"The God Wars" - Chapter Twenty-three: Of Whiskey and Spies

The God Wars

Chapter Twenty-three:

Of Whiskey and Spies

By Dwayne MacInnes

"I betcha dind't know that yer -- your planet has a .01% weaker gravity than ours," Reno said drunkenly to his friend Hyrtios. The two have been hitting the same bar every night for two weeks now. Usually it ended with Reno staggering home drunk with Hyrtios holding one arm to steady the inebriated scientist.

"It...it doesn't mean too much for weight, but it is impertinent -- um --important rather -- to long range ballistics," Reno continued to lecture his Atlantean friend. "Also your magnetic pole is in the south unlike ours in the north. Luckillily, we can just read our compasses upside-down now. You know, just read the white part instead of the red so it still points north to us."

Hermes in his disguise as Hyrtios a merchant from Hellekos had patiently listened to Reno's ramblings for a fortnight now. Some information was proving to be useful; most of it just sailed right over his head.

"Plus, did ya know that your days are .001 a second longer than ours?" the drunken scientist stated splashing some whiskey out of his glass and onto his friend. "Sho shorry," Reno apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Hyrtios said dabbing at his wet tunic with a cloth.

"We've been trying for months to get the Cloaking Device to work and it won't work," Reno said suddenly changing the subject, a subject that Reno brings up at least once a night. It was the same problem and Hermes knew it by heart, if even he did not understand it. "It is called the Rainbow Project by the bigwigs in Washington, we call it the Cloaking Device, and most of the uneducated call it ‘The Machine', including Gen'ral Crist."

"That is remarkable," Hyrtios comforted. "I am amazed by how many machines you build."

"Yesh, we can build a lot of different macheens," slurred Reno.

"How many of those iron chariots do you have?" Hyrtios/Hermes asked.

"Wha...wha are you talking about?" Reno said with an exaggerated puzzled expression on his face. "Oh, I know what you mean," the scientist smiled wagging an unsteady finger. "Tanks, we call ‘em tanks. The were first introduced in World War I and were shipped over to the continent in boxes marked ‘tanks' like in water tanks. Get it?"

Hermes did not get it other than the correct name. He decided to press the issue with the drunken man. "Okay, tanks. How many do you think you have?"

Reno motioned Hyrtios closer as if to divulge a secret. Hermes leaned in close to the inebriated scientist with his breath full of the stench of whiskey. Hermes promised to bring some back to Olympus for Dionysus to sample.

"You know what?" Reno looked at Hyrtios with bleary eyes. "I don't know."

* * * * *

Theena stood in Crist's office again. She usually arrived before the sunrise and left after it set. The two generals were becoming very close friends. General Crist was amazed to find a person so readily adaptable to the concept of modern warfare on this primitive world. He loved the fact that Theena drank it in and could sometimes offer her own insightful suggestions. Her enthusiasm and ability to soak in new material utterly astonished Crist.

Even though the Amazon of Knopso appeared to be in her late twenties and thirty years younger, Crist could not help starting to have feelings for the woman. It was obviously a mutual feeling. Theena found the man's ability to organize an entire primitive society and bring it millennia into the future simply amazing. His mind could quickly switch gears. He could go from planning the latest advancements in agriculture, such as steel plows or crop rotation, to strategizing a war. A campaign like the one he organized months before at the Battle of the Trenches

"We have currently constructed five Hercules fighters," Crist stated to Theena. "They are almost exact replicas of a fighter we have on earth that we called the Hawker Hurricane."

Theena smiled. These Otherworlders called it Hercules after the mortal son sired by Zeus thousands of years before on their world. His actual name was Heracles, the poor king of the gods thought he could diminish Hera's wrath for his infidelity if he named his son after her. According to legend, it did not work.

"I plan to add an airfield to Fort Knopso and when we have enough fighters and pilots available we'll ship them up there," Crist continued.

Theena nodded her head. It would help a lot to have an advanced airfield in order to keep a closer eye on Mount Olympus. General Crist sheepishly looked at Theena and cleared his throat. The woman knew that the general, a man always in control was nervous about something.

"I know this may not be proper, but maybe we could catch a movie sometime," Crist asked slightly turning red in the face. Theena smiled, a man who could strategize and organize entire armies, conduct wars, and fight pitched battles was ill at ease courting a woman.

"Yes, I would actually like that," Theena replied. She laughed to see the obvious relief on the general's face. "However, I would not think too much about what others may say. You are the general after all."

"Good perhaps tonight?"

"Yes, that would be nice."

Theena walked over to the large window overlooking the city. The building was ten stories tall and Crist's office was on the top floor. Looking down on the city below was a breathtaking experience.

Theena peered down onto the streets below the window and could see people walking up and down the steps to the building as well as the sidewalk. She could see that a vendor had parked his cart next to the steps and was hawking his wares.

"General," Theena said. "Do you have your field glasses?"

"Yes," the general said with a slightly puzzled frown on his face.

"May I borrow them," Theena said holding out her hand while never breaking her gaze below.

Crist slapped the binoculars into Theena's hand. The young general put them to her eyes and focused them. She studied the scene for a few seconds. She saw that most people walked by the merchant; however, the scientist called Reno stopped and exchanged words with the vendor.

"What is it?" Crist asked walking up next to the woman.

Theena handed the glasses to Crist and pointed down to the street. "Do you see that merchant there?"

"Yes," Crist said.

"Have you noticed that Reno appears to be on friendly terms with him?"

"Yes," Crist acknowledged.

"If you were a spy, where would you put your base of operation?" Theena asked.

Crist quickly looked up at Theena. He never thought about the gods having spies in his city. Mortals universally feared and loathed the gods. Even the mercenaries only served out of fear and when given an opportunity they would defect to the Atlanteans. He also never thought that King Podaistas would need spies. After all, he was sharing most of the technological advances with the Kingdom of Atlantis.

"My God!" Crist replied. "It never occurred to me."

In a flash, the general was at his desk screaming into his phone.