Masters of Reality.

the Gathering.

Traci Harding.

To David, for his love, his art, his patience, and belief in me.

PART 1.

THE.

FATHER.

1.

THE PLATO.

PROJECT - 2017.

The Goddess was christened on the 4th of January, 2017. She immediately put to sea for six months of testing.

The bathyscape had submersible capabilities of up to ten thousand feet, and looked more like a spaceship than a sub. The interior was not cluttered and dingy like navy-designed vessels; the Goddess could comfortably accommodate thirty people. Combining the latest technology with luxurious living, she was the ultimate observation and research vessel made to date.

Tory Alexander and her brother Brian had commissioned the design and building of the submersible for a specific project they had in mind. It was entirely funded by their father, whom most of the world saw as the aging Professor Renford Alexander - Tory and Brian, who knew him better, named the submersible's two smaller reconnaissance subs after him: Merlin I and Merlin II. Each vessel had a separate holding bay that also served as a launch pad. They could disembark from the mothership either above or below the waters' surface. If submersed, the containment bays would be flooded, the hatch doors opened and the probe vehicles launched.

As the bathyscape was privately-owned, their project was beholden to no one. This was all-important because Tory had a map in her possession which identified the exact location of the lost continent of Atlantis, and she claimed that it pinpointed the major cities of this fabled landmass. The richest of these had been Chailidocean, Plato's 'City of the Golden Gates'

that, according to Tory, was currently residing under ten thousand feet of water off the coast of Spain.

'Deep Sweep', a project based in the Azores and headed up by Dr John Pearce of the Institute of Oceanography, had for many years used navy-owned submersibles to explore the floor of the Atlantic. They had discovered many galleons and warships, but no evidence to support the theory of Atlantis.

John Pearce was an associate of Tory's husband, Miles Thurlow. Miles, Tory and Brian had joined the project early in 2001, intending to prove Tory's map to be correct, but the project had been put on hold around that time. The navy had recalled all their equipment after the Californian quake of 1999 had virtually destroyed an area stretching from Los Angeles to San Francisco. In the years following, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions kept the Navy occupied with massive rescue and salvage operations, and 'Deep Sweep' was finally cancelled altogether in 2012.

Dr Pearce was somewhat of a sceptic with regard to the lost continent. He'd seen the rocky chasms and miles of vast white sand on the seabed of the Atlantic, but no traces anywhere of a superior culture that might once have existed. Yet Miles Thurlow was a Professor of Archaeology, one of the most highly regarded authorities on antiquity, and also a clever businessman. John knew Miles would never consider going into such a project, that had now been dubbed the Plato Project, if he wasn't at least ninety per cent certain it was a winner. John Pearce and his family were intrigued by the Project and were easily persuaded to join the team in the search for the lost continent.

After running the Goddess and her mini-subs through their paces in the shallow waters around the Azores in the first months of 2017, the hush-hush search for the lost city began on the 30th of June.

That day the weather in the North Atlantic was glorious. The sun was shining and the conditions were calm. There seemed no reason not to take advantage of it.

Most of the crew and the dive team were hovering around Sub Bay One as the hatch doors opened to expose Merlin I still perched in its cradle.

' Merlin One, this is the Goddess.' Teo's voice came through the headsets to Brian and Tory, who were already inside the tiny sub. 'Are we comfy?'

'Roger that.' Brian had to smile; compared to the navy submersibles they'd been diving in with 'Deep Sweep', Merlin I was a Rolls-Royce.

'Opening the Lower Sub Bay doors and lowering you down.'

'Lower away, Goddess.'

Divers followed the sub into the water, checking the vessel's descent weights before it could begin its fall into the deepest depths of the north-eastern Atlantic Basin.

' Goddess, I am releasing the safely line on Merlin One, and my blowers are on.' Brian pulled the lever above his head that detached them from the mother craft, and initiated the start-up sequence.

'Ah, roger that, Merlin ... the divers tell me you're looking good. You have permission to dive.'

'Yeah!' Brian had been thinking that this day would never come. 'Tell Jenny and Co I'm flooding the ballast tanks and starting down.'

Tory peered out the small porthole just off to her left to see the divers give them the thumbs-up. 'Okay, we're outta here,' Tory informed base.

'You all come back now, you hear?'

Teo gave them leave to depart.

The journey took on a dreamlike quality as they descended at maximum speed into the silence of the blue-green depths; it would take them nearly two hours to reach the ocean floor, some ten thousand feet below.

'Goddamn it, Merlin, come in!' Teo tried for the twentieth time to get a reply.

They had lost visual and voice contact with the sub.

The crew in the support vessel on the surface watched their monitors indicating that Merlin's oxygen tanks had been damaged and were leaking rapidly. It also had numerous electrical difficulties as a result of a collision.

'They're going to run out of air.' Naomi, Brian's wife, was very close to a fit of hysterics. 'Even if they start their ascent now, they won't make it.'

Miles didn't seem as worried; he knew Tory too well.

She always had a trick or two up her sleeve.

'They have stabilised.' Teo threw in glimmer of hope.

' Goddess, this is Merlin.' Tory's voice came over the intercom, receiving a round of applause, which quickly subsided when they all heard how grave her tone was. 'I have re-initiated the ascent sequence. Situation bad. I shall maintain radio silence to conserve oxygen.'

Teo was aghast, though his personal feelings did not reflect in his voice. 'Roger that. We'll be waiting.'

Naomi grabbed a headset. 'What about Brian?'

When there came no response, tears began to well in her large icy-blue eyes, trickling down the small, pointed features of her face. 'Please Tory, talk to me. I just need to know he's okay.'

As Teo had lost his wife twelve years ago, when the volcano on Pico Alto exploded into life and showered the neighbouring island of Faial with debris, he could relate to how Naomi was feeling. Teo removed Naomi's headset and held her at arm's length. 'Wait here,' he advised. She pulled away, preparing to protest, but he didn't give her the opportunity. 'Chances are we're going to have to revive him. I'll let you know when we have.' Naomi gasped in horror and melted into a chair, the mere suggestion of serious injury being more than she could cope with.

'I'll stay with her.' Miles volunteered. It was easy for him to be calm; Tory was in no danger.

Teo gave a nod and made for the Sub Bay.

When Merlin I re-surfaced, Brian's son, Daniel, was the first diver in the water; he'd popped the hatch before the rest of the team had even finished securing the support lines. He climbed inside the cabin, fully expecting to find two dead bodies. To his great bewilderment, the submersible was empty.

Daniel was so stunned it took a moment for the discovery to sink in. As he stood staring into space a large droplet splashed against his forehead, startling him. He wiped the drop of moisture from his brow to find that it had stained the back of his hand.

'Blood!'

2.

THE GENE.

aliesin?'

Tory paced up and down inside the large, T regal entrance room to the Merlin's Otherworldly abode, her brother's dead body bleeding rivers along the cracks in the stone floor.

'Please be here! Tell me what I'm about to do is what was meant.'

Tory missed Taliesin's counsel after leaving her sixth century life to return to the twentieth century. She had no regrets, but the modern world was a far more frightening place than the Dark Age, especially without the High Merlin's guidance. But then, Tory had her father to turn to in this Age - provided she could find him. Tory could find most people with just a thought, but not Myrddin.

'You know he is not here, child.'

'Father!' Tory flew into his arms upon sighting him.

'Brian is ...' She burst into tears.

'So I see.' Myrddin patted her back gently, urging her to calm herself. 'It's alright.' He left her to take a look at his boy.

'I have this potion.' She held out the little bottle that contained the precious brew she'd been saving all these years. 'I never gave it to its intended, because ... well, it's a long story. Then Taliesin told me to save it, that it was meant for another. But how do I know Brian is that other? How do I know that he would even want to be immortal? God knows it's not all it's cracked up to be.'

She marvelled at all she'd been through since becoming thus, and felt close to tears again. 'Taliesin said I would know who the right recipient was, but I do not.'

Myrddin raised a brow at her predicament. 'Well, I can tell you this much. Immortals are not made, they're born. The thing that sets them apart from normal human beings is the presence of a particular gene. This gene you inherited from your grandfather, my father.'

Tory's interest was engaged. Her father had never discussed her Otherworld grandfather with her. 'Did you know him at all?'

'I do know him, yes, but let's not get off the subject.'

Myrddin didn't feel Tory was quite ready for that conversation yet. 'Now, if someone is born with this gene, but it is dormant, it would have to be genetically activated as was the case with you. And because the gene was activated before your children were born, as soon as they experience physical death their immortality gene will kick in.'

Tory's eyes widened. Now she understood. 'If the ET gene hadn't been activated by my death before I had Rhiannon, the ET gene in her would've been dormant, and she would die a normal death as Brian has.'

'Correct.'

'That means that even if I had given this to Maelgwn, it may not have worked?'

'Correct again. But rest assured, Maelgwn is also of the Serpent's clan via his great-grandfather Cunedda.

He is in safe hands.' Myrddin smiled.

'So that only leaves Brian. This must be destined for him.' She breathed a sigh of relief and rushed to administer the life-giving elixir. Tory rested the open end of the little bottle at the side of her brother's mouth. 'Sorry for dragging you into this world of eternal turmoil, but hey ... I wasn't given an option either.'

She let the liquid flow.

Everyone aboard the Goddess spent that evening trying to explain the unexplainable. Most were completely perplexed, but not Teo, Miles, Rhiannon or Naomi.

They knew Tory was capable of physical teleportation; they'd seen her do it. The question for them wasn't how, but why - and where?

If Brian was still alive, why did Tory not transport him up to the ship for treatment? They had the equipment to cope with nearly any emergency that arose, and Pearce was a fine doctor. If Brian was dead, what was the point in taking him anywhere? His wife and son didn't know what to think, or feel.

'What a bunch of bums you lot turned out to be.'

Brian stood in the doorway, hosting a smile that stretched from ear to ear. 'I disappear for five minutes and you all take a holiday.'

'Brian!' Naomi ran into his arms. 'You're okay?' She ran her hands over him just to check.

'Never better,' he assured her, brushing long ash-brown hair back off her face to kiss her forehead.

To those who viewed him, Brian didn't appear any different. Now that he was immortal he could project outwardly any appearance he chose. To Tory, however, he was no longer an aging fifty year old.

Brian had returned to his prime, and looked no older than he had at thirty. All the grey in his hair had turned brilliant blond. His piercing blue eyes had come alive with youth and vitality, and the failing muscles of his body were now restored to their former warrior glory.

Daniel braced his father's shoulders, giving him the once-over. 'But how?'

' Yes! ' Dr Pearce came forward. A logical mind such as his demanded an explanation. 'That's a very good question.'

Tory rolled her eyes, for when John was in one of these moods he was very like his sixth century incarnation, Sir Rhys. Although his dark hair was graying now, and his tall, slender form was rounder and slightly stooped, she could still see the wary knight in the doctor before her.

Brian smiled. 'Well, isn't it obvious?' He looked around, but everyone appeared to be none the wiser. 'It was the Bermuda Triangle. It just sucked us straight out of the sub.'

'Off the coast of Spain? I don't think so.' John wasn't in the mood to play.

'Now, Brian, don't be cruel.' Tory freed herself from Rhiannon and Miles to approach the good doctor. 'The truth is, John, it was extra-terrestrials.'

Tory and Brian burst into laughter, as did everyone else - except John.

'You people are just too weird. I demand to know what happened.'