The men were in conference in the lounge overlooking the gardens of Eden, and Muck had invited the four old gods to sit in, along with Sonja and Meela. Sonja had yet to be born on Mars, like Jedan. They were way before their time, when the old gods reigned supreme, and ruled much of the known universes. They had had trouble with the alien horde on several occasions, but the aliens had stayed pretty much in their own universe to date, not starting their drive for conquest for several thousand years. “Too bad they’re not all like the girls you have with you. Such is life. Now that we have been warned of the disaster that is to come, we will begin preparations, but, it is so far into the future that men may forget, and become careless. It is our duty to see that does not happen. If only we could live forever! But even gods die, in their given time.” “ Father,” said the female god, “Is there anything you can do?” “It is possible for the gods to be reborn, witness Sonja and Meela. Now, when we created Man we gave him a soul that never dies, though the body wither and blow away, and never considered ourselves, for the Mother dreamed us into being, and we were. That same soul, however, resides in us as well, I have discovered, and each of us is reborn in our designated time. Do not fear death, but stay out of it’s path, for you may not come back for a long, long while. Sonja was gone for forty thousand years, and Meela far more.” Trag, the old winged female, said, “Sonja, do you recall your former life as a god?” The queen of the sunken city of Atlantis replied, “At first I just had little glimpses of it, but later I knew all. Meela too, did not remember much, but she is learning more each day.” The god nodded thoughtfully. “So. Though I die I do not. Very interesting.” Muck said, “When we get this time-jumping down to a fine art, we might quite possibly be able to bypass death altogether. I’ll work on it.”

The Dragon Legion was being exercised on the plains behind the city of Eden, and every kid and half of the adult  residents were there watching. None of them had ever seen a dinosaur, let alone a man riding one in battle formation. It was the most exciting thing they had been involved in since the pilgrims had left Mars for the colony on Hepshith twelve years before. Clem hopped off the back of Big Jaw and sauntered over to a young man that had been closely scrutinizing the terrible lizards. “How you get them to do what you want ‘em to?” Clem said, “Oh, we got to beat them once and again.” “Don’t they resist?” “Oh yeah! They’ll eat a man now and then.” “I’ve never imagined teeth could be so big.” “They are that. Listen, son, we’d like to take the lizards out hunting. A young fellow such as yourself should know where the wild herds are located. How would you like to be our guide for the day?” Clem saw an approaching shadow glide across the ground near him and stretched out his arm, and the eagle dropped onto the leather armlet that he always wore. “Wow! What is that fabulous animal?” The Dragon Master grinned at the bird, and then the boy. “He is an eagle, from Earth, and my finest companion, after my woman Sherri. I almost killed myself saving him, and he has never left me. He is a fine scout and hunter, the Cloudwalker.” “I’d like to have a friend like that!” “Well, if you unselfishly risk your own life to save something no one else would give a second thought to, perhaps you will find a friend like him. I told him he could fly away when his broken wing healed, but he wouldn’t go. I am glad he stayed, for we have come to love and respect one another, this great bird and I.” “I do know where the herds are! My mother is over there in the crowd. I’ll go tell her where we’re going.” “Good lad. Always keep them close and informed. I know from personal experience how quickly the world can change and disaster strike. You never know when the last time you see someone may come. Tell her you love her, and will see her soon.”

  Sidan was overjoyed. His mother was proud that he had been chosen to lead the hunt and had not argued about his safety or how long he should be gone.

“Do you get to ride the huge beasts?” was all she wanted to know. He had, of course, lied and said, “Yes, I will ride with the Dragon Master himself.”

As he walked along in front of them past the crowd Big Jaw sniffed at him a few times, and accepted him as part of the troop.

He had seen the boy with his master, on friendly terms, and wondered in his reptilian mind why the boy was being forced to walk down on the ground when everyone else rode, and tossed his head inquiringly at his rider until Clem took the hint. “Hey, Sidan, how would you like to get up here on top with me and the Cloudwalker?” Sidan grinned, “Yeah!” The huge dinosaur bent down until Clem was close enough to extend a hand and Sidan grabbed it and was flung up behind him. The crowd cheered, and the boy’s mother was a happy woman. So was the boy. He didn’t know how he was going to explain the lie when everyone in the city had seen him walking, and was feeling ashamed of himself when Clemus made the offer. “Whoa! It’s a long way to the ground! What a feeling! This must be as close to flying as a man can get!” Clem laughed and kicked the lizard, and the beast took off at a full ground shaking run, and Clem yelled over his shoulder, “No, this is!”

The fourteen hundred foot soldiers did not accompany them on this hunt, instead staying on the plain and continuing their drill. They had not had the opportunity while crossing time and space, and they liked to be in peak condition. Sidan, riding higher and faster than he ever had but for his one ride in an airship, held on to Clem’s back, the eagle looking over Clem’s shoulder at him with a fierce stare. “I don’t think the bird likes me,” he yelled, and Clem laughed again. “Sure he does! He looks like that when he’s sleeping!” They saw a herd of brells in a clearing ahead of them and the dinosaurs caught their scent and the roars that issued from the throats of Big Jaw and his brethren made the hair stand on the back of Sidan’s head.

The brells were large with massive shoulders, heavy curling hair covering them and hanging to the ground beneath them, and short powerful legs, the males having a twisted horn in the center of their forehead and being twice the size of the females. They would run like the wind when frightened, and the lizards, instinctively knowing this, quickly ran to the sides of the large herd. The beasts chose their prey and the chase was on. Riding a hungry dinosaur in the hunt was a dangerous occupation, and the men and women of the team buckled their belts to the saddles and hung on, shoulder blasters at the ready, yelling encouragement to their animals and dropping bulls as they came up on them. They tore across the lush grassland in a dusty cloud, the thunder of their passing kicking up small creatures from their nests and stampeding them along with the herd, and came to a fast moving stream that was broad and filled with boulders from the rocky cliffs, where the white water churned. Many of the brells ran on into the river, but most of them came to a sliding halt and turned to face their pursuers.

Big Jaw had picked out the lead bull of the herd for himself, and the antagonists circled each other warily. The dinosaur was eighteen feet tall, but the horn of the bull nearly reached to the place where Clem and Sidan were perched, and they could clearly see the burning red eyes of the beast, furious, frightened, and ready to battle to the death. It launched itself at the dinosaur and nearly impaled Big Jaw with the four foot horn, but the dragon leaped to the side, slashing the hide of the bull in passing with his foot long fangs. All through the area at the river’s edge the bulls had turned and attacked, and the sounds of battle echoed from the cliffs as the lizards began the slaughter. Sidan was safely anchored to the seat but was in no way out of harm’s way, and the horn grazed his check tearing the flesh and spraying his blood on Clem’s back and down the side of the dinosaur. Clem had his thigh sliced by the horn in the next lunge, and then the jaws of the dragon closed on the massive neck of the brell and clamped shut. Big Jaw shook the bull mightily, snapping it’s neck like a twig, and dropped the carcass to the ground with a tremendous crashing as the brush collapsed beneath it.

Riders were jumping to the ground and running to the high rocks to get out of the way of both the blood-crazed dinosaurs and the stampeding brells, but two unlucky men weren’t quick enough and died under the sharp hooves, and were soon unrecognizable blots of gore soaking into the undergrowth. When the dust cleared and the lizards were content, Clem and his warriors found no trace of the pair. They had been drug away or inadvertently caught up and swallowed. They held a short memorial for the men and mounted the lizards for a leisurely return to Eden, and Clemus asked Sidan if he thought he would live. “What do you mean, commander?” Clem grinned over his shoulder, “You look like you’re bleedin’ ta death from that cut on your cheek. Look what you did to poor Big Jaw.” The kid looked down the side of the monster and saw the blood. “That’s from me?” “Most of it. My leg seeped some. You’re going to keep a memento of this hunt for the rest of your life, lad.” “Am I ugly?” the boy asked in shock, and Clem said, “Naw, it just makes you look tough. Your momma ain’t gonna like it though!”

Many of the crowd that had been there when they departed had jumped in their fliers and chased them through the hunt, and several newsmen had been among them. When they got back toEdenthere were nearly as many present to cheer their return, and the young Sidan had been elevated to the status of  hero. Everyone in the city had seen the action on their screens, and when the bull had gored him they had watched as he shook his fist in defiance and yelled a warrior’s taunt. The chief of Eden’s security force was there with his mother as Clem handed him down to the ground, and walked over and commended him for his bravery in the face of certain death. “How old are you, boy?” the chief asked him, and Sidan replied, “I am soon to be fourteen, sir. Did I do something against the code?” “No, no! I was merely wondering what your plans for the future were, or if you had even thought about it yet.” Sidan said, “No sir, it has never crossed my mind. I think I would like to be someone like the great Clem someday.” The chief said, “Well, I have spoken with your mother, after we both had seen the newscast, and we agreed that you might make an excellent candidate for law enforcement.” “What newscast?” “The hunt. Everyone in the city saw your face as the bull’s horn ripped through your cheek and the way you threatened the mighty beast with death, absolutely unafraid. A brave lad such as yourself could go a long way, if he began his training early enough. Do you think you might be interested?” The boy was listening closely to the chief, but his eyes had strayed to a very pretty young lady who had not taken her eyes from him since he had jumped down from the dinosaur’s high shoulders. “Could I have a little time to think about your offer, sir?” “Certainly! Here’s my card. Stop by the office in a couple of days and we’ll talk more about it. I was fourteen when I began training for my position. If you start soon you could be well advanced in the ranks when you reach your majority.”  “It is a very interesting proposition, sir. I will be in to see you, but there is so much excitement just now I find it hard to concentrate on much else.” They smiled and shook hands, and he went to his mother, who immediately started fussing with the cut on his cheek. He shrugged her off, saying, “It is my trophy of the hunt, mother! Leave it be!”

The young lady already thought he was the most splendid young man on the planet, and when he would not be coddled over his wound, felt her heart swell. He was so brave and handsome! Though he had gone to his mother, his eyes had not left the budding young girl’s, and he broke free and walked toward her. He stopped in front of her and they studied each other close up, each liking what they saw in the other, and he took her hand like he had seen Clem do with the beautiful Sherri, and raised it to his lips in a reverent kiss. She instantly turned into a blushing, embarrassed, adorable young woman in the eyes of the multitude, and when she smiled at the young hero when he released her hand, they cheered wildly. Sidan, normally tongue tied in the presence of the opposite sex, and a little shy, said, “May I ask your name, princess?” After a deep indrawn breath the girl said, “I’m not a princess! I live in the ‘docks with my grandfather. He is very poor, but a wonderful man nonetheless. My name is Mazina Sho’lee. I know who you are, for I saw you lead the hunt and watched with everybody else when you bled, Sidan.” “You are a princess to me, Mazina Sho’lee.” As he said it his ears got nearly as red as the drying blood on his cheek and tunic, and she blushed prettily again, and said, “Why didn’t you let your mother attend your wound?” “I was hoping you would, if you don’t mind me saying so. I didn’t want her treating me like a young boy in front of everyone.” “I would be proud to! Right her in front of all of them!” and went immediately to her task. She tore a strip of cloth from her underdress and moistened it in the fountain, and made him sit on it’s edge while she gently wiped the caked blood from his face. He liked her touch, and the pain that he had been feeling seemed to just disappear as her fingers lightly danced across his cheek

Muck had been watching this take place from the window of the hospital, and he carried the baby back to the bed. Welen and Cathay had come to visit, and Jedan was talking to them in the chairs against the wall next to the bed, where he could still hold the hand of his mate, the lovely alien Arrella. She was sleeping now, so Muck handed the tiny Lila to Baen, who also held the sleeping Jo. “Jedan, Welen, I’d like you men to come down and meet some young people I have been watching from the window. I think you will find it very interesting.” They went down the hall to the gravity lift and stepped inside and moments later stood in the crowded lobby eighteen floors below. When the people there saw the Father most of them quickly tried to clear a path for him. He had forbidden them to bow to him except on occasions of state many years before, when his other body was alive, but many of them went prone and he patiently waited for them to regain their dignity before passing through them. He was an impressive sight, Welen had to admit, as they left the lobby. Muck’s wings would nearly stretch fourteen feet fully extended, and he was every bit as huge as Jedan, one of Mars’ finest warriors of another time. The beneficial smile that he bestowed on each and everyone that he met left them all with a better outlook on life and hope for the future. This was their god walking amongst them.

Many of the robots didn’t know of the ban and clogged the avenue with their bodies, forcing the trio to step over them in their desire to reach the young couple at the fountain. Muck had never liked the idea of peer-robotics and had tried on numerous occasions to dissuade the people from this practice, but they were fond of the highly intelligent machines and allowed them to run free all over the city of Eden. They looked nearly Human, and acted accordingly, with the capacity to think and make independent decisions. He wished they would decide to get out of the way! Ah, the kids were still there!

They both stood when Muck and the two warriors approached them, and the girl’s hand reached for and found that of the boy. “Well,” said the Father, “the leader of the hunt, and his princess! How goes it, young ones? Young lady, you have done a fine job! Did you know the scar that will remain spells out your name?” “Why do you tease me, Father? I am not a princess, but a poor girl from the ‘docks with no family but my old grandfather! What do you mean, ‘spells out my name’?” He pointed to the boy’s face and she almost fainted when she clearly saw her initials where the entry and exit wounds were! She gasped and turned back to Muck. “How did you do that? Why?” “He has carved your name on his heart. Why not on his face? And, by the way, I am not teasing when I call you princess. Your grandfather lost the power of speech long ago with the wounds he received in battle on another world, and also most of his mental abilities, but if  he could have, he would have told you. His great-great grandfather was once the King of Mars, deposed and murdered in the Rebellion. Mazina Sho’lee, come near to me.” he commanded, and she pulled Sidan along with her when she went. This winged and horned giant was a good god, she had heard somewhere, but she was still scared, and tightened her grip on the boy’s hand until her pink nails dug in, causing him to wince but holding on. He had indeed carved her name on his heart.

“Kneel!” They both dropped to their knees as if their legs had been taken away, and looked up at the god in sudden fear. He grinned down at them, and held out his hand, and out of nowhere a golden tiara studded with precious jewels appeared. Taking the crown in both hands he looked deep into Sidan’s eyes and saw his soul. “Son, place this on the head of this dear girl, and promise her you will protect her with your life, for all the rest of your days. This is your destiny.” Sidan disentangled himself from the girl and took the glittering thing in hand, and still kneeling at her side said, “My life is yours, Princess Mazina Sho’lee,” and gently placed the crown on her head. She was crying like a lost child, and he took her in his young arms and held her tenderly, the tiara pricking his skin as she laid her head on his chest.

Jedan, from out of time, said, as he dropped to one knee in front of her, “Mazina Sho’lee, I am Jedan, your son!” He took Sidan’s hand and said with tears in his eyes, “Father!” The young fourteen year old children were terribly spooked by this great warrior calling the two of them mother and father, and Muck started laughing. “Come! We shall go back to Arrella’s room, and there I will enlighten all of you. Princess, gather your young man and drag him along, it looks like he is in a trance and can’t walk on his own!”

There hadn’t been a royal family on Mars since the rebellion nearly two hundred years gone, and the Martians bowed as she passed. If the great god said she was their Princess, that was the way it was, and if that was true, the rumor that quickly ran through the crowd like a prairie fire that the great warrior was the son of the young couple from far into the future must also be true, and that made the lowly Sidan their King. A tremendous roar erupted from the spectators, all of them tired of the criminals who governed them, and they danced in the gardens and avenues of Eden.

There was quite a gathering in the room when they got there. Sonja and Meela and Dorian had joined Cathay and Baen at Arrella’s bedside, and little Jo and Lila were both awake. The four old gods, aware of what was taking place through telepathic contact with Muck, came in just as he was warming up to tell the tale. “This young woman, and this young man, will rule Mars from this day forth. I have sent the angels to fetch her grandfather and his mother so that they may witness this historic event. The royal blood was almost extinguished when Mazina Sho’lee’s parents were killed, but she was successfully transplanted into a host mother and born healthy and strong. Sidan, your mother is ninth cousin to Mazina Sho’lee’s grandfather, though neither one knew, and you are the last of that line. Tonight, in the gardens of Eden, I will proclaim you King and Queen before the people, and a great feast will be held in the arena of the coliseum.”

The gods of Mars, together in front of the people for the first time since they had left the physical world behind in different times, except for the four old gods who would soon depart, stood high on a raised platform so that the entire population of the city could see them as the ceremony commenced. The bowl of the amphitheater resounded with the crowd’s applause, louder even than the wild excitement of the coronation in the gardens, when Muck took the com and said, “Hiyadoin’?” When the exuberant reply had died down a little, he went on, “As you know, we have a new king and queen, and have disbanded the government officials, sending many of them to the tar pits.” Again, the wild applause boomed forth, and the newscasters in the balloon above the arena were forced to turn down the volume of their coms, after the eardrums of the crew chief ruptured. Muck laughed quietly while the jovial crowd slowly came to order. “All right. Many of you know me from legend, many of you don’t. I have always been known as the Father, but from now on you can call me Muck. Though the only gods you have known in recent ages have been the old gods, there are and have been many of us throughout time, and will always be. The Mother dreamed us and we became, and we in turn dreamed you, and you became. We will be with you forever, in one form or another, whether you like it or not!” More applause reverberated through the night skies of  Eden, and then he went on, “By a lucky accident, way out there on the planet Earth, many thousands of years from now, I was presented with both a Zun and a Crystal, and when the twain met I burst back into life as myself, your god, from a man who had been trapped in near-death for thirteen thousand years. I am both man and god, and have a daughter named Jo. Say hello to the nice folks, Jo.” The alien Baen turned her loose and little Jo went to her father, Father, and he picked her up and held her close to the com. “Hiyadoin’?” the sweetheart said, and they laughed and yelled “Hiyadoin’?” right back at her. Muck set her back down and continued. “Many things will change as time goes by. One day, an alien race will invade and destroy the gardens of Eden, forcing a mass migration to Earth, where the Human race will thrive in a distant future. That home too will be destroyed numerous times. However, the people are strong and will survive all tribulations, and with the help of my dear wife and her friends, will overcome the evil perpetuated by the alien devils. Don’t get upset; that’s thirty-seven thousand years from now, so you have a little time yet. That brings me to the point. We have mastered time travel. Now, we may be able to jump back and forth, and to, by combining the powers of the gods with both current and future technology, and whatever we pick up on outlying worlds, become strong enough to defeat the aliens in the end. You must all work toward that goal. I want to hear you all commit yourselves. I must warn you that if you do commit yourselves and then shirk in your duties you will suffer not only at the hands of the aliens, but from myself as well.” A standing ovation greeted this statement, and the loud applause lasted for a very long time. If the gods were on their side, all would be well in the end.

The new king and queen of Mars were scared. Neither one had ever been alone with a member of the opposite sex, and now that they had been given a temporary apartment to live in while the ancient palace was being restored, and everyone had gone, they sat timidly holding hands through a deep silence. Mazina Sho’lee stood and removed her hand. “Sidan, I’m having a rather difficult time believing all that has taken place today. To imagine that two of the poorest kids on Mars could end up as her rulers in the space of a few hours is so incredible! And you! I never saw you before today! Now we are married by the gods themselves!” She started to cry and instantly Sidan was beside her. “Mazina Sho’lee, surely I am not that repulsive to you! I thought you liked me!” “It’s not you! I do like you! Everything happened so fast I haven’t had time to think, and my poor grandfather being in the middle of that crowd, frightened like a small child, tore at my heart. I fear he won’t be around too much longer, and then I will be alone in the world.” He took her in his arms and held her close to him. “You’ll never be alone, my queen, as long as I shall live,” he whispered, and she drew closer to him. From beneath his chin she whispered back, “Oh yes I will! Tonight I’ll be alone. If you think I’m sleeping in the same bed with you, you’re wrong! I’m not ready for that, and may not be for a long time.” Sidan smiled with relief and told her, “Me either. We’ll grow, together, and when love tells us the time is right, we’ll know.” Mazina Sho’lee hugged him and said, “Thank you for understanding. We are too young to have been thrown together like this, as man and wife, We are still children! What was the Father thinking? And introducing us to our thirty-year-old son! I nearly died!” “You! Hey, do you suppose I may grow as tall and strong as Jedan? What a magnificent warrior he is!” “Yes, and quite handsome, too. I looked from you to him several times as you stood together, and the resemblance was astonishing.” Does that mean you think I too am handsome?” “Are you flirting with me?” “No!”

Jedan and Arrella had left the hospital the next morning with little Lila, accompanied by Baen and Muck, and moved their possessions into a small apartment in a fabulous pyramid with walkways and gravity lifts. From their deck on the fourth floor they could see the arena, and the spaceport behind it, and beneath them were the wondrous gardens of Eden. Jedan said, “When I was trapped on that small planet’s lonely island, I thought I would never see this fabulous place again. If not for you, I would still be there, lost in time and space.” He caught up his mate and lifted her from her feet and held her at eye level, “I love you very much Arrella.” “And I you,” she replied, and wrapped her arms around his neck and hung from him while he kissed her delicious lips. Baen looked at Muck and then toward the ceiling, and he grinned and caught her up too, and the four of them danced around the room kissing and loving one another.

Clem and Sherri were giving Big Jaw a bath at the garrison headquarters, and Sherri asked him, “How long are we going to stay here on Mars?” “Well, Welen told me that as soon as the baby can travel we’ll be blasting off for Orion or the Centaur cluster. He wasn’t sure which, though it doesn’t matter which to me. Either way it will be a great adventure. We’re not likely to see Earth for quite some time yet.” Sherri was quiet for a time, and then said, “I’d like to see Muck invite the young king and queen along for the ride. They would surely be safe with the Dragon Legion, and will in all probability never have such an opportunity come their way again. They are too young to be rulers. Certainly a few good men could be found to act in their stead for a while, and give them a chance to grow up and learn some things of the galaxies. I must confess, Clem, that I have never had so much raw fun or been so excited in my entire life!” “Well, you are very exciting to me, sweetheart. And you’re right. This chase we are on is a thing that could never happen again. Why, if Muck had not become the Father when the Zun met the Crystal we wouldn’t be here. Think about it. If Muck had not been rescued from his frozen tomb, and the lizards and our own bodies were still encased in ice, there would be no new king and queen. Wonders never cease in this new age.”

Clem happened upon Muck and Dorian and their ladies in the garden, and passed on the suggestion that Sherri had thought of. “Those kids could become fine adults and the best rulers this planet ever had, if they could only have the time to spend with Sonja, Meela, and yourself, Muck. To be instructed in the Code by the gods themselves would be the greatest thing that could happen at this stage of their youth. Perhaps the young king could be trained in the warrior’s arts by his own son!” Sonja did not hesitate. “Father, you must do this for them. Mazina Sho’lee is not yet a woman, and has no woman to instruct and care for her. I want to be her mentor. If I must  stay behind while the rest of you continue on the mission, I will. She needs me.” “Well, that settled that quick enough. I’ll let you be the one to tell them, then. The girl will ride with you, Sonja and Dorian, and the boy with Jedan and Arrella. I’ll set up a council to rule in our absence. You’ve got three days to make all arrangements, then we’re off.” Muck rose to his full height and stretched his majestic wings, gave Baen a kiss, and leaped into the sky and was gone.

The girl’s grandfather slept his life away two nights later, and when she was told she was inconsolable. Sonja came into the young couple’s parlor and saw the heartbroken child on the floor with Sidan kneeling near her helplessly. He jumped to his feet as Sonja knelt by the girl and yelped, “What should I do? She acts like she doesn’t know me, and it scares me pretty bad. She won’t stop crying!” The goddess smiled at him fondly and said, “Pack your bags. Take all of your and Mazina Sho’lee’s clothing and new presents to the spaceport.” The boy was stunned by the order and said, “Why? Where are we going?” “You and the young queen are going with the Dragon Legion on the greatest quest of all time. Now hurry. Muck has spent the last three days setting up an interim government to act in your behalf, and the countdown has begun. I will meet you there with your bride. There are four men and a squad of robots waiting for your summons. When you are packed they will bring you to Jedan’s ship.” “Will I get to be with Clem too?” “Yes, you will spend time with many in the crew, as you learn and grow. Even me.” “Wow! This is the best day of my life. No! The best day of my life was when I met you, Mazina Sho’lee.” He knelt by the girl, who had quieted with Sonja’s magic hands on her, and she looked deep into his eyes. “Really?” she whispered, and he said, “Really. I love you. Are you all right now? I was so scared when you wouldn’t talk to me. Did you hear Sonja? They are taking us along on the quest!” “You love me?” Sidan took her pretty face in both hands and kissed her long and tenderly, and when he pulled himself away, he too had tears in his eyes. “Yes. I love you, Mazina Sho’lee.” She grabbed him and pulled him tight to her breast, saying nothing, and not needing to.

All but Dorian’s and Jedan’s ships were in orbit above the two moons waiting for the last two starships to join the formation. They had left the planet quietly in the early dawn, wanting to avoid the consternation that the departure of their so newly crowned king and queen would cause. Muck’s new council would take over as soon as they were gone, and the security chief was a worried man. “I’m likely to have a riot on my hands, Sonja! Can’t you at least leave a couple of the Dragon Masters to assist me? Just one dragon? No? Ah, well, Sidan, I will miss you, and the sweet Mazina Sho’lee too. You are fine youngsters, and I know when you return you will be fine rulers, with the god’s guidance. Goodbye, then! Have a safe and prosperous journey!” They looked back and waved to him as they climbed the ramps of the separate starships, and looked longingly at one another as the ramps closed. He saw her lips form the words with his last sight of her; I love you, and Sidan’s spirits soared as the starship rose into the brightening Martian dawn.

“I have been to the Centaur Cluster many times, in my spirit form, but never in the flesh. There are worlds out that way with many forms of life, and some of them are aware and civilized. Many of them are not. There are dangers, of course, but we are well prepared, and to my unlimited knowledge, there is nothing out in the vastness that can compare to our great dragons or the men and women who ride them. This being said, get ready for the jump.” The Father’s words reverberated from the com speakers on all of the starships as they passed the last small icy planet of the solar system and left the sun’s gravity field.

“Dad, why don’t you sit here in the co-pilot’s chair? Arrella is busy with the baby, getting her safely secured, and you need to learn how to run one of these anyway. What do you think of your grand-daughter?” The fourteen year old Sidan looked intently at his thirty year old son, and said after a moment, “Why, she’s a beautiful child. Mazina Sho’lee and I love her very much. And yourself as well, of course. And Arrella. Ummm, I guess we pretty much love everybody. Pretty much.” Jedan grinned, “You should have seen me when I found out I had been lost in space for about thirty thousand years! My face probably looked like yours does now!” “You were lost that long? Did it seem like that long?” “Naw. It was funny, I could have sworn I was only on that deserted planet for three years. I even kept notches on a tree on that island, to kind of keep track. If Arrella and Baen hadn’t found me, and some of their friends had, I would have been dead.” “Yes, I remember, you said they had run away from their home world, not wanting to be part of the coming atrocities. Her people destroyed the Mars of the future, and then attack Earth thousands of years later?” “Yeah. It doesn’t seem possible, but then, I never thought I’d have the Father god for a best friend, either.” “Yeah.” Sidan was young, but he had a sharp, open mind, and the bravery inherent in his warrior son came down through time from him. “Maybe we will find a way to defeat them and stop the bad times from ever happening.” “We can’t change what has already passed, only what is to come, much as we would like to. If Muck can truly master time, as he is beginning to suspect, that may change. For now, we had better just hope we can find the things he believes are out there, and prepare as best we can.”

 Jedan picked up the com and asked Arrella if  her and the baby were ready for the jump, and she answered, “Yes, Lila is asleep, and we are safely secured in the berth.” Jedan said, “Love you both,” and turned to his dad. “Strap that harness on tight. This ain’t gonna be no fun.” The warning light flashed on and the five-count started, and Sidan’s guts tried to escape their confines as the stars began to melt and run into a million swirling streaks around the starship and disappeared. A black tunnel enfolded them and the speed of their passing shoved them deep into the cushions of the command chairs. Far ahead a tiny pinprick of light appeared and slowly grew, and as Sidan thought his bones were being torn from his body, the Centaur Cluster suddenly loomed before them and turned into a massive blot of streaking stars that quickly surrounded and flew past them, and before he could scream at their frightening nearness they slowed to a flow and then came to a stop. His body did not, however, and the straps holding him to his seat cut deep into his flesh, and he felt as though he would fly out through the view-port, and was then slammed back into the cushions.

 Jedan said, “You okay? Man, I ain’t ever gonna get used to that! Check in with the other ships while I go see to Arrella and Lila, will you Dad?” Sidan watched him walk to the back with a raised eyebrow, and flipped on the com. “Starship thirty-seven checking in. Anybody out there?” Muck answered right away, “That you Sidan? Hiyadoin’? Looks like we miscalculated and will have to make another jump. You hangin’ on to somethin’?” “You gotta be kidding!” the now thoroughly frightened boy said, and the Father laughed. “Yeah, I’m just trying to have a little fun with you. Is everyone okay? I was concerned about the baby, they are so fragile. Have Jedan check in with me first chance he gets.”

When the boy loosed his harness and rose from his seat, the alien lady, his daughter-in-law, came into the command center carrying a smiling wiggling form, and deposited Lila in his arms. The baby with the strange golden eyes smiled up at him and said, “Grandfather!” He almost dropped her. “She’s not a week old!” Arrella shrugged and told him, “Baen said her and little Jo are different, and we must accept and love them for what they are. Jo told that to her and Muck the day she started talking. I can’t explain it, nor can Father. Just love her.” Sidan looked at the happy baby, who was still smiling up at him, and held her close and kissed her many times. “I do. I do.”

Muck appeared beside him and said, “Here, give me that baby! Hello, Lila sweetheart! Are you okay? Didn’t get hurt in the jump, did you?” The baby wagged her head back and forth and smiled at the god, “I’m fine, Father. Hiyadoin’?” “Where’d you learn to talk like that?” “From Jo.” “I was worried about you.” “No need. I’m tough.” “Yes, I can see that. Can’t walk yet though, huh?” The baby laughed up at him, “Father, I’m only a week old!”

He handed the child to her mother and turned to Jedan and his young father. “Men, I congratulate the both of you for a wonderful baby. Arrella, Baen and Jo wish to visit with you and the child. Will you have Jedan bring your starship alongside ours?” “Certainly. I wish to be with them also.” “All right. See you in a few minutes.” Muck kissed the baby and began to dissolve, fading to a mist which then disappeared.

“It would be nice if he could teach all of us to do that! I guess you gotta be a god, though,” Sidan said to the others, as Jedan maneuvered the ship close to Muck’s. “It helps,” Sonja said from behind him, as she took the baby from her mother. “Hello, Lila! You’re so pretty!” She folded her arms and wings around the baby and cuddled her for a while, whispering secret things in her ear, and then Lila whispered secret things back to her.

Welen and Cathay were at the helm. “That’s the strangest looking starship I’ve ever seen,” she said to her giant lover as the strange object that had been spotted came near. He nodded, and replied, “Not that I’ve seen that many but, I believe you are right. I can’t imagine Humans constructing anything of the sort. I’ll com Muck and see what he thinks of the occurrence.” Muck was instantly in communication with him. “That thing has come a long way, from some part of the endless universes that I’m not familiar with. I believe it is a derelict, for I detect no signs of  life. Get your crew ready Welen, and we’ll board her and see what fate has sent our way.” “Yes great Father! I hear and obey!.” “Watch it, boy.”

Cathay smiled at her muscular hero and said, “You know he could snuff you out like a candle if you rub him the wrong way?” “Yeah, but he’s my pal. Muck. Sure, he’s the high god, too, but, he’s a damn nice guy! I wish you could come along sweetheart, but this is a touchy operation, and he said “crew”, which means the warriors. If  it’s safe, I’ll scurry back to get you though.” She gave him a hug with her entire voluptuous being, and kissed him like she had the first time, and when she let him go it took several moments for reality to return. “Wow! I’m gonna see if somebody wants to replace me on this assignment! Every time you kiss me like that you turn my brain into mush!” The rest of the ladies on the deck laughed at the flustered man, whose face was just now losing the blood flush she had caused in him, and one of them volunteered to lead him to the hatch since he couldn’t find it on his own. He laughed and said, “Naw. I’m coming around. I’ll be all right in another few minutes. Where am I?” The flight crew laughed again, admiring the unashamed love of their commanders.

The fleet had come to a stop in the blackness of deep space, the light of the nearest stars light years away, and the extremely old and debris covered skin of the alien craft reflected none of it. Muck was already inside the wreck when Welen’s crew arrived, and after forcing the ancient locks the crew chief said, “Keep a sharp eye! We don’t know who or what may have been here or what kind of surprises they may have left behind. Lead off sergeant!” It was as dark as the tomb inside and the hand held lights of the crew bounced from one strange relic to another as they advanced. Muck suddenly appeared at Welen’s side. “Hey, I found out who they were! There’s a few remains in the old command center up on the third level, and more of them down in what looks like a sick bay or clinic. Now, when I tell you that I’ve seen some strange things in my time you can pretty much assume I’m telling the truth, but these guys are some of the more different! But you’ll see for yourself momentarily.” He pointed the way to a ramp that wound upwards and they cautiously ascended, Grott in the lead, blaster in hand. The sergeant was hungry for action, for the cramped quarters of the starship gave little, barring interaction with the ladies, and the rest of the warriors were also eager, most of them wearing grins of anticipation.

Welen too was ready for the unknown, whatever it may be. They came to the command center and entered the huge hatchway, a few of them wondering at the immense size of the opening, and Muck, who did not need a helmet as the others did, began to laugh. There at the controls was a giant three-legged spider, whose eight-digit claws were still clenched around the recording device it held, withered into a sack of whatever it had been that held it together. “That, my friends, is what I mean by strange! Look at it’s eyes! There must have been thousands of separate lenses in them so as to see in all directions at the same time. I myself have dreamed up a lot of stuff, but nothing like this guy! I believe I may have mentioned that among the old gods, there were some strange beings also that the great Mother dreamed into being. One of them must have had a field day with this batch!” Grott stepped to the fore and looked intently at the creature. “That fella is lucky he’s dead or I’d fry his moldy hair-covered bones! That’s just plain ugly! Must have been pretty intelligent though. I wonder what kind of message he left on that machine?” “Well, Yank it away from him and I’ll see what I can do with it,” Muck said, and Grott latched onto the recorder and gave it a tug. The spider’s grip was frozen on the thing and the spindly arms came away with it. Several of the warriors pitched in and helped peel the bony claws from it, and Muck took the thing to a shelving area and began to dismantle it.

After a short time he said, “Welen, give me one of the small crystals. I’m going to power it up and hopefully make some sense of their vocabulary. Grott, you take six of the crew down to the main level and make sure they are all dead and gone. They may have some life force that I’m unaware of, though I sincerely doubt it, having created much of it myself.” He put the crystal into the inner sanctum of the machine, hooked up several small wires that had formerly been connected to a tiny square item, and touched a prominent round raised area on it’s face. Immediately a loud quaking vibration of a noise became apparent, and was extremely irritating to the men in their helmets, who quickly turned down the volume on their coms. “That can’t be how they talked to one another, can it? If I had to listen to much of that I’d go short, I think.” Welen tapped the side of his helmet a few times to get the sound out of his ear and walked over to inspect a panel of unusual display screens on the adjacent wall of the center. One of them showed some very faint traces of light flowing from one corner to the opposite and he said to Father, “Hey Muck, there’s a vestige of power in this equipment yet, something going on with a blip now and again across the screen.”

Muck looked over his shoulder and said, “Hmm.” And went back to his business with the recording device. “Well, aren’t you gonna check this out?” Muck turned back to him and replied. “I just did.” “And?” “It’s a machine.” “Yeah I know! But what for?” “You’ll have to ask one of these spiders, my friend. I’ve never seen one before either!” Welen shook his head and said, “I thought you knew everything! I mean…” “I know what you mean. Being the Father and all. Well, you gotta remember I’m a man too, and perhaps that slows me down a bit. We’ll see. Give me another few minutes with this device, and then I’ll look into that one. Fair enough?” His Human friend nodded and resumed his inspection tour.

Grott had a funny feeling when he and the warriors made their way into the hold area, as though something was watching them, something malevolent and wholly evil. That was exactly the feeling that arose in himself when confronted with danger of any sort, turning him into an extremely dangerous opponent to anyone or anything that was fool enough to challenge him, and he smiled. His bared teeth and mean eyes welcomed what was to come, as he stepped boldly into the unknown.

A large body scraped against something high overhead, causing one of the younger of the crew to snort in surprise and jerk his blaster in that general direction, and Grott laughed and yelled, “Don’t just stand there boy! Fry it!” and he turned his own blaster to the dropping monster and let fly. It slammed into the floor with a sound of an asteroid hitting the surface of a moon and splattered, pretty much like an asteroid would have done. “Damn! That ain’t one of them spiders! What the hell is it?” Grott looked down at the steaming mess and declared, “Don’t know. Where there’s one there’s more, though, has been my experience. Shoot first, and if there’s any survivors at days end, why, then we’ll ask questions. Some kind of big grub or something. Nasty. Let’s move out!”

The stench raised from the liquefied grub-thing was noticeable to the men even through the tough spacesuits they wore, and the young one barfed into his faceplate, nearly drowning before choking the mass down. There was nowhere else for it to go. “Man. Man, I’m sick! I sure hope there ain’t no more of them things! Grott, can I go back up with Muck and Welen? I like to of died just now!” Grott laughed and said, “No. Follow orders, and you’ll probably live through this. Breathe through your mouth when you burn the nasty stuff and you’ll profit. Now you three go down the far side of this chamber, and the rest of us will carry on in this direction. Personally, I’d like to meet a few more of whatever that was!”

Muck said, “Welen, this creature was going to hide up here from a beast of some kind that escaped it’s cage and went on a killing rampage. He called it a trangelus and said it was mutating into something horrible when he made his way up here and began making this entry. That loud vibrating we first heard was this spider screaming when the beast killed him. I don’t know what to make of it. It appears to have taken place a long time ago at any rate, and, like I said, I’m not aware of any life forms on the starship…wait! Boy, I just felt something die down below! Let’s get down there and check it out.” They ran for the ramp and made their way to the level the rest of the crew were on and Muck wrinkled his nose. “Whoa! That’s rank stuff! Hey Grott! Where you at? What did you guys burn up here?” Grott stepped out of the darkness, “Hiyadoin’? Don’t really know. Slimy brute, and damn ugly. It was hanging from the rafters, so to speak, and dropped in on us.” “Well, that couldn’t have been what sucked the juice out of  big Spode upstairs, could it?” Welen asked the god, and Muck shook his head doubtfully. “No, I think there was something really bad that got loose and did the spiders in. This thing you fried was a spider larva.” “No foolin’?” “No foolin’.” “Big.” “Yeah.”

Mazina Sho’lee had volunteered to take watch with the babies and was highly entertained by the pair of them, who were carrying on a conversation in the alien dialect that she had heard Baen and Arrella use when talking privately of home. “Why do you speak so that I can not understand you, children? Do you need to keep secrets from me?” Lila smiled at her with love and said in her baby voice, “Jo was telling me of how she loves you Mazina Sho’lee, and I had to agree with her, for you are terribly lovable and sweet.” “How can you elucidate with such clarity? I am amazed by the fact that you speak at all, and you talk much clearer than the most educated of Martians. How can this be?” “You won’t tell anyone?” “Of course not! Jo is my witness, I promise not to tell!” Lila wet her wrappings with a look of extreme happiness, and then said, “Jo and I are born from another time far into the future where fantasy and reality often mesh and are unrecognizable one from the other. That the blood of our Human and Alien parents mixed at all was a miracle and will never happen again. The Mother called us into being for the sake of all humanity, and we will, in that time far away, be instrumental in The Last War, just as Sonja and Meela.” “You are gods!” “Yes, but it must remain our secret.”

With that the baby lapsed into cooing and carrying on like a newborn child, loudly complaining about the wetness that was causing her discomfort, and Little Jo too was beginning to whine about being hungry, just as their mothers came in from their visit with the goddesses, ready to return to their own starships and retire.

Muck stood above the cavernous hold that lay exposed before them, their concentrated lanterns illuminating their discovery. A nest full of large waspish insect-like monsters was looking in their general direction, and Muck said, “I still can’t detect a life force here, and yet they are moving and seemingly alive. I may see a use for these things, if they can be contained, in the coming struggles, for they are truly a frightful beast. They are what caused the extinction of the giant spiders, without a doubt.” With that he jumped down into their midst and forcibly laid hands on the head of the one nearest him, and wrenched it toward him. “What is in that lifeless mind of yours, creature of the void?” He put feelers from his own limitless mind out from himself and came to know the creature intimately in a matter of seconds, then receded back into himself. “Hmm,” the crew heard him say, then he jumped the thirty foot span that separated the beasts from the boys and came to rest beside Welen. “They are dead.” “What? They’re moving around like they are alive! How can they be dead?” “Well. Trust me, they are. I can make them do things, however, I have discovered, and since they are dead, they can’t be killed. Do you begin to see the beauty of this?” “Hmm, yeah, well, maybe. Uh, Muck, how did they kill the spodes if they are all dead too?” “They weren’t dead then. They starved to death a million years ago after sucking all the nutrients from the last of the spodes. Nothing to nourish them, so they too perished, on a ship that was on an everlasting journey to nowhere. They’re dead, all right, they just don’t know it.” “Well, do you suggest then that, since they aren’t alive and can’t be killed, that they would be a good offensive weapon in the war with the Alien Horde?” “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. If they can be contained.” “The spodes couldn’t contain them.” “I know.” Muck walked away with his head bowed in thought, and the crew continued down the passage, mindful of the threat behind them, looking for whatever technology the spodes had left behind.

They found some deep-space cruisers of a sort that was of no use to them, as they could neither be operated or understood, and strange weapons that were much too cumbersome to be utilized by a man, with the instruction books, if they could be called that, in a language no mortal could understand, and all were bypassed. The Alien Horde, though a dreaded hated foe, were a Humanoid species at the least, and their technology could be understood and put to use. The spodes, though, were truly alien to everything familiar to the Human crew, and they found nothing which they could salvage. The wasps, dead, were a tremendous challenge to remove from the derelict ship, for they did not act dead, and were large to the extreme, and though mindless, were very annoyed to be tampered with. An angry buzz reverberated down the passages as the chains were attached and they were dragged from the nest.

 “Where the crack are we gonna put ‘em, is what I want to know! What if they gets loose or somethin’? Man, I ain’t gonna sleep too good if we gotta keep ‘em on our starship!” The young man who had barfed into his own helmet was beginning to annoy Grott, and he turned to the boy. “Hey. If I tell you to use one o’ these things for a pillow on your bed, that’s what you will do. Are you a warrior, or are you soon to be walking around in deep space all by yourself?” “I’m a warrior!” Grott eyed him meaningfully, and said, “Act like one.”

Meela was sixteen, by Earthly standards, and had grown into a beautiful young lady. Soon, well before the fleet returned to Earth, she would be nearly as beautiful as the other goddess, Sonja, and she was aware of the looks the men cast her way, and had dreams of young romance flit through her mind on occasions, as one of the more handsome boys smiled upon her. Muck knew, and was inclined to speak to her of the need to remain pure of thought, and she knew, because truly she was a goddess and could know his thoughts, and she said to him, “Father, sometimes I grow lonesome, and wish for a companionship such as Mazina Sho’lee and Sidan have found, a friend, someone I can share dreams with, and secrets, and smiles. I dream of a young man often, but none of those with the fleet wear his face. What is the meaning of this dream? When I sleep he is always with me. When I awake, he is always gone.” He reached out for her and held her tenderly. “Soon, you and I will take flight on a journey, such as we did that other time, and pass the boundaries of time and space, and when we reach our destination he will stand before you. His name is Cashis, and he will walk hand in hand with you as we take the fight to the Alien Horde, on the road to Hell, in The Last War.