Ben Bova: Vengeance of Orion

I thought to myself, If the Golden One has such a device hidden in this titanic pile of stones, it must be emitting some kind of energy. Could I sense it?

I closed my eyes and tried to shut off my conscious mind. With a gut-wrenching effort of will I disconnected all my five normal senses: I was blind, deaf, totally alone in a universe of nothingness.

For how long I remained that way, I have no idea. But eventually a tiny thread of sensation wormed its way into my awareness. A gleam, a tendril of warmth, a faint, faint buzzing, like the hum of electrical equipment far off in the distance.

Very slowly I opened my eyes and revived my other senses, careful not to snap the connection with the energy leak I had found. I made my way, almost like a sleepwalker, toward a carved panel in the wall of the tomb. It opened at my push and revealed another upward-winding passage. I climbed.

Through several other chambers and along more dark passageways I went, always pulled along by that faint hint of energy.

Finally I found it: a small chamber up near the very top of the pyramid, so low and cramped that I had to bend over to get into it. My upraised hand touched smooth metal that was warm and vibrating with energy. The electrum cap of the pyramid: a good conductor of electricity and other forms of energy, I realized.

Hunched in the middle of the tiny chamber, taking up almost all its space, was a dome of dull black metal, squatting there like the egg of some gigantic robot bird. It was humming to itself. I put my hand on its smooth surface. Warm.

My hand seemed to stick slightly as I pulled it away, as if I had touched paint that had not yet dried. I put my hand back on the dome, pressed it flat, and felt the surface yield slightly. I leaned on it harder, and my hand seemed to penetrate the surface, sink through it. It was cold, freezingly, painfully cold.

But I could not pull my hand back. Something inside the dome was drawing me forward, forcing me deeper into its cryogenic innards. I yelled and dropped the lamp I had carried all this way as my whole body was sucked into the deathly cold beyond the surface of the dome.

I felt death again, the cold breath that brings agony to every cell, every nerve in my body. I was falling, falling in absolute darkness as my body froze and the last flashes of life in my brain succumbed to pain and darkness. My final thoughts were of love and hate: love for my dead Athene, hate for the Golden One, who had beaten me once again.

But when I opened my eyes I was lying on soft grass. A warm sun beat down on me. A pleasant breeze sighed. Or was that my own breath returning to my lungs?

I sat up. My heart thundered in my chest. My eyes stared. This was not Earth. The sky was vivid orange. There were two suns shining, one huge enough to cover almost half the sky, the other a small diamond-bright pinpoint shining through the orange expanse of its swollen companion. The grass on which I sat was a deep maroon color, tinging off to blackish brown. The color of dried blood. It felt spongy, soft, more like a mold or a layer of flesh than like real grass and ground. There were hills in the distance, strangely shaped trees, and a stream.

“We meet again, Orion.”

I turned and saw the Golden One standing behind me. Scrambling to my feet, I said, “Did you think you could hide from me?”

“No, of course not. You are my Hunter. I built those instincts into you.”

He was wearing a loose flowing shirt of gold with long billowing sleeves, and dark trousers that hugged his lower torso and legs closely and were tucked into thigh-length boots. He seemed more relaxed than ever before, smiling confidently, his thick mane of golden hair tousled by the wind. But when I looked into his tawny eyes I saw strange lights, hints of passions and tensions that he was trying hard to control.

“I have delivered Helen to the Egyptians. I have brought down the walls of Jericho for you. Agamemnon, Odysseus, and most of the other Achaian warlords have been swept away. New invaders are conquering their lands. They’ve paid for their conquest of Troy.”

His eyes glittered. “But you haven’t.”

“I’ve done what you asked. Now it’s your turn to live up to your end of the bargain.”

“A god does not bargain, Orion. A god commands!”

“You’re no more a god than I am,” I snapped. “You have better tools, that’s all.”

“I have better knowledge , creature. Don’t mistake the toys for the toymaker — or his knowledge.”

“Perhaps so,” I said.

“Perhaps?” He smiled tolerantly. “Do you have any idea of where you are, Orion? No, of course not. Do you have any idea of what my plans are leading to? How could you?”

“I don’t care…”

“It makes no difference whether you care or not,” he said, his eyes brightening. “My plans go forward despite your petty angers and pouts. Even despite the opposition of the other Creators.”

“They are trying to find you,” I said.

“Yes, of course. I know that. And they asked you to help them, didn’t they?”

“I haven’t.”

“Haven’t you?” He was suddenly suspicious, eyeing me warily, almost angrily.

“I’ve served you faithfully. So that you will revive Athene.”

“Faithfully, yes. I know.”

“I’ve done what you asked,” I insisted.

“Asked? Asked? I never ask , Orion. I told you what must be done. While the others dither and discuss and debate, I act .” His breathing quickened, his eyes took on a look of madness. “They don’t deserve to live, Orion. I’m the only one who knows what to do, how to protect the continuum against our enemies. They don’t realize it, but they’re actually serving the enemy. The stupid fools, they’re working for the enemy! They deserve to be destroyed. Wiped out. Utterly.”

I stared at him. He was raving.

“I’m the only one worthy of existence! My creatures will serve me and me only. The others will be destroyed, as they deserve to be. I will be alone and supreme! Above all others! Forever!”

I grew tired of his ranting. “Apollo, or whatever your name is, it’s time for you to revive Athene…”

He blinked at me. More soberly, he replied, “Her name is Anya.”

“Anya.” I remembered. “Anya.”

“And she is quite thoroughly dead, Orion. There will be no reviving.”

“But you said…”

“What I said is of no matter. She is dead.”

My fingers twitched at my sides. He stared at me, and I could feel the forces he commanded engulfing me, drowning me, freezing my body into stillness even though he chose to leave my mind awake.

With a scream that shook the heavens I broke free of his hypnotic commands and sprang for his throat. His eyes went wide and he tried to raise his hands to defend himself but he was far too slow. I grabbed him and the momentum of my spring tumbled us sprawling to the blood-colored grass.

“You built strength and killing fury into me too, didn’t you?” I bellowed as I squeezed the life out of his throat. He made terrified strangling noises and batted at me ineffectually with his hands.

“If she can’t live, then neither can you,” I said, tightening my grip, watching his eyes bulge, his tongue swell. “You want to wipe out the others and reign supreme? You won’t even last another minute!”

But powerful hands pulled my arms away and lifted me to my feet. I struggled against them, uselessly, and then realized who was holding me.

“That’s enough, Orion!” said Zeus sharply.

I glared at him, blood-fury still pounding along my veins. Four other male Creators held my arms tightly. Still more of them, women as well as men, stood grouped around the fallen Apollo and me, dressed in an assortment of tunics, robes, glittering metallic uniforms.