When the Gods Aren't Gods: Book Two of The Theogony Read online

  “All right,” said Calvin. “How did the platoon’s manning end up? Did they get it figured out?”

  “Yeah,” replied Night, “they were able to work out the manning, and we ended up with a lot of experience. The only problem is going to be getting everyone to work together. I don’t think that there will be a lot of problems with the aviators, but the platoon is going to have a number of nationalities that are traditional enemies working in close proximity to each other.” He shrugged. “If we can make it work, we’ll hopefully make it easier on the ones that come after us.”

  “As you probably heard,” he continued, “Iran, North Korea, and China are still boycotting, so we didn’t have to worry about any of them. With the exception of those three, just about every other major nation in the world is ‘in’ and thinks that their special forces are more special than those of any other country. Overall, I think we did really well. If we don’t have the best people in the world, they’re all still in the top 1%.”

  “The Space Force had more casualties than the Ground Force last time out,” commented Night, “so it absorbed more of the newbies, even after we moved Mr. Jones and Ms. Rozhkov to it. First off, Master Chief will be happy to know that we picked up another U.S. Navy SEAL, in addition to a Saudi Navy SEAL, as well. We also got an Israeli from the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit. You may not have even heard of it, as the unit is one of the most secretive in the Israeli military. They are really good.”

  “As a matter of fact,” continued Night, “we’ve got several new members from units that we have heard mentioned in whispers, but never were able to confirm. Countries are confirming them now to get places in the unit. The next recruit, a Russian combat frogman, is one of these. He is from their Naval Spetsnaz unit called the ‘Barrakuda’ group. This is the group that killed ‘Buster’ Crabb. If you don’t know who Crabb was, he was the British spy that was the inspiration for James Bond. The guys in Barrakuda are ghosts; we’ve never been able to confirm their existence.”

  “In addition to them,” Night said, “we also have a French Naval Commando, an Indian Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and a Norwegian Marinejegerkommandoen (MJK) operative. The French commando is from the Commando de Penfentenyo brigade, whose specialties are reconnaissance and intelligence operations behind enemy lines. MARCOS does all sorts of maritime special operations like counter-terrorism, special reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and hostage rescue. This unit is one of the few units in the world qualified to jump into the water with a full combat load. They specialize in maritime operations throughout Kashmir and often conduct counter-terrorist operations in the area. The MARCOS operatives are widely feared among the terrorists, who call them the ‘Bearded Army’ because they all disguise their identities with flowing beards. The MARCOS soldiers have been known to carry out a wide variety of operations on foreign soil. The last member of the Space Force is a member of Norway’s MJK. He is trained as a sniper and a forward air controller and also has some field medical skills.”

  “The additions to the Ground Force are equally skilled,” said Night, looking at the list. “The first of these is Sergeant Alka Zoromski from the Polish Operational Maneuver Response Group. That group is an elite counter-terrorism unit that fills a variety of special operations and unconventional warfare roles, including anti-terrorist actions and projection of power behind enemy lines.”

  “In addition to the Russian Naval Spetsnaz frogman, we also got a Russian from the ‘Lynx’ unit of their Special Rapid Response Unit. Since the unit was established in 1992, it has participated in almost every known special operation in Russia. They are usually tasked with Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)-type special operations, including apprehension of dangerous criminals and high-profile raids. He will bring some interesting skills in missions that are outside of normal special ops.”

  “Cool,” said Calvin. “You never know what we’re going to need.”

  “Our other Israeli is a member of their elite Sayeret Matkal unit,” Night continued. “You may not recognize the name of the unit, but this is the one that conducted the raid on Entebbe, where it rescued more than 100 Air France passengers who were being held by terrorists. Although everyone here is good; this group is one of the best.”

  “Our final operative is the one that I am the most worried about,” said Night, looking down again.

  “Why is that?” asked Calvin. “Did one of the nations stick us with a ringer?”

  “No,” replied Night. “He is from the Special Service Group of Pakistan’s special operations forces. I’m not worried about his skills, as this group is considered one of the top special forces groups in the world. They can do anything you’d like, from unconventional warfare to foreign internal defense to hostage rescue. What worries me is that he is a Pashtun from the Afghan/Pakistan border. I don’t know him, so he wasn’t someone that fought with us against the Afghan insurgency. I don’t know if that means he was helping the insurgents, or just happened to be stationed in another area while I was there. If he was in another area, it’s likely that he was in Kashmir, and may have run afoul of our Indian operative that would have been there. I have a lot of questions that I want answered before I take him into combat.”

  Special Forces Training Command, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, WA, April 25, 2020

  “Sir, you have got to see this,” said Night, walking into the office.

  “What is it?” asked Calvin, looking up from the never-ending stack of paperwork he had brought with him on his trip to review the training course for special operations in space.

  Night moved to stand by the window that looked down over the hangar bay. “Just come here,” he replied. “Quick. You’re gonna love it.”

  Calvin got up from his chair and crossed the room to the window. “I don’t mind taking a break from the paperwork,” he said. “What’s so important?”

  Night pointed to a large mat where two people were engaged in a heated hand-to-hand combat match. The entire platoon stood around the mat watching, jeering and calling suggestions, most of which weren’t repeatable in mixed company. There were also a number of students that he didn’t recognize yelling at them. Calvin could see that one of the participants was Master Chief O’Leary, but he didn’t recognize the other. Both were bleeding in a couple of places. For Master Chief, that was no small feat, as his skin had been augmented to resist burns, punctures and cuts.

  “Is that one of our new guys?” asked Calvin, looking at the other guy. “I don’t recognize him.”

  “He’s actually from the ship’s crew,” replied Night, “but he is really good. Did you see that combination that Master Chief just threw at him? That’s some sort of Rigelian nerve punch/kick combo that we got from a combat download. There’s no way that guy could ever have seen that combination before, and yet he was able to block and avoid it.”

  “Whoever he is, he obviously got some augmentations done when he got his implants,” remarked Calvin. “There’s no way he could be that fast without them.”

  Night laughed. “That’s what I wanted you to see,” he said. “The guy is totally augment-free. He’s naturally that fast. If anything, he’s faster than Master Chief is with his implants. He just walked in here, walked up to Master Chief and said, ‘Hey, if I can take you four out of seven submissions, can I go down to the planet with you the next time the Gulf goes out?’ Master Chief didn’t think there was any way that the guy could win, so he said, ‘Sure.’”

  “He’s got to know that he can’t authorize that,” said Calvin, shaking his head. “What’s the count so far?”

  Night grinned. “I think it is tied three-to-three right now. Master Chief won the first three points, hitting him with a bunch of the off-world stuff that we learned, including some of the lizard stuff that he’s been working on with Bob and Doug. He hasn’t scored since then, though, and he has taken a bunch of hits.”

  “The funny thing,” said Night after a pause, “is that the new guy said he is better with ri
fle and pistol than he is at hand-to-hand.” At that moment, the newcomer faked high and struck low, sweeping Master Chief’s legs out from under him. While Master Chief was still going down, the newcomer pounced on him, taking him down in a choke hold that Master Chief couldn’t escape. The newcomer won, 4-3.

  “Wow,” said Calvin, watching Master Chief’s struggles diminish as he passed out from blood loss to his brain, “that guy really is good. We need to get him on the team; make sure you get him implants and a suit.” He turned to find Night laughing. “What?” he asked. “Who is he?”

  “That gentleman is Father John Zuhlsdorf,” replied Night. “He’s the Gulf’s new chaplain.”

  National Assembly Building, Abuja, Nigeria, April 27, 2020

  “I would like to thank all of you for attending this session today,” greeted the British prime minister. The first female to hold the post since Margaret Thatcher, Juliette Ricketts-Smith was also First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service. Like the ‘Iron Lady’ before her, the ‘Cobalt Countess’ wore her nickname proudly. Not only was cobalt a hard metal (harder than iron, she was fond of saying), but cobalt was also one of the three elements that were magnetic at room temperature, like her personality. The fact that she often dressed in blue was purely coincidental. “I do not believe that there is any more important appointment before this assembly than who to send as the next ambassador.” She looked out at the nodding heads in the crowded assembly hall. The heads of state of nearly all of the participating nations were in attendance. Those that weren’t had sent their seconds. As the first ambassador to the stars had been from Britain, the only agreement so far was that the next one should be from somewhere else, making it her duty to moderate the session.

  “Having been an ambassador, myself,” she continued, “I have seen both sides of the ambassadorial mission. I have seen ambassadors fall flat on their faces, and I have seen others rise to great acclaim through their tireless efforts. As we proceed with our task today, there is one quality that must be paramount; the person selected for this post must be an expert communicator. It is not necessary for the ambassador to be highly polished, but she should be tactful and must be able to get the message across clearly and precisely.”

  “As everyone here well knows, communication among diplomats involves dialogue: unless the diplomat is willing to give information, it is unlikely that he or she will be able to obtain it.” She smiled, dialing the magnetism up several notches. “Think about the parties you have been to on the diplomatic circuit. The person that everyone always wants to talk to is the one who is interesting to talk with. At the other end of the spectrum is the guy on the couch, alone with his drink. The way people avoid him, you would probably think he has some sort of contagious disease.” She heard several chuckles from the audience. “I see everyone is familiar with that person.” She could see that she scored with that one.

  “For a moment,” she continued, “let us try to stand in the shoes of our hypothetical ambassador, so that we may better know the necessary qualities of the person expected to fill the post. On one hand, the ambassador must convince the other government of the significance of the subject under negotiation and why agreeing to the ambassador’s position is useful to his own country, or planet in this case. Having achieved this, the ambassador then must also convince her own government to go along with it as well. This will be a big job, as she will not have one boss, but all of the nations that are currently represented in this noble body. Good luck with that! I know most of you,” she said with a wink, “and I couldn’t imagine trying to satisfy all of you at once.” The double entendre was intentional, and there was laughter across the auditorium. “What’s even worse is that, in all likelihood, the ambassador will return to find out that she now has even more bosses than when she left.”

  She worked the crowd for another 10 minutes, talking about the importance of a number of qualities like discretion, a good sense of humor and the importance of good judgment. By the time she was finished, they were eating out of her hand. A single hand was raised at the end of the applause. As was previously agreed, the German president stood up and formally nominated Cobalt Countess for the post. With the exception of the Russian and French delegates, her appointment was unanimous.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Eight

  Squad Bay, TSS Vella Gulf, Dark Side of the Moon, May 2, 2020

  “This is the squad bay,” said the leader of the ‘Ground Force,’ Staff Sergeant Jim ‘Shuteye’ Chang, leading a new person into the large open room. The man was wearing a camouflage uniform with a dragon insignia and looked as hard as any of the others currently taking off their gear. Shuteye indicated the men and women stowing their gear. “This is Squad ‘A,’ the ‘Space Force,’ which is just getting back from a mission where they kicked ass and took names.” Several calls of the platoon’s motto, “Gluck ab!” were heard from around the room.

  “This room is similar to the locker room of a major sports team,” Shuteye continued, “in that everyone has a locker.” The newbie could see lockers ringing the walls of the room, with benches next to them. The lockers looked much larger and different than any sports team’s lockers he had seen. In addition to a clothes tree on which the Alpha Squad members were hanging their space suits, there were also clips for harnesses and other apparel, a rack for stowing combat weapons and a variety of drawers to hold the squad members’ other implements of destruction. Shuteye pointed to an empty cubicle. “That one’s yours. You’ll get a suit and powered weapons; you’re also allowed to use any unpowered weapons that you want to bring.”

  “This is Sergeant Alka Zoromski,” Shuteye announced to the squad. “He’s from the Polish Operational Maneuver Response Group, or GROM as you may have heard it called. Sergeant Zoromski, this is Alpha Squad.”

  “Alka, huh?” asked a large man with dark hair.

  “Yes,” replied Zoromski. “It means, ‘Defender of Man.’”

  “Well, you’ll fit right in then,” said the man. “Welcome. I’m Master Chief Ryan O’Leary, the Space Force Leader. You can call me ‘Master Chief.’ I’m also the senior enlisted for the squad. Come see me if you need to, but use your chain of command as much as you can.” Leading him through the squad bay, Master Chief introduced all of the human members of his squad. He got to the last two members and said, “You’ve probably heard that we have a couple of extraterrestrials in the unit. This is Bob and Doug from the Epsilon Eridani system. Those aren’t their real names, but it’s a close approximation of them.”

  Zoromski looked at the two aliens, who looked like five feet tall versions of the tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur model he had seen at the Museum of Evolution in Warsaw. The two lizards smiled at him, revealing rows of large, very sharp looking teeth. He was unable to keep from flinching back slightly from the sight.

  “Don’t worry,” said Master Chief, “they have that affect on everyone the first time they meet them. You’ll get used to them.”

  “Hi, I’m Bobellisssissolliss,” said Bob.

  “I’m Dugelllisssollisssesss,” added Doug.

  “Got it,” said Zoromski, “Bob and Doug.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter Nine

  KIRO-TV, Channel 7, Seattle, WA, May 22, 2020

  “We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming,” a serious-looking Anna St. Cloud reported, “to take you to the National Assembly Building in Abuja, Nigeria, where the participating heads of state have been meeting for three days to set up the workings of the new world government. I understand that the government has an important announcement that is going to be carried worldwide. We go now to Abuja, Nigeria.”

  The camera changed to a podium with a strange seal on it. The device had a golden eagle in its center that was similar to the garuda of Hindu or Buddhist mythology. In its talons, it held a white ribbon scroll that read “Republic of Terra.” An Indian woman walked up to the podium confidently, smiled and said “Hello, people of Terra. I am K
atrina Nehru, and I am happy to have been chosen to be the first president of the Republic of Terra.” She paused. “Now, I know that many of you have never heard of the Republic of Terra,” she said when she continued, “which is why I wanted to talk to everyone on the planet today. The world’s leaders have been hard at work for the last week, working to set up this new world government, and I wanted to make you aware of our progress.”

  “Many of you may be wondering why we chose the name, ‘Republic of Terra,’” she said. “There are a couple of reasons. First, we wanted everyone to understand that we are a republican form of government, in which the affairs of the state are a public matter. There are no rulers working on their own secret, hidden agendas; instead, all of the government is here for the best interests of all humankind. I know this will be met with some cynicism around the world, but I am here today to tell you that it’s true. The Republic of Terra has been established as an entity where the president is legitimized by both a constitution and a public vote to work in the best interests of the entire world. This form of government closely follows the governmental systems of many of its participating republics, like Russia, France, the United States and my own nation, India.”

  “The second reason,” she continued, “is that our government is already faced with a need to grow beyond the borders of our own planet. We have been contacted by the government of the planet Domus, in the Epsilon Eridani system, and they have requested to join our union. Our government has been set up to include not only the former nations of Earth, but also the two states that form the government of Domus.” She looked straight at the camera as she said, “There is strength in numbers, and we need the resources they have. We have welcomed them into our union.” Her tone of voice suggested that this point was not up for discussion.