Tablet of Destinies (50 page)

‘Your brother's soul-mate is her 2IC,' Tory informed and Hawk nearly choked on his drink.

‘You're kidding?' he spluttered.

She shook her head. ‘And I just happen to be dear friends with the Centaur ruler who has just overthrown Ereshkigal and assumed control of Kurra.' She raised both eyebrows a couple of times, suggestively. ‘Now, does this sound like destiny or what?'

 

Dumuzi had not lost his immortal state of being during his interview with the Devas only because Maelgwn had brought him up to date with Inanna's recent change of heart, which had brought her closer to her soul-source. Upon learning that the Dragon had managed to drag his wife back to sanity, the Lord was very grateful.

‘It should have been you.' Maelgwn didn't want his gratitude. ‘Instead of worrying about how your own frivolous desires were going to be met, you should have been more concerned about your grieving spouse and how you could relieve her pain.'

Dumuzi was perplexed by the suggestion.
Only humans are more concerned about others than themselves, we Nefilim
—

‘Must learn!' Maelgwn roared. ‘Your immortal soul depends on it! Get it!' He closed in on the mortified God as Dumuzi backed away from him, fearing his wrath. ‘Unless you are prepared to give up every single thought for your own welfare, you may as well take the descent into Density right now!'

Suddenly, Dumuzi's consciousness was consumed by Maelgwn's short stint into the dark, cold existence of zero thought and movement, which he'd experienced courtesy of the Tablet of Destinies.

Once Maelgwn returned Dumuzi's mind to its own thought processes, the Nefilim dropped to his knees whimpering for mercy.
No, Dragon, please. Spare me the horror of life in the sub-planes … I'll do anything you say, but don't leave me to be damned.

Maelgwn looked at Sacha, who was undecided as to what the fate of the Lord should be.

Your call, father,
he ruled.

You have a history with this soul. What does your instinct tell you?
Psyche counselled, and Maelgwn frowned, unsure himself.

‘You see, Dumuzi,' he crouched beside the petrified God, ‘the trouble I'm having is this … your only motive to reform is to save your own skin. But, if you could suggest some way that you might be of benefit to the greater cause of Anu, then perhaps we could consider your preservation.'

Um …?
The Lord seemed desperate for suggestions, but Maelgwn only nodded, his eyes wide in encouragement. He was eager to hear whatever the Lord could come up with.
I know!
Dumuzi held up a finger, hopeful of saving face with his idea.
I must apologise to Inanna. Confess even … yes, I must confess and beg forgiveness for my selfish indulgences.

‘Now you're learning.' Maelgwn smiled and patted the Lord's shoulder to set him at ease. ‘That will be a good start on the right path.'

Dumuzi released a great wail of relief, and tears streamed from his eyes in the wake of his close brush with obscurity.

‘I shall leave Zabeel in command on this vessel,' Maelgwn stood up and advised the humbled Nefilim Lord. ‘You are to head, at full speed, directly to Kila. Any attempt to deviate from that course or challenge Zabeel's authority, and I shall not exhibit as much restraint with your fate. Many of your kin have not
survived the Devas' judgement as well as you have, Dumuzi. Be thankful.'

‘I am thankful.' Dumuzi rose to bow before Maelgwn and his celestial companions. ‘I shall endeavour to be more like you, Dragon. Then I am assured redemption.'

‘We'll see.' His tone gave Dumuzi the benefit of the doubt, as Maelgwn departed the private audience chamber to advise Zabeel of the decision.

 

For Zabeel, command of Dumuzi's craft was like a test run of his leadership abilities, and he was proud to be entrusted with the mission. Fortunately, he found the cheeky personality of the shamed Nefilim Lord rather appealing, and having set the ship on full speed to Kila, the pair got to talk.

‘So how many Delphinus daughters do you have, exactly?' Zabeel couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.

About seven or so, I think.

From feeling like a lone soul in a barren desert, Zabeel suddenly felt like a rooster in a hen house. ‘One of them has got to be destined for me,' he mumbled aloud.
Surely seventy years alone is enough
, although, after hearing of Thais' plight, Zabeel realised he could be wrong about that.

Dumuzi was inspired by the lad's interest, as matchmaking was his second favourite pastime.
I could summon them all forth for your perusal, Lord.
Dumuzi was eager to please, but then frowned, recalling.
Oh nuts, I can't. I promised the Dragon not to lead you astray and such a gathering could be most tempting.

Zabeel had been keen on the idea for a second, but, reflecting on his father's strong moral code, he knew Dumuzi was right. ‘Perhaps if we were to be doing an inspection of your craft and happened upon some of your Delphinus daughters, then … that would just be a pleasant coincidence, as opposed to deliberate exploitation.'

Dumuzi smiled, happy with the suggestion.
And I know just the place for our plan — I mean, coincidence, to take place.

Outside of the Lord's court, the different tribes that made up his subjects didn't interact much, preferring to associate within their own ethnic groups. The various groups frequented different quadrants of the ship. The preferred lounge in the Delphinus quadrant was the Oceanic, and to keep their mission hush, hush, Dumuzi changed himself into a Delphinus. Although both Zabeel and Dumuzi both stood a little taller than most in the club, their entry was unheeded.

Over a drink, Dumuzi pointed out some of his daughters to Zabeel, and they were all beautiful in the Delphinus Lord's eyes — so how was he to define his soul-mate? Despite craving a lover there were no fireworks going off in his heart when he viewed the lovely women. He'd seen the way his father looked at his soul-mate. The sparks flew each time Maelgwn and Tory's eyes met. That was the kind of love he was seeking.

‘Aw … there's no point, I won't find her like this,' Zabeel resolved and stood to leave the club.

Well, you won't find her on the captain's deck either.
Dumuzi sipped on his drink, obviously intent on staying put.
Look … the Dragon told me to stop thinking about myself and I am. Now I'm thinking about you and my best advice is … sit your butt back down there and tell me what you're looking for. Not a virgin, I hope, 'cause I think we might be hard pressed to find one around here. However …
he stressed, as Zabeel lowered himself back into a seat …

‘Silly, old, freak!'

The abusive words and a woman's squeal seized the attention of all in the club.

‘What on earth?' Zabeel went charging over to the scene of the disturbance and Dumuzi reluctantly followed, taking his drink with him.

‘I was taking pity on you, mutant!' yelled the Delphinus male who was standing over his date, liquid in several shades of colour, dripping down his clothes.

Zabeel gripped hold of the offender's raised fist, before he could strike the female. ‘I'm a mutant,' he advised the smaller man.

Delphinus, on the whole, were the shortest among the human races; Zabeel, like his father, was unusually tall and well-built.

When the offender turned to spy his restrainer he took the defensive. ‘She poured a tray of drinks over me,' he justified.

‘He needed cooling down,' she insisted, but Zabeel's eye did not leave his captive's.

‘No matter what, there is never
ever
just cause to hit a female.' Zabeel gave the information to the fellow at close range and then let him go. He scrambled away.

It's Cordella. That figures … she's the eldest of my Delphinus daughters,
Dumuzi advised Zabeel on the quiet.
If it's a virgin you're after, legend has it that you might be onto something there. Fancies herself as royalty that one … perhaps you are the Prince she's been waiting for.
The disguised Lord slipped into the crowd and disappeared.

Cordella was in her early forties, and although Zabeel appeared only thirty years of age, inside he was seventy. To his old eyes, Cordella appeared little more than a girl. Her skin was the same pale colour as his own and her fingers had no webbing. Her hair was honey brown and straight like her father's, but it was her eyes that were her most outstanding feature, for they were like deep-green emerald jewels.

‘Fireworks,' mumbled Zabeel, a silly smile forming on his face as his heart began burning a hole in his chest.

‘You're not one of my little brothers?' she queried as she stood up.

Little brother?
thought Zabeel, still unaccustomed to his immortal persona. ‘I'm much older than I look,' he assured.

‘Sure you are, sweet thing.' She thought him flattering and chivalrous, and so gave him a kiss on the cheek for his assistance. ‘Thanks for coming to my rescue.' She grabbed her bag and left the club.

‘Wait a second.' Zabeel gave chase out into the corridor. ‘Aren't we supposed to live happily ever after now?'

Cordella gave a hearty laugh. ‘You do wonders for an old woman's ego,' she granted, without altering from her course.

Zabeel continued his pursuit, frustrated. He'd not considered that being young and attractive would pose a problem in his hunt for a mate.

‘Aren't you even the slightest bit interested in who I am?' he appealed.

‘Actually,' Cordella thought about it and then paused from her stride, ‘I am. Come on then,' she gestured with her head to encourage him to catch her up. ‘You could walk with me a while.'

 

Upon Maelgwn's return to Kila, he found the Governor in the throes of organising labour, and the shipment of parts, for the construction of the satellites for Anu's shield. Brian took time out to listen to Maelgwn's update of affairs and they planned for a conference, to take place in the near future.

The Devas had requested that all the Nefilim be brought together, along with the head of state of each tribe on each planet under Pantheon rule. The government of those planets needed to be organised as quickly as possible, for there would be many refugees who would wish to relocate themselves under the new allied rule. Government needed to be firmly set into place to assist with resettlement.

‘Lahmu must preside over this meeting,' Maelgwn advised, ‘not I.'

‘I know.' Brian forced a smile. He truly had assumed Maelgwn's position and he knew now how it felt to carry the fate of nations on his shoulders. ‘Go home, bro,' Brian suggested. ‘See your wife, take a break. The situation is under control … for the time being.'

Miraculously, when Maelgwn joined his wife, she was alone, relaxing and forgetting all her troubles in their large hot tub. ‘Ahh … alone at last.' He startled her with his presence and found himself covered in water.

‘Goddamn it!' Tory stopped shovelling water when she recovered from the shock.

‘Well, I could use a wash.' Maelgwn shook himself off, as this was not the reception he'd been hoping for.

Tory knelt up in the large bath to entice him in. ‘So, what's stopping you then?'

Maelgwn looked around, as if expecting company. ‘Where's the pirate?'

‘Seeking out my Falcon incarnation on Karleashian,' she advised, winningly, and Maelgwn began to strip off. ‘I figured that Thais could probably use a few good warriors that were hip to his cause.'

‘I'll wager you're right.' Maelgwn gazed upon Tory's shapely, wet torso, laced with bubbles, savouring a vision he'd not had in a long time. ‘Do you know what this reminds me of? Gwynedd.' He climbed into the tub to kneel before her and draw her warm, naked body close.

‘Mmmm …' she concurred vaguely, absorbed in the pleasure of being pressed so close to him that every muscle in his abdomen made an impression upon her belly. The distant memory of other such encounters in the tower tub at Aberffraw sent her mind to the same heavenly space her body was occupying — for a moment.

Her reminiscing about their hot tub in ancient Gwynedd caused her to recall being kidnapped from it,
and thrown in Arwystli's prison, where she'd happened upon Maelgwn's dying brother, Caradoc. Caradoc's chosen incarnation, Cadwaladr, had been the primary cause of the debacle at the time of the Gathering, having been influenced by the Nefilim Lord —

‘Shamash!' both Tory and Maelgwn announced at once, as Maelgwn had been following her train of thought.

‘We forgot about him.' Tory shuddered, as he was a nasty customer and had probably grown conceited in the fifty years he'd been banished to an otherworldly fortress on Gaia's moon.

‘Ah, well, then,' Maelgwn shrugged, unfazed by the oversight, ‘the universe won't crumble if we forget him for another hour.'

‘Forget who?' Tory returned her lips and her person to her husband's amorous embrace.

 

When Tory and Maelgwn reported to Brian to advise him of the Shamash oversight, they found the Devas in the Governor's company, aiding him to transport large shipments of equipment over vast distances instantaneously.

Oh, we didn't forget Shamash, Father,
Sacha informed with a glint in his eye.

We just felt you needed time to recharge your batteries,
Psyche added, grinning also.

‘Much appreciated,' Maelgwn warranted, aiming a mischievous grin in Tory's direction, a sentiment she returned.

‘You can't take the Devas, I need them,' Brian insisted. ‘They're doing an excellent job in distribution.'

‘Any of our brothers and sisters from Edin can help you accomplish your task,' Tory argued. ‘The judgement of Shamash is more important.'