A God Called Bruce Pt. 02

"I concentrated on the technology aspect. Bit by bit I learned about such things as physics, chemistry and engineering. There was little I could do with it though because we lacked the necessary infrastructure. I decided to introduce a technological society with some basic innovations. I set up a school where I taught improvements in metalworking, pottery, glass making and so forth. I introduced the horse collar, horseshoes and heavy ploughs, which resulted in an enormous increase in food production. Better methods in fibre production and weaving followed. The standard of living had risen to unprecedented heights in just a few years. People were taking notice of me.

"Quite out of the blue I hit the prize.

"I was sitting on the ledge looking at a picture on the tablet. It was similar to the ones you had shown me in the tunnel. I stared at the image, trying to find out what it meant when I felt a bit queasy and found myself in new surroundings. I was in an enormous windowless, but nevertheless well lit structure, full of machines of the kind the technical literature on my tablet showed. I could not imagine how I had wound up there. Not daring to move, I tried to retrace my steps.

"I pictured myself on the ledge as a logical starting point and found myself back on the ledge again. Just like that. I repeated the exercise and the same thing happened again. I had found a way to travel into another world.

"Next day I packed enough food and drink for a few days and went to explore. The first thing I did was mark the place where I had landed so I could find it again. When I tried to mark the area with some chalk I noticed for the first time the thin layer of dust covering everything. No one had been here for a very long time.

"I had been exploring this place for the best part of a day when I saw footprints in the dust. At first I thought they were mine because they looked like the ones made by my sandals but then I realised I had not been to this section and besides, the prints were much smaller than mine. I wondered what it meant. The same footsteps led in both directions, indicating that someone had doubled back on his own tracks. I chose a direction and soon came to a stop. Whoever had walked here had gone no farther and retraced his steps.

"Following the footsteps in the opposite direction led to a vault like structure. Inside were boxes and boxes made of lead. The footsteps showed whoever had come here had investigated them and by the markings left in the dust had lifted the lid on one. I was about to have a look myself when I noticed the writing. When I brushed the dust off I found a warning. The boxes contained fissionable material. It dawned on me what might have happened.

"Further following the steps I came to a cubicle. A mummified body sat at what looked like some form of table. On the table was an area where there was no dust. The shape was familiar. Just to test my theory I put my tablet over the spot. It was a perfect match. So this is where it had come from. I soon found out how the priest had come upon this place when I followed a small tunnel, turned a corner and saw daylight. A small opening led onto a sandstone ledge similar to mine. There were some rocks lying around which had presumably served to hide the opening. I concealed the opening again, not wanting anyone else to find it.

"I had not gone to another world, I was still in Atlantis. Climbing on top of the cliff I could see the village below. I was home.

"The next year was sheer slog. Gradually the complex yielded its secrets to me. The first thing I decided to do was to give the mummified body a proper burial. As I moved the body his hand touched a button I had not noticed and a large screen on the wall came to life. Greetings Brother, it said in old Atlantean, This is the last will and testament of Sagonos of Xonn. It gave instructions on how and where he wanted his body buried as a last honour and bequeathed the complex and its contents to whoever found and buried him.

"I buried him according to his wishes.

"In his testament Sagonos explained that his people had created the facility in preparation for the colonisation of Earth. He and his staff had been guarding the facility and studying local conditions while awaiting the colonists. The immigrants never arrived. Sagonos did not go into detail as to what exactly had destroyed his home world, he just said that the demise was sudden, unexpected and total. Sagonos and his crew were stranded with nowhere else to go.

"His crew decided there was nothing left to live for and suggested communal suicide. To live with humans, whom they regarded as lower animals was out of the question. Sagonos tried to talk them out of it. It was no good. They built a boat, sailed out to sea and blew the vessel up. Sagonos was on his own.

"To be the sole survivor of his race was a bigger burden than he could bear, so one day he wrote his testament and took poison. I felt sorry for him and his race and worked extra hard to make sure his legacy was not wasted.

"Bit by bit I introduced the technology into our society. My people learned well. Within sixty years I had transformed a subsistence level agriculture into a technologically advanced civilisation. Even the Gods were astounded at what I had achieved. One day my father turned up and took me to Olympus to see my family. They welcomed me into their midst and made me a God. I have lived here ever since. My people built a temple to me and I went to see them from time to time to give guidance.

"What a wonderful yarn," exclaimed Bruce. A real pity Atlantis was destroyed by an earthquake. Who knows where civilisation had wound up if it had continued to exist."

"Atlantis was not destroyed by an earthquake."

"What destroyed it then?"

"Vanity did in the end, vanity and greed." Gadeirus looked as though he was reluctant to talk about that part. It seemed to hold unhappy memories for him. Bruce filled the glasses and cut more pieces off the lamb that had merrily been roasting all along.

"Get that into you mate," said Bruce to Gadeirus. "Good tucker and good piss makes a lot of things more bearable."

"I might as well tell you the rest." Gadeirus took a deep draft of his beer before he continued. "For several centuries Atlantis thrived. Their society was enlightened and benevolent. They went in their airships to help development along in societies who were open to their ideas. China, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt and so forth benefited greatly from their advice. They did not, however, share their technology. That they kept to themselves. Most of those whom they helped considered them Gods.

"Atlantis had been ruled by a succession of kings since Atlas, some great, some not so great, but all of them more or less devoted to the welfare of their people. Until Gadeirobus came along. He had all records of his real name destroyed and killed anyone who even admitted remembering it when he declared himself a God and named himself Gadeirobus, which meant greater than Gadeirus. He had come to power by poisoning his older siblings and finally his father, who was then king of Atlantis.

"His greed and vanity knew no limits. But, these are human affairs and we Gods aren't supposed to interfere directly in major events. We can push a bit here and there, even throw some difficulties in someone's way or help them along a little, but there are limits. Zeus told me once there is an overriding power that even the Gods can't overrule."

"You mean like Jehovah?" I interrupted.

"Don't be silly, Jehovah is some minor deity who runs around in a black hat and coat, wears a beard and talks incessantly about Armageddon and the end of the world and how he is going to punish everybody. No one takes him seriously. He is the Olympus equivalent of a nutter.

"Anyway back to the story. This Gadeirobus ran around with a group of people who had to tell him all day long how great he is and how much they loved him. There was little I could do. He started to enslave his own people as well as everyone else he could lay his hands on. He had his supporters, but even they were never sure if he would turn on them at a minute's notice or not. This all would not have been so bad if someone had not been digging a tunnel and come across the old Xonnian compound.

"I had never taught my people about nuclear fission, deeming it too dangerous for a people at that stage of development. The big nuclear reactor that supplied all of Atlantis with power was in there as well as a store of fissionable material, enough to last for half a million years if there was only that one reactor. The operation was automatic, so I just closed the compound off. Not well enough as it turned out.

"They weren't game to touch the reactor because someone figured if that malfunctioned Atlantis would be stuffed. What did fascinate them were the lead boxes with the hot stuff. They soon found that the shit killed anyone who got too close or touched it. That didn't bother them too much, what fascinated them was that it glowed in the dark.

"This is the mystery metal Plato had called Orichalcum in the Critias dialogue, where he tells the story of Atlantis.

"Lunatic Gadeirobus seized on this. Here was his way to be immortal. He decided to have a huge statue of himself cast in the metal that by its glow and by killing anyone who came too close would show the world that he was the mightiest; even bigger than Zeus.

"The engineers figured there was no way to cast and transport a statue like that so they decided to cast it in situ. Gadeirobus had chosen the headland of the harbour as the location, so everyone could see his greatness on arrival to the kingdom. It also was to serve as a lighthouse at night. Soon the engineers built a huge furnace and the mould for the statue. They carted the lead boxes with the metal to the site, and fired up the furnace. Slaves picked up the metal with their bare hands and charged the melting pot. None of them made more than two trips. As soon as the slaves got too sick to work other slaves threw them down the cliff and took their place.

"I tried to warn them, but no one listened to me. They kept adding more and more metal into the melting pot until it exceeded critical mass and Kabooooom the whole of Atlantis was vaporised in a heartbeat in an enormous nuclear explosion. That's why nobody can find it any more."

"Wow, what a yarn. You tell a good story Gadeirus. I loved it." Bruce was happy. "Come on lads, drink up, there's more here." It turned into a long session.

Chapter 16: Hera's Party

I woke up to something licking my face. That little fawn again. It was five in the morning. I didn't have the heart to be cross with the little thing, gave it some scratchies and tried to get back to sleep. It wouldn't let me. I thought it might be thirsty so I went into the kitchen to get some water for her when I noticed she had disappeared.

I wondered what the hell was going on when Bruce and Gadeirus turned up.

"Oh good, you're up," said Bruce. "Get some clothes on, don't bother with a shower and come here for some breakfast. But first have this."

Bruce's brew dealt with the aftermath of last night's drinking session. I felt fit again, went to get dressed, still wondering what this was all about. The breakfast was on the table and this was the next surprise of the day. Pikelets with honey and whipped cream surrounded by a generous helping of fresh raspberries, a glass of pomegranate juice and coffee. Not at all like Bruce, who, in spite of what he had served Gadeirus and me was having bacon and eggs and beer.

"A light breakfast for now, petit dejeuner, as the French say," said Gadeirus, "then its off to the baths and get dressed, ready to go to Hera's party."

"A party at seven in the morning, are you nuts?" This had me stuffed.

"Not quite," laughed Gadeirus. "The party starts at eight with a magnificent breakfast. Hera would be most upset if we didn't attend."

Shit, I had forgotten all about that fucking party. I guessed it was quite an honour to be invited. I had to put my best foot forward and be a gentleman for once. I would be the only one there that wasn't a God. I wondered what kind of treatment I would get. Apparently Bruce was not invited. I had a feeling he was not upset about this.

We finished our breakfast and Gadeirus took me to the Roman baths. I queried why Greek Gods used Roman baths. Gadeirus just laughed.

"The Romans elevated bathing to an art form," he said. "No one has ever bettered it. Why should the Gods put up with anything less than the best?"

We were washed shaved and perfumed by some naked nymphs. Finally they dried and dressed us.

I wound up wearing a Greek chiton like I had seen Gadeirus wearing, except the one they gave me was nowhere near as embroidered as his. I had the feeling that the embroidery was a status symbol and since I was only a shit-kicker Demigod I wasn't entitled to many trimmings. It didn't bother me. Since the bottom part was just like a sarong or skirt and since there was no underwear the testicular air conditioning it provided felt good. I had to leave my thongs behind and had to wear Greek sandals. They weren't quite as comfortable but they were okay.

Gadeirus pushed on, we had to leave. I felt awkward about turning up empty handed and asked Gadeirus where I could get some flowers. He didn't understand why I wanted to do that but whipped up a bouquet of seventeen yellow roses after I explained to him what I wanted.

The party was in the inner courtyard, the atrium, of what looked like a Roman villa. We were early. Few guests had arrived so far. When I kissed Hera's hand and gave her the flowers her normally hard set features softened.

"This is very sweet of you," she said and smiled.

"There will be a few tongues wagging now," said Gadeirus after Hera had turned away to welcome other arrivals. "Hera allowing herself to be kissed by a mere Demigod and smiling is something that has not been seen here ... ever."

Gadeirus introduced me to his aunt Hestia. She had the figure of an adolescent girl, somewhat gangly with small conical breasts, long blond hair tied in a ponytail and enormous blue eyes that looked rather sad.

"So this is what a millennia old virgin looks like," I said as I studied her features.

She looked at me totally perplexed. Gadeirus was horrified.

"Are you always this forthright?" she asked, totally unsure of herself, not knowing where this was leading.

"Only to beautiful women whose charms have totally captivated me. Command my dear lady, I shall be your slave forever." Gadeirus didn't know where to look. Hestia just stared at me. Gradually her features softened and she smiled.

"You are teasing me," she concluded.

"Guilty as charged," I said, "You looked sad, I wanted to make you smile a little. The smile suits you so much better."

"You are different," she said to me. "I like that."

She grabbed Gadeirus and me by the arm and said: "Have breakfast with me, I feel like company."

We went to the buffet to get some food and sat down on a table for four. There was a really odd looking group on a table some ten feet away. A man and a woman, both attractive enough, but with cruel eyes. The third person was a black male. He stuck out like the proverbial canine testicles, dressed in a canary yellow Zoot-suit, complete with drape shape and cleet pleat, a burgundy fedora with a green hatband and a white feather, burgundy shoes and green socks. He looked like a ghetto pimp.

"Who the fuck are they?" I was taken aback.

Hestia pulled my head close and whispered in my ear: "The white couple are Ares and Eris, both Children of Hera. Ares is the God of war, Eris is the Goddess of discord and the destruction of cities. She is sometimes called Enyo. The black fellow is Malabubu, the African God of AIDS. Stay out of their road, they are bad news."

I turned Hestia's head, whispered in her ear: "Thank you," and kissed her cheek. She blushed.

At that moment Zeus turned up. He patted Hestia affectionately on the head and sat down. After greeting Gadeirus he turned to me.

"And what mischief are you up to Alec?"

"Only courting this delightful sister of yours, Chief," I replied.

"Just as long as you don't pick her cherry," laughed Zeus. Hestia turned scarlet.

I got up, kneeled in front of Hestia, took her hand, kissed it and declared: "My fair Maiden. My devotion is yours. My intentions are honourable. Your cherry is safe."

For a moment there was dead quiet. Evidently quite a few of the Gods had been listening in. Then Zeus' howling laughter broke the silence. I got up and before I could resume my seat Zeus patted me on the shoulder and said: "You really crack me up with your antics sometimes," and vanished.

I was getting hostile stares from Ares' table and a few of the other Gods. They evidently didn't like me being that pally with Zeus.

"What has gotten into our brother? I have not seen him laugh and joke like this for many a century." I looked at the woman who had said this to Hestia. Her resemblance to Hera and Hestia was uncanny. It had to be Demeter. She was dressed in a rather ordinary looking chiton which had been pinned in such a fashion as to leave her right breast bare. The nipple was painted bright red. Instead of an answer Hestia introduced me to her sister.

"It's you, isn't it?" Demeter said instead of a greeting." What have you done to the old fart to make him so jovial again?"

I wasn't about to tell her that screwing American cheerleaders had perhaps something to do with it, so I said something about Zeus liking my jokes. I could see she wasn't really convinced by what I had said, but she didn't challenge me.

"What are you staring at my tit for?" she barked at me instead.

I told her that I felt, since it had been so prominently displayed, accented with paint even, and since it was such an outstandingly beautiful specimen of a tit it was meant to be admired and that I was doing just that.

"My, my, aren't we a slippery one," she said, barely suppressing a grin. Suddenly she was serious again. "It's not there to be admired, it's a statement."

"A statement of what?" This had me curious, it felt like there was a big story coming. Others must have thought so too. All eyes seemed to be on us. Then she disappointed me and everyone else by saying:

"Never mind about that now. Hestia can tell you. What I want to know is why you have kissed Hera and Hestia and not me." There was challenge in her eyes.

No one, not even a Goddess can challenge me like this and get away with it.

"That's easily fixed," I said, got up, grabbed her, bent her backwards and gave her one of my best Frenchies in front of everyone. To my surprise she kissed me back fervently and with passion. My hand found itself fondling her breast smearing the red greasepaint from the nipple all over her tit, shoulder and chiton. When we broke the clinch there was thunderous applause. Ares and his mob stared daggers.

"You certainly are bold," she said after she had caught her breath. "I like bold. You may kiss me again some other time." Demeter vanished, presumably to get changed and cleaned up. Hestia was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face.

"I'll never let her forget that," she said after regaining her composure. "You are in for it now though, be careful not to fall in."

"Fall in? Fall into what?" I was mystified.

"Her pudenda, of course. I should imagine it would be rather stretched after giving birth to a horse." Hestia got the giggles again.

"A horse? She gave birth to a horse? You got to tell me more." This one had me intrigued. I could not remember much about Demeter from my school days, just that she was the Goddess of Earth fertility and harvests and that she was considered a benevolent deity. My teachers had never mentioned anything about her giving birth to a horse, I would have remembered that.