smile. "Yes, it's quite remarkable. Biogenic recreation. My hosts can reprogram cellular development. I just had to think about dental remanifestation and it was done, while I slept."

### "But you knew what I was thinking," I said, astounded. "About your teeth, I mean."

### "Yes, of course. That's the mental communication I was speaking of. I don't think my hosts recognize electromagnetic transmissions. That's why your attempts to contact them via radio waves failed. However, when the world synchronized their thoughts, that succeeded. Fascinating, don't you think?"

### "But we did receive some radio signals," I said. "That's when I first heard your gurg...uh, I heard you laughing. That's what it sounded like. Mostly unrecognizable, except for your laugh."

### "Hmm, that's strange. As far as I know, my hosts don't use radio waves and I have no idea how my voice got on any transmission. But then there are so many things I don't know, but I'm eager to learn."

### David leaned back against a smooth wall and looked me up and down.

### "The ships were gathering water," I said. "Am I right?"

### "For a few years, yes."

### "And saltwater, when they were over the Pacific Ocean."

### "No, my boy, they were visiting a friend."

### "A friend?"

### "Yes. As I understand it, an earlier Godship had gone down in the Pacific, thousands of years ago. It's still there, functioning but not moving. Perhaps their anti-gravity mechanism failed and they sunk to the bottom. The Aztecs were aware of the comings and goings of that particular craft–they called it the Water God, Atlaua. Aztec legends also speak of an alien race that resemble upright reptiles. I suspect that our Godship friends had something to do with that. However, the hosts on that vessel at the bottom of the Pacific won't die, they'll just keep collecting data and attempting to survive."

### I was amazed to learn that these spacecraft had visited Earth many times, long ago. In fact, I was surprised to learn that David spoke of an alien race, hosts on the space vessels, actual beings of some sort. I always assumed that that was the case. There must be physical beings because of the flashing red lights. Why else would there be lights? For whose benefit?

### "By the way," David said, "you look rather uncomfortable in pajamas and bare feet. Would you like some more suitable attire? It needn't be a tuxedo. I just thought it would be nice if I met you in a tuxedo." David grinned, like a child that had found the cookie jar.

### "Uh, yes, that'd be nice."

### "Then do it...you know how."

### I couldn't imagine changing my clothes by just thinking, but I thought of a sweater and a pair of slippers, then I waited.

### "No, it won't happen immediately," David said. "Give it time. I have no idea how they do it, but they seem to be able to forge material objects if they know the molecular structure. I should show you my rooms. They are quite nice."

### David turned and began to walk toward a solid wall. I was reluctant to follow, but the wall dissolved and David walked right through. I quickly caught up with him. No way I wanted to be left to my own devices in this cold and empty room. The wall closed behind us and we found ourselves in comfortable living quarters. An overstuffed chair, a sofa with end tables, a wall of books, maroon carpet, indirect lighting; I couldn't make out the source of light.

### "Have a seat, Gordon," David said. "I rethought the sofa last week. You'll like it."

### I collapsed into the sofa.

### "My God, David. This is spectacular, but where are your hosts? What do they look like? Little green men with bulging eyes? With hands and feet and..."

### "There are no people here, not that you'd recognize as a life form. There are just machines. This entire ship is a machine. The walls are sentient, cognizant. They move and reform themselves and, in particular, they listen. Sometimes I can hear a faint buzz. I'm not sure, but I think the various components of the ship are talking to each other. In any case, you won't find any one to talk to–not on this ship."

### "The other Godships. How about them? Any signs of life? Why the flashing red lights on the panels, on the wall? Who sees them?"

### "No sign of life as far as I can tell. I've been puzzling this for months. It seems that some race created these vessels and set them on an endless journey about the galaxy. All the features necessary to maintain themselves are built into the vessel. There is no visual evidence of the original creators, no pictures, no video, no documents. From time to time the ships have to make a pit stop, for metals, for certain silica compounds, for water. That usually takes a few months, then we're off again. Like human cell tissue, the ship regenerates itself. One day I saw a wall slowly dissolve and a replacement appear in its stead. Quite a remarkable sight to behold."

### "When you left, last time, there was a global heat wave on the planet. Why was that? Were your hosts angry?"

### "Ah yes. That was funny. Your message, that planet-wide thought, was misinterpreted. You may have thought that the whole world thought exactly the same thing, but that was not the case. Go away? Did you really think that's what the whole world wanted? Many believed that these vessels contain some kind of God, so a large fraction of the planet made wishes, more money, fewer working hours, elaborate holidays, sexual favors. The mental storm was overwhelming to my hosts. I could hear the buzz as my hosts were deciding what to do. When they began the global temperature manipulation, I was surprised. I tried to tell them that they got it wrong, but my powers of mind interaction were not well developed. It took me weeks to convince them to stop."

### "Interesting. So you've been travelling for years with these vessels, wandering the galaxy?"

### "Years? Not really. I calculate seven months and a few days. I know what you're thinking. Einstein's time dilation. Yes, that happens. I can't tell by looking out a window, but we must often be travelling at close to light speed. Distant constellations seem to become next door neighbors overnight. In fact, I sometimes see no stars at all and believe we're in some alternate reality, a parallel universe."

### "And the absence of stars, the black halo about the ships. How do they do that?"

### "I have no idea. Indeed, I can't ascertain how they defy gravity, how they hover. I suspect that the manipulation of gravity is responsible for the absence of stars. Light can be bent, you know, by large gravity fields. That means no starlight. I learned that just last month while taking a course in general relativity."

### "You take courses?"

### "Well, not as you might think. No lecturer, no notes, no writing board, just mental images and mind interaction. These machines that run the ship know all about stuff like that. Indeed, they use distorted spatial geometries to navigate the galaxy. Just last week I finished a course in quantum physics. Wave-particle duality and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, that's easy, but I still don't get quantum entanglement. It would appear that..."

### "David, are you happy?" I interrupted. "I mean, very nice living quarters and your choice of foods, I imagine. New teeth, smooth skin, cellular regeneration–that's all very well, but aren't you lonely?"

### "When I lived on Earth, then I was lonely. I was, in fact, miserable. I had little to eat. I couldn't afford heat or light and lived in a hovel, in the cold, in the dark every evening. Ah, but here I have everything, including companionship."

### "You do? You mean the machines?"

### "No, no. I mean humans. My hosts levitated some humans, natives. They've been with me for a few days now. They're being taught mind delivery. Soon I'll be able to talk to them. Well, I mean I'll be able to read their minds as they will mine."

### "Was that your idea, this abduction of natives?"

### "Actually, no. Although I did occasionally express my feelings about having a companion, my hosts ignored my wishes. After all, on Earth I had no one and liked it that way. I suspect my hosts knew my loathing for the human race. However, I believe that one of the duties of the vessel machines is to create new life forms. I'm guessing, of course, but they've visited several planets and levitated several life forms and now they seem to be breeding them. I'm not allowed to approach the alien life, but I'm aware of their presence. I suspect that this breeding scheme is built into their programming."

### "So, our supposition was true. Interbreeding. That was the conclusion we came to back home. But if you can't approach the natives, why do you say you have companionship?"

### "I have you." David was grinning again, then added: "And others."

### That sent a shiver down my spine.

### "Well, I'm pleased that we've met but I don't think this life is for me. I would like to take some pictures, however, just to convince the folks back home that I was on a Godship. Can your hosts make a digital video disk for me?"

### "Oh, there's no going home. We're here, you and I, for good. But you'll like it. Indeed, I understand that we'll have access to the native women, soon." David giggled, a small unobtrusive but familiar giggle.

### Part 3.2

### After Gordon vanished, I called 911 and explained to Constable Kerry when he arrived.

### "My husband and I were having breakfast, this morning, on the balcony." I pointed to the balcony. "I saw a Godship, in the distance. It was getting closer. I pointed it out to my husband. When the craft was almost overhead, I saw Gordon fade. He seemed to dissolve. In a few seconds he was gone, completely."

### "He disappeared. Is that what you're saying?'

### Although he was writing it down in a small book, I could tell he was skeptical.

### "Yes, he disappeared...and I haven't seen him since."

### "How do you explain that, ma'am. I mean, how did he manage to disappear before your eyes. A kind of Houdini trick?"

### Kerry had a stupid grin on his face. He was quite ill-looking, with a pointed nose, huge gut, thin lips and almost no eyebrows–and I could see that, beneath his hat, he was bald.

### "How did he disappear? That's why I called you. I have no idea. He just...just disappeared. One minute he was there and the next..."

### "Poof, he vanished." Kerry was an ass. I felt I had inherited Gordon's penchant for thinking badly of people. I wasn't normally like that, but this idiot deserved my dislike. I was sure that Gordon had been abducted, just like old man David. Surely this officer could understand that. The fact that the media had discussed the old man's abduction many, many times was surely sufficient confirmation that Gordon had been captured as well.

### "I think my husband was abducted by the alien ship," I said.

### "Did you see any little green men?" Again, that silly grin.

### "Yes. Hey! Look out! There they are, right behind you! The aliens!"

### Kerry jumped a foot in the air, dropping his notebook. He spun about and was about to pull his revolver. Sandy started barking. Kerry looked stunned. Our dog took a mouthful of his pant leg in his mouth and started pulling. Kerry shook off the dog, bent to pick up his notebook and Sandy grabbed his hat from his head.

### My dog loved to steal things: socks, shoes, anything. He would hide them under the bed or sofa. The Constable took off in pursuit and managed to grab his hat before it vanished beneath the couch. If I weren't so upset at Gordon's disappearance I would have found the scene hilarious. However, Gordie was gone and I didn't know when or how he'd get back. Old man David had been abducted yet returned for hamburger and fries, as I recall. I guessed that Gordie might return as well...sometime.

### Kerry was angry. He grunted: "If we find your husband we'll contact you. I'll find my way out." Then he left and I collapsed onto the sofa. Sandy joined me. I had an afternoon class to teach, but I couldn't bring myself to even get dressed. I phoned a colleague and asked her if she could take my class. It was a course on contemporary fiction, in particular science fiction. It was somehow appropriate. The next time I faced my class I'd have a story to tell: Godship facts and fallacies.

### I went out on the balcony again after eating a very small lunch of rye and tuna salad. After capturing Gordon, the Godship had moved off a little ways but was still visible on the horizon. It was almost noon and the sun's reflection off the spacecraft gave it a warm, ruddy glow. I hoped Gordie was safe. Then it occurred to me that he only had pajamas and bare feet. Silly man. On his days off he spent the entire day in his pajamas. Shoes, he said, boiled his feet, so it was bare feet and pajamas. On those lazy days he wouldn't even shave. I hated that and told him so. Before we married he was always so well dressed. I guess you don't really know a person until you have to live with them 24/7. Gordon could be a slob at times.

### Why am I being so critical? I love Gordon. He's the most considerate, thoughtful and gentle person I know. He may occasionally speak ill of someone but he at least recognizes that as a shortcoming. I can't expect him to change his ways, comfortable as they are to him. I certainly didn't change my ways after we got married. I felt the tears well up and I sat in a chair and cried. Sandy began to whine. I picked up the dog and cried onto his back. He licked my hand. I felt awful. Gordie, please come back. I love you so very much.

### Part 3.3

### It was several days later that I got the phone call. The space ship was now gone. My globephone plays a Mozart concerto when it rings and that always gets Sandy upset. I picked up the dog and the phone at the same time so that the dog wouldn't bark.

### "Hello," I said. "Susan Blend here."

### "Hello sweetheart."

### I dropped the dog, my heart pounding.

### "Gordie, is that you?" I ran to the sofa to sit down. My legs felt waxen.

### "Yes and you'll never guess where I am."

### "On...uh, on the Godship."

### "Well, I was on the Godship. In fact, I thought I'd have to spend the rest of my life on that contraption. But I'm actually in town, near the Skyway Bridge. I have no idea how I got here, but I'm here nevertheless. Can you come to pick me up? You'll recognize me. I'm wearing..."

### "Pajamas and bare feet."

### "No, actually I'll be wearing a bright red suit and yellow tie. I hate the sartorial splendor but that's what they gave me."

### "They? Who's they? And how did you get back? The Godship has disappeared. And why on the Skyway Bridge? And..."

### "If you pick me up I'll explain everything. It's quite amusing. I wasn't amused a short while ago, but now I realize that it was quite an adventure."

### "I'll be there in ten minutes," I said, breathless.

### I tossed the phone on the couch without saying goodbye and ran to the door, to the elevator, back to the apartment to get the car keys, then down to the parking garage. I was at the bridge in eight minutes. Gordie was standing by the side of the road, his crimson suit radiant. I stood on the brakes and screeched to a halt.

### "Hi sweetheart," he said as he slid in beside me." I missed you." He bent over to kiss me.

### "Gordon Blend! You've made me a nervous wreck. From now on I'll attach you to my bed with ball and chain." I gave him a short peck then punched him in the ribs. "And you must give up your fascination with alien space ships. And you must never, never speak of Godship adventures or..."

### "Aw, c'mon Susan. I'm back, safe and sound. You'll want to hear all about it. David was there, in the Godship. You won't believe what he's become. No more the haggard old man."

### I was shaking, so we switched places and Gordon drove home. When we got to the apartment, Sandy was very wary. He sniffed Gordie's clothing and growled. Gordie picked him up but he struggled to free himself so Gordie put him down.

### Gordie was smiling. "I think Sandy sees me as an alien. I'm not surprised. However, those aliens are not what we'd expect. They're machines, not biological beings."

### "Gordie, please sit down. I'll get us a drink, a stiff drink."

### When I returned with two martinis, very dry, Gordie had his feet up on the coffee table. I was about to complain, but thought better of it. He could do whatever he pleased. I was just happy to have him back. I'd never again complain about his behavior or conduct or what he preferred to wear or eat or anything. Gordie looked content. Even Sandy looked content.

### "Susan, they're travelling the cosmos. I don't understand the reason for that, but David thinks they were created by some ancient civilization. They're machines, computer-driven, with the ability to communicate via mental transmissions. These machines are not independent objects you can see or touch. They're the Godship itself. It can reform materials, modify DNA, reconstruct itself and travel at speeds close to the speed of light. That's three hundred thousand kilometers per second. Can you imagine that? In fact, David thinks they can travel faster than light speed. He thinks that they can travel from star to star in just a few months by moving to some other analogous space."

### "David thinks that? Old man David, the guy with the straggly hair who wolfed down my hamburgers?"

### "Oh, Susan, you wouldn't recognize the guy. He's super smart and dressed slick as a whistle. He even has a new set of ivory teeth. He spouts equations like you and I might spout soup recipes. He understands relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, cosmology–everything. He communicates with his hosts by mental declarations."

### "Mental what? His hosts? Gordie, what are you talking about?"

### "His hosts, as he calls them, are the Godships, the machines, the robotic self aware computing systems. They communicate via brain waves, mind delivery, mental interaction. Don't ask me how that's done, but David has learned how to do it. He says that brain waves travel at the speed of light and extend well beyond the range of electromagnetic waves–without attenuation. I asked David about that. He said that normal electromagnetic radiation decreases with the square of distance because the surface area of a sphere increases as the square of the radius. That was confusing, to me, although I vaguely remember reading something like that. Then he said mind waves can travel in some of the other ten space dimensions where attenuation is not a factor. Now that really floored me. Ten other space dimensions? Remarkable, eh? David thinks that's how the Godships can travel great distances without being limited by the speed of light which, according to Einstein's way of thinking, is an upper limit on speed. But that'd be a speed limit in our familiar three dimensional space."

### I listened carefully, but comprehension failed me.

### "Gordon, how did you get back, on the Skyway Bridge, and what about that terrible red suit and where is David now and when will the aliens be leaving?"

### "I asked to be brought back. Well, I actually thinked it and there I was, standing on the bridge. It's that mind communication, you know." Gordon was smiling. He was obviously enjoying himself.

### "David suggested that I change clothes. It was a mite chilly on board, so I thinked a comfortable sweater and slippers and got a red suit. My skill at mind delivery leaves something to be desired. And David? He's still on the Godship. He likes it there. There are those natives as well as other abducted peoples from other places and David will get to interact with them soon enough. Remember when we thought there was some attempt at interbreeding? Well, that seems to be the case. I'm not sure if it's the intention of the robotic mechanisms or they've been programmed to do this by their creators."

### I was perplexed by all these mechanical thought processes.

### "Do you really think the machines that run the ships can think?" Gordon said. "I mean, can they decide to breed life–between various alien races–taken from various places in the galaxy? Perhaps they are trying to recreate the life forms that created them. Maybe they're lonely or frustrated or need some kind of human intervention. Maybe they want to be told what to do by biological entities."

### Gordon had a big smile, so I knew something was on his mind.

### "You know, Susan, I think that's the case. I know why they sucked me up. It was David's idea because I was one of the few people he knew on Earth and I think he wanted company. I asked David why they sucked him up. He wasn't sure, but thinks they just wanted some human debris."

### "Human debris? Gordon! Stop being so critical! You regard David as debris? I should think that..."

### "No, wait, I didn't say that, David did. He said he was in such a state of...uh, disrepair when he was sucked up that he thought the aliens just wanted a sample, something nobody would miss, human rubble. That's the impression he got and now that he's able to do this mind-talking thing he's convinced of it–and quite glad they picked him. A happy camper, David is."

### "And you'll stay here, on Earth, am I right?" I was getting nervous at the thought of losing Gordon again.

### "You bet. However, there is just one thing I promised to do."

### "Promised? To whom, David?"

### "Well, actually I promised to the machines. I was only on board for a day or three, but I quickly learned to mind talk and could sort of recognize their responses. It's strange to hear voices in your head. Well, not so much speech as thoughts. It was as though I was thinking these things. When I realized that they weren't my thoughts, that's when I understood that they were Godship thoughts. It only took a few hours to grasp their meaning. You won't believe what they want me to do for them."

### "Oh Gordon, whatever it is don't do it."

### "It's okay, you'll see. In fact, you're involved."

### I stared at Gordon. He was serious. I didn't want to know what the aliens had in mind for us, for me. I just wanted to go back to our previous happy lifestyle. I was certainly not interested in some alien game playing. When I learned of the alien plan for Gordon and me I was appalled. In fact, I became sick to my stomach. It was loathsome, dreadful, shameful. How could they even suggest such a thing. Gordon, on the other hand, was pleased with the notion. He said we'd have to begin tomorrow or the day after. We needn't pack anything because our Godship hosts would provide for us. I couldn't believe that Gordon would accede to such a plan, but he actually seemed eager to begin. When Gordon mentioned breeding stock I ran to the toilet to bring up my lunch. Dreadful. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't.

### Part 3.4

### It took me the better part of a day to convince Susan. We had often talked of having children and here was a golden opportunity. The rewards were significant. The machines would provide details of how they managed to manipulate gravity. What a boon that would be to our world. We both made arrangements for someone to fill in for us at work and our neighbors, Gerrie and Roy, were delighted to look after Sandy, our old Yorkie.

### By the morning of the day of our departure, we stood side by side on the balcony. Susan was shaking, just a little. She was nervous. I was shaking too, but from excitement. We were both dressed in something warm. It was chilly inside the ship. We stared at the skyline. By 9 AM the Godship appeared, moving very slowly across the lake. It stopped just above our apartment. I closed my eyes and held Susan tightly. Her body seemed so fragile, so delicate. When I opened my eyes I saw that she was dissolving. In less than a minute she was gone. I waited–and waited. Nothing further happened. Something was wrong, very wrong. She was gone. I was still here.

### When the Godship vanished from view, I went inside the apartment. It was pointless to phone anybody; nobody could help, nobody could get her back. When I heard Mozart I was startled. Then I realized it was our phone.

### "Hello, who is this?"

### "Gordon, I see you didn't make it." It was David. I collapsed onto the sofa, almost on top of Sandy.

### "David, is Susan there? Is she okay? Why am I still here?"

### "Take it easy, Gordon. Your wife is fine, just a mite dizzy. My hosts just goofed a little. They understand the agreement but wanted to examine the merchandise, so to speak. After all, human embryonic reproduction is a novel scheme, in the world of planetary life forms. Most of the specimens they've gathered do it differently. I'm sure that you'll be elevated to the ship in good time."

### "Now! I want to be elevated now! Tell them! Now!"

### "Patience, Gordon. You can't rush the hosts."

### "What are they doing to Susan?"

### "It's the strangest thing. I haven't seen it before and didn't know they could do it."

### "David! Seen what? Do what?"

### "The machines have created an...a synthetic organism. It looks and acts human. I saw it for just a moment when it came out of the wall to take Susan. I was there to greet your wife, you understand. I was in my tux and bow tie and was freshly scrubbed down and scented and..."

### "David, you bastard! I don't give a shit how you looked or dressed. What happened to my wife?"

### "Well, as I was saying, this android took Susan away, taking her by the hand and leading her through a wall. She was quite beautiful, the android, with pink skin and long black hair. She looked much like Susan herself. I suspect that Susan was the model used to create the android. I understand that female androids are called a gynoid or sometimes a robotess or fembot, but I've found, in my readings..."

### "Damn you David! Find Susan and tell me what's happening to her! And get me on board, now!"

### "Gordon, Gordon, rest assured that no harm will come to your wife. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my hosts have greeted her with a female robotic life form. Don't you think that suggests a modicum of thoughtfulness? You should be pleased. I've never seen an android in all the time I've been on board. It explains a lot of things about the operation of this ship. Oh–excuse me for a minute. I sense an incoming thought. Uh, yes, yes. I have to go Gordon."

### The phone went dead. I was beside myself with anger and frustration. I lowered myself slowly to the couch. I needed a drink. I got up and mixed a stiff one, two parts rum and one part Diet Coke. I wandered about, the drink in my hand. I grabbed a handful of green cookies and tossed them to Sandy. I sat on the sofa again and stared at the glass in my hand. It was half the size I wanted and was getting smaller. I needed a large drink, a very large drink. The glass faded. My hand faded. The room went dark and knew I was going, being elevated, sucked up. The next thing I saw was a vacant room with smooth gray walls and flashing green lights and I felt giddy. I was on the Godship. Green lights?

### Part 3.5

### David was nowhere to be found. I pushed on a wall, hoping it would fade and let me through. I wandered about the room. I tried to mind-talk to the hosts, without success. I could hear a faint buzzing coming from the far end of the room. Were they talking to each other, the alien beings? I walked quickly to the far wall and it opened to let me pass. I found myself in a room, white, like an operating room, with an antiseptic smell. There were curious instruments hanging above a padded table. No one was there, just bright lights and a table and apparatus. Then I saw a wall deform and an android come through. The deformed wall then reformed. The android was as David had described, looking remarkably like Susan. She ignored me and walked to the table and stopped. Slowly she turned and stared at me as though seeing me for the first time. Her eyes were the color of blood. I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn't think of a thing to say. Could I talk to this creature? I mean, ordinary speech, not mind-talk?

### She began to arrange instruments. Then she turned and said, "Greetings Miss Blend. I am Hydra. Is there anything you need?"

### "Uh, yes. My wife if you please. Where is my wife?"

### "The woman is resting. You can see her shortly." Then the android turned to leave.

### 'Wait!" I said, anxious that I might be left alone. "When can I see her, my wife?"

### The android stopped and stared as though she didn't understand my question, then walked deliberately to a wall which deformed to let her through. Damn!

### This android was not going to be very helpful. She called me Miss Blend. Was that confusion, a lack of understanding? If she was looking after Susan, did I have a reason to be worried? David's hosts made a lot of mistakes–or at least a lot of misunderstandings.

### I tried again to mind-talk, this time to David. In fact, I might have been shouting because David's thoughts came through loud and clear: 'Be calm', he thought. 'Be calm'.

### "Gordon, how did you get in here?" I turned to see David walk through a wall. He looked different, somehow. And there was a sonorous timbre to his voice. "I wasn't aware of your movement and that disturbs me," he said. David walked toward me then stopped to stare at the table and instruments. "I see they–preparing," he muttered, almost incoherently. "Preparing...preparing...preparing." He sounded inarticulate, distant. His head turned very slowly toward me, his eyes seemed to change color.

### "Hello David," I said. "Can you take me to Susan?"

### "Susan? Yes, Susan. Yes, they are preparing her."

### "Shit, David! Preparing her for what?"

### "Preparing." His eyes were now blood red. This was not the David I knew. This was an artificial life form, modeled after David Granger. Damn! Are these aliens, these cognizant machines, are they now making fake humans? Is that their current project? Or are they just modifying humans, molding them to some more convenient, manageable organism. That thought was alarming. If they had fake humans, would they still want real humans? What if they decided real humans were excess baggage? What then? If they've changed David and have Susan, somewhere, then how long before they come after me? Damn!

### I leaned against a wall which slowly decomposed, faded, dissolved. I fell into another room, soft colors of autumn, yellow and orange and green and brown. David was standing by the far wall, beckoning. I pushed myself to my feet and staggered unsteadily toward him; I felt nauseous and light-headed. There was something in the air, some fragrance, orange and lavender. David was smiling, his cheeks rubicund, his eyes now black without whites. He was dressed in jeans and a thin sweater with the word 'TRAUMA' written in large black letters. What did it mean? What did it portend? A harbinger of my...of my...I felt ill, I fell to my knees, David was still smiling, beckoning...then the walls began to move, converge...then the room went black.

### When I woke up I was on a table, staring at a white ceiling which emitted a bright white light. I tried to move but couldn't. I had no restraining devices, but I couldn't raise myself to a sitting position. I turned my head and saw David and that android.

### "Greetings Miss Blend. I am Hydra. Is there anything you need?"

### "I'd like to get off this table," I said. My voice was trembling.

### David came to stand by my table. "Patience, Gordon. Do you see who's here?"

### He stood aside and Susan was there, dressed in a delicate white gown, semi-transparent. As far as I could tell, it draped from her shoulders to her ankles.

### "Hello Gordon," she said. "Are you well? Are you hungry?"

### Her eyes were pitch black. Oh God, no. That was not my Susan.

"Susan, please, I need to get off this table. I can't move." I closed my eyes and tried to mind-talk. Please! Stop this!

### When I opened my eyes they were gone: David, Hydra and Susan. I leaned forward and found I could move, so I slid off the table. I was wearing a long white gown. I looked about to see if there was a mirror, some reflecting surface. I didn't feel any different, but I needed to see my eyes. Were they black? Red?

### There was a noise across the room. "You're okay." It was David, again.

### "Okay?" I said. "But why am I wearing this gown? What have they done to me?"

### "Nothing. They just needed to scrutinize before making a replica."

### David stood beside me. I felt a little unsteady and he put his hand on my shoulder. His eyes, they were normal. "David? You look like the old David," I said.

### "Oh, I haven't changed. They did make a replica, but not a very good one I'm afraid. It's been recycled."

### "Replica? Recycled? What does that mean? Was Susan a replica?"

### "Yes, of course. Did you think that was really your wife? They're now quite good at making biological images. Not perfect, but very good. They try, the images evanesce, they try again. They do have trouble with the eyes. Sometimes they come out red, sometimes entirely black, all pupils. However, it's quite remarkable how they do it."

### "So they're clones. The Susan I just saw was a clone."

### "No, not at all. A clone would be grown from immature cells. No, the replicas are manufactured, if you will. I watched it happen. The replication room has a table and walls containing ingredients, amino acids, proteins, and the most abundant human protein, collagen. You can see the synthesis take place, on the table. First a fuzzy specimen, like a rough sketch that precedes a painting. Material is brought to the table in molecular form: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen. The specimen becomes more detailed. An arm develops, a hand appears, fingers form then fingernails. The walls that have the organic compounds slowly diminish as the compounds are extracted. It's quite remarkable. In just a few hours the replica is complete and gets up from the table and walks about, shaky at first. Ah, but the eyes. I don't know why they have so much trouble with the eyes. I've asked that question many times, given advice, but the color is always wrong and..."

### "You've given advice?" I said, incredulous. "To the hosts?"

### "Yes, of course. However, they don't seem to understand my questions or my advice. Alas, my hosts try to accommodate my every wish and I am quite pleased with their endeavors, but it'd be delightful if I could get my thoughts across without distortion. Once, I suggested how they might resolve their problem with fabricating eyes. Don't build from the inside; start with the outside, the cornea, aqueous humor, ciliary muscle. It's the outside that looks wrong. Start there. The result was appalling: a bloodshot globe. I stopped giving advice."

### David looked like a happy fellow. "They're not good at colors and they sometimes have trouble with thumbs," he said, smiling. "Usually, the thumbs come out as fingers."

### "Where's Susan," I asked. I was less frantic now that I knew that it was a replica I had seen earlier. "I'd like to see her."

### "Yes, of course. Just ask."

### I sat on the floor and began to think, hard.

### Bring Susan to me. Bring my wife to me. Do it now–please.

### They listened.

### Part 3.6

### We sat at the dinner table, David, Susan and I. There were pork hamburgers with crispy French Fries and Diet Coke. David wasn't too happy with the dinner spread, but I was ecstatic. My burger was four inches thick, with tomato, onions, cheese, mayo, ketchup and, of course, smothered in perfectly fried onions.

### "I oversaw the preparation," Susan said. "Our hosts were a little confused at first, but David helped get my instructions across." Susan turned to David and smiled. She lay her hand on his, affectionately. David was concentrating on his pork burger, picking at it with the tip of his fork. He looked disgusted. This was a different David from the old wretch who'd accept free burgers from Susan's Grill.

### "So where have you been," I asked Susan. "I saw your replica."

### "Oh that," she said, with little interest. I would have thought she'd be very concerned with the creation of an image of her, a defective image at that. "Hydra was very nice, she gave me a gown to wear and explained what they wanted to do, our hosts. I was hesitant, but she convinced me that I needn't be afraid. I just had to let them do their thing, the bots."

### "The what?"

### "The bots. They're like mini versions of Hydra. They flit about examining me from head to foot. It was over in less than an hour."

### "They were extracting DNA sequences," David said. "They identify physiological features and some computer, somewhere, stores the information for construction of the replica. Actually, I think those computers are everywhere. The whole ship is a giant computer. The bots are some times about, sometimes not. I've never been able to determine the circumstances under which they appear. It's as though bots and replicas and other objects are experiments, some of which are discarded."

### "Bot examinations? Were they thinking of doing that with me?" I asked. "I did find myself on a table, unable to move."

### "Oh yes," David said. "Your replica is probably complete by now."

### The thought somehow made me feel ill. I set a half-eaten burger down on my plate.

### "Okay, where are all these replicas," I asked. "There were a bunch of natives sucked up. Do they have replicas?"

### "No," David said. "That's a different ritual. Our hosts are actually trying to recreate and study human reproduction methods, interbreeding of species, in effect. There is some particular feature the Godship wishes to achieve, but I'm not sure what it is. However, there are other species that have been uplifted and they're the ones I've seen replicated."

### "Other species?" I asked. "You mean they aren't human?"

"Actually, they're not even from planet Earth, but some other planet. Nevertheless, they look much like Homo sapiens, with head, arms, legs and so on. I haven't seen anything that didn't look human although I believe that some of the other Godships have such creatures. On our Godship, I think many of these specimens are actually being modified, altered–in some way."

### "What about the other Godships," I asked. "Do you talk to them? I mean mind-talk."

### "No, but I am aware of their thoughts, the constant mental communication between ships. However, I really have to concentrate to be aware of that. Normally, I hear only my immediate hosts."

### "And can you listen to thoughts of people on Earth? After all, we did manage to communicate with the Godships via synchronizing our thoughts, worldwide."

### "Sometimes I think I can, but it's garbled."

### "What about now? Can you hear anything from the planet?"

### "Oh no, we're much too far away."

### "Far away? We're just a few hundred feet above the ground."

David laughed, that gurgling laugh. "Gordon, my boy, we're now beyond Alpha Centauri."

### I couldn't believe it. I looked around for a window, but there were none.

### "Looking for a window? That wouldn't help. We're not travelling in the normal three-dimensional space that we know and love. We're light years from Earth and to do that we have to travel in a harmonic subspace."

### "Harmonic? One of those other dimensions?"

"Exactly. Every space has its harmonic counterparts, parallel spaces intimately connected to our normal space. It's like a stack of universes with ours in there along with our harmonic, nearest neighbors If we had a window and you looked out you wouldn't see anything. There is no visible light. Soon, however, we'll exit and return to normal space dimensions and you'll be able to see the constellation Centaurus up close." David gurgled again.

### "How do you know all this? How did you know that we're now in some other space dimension? Are you still getting lectures from–from our hosts?"

### "I'm in almost constant communication with our hosts," he said. "They tell me everything that they're doing–almost. They often ask my advice. It seems that the machines that run the ship need human input or equivalent. I think they miss their masters, if they have masters. I guess I'm a sort of surrogate."

### I looked about the room we were in, expecting to see some evidence of the hosts. Nothing. However, I noticed that Susan was sound asleep, her head resting on a large napkin, on the table. I, too, was tired. This traveling faster than the speed of light takes it out of you.

### "Can I take my wife and find a bed?" I asked David.

### "Think it," he said.

### I did and felt the room shake imperceptibly, then dissolve. Then I found myself in a bed, Susan beside me. It was almost identical to our bedroom, back home, except the colors were wrong. By now I've come to expect certain shortcomings in our hosts' techniques. Color was one of them. I looked at Susan's hand then at my own. Our thumbs were normal. That was reassuring. Susan was fast asleep so I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I could smell her perfume: lilac. How did she manage the perfume? I lay back, inhaled and promptly fell asleep myself.

### CHAPTER FOUR
### Part 4.1

### It seemed like a day or maybe two days before we popped out of that other space, the harmonic space we had been traveling in. It wasn't at all clear to me. Maybe we were in a parallel set of space dimensions, but David (who seemed to be so much smarter than anyone I knew) said it was our old set of space dimensions except that we usually didn't recognize any but the first three: up or down, forward or back, left or right. In all, he said, there are eleven dimensions and he thinks the extra dimensions connect us to a 'harmonic' universe–whatever that means. I have to remember to ask David if 'time' is one of those eleven. In any case, I found a window and could see darkness punctuated with stars, none of which I recognized–I did remember some constellations. The impression I got was that we were traveling rather slowly.

### "Is that you, darling?" Susan was awake and, even with her hair all mussed up she looked splendid. "Can I make you some breakfast?"

### "Is there a stove around, somewhere?"

### "No, I just think what we want. Can't you do that Gordie?"

### I couldn't believe how easily Susan had accepted this new reality. She would just think our breakfast into existence. It seemed, to her, the natural thing to do.

### "Yes, of course. Can't everybody do that?" I said with a touch of sarcasm. "Just think and poof! It's there, with sugar and cream and all the condiments."

### "C'mon Gordie boy. Let's enjoy this adventure while it lasts."

### "You think it'll end? Do you think after we've had our little vacation they'll drop us off on Lakeshore Road?"

### "Don't you?" Susan said. She was so naive. She didn't know we were a very long way from our solar system. Even light would take years to get home, to planet Earth. I think we'll wind up on some other planet. Either that or we'll spend the rest of our lives on board this godforsaken ship.

### "Good morning, you two." It was David. He just walked through a wall.

### "Don't you knock?" I asked, rather perturbed.

### "I tried, but the wall just opened up, so I walked through."

### Susan turned to David, smiled and asked, "David, do you think we'll get back home soon?"

### "Oh, I doubt it. Our Godship will be here for some time and, if I've calculated correctly, even if we went home now all the people we know will have died of old age."

### "We haven't been here long enough for that," Susan chortled. "And if this ship is stuck here, then we can take some other Godship," she said.

### "There are no others," David said. "Not now. The others have gone their own way, surfing the stars, collecting samples. We'll be stopping soon, I think. From what I gather from our hosts, there is a star in the constellation Aquarius and it has four planets. We'll stop for a while above the outermost planet to gather materials. I'm not certain, but I think one of the planets even has surface water and creatures that live in that liquid environment. Why our Godship is interested–I have no idea."

### Susan had been standing beside the bed but now she collapsed into it. "Oh God. Gordie, you were right. We're here forever."

### "It's not that unpleasant a thought," David said. "I've been living it for some time and have learned to enjoy the comforts provided by our hosts."

### "But it was a big step up, for you," I said. "Anything would be better than your situation back on Earth."

### "Yes, Gordon, that's quite true." David gurgled. "I've never had it so good." Then he waved his hand and said, "Anyone for breakfast? I've ordered pancakes with churned butter and maple syrup and coffee."

### I had lost my appetite, but what else was there to do? I pulled Susan to her feet and we followed David.

### After a lavish breakfast which included hash brown potatoes, various fruit juices, pineapple slices, yogurt and papaya, I asked David about the eleven dimensions he had mentioned earlier and whether 'time' was one of those dimensions.

### "Yes, my boy. It's a curious thing that time behaves quite differently from the spatial dimensions. However, its behavior depends upon which of the space dimensions you inhabit. Well, that's not quite true. We actually inhabit all ten space dimensions even if we're not aware of the other seven. But Godships are able to navigate the diminutive, curled up dimensions and move between space-time realities so that..."

### "Wait! Curled up dimensions? What are you talking about?" David could be so hard to understand.

### "Why those other space dimensions, my boy. It's like walking a tightrope. That's one-dimensional in space, just distance along the rope. But an ant would be aware of the thickness of the rope and be able to walk around the rope–a tiny curled up space dimension. If the rope were porous, then a microorganism could walk into the interior of the rope. That'd be another space dimension, so from one macro-dimension, distance along the rope, we now have three dimensions with two being diminutive."

### David paused, then added, "I also suspect that these Godships are able to move laterally to alternate membranes occupied by parallel universes. I'm almost convinced that entry into these parallel universes is via the diminutive space dimensions. If that is the case, it may explain why they have been unable to find their creators. Our Godships are lost in a foreign universe and are attempting to recreate their creators...creators which live in some other reality. I doubt they'll succeed. However, I am not sure, but I think that the creators are human-like, which explains why our hosts are interested in humans–on planet Earth."

### Alternate membranes? Parallel universes? I had no idea what this fellow David was talking about, but it seems that searching for the intelligence that created them has occupied our hosts for some time. Perhaps, if they were to find their creators, they'd take us home. Perhaps. Maybe our hosts were intent upon making replicas of their creators. What seemed quite strange, to me, was that I had been led to believe that Susan and I would be making babies. That subject never came up in discussions with David or Susan. I sometimes felt that I should raise the subject again–maybe, sometime. However, Susan seemed indifferent to my sexual overtures. In fact, she seemed like quite a different gal–almost a stranger in some of her mannerisms.

### Part 4.2

### When we arrived at what I thought was the outermost planet that circled a star in the constellation Aquarius, David said, "Welcome to Cynthia."

### "Yes, in the constellation Aquarius," I said, recalling what David had said earlier.

"Ah, no. I thought that was our destination, but we're now near the star Tau Ceti and its planet, Cynthia. The planet in Aquarius may be our next stop since it has a liquid surface and that's important for what Gilgamesh must do...eventually."

### "What must it do, eventually?" I asked, afraid to ask who the hell 'Gilgamesh' was.

### "You will see, in time." David smiled.

### "Have you been here before," I asked.

### "Just once. It's quite cold, no life exists on this planet, but lots of material needed by our hosts."

### "You called it Cynthia. Were you aware of this planet earlier, before you first arrived here? How did you learn of the name, Cynthia?"

### "Ah, my boy, Cynthia was a beauty. Raven hair, broad and luscious lips, breasts to keep you dreaming, skin the color of coffee and eyes like limpid pools of liquid amber."

### David could be so frustrating. "Are you talking about the planet?"

### "Heavens, no. Cynthia was my friend, my confidante, my most intimate soul mate. We shared life and love. Then she died. An accident. A car accident. Drunk driver. I was crushed. My world came to an end."

### David bowed his head, placing a hand on each cheek. He began to sob, silently, his chest heaving. It was clear what had initiated his fall into indigence when back on Earth. I felt sorry for the old fellow. No wonder he hated the world and was happy on this Godship.

### "David, I'm sorry for your loss. It must have been hard to cope. I know that, if Susan were to...if she..." I felt a lump in my throat. I looked at Susan, but she was gone. "Where's Susan?" I jumped to my feet.

### I've been very skittish ever since I arrived on board. This was an alien environment and although our hosts had made us very comfortable, the thought of ultimate loss was always on my mind.

### "Susan? She left a few minutes ago, to look out the port." David pointed to a corner of the room. There was an alcove and what appeared to be a window. Windows were rare commodities on this ship. I rushed to the far wall and found Susan looking out at a bizarre scene.

### "It's beautiful," she whispered. "Icy blue, shimmering in the dim light."

### I put my arm around her and gazed over her shoulder. It was indeed a blue planet, but blue like ice. It appeared as smooth as a billiard ball, without a single prominent feature, reflecting the light from a setting sun.

### "I don't imagine we'll be going for a walk down there," I said. "Looks rather cold and..."

### "And unfriendly," Susan said. "Yet, if we think warm we'll be warm."

### "So you've learned how to communicate with our hosts."

### "Yes, it's quite easy when you know how. However, it requires some concentration and clear thinking. They're easily confused by random thoughts and fuzzy musings. I suspect you'd have a harder time."

### "Hey, that's not fair! I have a degree in Engineering. That requires efficient thought, detailed analysis, a consideration of details."

### "Yes, and flights of fancy. That's what hinders mind-talk. Our hosts are prone to extrapolate. They think they know what we're thinking, so they respond to their extrapolation and it's often wrong–close, but wrong. If we think something to wear, as a protection from the cold, we may get a suit of armor. We'd have to think of specific clothes, a sweater, a jacket, its texture not its function."

### "Yes, I recall that time when the whole world thought together and the aliens got a garbled message and gave us several weeks of very hot weather. When you think of it now, it was quite funny."

### "Yes, they were confused. I understand that they now recognize their error."

### "How can you possibly know that?" I asked, incredulous.

### "You know perfectly well, Gordie. Mind-talk."

### "You're much better at that mental communication than I am. I have a million questions and don't have the mental proficiency to ask. That's depressing."

### Susan had a silly grin. "That's okay, sweetheart. Ask me and I'll ask our hosts."

### She poked me in the side, then I gave her a hug. Lilac, again. How did she do that?

### "How did you manage to sneak your perfume on board?"

### Susan gave me one of her 'Hey man, you're not listening' looks.

### "Okay, don't tell me. It's mind-talk."

### "Of course, my dear. I recall the scent of the perfume, I recall the look of the little spray bottle, I recall the name of the fragrance and where I'd like it to be and..."

### "And poof, you get a bottle by your night table."

### "No. I don't get anything. I just wake up smelling nice."

### That was puzzling. "Our hosts can do that? Make perfume appear on your skin."

### "I'm living proof, Gordie. Take another whiff." She started to giggle. Sometimes she can be so annoying, especially that giggle. I didn't realize she giggled so often.

### "Lady and gentleman, will you join us?" It was David. We both left the porthole and returned to the room. Although the ship was huge and presumably had hundreds of rooms, the rooms were usually empty or at least sparsely furnished. Well, maybe there weren't hundreds of rooms. Maybe rooms were created and uncreated at will. Our bedroom had just a bed and night tables each with a small lamp with no apparent source of electricity. Now, as Susan and I walked from our window back to the room, we saw that it was now fully furnished with carpet, a large white leather sofa, end tables, a coffee table, two upholstered chairs, a couple of standing lamps and David, beckoning us to sit. I was about to ask how he did that, but Susan beat me to it.

### "Very nice thinking, David," she said. "And a soft brown carpet? I love it."

### "Thank you Mrs. Blend. Please be seated. I'd like to introduce you to somebody."

### Susan sank into a chair and I followed suit. David was dressed in a white turtleneck sweater, a tan colored suede jacket and trousers the color of chocolate. Very elegant.

### "That planet, the one you call Cynthia, it's quite beautiful," I said. "Solid ice, I'd say."

### "Heavens, no, my boy. Cynthia is entirely covered in ammonia, frozen solid I might add. Beautiful, is it not? Once upon a time it was liquid, but then the planet stopped rotating due to gravitational pressures and the liquid froze. Now it sometimes melts, then refreezes. That's why the surface is so smooth, without craters or other irregularities. That was unfortunate, because there were quite interesting life forms living in the liquid ammonia oceans. But that was long ago. There is, however, another nearby planet with water. Now, let me introduce you to another traveler."

### David pointed to a wall and the wall dissolved and a beautiful girl walked through. Her raven hair was piled high upon her head, her skin the color of caramel and her one-piece gown fell from her shoulders to the floor. She was perhaps twenty years old, or maybe younger. She walked very slowly to the sofa. She seemed nervous and hesitant.

### "Please sit, my dear," David said in a reassuring voice.

### The lady smiled: teeth radiant white, cheeks flushed, luminous brown eyes.

### "Susan, Gordon, this is Tiesha. Isn't she beautiful."

### I looked from the girl to Susan. Susan was beaming. "Oh David, she is so beautiful. Did you think her?"

### "No, my dear. She is a native of Panama, one of the Kuna natives elevated while we hovered above her village. She is very shy and speaks no English, but we can communicate with..."

### "Mind-talk," I said sarcastically. "Of course you can. Everybody can do that."

### I turned to the girl: "Hello. How are you today?"

### She looked at David, then back to me and whispered, "Pura Vida."

### I turned to David, inquiring.

### "She speaks only Embera, the language of her people, but I've been teaching her some other languages. Pura Vida is from Costa Rica. It means almost anything you want it to mean, that's why I told her to say it whenever someone spoke to her."

### Susan was enchanted. "Oh David, you have a friend. I'm so happy for you. I assume she's...uh, available. I mean, free from some native fellow." Susan left the sofa and sat beside the native girl. "Tiesha," she said, holding her hand, "you are so beautiful. I know you and David will be happy."

### David was still standing. "Yes, Susan, Tiesha is a Kuna native and free from any marital constraints. In fact, we now have a room we share. I am learning the Northern Embra language. I think that's what she speaks. Perhaps. In any case, Tiesha is learning English. As you might imagine, I am a very happy man."

### "I'll bet," I said, almost sarcastically. "An old codger like you and a fresh young girl."

### "Gordon! You are such an ass!" Susan punched me in the side, her face red with anger. Why did I say that?

### "David, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. Like Susan, I'm very happy for you, both of you. I can imagine how your life will change, from loneliness to happiness, from sadness to joy, from..."

### "Gordon, stop it. You've said enough." Susan was growling. I thought she was overreacting.

### "That's okay, Gordon," David said. "You've been transplanted, relocated, moved across the galaxy, introduced to novel and extraordinary things. You are not yourself, but give it time. One day you'll enjoy your new life."

### Susan returned to her chair and David sat beside the native girl. She snuggled up against him as though seeking refuge. They were a beautiful couple. Why had I been so caustic in my comment? I really am an ass.

### Part 4.3
### About a week later we were ready to leave the planet Cynthia. David saw us gazing out the window and asked it we'd like to go ashore for a short while, before we leave.

### "Didn't you say that the planet is solid ammonia. That doesn't sound too healthy–for us," I said. "I'm partial to oxygen."

### "Yes, and it's also very cold. However, I can arrange the proper attire so you will be warm and comfortable. Just say the word and Gilgamesh will respond appropriately."

### "Gilgamesh?" I said. "You said that before. Who's Gilgamesh?"

### "You understand there are great numbers of what you call Godships. The one we're now inhabiting is Gilgamesh...one of many."

### "How did you know its name," I asked.

### "Oh, I gave it that name. It's a good one, don't you think? It's the name of a semi-mythical King who lived, on Earth, some three thousand years ago, in Uruk, Babylonia. Of course, these vessels are much older than that. Now, will you go for a walk on this planet?"

### "Oh yes, David. That would be wonderful," Susan said. "Our Godship is very nice, but it would be exciting to walk on a strange new planet," Susan was gushing. It was great to see her so happy.

### Within an hour we were clad in skin tight suits and a curious helmet that looked rather like an oversized plastic jar. David led us to a room with walls covered in dials and knobs and flashing lights. I wondered who would be operating the knobs and turning the dials. I've noticed that before; panels with lights and knobs that turn and buttons to press. But without life forms, who would use them?

### We three stood before a gray wall, David, Susan and I. David waited, almost impatient. He started to hum. The wall dissolved and we saw a long tunnel that ended in a door.

### "Go in," David said. "This wall will close behind you and that door at the far end will open. Have a good time and don't be long. The ship leaves in about an hour."

### Susan and I entered the tunnel and it became dark as the wall closed behind us. Small lights suddenly appeared at the far end and, as we approached, the door slid open. Unlike doors within the ship, this door didn't dissolve, it just slid open. Then we found ourselves standing at the top of a long ramp. Susan looked at me and made the first step and the ramp began to move, slipping down onto a misty planet. I was afraid that Susan would be timid about stepping onto the escalator, but she reached out and put her hand on my shoulder.

### "Isn't this exciting?" she said.

### I was surprised to find that her voice was like an echo within my helmet. Before I had a chance to answer, we were dumped unceremoniously onto the frozen surface. I staggered forward and fell to my knees.

### "I had hoped for a smoother landing," I said, pushing myself upright.

### "How often do you think Gilgamesh carries humans down this ramp?" Susan said. "I'm surprised the Godship has such a contraption as this."

### We looked about and saw that we were on a barren plain: flat, smooth and featureless.

### "Looks boring," I said. "Do you want to go any farther? Shall be go back in?"

### "Look, over there." Susan pointed to a small bulge in the glassy surface. "Let's investigate."

### Although I could hardly get excited about small bumps, I could see that Susan was curious–so we slid across the surface and ended up on our butts, staring at the bump. It did seem rather different than its surroundings. It was more like transparent glass. We gazed into the icy interior.

### "Oh God," Susan gasped. "Do you see what's in there?"

### I crawled to the edge of the bump and stared directly down. It was clearly a face, staring back at us.

### "What is it?" Susan asked. "It looks sort of like a...like a..."

### "A chimpanzee," I said. "A chimp with a face mask, a kind of head gear."

### Susan was shocked. "I don't like this place," she said. "Let's go back."

### I didn't need any further encouragement. I pushed myself to my feet and started back to the Godship. Susan was there first. The ramp began to move as soon as we arrived and we eagerly climbed aboard.

### When we were settled into our room, David walked through the wall.

### "David," Susan said. "There was something beneath the ice. It looked like a..."

### "Chimpanzee," David said. "Yes. An early attempt at space travel with apes rather than humans, ending in a spacecraft that couldn't escape the gravitational attraction of this planet. The craft fell to the ground, vanished beneath a melting surface and its passengers attempted to escape. One such passenger was a very clever chimp called 'odyssey'."

### "Was that an attempt by space scientists on Earth?" I asked. "It sure looked like an Earthly chimp."

### "Yes. It was the first of many explorations with chimps."

### "But we are many light years from Earth," I said. "I'm surprised they managed to get this far."

### "Aah, you're thinking of planet Earth as we left it. It has changed. You wouldn't recognize it now. Technology so advanced that space travel via space warp is old hat."

### "But we've only been gone a few weeks," Susan said.

### "Seven weeks according to our clocks," Davis said. "But several centuries back on planet Earth."

### "My dog, Sandy. What has become of him?" Susan was clearly upset.

### "Oh, I don't think you'll find anyone or anything you recognize," David said in a whisper. "Yet, you may be pleasantly surprised at what's become of planet Earth. It has advanced far beyond what you may imagine. Technology, of course, but also social facility, the ability to cherish human differences, the appreciation of cultures, the nourishing of music and art as well as science. That is what I've been led to believe, a 'New Earth' as anticipated in the book of Revelation. It is a world that you would be proud to live in...if that were possible."

### "Possible? What do you mean by that?" I asked.

### "You may visit the Earth surface, but you must return to Gilgamesh–for our Godship has need of you." David was serious. He frowned and was obviously a little disturbed to bring up the subject.

### "And if I don't want to return?" I asked.

### "You will return. When you go to the surface, you will be accompanied by a guide. I can say no more than that. In fact, I know no more than that. Although I think I'm aware of Gilgamesh's plans, I can never be absolutely sure. In the meantime, we are leaving this planet since we have collected all that we need, for now."

### I pretended to accept my fate, but I would escape, nevertheless–with Susan. In fact, David seemed uncertain about our stay on Earth. Perhaps he hadn't understood Godship's whole plan. Perhaps we would be able to stay.

### I saw no evidence of our having collected anything from the ammonia planet, but I hadn't seen such evidence back home, either. Perhaps they removed what they needed a molecule at a time. I imagined a cloud of molecular dust flowing from the planet's surface to the Godship. They seemed to do things a molecule at a time. They created androids in that manner, the body being formed slowly on a table, the various appendages appearing like magic. They even placed perfume on Susan's cheek that way. I haven't seen it, but maybe they created furniture and foods that way: a molecule at a time.

### One thing I did notice: the ship seemed to collapse, getting smaller, the walls converging. I guess the appropriate size for space travel was economy size. I must remember to ask David how they did that. In any case, the entities that guided our Godship seemed able to control matter at the atomic level, decreasing distances between atoms, collapsing solid objects, turning substantial things into mist. I vaguely remember reading about the interatomic forces that held matter together–or apart. Our hosts were clearly manipulating those forces. Perhaps, one day, I would better understand how that was accomplished.

### We ate every meal with David and Tiesha. The native girl was delightful and seemed to relish every moment. She was always smiling. Her hair was always different, sometimes piled high, sometimes falling about her shoulders. I've never seen David more at peace with the world... well, at peace with the ship.

### "David," I said, "how does the ship manage to change its size. I mean, it seems to get larger when we stop somewhere and smaller when we leave."

### "Ah, isn't that fascinating?" David said, grinning. "Remember, solid objects are mostly empty space, at the atomic level. Our hosts have the ability to manipulate things at that level and squeeze the molecules together. Metal walls become denser–and smaller, of course. It's like squeezing a ball of gas. Or, if they wish it, a metal wall can become as insubstantial as air. When you walk through a wall, you're just pushing aside an invisible mist of metal atoms. Sometimes, if it's convenient, walls just detach themselves and move then evanesce. It's quite remarkable and also a bit disconcerting to see rooms come apart."

### "Okay," I said, "where are all the replicas? I have one and you and Susan and who knows how many others there are."

### "Oh, they're around somewhere or perhaps they've been assimilated."

### "Assimilated?"

### "If our hosts deem them unnecessary, their components get absorbed. We need every bit of material we can get our hands on."

### "We? You say 'we'? You sound like you're one of our hosts."

### David giggled. "Yes, I have become one with our host." I thought he was joking, but he continued: "I have been in constant contact with Gilgamesh–the entity that controls this ship. He asks my advice, for reasons I don't quite understand. He already knows everything, it seems. Maybe it's to get a human perspective, or at least the perspective of a biological structure. In any case, Gilgamesh tells me everything he intends to do–I think. For example, our next stop should please you. I won't say what or when or where, but you'll be pleasantly surprised."

### "Gilgamesh?" I said. "Who is Gilgamesh?"

### "That question, again? Gordon, you have a rather short term memory. As I've noted before, he is our immortal, our would-be God, our host, our protector, our environment. He cradles us, clasped to his bosom. He reads our thoughts and responds. He has been granted the totality of all knowledge."

### David seemed in a trance. I stared at him in dismay. I was beginning to believe he was less man and more machine. With just the mind of a human, he couldn't possibly know all the things he knows. He had been integrated into the fabric of the Godship, I was almost sure of it. What the Godship knew, he knew. Maybe he was this Gilgamesh. I didn't know if that was good or bad–for Susan and me.

Soon after leaving the Tau Ceti planet, the one David called Cythia, we traveled for some time when there was a shudder. The ship was shaking. That's never happened. Susan came rushing into our bedroom.

### "What was that?" she cried.

### "I don't know. Can you ask our hosts?" I said.

### "I did, but I get no response. Maybe David will know. It's scary."

### We walked to the wall expecting it to dissolve, but it didn't. That was the only way we moved from room to room and now the wall seemed quite substantial. I couldn't believe we were stuck in the bedroom. I went to the bed to sit, but the bed slowly rose, then vanished. I watched as all the furniture rose in the air, then disappeared. Soon, our room was empty. Susan seemed to be in a trance. I half expected her to vanish.

### "Susan? Are you there? Speak to me."

### "There's a problem," Susan said, shivering. "Our hosts need to disappear all the furniture. They need...wait, they can't afford the energy expenditure to maintain the furnishings. There's some problem with spatial anomalies or...I can't quite make out what they are saying–that's the cause of the shaking we felt."

### "You're talking to our hosts?" It was hard to accept that Susan had become so accomplished at mental communication.

### "Yes...hold on...I'm talking to David now."

### I waited. Susan sat on the floor, holding her head in her hands. I dare not disturb her. I'd like to know what's happening with this shaking business.

### "David doesn't know either," Susan said in a whisper. Then silence. No one spoke. I could hardly breath.

### "Hello Miss Blend. I am Hydra."

### I looked up and saw the android standing half in and half out of a wall. It's as though she had tried to walk through the wall and it had solidified, trapping her.

### "Do not be fearful," she said. "All problems will be resolved in a satisfactory manner. Do not be fearful. Do not be fearful." Then she struggled to free herself from the wall. Her eyes were flashing red and black. After a minute or two she just went limp.

### "Hydra?" Susan said. "Are you okay? Can we help?"

### The android was clearly defunct, hanging out of the wall, from the waist up. Her bottom half must be beyond the wall.

### "I guess she was shut down to conserve energy," Susan said. "Can you guess what's happening?"

### "No. I haven't the faintest idea. Perhaps we've run into some strange dimensional rift, a space-time rupture, maybe a black hole, maybe run into some stellar debris. I guess there are all sorts of possibilities. But these Godships have been wandering about for millennia, so this can't be the first time they've run into this problem–whatever it is. Can you talk to anybody? David, our hosts, any thing?"

### Susan squinted. "No, all communication has stopped. Can you feel it getting cold?"

### "Yes, I'd like to think up a warm sweater, but I guess they aren't listening."

### "I think the human environment is being removed to conserve energy," Susan said, then added: "I wish we could curl up in our bed, under a ton of blankets."

### Another violent shaking, then our ship became calm, quiet. Hydra fell out of the wall and quickly rose to her feet.

### "All is well, Miss Blend," she said. "All is well."

### "I assume that we're clear of whatever it was that caused the shaking, right?" I asked.

### "Yes, all is well," Hydra said. Then she turned and passed through the wall.

### I looked about and saw David coming through the opposite wall. Having things pass through walls was a bit nerve wracking.

### "David, what happened?" I asked.

### "There seemed to be a threat. I can't quite make out the exact nature of the threat," David said. "We've apparently moved into subspace and are now clear–for the time being. I don't think it was serious. I believe it was a primordial black hole or perhaps several. I do believe these cross-space traverses are not uncommon–with Gilgamesh. I'm also led to believe that Gilgamesh collects certain sub-atomic materials during these crossings...mini black holes and gravitons. However, Gilgamesh occasionally has difficulties with distortions between branes, a tearing of the cosmic fiber so to speak."

### Where did David get all this information? He was a font of knowledge.

### "You're wondering how I knew about these tiny black holes. It's because I was taught. It was a lesson on the creation of the universe, the Big Bang. These are often called primordial black holes. Our vessel has apparently run into many micro holes–there are lots of them among the galaxies, maybe billions. I guess they're hard to detect and hard to avoid. I must admit I didn't understand all of that lesson, but I was given to believe that the super gravity associated with these black holes is the reason for our ship's ability to manipulate gravity. They allow the ship to generate gravitational waves, manipulate matter at the molecular level and..."

### "You mean we're carrying around black holes?" I asked.

### "Yes, I believe so. These particular mini black holes apparently live on the boundary between our three dimensional space and the other micro-spaces that make up the universe. Since our ship can negotiate these other space dimensions, pass between companion spaces..."

### "Then they can capture and employ the black holes–so they can hover over a planet, like they did back home," I said. I looked at David for confirmation. He nodded. I was beginning to wish I could absorb these same lessons from our hosts, but I couldn't. Maybe, given enough time.

### "Gordie, did you notice anything peculiar when the ship was shaking?" Susan said. She was smiling so I knew she was composed again and had something in mind.

### "Something peculiar? Yes, I did," I said. "Everything on this ship is peculiar."

### "Did you not notice that the furniture in our bedroom first rose in the air before they disappeared," Susan said. "That was the antigravity effect of collecting a quantum mechanical black hole filled with gravitons. And Hydra's eyes? Did you see them flashing? That was Hawking radiation reflected from the black hole through Hydra, a Gilgamesh creation."

### Damn it! Was I the only person who didn't have a bloody clue what was going on. First David and now my wife. They knew everything and I was an imbecile. My Susan used to be scientifically naïve, a novice, mentally deficient in all things scientific. And now she was a fountain of knowledge.

### "Okay wise guys," I snarled, looking from Susan to David, "if you're so smart, tell me when we get back home."

### "Oh Gordie," Susan said, gushing with excitement. She never gushed, but she was gushing now. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes looked as wide as dinner plates. "We're here, on this ship and it's wonderful. We needn't work to survive. We can learn things, exciting new things, and travel and eat what we like and..."

### "Damn it, Susan," I said, exasperated. "I don't want to live on a ship that wanders aimlessly about the galaxy."

### David stood beside Susan, his arm about her waist. They were both smiling. They were both annoying. Damn them both!

### Part 4.4

### The ship is huge. I never could determine how huge. Maybe dozens of acres. It was almost impossible to imagine the layout. I just walked to a wall, thought I'd like to get to our living room, then the wall would dissolve and I'd walk through. It didn't seem to matter which wall I'd approach. I'd think 'living room' and beyond the wall was the living room. Well, sometimes, if I thought some place inappropriate, the wall wouldn't dissolve so I'd have to be careful not to anticipate an opening and walk into a solid wall. I did that once and my nose still hurts. I figured there were some places I wasn't supposed to go, like the place which housed the natives and the other alien species that had been collected from various places in the galaxy. The worst thing about this walking-through-walls ritual was the complete lack of privacy. David could pass through the wall to our bedroom with ease. Knocking before entering seemed a foreign concept. That was annoying.

### Our dinner with David and Tiesha was a curried chicken dish with a very spicy sauce, served over a brown rice. That, and a cucumber salad and a white wine of some unfamiliar variety. I don't know who ordered it, but it sure wasn't me. I don't particularly like curried things. After dinner I said we would retire to our rooms, but Susan wanted to stay with David and his girlfriend. That never happened before. After dinner the two of us would usually leave, read a while in our living room from the extensive library that had been created for our use, then crawl into bed.

### I began to wonder if Susan found me so boring that she'd rather spend time with David. I have to admit that, when all of us were together, Susan and David would talk of something completely foreign to me. Once they talked and laughed about Schrödinger's cat. I didn't even know this guy and certainly didn't know his cat. I was surprised that Susan had never mentioned him to me. I seemed to be on the outside, observing a happy couple but unable to join in. I began to get depressed.

### CHAPTER FIVE
### Part 5.1

### It was several days before I learned that the violent shaking was more than just a spatial anomaly. David had been in intimate contact with the Godship and said that we were to go to some remote galaxy and that required moving out of 'normal' space to some sort of subspace. He wasn't sure, but believed that in order to reach the far galaxy, we must move to an alternate universe, a parallel universe. David kept calling it a 'harmonic space' and it was a kind of space-time neighbor within which we could travel without light speed limitations. Apparently there were many such places where we could move between our universe and an alternate, nearby universe; David called them 'brane ports'. Some ports were more difficult to negotiate than others. The galaxy we were seeking, named Maffei-1 according to David, was so remote that light took millions of years to reach planet Earth.

### I was curious and asked David: "Why are we going there? I was hoping we'd return to Earth."

### "In time, my boy, but now we must assist in a kind of morphological fabrication."

### David seemed always to speak in riddles. I was almost afraid to ask.

### "A what?"

### "The Maffei-1 galaxy is in the constellation Cassiopeia. There are suns in this galaxy that boast planets. On one of these planets life is forming. It has been in progress for a billion years, but now needs guidance."

### "What kind of guidance can we give," I asked.

### "Our Godship will know what to do, what organic materials to provide, what statistical aberration to enable, what deviation from the norm to implement. After all, one of the most successful scientific theories of the twentieth century, Quantum Theory, asserts itself in a cloak of probability. Imagine what God can do to influence the probabilistic outcome of an event. I do not know in any detail what is intended for these nascent life forms, but it will be fascinating to be present, don't you think?"

### "Yes, fascinating."

### I was not convinced. Did this God really start the ball rolling, introduce materials for rudimentary life to form, guide its development from time to time, then leave it to its own devices? Was that the way of things, the mechanism by which living things evolved?

### "Okay, David, what exactly will the Godship do when we reach this planet?"

### "I have little understanding of the process," David said, "but I believe the life is a single celled organism, a zygote that seems to lack the ability to regulate its internal environment, to reproduce. The appropriate genetic structure is lacking. Godship will show the way."

### David warmed to the subject. He was enthusiastic, almost effervescent.

### "Ah, Gordon, imagine the challenges that confront God. The first signs of cell creation from supplied organic molecules, with God's help–the introduction of the DNA helix, the implementation of cell division carrying the genetic code, the first multi-cellular creations, the prelude to cell differentiation."

### "Are there life forms that think?" I asked. "Intelligent life, somewhere in the galaxy? I assume these simple cells don't think, do they?"

"Think? No, of course not. That will come–maybe I should say that may come in another billion years. Some experiments fail, I'm afraid. However, to answer your question, there is most certainly intelligent life in the universe. We have some on board Gilgamesh. Perhaps we will find others."

### Part 5.2

### It seemed like weeks before we reentered normal space. Again there was intense vibration as we passed through what David had called a 'brane port', a gateway between our universe and some other space-time cosmos. During the time we were in the alternate reality, I saw nothing but darkness through the various portholes throughout the Godship. This so-called parallel universe didn't seem much like ours; there were no stars. When I asked David, he said it was just dark matter and dark energy–no visible mass. Indeed, he said, even our universe contains less than five percent normal matter. The rest is 'dark'.

### "Dark energy," I said. "Lots of dark energy, everywhere in the vacuum of space. That's amazing, don't you think?"

### "Yes indeed," David said. "And, just in case you wondered, that's where the energy comes from that propels our Godship."

"The Godship extracts energy from the empty space? Is that what you're saying?"

### "Ah Gordon, my boy, empty space is not empty. As I just noted, it's filled with dark energy–and the Godship knows how to use it. Dark energy is also required to contain the mini black holes. In a sense, dark energy is a property of space and opposes the gravitational attraction of black holes. It's what keeps the universe from contracting due to the gravitational affinity of matter. Without such containment, Godship could not transport black holes. The dark energy containers holding our black holes are a kind of distorted space, a lopsided jar, as it were, within which the mini black holes persist."

### "Exactly how does our Godship extract this dark energy, to move the ship? Some kind of energy pump which sucks up the energy and, somehow... uh. Somehow..."

### "Gordon, my boy, only God and his Godships know how that is accomplished." David was all smiles. He was happy to leave this knowledge to Gilgamesh.

### When the transit vibrations had ceased, I went to the nearest alcove to look out the porthole. The sun was bluish-white and brilliant. I expected to see other Godships, intent upon this mission, but there were none. David came to stand beside me.

### "Soon we will stop at the planet," he said. "I have learned our mission. The simple one-celled life forms lack the aptitude for self expression, to generate multiples of themselves. We must introduce the helix so that accurate cell division can proceed. It will be..."

### "Wait! Are you saying that God will simply change the structure of these organisms? He just waves his hand and they become self generating? If so, why doesn't he just change them into the final product, a human with a small brain and a large ego?"

### "Ah, Gordon my boy, that is not the way God works. You must know that by now. He guides, he assists, he motivates but allows natural processes to operate."

### "Operate with his guidance, I presume."

### "Yes, of course. Always with his guidance. After his fashion, he uses the probabilistic nature of the cosmos to influence outcomes. For this life form, God will simply introduce a random contact between amino acids to generate a double stranded nucleic acid helix: DNA. Then he waits to see if the cells can employ this novel device for flawless cell mitosis, to create identical daughter cells."

### "And if it works," I said, "we head off again. If it fails, then what?"

### "If the cells have the double helix and cannot use it to their advantage, then they will die. An experiment gone bad. Extinction. It's happened many times and will happen many more times."

### "So we wait here until we see...what? Multi-cellular creatures with a highway for ingested food: mouth, gut and anal orifice?"

### "No, we will not wait. I've said it before. God then leaves these creatures to their own devices–and the natural laws that he has bestowed upon the universe."

### "So God helps, then we head home, to planet Earth, right?" I asked, hoping for an affirmation of our next journey.

### "Yes, that is my understanding," David said, frowning.

### David didn't seem to bubble with enthusiasm. He acted as though there may be other stops before Earth. Little did I know the truth of that notion and the extent of our journey home.

### Part 5.3

### "Deep in thought, I see."

### I was staring out the alcove porthole. I turned and saw Susan standing in the corner. She had just come through the wall and looked marvelous, dressed in a white gown with a dark blue scarf wrapped about her neck and what looked like a necklace of pearls.

### "Yes," I said. "I was wondering what will become of us, you and me, when this is over."

### "Oh Gordon, relax and enjoy the adventure. It will never be over. It will go on and on. The God of the Godships will see to it that we survive and flourish. There will be children, children beneath the sea, children who will prosper amid the creatures that ride the waves, children who .."

### "Who will breath, underwater," I said in jest.

### Susan looked surprised.

### "Gordon, you silly man, of course. How else can they live in the world's oceans? Imagine the freedom, a three-dimensional existence, at long last man's dream come true; the ability to fly."

### "Will we breathe, beneath the sea?" I asked. I couldn't believe what she was saying. Susan obviously knew something I didn't know. Living in the sea? When? Where?

### "Us? You and me and David? Beneath the sea? No...but our children or our children's children–they will. Okay, that's enough star gazing. Come with me. We've been invited to a special dinner with David and friends."

### "Friends? What friends?"

### "Just follow me," she said and turned toward the far wall.

### "Susan, where did you get that outfit, the pearl necklace? A gift from David?"

### Susan looked back at me with a smirk.

### "Psychic mandate," she said. "By now you should know that."

### Then she walked through the wall.

### Part 5.4

### There was a long table in a dimly lit room. I could make out Susan and David and, beside David was Tiesha. All seats were taken except one, beside Hydra, Susan's android clone. I sat in that empty chair and looked about as the room brightened. There were perhaps a dozen people sitting at the table. I didn't recognize any others–except one looked familiar. Susan saw that I was staring.

### "These people are experiments, android trials. Do you recognize Gordon Blend," she said, pointing to one particular person. "It's your proxy, your substitute. It's quite a good likeness, don't you think?"

### I stared at the android. It had an annoying smirk.

### "Did you say 'substitute'? What does that mean?"

### Susan looked upset. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I meant to say that the likeness was...it was created so that..."

### "So that it might take your place in situations that were deleterious to your health," David said.

### "Damn it! Deleterious to my health? What the hell does that mean?"

### "Oh Gordon," Susan said, "David is just kidding. Your proxy is just an experiment, a morphological investigation, a mechanism for Gilgamesh, for Godship, for God to test certain animation rituals and durability characteristics. All these individuals are experiments, prototypes and they are now practicing human comportment. Do you notice anything unusual about your proxy?"

### I leaned over the table. The lights became brighter. My proxy rotated its head. It had gills! Shit! IT HAD GILLS!

### "Does it breathe in water?" I said, almost shouting.

### "No, it breathes air and extracts oxygen, just as you and I," David said, almost in a whisper. "The gill slits are an experiment, in an early stage. Currently, it has no physiological significance. But soon..."

### I looked again. This android alternate-me...its gills were quivering on the side of the neck. I looked at the others at the table. I didn't recognize any, though many had brown skin like the Kuna natives from Panama. They were all smiling, a silly, foolish smile. And their eyes; all red.

### I couldn't sleep, thinking of the next days and weeks, hoping we would soon be home on planet Earth. Susan was sound asleep when I crawled out of bed and headed for the nearest alcove. I needed to see if I recognized any constellations or, better still, planets in the solar system. I hoped that solar system planets were nearby. A foolish hope. I passed through several walls–I had become very good at finding my way–and was surprised to see someone there, by the porthole. When I was nearer he said: "Hello Gordon Blend." His voice was deep and resonant and I didn't recognize it. When he turned about to face me, I squinted to see in the dim light. He raised his hand and the lights became brighter. Good God! It was Gordon Blend, my proxy, the android with the imperfect gill structure. The gills were still there and his eyes seemed entirely black with huge irises.

### "Uh...hello," I said, my voice shaking. "Are we looking for the same thing?"

### "What thing is that," he said.

### "Recognizable star formations."

### He turned to look out the porthole. "But they are all recognizable," he said.

### "I see. So, are you as knowledgeable as David?"

### "I am Godship," he said. "I know all that Godship knows. I am its construct, its device, its tool, its instrument, its...."

### "Then you know about God and his great plan," I said, not sure I wanted to hear the answer, but hoping this android would explain our mission, our destination, our terminus.

### "God works in mysterious ways," he said. Did he really say that? How often had I heard that! He was clearly programmed.

### "Yes, mysterious, yet he must know what he's doing–so you must know."

### "God plays with the probabilities, the inherent randomness at the sub atomic scale. It influences outcomes. My image of God is a probability distribution." He chuckled.

### That seemed, to me, a reasonable explanation. Perhaps there was no actual entity, just randomness–but then what created the cosmos? No, I suspected that a God would be more substantial.

### My proxy smiled, as though he had told a joke. "Yes," he said, "a probability distribution. That's an apt description. It induces abnormalities, random novelties, innovations that may assist a life form."

### This android then began to laugh, coarse and raucous. He seemed amused by the thought.

### "Okay," I said, "what is your opinion on our mission, to planet Earth?"

### The android suddenly became serious.

### "I am sorry for my inappropriate outburst," he said. "I am slowly learning the way...the correct way to illustrate amusement. Humor is an exotic commodity, don't you think? If God plays with probabilities, as it most surely does, then my image is that of a distribution of random probabilities. I am sorry. It was indecorous of me, totally inappropriate and..."

### "Don't worry about it," I said. "However, I notice you refer to God as an 'it', not a 'he'. Is God an 'it'?"

### The android twisted his face so that the gills bulged on the side of his neck. He looked pained, confused.

### "Is God a 'he'?" he asked. "Is God a 'he'. Is God a 'he'. Is God..."

### "Okay, I'm sorry I asked. "Can we go to my original question, about our mission to Earth?

### "If God is 'it', then God is a neuter pronoun." The android gurgled. "That is ludicrous, whimsical, is it not? Would that be a joke, a witticism, a pun, a quip?"

### The android was distraught, his lips vibrating but without sound. He walked away, into the dim recesses of the room. I began to follow him, but he seemed to have vanished. I hope I have a chance to meet him again. He seemed to have intimate knowledge of Godship intentions, perhaps in more detail than David or Susan. I suspect I was the only idiot on board.

### Part 5.5

### The next morning, when I awoke, Susan was gone. I quickly washed, shaved, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, slipped into a comfortable robe and walked through the nearest wall. I've become blase to the appearance of objects such as toothbrush and comb and the sudden opening and closing of wall openings. It now seemed perfectly natural for objects to appear then disappear. It was also perfectly natural to walk through a wall.

### David and Susan were deep in conversation when I arrived for breakfast. We always met for breakfast. Often, throughout the day, there was little communication, but breakfast was our regulation meeting event–so why did they seem startled to see me?

### "Oh, Gordon," Susan said. "I thought you were going to snooze a while. You looked so weary."

### "Not weary," I said. "A little confused, perhaps a little wary, clearly a little apprehensive."

### Susan smiled then continued to talk to David in almost a whisper. Were they ignoring me? What was so important that they had to whisper?

### "God is a probability distribution," I said.

### David's head spun about to face me. He looked confused, then he grinned.

### "Aah, you've been talking to Gill. He's quite a fellow, don't you think?"

### "Gill?" I asked. "Who the hell is Gill?"

### "Oh Gordon, you silly man," Susan groaned. "Don't you remember? He's your android duplicate. He has a wonderful sense of humor. Once, he said that God plays dice with the universe. Isn't that hilarious?"

### "Yes, hilarious." I wondered why they never told me the name of my android proxy. Gill? That was certainly befitting.

### Tiesha joined us for a breakfast of waffles and syrup and apple juice and black coffee. She looked absolutely radiant, her gown azure, her hair falling about her shoulders, caramel skin glowing in the dim light.

### "Good morning," she said.

### I almost swallowed my fork. Tiesha could speak English!

### "Pura Vida," I said, remembering that that was one of the few things she said when I first met her. She put her hand over her mouth and blushed. She was beautiful. I felt embarrassed that I had come to breakfast in my robe.

### "Embarrassed?" Tiesha whispered. "You fine looking."

### Could she read my mind? Was she, too, being assimilated into the Godship milieu? Was I the only character who couldn't read minds?

### "Gordon," Susan said, "couldn't you have at least put on a shirt?"

### I looked at David. He was in a dark gray suit and white cravat. I couldn't remember whether he always dressed like that. Overkill, for breakfast? I looked at Susan. Her dress was violet gossamer, almost transparent. Damn! I was a slob and my wife was see-through!

### "Sorry," I said, then left without finishing my breakfast.

### "Please come back, Gordie."

### I turned to see who spoke. It was Tiesha.

### "You really fine. You really handsome, you wear anything and look fine."

### I looked from Tiesha to Susan. Susan wasn't smiling. I returned to the table and quickly finished my breakfast. Tiesha was still smiling, watching me eat. When I left, she followed me.

### We had to pass through several partitions to get to my room. Usually, one through-the-wall passage was sufficient, but I never understood why it often required several passages. Tiesha was at my side. Maybe Godship was confused as to my destination. When we got to my room, I thought a room divider and when it appeared I went behind to change into something more appropriate. No sooner had I let my robe fall to the floor than Tiesha was there, watching me, smelling of lilac. Lilac? That was Susan's perfume. Did the Godship know just this one aroma? I bent to retrieve my robe to cover my nakedness, but she kicked it away.

### "You beautiful, Gordie Blend," she murmured. "I am ready."

### Tiesha closed her eyes. I wondered what she expected of me. I quickly ran from behind the divider, grabbed the clothes that were on a chair and raced to the nearest wall. It didn't dissolve and I hit my head and everything went black.

### I awoke to soft music. I was in my room, lying on the bed, naked. There was no one there. The room divider had vanished, my clothes and robe were neatly piled beside me on the bed and I had a terrific headache. I gradually got off the bed and went to a mirror to see what must surely be a large bump on my forehead. No bump was visible but there were several red welts on my neck. I looked more closely. They were love bites! I had hickeys on my neck! Shit! Was that Tiesha at work? What else did she do while I was unconscious? What would Susan think? What would David think? Tiesha was his woman. I collapsed on the bed and saw a piece of paper. It was a note from Tiesha: 'again, please' it said. Again? What again? I felt nauseous.

### Part 5.6

### David, Susan, Hydra and Gill and me: we were all at a rather large window looking out at the planet. I was glad to see that Tiesha was elsewhere.

### It had taken much longer than I imagined getting here. This planet seemed rather a small hunk of rock, fuzzy, with a hazy atmosphere.

### "Will we go down to the planet surface?" I asked.

### Without even looking at me, Susan said: "Certainly not."

### "Then how do we interact with the life forms?" I asked, feeling stupid.

### "We'll have help, angelic assistance, divine support," Gill said with a smile.

### They all laughed–except me. I assumed, from Gill's comment, that God would be doing all the work.

### David leaned forward and pointed. There was a hole in the atmosphere and it was getting larger.

### "A molecular channel," Susan said.

### "Undoubtedly," David said.

### "Sufficient for God's finger to pass," Gill said.

### Everyone chuckled, except me.

### I watched the perforation in the atmosphere enlarge, but I couldn't see anything leaving the Godship, something which might interact with whatever life form was crawling about on the planet's surface. I was about to ask for clarification when I felt a warm body leaning against me. I turned my head and saw Tiesha, her hair disheveled, her eyes blazing, smiling, smiling. She kissed my ear and whispered: "Erragon say make babies."

### I could see Susan looking out of the corner of her eye.

### "Are you wearing lilac?" Susan asked, now staring at Tiesha.

### Tiesha pulled away from me and looked baffled–then grinned.

### "Lilac," she said. "Gordie like this stink."

### "Gordie is it?" Susan frowned for just a moment, then went back to looking out the window. Was my wife ignoring me? Did she care that Tiesha was making a pass? Susan was so volatile. One day she was all lovey-dovey and sentimental. Then she could be so distant, uncaring, dismissive.

### Tiesha leaned against me and continued to whisper in my ear. I tried not to listen. She wanted to make babies? With me? I turned to face her and said in a rather loud voice: "Try Gill. He's me and he's available. I am not."

### What happened next was both swift and surprising.

### Gill spun about and placed his hands on Tiesha's shoulders. He pulled her to him and said: "Spawning. God wills it and we comply–forthwith." Then he pulled her to a wall and they both vanished.

### "Is Gill...uh, capable?" I asked. "I mean, making babies and..."

### Then David giggled, that awful laugh I first heard when he was abducted.

### "Yes, quite capable. He has all the necessary plumbing."

### Then Susan put her arms about my neck and murmured: "Oh Gordie, see what you've done? A new romance, new life springing from the bodies of Tiesha and Gill. You were so masterful, so insistent, so authoritarian–like a God." I was sure that Susan was being sarcastic–and I didn't understand why David wasn't upset when Gill took his girl.

### I could hardly believe my ears. Authoritarian? Is that what Susan said? Me? I've always been rather reserved, not confident in my abilities. That's probably why I often criticized others, to bring them down to my level. Perhaps I was now a different man. My wife was clinging to me and I couldn't be happier. She seemed content that Tiesha had gone and I wasn't.

### Part 5.7

### After what seemed like a week, David said we had another stop to make before heading back to Earth. Another life form to manipulate, more guidance, more subtle intrusions into their maturation.

### "These are rather more complex than the single-celled organisms we met on our last stop," David said. "These are actually semi-intelligent creatures, but with a rather stagnant evolutionary history."

### "They need a swift-but-godly kick in the butt," Gill said.

### We all laughed at this remark.

### "A kick in the genetic butt," I said. They laughed again, even David.

### "So what do they look like?" Susan asked. "Can we go down to see them, meet them?"

### David frowned, but Gill jumped in with: "Yes, of course we can!"

### This was going to be fun. I haven't felt so delighted in ages. I tried to imagine shaking hands with an alien, perhaps a conversation with hand gestures and facial expressions. I had images of little green men with enormous eyes and oversized heads. I looked at Susan. She was happy–so was I.

### Early the next morning, when the lights on the Godship flushed pink like a rising sun, we met in the room with the large window. There was David, Susan and Gill. We were all dressed in skin-tight silver jumpsuits.

### "Can we breathe the air," I asked.

### "No," said Gill. "We will need our energy cake with oxygen stuffing and temperature filling." Gill was grinning. He seemed inordinately happy. Somehow I expected his happiness had something to do with his new relationship with Tiesha.

### "Don't worry," said David. "God will look after our needs. We'll be warm and comfortable inside our energy shell."

### Although I imagined some sort of beam transition for our bodies, from the Godship to the surface, such as what happened when we were first abducted. It was much more mundane. The four of us climbed into a transparent sphere with an array of seats. An opening in the bottom of the ship developed and we dropped out, falling gently to the planet surface, through the hazy atmosphere. Before we touched down, the planet's gaseous envelope cleared somewhat and everything was fairly clear, but dim because of the heavy cloud cover. The surface was reddish brown. I thought it looked like rolling hills of rust.

### "Yes, it is rust," Gill said. "Iron oxide, necessary for the growth of the inhabitants."

### "What inhabitants," I asked. "I can see nothing but hills of rust, great rising piles of what looks like sand castles and the occasional pool of...of something."

### "You would call it methanol," Gill said. "Life crawled out of these ponds millions of years ago. They started there, in the ponds, as trilobites and..."

### "Life?" I asked. "What life?"

### "Look down, Gordie," Susan said. "There are dozens of them crawling about. And can you see their home, the sand castles? Aren't they clever to have built such structures?"

### Below our sphere were dozens of black beetles, running in circles about our craft. They all looked identical.

### "So these are intelligent?" I asked. "They look pretty stupid to me."

### "Gordon!" Susan bellowed. "You are so damn narrow-minded. These creatures have survived for millions of years, they have learned to reproduce, to cooperate in order to build homes, to persist in this appalling environment. Now we must help them to evolve."

### "What can we do?" I asked. "Provide a manual on how to be smarter?"

### Suddenly, a bright light enveloped us, within our sphere.

### "What the hell is that? " I asked.

### "Radiation to disinfect," Gill said. "We don't want to carry bugs to beetles." He chuckled.

### The brilliance dimmed and David grunted and stepped onto the ground through an opening that had developed on the side of our sphere. The beetles swarmed about his feet. He stooped and picked one up. I could see that David was enveloped in a kind of film, presumably to allow him to breathe the local atmosphere. It hardly seemed suitable for breathing. Susan jumped out and examined the creature. Gill followed and so did I. I was swathed in that film, yet breathing was effortless.

### I picked up a beetle and looked at it carefully; it didn't move. It had huge watery eyes and a hard shell with small red spots.

### "What do we do now?" I asked.

### "Nothing," David said. "These beetles have been like this for a million years. There has been no incentive to evolve. No impetus to adapt. The environment is unchanging."

### "Don't you see, Gordie?" Susan said. "Without a change in environment, there is no need to adjust, to adapt...to evolve. Any novel genetic variations would die out, become extinct. Survival of the fittest–and the fittest is the original genetic configuration."

### David placed the beetle on the ground and so did I.

### "God will now do the rest," Gill said. "He will anoint these creatures and they will evolve."

### "Anoint? How will he do that?" I was confused.

### "We should get back to our Godship before the changes begin," David said. "Our trip to the surface was simply to see these marvelous creatures. Now we must return to the Godship."

### When we were back on the Godship we gathered at the large window and watched. We were again above the ionosphere and the atmosphere was so misty that there was little to see. Then the clouds of vapor suddenly dissolved and the sun, now having access to the planet surface, was creating winds that swept across the land. I could see sand castles falling. Large cracks appeared across the planet. We were too far above the planet to see the beetles, but I imagined that there was chaos in their ranks.

### "Is that the hand of God?" I asked. "Modifying the environment, introducing turmoil so that...so that..."

### "So that the beetles will be forced to adapt to the new circumstances," David said. "The inevitable genetic variations will now select those that can accommodate. A new and different race of beetles will emerge. If they are lucky, the modified beetles will be able to continue to adjust to what will be a radically changed weather pattern."

### "There will no longer be a serene planet environment," Gill said. "There will now be high winds, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. The beetles will adapt. New varieties will evolve. Some will eventually crawl back into the methanol ponds. Some will increase dramatically in size. Some will..."

### "Will grow up to be a banana-eating chimpanzee," I said.

### "Or a lizard," Susan added. "A dinosaur."

### "Or simply a bird," David said. "With, perhaps, a large brain."

### "And if they don't?" I asked. "What if they don't adapt, evolve?"

### "Then they will become extinct and the planet will be diminished," Gill said.

### I looked at Gill. He was in tears.

### CHAPTER SIX
### Part 6.1

### "You look so glum," Susan said, as we were strolling in the gardens, something that Susan had asked our hosts to generate. "The roses are lovely, the temperature is just right, there's a warm breeze and you're so gloomy."

### "I don't feel well," I said.

### "Take a pill," Susan said. "Take two." Then she giggled. That wasn't like her. Usually, when I admitted to being under the weather, she'd be sympathetic. Now it was something to laugh at.

### "You're different these days," I said. "Do you find me boring?"

### Susan stopped and bent to sniff a pink rose. The lighting in the garden was weird, sort of bluish. She was ignoring my question. As she stooped to smell the rose, I noticed an ugly welt on the back of her neck. I was about to say something, but the welt vanished. I wasn't sure I'd seen it. I must remember to look again, later. It seemed a mite alarming. If Susan was ill, had contacted some ungodly ailment, where would we find a doctor?

### That night, while I lay alone in bed, I tried to imagine how an injury could appear then disappear. There was a subdued humming that preceded the opening of a wall, so I closed my eyes as Susan came into the room. She had been with David and Tiesha. She increased the illumination a little. She was whistling. I didn't know she could whistle. She's never done that before–not as long as I knew her. She got into bed without shutting down the light source. That seemed inconsiderate, since I was presumably sleeping. After a short time I could hear her steady breathing and knew she was sleeping. These days she could fall asleep within minutes. I couldn't do that–never could.

### I turned onto my side and squinted at her neck. It was difficult to see clearly in the weak light, but the welt was definitely there, now larger than I remembered it. I expected it to disappear again, but it didn't. I guessed that, in the garden, the lighting had caused the blemish to appear to vanish. Now, with Susan asleep, it seemed to grow in size and become rather bluish in color. I thought up a slightly brighter illumination and the light increased. I reached over and was about to feel the texture of the scar when it suddenly sprouted hairs. Was I seeing things? I increased the light intensity and Susan suddenly sat upright.

### "You increased the light," she said. "That was very thoughtless of you. I was trying to sleep."

### She turned and slid out of bed. The scar on her neck was gone.

### Part 6.2

### David and Susan were alone in David's quarters. It was late night by Godship time and Gordon was asleep in his own bedroom. Tiesha was nowhere to be seen. Susan looked worried.

### "Are you sure?" David asked.

### "Pretty sure. I've been wearing high collars so he couldn't see the implant, but I'm almost certain he's seen it. Are the antennas really necessary? They make it obvious."

### "Gilgamesh needs a means of personal interaction and that's his solution. It wouldn't be my solution, but he seems to know what he wants. He really doesn't understand why Gordon might be upset at the sight of your conduit."

### "But I can hear Gilgamesh–when he wants to talk to me," Susan said.

### "Yes, but he wants more than that. He wants access to your corticospinal tract so he can intercept and generate signals, supervise neuron activity and..."

### "Is he trying to control me–all my thoughts and movement?"

### "Something like that, but not to worry. He's simply interested in extracting as much information as possible about human behavior. He has an enormous computer memory with an unlimited capacity of petabytes. It houses physiological information from thousands of organisms across the galaxies. You're just one of many sources of information for the data banks."

### "But why is he interested in this information? What does he intend to do with the data?"

### "I'm not sure, but I think he's trying to recreate his creator–yet I'm not sure what it believes is a 'creator'. Perhaps he has details of his creator so maybe he'll know when he has similar physiological specimens on board."

### "And when he finds the...uh, correct configuration? What then?" Susan looked worried. David's clarification didn't do much to ease her concern.

### "Then our host will attempt to create a new species, similar to those that are responsible for his creation. The new species will no doubt be similar to humans–perhaps in the image of God, whatever that might mean. I think it's a noble endeavor. Yet I'm bothered by the lack of information I receive, about such a creator. Perhaps it does not have a humanoid structure. Perhaps it is simply energy. Yet, I'm confident that the Godships will, one day, find such an entity–whatever it is."

### "Then, perhaps, he'll stop roaming the galaxy collecting specimens."

### "Yes, I think so." David said, caressing Susan's cheek. "Don't fret, my dear. Our host is quite docile."

### "I hear Gilgamesh almost constantly now. He's talking about planet Earth. Is that where we're heading?"

### "Yes, my dear. We're heading home."

### "Does Gilgamesh require more human DNA? More natives, more..."

### "No, dear Susan. He has heard from Uruk, the Godship that lies at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It shall be an exciting sojourn and we will play an important role when Uruk rises once more. I'm not sure what we'll find, but I'm eager."

### They both smiled and held hands.

### "Do you know," David said, "that Godships have been visiting Earth for millennia? Indeed, the Godship Uruk was seen by the Inca who worshiped it as the water God, Paryaqaqa, and the Maya celebrated Godship comings and goings with ritual sacrifices. An even earlier visitation appeared to John. You see? Religion, in all its earthly manifestations, has been influenced by Godship appearances. Have you read Revelation in the Christian bible? The bible says that such a ship appeared to John as a new heaven, a New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it. It said 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.' It was much larger than our Gilgamesh–I believe it was shaped like a cube, twenty two kilometers on a side with walls sixty five meters thick. Latter day Godships are a good deal smaller due to the necessity of negotiating space-time anomalies such as black holes and warped geometries. Indeed, our Godships can change size and shape, as we have seen."

### David stared upward, as though deep in thought. He ran his hand through his hair, stroked his nose, then continued.

### "I've often wondered about Uruk. It's the name of the Godship now situated in the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean. It's also the name of the place where the mythic king Gilgamesh lived, in ancient Uruk. Isn't that curious? I was under the impression that I was responsible for naming our Godship, but now I see that the name was implanted in my memory by our Godship. And why is Uruk down at ten thousand meters? Why so deep? I thought it was a malfunction of its graviton engine, a loss of anti-gravity abilities, perhaps its mini-black hole cargo was lost."

### David looked weary. A chair materialized and he sat down.

### "I thought that planet Earth was now very advanced technologically. Now I'm confused as to the kinds of advances...whether they are real and whether Uruk is somehow involved."

### David suddenly jumped to his feet.

### "I'm so sorry," he said. "I was day dreaming. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give the water of life. Remember that, from the book of Revelation? Yet we read: 'And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea'. The Earth was burned, the trees burned, and all the grass of the Earth burned. Burned? What does it mean? It is the Apocalypse, the Revelation to John, the last book of the Bible, the decisive struggle against Satan and his cohorts. It's curious, don't you think? The reference to Apocalypse, to water, to a burned Earth, to Satan...to a new creation, a New Jerusalem? Perhaps I will understand when we get to Earth–but things may not be as I originally thought."

### "I'm beginning to believe in a 'New Earth'," David continued, "without need of sun or moon...but that's impossible, don't you think? And Revelation says the foundation of the New Earth is of Jasper, but the ancient Jasper is translucent. Would that imply that the New Earth is made of such material? Material that one can see through? But then, any biblical reference must be taken with a grain of salt. Holy books are the creation of man, not of God. Yet man must have been influenced by some thing or some one to write the scriptures."

### David seemed lost in thought.

### Susan listened intently. It had been a while since she had read from the bible–and she had certainly not read to the last chapter.

### She asked, "Do you mean that the Godships are creations of God...the biblical God? Is that what you're saying?"

### "Why yes, dear girl," David said, coming out of his reverie. "But not the biblical God that you've read about. The biblical God was created by man. But all things are creations of God, are they not?"

### "But what of the creators, the alien race which built the Godships? Surely you must think they are responsible for these spacecraft."

### "They, too, are creations of God." David seemed amused.

### "I think you are speaking in riddles," Susan grunted. "Can we eat now?"

### David walked to a wall, brushed his hand along the smooth surface and a digital clock appeared. It read: 6:47 AM.

### "Breakfast time," David said. "I'll call Tiesha and you get Gordon. How about French toast with butter and maple syrup?"

### Susan stared at the ceiling in mock meditation. "Hmmm, we've had that too often before. I think scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and ham."

### "Ah, milady, your wish is my command."

### David closed his eyes as Susan watched, smiling with delight. Slowly, a table materialized, then dishes, cutlery and glasses. The dishes slowly filled with scrambled eggs and large chunks of cheese.

### "Hey! Melt the cheese," Susan complained. "No big chunks, please."

### David opened his eyes and grunted. The cheese melted.

### "I see you are with Gilgamesh," Susan said, with admiration. "Maybe, soon, I will be as well."

### "You'd better get Gordon," David said. "The eggs will get cold."

### "Okay, but don't forget the ham."

### Susan walked through a wall just as Tiesha appeared. Tiesha walked to the table and looked about just as four chairs became visible. David looked pleased. They both sat, waiting. In a few minutes Susan walked through a wall with a sleepy looking Gordon.

### "Uh...eggs, I see," said Gordon, frowning. "No menu, pre-ordered–and they're not done properly. Overcooked, dry. They should be creamy, not arid fluff."

### "Gordon, you're much too critical. You should be pleased that David has conjured up a breakfast for us."

### "I'd like to conjure up my own breakfast. It's not such a feat if you just think it and our hosts provide it."

### David looked at Susan and grinned. "Gordon seems in a bad mood. Perhaps we should tell him where we're going. Maybe that will cheer him up–do you think?"

### "Yes, David. Please tell Gordon. I'm quite sure he will be pleased."

### Part 6.3

### Gordon sat heavily in a chair and stared at his plate of dry scrambled eggs. He ignored the others while he pushed his eggs about the plate with his fork. Tiesha had started eating, but David and Susan waited for Gordon to react to their comment about having news. Surely, they thought, Gordon would be gladdened to hear they were going home.

### "Okay, where are we going?" Gordon looked very glum. He pushed his plate to the side. "Some barren planet to collect more biological specimens? Some foggy nebula to collect black holes? Some far off..."

### "Gordon, we're going home, to planet Earth. Isn't that wonderful?" Susan was delighted.

### Gordon rose to his feet and stared at Susan. "Are we, really? For good? To stay, forever and stop this gallivanting about the cosmos?"

### "Yes, Gordon, we'll be there in about a week," David said.

### "How far away are we?"

### "Roughly seventeen light years, give or take a light year."

### "But...but that would take seventeen years, even if we could travel at the speed of light." Gordon sat again, looking confused.

### "Oh, Gordon, you must know by now that we don't travel long distances in normal space. Don't you know that?" Susan sounded like a mother speaking to a child. "And the speed of light isn't so bad," she added. "Through a Bose-Einstein condensate it's not much more than running speed." Susan giggled. Susan never giggles, does she? I couldn't remember. But then, my Susan had changed so much I can't remember how she behaved, back home.

### "Susan is right," David said. "We'll take a wormhole in a day or so, a brane port. We will enter parallel spatial dimensions and be quite near the solar system when we exit. I can't quite make out where, but well beyond Pluto, I'm sure. We certainly don't want to exit parallel space near any gravitational attractor, would we?"

### David smiled and Susan giggled again. "Oh, David, you are so funny."

### Gordon looked weary. Tiesha was just finishing her breakfast. David and Susan hadn't started to eat, but seemed too euphoric to consider scrambled eggs and cheese.

### "In a week...we'll be home in a week...I can hardly wait. It seems too good to be true." Gordon sat and was now staring at the ceiling, a look of anxiety and joy on his face.

### "But we won't be leaving our Godship," Susan said, casually.

### Gordon rose again to his feet.

### "What? Why not? I'm bloody tired of this travelling to places I don't care about. Why else would we be going home if it weren't to let us leave the ship? Even if our hosts want more natives, they can still let us get off."

### "We'll be helping Uruk rise from the ocean floor. Apparently that spaceship has managed to reconstitute itself and is now ready to ascend and join the Godship fleet once more," Susan said. "I'm not sure why it spent so much time in the ocean. I think it had some mission that is now completed. But then, the role of Uruk, what it has been doing for so many years...that's still a mystery."

### "Susan, how on Earth do you know all this?" Gordon looked agitated.

### "Gilgamesh talks to me," Susan said. "Not as clearly as he does to David, of course. After all, David has been integrated into ship cybernetics."

### David raised his hand. "No, Susan, not cybernetics. I am a component of the ship's neurological network. I think Gilgamesh relies on my intuitive abilities when dealing with humanoids. I might point out, however, that the purpose of our visit to Earth, our rendezvous with Uruk, that is not quite clear. I believe that Uruk had some functions to perform and that we are involved in the completion of those obligations."

### David turned to Gordon. "You will be able to visit Earth for a short while, but you must return to the ship. You–actually several of us–we're needed for the next phase in Gilgamesh's plan."

### "Oh God, please don't make me one of them." Gordon was close to tears. "I just want to go home."

### "Soon, my dear," Susan said. "Very soon."

### Part 6.4

### I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The ship was assimilating David and Susan. They sounded more and more like automatons. Was I next? I needed to talk to someone that was free of the ship's grasp. Tiesha? Yes, Tiesha. Although she seemed unconcerned and perhaps unaware of the problem, maybe I could get her and her native friends to stop this madness. When we arrive at planet Earth, maybe they would want to return to solid ground, as I do. Maybe I could encourage a mutiny of sorts.

### And Uruk–what was that about? A Godship resting at the bottom of the deepest ocean, for millennia, and now they will be raised...for what purpose? And who will raise them? If they could raise themselves, then why hadn't they done it long ago? Are we going to raise them? If so, perhaps we'll be very close to the Earth surface. Perhaps that would provide an opportunity to escape. But without Susan? She was my wife. In spite of her current abnormal behavior, I'm sure she could be reconstituted whole and in good health. I'm sure that Gilgamesh was capable of that. What am I to do?

### Part 6.5

### I had tried on various occasions to walk from place to place on the Godship. Sometimes the walls vanished and I could walk to another site, but often I found them impenetrable and I had to be careful not to walk into a solid partition. To get to wherever the natives lived, I needed a map of the vessel. I thought up a table which promptly materialized before me. So far, so good. Then I thought up a map and the table dissolved and was replaced by a three dimensional image. It took me by surprise and I stepped back to investigate what had happened. It was like a holographic portrayal of the ship, fuzzy but recognizable as an ellipsoid. I reached out and it rotated to display various components. I found that I could rotate the image and magnify certain parts. Mostly it was empty space, but I could see places with objects moving. I magnified and saw David, in bed. Beside him was another body. I magnified. Susan!

Damn them! Were they making babies, as demanded by Gilgamesh? Why David? Did Susan find me so unattractive–even in bed? She's my wife. She should be by my side, not David's. I magnified again. Was she smiling? Her skin was darker than usual. I magnified again–then fell back into a chair. It wasn't Susan after all. It was Tiesha. But where was Susan? And why Tiesha? Did she oscillate between David and Gill, sexually promiscuous? Tiesha had even come on to me.

### I diminished the size of the Godship image and rotated it and magnified the parts which seemed to contain objects. There was what seemed to be a liquid-filled compartment. Something was swimming in the liquid. I zoomed in but it was still blurry, out of focus. Maybe it was because of the liquid. In any case, I was sure Susan was not swimming in a pool. I rotated and magnified and rotated. Then I saw a large compartment with many moving objects. I enhanced the image by pulling it apart from side to side and saw that the objects were the natives of Panama. Fine! I would enlist their aid. Perhaps, if we all thought alike, Gilgamesh would listen.

### I reduced the image and tried to find my location. I waved a free hand, hoping to see an object with an arm in motion, within the holographic image. There I was! Not that far from the native quarters–or so it seemed. I tried to memorize the image. I could imagine a route that would take me there...if the walls would only cooperate and dissolve as I came through. I stepped back from the image and walked to the nearest wall. From the corner of my eye I could see the holographic image fade. When I placed a hand on the wall it dissolved and I strode through with ease. So far, so good. I was in an empty room. I hurried to the next wall. I walked through into another empty room. From the image I had memorized, I imagined the native quarters were just beyond the next wall. I pushed against the wall, but it remained solid. Damn!

### I thought up a chair and collapsed, next to the wall. I tried to imagine an opening, a portal through the barrier wall. No luck. Then I heard a buzzing and what sounded like voices. The entire wall began to vibrate, shimmer, change color from grey to rust. Then it vanished, very abruptly, and I was in a much larger area, bathed in fake sunlight and surrounded by natives. They didn't look very happy. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. One native carried a flag, a swastika–no, it was the mirror reflection of a swastika. There were many women with gold rings in their nose, very colorful blouses, rouge-painted faces, red shawls. They were all pregnant. One held out her hand and I assumed that I was to take it. She led me through a maze of what looked like huts made of sticks and straw. I was pushed into a hut and a small but rather muscular male stood inside, by the door.

### I didn't like this one bit. Looking about I could see that the hut was not made of natural materials, but something synthetic, plastic. Clearly the Godship had fabricated the huts in order to accommodate the natives. I sat and waited for some time before another male appeared at the door. He came with a very young female, covered in a multi-colored poncho. As they entered the hut she fell to her knees and placed her head on my lap and made curious whining sounds. The guy backed out of the hut and lowered a flap and it became quite dark. I tried to slide across the floor, away from the girl. She followed, always with her head on my knee.

### Was this some kind of mating ritual? I climbed to my feet and pushed her aside, made for the door and fell through into bright sunlight. There were many natives and they seemed to be waiting. When they grunted I saw that the girl had crawled out of the hut. She was now naked. The natives cried out, laughing and jumping, apparently happy with the outcome. What outcome? What had they expected?

### "Does anyone speak English?" I asked.

### The laughing and jumping stopped and one old guy came forward.

### "Yes," he said. "English."

### "Good. I'd like to propose a mechanism for escaping from the clutches of Gilgamesh. Some procedure which has a greater chance of success if there are many involved, many, such as..."

### "Yes, English," he said. "Speak English."

### "Do you know Gilgamesh, our Godship?" I asked.

### "English?" he said, obviously confused.

### He took the naked girl by the hand and pushed her toward me.

### "Make baby," he said. "Erragon say make baby."

### "Erragon?" I said. "Who is Erragon?"

### He smiled, revealing a single crooked yellow tooth. I looked about. Many of the natives had left, no longer curious. I backed away from the old native and began to wander back to the wall where I had entered. Without a common language, this wasn't going to work. When I got to the wall it dissolved and when I passed through it materialized once more. I was very confused and imagined a soft sofa and collapsed.

### Part 6.6

### It seemed like only minutes before I fell asleep and was awakened by a tap on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, Susan was standing there with a silly smile on her face. I jumped to my feet and embraced her.

### "I'm so happy to see you," I said. "God, have I been worried. I got caught up in some native ritual and..."

### Susan pushed me away and smiled.

### "Making babies, right?" she said. "That's what they do. That's what Gilgamesh has asked them to do through the voice of their God, Erragon. Did you enjoy the sex act? Did you contribute to their citizenry? Was it good?"

### Susan giggled. I've never heard her giggle so much.

### "What act? Nothing happened! I got out of there as quickly as I could. I thought we, you and I, that we were supposed to..."

### Susan grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to the far wall. She was still smiling that silly smile. Why? We passed through several walls in quick succession. The partitions seemed to anticipate her moves and opened before we reached them.

### "How do you do that?" I asked. "The Godship predicts your moves."

### "Oh Gordon. You've become so thick-witted. Mind interaction. Telepathy."

### Susan now had a look bordering on disgust. That was not my wife, not as I knew her. She could sometimes be so loving, so affectionate–now so remote. Her attitude was so volatile, variable, capricious. I didn't know this woman.

### Most rooms were fairly dark, but soon we were in a large room with subdued lighting and she dragged me to a corner. There was an alcove and a window. She pushed me to the porthole.

### "See?" she said.

### I looked out to what seemed like an endless array of bright white stars.

### "Yes," I said. "It's beautiful. We don't see so many stars back home. But at the cottage it's often..."

### "Not stars," she said. "Godships. Hundreds. We're on a mission."

### She pushed me aside and stood at the window. The lighting was dim but I could see it quite clearly: the purple scar on the back of her neck.

### "It's quite exciting, don't you think, Gordon, my boy?"

### I turned to find David, standing with Tiesha. They were both smiling now. Susan joined them. It was scary, three of them, grinning, beaming. From the shadows, another person joined them. Standing beside Susan I could see that it was her synthetic twin, Hydra. Beyond I could barely make out other shadowy forms. Androids. Gill was with them. The room was full of individuals. Godship trials, prototypes. Why did I feel so alone?

### CHAPTER SEVEN
### Part 7.1

### It was several days before our Godship reached the edge of the solar system. Actually, I didn't know that. I was told by both David and Susan who seemed to be joined at the hip, connected–mentally at least. I hoped it was not physically.

### "It won't be long now, Gordon," David said. "It will be a glorious day for all of us. Our assignment is so important to life on Earth. If you only knew..."

### "Damn it David! I don't know anything! What assignment?"

### "Oh Gordon," Susan said. "We are to act like God. Imagine! Like God!"

### "What the hell are you talking about? The only thing I need to know is whether I'll be able to hop off this galaxian bus and stay permanently fixed to solid ground."

### Susan looked at David who was smiling. That stupid smile! I hated it!

### "Gordon, we have a mission on this planet." David looked serious. His brow twisted, his mouth grim. "But when we are finished," he continued, "we have other missions, elsewhere, perhaps equally important. Life on Earth has not gone as planned. I had believed that civilization had progressed far beyond what it was when we left. That is true, in fact, but not as I had imagined. There has been a disastrous sun storm, a coronal mass ejection, a disruption of Earth's magnetosphere, a series of solar flares. The sun storm was initiated by Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. Going HyperNova, Betelgeuse provided the impetus for the sun storm...and it was the sun storm that was disastrous for Earth."

### "The Betelgeuse HyperNova was too far away to cause any damage directly," David continued. "Indeed, a powerful neutrino burst from Betelgeuse was observed days before the intense gamma radiation reached the solar system and, in particular, the sun. Fortunately, astrophysicists were prepared many years before the effects of the nova explosion reached the sun. The supergiant is over six hundred light years from the solar system, so the nova explosion actually took place well before we were living on planet Earth. Its effects, however took that many years. I don't know how scientists on Earth knew it was coming, but they seemed to be prepared...in a manner of speaking."

### David paused, frowned then looked at Susan as though he wanted her to say something.

### "Gordon," Susan continued, "there were eruptions on Earth, sulphur compounds in the atmosphere, light reflected back to space, planetary cooling, then massive amounts of carbon dioxide, acidification of the oceans..."

### "Wait!" I said. "Is everyone...everything dead?"

### "No," Susan said, "but much of the planet is scorched and geological features modified, disturbed. The magma chamber below Yellowstone Park, it burst. Beneath the park, a plume of superheated rock rising from Earth's mantle, a super volcano. The ejecta, the tons of pumice, it spread about the globe. Iceland, with its large volcanic system, located on a divergent tectonic plate, it was hit hard. The San Andreas fault–that was inevitable."

### Susan seemed distraught, her words chaotic, spurting, frenzied.

### "And the massive rock slab of the Canary Islands, the volcano Cumbre Vieja erupted, the western flank of the mountain broke off, slid into the ocean, a hundred meter super tsunami, travelling at six hundred kilometers an hour, inundating Eastern North America and Brazil and the Atlantic coast of Europe. Many life forms on the planet have died."

### She paused to collect herself, then continued.

### "But...the solar eruption had been predicted by cosmologists and many have been saved," David said.

### "Saved? On a scorched and volcanic Earth?" I asked.

### "Well, no," David replied. "With Uruk's help \- in the Mariana Trench."

### Part 7.2

### It was the next morning before I understood what had happened and what the swarm of Godships had planned. David and Susan were sipping coffee, nibbling on burnt toast and talking to each other in a low voice. Tiesha was silent, drinking some yellow liquid which looked like lemon juice. I ate nothing, waiting for further explanation.

### "So?" I asked. "How will this work, this Godship mission?"

### David stopped talking to Susan and turned to me.

### "Ah, Gordon my boy. There is a population living within a dome beneath the sea. They are quite advanced, want for nothing, but they are trapped. Part of the dome is, in fact, the Godship Uruk. It provides for them as our Godship provides for us. The humans living there need to evolve, to accommodate to the ocean environment. It is something that Gilgamesh and others in the fleet are..."

### "Wait! Are you talking about turning humans into fish?"

### "Fish? Hardly. I'm talking about humans with gills, so they can extract oxygen from water, escape the confines of their dome. It is something the Godships have been working on for some time. You must have realized that your android proxy, Gill, was such an experiment. Indeed, there is a place on board Gilgamesh that houses aquamen, an aquatic species and an almost-solution to the problem."

### "I saw a room filled with water, when I was looking for the natives of Panama. I assume that was it."

"Yes, Gordon, that was it. It is not perfect, but other Godships are devising other solutions. Remember, a human fetus does have gill-like structures similar to those in fish. However, in humans, these branchial clefts develop into jaws and ears, not gills as they do in fish. And some fish, like Betta splendens, the Siamese fighting fish, can do both–breathe in water and air. They have an organ which can extract oxygen from the air as well as from water through the gills. One day humans will be able to do the same."

### "But why would the Godships care about life, or lack thereof, on Earth?"

### David frowned, then stared at me as though I were a child.

### "Gordon, my boy, we have been nurturing life for billions of years, since the oceans were first seeded with organic molecules and the first single-celled protozoa formed. It is our duty to continue to monitor and, when necessary, support its evolution. Now there is a great need for intervention and Godships have gathered from every corner of the cosmos to assist."

### "Are you saying that life on Earth is the result of Godship initiative?"

### "Of course. Gordon my boy, how did you think life formed on Earth? Simply from haphazard molecular collisions, random genetic variations, survival of the fittest? Yes, of course, those mechanism were involved, but guided...always guided. Now, our guidance is sorely needed."

### David clasped his hands together as though praying. He brushed his hair, pulled at his nose, scratched his chin, seemed distracted.

### "You keep saying 'we'," I said, "as though you're part of this Godship thing."

### David looked puzzled.

"But, Gordon, I am part of this Godship. I assumed you knew that. Did you think I was still that haggard old drunk you first met on planet Earth? I have evolved, matured, become one with this vessel and I see clearly through the eyes of God."

### I looked at Susan. She was gazing at David with respect and awe and, it seemed, abundant affection.

### "So it is a God that motivates the Godships?" I asked.

### Susan patted me on the shoulder as though I were a student. I hated that!

### "Yes, Gordon. These vessels carry the word."

### "The word? Are you speaking of the scriptures, like the Christian bible?" I asked.

### "No, of course not," she said. "The Christian holy books, those of Judaism and Islam, the Analects of Confucius, the Vedas of Hinduism–they were all written by humans, humans with human frailties, human flights of fancy and imagination. In the Old Testament of Christianity and Judaism, humans influenced by war and evil and chaos. In the New Testament of Christianity, Humans influenced by love and understanding. Not an eye for an eye. Neither turn the other cheek. And man created a God in his own image."

### Susan seemed wrapped in reverence, her eyes merely slits, her cheeks pink with emotion.

### "No, Gordon," she continued, "I'm not speaking of any holy book. I'm speaking of the engine of the universe, the prime motivator, the premier entity, the God-creator of all things."

### "And why doesn't this creator help the people in the Mariana Trench? Why us? Why the Godships? If it's so all-powerful, why doesn't this God...?"

### "Gordon, you still think of God as a biblical construct, a being who answers prayers, oversees human conduct, provides messengers to influence human behavior. No, I am speaking of a God that sets universes in motion, provides rules by which natural processes proceed, a God that is just as interested in remote galaxies as planet Earth."

### "But why are we being asked to assist?" I said. I found the notion of such a God unsettling. "Why does this God need our help?"

### Susan saw that I was struggling to understand.

### "Gordon," she said, "God employs every conceivable mechanism for the unfolding of the cosmos. Physical laws, yes, of course, but guidance as well. Man often recognizes his intervention as miracles. It's as though the universe, as we now see it, is a divine experiment. It is the latest of many such trials. In each, God makes adjustments, minor adjustments, minimal interference in order to observe, in this trial universe, the development and interaction of matter and energy–and life. In this trial universe, Godships assist him in his work. That, my dear, is why we are going to Earth. Our Godship is needed."

### David was leaning back in his chair. He seemed eager to contribute to my understanding. I was now quite frustrated with the lecture I was getting.

### "Gordon, my boy," he said, "we are the emissaries of God, here to do his bidding as revealed through the Godships."

### I was confused. "I understood that the Godships were searching for their creator. Was I wrong?"

### "Ah, Gordon," David said. "I too thought our quest was for a creator, a super-human entity. But every day brings me new knowledge, new understanding. The Godships know God, their creator. They wander the galaxies to do good works, to give glory to the creator of all things. They are the right hand of God."

### I looked from David to Susan and back. They both seemed content to accept this explanation for the Godships. It didn't seem likely to me. A God that creates material things to do his work–like Godships? Why? If he is omnipotent, he should just wave his hand–if he has a hand. And a 'trial universe'? Does that mean that God has created others? However, much of what I've seen on the Godships seem to violate physical laws. The contraction and expansion of the vessel, the manipulation of gravity, the collection of black holes as cargo, the vanishing of starlight about the ship, speeds greater than light speed, the ability to move through alternate spaces.

### I guess that a God would be able to accomplish that. Nevertheless, there must be a simpler explanation. Humans don't know everything, do they? There must be many things still unknown, still to be discovered, still a mystery. One day all will be clear–perhaps. In the meantime I think David and Susan are being brainwashed by our Godship. The scar on Susan's neck and the tiny wires. She is surely being manipulated. The Godships practice evangelism. They are missionaries. They must have a creator, but it is not a super being, not a God. I was now certain of that. It was something else...but what?

### Part 7.3

### I spent a great deal of time sitting in a chair, in the alcove, staring out the window at the Godship fleet. At times they were indistinguishable from stars. Sometimes, it seemed we were moving very slowly–almost stationary. At one point I thought I recognized the rings of Saturn. I guess that's the only planet I'd recognize–except Earth, of course. Mostly I was deep in thought, trying to imagine what it'd be like when we arrive, what our mission was, precisely. Would we actually descend to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean? Would we enter some structure that housed a population which survived the solar holocaust and mass extermination? Were there other such places of refuge on the planet? If so, where? On the surface or beneath the sea?

### In particular, I worried about Susan and our relationship. If she were becoming a component of the Godship, could that be reversed and, if so, would she become the old Susan that I married–and loved? Could we start anew, perhaps beneath the sea? And what of David? Would he eventually leave with the Godship when our mission was accomplished?

### "I'm afraid we have just one more stop before we arrive at the third planet."

### I turned and saw David, dressed in a dark gray suit and purple cravat, standing by the far wall. The lighting on board was usually quite dim except in the mornings. The Godship, in order to create the illusion of a new day, filled rooms with a glowing pink light each morning. It didn't last long; just until breakfast. Now, however, our room was quite dim.

### "One more stop?" I asked. "Before Earth?"

### "Yes, my boy. It's been an interesting journey, so far. We avoided several quasars, several destructive radiation belts, countless meteorites, we have entered the Milky Way, avoiding the central black hole and we've made our way to the solar system. They were rather simple tasks for our Godship. Now we will pay a visit to the largest moon of Jupiter, Ganymede to be specific. In fact, it's the largest moon in the solar system, slightly larger than the planet Mercury. There is a small settlement there, the only surviving colony of those that escaped the devastated Earth to build a new life on a Jovian moon. Alas, all other settlements succumbed to an inhospitable climate. Even the settlement on Ganymede had to solve the problem of living on a moon with surface temperatures hundreds of degrees below zero. However, I think...I hope we will find that they are now thriving."

### "Do they need our help?" I asked. "Are we going to modify them genetically, so they can adapt to..."

### "No, no, not at all. It is...what shall I say? It's a social call. Just to see if there is anything we can provide, what problems they are having, to find out what Earth was like when they embarked on their journey to Jupiter. We will stay a day or two, not longer. In fact, it was Gill who suggested that we pay them a visit. Had he not done so, I suspect that Gilgamesh would have continued directly to Earth."

### I was puzzled. What influence did my synthetic surrogate have over the Godship? Could he actually cause the vessel to make a pit stop at Ganymede?

### "Can Gill do that?" I asked.

### David smiled...a very insubstantial smile.

### "Well, it may seem strange, but Gilgamesh seems to have taken a liking to that android. If Gill feels that some event should take place, the Godship seems to oblige."

### David paused and scratched his chin.

### "The other day," he continued, "Susan was asking Gill if any of the people who survived on Ganymede were struggling to endure. Gill immediately said 'Let's find out!' and I could feel that the Godship was changing course. I have a feeling that Gill will eventually be the human eyes and ears of our ship. I...uh, actually thought that I was to play that role."

### David looked somber. I think he really didn't like that android; Gill the usurper.

### "Then, after we're finished with the mission on Earth, will you leave with the Godship?"

### "Alas, that is not my decision to make. However, I will know God's pleasure soon enough."

### "Hello you two."

### It was Susan, dressed in a heavy brown sweater and light blue slacks. She looked delicious. She smiled and I saw that her uneven teeth had straightened out. In fact, her teeth were brilliant and her smile radiant and her complexion exquisite. I didn't really think it was possible, or even desirable, but Godship had made major improvements and they were good.

### "Hi Susan," I said. "We'll be visiting Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter, one that..."

### "Yes, isn't it exciting? When Gill mentioned that a colony was on this moon I asked how they were doing and poof! Now we're going there to find out, so I'm wearing something warm. Did you know that Ganymede's temperature can drop to eighty degrees Kelvin? That's almost two hundred degrees below zero, Celsius. Where we'll be, when we go down, it's all solid ice."

### She came to the alcove, gave me a quick peck on the cheek then looked out the window. Looking over her shoulder I could see the pale brown image of the Jovian moon.

### "We're here already?" I was surprised.

### I felt a tap on my shoulder.

### "We are the early bird and will catch the annelid."

### I turned to see a smiling Gill.

"We will visit the colony on Uruk Sulcus," Gill said. "I don't know why Earthlings picked that region of the moon to establish their colony. There were other more suitable places."

### "Uruk Sulcus?" I said. "Not again. That name is everywhere. Why so popular?"

### "Aah," said Gill, warming to his response. "Did you know that Uruk was an ancient city in Babylon, ruled by the king Gilgamesh, mentioned in Genesis, in the Christian bible and..."

### "Yes, I did know that," I said, realizing that I only knew a fragment. But Gill was sometimes so damn professorial.

"And Sulcus," Gill continued, "is a furrow and refers to the fact that this moon's surface, at that location, is grooved. The grooves, I suspect, were convenient when designing a colony abode."

### David came to the window and it widened so that all four of us could stand and watch the approaching moon.

### "Will we go down in that sphere, like we did last time?" I asked.

### David and Gill answered simultaneously.

### "No...molecular beam decomposition...reconstruction..."

### "Please," I said, "one at a time."

### Gill stepped away from the window and David continued.

### "The four of us will go down in the same way you came up to the Godship. Our bodies will be analyzed and beamed to the surface molecule by molecule then reassembled there. You won't feel anything except a slight dizziness. In fact, I think we will be beaming down very shortly."

### David looked at Gill and Gill nodded.

### "In a half hour," Gill said. "You needn't dress warmly. The temperature within the colony coffers is quite temperate."

### Part 7.3

### We gathered together near the alcove and, after a minute, Gill waved his hand as though he was signaling that we were ready. I saw the others fade and I felt the dizziness I recalled from previous excursions. I closed my eyes and when I opened them we were standing in some sort of hallway. When I looked around I could see that the hall extended for perhaps a hundred meters in each direction, with a door at each end.

### "Come," said Gill. "We'll surprise our Ganymede hosts."

### "Be careful how you walk," David warned us. "Gravity is very low, about one-seventh Earth gravity."

### "Do you mean the people here, they don't know we're coming?" I asked.

### "Well," David said, "they do know, but it'll still be a surprise, nevertheless."

### Gill headed for one of the doors with a gait that was more like sliding than walking. When I began walking I, too, found it was better to slide, like skating. Normal walking resulted in rather large hops. I followed Gill, imitating his movement. I hadn't noticed before, but I could see that he was carrying what looked like a cloth bag. Gill placed his hand on the door and it slid aside and I could feel a warm rush of air. Beyond the door there was a rather large room with plastic chairs and tables and walls covered in shelves filled with books. It appeared to be a library.

### "Nobody's here," Susan said. "Maybe we can ring a bell...if we had a bell."

### Gill looked at Susan. "Ah, Susan," he said, grinning. "Your face rings a bell." I hated that grin.

### "Very funny," Susan said. "Hey! There's somebody!"

### Susan pointed to the far wall and we saw a man come into the room. He was deep in thought, listening to an audio book, the plugs visible in his ear. He didn't notice us until he was quite close. When he looked up he dropped the book and the earplugs fell to the floor.

### "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you here," he said, stooping to pick up the book. "Clumsy of me."

### He placed the book on a shelf and began to walk back to the door.

### "Wait," Susan said. "We're strangers and would like to ask you some questions–if that's all right with you."

### "Strangers?" he said. "From Coffin 7 I presume."

### "Coffin 7" I asked. "Where's that?"

### The fellow leaned forward and stared at each of us. We could see that his face was very pale, almost white and he was extremely tall and frail, with very little wispy hair on his head.

### "You're not from here, are you?" he said. "You look quite different."

### "No, we just dropped by," Gill said. "We came from a spaceship now hovering above Ganymede. We'd like to confer with your elders."

### "Well, yes, I guess that could be arranged," he said. "A spaceship? From Earth? Is that possible?"

### "No, not from planet Earth," Gill said. "However, we have been to Earth and will be there again, very soon. Now if you would be so kind as to call together your elders. We must shortly be on our way."

### "Yes, yes, of course," the fellow said, then pulled a small device from his pocket and whispered into it. He seemed quite excited and when finished he tried to drop the device into his pocket but it fell to the floor.

### "Darn!" he grunted. "That was my last communicator and it'll take months to get another."

### Gill picked the phone from the floor and handed it back to the fellow.

### "I'm sure it still functions," Gill said.

### I could hear the device buzz and the fellow smiled and carefully placed it into his pocket just as the far door swung open and three people entered. They hurried across the room. They were all tall and very pale, with almost milky skin.

### The lead individual slid out front and held out his hand.

### "I am Hassan," he said. "I am the master of Coffin 3. I understand that you have a spaceship. We were aware of some vessel but weren't certain of its nature or intent."

### "Yes," Gill said. "We are soon proceeding to Earth and would like to get feedback on your condition here on Ganymede."

### "Yes, of course," Hassan said. "Please, sit and I will tell you what I can. In fact, why don't you join us at refection. It will be a simple meal, perhaps not what you are accustomed to, but it would be our pleasure. As you might have guessed, we have very few visitors. Indeed, our last visitor was from Io, many years ago...but I will leave that story until we eat."

### Hassan pointed to the far door and we all headed out of the library. It was strange to see the curious stride of our hosts. We passed through several adjoining rooms; they were all rectangular and rather small, with low ceilings and walls covered completely in shelving. No wall space was vacant. We saw few individuals and those we saw were either sitting on plastic chairs and reading or in small groups, talking. They barely noticed us as we walked from room to room. Then Hassan stopped and pointed to a large table at the end of a much larger chamber. We all gathered about the table and sat on the chairs as Hassan whispered something to some individual dressed in white.

### "Our food will be here shortly," Hassan said. "In the meantime I will tell you about our last visitor, from Io. She brought us the sad story of their last days. Their problems, on Io, were surprisingly different from ours. The surface temperature is hundreds of degrees below zero, as on our Ganymede, but its rock surface bulges up and down by as much as a hundred meters because of the gravitational effect of Jupiter. Io is also in the grip of Jupiter's magnetic field. As the planet rotates, its magnetic field strips away tons of material from the surface. The biggest difference, the difference that ended the settlement on Io, is the volcanoes."

### Hassan looked despondent. He wrung his hands and lowered his head so his chin rested on his chest. I could see he was saying some sort of silent prayer.

### I looked about and saw that all the other Ganymedians were also praying.

### Hassan then told the story of the Jovian colonies.

### The colonists had arrived hundreds of years ago from Earth and began establishing coffer habitats on three of the moons of Jupiter: Ganymede, Europa and Io. The environments were so hostile that in less than twenty years, the Europa and Io colonies had perished. On Io, the violence of the surface disturbances caused a series of volcanic eruptions. There was no escape–they all died. All except this one woman who was, at the time, outside her coffer, in her transport, preparing to come to Ganymede for medical supplies. Most coffers were on the surface and she saw the lava cover her home. On Ganymede, there is now a small mausoleum in her memory and there are periodic memorial ceremonies to honor those that died.

### On Ganymede the colonists had built their coffers mostly underground, beneath the icy exterior, within the grooves which covered much of the moon. Many of the grooves were hundreds of meters deep. Although there was little or no light, they had survived the occasional tectonic convulsion. They had early established nuclear stations to generate energy and large hydroponics food stations with water from melted surface ice. It was difficult, but they were now quite able to enjoy and, indeed, relish the colony they had established.

### "There are twenty seven Coffins, connected by underground channels," Hassan said. "We are Coffin 3 and our nearest neighbor is Coffin 7."

### "Why do you call them coffins?" Susan asked.

### Hassan hung his head. He hesitated and another of our hosts spoke up.

### "The very last communication we had with Europa...it said their coffers had become their coffins. Our entire community on Ganymede heard the broadcast from Europa...many began referring to our establishment as coffins...we were all convinced that the end was in sight for us as well."

### "Yes," Hassan said, "but it seemed to give us the strength to survive, to endure, to flourish. In memory of those who died on the other moons and as a reminder that we shall not perish, we began to refer to our homes as coffins. It was...it is a gruesome reminder."

### "What problem did Europa have?" I asked. "Volcanoes?"

### "No," said Hassan. "That moon has large subterranean oceans and cracks form on the surface due to tidal forces on those oceans. The entire habitat on Europa was swallowed by an oceanic eruption and eventual collapse."

### "And how is life now, here on Ganymede?" Susan asked.

### "We are all quite happy. We have sufficient food from our hydroponics, we have sufficient energy from our nuclear stations. We never go out, of course, but it's very commodious in our coffins. Our seven Earth-day orbit about Jupiter needs getting used to–and the lack of sun in our bunkers, of course. You were probably surprised to see our pallid skin color. The low gravity has resulted in muscle loss and height increases due to the expansion of supportive tissue. We have, however, overcome most physical problems with elaborate daily exercise regimes."

### Hassan paused and looked at the nearest door to see if the culinary people were ready with our meal–but the door was still closed.

### "Then, too," he continued, "we cannot grow certain vegetables. We only brought a few plant varieties and they must provide us with all our needs. None are root vegetables. We are, of course, vegetarians. Mostly leafy stuff, but the things that our culinary artists concoct from algae is quite remarkable. I believe that algae is God's greatest gift. The low gravity of Ganymede also seems to have affected our taste buds because we use lots of spices. I understand that was not the custom back on Earth. Aah, but our foremost regret is the lack of certain alcoholic beverages that we used to enjoy, many years ago. We do make a very good beer, however."

### Hassan laughed and the others joined him.

### "Yes," said one. "We are all told of the mock funeral when the last of the hard alcohol supplies was consumed, many, many years ago. For some reason we cannot reproduce the particular tastes that some elders remembered...remembered with great and loving affection."

### They all laughed heartily as several men in white brought plates of food to our table. I leaned forward and inspected the dishes. Hassan stood and identified the contents of each plate.

### "Bok choy, Swiss chard, spinach, kale," he said, then pointed to a particularly large platter. "Algae cakes," he said with pride. "You'll like them." I didn't like any of the stuff we were served. They were all greenish and soggy, tasted like curry and cinnamon and were quite bitter. I frowned, just a bit, and Susan gave me a dirty look as if to say: 'Don't you dare complain'.

### When we had eaten our fill, Gill reached down to the cloth bag he had placed on the floor beside his chair. He placed the bag on the table directly in front of Hassan.

### "Gentleman," Gill said. "I have a small gift that may temporarily turn your below-ground sanctuary into an intoxicating heaven."

### Hassan opened the bag and pulled out a bottle. He didn't recognize the label, but immediately understood its contents. Gill pulled out two more bottles and handed them around. In the bag were four small glasses. Gill opened a bottle and filled the glasses, passing a glass to each of our hosts. It was quite delightful to watch. Each sniffed the contents, closed their eyes and sipped very, very slowly. I leaned forward to read the label: Imperial Crown Whiskey, it said. I wondered how Gill knew to bring along bottles of whiskey. Even more intriguing, exactly four glasses for our four hosts. Gill did not have glasses for David, Susan or me. It's just as well. I would probably be unable to negotiate low gravity after a drink or three.

### Part 7.4

### Our stopover on Ganymede was just over one day. In the evening we transported back to the Godship, then returned the following day. Hassan showed us about their home. Although I pitied them for the limited food variety, their underground quarters were surprisingly comfortable. Almost all rooms had shelves filled with books, both audio and video, most having been written by Ganymedians. There were cushy chairs and sofas everywhere. There was even an observatory of sorts, a room with a large skylight that opened to the moon's surface and revealed the starlit sky.

### Hassan arranged for several meetings with local scientists who asked a million questions about our Godship, its type of propulsion, how it managed to hover, its size, how many occupants it could hold, its maximum velocity, what other places it had visited. David and Gill took turns in providing answers. I just listened. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. However I did learn that, when atmospheric conditions were just right, Ganymedians could communicate with Earth. I assumed that meant communication with the people living at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but was surprised to learn that they were in contact with another habitat in the Atlantic. Apparently the depth of the Mariana Trench introduced severe distortion in the signal. I also learned that the Atlantic habitat had many problems, mostly racial, cultural and political. I wondered if we would be stopping there as well as the Mariana location.

### Part 7.5

### Near the end of the second day we said goodbye to the Ganymedians. Although Susan asked if they had any interest in returning to Earth in our Godship, they all said no. We had described the situation back on Earth, colonies at the bottom of an ocean. They were aware of the conditions in the Atlantic location and it seemed worse to them than their coffins on Ganymede. Besides, they were quite certain that Earth gravity would be disastrous after hundreds of years of low-gravity conditions. Their bones, Hassan noted, were brittle and would easily fracture.

### It occurred to me that I never did find out how many people lived on this moon. I was happy to see that several hundred gathered to see us off. I suspect those that watched us depart were quite surprised to find that we just vanished before their eyes. Molecular decomposition is a transformation to behold. It's not all-of-a-sudden, but rather a gradual process where the body just seems to dissolve, bit by bit. It was similar to the dissolving of the walls on the Godship. I also suspect that there would be a great Ganymedian party the moment we left since Gill had managed to conjure up several dozen cases of Imperial Crown Whiskey. All in all, it was a wonderful stopover–but now we were finally on our way to Earth.

### CHAPTER EIGHT
### Part 8.1

### When I next peered out the porthole–which seemed to resize according to the number of people in its vicinity–I could see the hundreds of Godships. I could also see a wonderful, glorious blue planet: Earth.

### "It's beautiful," I whispered to myself.

### "Gordie, it is splendid. Can not wait to be down."

### I turned to see Teisha. She leaned forward then stood beside me and the porthole expanded. She placed a hand on my shoulder. The room brightened and I could hear others talking.

### "I should think in an hour or two," David was saying. "We will hover over the Pacific along with a dozen Godships. Other ships have gone to other oceans."

### "Then molecular transport to the surface?" Susan asked.

### "Yes, it will be fascinating," David said. "However, it won't be to the Earth surface, not exactly.

### "Welcome to our window on the world," I said. "I have a question for David."

### "Please ask," David said. "I'll answer if I can."

### "Why did God allow the sun to destroy so much of the Earth. Why not just wave his magic wand and..."

### "Oh Gordon," Susan said. "You still don't understand. God makes just minor intrusions, minimal intervention, a slight change in direction, a small change in temperature. If a wind develops into a hurricane, that's because the laws of the cosmos–the laws that God set in place–they dictate such a circumstance. Having placed the laws in motion, why would God continually violate them?"

### "Then this God doesn't care if people die?" I asked. "He creates an Earth and its inhabitants, then kills them off."

David grunted. "Gordon, God doesn't weep, neither does he rejoice. He just is. Have you read the Lord's Lament? It's an old poem that describes God's dissatisfaction."

### "Yes," I said. "I do remember reading the poem. As I recall, God isn't sure how to punish humans for their neglect of the planet. Am I right?"

### "Something like that," Susan said. "Human arrogance, hate, prejudices–what should God do, under the circumstances?"

### "How about a solar holocaust," I said, looking from Susan to David.

### They both nodded.

### I noticed the porthole enlarge again and looked about to see that Gill had arrived to watch the show. He sidled up to Tiesha and put his arm about her waist.

### "Have you told them?" he said to Tiesha.

### "No," Tiesha said, somewhat flustered.

### Gill raised his hand and the room became quite bright. Then he pulled Tiesha away from the porthole and raised her hand.

### "The kingdom of God is within this woman," Gill said. "That is where God works his greatest miracle."

### I heard Susan gasp. Tiesha was visibly pregnant.

### "How is that possible?" I asked. "It's only been...what? A few weeks?"

### "But Gordon, you must understand that we can move at light speed–in all things," Gill said.

### David laughed. "It only took about two hours to fabricate Gill," he said.

### "And two months to assemble my son," Gill added.

### "You know it will be a boy?" Susan asked.

### "Why yes," Gill said. "I asked that the first-born be male. He has an important role to play and it will be easier if he is a he. After so many years, Earth still has quaint notions about sexual differences, the role to be played by males and females, the lack of equality in all things."

### I was baffled. Gill's son, Tiesha's son, he would play an important role? Where? And would he have gills that work?

### "I think we must get ready," David said. "You needn't dress in any special way. The climate will be quite comfortable within the Aquadome."

### David then walked through a wall and we all followed. When I emerged on the other side of the wall, I was alone in my room. Then Susan came through, right behind me.

### "I can't imagine life in a dome beneath the ocean," I said. "Can you?"

### "Not really," Susan said. "But I am looking forward to the adventure."

### "Yes...I guess so," I murmured, but I wasn't so sure. In any case, the fabrication of this dome was clearly the work of the Godships that had descended into the ocean, way back when Susan and I lived in Burlington.

### Part 8.2

### We gathered in the transport room. It looked like all the other rooms: bare, featureless, blank walls with occasional blinking lights that had no purpose as far as I could tell. I think the electronics just flashed as part of its function. But the walls were colored a pale blue, unlike the other gray rooms. There was David, Gill, Tiesha and even Hydra, Susan's synthetic clone. It often occurred to me that Gill should have hooked up with Hydra rather than Tiesha. They were, after all, both androids and, I assume, both had all the physiology necessary to make babies. Besides, I was under the impression that Tiesha was somehow coupled to David. But then, I was also under the impression that there was a kind of competition between David and Gill. Also, there was Tiesha's character: loose morals.

### When it came time for the molecular beam transport, David looked at Gill as though he was recognizing Gills dominance, Gill raised his hand and we dissolved. I had the now familiar dizziness and then we were in a very bright enclosure surrounded by large humming machinery. The entire ceiling was glistening, as were the walls and floor. I had to squint. I assumed we were in some habitat in the ocean, but I could see nothing beyond the ceiling, no ocean, no fish, no seaweed, nothing. I looked around and saw that only David, Susan and Gill had transported. When my eyes became accustomed to the glare, I could see several people had gathered about us.

### "Welcome to Aquarius Pacifica," one woman said. "My name is Shatoya, the Aquadome Supervisor, and we've been expecting you."

### The woman was black, with gigantic Afro hairstyle. She was wearing a shoulder to ankle robe in midnight blue. She was strikingly beautiful.

### "We are happy to be here," David said. "I hope we can assist in some way."

### "You most certainly can," Shatoya said. "Our Godship has given us some indication of your mission here, but we eagerly await your elucidation."

### "You talk to the Godship?" I asked.

### "Talk? No, our Godship doesn't talk, but some of us do have mental communication with Uruk."

### Shatoya turned to a young girl by her side. She, too, was black and couldn't be more than seven years old. She was also in a dark blue shoulder to ankle robe and a scarf was wrapped from the top of her head to her chin. Her face, framed in the head scarf, was adorable. Her eyes were narrow; she was squinting.

### "This is Althea," Shatoya said. "She has learned to mind talk and is our best communicator."

### Althea bowed and her long curly black hair cascaded over her head. Then she looked up at me and smiled, her mouth full of porcelain-white teeth. "Rookee is pleased," she said, giggling. "He told me you would bring us joyfulness."

### "Rookee?" I asked.

### Shatoya answered: "That's Uruk. He has been her baby sitter since she was about a year old. She is in constant contact with Godship Uruk."

### I gave Althea a second look. Her face was still framed in the head scarf but now her eyes were wide open... and her eyes were all black!

### Susan bent and hugged the young girl.

### "You are so sweet," Susan said. "I'm sure we will bring you joyfulness."

### Shatoya pointed to a large portal and said, "We should leave the machine room. Too much radiation here. There's a comfortable living area not far from here. We can have refreshments and talk."

### We all passed through the portal, following Shatoya. Little Althea was skipping along and snickering, her long hair rising and falling. There were many people standing about, staring at us with amusement and curiosity. Most were black. I whispered to Susan and Althea stopped and said: "Yes, we are black."

### Shatoya pointed to a set of stuffed chairs around a long, low table covered with what looked like cookies and several jugs and glasses. We were in a kind of cafeteria with many tables and chairs and several counters with people getting plates full of edibles–at least I hoped they were edible.

### "Multiple sclerosis." Shatoya said, "It is least prevalent among black Africans. That is why many of us were able to survive the solar holocaust. It is not known why MS became a factor in Caucasian deaths, but that was many years ago and the number of whites in our Aquarius has increased substantially. There are more than a hundred thousand of us in this particular habitat and more than thirty percent are white."

### "A hundred thousand?" I asked. "Is that the capacity of Aquarius?"

### "Heavens, no," Shatoya said, emphatically. "Aquarius is built for a half million, but population growth has been slow and life spans fairly short. We aren't sure why that is, but we are hoping that the Godships will change all that."

### Shatoya smiled then began pouring from the jugs, filling the glasses with a blue-green liquid.

### "This is a slightly alcoholic drink made from fermented marine algae," she said. "It's called 'rapple' and is quite popular. The tortes are called just that: tortes. These are made from sea urchins and flavored with cocoa butter. Althea loves them, don't you girl?"

### The little girl was launching them into her mouth at a supersonic rate. Shatoya wagged her finger and Althea stopped.

### We sat in silence for a few minutes, chewing and sipping. The 'rapple' was quite good. In fact, it was very good and I helped myself to a second glass. The color was curious, slightly off green, but that didn't matter.

### "When we first got here," Susan asked, "you said we needed to leave the machine room because of radiation. What radiation?"

### Shatoya frowned. "Well, although it's the standard place for visitors to arrive, the machines supply power to Aquarius and because it involves a type of fusion reaction it's not a good idea to spend much time there. But do not worry. We would have to spend days in that room to be affected. The machines provide electrical power, but heat is supplied by hydrothermal vents rising from the ocean floor."

### Shatoya looked at Gill, curious.

### "May I ask a question?" she said, addressing her remark to Gill. He nodded.

### "I notice that you have a gill-like structure. Are you water breathing?"

### "No," Gill said. "I am a failed experiment." Then he laughed and we all laughed with him, slightly embarrassed.

### Shatoya paused then stood up, about to leave.

### "Where do we pay for our meal?" I asked.

### "Pay? No one pays. We each have a job to do in Aquarius, we each have access to accommodations and meals, we each have our responsibilities–no payments take place, no money changes hands. There is entertainment; every one is welcome to attend. There are scholastic events; everyone who wishes may attend or participate. We all have extensive access to all data, scientific, sociological, fiction, history, whatever is available in our libraries, in both audio and video formats. I understand that it took a long time to become accustomed to a cashless society–indeed, a money-less society. You may be surprised to learn that there are no rich or poor in Aquarius–and no jails. We do have the occasional bad person. By bad person I mean uncooperative or even evil-minded, but there is a standard mechanism for dealing with them."

### I was afraid to ask for an explanation of the 'mechanism'. I had visions of evil-minded individuals floating to the bottom of the Mariana, buried in the ooze, strange sea creatures, nibbling, chewing.

### Shatoya paused, then said: "I'm afraid there will be an emigration tomorrow, so perhaps we can show you to your quarters and we can talk again tomorrow."

### Gill said, "Tectonics?"

### "Yes, our plate is shifting rather more rapidly these days and we now move about once a year. Unfortunately, the timing of your arrival coincides with the next emigration."

### I was confused.

### "Emigration? Are we going somewhere?" I asked.

### Shatoya laughed. "Yes. Aquarius is moving along the Pacific plate and we must move. Our submarine home will move east a short way." Shatoya paused. "Before it vanishes into the asthenosphere," she added, smiling. "Do not worry. This happens every year and it will only take a few hours, then we can meet once again to discuss the future of our Aquarius."

### David saw that I was confused. Was I the only one confused?

### "Gordon, my boy, because of the movement of the tectonic plates, in particular this Pacific Plate, the sea bed is sliding west, into the interior of the Earth, the asthenosphere. Aquarius was built on the sea bed and must be periodically moved farther east. Anticipating this maneuver, the entire structure is movable. We will see it–or feel it–tomorrow."

### Although I now understood the reason for the move, I couldn't understand the reason for building in this particular location. If the foundation moved, why not build somewhere solid?

### "Earth is entirely built on tectonic plates," David said, apparently reading my thoughts. He looked at Gill, who was quiet, listening. "Every thing moves," David continued, satisfied that Gill was not going to interrupt. "Most places are not at the boundaries of the plates, so they are more stable. However, human folly prevails and some of the most appealing locations are on plate boundaries–that's where major settlements have occurred in the past. The San Andreas Fault was at the boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. The two plates slid past each other, the Pacific Plate going northwest and under the North American plate which moved southeast, separating much of the California coast and launching new coastal mountains. Los Angeles slid past San Francisco, heading toward the Aleutian Trench off Alaska."

### "This move had been known for years," David continued, "yet over seventy million people lived on that moving coast at the time of the solar holocaust. Aquarius is here because of its proximity to mantle plumes and the associated heat energy."

### "So Aquarius will move to avoid being carried into the interior of the Earth?" I asked. "It can just pick itself up and walk east, is that it?"

### "Something like that," David said, grinning.

### "Its so fun," Althea said. 'I remember last year. It was so fun."

### I looked at Althea. She was jumping up and down. The scarf, which was wrapped about her face, fell about her shoulders. I was taken aback: she had gills on her neck!

### Part 8.3

### Our room was just sufficient for the four of us, simple beds without covers and no pillows. I looked about for a washroom, a toilet, a sink. Nothing.

### "I...uh, have to go to the bathroom," I said. "Where is the toilet?"

### Gill pointed to a narrow slit in the wall. It was barely wide enough for me to pass through. Beyond the slit was what looked like a porcelain saddle with a rather small opening. I could see a light beam of some sort illuminating the area. I managed to do my thing, hoping nobody was peering into the slit. There was no toilet paper, but when I was finished I was sprayed and dried while I sat and I could hear a sucking sound then a warm wind on my butt. A mite disconcerting. Everything was automatic. I guess I had broken the light beam and whatever mechanism was involved became aware of my presence–and did its thing after I did my thing. As I left through the slit I wondered where the waste went. I thought I might ask Gill, but then I suppose I wouldn't like the answer.

### Gill was talking when I returned.

### "... and Aquarius is actually a movable, ellipsoidal bubble with a flat and ductile base resting on the sea bed. Tomorrow, it will rise and move east, perhaps a few hundred meters. You may have noticed that all the furnishings are permanently attached to the floor so there will be no slipping of furniture. We can just have a seat and feel the motion. After no more than two hours, Aquarius will settle once again to the ocean floor."

### "Why is everything so bright?" I asked. "And I can't see any ocean life out of the ceiling."

### David began to explain, but Gill continued: "During the move, before we settle again to the ocean floor, the walls and ceiling will dim. They are normally bright, partly because of installed bioluminescent. The brightness prevents visuals across the ceiling bulwark. Unfortunately, Aquarians have little control over the brightness. It is set by central control...and that means the Godship Uruk."

### "Will we be able to visit Uruk?" I asked. "Can we enter that Godship?"

### "It's exactly like Gilgamesh," Gill said. "However, if you really wanted to visit I can arrange it. Now, I think you should all get some sleep. Emigration will begin quite early tomorrow morning."

### "But why was Uruk here all this time, for centuries?" I asked.

### "Millennia," Gill said. "Because the solar catastrophe was anticipated centuries ago by God, well before it happened, Uruk was sent here to initiate the building of Aquarius. He was also here, long before, to monitor life on Earth. Life forms on this plant were well advanced when Uruk first arrived. Had life failed, early in its evolution, then Uruk would not have come. The deepest ocean was an ideal location since humanity would unlikely be aware for millenia. Some time ago, many other Godships descended to the bottom of the ocean to assist. I think you were on planet Earth at that time, were you not? In any case, by the time of the solar flares, the Aquadome was complete and ready for its inhabitants. Now, Gordon, please go to bed."

### By now David and Susan had crawled into bed and Gill was sitting on his bed. I lay down and began to imagine wholesale motion across the ocean floor and strange sea creatures being pushed aside and...and then I fell asleep.

### Part 8.4

### The next morning I was awakened by a punch in the ribs.

### "Wake up sleepy head! We're moving!"

### Susan was standing over me and it was quite dark. I sat up in bed, my back was aching and my neck was sore.

### "I'd give anything for a pillow and a soft mattress," I said.

### "Forget the hurt. Can you feel us moving?"

### I closed my eyes. Yes, there was definitely an upward acceleration, gentle but palpable. David looked amused. "The move begins," he said. "Fascinating."

### I got out of bed–if that was what it was called–and looked at the ceiling. Although it was fairly dark without the glare, the outside ocean was now quite visible. There were several tall columns above us, like sand spires, and strange creatures crawling over the dome cover.

### "Vent Crabs and Angler Fish," David said. "I understand that the crabs are delicious. Shatoya says we will have an opportunity to taste them later today."

### "I'd like to ask Shatoya for the nearest McDonalds," I said. "Do you think she can cook up some pork burgers with fried onions–and a large, cold glass of rapple?" I really liked that drink. Fermented seaweed or something. It didn't matter. I liked it.

### David ignored my comment. Instead he pointed to the ceiling. We were slowly moving past the sand spires. Then I saw several long tubes crawling on the dome. As I watched, the tubes were followed by an elongated body.

### "Giant squid," David said. "They live at depth and can reach a dozen meters. Shatoya said that there are stories of squids destroying early versions of the Aquarius Pacifica. Now the Aquarians can electrify the dome to reject the creatures–the current domes are resistant to any such damage."

### "I suppose we'll have squid stew for dinner," I snorted.

### David again ignored my comment and called to Susan who was now lying in her bed, staring up at the cinematic progression on the Aquadome canopy.

### "Come along, Susan. We must meet Shatoya for breakfast."

### I wasn't looking forward to the meal, but I followed the two as they left what passed as our bedroom. For some reason, Gill was not with us. David led the way, a tortuous route that eventually ended in a large room with bright walls. It seemed quite different from the rooms I had seen on Aquarius. In fact, it seemed almost familiar. Shatoya was there and so was Gill.

### Gill was talking to Althea. Actually, he seemed to be communicating with that mind contact thing because, although they were clearly in conversation, their lips didn't move. When Gill saw us he stopped and greeted us.

### "Good morning. Did you feel the emigration? Almost imperceptible, don't you think? When the time comes, it's time to move."

### Susan chuckled. "It was amazing to think that a house that held thousands of people could slide along so easily."

### "It didn't slide," Gill said. "It rose above the sea floor and floated to its new location."

### "Gill," I said, "where are all the other Godships? What are they doing? Why are they here? Do they have people like us, visitors to Aquarius? What is their mission? In fact, what is our mission? Do you know...?"

### Gill held up his hand. "Please, Gordon, no more questions until after breakfast. Then I will try to explain. Indeed, I will show you some of what we–Uruk, Gilgamesh and the other Godships–what we intend to do."

### Gill pointed to a chair and we all sat. There was Shatoya, Althea, David, Susan, Gill and I as well as two other people I hadn't met. They were red-headed Caucasians, with milky white skin similar to the pallid complexion of the Ganymedians. They nodded as we sat, but said nothing. I looked over the table. It was covered in many plates containing curious items that were bluish, reddish and some a bright shade of green. They did not look very appetizing, but I noticed the jugs of rapple and I was happy. I could wash the stuff down with large swigs of that delectable juice. I looked at my place setting. There was a plate and a large three-pronged fork and nothing else. We were supposed to scoop up a forkfuls of green stuff and dump it on our plate. I looked for my glass. I had none.

### "Shatoya?" I asked. "Glasses? Are there any?"

### Gill raised his hand and glasses materialized on the table.

### "I was being a bad host. A man's evil manners live in brass," Gill said. "My humblest apologies."

### "How did you do that?" I asked. I looked at Shatoya. "I thought you were our host."

### "We're inside Rookee," Althea said with a snigger.

### "Aah," I said. "So mind control and dissolving walls and magically appearing foodstuff, that's Uruk at work. Since we're here, on a Godship, can I ask for a pork burger?"

### "Do it," Gill said. I heard Susan chuckle.

### I frowned, closed my eyes and thought seriously of a juicy pork burger with fried onions, a chocolate milkshake and crispy fries. I opened my eyes slowly. Susan was now laughing and Althea was beside herself with delight. I had my stipulated breakfast.

### "Oh," Althea gurgled. "That looks so wonderful. I want some, too."

### She didn't even have to think it. It just appeared before her, an exact copy of my plate. She grabbed the milkshake and began to drink.

### "Oh, oh, so terrible," she said. She threw the milkshake to the floor and her plate soon followed. She began to shake with anger and her eyes flashed bright. Gill placed his hand on her shoulder, but she brushed it away. Gill looked worried. The table began to tremble and all the plates rattled. Shatoya wagged her finger and Althea slowly regained her composure. Then she lowered her head to the table and, in a moment, seemed sound asleep.

### "She's in reverie," Shatoya said. "It's happening more and more frequently. I don't know why, but I think that Uruk is somehow involved. I believe our Godship is placing too heavy a burden on the young girl. I don't know what we can do." Shatoya looked at Gill, appealing.

### "I can not stop it," Gill said. "Uruk has Althea in his grasp, attempting some behavior modification...I don't understand why, for what purpose."

### Althea awoke and began to cry. "Rookee, why?" she cried.

### Susan ran to the Althea and wrapped her arms about the girl.

### "Don't cry, Althea. Please don't cry."

### Althea stopped crying and held Susan tightly.

### "Rookie, please let me go," she said.

### Part 8.5

### After breakfast we all retired to a comfortable living area within Uruk and Shatoya introduced the two white gentlemen.

### "This is Lucas," she said, pointing to a rather short fellow, quite young with curly rust-colored hair and a thin moustache. "And this is Hudson." The second gent was very old, perhaps in his eighties. His skin was chalky and wrinkled and his hair hung in thin wisps about his face.

### "I am the science supervisor," Hudson said, "and Lucas is my protégé. With help from Uruk we have been able to study the necessary biological and physiological structures for gill formation. We have had some success, but the creation of such individuals has been meager–to say the least."

### "Our problem," Lucas said, "has been the lack of appropriate genetic material. Our primarily black population seems inadequate for our purposes." Lucas grunted. "I feel that Caucasoid characteristics would be better suited to genetic modification. These..." Lucas paused, as though trying to select appropriate words. "These blacks are less suitable in many things," he said.

### "Not true," Hudson said. "The different genetic configurations available to us allow for a variety of interesting and important fabrications. It just happens that gill structure is one modification that seems better suited to white individuals. However, we've been able to devise many excellent behavior modifications that are best suited to blacks. You may be interested to know that all our athletes are black as are all our vocal talents and, with few exceptions, most of our senior governmental appointments."

### "That's because there are more blacks to vote," Lucas growled.

### "Again, not true," Hudson said. "Only very junior appointments are made by popular vote. All senior appointments are made by computers which analyze personalities, temperament, emotional stability as well as mental agility."

### "And all scientists are white," Lucas mumbled.

### I raised my hand, like a kid in school.

### "Can I ask why you want gills?" I asked.

### "In case you haven't noticed," Lucas said, "we live in the ocean."

### I immediately disliked this asshole.

### "I did notice," I responded. "I also noticed that you seem to be doing very well within this dome, created, I understand, not by your efforts but by those of a Godship. I also understand that, without Godship assistance, you would all be dead. I also understand that there is plenty of room within Aquarius for additional residents so there seems to be little need for expanding beyond these walls. I also understand that you need our help. I also understand..."

### Susan poked me in the side and I stopped.

### "I think what my husband is saying," Susan said, "is that years ago, when we lived on the surface, we saw little need to expand beyond land based territory, to the oceans. It's curious that you now see a need to expand beyond your bubble."

### "My young friend is perhaps irritated," Hudson said, apologetically, "by our inability to affect an ocean going species. Our ability to feed ourselves is severely limited by what we initially brought to Aquarius, many years ago. The ability to travel over greater distances, beneath the sea, would greatly assist in our survival. Currently, our life span is somewhat less than fifty years." Hudson grinned. "I am an exception."

### Shatoya added: "A perhaps greater problem than gills is pressure. We have had some small success with gill production, Althea being an example, but the water pressure at this depth is over a thousand times the pressure at the surface. We have been able to travel short distances from our dome with the aid of bubble suits and have used that ability to gather edible materials. However, these trips are limited to short time intervals. It is our hope that one day, soon..."

### "We will emigrate to the edge of the North American Plate," Lucas interrupted. "There, in shallow water, we will roam well beyond the limitations set by our dome. That, as any idiot must surely understand, requires water breathing physiology." Lucas got up and stalked out of the room.

### "I apologize for my young friend," Hudson said. "His social skills leave something to be desired, yet he is our most brilliant physiologist."

### "But why was Aquarius constructed at the bottom of the deepest ocean?" I asked.

### Hudson paused for a moment, then said: "In the days following the solar discharge, the Earth was charred and shattered, lakes boiled away and oceans were agitated–violently. The surface temperatures of most oceans were near boiling. Fortunately, the disorder following the holocaust was well understood well in advance–hence the locations of the Aquarius habitats in deep waters. Aquarius Arctica was badly damaged. Because it was the last to be built–and the construction was rushed–it was located less than a thousand meters below the surface. Of course, all the arctic ice had melted and the land was scorched. Miraculously, there were no fatalities. It was a surprise, to us," Hudson continued, "to learn that there had been a Godship located in the Mariana Trench for thousands of years and its assistance made our transport to this Aquadome possible."

### After a moment of silence, where everybody looked slightly uncomfortable, Gill spoke. "We have something to show you," he said. "If you will follow me to the machine room, Gilgamesh is now ready for the transport."

### David, obviously aware of what was about to happen, was smiling. Even Susan was happy, her eyes dancing with delight. Indeed, Althea, who had been very quiet, giggled. Was I the only dimwit on board?

### We left the Godship and headed for the machine room where we first arrived. Gill asked us to stand by the wall so there was plenty of room in the center of the room. Then bodies began to materialize. First it looked like about a half dozen, but soon the room was filled with very young, brown-skinned children. I recognized them; the Kuna native children on board our Godship.

### "As you can see," Gill said, "we have been extraordinarily successful on Gilgamesh. Many of the other Godships also have contributions to make, to the populace of Aquarius."

### Susan rushed to the group of frightened children and held one in her arms. "Do you see, Gordie?" she said. "They all have gills."

### CHAPTER NINE
### Part 9.1

### One by one the population contributions from the other Godships arrived. They were Negroid, Caucasian, Mongoloid, many Hispanic types, with oriental types being predominant, many many skin colors from pinkish-white to yellowish to dark brown and almost coal black. As each group arrived, Gill commented on the need for genetic diversity. By the time the last transport was complete, only Shatoya, David, Gill and I were there to watch. Shatoya and Hudson had led the other children away, to introduce them to their new home. None of the young ones looked very happy and many were crying. All had well-developed gills.

### "Where are the parents," I asked.

### David began to answer, then glanced at Gill who nodded.

### "They will remain on the Godships, for the time being," David said. "Eventually, after the children are acclimatized, without parental intervention, the parents will transport to Aquarius. They will live out their lives here. I think they will be quite happy. Everything had been arranged for their arrival some time ago."

### "Who knew that all this would happen?" I asked. "The solar storm, the need for the submarine bubbles, the genetic modifications to achieve gills, the transport to the Aquadomes, the..."

### "God knew," Gill said. "Although God allows his cosmic laws to govern the unfolding of the inverse, he does occasionally intervene within the domain of probability. That is why he made the laws of science probabilistic in nature–to allow for God's intervention. Indeed, although there are infinitely many possible outcomes for every circumstance, the outcomes which we do not observe occur in alternate realities, parallel universes. So, you see, God plays at the microscopic level."

### "And the Godships?" I asked. "Are they microscopic?"

### "Aha!" Gill exclaimed. "Godships perform Godly obligations at a macroscopic level. Humans might call their activity 'miracles'."

### "So God does the small stuff and his Godships do the big stuff. Then, are you saying that when we hear of miracles, it is the doing of Godships?"

### "Often," Gill replied. "Not always. Sometimes they are natural phenomena that just appear to be miracles–from a human perspective."

### "So why don't people who claim to have witnessed a miracle also say they witnessed some huge space ship floating in the sky?"

### "Remember, solid matter is mostly empty space, between molecules. Godships, if they have no internal life forms, can shrink and be seen just as a small flying object."

### "A UFO," I suggested.

### Gill looked confused.

### "An unidentified flying object," I said. "Often seen by oddballs on Earth."

### "Oddballs?" Gill said.

### "Never mind," I said, happy that I had Gill confused.

### "I might add," Gill said, "that Godships also have the ability to increase inter-molecular distances. That can cause a Godship to disappear. The vessel expands, visible light passes through the space between molecules, the vessel vanishes from sight."

### "But God created people with gills. It seems to me that's in violation of some saintly law or another."

### Gill smiled and looked at David as though he were giving David some kind of approval.

### "Do you remember the pool you saw on our Godship?" David said. "Do you recall that there were aquatic creatures living in those pools? They were extracted from a planet in the constellation Aquila, a planet almost entirely covered in liquid. Not water, mind you, but a liquid that contained the dissolved oxygen necessary for the vitality of those aqua-creatures. The gill structure of those creatures evolved genetically, without God's assistance. Yet, God was able to mimic the genetic framework essential to gill development–and he did that within the random genetic variations of the Kuna natives. God was also able to extract genetic information pertinent to gill structures."

### "Do you mean that God copied what was already at hand?" I asked.

### "Of course," David said. "The genetic construct for gills was the doing of random fluctuations and natural selection, the preservation of favored variants, survival of the fittest. God then enabled those genetic variations in the natives."

### "God," Gill said glibly, "is able to do anything consistent with his own nature."

### "Aah, you said 'his' nature." I blurted out. "So you do think God is a 'he'."

### Gill looked pained. "Yes, my mistake. A Freudian slip of the tongue. It is in my nature to assume that omnipotence is a male attribute."

### Susan punched Gill in the side.

### "Shame on you!" she squealed. "Chauvinist! Wait until I tell Tiesha."

### Gill now looked even more pained. David was hardly able to contain his delight. "Gill, my boy," David said. "I'm afraid there are still things you need to master." David was beaming. So was I. Gill walked off, greatly perturbed.

### Part 9.2

### The next day I again saw Gill speaking, without words, to Althea. Althea was shaking her head and stamping her feet. She seemed angry. Susan was with me and whispered something in my ear.

### "Pardon?" I said. "What did you say?"

### "Shh, not so loud. They can hear very, very well. I've noticed that they argue a lot. I'm not sure why, but I believe it's some kind of interaction with Uruk. Leave them be. They will stop their debate when Uruk is ready."

### "Ready? Ready for what?"

### "I'm not sure, but I think Uruk has something extraordinary planned and Althea is enraged by it. I do know that she was very angry when she saw the gills on the Kuna native children. She can be so sweet and she can also be a brat. The last of the parents of the native children, they were transported earlier. That seemed to calm Althea."

### "I hope the extraordinary thing that Uruk has planned happens after we leave. I really don't like this place. Have you noticed the deficient beds? No mattress, no pillow, my back is sore and the food is terrible. How can these people live like this? If we stay any length of time, maybe we can stay inside the Uruk Godship where we can think up some pork-burgers and comfortable beds–or even in our own Godship and just beam down when necessary."

### Just then Gill stopped talking to Althea and was walking toward us.

### "Don't say anything stupid," Susan whispered.

### "Stupid?" Gill said, with a chuckle. "Why would I say anything stupid? Einstein once said 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe'."

### "No, no," Susan said. "I was speaking to Gordon. He often puts his foot in his mouth."

### Gill had an anguished look. "Foot in his mouth...foot in his mouth...foot in his mouth."

### "Oh, Gill, I'm so sorry," Susan said. "It's just a silly expression. I just meant that Gordon sometimes says things without thinking."

### "Thanks," I said. "That's me, foot-in-the-mouth Gordon. I often have to eat my words. However, that's often tastier than marine algae."

### Gill looked confused.

### "Gordon, stop that!" Susan said. She turned to Gill. "Eat my words. That's another silly expression. Please ignore my husband."

### "Yes, please do," I said. "Everybody else does."

### I got struck in the side. Susan had a knack for the rib punch. It hurt.

### Gill turned and walked away. He seemed confused. I was delighted.

### "Don't you understand?" Susan said, annoyed. "Gill is easily baffled by things he doesn't know or understand. He has the impression that he knows all that God knows, but that's not true. If you say something completely foreign to him, he becomes...well, he becomes..."

### "Half-witted," I said.

### "Half-witted is an apt description of my husband!"

### Susan turned and walked away. She was angry and I was an ass. I ran after her just as she walked through a door which led to a kind of park. I hadn't seen that before. There were actual trees there, small but definitely green and healthy. And grass! I was amazed. There was also a water fountain, a small pool, some statuary and children playing. Susan walked to a bench and sat. I went and sat beside her.

### "I'm sorry sweetheart," I said, in my most endearing voice. "I know I can be an ass. It's just that Gill always acts like he knows everything and I know he doesn't. In fact, I'm the one who knows so little–and that's depressing."

### "So you'd like others to reside at your level of intelligence, hence your attempts to drag them down, insult them, diminish them."

### "That's not fair," I said. "At least I recognize my shortcomings. I'm trying to avoid that behavior, but it's not easy. When I was a kid, my father always made me out to be mentally challenged. I graduated from college at the bottom of the class. My teachers suggested to my parents that I should train to become an unskilled laborer. The only jobs I ever had didn't require any exceptional aptitude. I'm a born loser." I put my arm around Susan. "The only really great thing I ever did was to marry you."

### Susan turned her head, paused then kissed me on the cheek.

### "Besides occasionally being an ass, you can also be very sweet," she said.

### Then she pointed toward the pool. "Did you notice the statue?" she said.

### I leaned forward. It was over two meters tall and was set on a stand about a meter off the ground. It was made of bronze, it seemed, and although it was tarnished and worn in places, it gleamed under the bright wall and ceiling lighting.

### "It doesn't look familiar," I said.

### "Go and have a closer look," Susan said.

### I walked to the statue and stood gazing up at the bronze figure; it had one arm raised, pointing. Suddenly I recognized the face. Shit! It was Harry Clemens!

### "Did you know who it was?" I shouted to Susan. "It's our used car salesman!"

### Several children stopped playing and came to watch. One girl pointed to the statue. "Founder," she said. "I learned about him in school. He died to help us live."

### Part 9.3

### We were gathered for dinner in the cafeteria: David, Gill, Susan, Shatoya and the science supervisor, Hudson. I was happy to see that the asshole Lucas wasn't there. The table was filled with plates of blue-green sludge. That was what we were supposed to eat. Fortunately, there were jugs or rapple wine.

### I turned to Shatoya. "There's a statue of Harry Clemens in the park. What's the story there?" I asked.

### "Statue?" she said. "What park? We have several statues in Aquarius."

### "Some young kid called him 'Founder'," I said.

### "Ah, yes, the Founder. I remember that from school but have forgotten the story. Perhaps Hudson will know."

### Shatoya turned to Hudson.

### "Yes, yes," Hudson said. "The Founder. I will tell you the story. It was several centuries ago, before the radiation from the Betelgeuse nova had reached Earth. Before the solar flares were initiated. Before the Earth was scorched. A Godship arrived to warn us. The Godship communicated with the world through the head of the Global Space Council. The council head was then transported to the Godship Uruk, to assist in the design of Aquarius Pacifica. He was also involved with the other seventeen submarine bubbles including Aquarius Atlantica which, though quite small, now holds the greatest number of inhabitants. When the solar flares began, hundred of thousands had already been transported to their submarine habitats. The head of the Global Council refused to be transported until he had organized the transport of those still waiting. He was also in charge of filling the few space ships available for the trip to the moons of Jupiter. Alas, he died while performing what he knew to be his duty, directing traffic, pointing the way to the transport vessels. It is a sad story. Had it not been for his activity, day and night for weeks, rarely sleeping, always supervising–many of us would not be here."

### Hudson paused. "What about the statue?" I asked.

### "That is Sir Harry Clemens, head of the Global Space Council," Hudson said. "He became the most important man on Earth before and during the solar holocaust."

### "Before that," I chuckled, "he was a nobody, a used car salesman."

### Susan bashed in my ribs. Damn it! That hurt!

### Hudson gave me a curious look. "You knew about Sir Clemens?"

### "Yes, I knew him," I said, looking sideways at Susan. "He was...uh, a great man."

### "But that was so long ago," Shatoya said.

### "Gordon has been on the Godship Gilgamesh," Gill said. "Our travels have often been at light speed and..."

### "Ah yes, time dilation," Hudson said. He nodded his head.

### "If you knew him," Shatoya said, "then you must tell us more about our Founder. I shall talk to the school administrator. She will arrange a closed circuit broadcast. Our children will be delighted to hear from someone who actually met the Founder."

### I sank back into my chair. It was an awful idea. I looked at Susan. She was laughing, silently.

### Part 9.4

My talk was arranged for later in the evening, late enough so that school classes had ended, early enough so all the parents wouldn't be concerned about bedtime for the children. I had never done any public speaking, so I asked Susan to talk about Harry–Sir Harry. She knew of him because I had told her, in my way. She was a teacher, way back when, and would be more comfortable in front of an audience. She refused. In fact, she seemed quite pleased to refuse. As I was explaining why she would be infinitely better than me, she was smiling. I took that as a 'yes'. In fact, it was a 'no' and she was simply amused by my anxiety.

### "You'll do fine," she said. "Just be yourself. Uh...let me clarify that. Be kind, do not criticize Sir Clemens, exaggerate his strengths, amplify the image they have of him as Founder. Did you see the statue? Harry was pointing. Here in Aquarius, that's what they remember. He was pointing to salvation, deliverance from solar catastrophe. He was indicating the path to the transportation portals. He stayed behind–and he died."

### I listened but found it difficult to imagine myself multiplying Harry's virtues. When I knew Harry, he had very few virtues. When he became the great savior, I was long gone.

### "I'll try," I said weakly. "I will try."

### After a terrible meal of blue-green ocean sludge, I finished off far too many glasses of rapple. When Shatoya arrived to escort me to the auditorium, I was feeling no pain. In fact, I remember little of that walk. I was trying to recall what Susan had said. I would amplify Harry's image. I stumbled into the large room and immediately heard applause. When I looked around I saw hundreds of children, ages five to fifteen it seemed. They were standing and clapping. Shatoya led me to a raised platform where I was to speak. She waited for just a moment. The children all sat and became quiet. Hundreds of kids and there wasn't a sound. Amazing. In the front row I saw Susan, David and Gill. All three were smiling. Was that a smile? Perhaps a smirk. I could hear Shatoya talking.

### "... and our guest, Mr. Gordon Bland, was a friend and great admirer of the Founder. Mr. Bland left Earth before the solar holocaust and has been travelling the cosmos for some time. As a consequence of time dilation, something many of you have learned in classes, his return to Earth is just a few months later, in his lifeline. So now, please give a hearty welcome to Mr. Gordon Bland."

### The children all rose and began to clap vigorously. Did she say Bland? That was my character, but was that my name? I stood and went to the podium. I waited until the applause dwindled. I looked down at the front row. Susan was beside herself with muffled laughter. I raised my hand. The kids went very quiet.

### "Uh...yes, Harry Clemens, Sir harry Clemens, Founder Harry Clemens. I knew him, yes. He was...he was...tall, maybe two meters or more." I heard the oohs and ahs from my audience. "Yes, definitely two meters and very handsome." More oohs and ahs. I was warming to the task. "He was always pointing. Pointing here and pointing there. Wherever he pointed, that's where people went. When he talked, people listened. He was so smart, smarter than anybody. He was tall, very tall." What else could I say? "And Harry was kind and considerate and people loved him for what he did, what he would do, what he had done." I paused, trying desperately to think of something else to say. I thought I would finish with: "He died so others may live." I had heard that phrase from one of the children.

### A kid near the front raised his hand.

### "Yes, son?" I said.

### "I heard, today, that the Founder sold used cars."

### Uh-oh. I was in trouble.

### "Yes, used cars. That was before he was famous. Used cars. That's why he was so persuasive, a smooth talker, he convinced people that they were to go to the transport area. He pointed and they went."

### The brat had his hand up again.

### "Yes, what is it now?" I asked.

### "What is a used car?"

### Shit! I should sit down, stop this charade. "Ask your teachers," I said. "They will explain." Then I sat down. There was silence, then Shatoya stood up and everybody started clapping, even Susan in the front row.

### "I'd like to thank Mr. Bland," Shatoya said. The kids went quiet. "I'm sure we can all see the Founder better, in our mind's eye, pointing the way to salvation."

### Part 9.5

### We walked back to our room, Susan clinging to my arm. I felt as tall as Harry Clemens, two meters, maybe taller.

### "You were wonderful," she whispered. "I'm sure that statue of Harry, in the park, it'll be polished to a high gloss by tomorrow night. You left these people with a vivid picture of their Founder."

### "I've rewritten history," I said. "Two meters tall? Handsome? Hardly."

### "Rewritten history is the best history. It's what these people want, what they need, a history to make them proud."

### I felt good. Maybe I could sleep like a log tonight. Another sip of rapple and I'd be out like a light.

### David and Gill were walking ahead of us. I could see they were talking, but I couldn't hear a word they were saying. Susan, seeing that I was staring, said, "They're discussing the big event tomorrow."

### "What big event?"

### "You'll see." Susan could be so frustrating.

### I walked over to David and asked about the 'big event'. He said I should ask Gill. Gill said: "You'll see." Damn it! Why was I the only person who didn't have a clue? I had learned to mind-talk to our Godship like everybody else, but now it seemed to ignore most of my questions. If I asked for a warm sweater, I got it. A pork burger? That, too, was okay. But questions? They were ignored. I was being kept in the dark. Why me?

### CHAPTER TEN
### Part 10.1

### After a terrible night of tossing and turning and rolling to new positions to ease the pain in my back and shoulders, I fell out of bed. I looked about but saw that I was alone. I quickly changed into something presentable and rushed to the cafeteria. They weren't there. I wandered about the room and found a counter with a guy in a white outfit.

### "Can I get something to eat?" I asked.

### "Of course," he replied. "What would you like?"

### "Uh...do you have pork burgers or fries?"

### "Pork?" he said. "Isn't that from a pig? We have no animals in Aquarius and most certainly no pigs. And fries? Could you describe them?"

### Before I had a chance to respond, he said: "You're the fellow who gave the talk on the Founder–am I right?"

### "Uh, yes, that's me."

### "You never answered that question about the used cars. What are they?"

### "Years ago, many many years ago, people traveled, on the surface, in motorized vehicles called cars."

### "Why did they call them 'cars'?"

### "Uh, I'm not sure. Maybe it was short for 'carriage'."

### "We have vehicles. They're called trams. You don't see many because mostly we just walk."

### "Aah," I said. "Why do you call them 'trams'?"

### He paused for a moment then asked: "Please tell me about the fries. What are they?"

### "Forget the fries. I'll have a glass of rapple."

### I grabbed my glass of rapple and walked to a far corner of the cafeteria. I sat and looked about the room. There weren't many people there, but one fellow kept looking at me. Then he got out of his chair and started walking in my direction. Shit! It was that asshole Lucas.

### "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

### "No, I guess not."

### He sat and grunted and ran his hand through his bushy red hair then grunted again.

### "I must apologize for my foolish remarks the other day," he said. "I have little contact with people and my social competence is minimal."

### He held out his hand. I guess he wanted to shake hands, so I took his hand and shook it. He smiled, a very nice smile I must say.

### "No problem," I said. "I'm usually a social freak myself."

### We both laughed. He wasn't such a bad guy, I guess.

### "I usually say the wrong thing," Lucas said, "and regret it afterward. I rarely think of the effect the words would have."

### "Welcome to the club," I said. "My worst feature–well, one of the worst–is criticizing people, even if I hardly know them."

### "Yes! I do, too! Why do we do that?"

### "My wife says it's because I want to drag them down to my...my cerebral level. To diminish them. To..."

### "Oh, that can't be the reason," Lucas said. "I am clearly the most intelligent person in Aquarius. I absolutely know that."

### Hmmm, this was the asshole talking.

### "Intelligent in what way? In social rituals? In inter-personal relations? In the ability to gauge another person' desires, dreams? In knowing right from wrong, what's good and what's bad. In..."

### "Okay, please stop," Lucas said, pleading. "I'm an ass."

### "Again I say welcome to the asshole club. I'm the president."

### Again we laughed.

### "Can I ask you a question?" I said.

### "Of course, anything."

### "I've heard there is going to be some big event today. I seem to be the only person who hasn't a clue what it is. Do you know?"

### "Yes, of course," he said. "Come with me and I'll show you what is about to happen. It is the result of my recommendation, galvanized by the arrival of the native children."

### Part 10.2

### Lucas took me to a rather small room that had a transparent ceiling. He pushed a button on the wall and the light dimmed. I could see the water above the dome. Pointing to the ceiling he said: "This is my private observatory and you can see that we are deep in the ocean, at about ten thousand meters. The future of our race lies in our ability to adapt to our ocean environment. Now that viable gill structures have been devised, we have to contend with the enormous pressures at this depth. My recommendations involve moving Aquarius to shallow water just off the North American tectonic plate. There, the pressure is not great and we will have complete access to our ocean milieu." Lucas hesitated for a moment then said: "And that, my friend, will happen today."

### "What? This entire structure will be moved a jillion kilometers to the east?"

### "A jillion kilometers?"

### "Well, lots of kilometers."

### "Nine thousand, two hundred and seventy kilometers, actually. With the help of Uruk–and, of course, the other vessels that have arrived from around the galaxy, including the one on which you and your friends arrived–we will be transported to more favorable waters. In my original report, I suggested transport to the Philippine Islands. They are much closer. However, Althea has convinced Uruk to go east. I feel that Shatoya was influenced..."

### "Jesus! I think I'd better find Susan. She may be frightened at the prospect."

### "Your wife? Frightened? I don't think so. Indeed, she is now in touch with your ship and your other friends are in touch with other vessels–organizing the transit."

### Damn it! I'm asleep and Susan is talking to Gilgamesh. Couldn't she have awakened me? Even a punch in the side would have been okay.

### "Lucas, I gotta go. Many thanks for your explanation."

### "But you can stay here," he said, almost sadly. "I have many observation locations where we can watch it happen. I also have many range finding devices and video monitors and..."

### "Thanks, Lucas, but I think I need to be with my wife."

### I waved goodbye and left. I had this feeling that Lucas had made a friend, me, and I was perhaps his only friend. I felt sorry for the guy. He wasn't such a bad chap.

### I rushed back to our bedroom. Empty. Then I ran to the cafeteria and asked the food server if he had seen my wife. He didn't know who I was talking about. I then ran to the park where Harry's statue was located. Nobody there except a few children. One young girl was sitting on a park bench. I recognized her: Althea. I sat beside her and asked if she saw my wife. She had her face in her hands, her elbows on her knees and she ignored me. I asked again. No response.

### "She won't answer," somebody said.

### I looked up to see Shatoya.

### "She's in a trance, in conversation with Uruk. Althea won't come out of it until we are on our way."

### "Is she assisting Uruk?" I asked. "Does he really need her help?"

### Shatoya smiled. "No, Althea is just listening in, as it were. She will give the rest of us a commentary on the proceedings–later in the day. Tomorrow, when we arrive, she will listen in again."

### "Tomorrow? That quickly? We have a jillion–over nine thousand kilometers to go. How is that possible?"

### "Oh, I see. You think we are traveling along the bottom of the ocean. Not true. We will rise above the waters and fly to our new location. It's been discussed for several weeks now and the flight and our final location was established two days ago."

### "Fly? Are you kidding? This huge dome can fly?"

### "Not without the Godships. They are here to implement the transport."

### "Shatoya, please, where is Susan, my wife?"

### "I don't think you'll want to disturb her. She and David Granger and the android called Gill, they are in contact with the Godships. There needs to be careful coordination of the liftoff. I think five Godships are involved in that maneuver. There will also be some habitat modifications when we arrive, to accommodate many thousands of new inhabitants that have been carried here by the Godships."

### "Fine, but can I see my wife? I promise not to disturb her."

### Shatoya looked worried. Then she pointed to a far door and beckoned me to follow.

### Part 10.3

### It was a curious room. Rooms with a view normally had skylights in the ceiling, but this room had dozens of portholes on the wall. There were several benches facing the portholes and Susan was sitting, along with David and Gill. They were all leaning forward, concentrating, focussed, with their heads lowered. People were gathered to watch, leaning against a wall. I walked to Susan and sat beside her on the bench. Without moving her head or interrupting her concentration, she placed her hand on my lap. I stayed perfectly still, staring out the nearest porthole.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a wall suddenly glisten. I looked around and saw that all the spectators had turned to look; it was a large map. A crescent shaped region was blinking, labeled Mariana Trench. There was a legend with a distance scale. It looked like the Trench was maybe two thousand kilometers long and just a few dozen kilometers wide. West of that, the Mariana Islands, Guam and farther, the Philippines. There was no indication of the western coast of North America, which, I presume, was our final destination.

### The blinking light became smaller and smaller until it was just a red dot on the eastern edge of the Trench. All eyes were on that stationary dot, flashing within the Trench. I felt the bench shake and Susan removed her hand from my lap and held her head between her hands. Out the porthole I could see movement, strange sea creatures floating by, a few rising bubbles. I looked again at the map; the red dot was moving east. When I next looked out the porthole, I could see sky!

### The sky was a glorious blue and in the distance, on the horizon, there were a dozen Godships. The sea was very calm, with the sun's reflection bright and orange. It was morning, it seemed, and a splendid day. The Aquarius was rotating, the porthole displaying a changing scene. It looked like we were now a hundred meters above the ocean surface and spinning, probably facing east. Nothing marked the ocean surface; no waves, no islands, nothing. Once Aquarius had steadied and was no longer revolving, Susan shook her head as though she just waking up. She turned and gave me a marvelous smile.

### "How are you, my darling," she said.

### "I'm great. Have you been...uh, talking to a Godship?"

### "Gilgamesh. That's the only Godship that I can talk to. Well, actually I wasn't talking much, Gilgamesh was. I'd just note the conditions within Aquarius, whether we were topsy-turvy or balanced and level. Gilgamesh was in communication with the other craft and I listened in. David, and especially Gill, they were in touch with four other Godships. It actually took all five vessels to raise Aquarius. They did a great job, don't you think?"

### "Yes. Great. Now we're headed east to the North American coast, right?"

### "Yes. It'll take most of the day. Acceleration has to be gentle so as not to disturb conditions within the habitat. Full speed won't be attained for several hours, then it's clear sailing to the coast. I'm supposed to be back here to help with the settling to the ocean bottom, about three kilometers offshore. In the meantime, I'm starved. Have you had breakfast?"

### "Yes, indeed. A full glass of rapple."

### Susan punched me in the side.

### In the cafeteria we sat at a table and waved at the white-coated server. He rushed over, excited.

### "We're moving!" he said excitedly. "We're heading to shallow water, warm water, very little pressure, a place to escape the dome, to maybe swim, walk on land."

### Then he rushed back to his counter, a big grin on his face.

### I waved at him and he came back, looking apologetic.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "My name is Claude. I'm just so thrilled. I told my girlfriend–her name is Jenny–that we could be married, we would be married on land. Isn't that fantastic?"

### He was about to rush back to his counter when he spun about, looking embarrassed.

### "I'm such a klutz," he said. "There are very few marriages allowed in Aquarius Pacifica and we got our approval just last week. I'm so excited."

### "Very few?" Susan said. "Why is that?"

### "It's written," he said simply. "That's why. We have to apply, they check our birth records, schooling, health history and I don't know what else. Then, if we're approved, we can get married. That's me and Jenny. Jenny is my girlfriend. For us, it's next week!"

### "I suppose it's to control the population," I said. "To prevent too many babies being born in such a limited habitat."

### Our server looked confused.

### "Control?" he said. "There is no control. I see you're new to Aquarius. I saw you give that talk about the Founder." He pointed to me. "Anybody can have babies, any time, anywhere, any color. We do need approval, though. Sexual encounters are encouraged. In fact, the Copulation Center is usually crowded. My girlfriend, that's Jenny, asked to delay until we were married. Then Jenny and I will spend as much time in the CC as is necessary. I can hardly wait."

### "Yes, I can imagine," Susan said with a smirk.

### "It's the low population here," Claude continued. "Life expectancy is apparently decreasing for reasons our scientists don't understand. It's anticipated that living near the coast and being able to exit Aquarius from time to time, that will help. Anyway, my girlfriend, that's Jenny, she and I will certainly do our part."

### He was beaming, beside himself with delight.

### "Now," he said in almost a whisper, "did you want something to eat?"

### Part 10.4

### It was difficult to maintain any sort of calm within the dome. Everybody was rushing about, chattering, peering out every available porthole and skylight. Occasionally one could see fluffy white clouds and there were endless oohs and ahs. From time to time, a silvery, cigar-shaped Godship was visible. It was fascinating to see the effect that normal surface features, such as sky and clouds, had on people who had lived their life deep within a dismal ocean. When I was living on Earth, just a few months ago, I did appreciate a beautiful sunset or the red and gold colors of Fall, but never got too excited about a plain blue sky. The children were especially charming. Each time they saw a cloud they would jump and point and scream with pleasure.

### "I see one!"

### "Look there! It's pink and white!"

### "That one looks like a sea cucumber!"

### "I know that one–it's a cumulus thing."

### "No, it's one of those strato things."

### It was clear that these kids learned something about their planet, even if they couldn't see much of it. Maybe I should have said something about life on the surface, when I gave the Founder talk. I would have been more comfortable with that topic. I could spend an hour talking about pork-burgers and fries and chocolate milkshakes. Even Susan could add her impressions. In fact, David would be a great one to describe certain unfortunate features about...

### There was a sudden lurch. Some children fell. Susan jumped up and left the room in a hurry. I followed her to the observation room where she had earlier been in contact with Gilgamesh. David and Gill were already there, concentrating. Susan took her place on a bench and held her head in her hands. She seemed quite worried. I sat beside her, but she was too busy to notice. She was obviously listening and, I guess, involved in mind-talk with our Godship. I heard David grunt and wave his hand. I looked out a porthole but it was dark. It seems we were back in the ocean again because I could make out what looked like a group of dolphins encircling our dome. We weren't falling but rather seemed to be stationary, judging by the movement of the dolphins. Susan looked up and sighed.

### "That was so worrisome," she said, glancing at David and Gill.

### David rose and came to our bench. Gill followed him. Both seemed relieved.

### "A minor problem, right?" David said, glancing at Gill.

### "Quite minor," Gill said. "A lack of coordination between the Godships. Gilgamesh expected to coordinate the Godship activities but two other vessels took exception and, until the leadership question was resolved, they set the Aquarius back in the water where buoyancy would provide some relief."

### "You mean the Godships argue?" I said, amazed.

### Gill looked bewildered. "Argue? No, they debate the best course of action. Now Gilgamesh is unquestionably in charge."

### "So when do we continue on our way?" I asked.

### "Immediately," Gill said, pointing to a porthole.

### There was sea and sky and I could see the ocean surface with dolphins jumping out of the water. I could also hear children screaming with delight. A dozen kids ran into our room and pointed at the porthole.

### "Fish! Big fish!"

### "No," I said, "they aren't fish, they're actually..."

### "See? That fish jumped! Look at that other fish. He standing on his tail!"

### It seemed as though the dolphins were happy to see us. The kept circling and jumping and bumping into the dome until we rose well above the water surface. I was saddened to see them disappear from the porthole.

### It was nice that the kids were excited about something like jumping dolphins. If only I could take them to Niagara Falls, to Marineland, to Sea World, to Wonderland. They'd be bewitched. It was such a shame that they had missed the things that all kids should enjoy. But now, when we arrive at the coast, maybe we can go ashore and I can show them the wonders of coastal landscapes. I had spent my childhood on a lake, swimming, splashing, boating, fishing, watching ducks and geese and seagulls. Poor kids.

### Part 10.5

### Now that Gilgamesh was in charge of our journey, things were quiet. We met for dinner in the cafeteria: Susan, David, Gill and Shatoya. I started with two glasses of rapple, then dug into algae cakes. They weren't that bad, actually. I called Claude over and asked the server if there were such a thing as salt in this dome. He laughed and waved his arm about. "We're surrounded by salt," he said. "I'll get you salt." I expected a salt shaker, but he returned with a huge container and a spoon. A sprinkle on my algae cakes and they were superb, especially after a swig of snapple.

### When we had finished the main course, Hudson and Lucas showed up.

### "May we sit with you?" Lucas asked.

### "Why yes," Shatoya said, obviously surprised by Lucas' pleasant manner.

### They sat and Lucas turned to me and said: "We will touch down in about two hours. Would you like to join me in my observatory?"

### I looked at Susan who seemed puzzled by the request.

### "Well, Lucas," I stuttered, "that would be nice, but I think Susan expects me to join her for..."

### "No, Gordon, please don't worry about me," Susan said. "I'll be busy with Gilgamesh. Go with Lucas. We can meet again after touchdown." I could see that she was amused. So was David. Damn!

### Everyone skipped the dessert: a kind of chocolate mud. I followed Lucas as he weaved his way about the dinner crowd in the cafeteria. I'd much rather be with Susan, but she didn't seem to mind. Besides, she'd be busy chatting it up with Gilgamesh.

### In Lucas's observatory, it was pretty dark. I sat on a two-seater sofa that wasn't there the last time I visited. Lucas snuggled in beside me and I heard a shy snigger. I looked about but there was no skylight, no porthole, no shiny map and no blinking lights. In fact, the room was quite empty except for the sofa. Lucas put his hand on my lap and whispered something in my ear.

### "Sorry," I said. "I didn't hear you." Actually, I did hear him, but couldn't believe what he said. "We could go to the CC if you'd like?" he said.

### I remembered. That was the Copulation Center. I jumped to my feet. "What the hell are you doing?" I shouted. "Who...what do you think I am?"

### I stalked out of the room, looking back just once to see Lucas weeping. Shit! He wanted to play sexual games. I'm not anti-homosexual. My buddy way back when, Jerry, the guy I worked with at Burlington Communication, he was gay. He was a sweet guy, but I never expected that I could be mistaken for one. Had I signaled my sexual preference? It shook me up and I was still shaking when I arrived at the observation room where Susan sat. She and David were talking quietly, but stopped the moment I entered the room. When was the last time I saw them whispering to each other, Susan and David? I think it was shortly after I saw that welt on the back of her neck, the purple welt with the short hairs. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that scar in some time. What happened to it? Was her connection with Gilgamesh now completed? The thought of it made me shake even more.

### I sat beside Susan who immediately put her arm about me. "What's the matter sweetheart?" she asked in a honeyed murmur.

### This 'sweetheart' thing was new. In fact, Susan was new. Although I was blissfully happy when I woke up this morning, now I was concerned, anxious, terrified. Lucas had made a pass. Susan's contact with our Godship–intimate contact, it seemed–was affecting her. She was lovable, but different. I saw David. He had that stupid grin on his ugly face. Gill paid us no attention. He was still in touch with a Godship or three. I felt very much alone.

### "Hi," I said. "I'm fine, just tired I guess. When do we go to bed?"

### "Oh Gordie, it's still early. We will touch down in less than an hour and I have to be here. But you head off to bed like a good boy."

### She gave me a peck on the cheek and a pat on the head. I hated that! I left and, with some difficulty, found my way to our bedroom. Without changing clothes, I collapsed into bed. I noticed that there was a fluffy pillow and I buried my face in it. It smelled of lilac. That was Susan's doing, I was sure. She was a wonderful gal.

### CHAPTER ELEVEN
### Part 11.1

### I slept for maybe an hour, fitfully, then returned to the observation room where Susan, David and Gill were talking. Nobody seemed to know the exact time of our touchdown in the shallower waters off the coast. Even Gill, who was an extension of our Godship, he wasn't sure if we would wait until sunrise.

### "I think something is affecting the discussion among the Godships," Gill said. "There is no reason for delay. There is no reason to wait for sunlight. We can, and should, drop to the bottom right away."

### "Althea," somebody said.

### We all stood and turned to see Shatoya enter the room. "Althea wants to see the coast, the sunset, the last sky before we descend."

### "Is she the reason for our delay?" Susan asked.

### "Yes, I think so," Shatoya answered. "Althea has been in a bad mood all day. She was very upset to see native children with gills. I think it was because she realized that she had no such functional feature. The native children had, somehow, a better physical configuration. She assumed they were Godship children, created by the alien vessels for some divine purpose. Then she settled down when their parents arrived and she realized that the children were human. Now she's quite agitated at the interplay between the Godships."

### Shatoya shook her head.

### "The altercation between Godships that resulted in our temporary descent into the ocean–that was Althea's doing. She was furious that she was being left out of Godship decisions. After a brief moment, one of the Godships took charge and asked Althea to stand down, to take a back seat as it were. She has been angry ever since, however her anger is local. She cannot affect operations unless she has the backing of Uruk...and Uruk has acquiesced in favor of your Godship."

### "Our Godship is Gilgamesh," Gill said. "He is an elder among the Godships currently located over the Pacific. Even Uruk, who was left here many, many years ago, is a minor among Godship vessels. His tasks were simple: monitor human life on the planet then, more recently, arrange accommodations for several hundred thousand people. He has done an admirable job, to be sure, but Gilgamesh is back, wielding his dominance."

### David smiled. "I think I gave the name Gilgamesh to our Godship," he said proudly. "It seemed most appropriate because..."

### "You did not," Gill interrupted. "It was always his name, given him by God, millennia ago. That name was revealed to you, implanted, soon after you came on board."

### David sat down on a bench. I could see that he was unhappy.

### It looked like we'd be staying at the surface until Althea saw her morning sunrise. Susan and I went to our bedroom. David and Gill stayed to talk to Shatoya.

### We sat side by side on our bed and I said: "You remember Lucas?"

### Susan nodded.

### "Well, he's a homosexual."

### I waited for a response. Susan just stared at me.

### "I said he's gay." No response. Susan just fronwed.

### "So what are you trying to say?" she said.

### "He wanted to take me to the CC," I said.

### "The what?"

### "Don't you remember? Claude, our cafeteria server, said he and his girl friend would spend time in the CC."

### "Oh, that's the Copulation Center!" Susan bellowed. "Lucas wanted you... wanted..." She bent over and couldn't repress a loud guffaw.

### I put my hand on her shoulder. She wouldn't stop laughing. "It's not that funny," I said.

### "Oh, but it is!" She said, her face pink from all the cackling and chuckling. "And did you two visit the CC?" Susan bent over and cried with laughter. Her whole body shook. I didn't think it was so funny.

### I pushed her off the bed and lay down. She was still laughing quietly on her floor. Would she have found it so funny if I had actually accepted Lucas' invitation to join him in the CC? What if I said I was a closet homosexual? Maybe I'd pretend to be, in the morning. Maybe she'd be so upset she'd apologize for her behavior this evening. Maybe she'd be worried. Maybe...

### I was sound asleep when Susan punched me in the side. Why did she always do that? I was getting a sore side. I rolled out of bed.

### "Lucas is asking for you," she said, holding her hand over her mouth and giggling.

### "Yes, I told him to pick me up this morning and we could spend some time in the Copulation Center. These centers are leftovers from all the sexual gatherings on Earth, after the Godships left. Remember them? They popped up everywhere. I guess they were so important that they were built into this Aquadome. I'm looking forward to spending time there... with Lucas."

### Susan stopped laughing. I quickly jumped out of bed and went to the door. Lucas was waiting there and I grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall, closing the door behind me.

### "I've come to apologize," he said hoarsely, "...for yesterday."

### "No need," I said, laughing to myself at the impression I must surely have left for Susan. "How could you know my sexual preferences."

### "It's just that, until you arrived, I had few friends. Actually, I had no friends. Many colleagues, but no real friends. No one who would eat with me or spend an evening watching video feeds."

### "I understand," I said, still smiling. "Don't worry about it. We can still be friends, eh?"

### "Thank you Gordon," he said sadly. "Would you like to watch a video tonight?"

### "A video? What kind of video?" I was afraid it'd be pornographic.

### "We have a large collection of videos. Mostly Earth before the solar holocaust. They are quite fascinating, for me at least. Perhaps, since you were there, they'd be less interesting."

### "No! That would be great! Where can we meet? Can I bring Susan?"

### "Yes, of course. The videos are open to everyone. How about in the cafeteria? Perhaps we can eat together."

### "Breakfast?" I asked.

### "No, dinner. That's when the videos are shown, after dinner. Besides, after breakfast we have to watch the sunrise and the dome descent. That should be in about two hours."

### "After dinner, then. That'd be fine," I said. "I know that Susan would enjoy the videos. We both have fond memories of our time together, before the apocalypse. Join us for breakfast and you can tell the others about the videos."

### Lucas was all smiles. I've never seen him so happy. Perhaps he was more interested in friendship than... than other endeavors.

### Part 11.2

### In an hour we were sitting in the cafeteria for breakfast. There was something that tasted exactly like scrambled eggs. It was a blue-green algae concoction, but it was okay. I was becoming accustomed to this strange food–especially the rapple. The drinks were usually something fruity. I would have liked a coffee, but a fruit drink was okay, too. Susan, David and I were joined by Hudson and, shortly after we began to eat, Lucas came by. There was a seat next to me and that's where he sat. Susan stopped eating to observe Lucas–but he was a model of proper behavior. He smiled slightly, reached for the blue-green muck and spooned some onto his plate, then offered the muck to me. I smiled sweetly and refused. One helping is quite enough. Susan squinted in our direction, then went back to eating.

### "Will you all join us for the videos, tonight after dinner?" Lucas said, looking from Susan to David.

### "Us? Who is us?" Susan asked, glowering at me. "And what kind of videos?"

### "Gordon and I will watch some videos of Old Earth, before the apocalypse," Lucas explained. "Since you were there, it may be of interest."

### "Yes, I would like that," David said. "But now, we must watch the Aquadome descent."

### David and Susan got up from the table and David immediately headed for the door. Susan waited for just a moment, looking at me.

### "Are you coming or would you rather stay with Lucas?" she asked, scowling.

### I scratched my chin and gazed at the ceiling, apparently thinking of an appropriate response. Susan spun about and followed David out the door. I could see she was angry and that, somehow, made me happy–I'm not sure why. Perhaps I felt that I was being taken for granted. Maybe I should play up this relationship with Lucas to see if Susan would, or could, be jealous. Actually, Lucas was a nice guy and I did enjoy his company. He was sometime strange, but he was very smart and didn't mind explaining things to me as though I were an idiot. That was good because, usually, I am an idiot. He was also a good listener. He was always very quiet when I spoke, especially if I spoke of Old Earth. This was quite a different Lucas than the one I had originally met.

### I got up to follow Susan and noticed that Hudson, who had been unusually quiet, had already left. Hudson actually didn't look well. Lucas held my arm.

### "Don't go, not yet," he said. "I'd like to talk to you about something that's been on my mind."

### I sat again and turned to look at Lucas. He had a worried look.

### "I'd like to go with you, when you leave–on your Godship. I have no reason to stay here in Aquarius. Your Godship has been able to generate humans with gills, something I have been trying to accomplish for many years. I'd like to learn from... what's its name, your Godship?"

### "Gilgamesh," I said. "And it isn't up to me to decide who comes on board. You should talk to David, or, better still, to Gill who is actually plugged into Gilgamesh in a way that, I imagine, would allow him to make such a decision."

### Lucas had such a solemn look that I felt sorry for him.

### "I am a very good scientist," Lucas said, standing and now looking angry. "Probably better than any that your Godship has encountered. It should be proud to have me on board. I would be an invaluable asset and..."

### "Stop it!" I shouted. "Our Godhsip is a tightly knit family. We certainly don't need any incompatible inhabitant, one with the social skills of a chimpanzee!"

### Lucas stepped back, his eyes closed.

### "My apologies," he said in a whisper. "You are quite right about my social incompetence. I am sorry." His eyes were still closed as he turned to walk away.

### "Lucas," I said. "I will ask, on your behalf, but don't expect miracles."

### Lucas turned to face me, his eyes still closed.

### "I have so many questions, so many sleepless nights, so many unsolved problems." He opened his eyes, staring. "And so few...friends."

### I felt as though I should take into consideration Lucas' unhappy life in the Aquadome. Maybe I could teach him social skills. I was pretty lousy myself, but I was surely better than this guy.

### "Sit down, Lucas," I said. "Let us talk. If you did come with us then I'm sure you and Gill would get along. He's an android, you know. A synthetic image of me."

### "He doesn't look like you," Lucas said. "You are quite pretty. He is not. Indeed, he has ugly, immature gills attached to his neck."

### "I am pretty? I wish you hadn't said that. Handsome, perhaps, but not pretty. You had questions, you said. What questions?"

### "I tried to ask our Godship, Uruk, but he ignores me. I tried to contact Uruk through Althea. She ignores me. Can you imagine that? Our Godship will communicate with a child but not with the greatest... not with a mature scientist."

### "And your question is?" I asked.

### "So many questions. Propulsion systems on the Godships, anti-gravity abilities, the production of an oxygen-rich environment, creation of material objects out of what seems to be nothing, the fabrication of Aquarius centuries ago and, in particular, how to manipulate genetic material to generate gills."

### "Yes, I'd like the answers to those very same questions," I said. "I was told that the propulsion system involved sucking up vacuum energy, the dark energy that pervades all..."

### "I knew it!" Lucas bellowed. "I knew it! I have been promoting investigations into dark energy manipulation here, in the Aquadome. Everyone said it was beyond our ken, but I knew that if we worked at it we would succeed. I even have the mass-energy equations to prove my point. They are corrections to the Einstein mass-energy equation, taking into account the gravitational distortion energy provided by dark matter. Spatial distortions carry stress energy and I'm sure that it can be extracted by gravity manipulation. But no one would listen."

### Just then Susan appeared at the door.

### "Gordon! Come on!" she shouted. "The descent is about to begin!"

### Part 11.3

### There was a rather large crowd in a room with a panoramic window onto the outside world. The sun was just setting in the west and the room glowed crimson. I hadn't seen a sunset in months and it was spectacular. The Aquarians hadn't seen a sunset in their lifetime, so it was exceptionally spectacular for them. I sat on a bench beside Susan. David was nowhere to be seen, but Hudson was sitting at the next bench. I noticed that Lucas hadn't followed us.

### With agonizing slowness, the Aquadome descended into the ocean, the water line creeping up the window until all one could see was fish and what looked like frolicking sea lions. It was a nice feeling to know that, although everything on land had been consumed by the solar holocaust, much of what lived in the sea survived.

### The scene became quite dark with only bioluminescent creatures visible. It took about a half-hour to settle on the ocean floor. Hudson turned and said that Aquarius was especially designed to sit horizontal on uneven surfaces. Its underside was flexible, pliable and would adapt perfectly to the contours of the ocean floor. The final bump when we landed was almost unnoticeable. Hudson rose to say something to the people, then collapsed.

### "Hudson!" Susan cried, rushing to his side. A crowd gathered. Everyone recognized the science supervisor, someone talked into a com-device and soon a paramedic crew arrived. They lifted Hudson onto a stretcher and carried him off. He didn't move. We all feared the worst.

### Later we learned that Hudson had died. He had lived much longer than the average Aquarian, but his death was still a great loss since he was still mentally agile and spoke often to Aquarians, explaining such things as the evolution of oceanic life and the history of the natural world.

### When we asked Shatoya about the funeral arrangements, she said there was no special event in the case of a death. There would eventually be a video exhibition of Hudson's life and a celebration of his achievements, but no funeral. Susan asked what happened to the body. Shatoya paused for several seconds and mumbled 'anthropophagy', almost apologetically. I turned to Susan who just shrugged her shoulders.

### Later we learned from Gill that Aquarians had learned not to waste high quality protein and Hudson would be incorporated into Aquadome foodstuff, especially because human flesh has a favorable amino acid profile. Only diseased individuals were discarded, through a tube which exited the side of the dome. I made a mental note to avoid eating in the dome. All future meals would be in Uruk...except, of course, for rapple.

### Part 11.4

### Shortly after we landed on the ocean floor, there was an announcement over the dome-wide audio system. Excursions to the coast were being arranged and anyone wishing to join should register at the Permission Desk. Susan, David, Gill and I immediately headed in that direction. To be once again on land? That was a delicious thought. The lineup at the Desk was huge. Hundreds of people, eager to see land, to walk on land, to feel it, smell it, taste it. I'd never seen so many happy faces. Over half were children who had clearly heard of land but had little notion of what it was like. I could hear them asking a parent, but the responses were less than elegant.

### "It can be painful," I heard. "Hot and painful. Sometimes it shakes and sometimes it splits and you can fall into a crack. It can also burn you and volcanoes are everywhere."

### Obviously the stories of the solar disaster was being described in school, the volcanic activity, the earthquakes and roasting of the land surface. I assumed that now, centuries later, it was calm and cool on the surface. I was about to explain that to some of the children when Susan punched me in the side. Damn! That hurt!

### "Let them be surprised," Susan said in a whisper. "Let them be astonished, overwhelmed. It'll be something the children will keep with them the rest of their life."

### Susan was right, of course. She usually was. Maybe I just wanted to show off, a little display of knowledge that Aquarians didn't have. We went to the back of the line.

### Several parents watched us go to the rear and beckoned us to come forward. One parent pointed to the front of the line where other parents were waving at us. We walked to the front and they made room for us.

### "I guess we're special," I said.

### "You are," Susan said. "Your speech on the Founder was video-broadcast throughout the dome. Your face is recognizable everywhere. They're calling you 'the aboriginal'. In fact, some people mistook Gill for you. That disturbed Gill a lot. Even his gills were agitated." Susan giggled.

### We were each given a curious helmet that fit poorly over our head, with tubes that attached to a soft bag hanging from our back. Then we passed through a tube and entered a vessel of sorts through a partition in its side. We all stood as the partition closed, the tube collapsed and our vessel pushed away from the side of the Aquadome. There were about a dozen of us. I only recognized David and Susan. In a few minutes we bobbed to the surface and I could see blue sky and fluffy white clouds. It was a welcome sight. The vessel was made of clear plastic-like material and the outside world was visible to all. I expected a surface maneuver that'd take us to the shoreline and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, it seemed we were scarcely skimming the surface.

### "I'm surprised they had these vehicles ready for this trip," I said to Susan. "How'd they know so far in advance?"

### The fellow next to me said, "They're fishing vessels–fish and algae collectors. See the claws at the front?" He pointed to the front of the ship. "They've never been used for this particular purpose, going to land."

### It took less than a half hour to reach the shore and our vessel just pushed its way onto a sandy beach. Actually, with the front-mounted claws, it was more like we were pulled to the beach. The children on board were jumping with excitement. I must admit that I was just as excited. When the ship came to a stop the partition slid open and several children fell in a scramble to get out. When I finally left the small ship, the children were hopping and skipping and throwing wet sand at each other. They each wore the curious helmet, but a parent pulled out some hand-held device, waved it in the air then removed the helmets from the kids. Assuming the air had been tested as safe, I did likewise, letting the clumsy bag on my back slide to the ground. I took in a great breath of air and it felt good, salty and moist but very good.

### "Look at the mountains," Susan said, pointing. I turned and saw a coastal range of mountains, snow capped and covered with green growth almost to the top.

### "Let's go," she said and started jogging toward the nearby hills. She was clearly in better shape than I because my legs were heavy after just a few minutes. I hadn't exercised in some time and it felt like it.

### "Smell the air," Susan said, stopping and sitting on a rock. "See this rock? Covered in moss, lichens and fungi. The Earth has recovered!" She was ecstatic.

### I sat beside her as David walked up the incline to our rock. He stood and I could see that he was pleased with what he saw.

### "It's quite remarkable," he said, "that, just a couple of centuries after almost total disaster, this land could have recovered so well. I expect to see a small rodent peeking out from behind a tree or at least a frog or two. After all, frogs could have sought refuge in the water."

### David sat and we three just ran our eyes across the splendid landscape. Somewhat farther up the slope was the start of a wooded area.

### "Looks like conifers," I said. "I read somewhere that their seeds can survive a forest fire. And aspens, I think."

### We just sat there admiring the view. I think we could have stayed for hours. After months in a confined space, it was delightful. Then something moved at the edge of the forest. Susan jumped to her feet. "Did you see that?" she shouted. "There was a movement, I'm certain."

### David got up and began walking toward the woods. Susan jumped up to follow. I was hesitant. Did we know for sure what kind of creature would survive a solar holocaust? Would it be dangerous? Would it be friendly?

### "C'mon Gordie," Susan said. "I think it was pretty small. It could hardly be dangerous. I suspect it'll be afraid of us. Let's go."

### When we got to the first trees, we saw that they were conifers, but stunted. Susan stopped and gazed into the woods. It was quite dark and the ground was covered in moss and ferns and olive-colored grass. There was no sign of life, nothing was moving.

### David stepped into the shadow of the nearest tree.

### "Follow me, Susan," he said. He obviously didn't mean for me to follow, but I did anyway. Susan was stepping gingerly over the ground plants as though she didn't want to damage them. That didn't bother me; I just barged right through. David stopped and cocked his head. He must have heard something–then so did I. It sounded like a very human grunt. We all stopped to look about and saw the thing beyond a stand of tall grass. It was perhaps one and a half meters tall and very dark skinned. It immediately vanished into the long grass.

### "Humanoid," David said. "Perhaps pygmoid."

### "Pygmies, in America?" Susan asked.

### "Perhaps the genetic result of the holocaust, smaller, more adaptable to limited resources."

### "We should find him," Susan said, clearly excited by the prospect. She began to run to the tall grass and David followed. I waited just for a moment–then I joined them. I wasn't sure this was a good idea. I read about pygmies that were cannibals. It was bad enough that Aquarians ate their dead, but pygmies probably didn't care that I wasn't yet dead.

### After about twenty minutes of combing through the grass, we gave up. If there were pygmies here, we should let them be. Congratulations on surviving the holocaust and all that, but we must be on our way. When we returned to the beach, there were hundred of people swimming–in the nude! Susan pushed me into the plastic vessel before I had a chance to observe their swimming style. This was, for sure, the very first time Aquarians had been able to swim in the ocean and it would be interesting to see how they'd cope. However, sharp pokes in my side and I was inside the vessel, ready to return to Aquarius. The walls of the vessel were perfectly transparent, of course, but Susan pushed me onto a bench beside David and pointed at the ceiling. I looked. There was nothing to see except blue sky. I looked at David. He was grinning ear to ear as our boat slipped into the water.

### Gill and Lucas were there to greet us when we left the vessel through the tubular partition and entered Aquarius.

### "Did you see the dwarfs?" Gill asked. "Uruk said that dwarfism was manifest after the holocaust and their breeding habits were in part responsible for their durability–along with minor genetic intervention by Godships. There was already a small colony of dwarfs in what was once California. They were shunned by many so they established themselves in rather elaborate caves. Indeed, by the time of the solar holocaust, most non-standard humans had disassociated themselves from common society. Many of the cave dwelling dwarfs survived the solar catastrophe and now live in the forests of Southern California. There are other humans, non-pygmy humans, but they still don't associate with dwarfs. In any case, the population here on the coast is very small."

### "So God intervened, is that right?" I asked.

### David smiled. "Gordon, my boy, you must know by now that holy intervention occurs rarely and only to assist evolutionary development. You saw that kind of guidance with the beetles, on our way here. In fact, I can now report that those very same beetles have developed the mental competence necessary to survive the modified environment that was created for them. They will flourish. That should make you proud."

### I could barely remember the beetles–and I certainly didn't feel any pride.

### Part 11.5

### Lucas took my hand and led me to a corner of the receiving room.

### "The video that we were to watch... of Old Earth, it's been replaced by a memorial video for Hudson. That's this evening. Would you like to join me? I must make a speech, for the old man, someone who was very special to me. He has had a good existence and we must now celebrate his life."

### "Yes, of course," I said, even though I hated funerals. "When will his body be...uh, consumed?"

### Lucas looked confused. "Consumed? What do you mean?"

### "I was led to believe that his body would somehow be incorporated into Aquarius food."

### "Yes, assimilation. We will all benefit from his amino acids. Various cells are extracted for the cell bank, T cells from bone marrow, other lymphocytes, a gene map is generated, memory scans are made..."

### "Then you eat what's left?" I said in my most nauseated voice.

### Lucas stared at me with a curious look. "Does that bother you?" he asked. "Remember that we live in a closed environment. We do eat whatever flesh we can extract from the sea about us, but the only animals that we breed are humans. Do you think that is an amoral practice?" He paused for a moment, then squinted. "It is said that, in your time, you actually raised animals specifically to kill them to eat their flesh. It is said that there were eating establishments on every street corner that specialized in the production and distribution of such dead animal food products. Isn't it true that you had animal pets that were fed with the flesh of other, killed animals? It is said that entire animals were slaughtered for just a fragment of their body parts, just a horn or just a fin or just some internal organ. You were there. Is that true?"

### "Well, yes, but everybody did it and there were never any objections. Something as common as eating steak was an acceptable..."

### "And the only animal that you didn't eat?"

### "We certainly didn't eat each other!" I said, almost shouting.

### Lucas turned and walked away. I could see he was upset. I saw a bench and sat down to think. So what was wrong with recycling humans? Was it a religious thing? Here, in Aquarius, they didn't kill people, they just incorporated their protein into the foodstuff. If that was abhorrent to us, then maybe we're too limited in our world view. There were other eating habits that I found abhorrent, when I lived on Old Earth. Eating bugs, caterpillars, insects, ant larvae, fish eyeballs, bull's penis, internal organs, tongue, beef testicles, sausage meat wrapped in intestines. I can also remember disgusting social customs, certain sexual practices, genital mutilation, late term abortions, organized rape, gross gender inequality–yet there were many who found these acceptable, indeed laudable. I think that religious thinking was influential and, of course, tradition, always tradition. The Aquarians have probably been eating human flesh for centuries. That, too, is tradition.

### "Gordon? Is that you?" It was Susan. "What on earth are you doing, sitting there by yourself?"

### "I'm thinking. Do you think that eating old man Hudson is okay?" I asked.

### "Come with me," she said, ignoring my question. "There's a memorial service you should attend."

I sat with Susan, David and Gill, near the back of the auditorium. Shatoya was introducing Lucas. There was a large image of Hudson as a young man on the screen. Lucas began talking, but I wasn't listening. The images changed as he spoke, but I was deep in thought. Was life on Old Earth so great? Were our traditions the finest that man could muster? There were wars, racism, ethnic cleansing. I remembered a few lines from a poem, a Lord's Lament, that bemoaned human characteristics:

### He forged a world to suit his need.

### He ravaged land and sea.

### He failed to find the seemly path

### He earned the Earth's befitting wrath.

### The Earth's befitting wrath? Was the solar holocaust such an event? I was now in a society that seemed to have developed social skills suitable for a sealed environment. Here, at the bottom of the ocean, births needed to be approved in order to avoid exponential growth in population, no money changed hands, people were trained for specific employment, healthcare was freely given to all. There were no rich, no poor, no unemployment and no wars. Every hallway had a path for joggers, and it seemed that every Aquarian jogged from place to place; they were healthy. Crime seemed to be nonexistent. People got along. There was always laughter. There seemed to be very little racial discrimination–Lucas was the exception. Black, yellow, white, brown; every skin color was here.

### Government was not like the old social democracies with its vacuous promises, ludicrous and expensive campaigns, mud slinging, corruption and money grabbing–at taxpayers expense. Here in Aquarius, every person's life was recorded on massive data banks, every life event, every endeavor, every sickness, every speech, education, interest, idiosyncrasy, hobby. Leaders were chosen by computer, using an algorithm that incorporated all the information in the data bank–and that mechanism had apparently worked well for over a century.

### Hudson was over eighty when he died. I couldn't understand why life expectancy was low and decreasing. They all seemed so healthy. So, should I complain about life in this Aquadome? Was our environment, our traditions on Old Earth, really better?

### Lucas had finished talking and now the sequence of images became a moving picture show, with Hudson as a child, in classes, giving a lecture, in a lab. The music was not funereal, but rather upbeat. This was a celebration, like the old funeral celebrations I read about in New Orleans. The audience began clapping and chanting. I could barely make out the words. I saw Susan smile; she understood.

### Your soul to rest in the ocean wide

### Your body is ours to keep inside

### We cherish the memories legion

### Sustained by the ocean tide.

### 'Keep inside'? Did that mean what I thought it meant? I reminded myself to have my meals in the Godship. Pork burgers... without butchering a pig. No pig? How did they do that?

### Part 11.6

### We had been on Aquarius for little more than a week and I was getting to feel confined. There were other excursions to the shore, but no small people were seen and the monotony of the landscape was depressing. I couldn't understand why I'd feel that way, since every Godship enclosure was like every other and Aquarius was little better.

### "When do we go back to our Godship?" I asked David one morning over breakfast. We were having bacon and eggs and toast and coffee, in Uruk. It was delicious and I never once thought of the origin of the animal products, especially unborn chickens.

### "Gilgamesh is gone," David said, sipping a mug of black coffee. "It left several days ago to assist in the move of Aquarius Atlantica."

### "Will we get to see that other Aquadome?" I asked, thinking that would be a nice variation in our routine.

### Susan groaned. "Shatoya said we would not like what we saw. It's quite different, evolved quite unlike Pacifica, it's over crowded and social norms are... what word did she use?"

### "Novel," David said with a grin. "Shatoya said their protocols are quite novel. Communication with other Aquadomes is difficult at depth because of the salinity of the water, but there are occasional transmissions and the locals seem to know what life is like on the other habitats."

### "And Atlantica is the worst," Susan added. "I don't think I'd like to go there."

### After listening to their description of Atlantica it seemed an even more desirable place to visit. Maybe I needed the adrenalin rush. Everyday rituals were getting to me: sleep on a hard bed, breakfast, gaze out a window at swimming creatures, short discussions with David and Susan on topics of little import, eat again, wander the Aquadome, browse through libraries of audio disks, eat then sleep again on a hard bed.

### "I'd like to go," I said. "It'll be something...novel. Besides, if our goal was to move Aquarius Pacifica to shallower water, that's been accomplished. What else is there for our Godships to do, here?"

### "Yes, you are quite right," David said. "Indeed, Gilgamesh will return for us very soon–I'm not sure when, but we can ask Gill."

### It was later that same day that I ran into Gill. He was in conversation with Lucas. They were both smiling at each other as though each was captivated by the other presence. Gill had his hand on Lucas' shoulder, fingers rubbing his neck. Lucas was massaging a set of immature gills. I hated to interrupt such an affectionate ceremony.

### "Gill? Could I ask a question?" I said.

### They both immediately snapped to attention. Gill looked almost professorial. "Yes, Gordon, what is it you would like to ask?" Lucas spun about and walked away at speed.

### "When will Gilgamesh return and will we be able to visit Aquarius Atlantica?" I said.

### "Yes, Atlantica. Gilgamesh has completed his task there and we will return and we will leave planet Earth."

### "No! I'd like to stay for a while longer, to visit Atlantica, to visit other places on land! Perhaps we can..."

### Gill raised his hand to end my rant. "All that is quite possible," Gill said. "Gilgamesh has no immediate mission planned. We can go wherever you wish."

### "First Atlantica, then maybe Burlington."

### "Burlington?"

### "That's where we lived, Susan, David and I. It's on a beautiful lake. It was lovely, serene, peaceful, idyllic, green–as I remember it. Susan had a burger joint, pork burgers with fried onions and..."

### "Then that's where we will go," Gill said with finality.

### Part 11.7

### It was evening and I asked Susan if we could spend the night in our bedroom, on our Godship.

### "Why are you asking me, of all people?" she said.

### "Well...how should I put this? I know you're in close contact with Gilgamesh because of that–that thing on your neck, with hairs."

### Susan went red in her cheeks and looked away.

### "Oh, Gordie, I'm so sorry. I was afraid to mention it, fearing it would upset you."

### "I was upset, but I haven't seen any evidence of the scar for some time. I assume it was an implant."

### "It was actually a biological growth, induced by Gilgamesh," she said, the redness slowly fading from the cheeks. "The hairs were antennas and after some months it's been removed, dissolved...sort of. It never helped me much. David's is much more developed and Gill, of course, is a biological extension of the Godship itself and needs no communication devices."

### "That's okay. After a while I understood its function and when it sort of disappeared I assumed you were free of Gilgamesh's grasp."

### The pink returned to Susan's cheeks. "No, I'm still in intimate contact, but I leave difficult details to David and especially to Gill." Then she took my hand and asked: "Why did you want to spend the night in our bedroom, on board our Godship?"

### "Well, I'm not very good at sexual activity, but..."

### "I'm perfectly aware of that, Gordon Blend!" she said angrily. "I was beginning to feel that you'd prefer Lucas after your visit to the Copulation Center."

### "No, no! We never went there!" I said, my voice shaking. "It was a joke, a ploy to make you...well, jealous. I felt you falling away from me, becoming remote, distant. I thought if I pretended..."

### "Gordon Blend, you are a scoundrel!" she squealed.

### "Please, Susan, let me explain. I see you with David, talking quietly as though you didn't want me to hear. When I come near, you stop talking. I hear you laughing, but only when you're near him, never with me. I often feel that you are sorry you married me. I know I'm a crashing bore, but I do love you and..."

### Susan put her arms about my neck and gave me a great hug and a hard kiss on the lips.

### 'Oh Gordie, you are so very sweet. My conversations with David concern Godship maneuvers. He explains things that I didn't quite understand when I mind-talk. Sometimes my ignorance is something to laugh at. You wouldn't have the slightest interest in dark matter conversion, graviton control and black hole confinement." Susan paused and gave me a tiny peck on my cheek. "Now, Mr. Blend, tell me why you wanted to spend the night in our bedroom, with me."

### "Babies," I said, blurting it out. "I mean, our original intention when we came on board–I just thought, you know, we would have something, make a little cuddly something to bind us together and..."

### Susan stood back and stared at me in amazement. I stopped talking, expecting a verbal blast. Her eyes closed. She frowned. She shook her head and mumbled something I couldn't hear. Then her eyes opened and she smiled at me.

### "It's all arranged," she said with exceptional vigor. "Gilgamesh understands our intentions and has made all the necessary arrangements."

### "Uh...he understands? You just talked to him? Does he have to know what we'll be doing? What arrangements are necessary? I just thought we'd, you know, just..."

### "Silly boy, we will do–you know."

### I've rarely seen my wife so happy. Have I really been that impassive? I've always recognized that sex didn't play a big role in my life. I never read pornographic stuff, never had the dreams my classmates had, never felt sexually deprived. I always felt that Susan felt the same way and never pushed for sexual intimacy. I was wrong, as usual. What did she ever see in me, anyway? She was so beautiful, inside as well as outside. In fact, she has become more beautiful as a result of our time on the Godship. She was smart and devoted to my welfare. I was a lucky man.

### And I couldn't wait until tonight.

### Part 11.8

### We met David and Gill in the machine room where molecular transports took place. It seemed that returning to Gilgamesh for the night was on everyone's mind. Susan ran to David and whispered in his ear. David looked at me and grinned, an evil grin. Did Susan have to advertise our intentions? Then I remembered that David could just walk right through the wall of our bedroom; no knocking, no warning. Just, poof, he would be there beside our bed, standing, watching, maybe giving guidance while we did our thing.

### "David is happy," Susan said, skipping back to stand by my side.

### "What did you tell him? Did you invite him to watch, to provide encouragement, supervision?"

### "Gordon! What a thing to ask. David is happy for us. He says God will be by our side."

### "What has God to do with anything? I really don't think we need any blessed intervention, do you?"

### "But God is always present at births. Did you not notice that the native births resulted in children ideally suited for ocean living? They have gills!"

### "Oh shit! Do you mean our children will have gills?"

### Susan looked puzzled. "I don't know," she said. "I really don't know."

### "Then ask somebody who does know. Ask Gill!" I was almost yelling. I was beginning to think that making babies might be a very bad idea. We might have an audience, holy supervision and the outcome might be unexpected, unnatural.

### David and Gill were standing on the other side of the machine room and must have overheard us because David started walking in our direction.

### "I couldn't help recognizing your concern," he said, speaking directly to me. "However, I can assure you that Gilgamesh will do nothing indecorous. Your child will reflect your genetic structure as well as Susan's–a randomly selected aggregation of characteristics."

### Somebody behind me said: "God is probability." I turned to see Gill, all smiles, his ridiculous gills vibrating. "God may select a gender, a hair or eye color, temperament, then, in three months the miracle of birth."

### "What! Three months! Are you kidding me? It's nine month, in case you didn't know. What kind of screwed up knowledge do you have–of human reproduction."

### Just then we all began to dissolve. When we again emerged from the molecular transport, Susan and I were on our Godship, in our bedroom. I looked about. We were alone. Thank God.

### I was pretty sure that Gilgamesh created our bedroom when we needed it, then it dissolved when we didn't, yet it always appeared the same: a comfortable over-sized bed, end tables with lamps, a couple of easy chairs, a sofa and small table with flowers...and the wonderful smell of lilac.

### "Follow me," Susan said. Then she pulled me to the bed and pushed me into a position parallel to the plane of the bed. I quickly looked about expecting to see David or Gill standing by the wall or sitting in a chair, looking on with amusement. We were quite alone. Susan shook her head and the lights dimmed. I never knew the source of that illumination; it certainly wasn't the lamps on the end tables. While I was considering the mechanics of material fabrication and mind-talk illumination, Susan was getting undressed. I couldn't believe the swiftness with which she discarded clothes. Then she stood naked by the side of the bed, waiting. I felt slightly embarrassed. I guess it was my turn. I looked about once more and, seeing that we were still alone, began to undress.

### After about an hour we both lay on the bed, exhausted and naked. Susan had her head on my chest and I was panting. The lights brightened and I could hear faint applause. I jumped out of bed and saw David, Gill, Tiesha and Hydra sitting by the wall, gently clapping their hands. Then they all stood and the applause became louder: "Bravo!" David said. Susan was out of bed and smiling. She was naked. I ran to gather her clothes and realized that I was naked. I couldn't remember where I had put my trousers. Susan was laughing. She tossed me a robe that just seemed to materialize. I looked again at my wife. She was now in a crimson robe. How does she do that? We both stood side by side, in our robes, staring at the crowd by the wall. Susan was giggling. I was furious.

### CHAPTER TWELVE
### Part 12.1

### When we were alone, I asked Susan if she was embarrassed. One doesn't usually have an audience. She shook her head and giggled. She seemed to giggle a lot these days. Why was she so happy? I was really upset.

### "I think it worked," she said. Smiling brightly.

### "Worked? What worked?"

### "You done good," she said. Another giggle. "Now, just three more months."

### "Hold on!" I said, agitated. "I don't want Gilgamesh or God or any other divine thing interfering in the natural course of events. How would we know it's ours? How can we be sure it isn't some vile creation that's intended to populate some planet in need of genetic diversity? How would we know..."

### Susan placed her finger on my lips. "Shush, dear Gordie. Gilgamesh knows our wants, our needs, our dreams. He would never, ever go against our wishes."

### "You've...uh, talked to him?"

### "Of course? He arranged for our transport directly to our bedroom and was in tune with our thoughts on the subject of procreation."

### "Our thoughts? What does that mean? I never talked to him. Exactly what did you ask for?"

### Susan blushed a little. "A girl," she murmured. "I hope you don't mind."

### "No, not at all, but what's this three month thing? Why not a natural, normal, traditional, healthy nine month pregnancy?"

### "It isn't necessary. Three months is plenty of time for fetal development–with God's help. I already have a name for our child. David thinks it's appropriate."

### "David! What the hell does he have to do with it? How would he even know?"

### "Well, we were in mind-connect when you and I discussed baby making, in the machine room, in Aquarius. I thought 'girl' and David approved. I thought...well, I thought the name of the girl and he approved that as well."

### "I see," I grunted. "You get David's approval and avoid any discussion with your husband."

### Susan frowned, her smile transforming into a snarl. "Gordon Blend, you are impossible!" Then she lay flat on the bed, pulled the sheets over her head and refused to discuss things any further. I tossed and turned for over an hour. Why was I not consulted about the girl's name? Surely I had some rights as husband and father. Then I realized that Susan hadn't mentioned the 'appropriate' name that David had approved. I began to run through my choices for girl's names, alphabetically...Adele...Anita...Annie...

### Part 12.2

### When I awoke the next morning, I was alone in bed. I rolled out, quickly dressed and ran to the nearest wall, which promptly dissolved. When I arrived for breakfast I saw that there was a crowd: Susan, David, Gill, Tiesha, Hydra and even Shatoya, Althea and Lucas. Damn! I wasn't in the mood for small talk, I just wanted to discuss things with my wife.

### "Good morning darling," Susan said sweetly and pointed to the empty chair next to her. The others nodded greetings. I noticed that Lucas was sitting beside Gill and Althea, next to Shatoya, was eating and frowning.

### "Yes, good morning," I stuttered and sat on the empty chair next to Susan.

### "I understand that congratulations are in order," Shatoya and Lucas said, together.

### "Damn it! Is nothing private in this... this lunatic world?"

### "I am so sorry," Shatoya said. "I assumed that you would be pleased."

### Althea stopped chewing toast and snorted, "Your child will be deformed."

### I jumped to my feet. Gill raised his hand. "Gordon, do not worry," he said. "Althea is mistaken. Your child will be very special, unique–but deformed is an unbefitting description."

### "You and Susan have been blessed," David said. "You will be proud."

### "I thought you understood," Shatoya said. "You and Susan and your child have apparently been chosen by God."

### I looked at Susan. She was glowing with pride.

### I looked at Tiesha. She was smiling–and no longer pregnant! When did that happen? It was just a month or two that she...she...how can she be happy?

### "How can you behave this way?" I said to Gill. "Tiesha has given you child and yet you dally with Lucas." I looked at Tiesha. "How can you put up with this? Gill has jumped ship, bailed out, abandoned you, yet you sit there...calm and satisfied and smiling."

### Tiesha smiled, a sort of smirk. "Anapos, our son," she said happily.

### "Yes, Tiesha has given me a son, Anapos, named after a water god of Greek mythology," Gill said, "Lucas and I will raise it to do the will of God." Lucas looked slightly confused.

### "Is Lucas leaving Aquarius or are you staying in the Aquadome?" I asked Gill, hoping for the latter.

### "Lucas has asked to join us on the Godship and Gilgamesh has agreed."

### I was appalled. I really wanted to go to Burlington, with my wife. Perhaps, after a very, very short visit to Aquarius Atlantica, we could return to our home on the lake. Life on our Godship was becoming ludicrous. Social norms discarded, switching partners at random, genetic reconfiguration, synthetic people–I longed for our former, simpler life.

### Part 12.3

### It was later in the day that I managed to get Susan to myself. She had been in conversation with Hydra, for whatever reason. Although Hydra was Susan's synthetic twin, they had absolutely nothing in common. In fact, Hydra seemed mentally incompetent. She had Susan's general appearance, but would not be able to carry on an intelligent conversation. My first question to Susan was about Hydra.

### "She's a precious thing," Susan said. "Pure of heart, always eager to please, simple in her needs yet elaborate in her emotional mannerisms. Don't you just love her?"

### "I don't even know her," I said, truthfully. "I only remember her calling me Miss Blend and being stuck half in and half out of a wall. So what were you talking about?"

### "About babies," Susan said gleefully. "She wanted to know about babies. She has been caring for Anapos, Gill's baby, a kind of baby sitter, but she didn't know how they came into being, how they were generated. She said 'hatched'. She's so cute."

### I grunted. Only Susan could find that cute. A conversation with an idiot didn't seem cute to me.

### "Okay, I'd like to know what you think about getting off in Burlington."

### "Getting off? What does that mean?"

### "It means getting off this galaxian bus, living our lives where we met, raising our child there...by the lake."

### Susan frowned. "Where would we live, what would we eat, how would we keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer? Besides, God has plans for our child. I expect the plans do not include leaving the Godship."

### "Damn his plans! I have plans! My plans trump God's plans!"

### "You haven't answered my question about what we eat and where we live? Do you intend to rebuild our home from the rubble?"

### Just then David appeared. Damn! That's all I needed just now. Another jerk who would support Susan.

### "Susan is quite right," David said, apparently listening in to Susan's thoughts. "There is little left of Burlington. Charred buildings, ashes of forests, broken streets and little vegetation and, I believe, some rather small animals."

### "Animals? Do animals live there? Did they survive? If so, then maybe some people survived." I was encouraged by David's remarks.

### "No humans, just animals with gross malformities, the result of excessive radiation," David said. "Animals that survived by living beneath the ground, deep in the soil. All generations of humans live beneath the ocean. No earthquakes, no wildfires, landslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami losses or flooding. No need to adapt to winter's chill or summer's heat. No dust storms to annihilate crops, no volcanoes to demolish cities. More food than one can possibly consume. An almost limitless supply of energy from the ocean..."

### "Wait!" I barked. "Are you telling me that God has decided that human should live inside Aquadomes on the bottom of the ocean?"

### "Inside? Certainly not," David said. "Humans will inhabit all of Earth, including the seventy percent of Earth's surface which are the oceans of the world. Like fish, they will breathe in water and, like dolphins, they will breathe air."

### "Yet they will live in Aquadomes?" I asked, overwhelmed by what I was hearing. "And Gill's child, does it have gills? And my child, will it have gills?"

### "Why yes, of course." David said. "All children blessed by God will be equipped for ocean dwelling. Imagine the freedom. Our long held desire to fly, finally realized. A three dimensional medium to savor. Children will cavort with dolphins, teenagers will hunt sea cucumbers, young men will demonstrate their agility in submarine Olympic events, adults will collect shrimp and clams and sea plants–and yet all will be able to ascend to the land and explore and repopulate terra firma if that is their wish. At last the planet, all three dimensions, will be accessible to mankind."

### Our child will have functioning gills? I looked at Susan. She was pleased with that outcome of our lovemaking, an event witnessed by almost every bloody person we knew. It seemed that I was the only character around who knew nothing of what was happening, what was planned. I somehow felt that even Hydra, that stupid clone of Susan, that even she understood the future of the human race, the corruption of the natural order of things. Damn it all!

### "Is this what God had in mind when he initiated life on Earth?" I asked, dumbfounded. "If so, why did creatures crawl out onto the land and lose their ability to breathe under water?"

### "Ah Gordon, my boy," David said. "The complex organic molecules of life needed to assemble into unicellular organisms, to coagulate, to organize genetic information, build DNA, self-replicate. This can only happen in a fluid where molecules have three dimensional freedom of movement. Can't you see? Single celled structures learned, through random processes, to organize into multicellular creatures. That requires vast amounts of energy, energy readily available in deep-sea hydrothermal vents." David was beaming.

### "But God, if he knows the outcome of all this evolutionary stuff, could have just made land animals right from the beginning," I said, slightly upset. "He could have made aquapeople, right from the start. Why wait a billion years? Just wave his hand and..."

### "Gordie, sweetheart," Susan said, "do you really need to be reminded, again and again, that God provides guidance, always within limits, always letting his natural laws prevail. Imagine all the failed variations that lived in the sea, the ones that became extinct because they couldn't adapt, prokaryotes and eukaryotes and three billion years of modifications, annihilations, success...until, eventually, God created Gordon Blend." She kissed me hard on the lips just as I was about to protest. What was Susan talking about? I hardly knew this woman.

### "Damn it all!" I said, almost shouting. "I don't believe in all this God crap! I don't know how this ship works, how it gets energy from empty space, how it manipulates gravity and influences genetic variation, how it collects black holes, but it damn well isn't some God. It's some super human race, some super intelligent beings, some Grand Poobahs, some remarkable creatures made these Godships and set them on autopilot. I don't know their intent but it sure as hell wasn't to help humans survive a solar catastrophe. That's autopilot behavior. These ships have been computerized, programmed, automated, given extraordinary abilities by an extraordinary culture and now they're just doing their thing...whatever that is. How the hell could we possibly know their intent?"

### Susan and David just stared at me. I didn't mean to rant and rave, but I was fed up with all this God talk. I read once that a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. We were living in an environment that depicted that magic. Susan began to say something, then remained silent.

### David gave me a vague smile and said, simply: "Call it an extraordinary culture...or call it God."

### Part 12.4

### Our last day in Aquarius Pacifica was memorable. Shatoya looked magnificent with her colossal Afro and midnight blue robe that fell from her shoulders to the floor, her ebony skin glowing in the bright lights. A large crowd had gathered in the cafeteria and a raised platform had been constructed. Shatoya was speaking:

### "Aquarians, we are gathered here to bid a fond farewell to our guests." She pointed to the front row of seats where Susan, David, Gill and I were seated. There was a short burst of applause. "They have come, accompanied by many Godships to assist us in our struggle, to move to shallower water, to adapt to our watery environment. Although we have had some small success in the development of structures necessary for breathing oxygen from water and from air, we now have an entire community of aquapeople."

### Shatoya pointed to an area of the room where dozens of native children waved and jumped up and down with delight at having been recognized. When they were quiet, Shatoya continued.

### "Now their work here is done, our guests and all Godships except ours will leave. Our own Godship, Uruk, will always be with us, to guide us, to protect us, to support our efforts to develop a society free of want, free to roam both land and sea and free to evolve. Now I'd like everyone to show their appreciation."

### Everyone except our front row rose and began to sing the Pacifica National Anthem. I couldn't make out all the words and it sounded more like a prayer, an old time gospel hymn...but I did hear:

### God grant us strength to love

### The wonders you provide.

### Cherish the stars above

### Cherish the ocean tide.

### The stars above? Most Aquarians had never seen the stars above, yet it was in their anthem. I glanced sideways at Susan. She apparently knew what I was thinking because she nodded and whispered: "That anthem was written centuries ago when the night sky was known to all." Susan's knowledge always amazed me. When I first met her, she was...she was less than exceptional. I felt somehow superior, better informed. I graduated at the bottom of my class, yet I was smarter than my wife. That had always been a comfort. Now, after months of Godship familiarity, I was the idiot and she was the intellect. I remember when we first came on board, I tried to teach her how to mind-talk to Gilgamesh, to think what she wanted, to walk through walls. Now I find that my abilities have waned and hers have expanded dramatically. Often, she would talk to David of things that were completely foreign to me. Dark matter conversion? What the hell was that? And gravity control? She probably understood how that was accomplished and...

### "So, finally, I would like to ask Mr. Gordon Blend to say a few words."

### Susan poked me in the ribs. What? Me? Say what words? I looked up and saw Shatoya, all smiles, reaching out for my hand.

### "Go, Gordie, say something nice," Susan whispered.

### I reached out and took Shatoya's hand, stood then stumbled then climbed clumsily to the platform. Shatoya stepped down. I looked about. There were hundreds of Aquarian faces staring at me. The far wall was covered with native children and their parents. There were the children that we had brought as well as those brought by other Godships. Susan, David and Gill were grinning. Next to Gill, Lucas was nodding as though he was offering encouragement. Beside Lucas, that brat, Althea, was frowning. I coughed to clear my throat, scratched my chin and ran my hand through my hair.

### "Well...uh, it's a great honor, of course, to say–to give–some parting words, to say something nice." What a stupid start to my speech! "I just want to thank everybody for their kindness and hospitality and, uh, sea food." Sea food? I'm an idiot! I hated the stuff! "Especially rapple which I really enjoyed," I added.

### Everyone laughed, a delicate laugh.

### "Yes, I'll carry with me fond memories of tall glasses of that divine liquid," I said.

### The laughter became quite loud. I was warming to my task. Susan was smiling.

### "Indeed, I've asked our Godship–whose name is Goldamesh which, I think, means a golden mesh–I've asked that he stock up on rapple to be used to enthrall his passengers and fuel the vessel in case we run out of black holes."

### I could see many in the crowd bent over, laughing helplessly.

### "Now those terrible blue-green algae cakes, they could provide heat resistant shielding when our craft descends into the atmosphere and..."

### Susan stood up, grabbed my hand and pulled me from the podium. The crowd went silent. Shatoya quickly jumped onto the stand:

### "Thank you Mr. Blend," she said. "Now, Aquarians, please leave quietly in alpha-order. There will be a video review of the past four days in the observatory as well as dome-wide transmissions. You won't want to miss the video presentation."

### CHAPTER THIRTEEN
### Part 13.1

### I stood in the alcove, looking down at the sea. The sky was a magnificent blue and the water crystal clear. We couldn't have been more than a few hundred meters above the ocean and I could clearly see the Aquadome. It looked several kilometers long and perhaps a kilometer wide in the center, much like the cigar shape of Godships. Attached to the side, like a tumor, was Uruk. I'd never seen that Godship before and it was tiny, as Godships go. There were dark bodies swimming about in the surf; the native children, no doubt. There were also dolphins, hundreds of them, circling the dome and leaping in the air. It was a beautiful sight.

### "Aren't you sad to leave?"

### I looked about and saw that Susan was by my side. She slipped her arm about my waist. "They are such splendid people, the Aquarians," she said. "Now, without population restraint, they will hopefully live long and happy lives–if not the current population then their descendants."

### "Population constraint? What constraint?" I asked.

### "In order to prevent overpopulation in a closed system." I recognized David's voice, behind me. Shit! Did he always have to show up? "Although the Aquadome was built to house a half million people," he said, "limits on life expectancy prevented the attainment of that maximum population."

### "So God killed people off after, what? Fifty years?" I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

### "No, it's in the genetic makeup of Aquarians, apoptotic DNA fragmentation, programmed cell death. It's a consequence of limited resources and spatial containment within the dome. However, because we have brought new blood and the Aquarians will now be able to leave their quarters beneath the sea, their genetic makeup will eventually change and the population will grow to fill the void–as it were."

### "But Hudson lived to be eighty," I said, as though that shot a huge hole in David's argument.

### "Yes. Because of random genetic variation, there are some individuals who have longer life. It's all in the probabilities, you understand."

### "Okay. God is a probability distribution," I said, hoping to end the discussion. "Susan, can I speak to you...alone?" I looked at David and he turned and walked away. "Is David listening? Will he know your thoughts? Are we really alone, you and I?"

### "Yes, of course," Susan said.

### We went to our bedroom and sat on the bed. I tried to turn the lights down low, but Gilgamesh wasn't listening. Susan winked and the lights dimmed. I hated that!

### "I want to go home," I said. "I miss our apartment by the lake. I miss...I miss Sandy, that clever little mutt that yapped too much but gave his love while only asking to be loved in return."

### I could see the glint of tears in Susan's eyes. I knew she missed Sandy, too. She put her arms about my neck and rested her forehead on my chest.

### "I know it will be difficult," I said. "I understand that there's little there to greet us, make us welcome, but maybe we can talk some people from Aquarius Atlantica to join us and we can begin anew."

### "Are we going to Atlantica?" Susan asked, surprised.

### "Yes, I think so. I asked Gill and he said we could pay them a visit."

### "I thought that that trip was cancelled. The Godships have already done their thing–whatever that was."

### "Can you ask Gill? Or maybe you can ask Gilgamesh directly? Can you do that?"

### "You said you wanted me to turn off mind-talk."

### "Well, yes, but now you can turn it back on...to talk to our Godship, to find out our next stop."

### Susan closed her eyes and leaned against my side, her chin resting on her chest. I waited. She seemed to be in a trance. I saw the tiny hairs arise from the back of her neck. Communication antennas. A purplish bruise began to appear. I thought that they had gone, departed, ceased to exist. It took almost two minutes, then the hairs withdrew and the scar vanished. That was scary. Susan was still under the authority of Gilgamesh...somehow.

### "You were right," she said, looking weary. "Next stop, Aquarius Atlantica...then Burlington." Then she lay back on the bed and was soon sound asleep.

### Part 13.2

### The next time I looked out the alcove port I could see no Godships. They had 'done their thing', that's what Susan had said. I imagined 'their thing' was to deliver people with gills to Aquarius Atlantica and maybe a move to shallow water. Were there people like Susan and David on board the other Godships, watching and assisting? Were there synthetic life forms, like Gill and Hydra? Were humans with gills deposited there? And the super race that created these Godships, the Poobahs–were they aware of what was happening? Where were they, anyway? And how different was Atlantica? Would it have children like Althea who could communicate with their Godship?

### In fact, did they have an attached Godship, like Uruk? Although I've never seen any evidence of the super race–other than their Godship creations–and Pacifica certainly wasn't aware of any alien life forms, maybe Atlantica was. Perhaps the Aquarians at the bottom of the Atlantic had a history that described a super race, some mythology that suggested alien visitations. Maybe we'll find answers when we arrive. I was looking forward to the adventure...for a short while, then on to Burlington.

### It was late in the day when a sudden hum in the walls announced that Gilgamesh was no longer in motion. I had noticed this several times before. When we stopped moving, there was a short period of humming, then silence again, then walls seemed to separate, rooms enlarge. At the time, I was listening to an audio recording of Tchaikovsky. I can't remember the name, but I've had heard it a thousand times. In fact, it was one of the few pieces of music I recognized; something about nut crackers. I hated opera and classical music that just went on and on, repeating the same old tune. I hated that rock stuff, with silly melody and sillier words.

### But the nut crackers brought back pleasant memories from the time when I played it every evening while working at Burlington Communications, by the lake. Back then, it was on an audio disk. Now it was just there, in the room, because I asked for it. I thought my mind-talk abilities were gone–because so few of my requests were granted–but they were just in low gear. Gilgamesh listened when I didn't ask for much: some food, some furniture, some music. I didn't even have to identify the music. It was always the same: nut crackers.

### I ran to the porthole and saw that it was a gray day with gray clouds that filled the sky. At the surface, the Atlantic Ocean seemed disturbed, whitecaps everywhere. There was no sign of life. I don't know why I expected to see any sign of life on the surface. The water was in turmoil and I could see nothing below the surface either. I waited for David or Gill to arrive and say we'd be transporting to the Aquadome. I didn't know where Susan was. I had last seen her for our midday meal, then she went off with David, saying that they had work to do. I assumed it had to do with our imminent arrival at the location of Aquarius Atlantica.

### I wandered from room to room, looking for Susan and the others. Usually, Gilgamesh understood where I was headed and a couple of room passages was sufficient. This time it took a dozen rooms, all empty, for me to eventually arrive in a large room where Susan, David and Gill were talking.

### "Hello stranger," Susan said with a big grin. "We're waiting for the best time to initiate transport."

### "What's the holdup?" I asked. I felt like suggesting that we just mind-talk, think that we'd like to go down and Gilgamesh would respond. However, they would have tried that already.

### "Riots," Gill said.

### "Huh? Riots? Where?" I was confused.

### "The population on Atlantica is nothing like Pacifica," Gill said. "They are apparently a lower form of humanity that..."

### "No, no," David said, interrupting. "They are just less civilized, less socially developed, more prone to emotional extremes–because of the conditions in their Aquadome."

### "What conditions?" I asked. "I was under the impression that the Poobahs designed the Godships which designed these Aquadomes, so Atlantica would be the same as Pacifica."

### "Poobahs?" Susan asked.

### "Yeah. The super human race that is responsible for all this...this stuff," I said, waving my arm in a circle.

### "There are no population controls here, as there were in Pacifica," David said. "The result of overcrowding is well known. Youngsters formed groups, separating themselves from and disrupting the rest of society. Anxiety and depression become commonplace in females. They become aggressive, abandoning their children. Sexual norms are abandoned. Violence and disruption of social organization results. Diseases that had been vanquished in Pacifica are rampant in parts of Atlantica."

### "Oh Gordon," Susan said, pleading. "Now I think going down is a mistake. You asked to come here. Do you really want to transport to this awful place?"

### I hadn't thought of what the conditions would be like on this Aquadome. I remember Shatoya warning us of the bizarre environment here.

### "Well," I said, hesitantly, "can't we just drop in, take a quick look around then pop out again?"

### Gill was shaking his head. "If that is your wish," he said.

### "Yes, that is my wish," I said, defiantly. "I don't see why we can't look around without disturbing the status quo, do nothing to disturb the situation, do nothing to get ourselves in trouble...then we just pop back here to Gilgamesh."

### I saw that David was shaking his head and even Susan looked troubled by my request.

### Gill closed his eyes and I could see that we were fading. Wait! I didn't mean for it to happen right away! I was about to say something, but it was too late. I felt dizzy, then found myself emerging from molecular transport into some dark place. I whispered: "Susan? David?" There was no answer. I tried to mind-talk a little illumination, but that was pretty stupid since I assumed that I was now inside Aquarius Atlantica.

### I walked carefully, hand extended in front of me in case I ran into a wall. I kept asking quietly for Susan or David of Gill, but there was no response. I felt a solid object, a handle, a door. I turned the handle. It didn't move. I pushed and the door seemed to rotate. Beyond the door there was light and my dark room became brighter. I stopped and looked about for my colleagues. Damn it! No one was there! Gill had dumped me into this hellhole...alone!

### Part 13.3

### I peeked through the crack left by the partially open door. I could hear voices, arguing. I thought I heard someone squeal. Jesus! Maybe I was mistaken and shouldn't have dropped down. I carefully opened the door and slipped out, clinging to the wall. The arguing stopped. Three guys and a girl were staring at me. The guys looked huge, like wrestlers, with shortcut black hair. The girl was petite and wore an inadequate dress that was more like a burlap sack. One guy walked in my direction. I looked at the door to that dark room, but another guy headed in that direction to cut me off. Then I was confronted by this tall fellow with a scar running diagonally across his right cheek.

### "This is our space," he grunted. "What ya doin' here?"

### "I just, sorta...uh, dropped by," I stuttered.

### He reached out with his right hand to grab me by the neck. His hand was like a ham hock, his fingers thick stubs. I could hear the girl laughing. "Get him, Chicago," she shouted. "He's trespassin'."

### I closed my eyes and heard Chicago grunting again, this time seemingly in pain. When I opened my eyes he was holding his right hand in his left. I could smell burning skin and saw wisps of smoke.

### "Ya bastard!" he groaned, stepping back. "Sam, come and fix this guy!"

### Another brute stepped forward and threw his fist in my direction, then recoiled in pain. "Shit!" he snorted. "He burned me! Look at dis!" He held out his hand and it was red, blistering. The girl had stopped laughing. The third guy was running away with the girl behind him. The two with the scorched hands started walking backwards, swearing but looking beaten. Then they turned and ran and I was alone in this large, bright room.

### If those guys were shocked, so was I. I ran my hands over my chest and down my sides. Normal temperature. How did they get burned? Did I do that? I opened the door to that dark room to let in more light, went in and looked for Susan and David. The room was still empty. I tried to make mind contact with Gilgamesh; no go. I could think of no way to get back. Maybe those thugs wouldn't bother me any more, so I slowly walked out of the dark room. On the far wall, next to a large door, were several dozen guys, all huge. One was pointing at me. I turned to go back into the dark room.

### "Wait!" someone yelled. "We wanna talk. No hurtin' and no burnin', okay?"

### I nodded and they all started walking slowly in my direction. The guy with the scar raised his hand. It was purple and blistered. He said: "How'd ya do that, okay?" he asked. "We need somebody like you, on our side, okay?"

### "Your side?" I asked. "Want does that mean?"

### "We is Devils Number Four," he said. "You join us and you burn 'em and we get to be Number One." He smiled and I could see just a few crooked teeth.

### I was thinking quickly. I could refuse, then what? Would all of these hoodlums try to overpower me? I could agree, then wait until I was rescued by David and Gill. Surely they would come...soon.

### "Okay," I said. "I'll join Number Four."

### They all cheered. There were no girls in this group. Scarface, the guy they called Chicago, he put his arm about my shoulders and we all walked out of the room and into a large amphitheater with doors on all sides. It was empty, but Chicago shouted: "Hey, Devils, screw you!" Then we waited. I kept looking back the way we came, hoping to see somebody friendly, like David or Gill or even Susan. Actually, on second thought, maybe it'd be better if Susan didn't show up.

### After a few minutes one of the doors of the amphitheater flew open and a dozen ugly looking individuals staggered out.

### "Hey Chicago, you asshole, you wanna challenge?" one said.

### Chicago stepped forward. "Yeah, Dallas, a challenge. One on one, okay?"

### The other guy laughed. "You and me? You kiddin'?"

### Chicago pulled me up front and put his arm around my shoulder and whispered, "They is Number One." Then he turned to the guy called Dallas. "Meet the newest member of Devils Four. He'll do ya, one on one, okay?" Dallas started in to laugh and everyone behind him joined in.

### "He's just a runt," Dallas said. Then he turned to me. "You really wanna do dis?" he said and before I could reply, he threw a punch.

### I closed my eyes and raised my hand in order to stop being bashed in the face, and Dallas was flung back against his buddies. Chicago was chuckling, then all my gang began to laugh. When I opened my eyes, Dallas was on the floor.

### "You stupid bugger," Dallas said, staring at me. He quickly got to his feet, then came at me swinging both hands. I raised both my hands and he crashed into some sort of invisible wall. His hands went limp, hanging from his wrists like wet cloth. "You broke my hands," he moaned. "He broke my hands!" he said to Chicago. Then he turned to his buddies. "He broke my hands." Dallas started to cry and Chicago was ecstatic. I was astonished. Where did I get this power?

### "Okay, we is Number One, okay?" Chicago said. Everybody in the amphitheater nodded agreement. In fact, all of Dallas' boys joined us. We were now Devils Number One. I wasn't sure what that meant, but it surely meant that I was no longer in danger of being damaged. In fact, it was clear that becoming Number One was entirely my doing.

### I turned to Chicago and said with some swagger: "I'm the head of Number One, just remember that."

### Chicago seemed a bit flustered, but said, "Okay...chief."

### Part 13.4

### For over an hour, Chicago and I wandered about the Aquadome. I felt like the Pied Piper. A crowd formed behind us as we marched in a long procession from room to room. Chicago, at my side, was beaming.

### "Now we gotta eat, okay?" he said. "You hungry?"

### I hadn't even thought of food, but now that he mentioned it, I was starving–and said so.

### "Good! We'll get a burger and fries, okay?"

### I couldn't believe my ears. Burger and fries? "Yeah, okay! Very okay!"

### Chicago swung to the right and entered a huge cafeteria and walked to the counter and ordered two burgers with the works and two large fries and two chocolate milkshakes. I'd gone from hellhole to heaven. I saw the sign with the prices for burger, fries and milkshakes. Everything cost one 'token'. The fellow on the other side of the counter started to ask for money, then changed his mind. Chicago wasn't going to pay. I suspect that he never paid.

### We sat and ate. The burgers weren't very good, certainly not pork, and the fries were soggy and the milkshake didn't taste too chocolatey, but I wolfed everything down nevertheless. Then I turned to Chicago.

### "Have you any money?" I asked.

### "Why? We don't pay nothin'."

### "Answer my question. Do you have any money?"

### "Yeah, some."

### "Then pay the man," I said, rising to my feet.

### Chicago seemed stunned. He rose slowly, muttered "Okay, Chief" then walked to the counter. The server looked frightened. Chicago punched his ID on some flat screen and I could see 6 tokens displayed. The server was smiling.

### "Thank you very much, Chicago. You're a good guy."

### Chicago gave him a curious look and said, "Yeah, okay, I'm a good guy."

### I could see that Chicago was pleased with himself. He turned to look at me, beamed and said, "I'm a good guy."

### I saw that others had now gone to the counter and ordered exactly the same thing...and they all paid their tokens. Most of them were members of Devils Number One and I suspect this was one of the few times they paid for food. Chicago watched, amused. "They is all good guys," he chuckled.

### After a time we all left and Chicago pointed out features of the Aquadome: the library filled with 'junk stuff', he said. The theater with 'damn good videos'. The exercise rooms, all empty. The Observation Lounge where one could 'see da fishies'. Everywhere, smiling people watched us pass. Chicago said, "You is a ace." It seemed that my reputation had traveled like wildfire through this part of the Aquadome. We stopped and sat on a park bench. There were no swings, no fountains, no statues and absolutely nothing for children. In fact, children seemed to be absent from the crowd.

### "How did you make your money?" I asked Chicago. "Do you have a job?"

### He laughed. "A job, like work? Me? No, I don't do no work. I just ask for money and they give it."

### "Ask who?"

### Chicago got up from the bench. "Watch," he said. "Watch and learn." Then he walked over to the nearest gent who was dressed in a slick body suit and cravat and said something I couldn't hear. The guy looked a bit worried and reached into his pocket and handed something over to Chicago. When Chicago came back to sit beside me he showed me what he had gotten. It looked like some sort of thin metal sheet, about two centimeters on a side. I was obviously confused so Chicago explained.

### "See da writin'? It says 10. That's worth ten tokens."

### "That's money?" I asked.

### "No, it ain't 'xactly money. It's more like a I.O.U. I can use that guys ID for up to ten tokens."

### "But why did he give it to you?" I asked. As soon as I asked I realized it was a stupid question. Chicago just grinned.

### Part 13.5

### Much later, Chicago and I were sitting in the Observation Lounge 'watchin da fishies'. This scarfaced brute had taken to me. I was 'a ace', whatever that implied, and he seemed happy to associate with such. The crowd had dispersed, although there were still a few sitting nearby. A short, fat gent approached and Chicago whispered, "Dat's da brass man."

### "My name is Sebastian. May I speak to you," the gent said, speaking to me with a slight bow.

### "Sure, go ahead," I said.

### "In private," he said, looking askance at Chicago.

### I looked at Chicago who was about to leave when I said, "My friend here can hear whatever you have to say." Chicago sat, smiling, his scar now a brighter pink. The gent looked concerned.

### "The Supervisor would like to speak to you...in private." He gave a dirty look to Chicago who returned the look.

### "Sure, take me to your leader," I said. I was in great spirits. I was 'a ace', I had a bodyguard, I had a burger and fries and I hadn't thought of Susan or David in hours. In fact, I was really beginning to like it here in Aquarius Atlantica. Sure, it had a bad reputation, but things could only get better. Maybe I could help make things better. I had, after all, got some of these thugs to pay for their meal. That was a start. In fact, I was feeling like I was a somebody...for the first time in my entire life.

### We followed Sebastian through several rooms and down several corridors then came to a rather ornate plastic door. The door had embossed designs: fish, whales, anemones and, surprisingly, sailing boats. It led into a smallish room. If this Supervisor was the Head Honcho, as Shatoya was on Pacifica, then this was a pretty crummy anteroom.

### "Please wait here," Sebastian said as he knocked on another door. Someone said to come in and Sebastian opened the door and waved me in. Chicago was a good guy; he stayed in the anteroom. I walked past Sebastian into what must be the Supervisor's office. I admit I had a slight swagger. There was a bald guy with a crooked nose sitting at a small plastic desk. He immediately got up, came around his desk and held out his hand.

### "Glad you could come, Mr. Blend," he said. "My name is Aspen."

### "How'd you know my name?" I asked, sitting in a hard-backed chair.

### "We've been in contact with your Godship," he said. "Indeed, I was speaking to your wife, Susan, I believe."

### "How'd you do dat? I sort of lost dem when I came transported down." Shit! Was I speaking like a Devil? "In fact," I added, "I ain't neither seen or heard from my wife and..." That wasn't me talking. Chicago was a bad influence, especially on my language abuse.

### "Can we get to the business at hand?"

### I started right away to dislike this guy. "As far as I know, we have no business at hand," I said.

### "Well, it's about your association with the families."

### "What families? My family is Susan and I'd like to know..."

### "The thieves and robbers and evil-minded fellows you've become attached to."

### "Families, eh? Just like the Mafia. That's hilarious."

### "Mafia?"

### "Don't worry about it. It was well before your time," I snorted. "So what's our business with these families?"

### "We have tried to bring them to lawfulness but without success. We assumed you would be willing to assist us in this endeavor."

### I leaned back in my chair and stared at the idiot. His crooked nose looked like it got caught in a revolving door. His bald head almost gleamed and his mouth was just a horizontal line without lips.

### "I think I can help," I said. "On one condition."

### I could see that this jerk, Asp-something, was upset that I didn't immediately jump on his bandwagon, but he'd have to climb onto mine. He waited for me to continue.

### "First off, the Family Leaders must be given jobs on your police force."

### This Aspirin guy gulped and sat heavily in his chair. I could see his throat swallowing hard and his Adam's apple pulsating.

### "I'm afraid that's quite imp–" he began.

### "Second thing. Children must be given playground stuff in the parks, like swings and slides and pools and such."

### "But that requires–"

### "Next thing. Mandatory exercise times. Everyone has an hour off work to exercise...and it's compulsory. Your new police force will see to that."

### Aspirin just sat, his mouth gaping.

### "Soon, after discussion with my wife, I'll have other demands."

### "Impossible!" Aspirin nearly screamed. I needed something to back up my demands and was hoping that my newly found powers were still around. I rose and pointed at a picture on the wall. The picture came off the wall and floated to his desk and landed hard.

### "See?" I said. "Nothing is impossible."

### Part 13.6

### I was in the Observation Lounge with Chicago and some of the other Family Leaders, explaining the new regime. They would all be junior members of the police force, with salaries. They would see that the new rules were enforced: automatic exercise periods, the building of children's play things in the parks, cleaning up the streets of trash, periodic washing of soiled walls and ceilings, absolutely no graffiti anywhere, everyone pays for their food and under no circumstances were they to use force...just simple but forceful requests.

### There was a low snicker at the 'forceful requests' bit. Chicago stood and looked around. "Everybody got that?" he said. "Okay, we got us work to do. Our tokens start now, okay?" With that they all left and I was alone. I started to wonder. It seemed too easy. Where did my power come from? I suspected that Gilgamesh had something to do with it. Whatever, I was happy but missed my friends on the Godship.

### "Hi, ace!" someone shouted. I looked about and saw Susan, David and Gill strolling across the lounge. "We saw everything," Susan said, sitting beside me on the bench. "Gordie, you were positively wonderful, masterful, I didn't know you had it in you." She threw her arms about my neck and kissed me hard. "Gill had set up a video link and we followed you wherever you went. It was hilarious, that first encounter with Chicago, and when Dallas ran into Gill's invisible wall and cried, we all laughed so hard."

### "Wait! Did you say Gill's invisible wall?"

### David grinned. "Did you think you had acquired some super ability, just like that? Gill had Gilgamesh extend its range and allow you to wish for these events to transpire; an invisible wall, tossing a picture on the desk of the Supervisor, whatever you wanted to happen."

### "So I thought of something and it just happened?" I asked.

### Gill was pleased and I could see his gills vibrating merrily. "Just as though you were on the Godship," he said. "In fact, although you didn't particularly like your burger and fries, you could have thought of more suitable versions and it would have been granted."

### "That milkshake–" I started to ask.

### "There are no cows in the Aquadomes," Gill said. "Neither are there cocoa trees to provide the chocolate. The chemical ingredients are identified and improvised, here in the Aquadome...but the Godship does a much better job."

### "But what about the Godships that visited Atlantica?" I asked. "What did they do for this Aquadome?"

### "Nothing," Susan said. "Apparently they came here, saw the social mess and concluded that these people weren't worth helping...so they left."

### "But they are worth helping," I said, upset at the Godship behavior. "I know I can help."

### Gill placed his hand on my shoulder. "Mr. Gordon Blend," he said in a solemn voice, "You have been chosen."

### Huh? Chosen? What the hell did that mean?

### CHAPTER FOURTEEN
### Part 14.1

### It was about a week later and we were gathered in the nearest amphitheater. There were four amphitheaters in the Aquadome. They were the largest enclosures but were rarely used because they were usually inhabited by the Families. However, the Families were now gainfully employed with their leaders on the police force, so when I called for a general meeting of Aquarians, the amphitheaters quickly filled to capacity. Closed circuit video of my speech was to be broadcast to all amphitheaters. When I stepped to the podium, all went quiet.

### "I have called you together today to speak of many things," I said. I was tempted to talk about cabbages and kings, but instead raised my arms and the amphitheater glowed with a pale green light. There was a murmur, then the crowd became very quiet. I saw Susan, David and Gill in the front row. Susan was radiant in a dark blue gown. I raised my arms again and the amphitheater glowed blue. You could hear a pin drop.

### "I have been sent to change things in Aquarius Atlantica, to fulfill your destiny, to save you from your sins. My powers descend from God and it is God's love that you must seek."

### I could see Susan placing her hand over her mouth, a very surprised look on her face.

### "Now hear this: each night before you retire, you must seek the love of God, pray for his guidance, ask that he ease your burdens, give you the strength to overcome grief and adversity. I give you rules by which to live: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shall honor your parents and protect and assist them. Thou shalt obey the laws of Aquarius Atlantica. Thou shalt do undo others when they...what they..."

### Damn! How could I forget the ten commandments? It didn't matter. These were different times, different problems.

### "You should treat your neighbors as you'd like them to treat you, with affection and understanding. Now let me tell you secrets, the Four Cs:

### The secret of a good life is Compassion.

### The secret of a good relationship is Courtesy.

### The secret of a good marriage is Communication.

### The secret of a good retirement is Curiosity."

### David and Gill were clapping, then the entire audience started clapping. Susan was in tears. I was just starting. Just wait to hear what else I had to say.

### "Raise your children with lots of hugging, ask their advice on issues, never ever let them hear you and your husband argue, insist that they read books, teach them to share what they have, do things together as a family, eat every meal together, feed them healthy."

### The audience was now standing and the applause was thunderous. I imagined that the applause extended to the other amphitheaters as well. Now I needed a glorious finale. I punched my fists in the air, left, right, left. Thunder exploded, spreading throughout the length and breadth of the Aquadome. The walls vibrated and the illumination went from blue through all the colors of the rainbow. Susan was crying. Before I stepped down I had one last thing to do.

### "Ladies and gentlemen, your Supervisor has asked to say a few words. Let us listen carefully to our chief." Then I pointed to Aspirin and stepped down. The jerk walked slowly to the platform. He was a shrimp and walked with a limp.

### "Aquarians of Atlantica, I have tried my best to be a good Supervisor...but I have failed," he said with sadness. "Yet, this stranger, Master Gordon Blend, he has transformed our dome in just one week." It looked like the jerk was going to cry. The crowd began to whisper among themselves. Aspirin raised his hands and it became quiet. "From this day forward," he said, "I will no longer be your Supervisor. Although this office is determined by popular vote, I ask you now: Do you want Master Blend to be our Supervisor?" The last sentence was a shout.

### There was an ear-splitting roar and the jerk...the Supervisor, he pointed at me and smiled. He somehow looked two meters tall and quite elegant in his fitted suit and red cravat. Susan punched me in the ribs. "Say something," she said tearfully. I rose and mounted the podium.

### "I don't know what to say," I gasped. "I am overwhelmed." Then the chanting began: Gor-don, Gor-don, Gor-don. "I accept the duties and would like to thank your Supervisor for his untiring efforts on your behalf. I think we should give him three cheers. Hip-hip..." I could see confusion on the faces of the crowd. "Okay, let us show our appreciation with applause." The amphitheater erupted in riotous ovation.

### I returned to my seat next to Susan. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and she whispered in my ear, "You are messiah." I looked at David and Gill. They were obviously pleased with my performance. Actually, so was I. I've never felt this good. I turned and gave Susan a big bear hug and kissed her on the lips. I could taste her tears.

### Part 14.2

### That night, tucked away in our bedroom on Gilgamesh, I turned to Susan.

### "I really don't understand what's happened," I said. "It was much too easy to transform this society. Sure, I had the power of our Godship at my command, but even Jesus had more difficulty."

### "Jesus had too many enemies. I think these Aquarians were in dire need of change. They were ready. They just needed someone to provide that final impetus–someone like you. And now you have all the control you need to reconstruct Atlantica."

### "But what about gills? I mean, people with gills? Shouldn't they be introduced here as they were on Pacifica? And shouldn't this Aquadome be moved to shallower waters, say near the East Coast of North America or even the Mediterranean?"

### "Oh Gordie, now that the Aquadome is in capable hands, your hands, the Godships will return and all the things you hope will happen will happen. Just you wait. When I spoke to David he was so impressed with your performance. And Gill, he was so proud to be your synthetic counterpart. And, of course, I am so proud to be your wife."

### Susan paused, then added: "Did you know that there are no restrictions on the number of children that a couple can have, here in Atlantica? That leads to overpopulation. And children are taken from their parents at birth, to be raised in orphanages. I don't think that is very wise, do you?"

### "Oh my, I didn't know that, else I would have said something in my speech to the Aquarians. That's awful. How can kids grow up without any notion of love and affection if they're raised by wardens?"

### Just then there was a knocking. "That's David," Susan said. "Okay David," she shouted. "Come in!" David walked through the wall. I was impressed. No sudden appearance in our bedroom? Now he knocked.

### "Hey David, I have a question," I said. "I assume we'll leave Atlantica some time in the future. What then? Who will be the next Supervisor? Who will see that this Aquadome continues in the same direction as we've started it? And gills? What about them? And a move to shallow water? What about that?"

### "Whoa, too many questions that I cannot answer. Can I call Gill?" he asked. David was asking for my approval? I nodded and David turned to look at the wall he had just come through. Gill suddenly appeared, all smiles.

### "Yes, there will be gills," he said immediately. "And yes, the Aquadome will be moved to shallower waters in the Bay of Biscay. Godships are already on their way here. As for the next Supervisor, that is up to you. You can appoint someone or you can call for a vote or you can generate some computer algorithm as they have done in Pacifica. Your choice."

### I had no idea where the Bay of Biscuit was, but I didn't care. I was just happy to learn that there'd be a move and soon a new breed of Aquarians who could enjoy a three-dimensional lifestyle in sea and on sand. Now I had to think of how to choose the next Supervisor.

### Part 14.3

### I wrote the computer algorithm myself. It was in an old computer language called trans-C, but Gill assured me that the ritual I described would be translated properly to the local computer dialect. The first thing I did was to ask every individual between the ages of twenty and sixty to answer several questions about themselves. I also asked their neighbors to answer similar questions about their neighbors. All the data was stored and manipulated within computer memory.

### If Smith said he was kind and generous to his neighbor, but the neighbor said that Smith was rude and often loses his temper, then Smith's name was eliminated from the list of potential Supervisors.

### On the other hand, if Smith said he was helpful to his neighbor but could and should be doing more, and if Smith's neighbor said that Smith was very helpful, then Smith's name was retained on the list.

### That alone eliminated over eighty percent of the population.

### Then I asked each person to rank the remaining people on the list on a scale of 1 to 10, on the basis of helpfulness, morality, sense of humor, common sense, kindness, generosity and education. The weighting for helpfulness was weighted more heavily than education and common sense and sense of humor were highly rated. It took several days to complete the ratings and, when complete, the results were fed into the computer which displayed just forty-seven names, equally rated at the highest level.

### "What now?" I asked Susan. "They all seem perfect for the job."

### "Let the Aquarians decide," she said. "It will be their Supervisor, after all. They should have some say."

### So I made a dome-wide announcement, reciting the names of the forty-seven winners. It was broadcast throughout the Aquadome and everyone over the age of twenty was asked to vote the next morning, at their local voting center. I went over the names carefully, met briefly with most candidates and could not decide who was best suited for the job. They were all gifted in their own way. One person was a complete surprise. The name was so familiar. It was Lucas! I didn't even know he was on the original list. How could anyone comment on his character, as a neighbor, if he lived here for just a week or two? I asked Susan and she said that Lucas had never stayed on our Godship but had moved into an apartment in the Aquadome. He also went out of his way to meet people, eat with them and help youngsters with their studies. Susan said Lucas was a changed man and that Gill had a lot to do with that transformation. It was old-style campaigning. I could imagine Lucas going door to door, shaking hands and kissing babies.

### I was even more surprised when the vote was tabulated. When I stepped down, Lucas would be the next Supervisor. I asked him to join me for lunch, the day after the election. Although I expected he'd come with Gill, in fact he came alone.

### "Hi Gordon," he said. "Are you surprised?"

### "Surprised?" I said. "I'm flabbergasted!"

### "I won't disappoint you," he said. "I do know the situation on Pacifica as well as anyone and hope to reconstruct this Aquadome it its image. I have so many ideas, so many things that can be done. The children, they are the key. And when we move to shallow water and can communicate with Pacifica, I can talk to Shatoya about our problems. We can empathize on the duties of Supervisor. I can learn a lot from her, she is so competent."

### I stared in awe at this guy. Was it the same Lucas who had said that black people were inadequate?

### "Yes, I know what you are thinking," Lucas said sadly. "I was an ass. I can't believe I'm the same person. But Gill has been a...what can I say? An exceptional influence. He has taught me so many things. It's hard to believe he's synthetic. He is more human than I, has more understanding of human customs and characteristics. I have changed, don't you agree?"

### I felt like giving Lucas a hug. "You know, Lucas, I think I've changed too. For once in my life I've actually done something good. I guess the only good thing, the only exceptional thing I'd ever done in the past was to marry Susan. Other than that, nothing."

### "You can be proud of your achievements here," Lucas said with obvious warmth in his voice. "I just hope, when you step down, that I–"

### "Hey! Why wait? I'll appoint you tomorrow! I can't think of any other thing that I can do for Atlantica. I hoped I could remember how things were in Pacifica, but my memory ain't what it used to be. I wasn't there that long. But you...you know everything. You should start immediately. I'll make it happen, tomorrow."

### Lucas dropped his head to his chest. I could see that he was touched. He placed his hand on mine. "You are a very great friend," he said, his voice faltering. I knew right then that he was the perfect choice for Supervisor.

### Part 14.4

### The next morning I announced my choice for immediate succession and the feedback was very positive. In the voting centers throughout the Aquadome, Aquarians could register their pleasure or displeasure with any law or comment made by a senior government individual. That was a little ditty that I had instituted. I told Lucas that I had his very first new law: Parents are required to keep and nurture their children. He was delighted to make an announcement to that effect, even before he was officially Supervisor. Again, Aquarian reaction was positive. In fact, huge crowds of parents, old and new, thronged to his apartment to thank him. I knew for certain that he'd be a great Supervisor.

### Later in the day I turned over the key to my office to Lucas. As a parting suggestion, I mentioned that he'd need a second-in-command, someone who could carry out his wishes without fail, someone whose authority people respected. He was glad to accept my recommendation–and so was Chicago. When I introduced the Leader of the Devil Families, Lucas was shocked. Although I had asked Chicago to 'dress up', he wore black leather and the scar on his cheek seemed rather longer and more indecent than usual. Nevertheless, Chicago shook hands with Lucas, said all the right words, ending each sentence with 'Okay, boss?' and Lucas immediately assigned an office for Chicago, near to the Supervisor's office. I was sure they'd get along.

### "A dynamic duo," I had said, after they had shaken hands.

### Lucas had smiled. "I like that... a Dynamic Duo." He had turned to pat Chicago on the shoulder and Chicago had been pleased as punch.

### I left the Supervisor's office rather pleased with myself. I had started things quite nicely and had installed an able successor. On my way to the area where I'd transport to our Godship, I met Gill.

### "I'm off to see the new Supervisor," he said, obviously elated.

### "He'll be excellent, I'm sure," I said, "Won't you miss him?"

### "Miss him? Why? I'm staying here, on Atlantica. I'll be needed for the next phase."

### "Next phase? What next phase? Moving to that Bay of something? Gill-structured people? What?"

### "The arrival of a permanent Godship to attach to the Aquadome, much like Uruk. A smaller version of our Godship. It will assist in redesigning the Aquadome and coordinating the move to shallow water when the gathering of Godships arrive, next week. I will, of course, be the human-to-Godship interface. I intend to tell Lucas so he can prepare the Aquarians."

### "Ah, Gill, you are such a nice guy. Lucas will be lucky to have you by his side. Now, have you seen Susan? We haven't spoken in such a long time and now that I'm not hampered by the chores of office, I'd like to reacquaint myself with my wife."

### "Mr. Gordon Blend, your activities here in Atlantica have been magnificent. I am proud to be based upon your genes. Susan is very proud of you, as we all are. Even Tiesha and Hydra are impressed with what you've accomplished. If I'm not mistaken, Susan is now transporting from Gilgamesh and will be here presently. If you wait, she'll find you. Now I must hasten to see the Supervisor." With that, Gill left and I looked about, saw a bench and sat, waiting.

### Part 14.5

### I gazed at my surroundings. The scene was quite pleasant. Walls that had been covered with graffiti were now polished clean. I saw children playing on swings and splashing in a small pool, their proud parents standing nearby. I could hear faint music. Nothing I recognized, but quite pleasant. On my right were bantam flowering bushes. There were no full size trees in the Aquadome, but diminutive plants were now popping up everywhere, especially those with colorful blossoms. There was little need for plants to provide oxygen since it was extracted from the ocean. People were finally taking pride in their deep-sea home.

### "It's quite impressive, the change, don't you think?"

### I turned to find Aspirin standing in back of my bench. I jumped up and stuck out my hand to the former Supervisor. He shook it vigorously.

### "Yes, I'm quite pleased with what I see. I wouldn't mind living here, you know," I said.

### "I can't thank you enough for what you've done. For some reason, people think more highly of me because I turned over the reins to you. I must admit that it wasn't easy...I was rather upset, actually. However, my home is now a place of happiness and that's entirely due to you."

### "It's so nice of you to say that," I said, with sincerity. "I've never been so happy with...with myself." I chuckled and Aspirin joined me. We sat together and laughed. Children looked at us and giggled and parents waved at us.

### At the far end of the room I saw Susan walking quickly in our direction. I rose to greet her and Aspirin started to leave. "No, don't go," I said. "I'd like you to meet my wife." Susan came to stand by us and I put my hand on her shoulder and said, with obvious affection, "This is Susan, my lovely wife." I turned to Aspirin and said, "Susan, I'd like you to meet–"

### Aspirin jumped up and said, "I'm so pleased to finally meet you, Susan. My name is Aspen and I was the Supervisor before your husband. I think my greatest accomplishment was to make Gordon the Supervisor."

### Susan smiled sweetly. "Yes, Aspen, we are so proud of him."

### Aspen? Did they say Aspen?

### "Now, if you will excuse me," Aspen said, "our new Supervisor has asked to meet me, to provide some insight and perhaps to assist in his duties." Aspen bowed slightly and walked slowly away. Susan sat and pulled me onto the bench. I looked into her eyes. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

### "I've been thinking," I said.

### Susan patted me on the head. "Very good, sweetheart."

### "No, don't do that. This is serious. I've been thinking of our future, you and me and our son."

### "Our daughter," she said.

### "But, can't it be a son?"

### "Gordon, it's already a girl. Don't you see?"

### Susan stood and turned slowly. She was visibly pregnant!

### "Oh God, I hadn't even noticed!" I said.

### "You said 'Oh God'. That's sweet. And your speech to the Aquarians and the commandments you gave them. That was so wonderful. Rules to live by. You do believe in God."

### "Uh...well, not exactly," I mumbled. I pulled Susan down to the bench. "I just thought that if I wanted to encourage Aquarians to live a different life style, something that involved living a moral life, you know, love thy neighbor and all that...then some kind of common religion seemed appropriate and I guess that means a God. At least that's what I was thinking."

### "You mean you still don't believe in God?" Susan said, incredulously.

### "Well, I guess I still believe in some Grand Poobahs that created all things, especially the Godships to do their bidding, but as David said, I might as well call them God. I'm happy to do that, so long as it's not a biblical God that promotes fire and brimstone. In any case, I assume that God, through his assistants, the Godships, have given me the power that enabled me to change things here in Atlantica. You know, I tried to remove a flower from a bush and it didn't work. I mean, it seems the extraordinary powers I had are now defunct."

### "Yes, your mission was achieved and you no longer need Gilgamesh's assistance."

### Susan was about to pat me on the head, her hand poised, then thought better of it and gave me a kiss on the cheek instead. "You said you were thinking," she said. "Thinking about what?"

### "About Burlington," I said. "Yes, I know, there's nothing there, no place to live, no buildings, no food...but I had a thought and, with help from our Godships, maybe we could live out the rest of our lives there, by our beautiful lake."

### I explained my idea to Susan and I could see her frown turn to a smile.

### "Oh, Gordie, that would be wonderful and I'm sure Gill could arrange it."

### "Gill is staying here, in Atlantica," I said. "Now that Lucas is Supervisor, Gill thought he could help...and you know how close they've become."

### "And Tiesha and their child?" Susan blurted out.

### "I assume they'll stay as well. Gill is very proud of his son. I can't remember its name."

"His name...and it's Anapos."

### "Yes, Anapos, I remember. They will stay here, Tiesha and Anapos."

### "Then David can arrange to do what you're suggesting. David is very good when it comes to communicating with Gilgamesh. Let us ask him."

### Susan got up and pulled me from the bench.

### "Let's go!" she said with some enthusiasm.

### Part 14.6

### We were having dinner on our Godship, Susan, David and I. Hydra joined us, apparently feeling left out of things. I felt sorry for Hydra. She did look very much like Susan, but was so quiet and submissive and that was not like Susan at all. Dinner consisted of my choice: a kind of wienerschnitzel with mushrooms and gravy and egg noodles. Although it was possible to 'think' whatever we wanted, we always let one person choose and we'd all have the same thing...and today it was my choice. Everybody was pleased with the choice and the wienerschnitzel was delicious. It may not have involved butchering an animal, but Gilgamesh managed to capture the flavor superbly.

### After dinner, Susan chose a dessert: pecan pie made with maple syrup and an ice cream topping. We all joined David in thanking Gilgamesh. It was an exceptional meal. Then Susan looked at me and nodded her head. She wanted me to explain my idea to David.

### "David," I began, wiping the ice cream from my mouth with a napkin, "I have a proposal."

### David leaned back. "Yes, I know," he said, "and I think it's a wonderful idea. I've already consulted with Gilgamesh and it shall be done exactly as you suggested."

### "But I haven't yet suggested anything," I said, bewildered.

### "Gordie," Susan said, "Gilgamesh knows what you think, so David knows as well."

### I turned to Hydra. "Do you know my idea?" Hydra nodded, sheepishly. It seemed that all Godship synthetic creations were in close contact, and Hydra was no exception. "Okay," I said, "when can we begin?"

### "How about tomorrow morning/" David said with an ear-to-ear grin.

### "Great! Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask my beautiful wife to join me in our bedroom. I'm quite exhausted and I'd like someone warm to share my bed."

### "And I," David said, turning to Hydra, "ask this beautiful twin to join me in our bedroom."

### Susan giggled and I was astonished. David and Hydra?

### Why not?

### CHAPTER FIFTEEN
### Part 15.1

### The following morning, Susan and I joined David in a room that looked like a hospital operating theater: the replication room with its walls containing amino acids, proteins and whatever molecular ingredients Gilgamesh required. I had imagined the walls covered in bins, each filled with some particular molecule, something where I could dip my hand in and scoop out a bunch of guano, or whatever that amino acid is called. Instead, the wall just seemed to have different colored areas, like a huge chessboard with each square a slightly different hue.

### "Do you have any particular people in mind, something to copy?" David asked.

### "Well," I stammered, "won't repetition of the same genetic structure be bad? I mean, isn't there a need for genetic diversity?"

### "Oh, don't worry about that," David said. "Gilgamesh is quite aware of the need for biodiversity. He has millions of genetic characteristics embedded in his data banks. Remember that the Godships spent years studying human life on earth and that means their genetic structures are all recorded. You may ask for some special social skills and certain, limited physical characteristics, but we have to leave the details to the Godship."

### "Okay, I just want nice people, able to get along, able to start a new society, a fellowship, persons who help each other. After all, this will be a beginning. Eventually, these will be the future of life by the lake."

### "Yes, that is sufficient I think. Now, let us stand back and watch Gilgamesh at work."

### "Oh, one more thing!" I cried. "Fifty percent men, fifty percent women."

### David just smiled.

### "One more thing! Half black hair, half blond, no redheads."

### David looked baffled. "I don't think that's a good idea. Why no redheads?"

### "I knew a redhead once," I said. "He was such an ass and–"

### "I think we'll leave hair color to Gilgamesh," David said, and pulled me to a wall lined with chairs where Susan, David and I sat.

### I watched the people being created. It was miraculous. Fuzzy forms appeared on the table, just a kind of mist. Slowly the outline of a human took shape, head, arms, legs, the details coming very gradually, biological material being moved from wall to table, molecule by molecule. Although I expected the wall that furnished the organic matter would somehow diminish, it never changed. It took perhaps two hours and a woman slid off the table, beautiful, wobbly and quite naked.

### Susan whispered in my ear, "I think we've seen enough."

### "But what does she know?" I asked. "Has she any memories, any intelligence?"

### "The next stage will be to implant memories and knowledge of many things and human history–everything she needs to know," David said.

### "I'd like to watch the next woman being created," I said, leaning back in my chair.

### "The next will be male," David said. "Remember? Fifty percent male." He had a smirk which was hard to interpret.

### I turned to Susan. "Male? Okay, I guess we've seen enough."

### Susan poked me in the ribs. Ow! Why does she do that?

### Part 15.2

### Over the following week, Gilgamesh, working night and day, had seen to the creation of over a hundred artificial life forms and he was still working on creating more. They gathered together in a large room fitted with comfortable chairs, sofas and tables. They were all different! Some were quite tall, some rather stocky, some skinny, every imaginable hair and skin color, though most seemed dark skinned with dark hair color. They were all perfect–in fact, they were all beautiful, handsome, elegant, dressed alike in well fitted, clinging garments in various shades of gray. On the wall were shelves filled with audio and video books. Many were browsing the library. There were small groups sitting in a circle of stuffed chairs, talking with elaborate hand gestures. In looked very much like a social club and I was pleased to see that the women were gorgeous, dressed the same as the men, and seemingly more animated.

### Susan, David and I were sitting together on a long couch, observing.

### "Gilgamesh has done a wonderful job, hasn't he," Susan gushed.

### "Can I talk to them?" I asked David.

### "Certainly!" he replied, with enthusiasm. "They will be your Village by the Lake, in Burlington. You should get to know them. When we establish the fellowship you will be their Supervisor."

### I jumped to my feet and walked to the nearest circle of humanoids. They stopped talking and all stood to greet me.

### "Master Blend," they said in unison, "please join us. We were just discussing certain topics in metaphysics."

### Shit! They were just a few days old and they were already leaving me in the dust.

### "I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with most...uh, with many metaphysic–"

### One girl pointed to an empty chair, saying: "We were discussing cosmology and the evolution and fate of the universe. Please sit down."

### I slid onto a chair and they all looked at me. I felt I had to say something.

### "How do you feel?" I asked. "Are you healthy?"

### They looked at each other, baffled by the question. I looked at the girl. She certainly looked very healthy. In fact, she looked spectacular.

### "Should we not be healthy?" the girl asked. "We have had little time to become ill or acquire ailments of any sort."

### "Uh, yes, of course," I said. They knew that they had been around for just short time? So did they know that they were synthetic, counterfeit?

### "My name is F-thirty-seven," the girl said. "And yes, we're quite aware of our artificial status. We are also aware of our eventual objective and are eager to start life in the Village by the Lake."

### "What! Can you read my mind?" I said, surprised.

### "Only if Gilgamesh allows it," the beautiful girl said.

### "Then what am I thinking now?"

### The girl blushed just a little. "It's slightly pornographic," she said. "Do you really want me to–"

### "No! Certainly not," I said, somewhat embarrassed by the fact that I had been scanning her gorgeous body. "Can you turn it off? I mean, ask Gilgamesh to stop...uh, interfering?"

### The girl tossed her head from side to side, then said, "Done!"

### "Okay, so what am I thinking now?" I asked.

### "I have no idea," she said with a snigger.

### "Good. So you said that you were aware of your eventual objective. What is that?"

### "To make babies," she said. "To populate the Village by the Lake. That is why there are twice as many females as males."

### I jumped up and looked around. Everyone was dressed the same, sort of, and it was hard to tell, but I think she was right. Damn it! I asked for fifty-fifty.

### "But don't you intend to couple, I mean become husband and wife, two people living together?"

### "Eventually," she said. "But that would be rather an inefficient maneuver if our goal is to populate the Village, don't you think?"

### I was taken aback by her casual attitude when it came to making babies. However, it made sense.

### "You said your name was...F-thirty-something. Do you all have such names?"

### "Well, they are really identifiers, not names. I'm the thirty-seventh female, hence 'F-thirty-seven." She paused, then pointed to a fellow by her side. "This is M-seventeen. We shall, at a time of our choosing, pick our names. Do you have a suggestion...for me?" She was smiling with a twinkle in her eye. I just noticed that her eyes were a lovely green. I remember that the initial synthetics had all-black eyes or sometimes red. Gilgamesh had obviously mastered eye-making.

### "A name for you?" I said, thinking. I tried to recall the names I had devised for my daughter, when she finally arrived. "How about Adele?" I said.

### The other androids in our circle all began to clap. "Yes, Adele," they said in unison. "A delectable name."

### The girl seemed pleased. "Adele it is," she said.

### Part 15.3

### When I returned to Susan and David, Susan asked what we talked about.

### "Metaphysics," I said. "The origin and eventual fate of the universe."

### "And did you speak of God," Susan asked, grinning.

### "God? Of course," I said. "I talked of the Grand Poohbah and Adele said she had seen the comic opera in a video book. I'm not sure what she meant. I told her it really wasn't so comic, the Poohbahs. You know something? They are all very well informed. I was, however, pleased to contribute to their understanding of the cosmos and its creation and inner workings as dictated by God as Poohbah."

### "Adele?" Susan asked. "Was that the one with the oversized bosom?"

### "Huh? Really? I hadn't noticed."

### "But David said they had no names, just ID classifications," Susan said.

### "Well to tell the truth, that gal asked me to provide her with a name...and I did. Adele. It's a nice name, don't you think? She said it meant good-humored, noble and implies a passionate personality."

### "Passionate, eh? Yes, I can imagine."

### "Did you know that there are twice as many females as males? It's because–"

### "To facilitate fornication...as in 'be fruitful, go forth and multiply'. Yes I'm aware of their mission," Susan grunted.

### "I realize you asked for a fifty-fifty split, male and female," David said, "but you must admit that leaving it to Gilgamesh was the right thing to do."

### "Yes, of course," I said. "In fact, it will be quite entertaining to observe the effects of–"

### "I think we should let them do their thing, without 'observing' anything," Susan said.

### I nodded. What else could I do?

### Whereas the androids stayed on our Godship, Susan, David and I spent most of our days in Atlantica...except for meals. I never could get used to seaweed concoctions. I spent some time with Lucas who was enjoying his job as Supervisor immensely and had already instituting several new laws, including mandatory classes in history and science for all citizens. They were well illustrated with colorful videos, lots of humor and down to earth explanations, which seemed to appeal to everyone.

### In fact, these weekly events were anticipated with much enthusiasm. Always, Gill was next to Lucas and it must have been obvious to all Aquarians that the two were inseparable. I often thought of Tiesha and their son, Anapos, and what they thought of the Gill-Lucas association. However, the few times I saw Tiesha, she seemed very happy with her life. She was so fickle and adaptable. She had started off as David's girl, then she made a pass at me, then Gill sort of adopted her and had a child. All through these episodes she seemed content. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone could be so adaptable?

### One day David said, "Now it is time. We must leave. Atlantica will be moved to the Bay of Biscay, but we need not be here. There are many Godships here to assist in the move. Gilgamesh has completed the creation of the Village by the Lake population so is time for us to begin the reconstruction of Burlington."

### "How many humanoids did Gilgamesh create?" I asked.

### "I think he stopped at three hundred and seventy three," David said.

### "A curious number," I said. "Was there a reason for that particular number?"

### "It had something to do with population density," David said, "but I didn't understand Gilgamesh's analysis. He did mention something about optimal assignments, the calculus of variations and circular confinement, but I asked him to end his lecture. I hadn't taken that course, I'm afraid."

### "When do we leave?" Susan asked.

### "I have to talk to Gill, but I imagine it will be tomorrow, perhaps after breakfast."

### Part 15.4

### That evening Susan and I were sitting in an observation room with a transparent ceiling. I could see creatures swimming about in circles, perhaps dolphins. Dolphins seemed to be everywhere, curious. I guess they're pretty smart animals. I can imagine that the next generation of humans, those with functioning gills, they would cavort with dolphins.

### "You're daydreaming," Susan said.

### "Yes, I was thinking of the future of humankind. I think it's quite exciting to imagine people as comfortable in water as on land. Maybe that'll happen in our lifetime. Maybe we'll be around to see our grandchildren swimming in our beautiful lake."

### "Oh, yes Gordie, we will, we will!" Susan was thrilled at the thought.

### "Do you think our Village by the Lake will be a success? I mean, will it flourish and will the androids love it and continue to love it after we're gone? I know I loved living there. We both grew up in that area, you and I. It had everything a person would want. Lots of green space, parks, great restaurants, bicycle paths, music festivals, strawberry socials, the annual ribfest...I miss all that."

### "You never went to any of those events," Susan said.

### "Yeah, I know, but just knowing they were there, that made the place special."

### "Yes, I'm sure the androids will love the place. Can we call them something else instead of androids or synthetic or artificial? Maybe just forget that they were built in a couple of hours. They're just as human as we are."

### "Agreed. They're just...folks, family," I said.

### "We can encourage them to pick names so we can call them by name instead of their conception identifier," Susan said. "You're the Supervisor, so you should tell them to pick suitable names. Indeed, we can provide hundreds of names and they can pick the one they like. What do you think?"

### "That's a great idea. I'll do it."

### Susan and I spent the rest of the evening thinking up names and she entered them, into her Godship database. I realized that I was an outsider as soon as she told me that she had access to such memory storage. In it I learned that she actually wrote a daily diary, recipes for things she liked at dinner, the names of people we had met, like Hassan, Claude and Jenny, Hudson, Shatoya and Althea, names that I had almost forgotten. I think she intended to write a novel about our adventure. If we were back in Burlington, in the old days, it'd surely be a best seller. Now, however, I'm sure she intended it for our children and grandchildren.

### We spent the night side by side, in a comfortable bed, warming each other. She was such a beautiful person, my Susan. I don't remember her ever, ever saying anything bad about anybody. She was always upbeat. She was enthusiastic about all things and never seemed to get tired. I was a lucky fellow.

### The next morning I felt a hum in the walls and assumed that Gilgamesh was moving, or stopping, I couldn't remember what the hum represented. However, I noticed that the walls seemed to move apart.

### "We've stopped," Susan said. She was sitting on a nearby sofa. She had apparently been sitting there for some time, in her nightgown, reading from a tablet.

### "Stopped? Where did we go?" I asked.

### "Oh, just a short distance away to allow the other Godships clear access to Atlantica. They're moving her now."

### "I have to see this!" I said, jumping out of bed. "Where's the nearest...the best porthole?"

### Susan slid off the sofa, pulled on a robe and said: "Follow me."

### We got to the alcove and stood before a narrow window which slowly widened as we watched. There were a dozen Godships and I could see the water churning beneath them. Aquarius Atlantica rose like a gargantuan whale, left the water and hovered about a hundred meters above the ocean. It was huge. Much larger than Pacifica, as far as I could tell. At least ten kilometers long with the regulation cigar shape. As we watched, it gradually moved Eastward, the Godships following.

### "They're leaving," I said, helplessly. "I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to...to Gill or Lucas or Aspirin...Aspen or Chicago or–"

### "I've already sent them your best wishes and your hope for a long and successful future in the Bay of Biscay. Gilgamesh recreated you voice. I hope you don't mind. You were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you. Your message was broadcast to all Aquarians. It's even been transmitted to Aquarius Pacifica and Shatoya responded with what she said was a big hug. I even received a response from Lucas. He said they will build a statue of you to be placed in Blend Park."

### I almost collapsed. A statue, in Blend Park? I don't recall crying since I was a child, but now the tears came rushing down my cheek. Susan put her arms about my neck, her head on my shoulder. "I love you so much," she said. "You are a good man, Gorden Blend."

### Part 15.5

### By late morning, after a light breakfast of toast, jam and coffee, David announced that we were on our way to Burlington. He warned us that we should not expect much. It was devastated by the solar flare and there were no survivors except, perhaps, mice or moles. Every building was demolished and every road swallowed by earthquakes. Nevertheless, there was still a beach and the water in the lake was clear and potable and the lake even had a large population of small fish. I was delighted. I knew that, in years to come, things would be much different, we would accomplish something that would last, something to leave for our children and their children. I was confident that the androids...that Adele and her kin, they would rise to the occasion and populate the Village with strong young citizens, perhaps with gills.

### We all gathered at the alcove to observe our departure: Susan, David, Hydra and me. It seemed strange not to have Gill or Tiesha with us. We were like family and it was difficult to accept our separation. But there was excitement in the air as we saw the Godships recede to the horizon, guiding the enormous Aquadome. On the ocean surface, I could make out a school of leaping dolphins. It was a beautiful sight, but even more beautiful was the horizon to the west. That's where we were heading. There was land, there. I didn't know what land, but it didn't matter. We'd soon be home.

### "May I join you?" someone said, behind me. I could feel someone leaning on my back and Susan looked about.

### "Adele," she said. "How nice of you to join us." I could tell that Susan wasn't really that happy. I turned and Adele stepped back.

### "Uh, Adele, yes, please join us," I said, looking sideways at Susan. Adele immediately snuggled up to my side and the window widened. David was smiling. "Where are the other...uh, people?" I asked.

### "They are studying the geology of the region where we are headed," she said. "Apparently there are several large lakes, an extensive escarpment, an impressive waterfall and–"

### "Yes, Niagara Falls," I said. "We must go there."

### "Yes," Susan snorted. "We most definitely must."

### "Have they chosen names...from the list we supplied?" I asked. "I always liked William, my uncle's name."

### "No, not from your list. They chose names from the history books."

### "I see," I said. "That's great. Names like...what?"

### " Napoleon, Cleopatra, Caesar..."

### David began to laugh. "That's delightful," he said, then he pointed out the window. "There's Newfoundland." We all looked and saw an island appear out of the mist. We'd be home very soon. I couldn't be happier.

### CHAPTER SIXTEEN
### Part 16.1

### We traveled along a river. It was foggy, but I assumed it was the St. Lawrence River. Our Godship seemed to be just a few hundred meters above the river, but I didn't recognize anything. There were no signs of animal life or large trees, although there were plenty of low plants, green and brown and rust colored. It was difficult to see straight down, but looking across the river I could see the broken remains of large buildings. I leaned against the clear window panel and enjoyed the view. It must be just a matter of minutes before we saw our beautiful lake.

### "Isn't it exciting," Susan said, standing by my side and leaning over to look down–as well as one could look down. "I think that's the lake, don't you think?"

### It was suddenly clear, the mist having been driven out by what seemed to be gusts of wind. I saw the river widen, the shoreline become irregular and I knew for sure that we were now over our beautiful lake. We both watched in silence, looking for any recognizable sites. Nothing, until we saw a large assortment of structures, all devastated, on the north shore of the lake. That must be Toronto, once a proud city, the fourth largest in North America. It was sad to see it in shambles. Together, we both looked west and saw the end of the lake and Hamilton Harbor–and our beloved Burlington. The walls of our Godship hummed for just a minute then our ship came to a halt, hovering above the Burlington shoreline as it had done many, many months ago when David, Susan and I had come on board for the first time.

### David was now standing at the window. "We can transport down, if you'd like," he said. "There will be little to see, but we can walk about and make plans and–"

### "Yes, please, let's do that!" Susan said eagerly.

### "Fine, let us meet at the transport room. It's something new, that room, but in the future we will always gather there to transport back and forth. You needn't look for it. Gilgamesh will simply open the walls to guide you. Shall we meet there in a half-hour? You may want to dress warmly because it's a little chilly."

### Susan and I went to our bedroom, quickly dressed in socks, boots, a warm sweater and a cap whose sides we could pull down over our ears. When we turned to face the wall, it dissolved and we walked through to a curiously large room with multiple windows and partitions and shelves loaded with what looked like small CB radios. David was already there. He was elegant, with what looked like a tight-fitting avocado-colored ski outfit, a French beret and riding boots. He pointed to the CB radios.

### "Grab one, just in case we get separated. They're communication devices, CDs. Just press the red button and talk."

### No sooner had Susan and I taken a CD, we started to fade, the usual short dizzy spell, then we three were standing on the shore of our beautiful Lake Ontario. There was a cool breeze off the lake, the water was rippled, the sky was a splendid azure blue and there were just a few wisps of high flying clouds. The ground was mostly moss, but it seemed to be quite soft.

### "I think we can have a garden," Susan said. "The small shrubs over there look quite healthy and there's plenty of water."

### "Gilgamesh has extracted botanic information from his data banks and will be able to supply whatever vegetable varieties you wish."

### "You mean seeds?" Susan asked.

### "Yes, seeds or small plants. Whatever is your wish."

### "And flowering plants, like petunias and–"

### "Ah, Susan my dear," David said, "you must know that you can ask for anything and Gilgamesh will provide."

### I began to walk along the shore. This was too good to be true.

### "Can we call the others down?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder. "Adele and her friends–at least a few of them, so they can see what's to be done."

### David and Susan smiled. "You're the boss," Susan said.

### "No, he's the Supervisor," David said.

### "I hate that name, Supervisor. Can't we say something like...uh..."

### "Big cheese?" David said.

### "Poobah?" Susan giggled.

### "No, I meant something like Premier? I don't like the idea of having to supervise. I have a feeling the synthetics–our clan, they're smarter than I am. I'll probably be the one who needs supervision."

### "Okay, Premier it is," David said. "Please step back Premier Blend."

### Suddenly the entire shoreline became blurry and I stepped back just in time as a hundred or more members of our clan materialized. They were all dressed in pale gray outfits, except the gals who had a slight blush of pink. They immediately crowded around as though they were awaiting instructions. Susan nodded her head. "Say something," she whispered.

### "Okay, gang," I said, loudly. "This is where we'll build our Village by the Lake. We'll live in the Godship and transport down each morning to construct our homes. I think we can begin with...uh, mud and straw or maybe–"

### One female came forward. I recognized Adele.

### "If it is your wish," she said, "However, we can ask Gilgamesh to provide concrete blocks and mortar," she said. "And, if it is your wish, Gilgamesh will provide whatever tools you feel are necessary. Also, if it is your wish–"

### "Yes, yes," I said with some hesitation. "Let's spend some time just planning the structures, what they'll look like, where we put them, how tall, how...how..."

### Susan came to my side. "Premier," she said. "I think Gilgamesh has a plan. You may want to pass judgement on it. It may suit our needs. You can decide. In the meantime," Susan continued, looking at the group, "Let us prepare the soil for planting. In a few weeks it will be warm enough to begin our vegetable garden."

### Susan pointed to a point a few hundred meters from the shore. There I saw what appeared to be a great collection of shovels, rakes, spades and several large machines. How did she do that?

### "Does any one know how to operate that machine?" I asked. A hundred hands went up. "Then go to it my friends." I never saw such haste. By lunch time at least five hectares of land had been cultivated. The clan was so efficient and seemed to operate as a single entity, everyone knowing exactly what to do. I could even hear them singing. I couldn't hear the words, but they all seemed quite happy. Susan, David and I just watched in awe. As if by magic, the cool wind vanished, the sun came out in full force, the soil was warmed and we all cast off our outer garments.

### "Time for lunch!" I shouted, and the clan stopped and walked toward the shore. David had arranged to have several dozen picnic tables sent down with red and white tablecloths and assorted sandwiches, fruit and nuts and cold drinks.

### "This is for you," David said, handing me a glass of greenish liquid. I sipped it carefully. I couldn't believe it! It was rapple, my most favorite drink!

### "How did you...nevermind," I said. "Gilgamesh knows the chemical composition, right?"

### David nodded. I looked about and saw the clan busily munching on sandwiches and talking and laughing. I couldn't be happier.

### Part 16.2

### It took most of the summer to complete the garden, grow a multitude of vegetables and fabricate several concrete structures. The 'homes' were simple, one level dwellings with windows, simple plastic furniture and old-fashioned kitchen appliances with which one could cook up a storm. Well, only when we could supply electricity, which we couldn't, not yet. However, Susan demonstrated their use to chef-members of the clan. In addition to chef-members, there were artists, musicians, doctors and nurses, construction specialists, botanists and a host of other vocations. I never knew how it was determined who did what, but they all seemed content with their lot. I suspect Gilgamesh had something to do with the determination of who had what talent. Gilgamesh had, after all, observed human activity for years.

### The chefs were delighted to serve us with vegetables fresh from the garden, cooked the old fashioned way, over a campfire: broccoli with melted cheddar cheese, mashed potatoes with garlic, kale and bacon...I think I gained a few pounds. However, I was exercising. How could I not? There was so much to do. Susan, on the other hand, just watched. She was huge with child and I think our daughter must be ready. I was pleased to discover that our three-month-child would take five months. As a kind of reflection of the fact that she was pregnant, Susan's complexion was a delicate pink.

### In late June, Susan had our baby. She was the most adorable child one can imagine. In the past, I always thought newborn kids were ugly, but not my baby girl. And she was special. I always thought kids cried all night, puked on your shoulder, filled their diapers then, when you changed them, they filled 'em again. Not my baby. She was special.

### Susan never did tell me the 'special and appropriate' name she had chosen–not until I was holding the baby in my arms. We were in our Godship, after a day of furnishing some homes in the Village. The light was low and we were sitting side by side on the couch.

### "Isn't she beautiful?" Susan said. "She is a gift from God."

### "Well, I helped," I said, half joking.

### "Godiva," Susan whispered. "Godiva, it means a gift of God."

### Did she say Godiva? That was the name of my baby girl? The only thing I could think of was Lady Godiva riding naked through the streets.

### "No, you're kidding, right?" Susan looked hurt. "Come to think of it," I stammered, "it's a beautiful and most appropriate name. Gift of God, you say? Yes, Godiva. For short, we can call her...uh, Godiva." I kissed Susan on the forehead with little Godiva looking on. Godiva gurgled so I handed her to Susan and she breast fed the baby. Now that was a splendid sight to behold.

### Just then there was a knock and David walked through the wall. I immediately thought of covering Susan and the baby with a bedsheet, but Susan looked pleased.

### "Isn't she beautiful, David?" Susan murmured. "Gordie and I intend to have many, many more." David nodded and stared at the baby, a naked breast and then Susan, probably in that order.

### Did Susan say 'many more'? I never said that. I wouldn't mind, of course, but where did Susan get that idea? We didn't need to be the population source for the Village. We had hundreds of the Clan who were doing their best. In fact, there were already a dozen babies born over the summer, all with gills. The water by the shore was warm now, and the children spent hours playing there. When a baby, no more than two months old, crawled into the water and vanished for several minutes–that was scary.

### Part 16.3

### There was no source of heat in the simple homes we had built, so we spent the winter in the Godship. During the cold months, however, we continued to build. In particular, a power plant with electricity generated by solar panels and wind generators. All the wiring and heating ducts were already installed in the homes. What was really nice was the orchard. Small fruit trees had been contrived by Gilgamesh: apple, pear, plum and cherry. There was a small park with lots of green grass.

### Actually, I don't think it was really grass, more like short green weeds. There was also a playground for the children. I thought it was a mite early since the kids were still infants, but the Clan insisted that we be prepared because their children would grow up quickly. I didn't argue. In fact, I never argued.

### When spring came, we were out in force, enlarging the gardens, planting vegetables, connecting the electrical so that all the kitchen appliances were powered. The generators hardly seemed sufficient to supply the electrical needs of an overgrowing society, so Gilgamesh assisted in the construction of a power plant run by nuclear power. The materials needed, its design and the location were provided by our Godship–to the Clan. Clan members seemed to know exactly what was to be done. That was a relief, because there was no way I could supervise the construction.

### However, the thought of a nuclear plant nearby was a little scary, but David assured me that Gilgamesh had everything well in hand and there was nothing to worry about. Besides, the plant would be far from our Village, hidden by a grove of trees, so no one would even know it was there. Eventually, David said, Gilgamesh would introduce dark energy generators...but that would take some time.

### Over the next few years, Susan and I had three more children, all girls. When Godiva was seventeen she introduced us to a Clan member whom she wanted to marry. What? She was just seventeen! Surely teenagers didn't get married. Yet, Susan agreed, so I did as well...reluctantly. The boy's name was Archimedes. I had a hard time adapting to these strange names from ancient history, but I could see that Godiva was very happy and I was easily swayed by my beautiful daughter. Besides, the boy was so clever and good-hearted, Susan and I were charmed by him after just the first meeting.

### They were married in the fall, just as the leaves were turning red and gold. As the daughter of the Premier, everyone was expected to join the wedding celebration. The standard words for marriages, something about 'love, honor and cherish', were provided years ago by Susan. I preferred the 'love, honor and obey' version, but that was outmoded, I was told. They didn't even use that in my youth, centuries ago, I was told. Further, couples always 'sampled the wares' these days, I was told...so Godiva and Archimedes lived together for months before the wedding. I didn't like that one bit, but Susan said everyone did it. Did that make it right?

### It was a delightful ceremony, with banners waving and a fresh warm breeze off the Lake and tables filled with small, sweet edible things and huge punch bowls of rapple. Our surprise visitors were Shatoya, Gill, Lucas and Tiesha. Susan and I were very happy to see our old friends and they seemed happy to see what we had achieved. Apparently, the Aquadomes were thriving and people were living longer. We were pleased to see Gill, Lucas and Tiesha getting along so well. I never thought it'd work–but it did.

### That was a memorable day, the wedding of our firstborn. The next day, Chicago arrived. I was shocked to find that the scar that had run down his cheek was now barely visible, his teeth were even and white and he was dressed in slacks and sweater. He embraced me with a bear hug and whispered in my ear that life was good and it was all my doing. He told me that Aquarius Atlantica celebrated my birthday each year with fireworks and a holiday.

### A year later, when Godiva and Archimedes had their first child, it had gills! However, unlike the clumsy gills of old, the newest rendition was almost invisible, lying flat against the neck when out of water. It was a boy and they named it Gordon. I swear I didn't even remotely suggest that name, but I was very pleased. I learned that David, now slightly infirm and almost bald, was consulted and he suggested the name. Curiously, although we had very pleasant quarters provided for David, he continued to live in the Godship, transporting down for special occasions or whenever Susan invited him for a special dinner.

### Part 16.4

### It took almost ten years for our Village to be self sufficient, without the need to rely on Gilgamesh for things material or technological. Our energy was now entirely obtained from dark matter, confined to what was once the nuclear power stations. I never understood how that worked; dark matter was converted to energy which generated the electricity that ran our Village. The trees now grew quite tall and the shade they afforded was a joy.

### The vegetable garden was now a large farm and some way from the Village and the clan-farmers were excellent in maintaining the crops. We had annual celebrations on the anniversary of our first landing and the finest image was of the children at play, on the beach and in our beautiful lake. There were streets paved with flat stone, lots of green space and bicycles everywhere. Indeed, bikes were the only mode of transportation. Our Village stretched over five kilometers along the Lake with a population approaching five hundred thousand. The Clan had been busy!

### It was Susan who suggested that we give our Village a name. As Premier, I could just make an announcement, but I preferred to ask for approval. In the past, all of my suggestions had been approved so I didn't expect any problem this time. Although we talked to David, he had little to offer in the way of a name. In fact, we saw less and less of David. He looked very old, his skin creased, with dark blemishes. Even his voice was much weaker. His android companion, Hydra, was always by his side. She was a very sweet girl, always clinging to David and always helping him with his daily chores.

### Anyway, I adopted Susan's suggestion. She was so sweet, saying that I was the Grand Poobah and it was my choice, but that she'd like to make a tiny suggestion. I announced it over a village-wide video channel.

### "Members of the Clan, I have been asked to consider a name for our Village by the Lake," I began. "I would like to make a suggestion and have you vote yes or no. Indeed, if anyone has a suggestion, something that would recognize our past and celebrate our creation, then please let me know."

### In less than twenty-four hours the voting on my suggestion was complete. It was unanimous. Our new town would be called New Burlington.

### Part 16.5

### It was late one morning when it happened. Susan and I were sitting in a comfortable chair on the porch, gazing out at the children at play on the beach. We were discussing our Godship and the fact that we had never seen any of the alien life forms it had collected. Perhaps they didn't survive or perhaps they were transported to some alien planet as we passed by or perhaps they were assimilated or, most likely, their genetic components were extracted and they were sent back, as we were, to their original planets.

### Suddenly Susan stiffened. "Oh, Gordie," she cried. "David...he's dying." We both jumped up and waited while Susan contacted Gilgamesh. We were transported directly to David's room. He was in bed, attached to several tubes, enclosed in some kind of tent and a nurse was adjusting some instrument.

### "Oh, Premier," the nurse said, looking at me with concern. "Mr. Granger has been asking for you. Please step forward but speak very softly."

### The nurse removed the tent and backed away. She then sat in a chair near the bed, bent over and began to sob.

### Susan went to David's side and held his hand. David's eyes were closed, but when he felt Susan's hand he opened his eyes and smiled, a weak smile that wrinkled his parchment-like skin.

### "I am...am so glad..." he stuttered, "you came. It is time...for me to be received. I have been...been so fortunate to have you and Gordon as friends."

### "David, don't talk. Just relax," Susan said, holding his hand to her breast.

### "No...I must say...say I have been blessed. I love you both...very much, but it is time. I know that you will...that your New Burlington will thrive. Gilgamesh will be at your service for as long as you need him. I have heard from Shatoya...and Lucas. They do well and Gill...Gill now has several children. I leave you all now with...with a glad, glad heart."

### With that, David closed his eyes and passed away.

### The nurse jumped from her chair and ran to David, flinging herself on his prostrate body. "David, my love," she cried, "you must not leave me. What am I to do? Must I now be absorbed?"

### Susan and I were shocked by the nurse's behavior. Susan tried to pull the nurse from the bed. Then, with a lurch, the nurse jumped to her feet. "I must be assimilated," she said. She looked straight at me, tears running down her face. I hardly recognized the woman. It was Hydra! She had become David's nurse. I was sure that Gilgamesh had arranged the transformation and imparted the necessary medical knowledge.

### "God has taken him into His arms," Susan said, in tears. "Hydra, you must come to live with us, in New Burlington. You will certainly not be assimilated. We must tell the Clan. We must celebrate David's life."

### And we did. Indeed, there were guests from every Aquadome, with large contingents from Pacifica and Atlantica. Most surprising were the guests from Ganymede, the moon of Jupiter. They were apparently doing well, but could not stay more than a few hours because of some astrophysical alignments of the planets which required their small spaceship to leave at early dawn in order to acquire the appropriate orbit. I didn't understand, but Susan and I were very happy to see them.

### It was difficult to imagine life without David. Although we saw him less and less as the years went by, he still had intimate association with Gilgamesh and we occasionally needed that affiliation. More than that, he had been a good friend, our mentor, counselor and teacher. In the year that followed, Hydra became a valued medical advisor in New Burlington and she came by often and we spoke of the wonderful old times we had on our Godship, with David and Gill and Tiesha. She was so beautiful and so very clever. I couldn't imagine that I once thought she was mentally...uh, insufficient.

### Late the following summer Granger Park was built with a statue of David. It was surrounded by a reflecting pool and an attached plaque that said:

### David Granger, first citizen of New Burlington.

### I think David would have liked that. Hydra was in tears as the statue was unveiled. Hundreds of Clan members who had known David attended the unveiling and we had many Aquadome visitors.

### Shatoya, Gill, Lucas and some of Gill's children stayed with us for several days. Although Tiesha was the mother of Gill's children, Lucas was content with the Gill-Tiesha-Lucas arrangement. Indeed, we saw that Lucas was a doting father. We asked Shatoya about Althea, the little girl who was in constant communication with Uruk, the Godship attached to Pacifica. That little girl was now married with children, all of whom had well-developed gills. That, Shatoya said with glee, seemed to have been the catalyst that changed Althea from a brat to an angel. Althea no longer regarded herself as handicapped. She had given birth to children who could travel in air and in water.

### When our guests left, Susan and I were saddened. They had been our family, our closest friends. Although we now had several children and grandchildren it wasn't the same. It may be that we would never see them again, our friends in the Aquadomes, and that was sad

### CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
### Part 17.1

### As the years passed, Susan and I spent more and more time just sitting on the porch, watching the children play. I had given up the post as Premier long ago, although I was still asked to comment on new agreements. Although I had mentioned certain individuals, in private, as possible successors, the Clan had voted without my knowledge and our firstborn, Godiva, had been chosen as the new Premier. I couldn't believe how competent she was. She certainly didn't take after me.

### My hair was thinning, I had lower back pain, my eyesight was failing and I had put on weight. Susan, on the other hand, was still beautiful. Her hair was almost all white, there were tiny wrinkles about her eyes and she walked with a decided limp, but she was still energetic and was easily excited and enthusiastic about everything that was happening in New Burlington–and she was always radiant, exquisite...with the fragrance of lilac.

### Clan members, synthetic creations, did have 'normal' life spans, I had been told by David, although I never witnessed any deaths among Clan members. The wonderful thing about their lives was the fact that they never got ill and never suffered infirmities. David had said that they would, eventually, just lie down to sleep and never awaken.

### Susan and I often spoke of old times by the Lake, of Susan's Grill and our little mutt, Sandy. Alas, there were no pets available to our Village, but I understood from many of the Clan that children often gathered small rodents and kept them as pets. Once, some years ago, I had suggested that Gilgamesh try to make a puppy for Susan's seventy-fifth birthday. David inquired but Gilgamesh refused because of lack of genetic data. I recall the first flawed human synthetics with red eyes. If the puppy weren't perfect, Susan would have been very unhappy.

### It was after the celebration of my eightieth birthday that I began to suggest my idea to Susan. Before I had completed even a single sentence, she smiled and nodded.

### "Yes, my darling," she said warmly. "We really must. It has been a delight to see New Burlington prosper, to watch our children and grandchildren grow, but it is time."

### I smiled at her ability to read my thoughts. We had been married for almost fifty years and now had a dozen grandchildren, all of whom had gills. In fact, there were just a few 'originals' in New Burlington, those without gills. In fact, with Gilgamesh's help, a small underwater playground had been constructed just offshore, a place where gilled-people could go for underwater picnics or just do fish-watching while swimming. However, although Gilgamesh still hovered above our village, there was little it was required to do. Our village was self-sufficient. Indeed, we were often surprised to see that the Godship never moved.

### Occasionally Susan and I would transport up and spend a day there–just for old times' sake. It almost seemed that Gilgamesh was pleased to have us on board. Comfortable quarters materialized, wonderful meals were assembled and there was a distinct lilac aroma. Of course, both David and Gill had said, years ago, that Gilgamesh would remain as long as he was needed and we were pleased to see the Godship on the morning of each new day. Yet, it was time.

### Part 17.2

### I made the announcement over the village-wide video system. My wife and I would be leaving New Burlington at week's end. There was a great cry of anguish. We were flattered by the outpouring of emotion and good wishes and appeals to stay, but we had made up our minds. We intended to relive our youth, as best we could, on board Gilgamesh. We would travel the galaxy. We could visit the settlement on Ganymede. We could visit other planets with life forms, observe the results of years of evolution, perhaps those black beetles that had been given the motivation to mature.

### Gilgamesh had prepared our rooms and an elaborate dinner. I had long ago given up on pork burgers, fries and chocolate milkshake. Our farewell dinner was prime rib with horseradish and Yorkshire pudding and a green salad taken from the farm just outside New Burlington. We were both vegetarians, but this was a special occasion. Susan was dressed in a full-length lavender gown with pendant earrings of sapphire and her hair was done up short and curly and looked silver. I wore a tuxedo in black with a red bow tie. What hair I had left was neatly combed. Anyone watching would know immediately that Gilgamesh had assisted in our grooming. The wine was something I remembered from long, long ago: a chilled and sweating Chablis.

### After dinner, Susan and I stood at the window and looked down at the crowds gathered by the lakeshore. Gilgamesh had dropped nicely to less than a hundred meters and a portion of the floor beneath the window was transparent, so we were clearly visible to all. We could see our Clan waving and the water filled with swimming bodies. I could hear music, a tune I recognized. Tchaikovsky's Nut Crackers. Susan looked at me and smiled. She had a tear in her eye. I turned away. I had tears in my eyes as well.

### The sun was just vanishing beyond the horizon, the sky was red and our beautiful lake was pink. Susan nodded her head and I could feel our Godship moving. When New Burlington was just a speck, we turned to each other and embraced. These would be our last days, yet we were very happy. We had accomplished much, left much to be proud of and were looking forward to reliving some of the glorious past. Gilgamesh played soft music and the illumination was warm. Our sleeping quarters were done in off-white and the aroma of lilac was everywhere. The dinners that our Godship provided were superb and the wine varied from my favorite Chablis to Merlot to a sweet Rosé. Gilgamesh had arranged to have many windows available, in every room we visited, in order that we might gaze at the passing star systems.

### Yet, it was lonely. We especially missed the laughter of children. It was very nice that Gilgamesh provided videos of our days in New Burlington. Some scenes were viewed from above, from the Godship location, but most were from ground level. I have a feeling that David had arranged for those videos to be stored in Godship data banks. Indeed, we were often reminded of David's influence on Gilgamesh's behavior.

### It was perhaps a month into our final journey. We had spent a few pleasant days on Ganymede and visited David's planet Cynthia and the planet where the black beetles had been encouraged to evolve. We were sitting on a comfortable sofa facing a large picture window.

### "Do you remember that poem?" I asked my beautiful wife.

"The Lord's Lament?" she asked.

### "Yes, do you remember the words? I can only recall a few lines, but I recall that God was uncertain how to proceed. However, now I think that God had decided on some plan...after the holocaust."

### "Yes," Susan said. "God had indeed thought of something...and we were involved, you and I and David and all our old friends."

### And she recited the poem by heart:

### He was to be My finest create,

### A million years to evolve.

### A million years to banish the hate,

### The arrogance to resolve.

### To embrace the world that gives him life.

### To love the creatures therein.

### To nurture the Earth, arrest its strife.

### To tame the land, abolish sin.

### Yet his past was dark with angry ways

### That he may look and learn and change.

### To see the best, one must know the worst

### So the anger and hate were there at first

### that he might find the seemly path.

### I gave him life, the strength to choose,

### His destiny within his grasp.

### As time progressed he shunned the best

### And in My name he failed the test

### and turned his friend to foe.

### He forged a world to suit his need.

### He ravaged land and sea.

### He failed to find the seemly path

### He earned the Earth's befitting wrath

### Yet Nature did not stay his course.

### Quake and storm revealed My rage,

### And pestilence My ire.

### Yet he raped the Earth, the sea and sand

### And coveted his neighbour's land

### and sought to subjugate.

### I forge a world of contrast,

### That the best would come to be.

### Yet he despises those of different past,

### Their good he fails to see.

### A million years and yet his state

### Is not what I intended.

### I am not certain what his fate

### Or how it should be ended.

### BUT I'll think of something!

