And, for the record, just because I was attracted to you in one life, doesn't mean I have to be attracted to you in this one. Because I assure you, I'm not!'

'Fine! The feeling's mutual.' She was beginning to wonder what she saw in him anyway. 'You just keep having wet dreams about mother and see where it gets you. There's much finer than you to be had.' She turned to storm away.

'Oh yeah?' He wanted to spite her badly. 'You do realise incest is against the law?' He struck a chord.

'Ohhh!' Rhiannon grabbed for the nearest object, a large spanner as chance would have it, and cast it at him. 'You have the mind of a sewer rat!'

He ducked and, when the spanner missed, grinned triumphantly. 'Hey, baby, the truth hurts.'

'It will be a cold day in hell before I'm your baby,'

she seethed. 'Call me that again, and you will truly know God.' Her dark eyes stared him down, as she turned and calmly strutted away.

For several weeks Tory had been attempting to get in touch with her father, without success. Still, his evasiveness only served to make her more determined to find out the truth behind her birthright.

Thus, for the umpteenth time, Tory willed herself to her father's cavern of treasures at Dinas Emrys, to find the place devoid of life. As with every visit she'd made there of late, she was certain she could sense Myrddin's presence. 'I know you're here, Dad. You can't hide from me forever! Please talk to me ... I need to know who my grandfather was.' The crackling sound of the torches mounted on the wall seemed almost deafening in the silence, and Tory began to despair. 'I have the right to know what you've all got planned for me! I grow tired of guessing.' She slumped into her father's favourite throne, knowing he would not speak. 'Is there no one to advise me then?' Tears of self-pity welled in her eyes; how she missed Taliesin.

Why was he never around when she needed his counsel most?

To enlighten you would be detrimental to their cause.

Tory lifted her teary sights and was almost blinded by the lustre of a form that had manifested over one of the piles of precious relics banked up around the walls of the cave. This celestial woman, whose flowing robes left her half naked, was more beautiful to behold than any starlet of the silver screen, and her speech was more eloquent than the finest Shakespearean actor.

Milky-white and soft was her skin, like a newborn babe. Her fair, ash-brown hair fell in long, loose locks, and her eyes were the colour of sparkling sapphire jewels.

I shall tell you the truth, little one, she said, to spite them.

For your grandfather killed my love, just as he killed yours.

'I don't follow?' Tory's heart began to pound in panic. 'Do you mean Miles?'

No. There was pity in her voice. It was the chosen one I saw destroyed. I tried to prevent it - 'Don't listen to her, Tory. She lies.'

Myrddin had finally decided to make an appearance, and Tory had never seen her father so infuriated.

'Begone, foul whore.' His order thundered throughout the cavern, causing the very walls to tremble.

I am not the abomination here. Her tone became more forceful. It is you who offend the mighty Anu, not I. And now you would keep your own child in the dark, and lead her to offend her great forefathers as you have done.

'Father?' Tory became anxious, unable to take her eyes from the mesmerising entity who stood opposing him.

The images you have seen of your husband are merely that of a clone, the beautiful lady insisted. This was created to keep you believing that you would be reunited with him at the Gathering. But this false hope ... the Dragon is dead.

Tory couldn't stop the tears from cascading down her face. 'But why -' She did not have the chance to finish her query, as her father's open hand met with her cheek and she was thrust to the floor.

'Do not heed her, I said. Her words are like poison to the mind.' He took a stand before the phantasm, between it and his daughter. 'And you ... evil enchantress of a thousand names, I bid you leave! Lest my father send you to join your incestuous husband, in the darkest depths of creation.'

Your threats don't intimidate me, nor should they you, little one. The woman looked to Tory, still cowering on the floor in shock. I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm telling you to believe no one. She looked back to the Merlin with a look a defiance, and vanished into the pile of treasure from which she'd emerged.

'Praise the universe.' Myrddin hurried over to the spot where the woman had vanished and, digging away the surrounding artifacts, exposed the ornate golden device that had been used back in Atlantis to communicate with Nibiru.

'The Ark!' Tory gasped. 'So this is where it has been hiding.'

'And little use it is to us now.' He placed his hands upon the shiny, metallic dome that rose up out of a square golden base. After a few moments of intense concentration the dome sank into the substructure, whereby the Merlin replaced the ornate golden lid that featured two, long, slender cherubs with their wings outstretched towards each other. 'They must have figured out a way to tap into our transmissions. This is most inconvenient.'

'Inconvenient! Is that all you've got to say?' Tory raised herself out of the dirt. 'Who was that? Why would she tell me Maelgwn is dead, if he is not?'

'To confuse you into doing something rash ... like seeking Maelgwn, when he has forbidden you to do so.'

'But how do I know she's lying about the clone?

Maelgwn's message may have been a ploy to stop me from discovering the truth.' She backed up, pondering the possibilities the claim presented.

'See what a few moments in her presence can do?

She always brings out the worst in people. Here am I - angered. And you, of all people, are fearful ... and of me, what's worse!' Myrddin laughed off their visitor's cunning and shook himself, making a strange babbling sound as he did. When he felt he'd sufficiently rid his being of the negative vibrations, he smiled at his bemused daughter.

'I'm sorry I had to strike you ... but you were mesmerised.

I had to break the hold she had over you.'

'Who was she?' Tory could not part with the fear that seemed to thrive on his every word. 'Who was my grandfather? I want to know where I fit into this little war you all seem to be having behind my back!'

'Alright, you're right.' Myrddin conceded it was time. This incident proved Tory could be got at, despite all their precautions. He took a seat on his throne-like chair, musing over where to begin. 'I would hope you've read the ancient scriptures that tell how man's evolution was purposely sped up.'

As this was just about all she'd read in the past month, Tory urged him to skip over that part. 'Yes, yes ...

the great immortal ancestors did this so that man might serve them, the Nefilim, in their mining ventures that were based in Africa and the Middle East. The natural resources of their own planet were depleted and they were forced to seek their minerals, gold in particular, elsewhere.

Some accounts say it was because they needed it for a special shield that was being designed to help protect their atmosphere from radiation. Others claim it held the key to their immortality.'

'Splendid.' He raised his brows, not wanting to get too far ahead ... 'Now, the cultivation and excavation of the Earth was placed in the hands of the two sons of Anu. Enlil, being the first-born, was the commander of the mining projects here. He was known by the Celts as Math, the Lord of Abundance. Ea or Enki, the second-born, was the engineer behind both the Earth's cultivation and the development of humankind ... The Egyptian's called him Ptah, the Creator, and to the Celts he was Bedi.'

'Dad, I know all this! Just cut to the chase. Who was my grandfather?'

Unperturbed by Tory's impetuous outburst, Myrddin continued with his full account: 'You, my dear Tory, descend from the line of Enki, or Bedi, who was your great-grandfather and mankind's foremost advocate at the God's council. Mankind was nearly wiped off the face of the Earth during the great deluge, and if it had not been for Enki defying the wish of his immortal colleagues, none of us would be here.'

'Not true.' Tory thought she must correct him on that point. 'Nin Bau was transported from Atlantis to the Dark Age before the great deluge, so you'd still be here ... thanks to me.'

Myrddin laughed. 'I'm glad you brought that up. The increasing number of unions between the sons of the Nefilim and the daughters of mankind was the very reason that Enlil wanted humankind destroyed. For humans had been deliberately fashioned mortal, so as to die. The last thing the Nefilim wanted was a whole bunch of half-caste human-Gods running about. What if we discovered how to activate the immortal gene passed on to us by our extra-terrestrial forefathers? Mankind might then threaten the authority and interstellar rule of the Nefilim. I believe they felt that, after the deluge, all these discrepancies had been corrected. The one surviving family were pure-bred human beings, the clan of Dwyfan, as the Britons called him, or Noah as he has become known.'

'The Nefilim hadn't counted on man learning the secrets of time travel, hey?' Tory smiled as she considered how far they'd come. 'So the spirit that was here just now was telling the truth. Our family is an offence against the Gods?'

'She twists the truth to suit herself,' he scoffed.

'Only some of the Nefilim think thus, not all. They have been divided over the issue of humankind for as long as we have been in existence.'

'So, my grandfather was one of Enki's sons, but which one?' Tory mulled this over, trying to deduce the answer for herself. As far as she knew Enki had had six pure-bred Nefilim males.

'Before I tell you ...' the Merlin interrupted her contemplation, 'I want you to know that my father did not go around randomly raping young Priestesses for his own personal pleasure. It was all part of a plan devised by he and his father when they became aware of Enlil's growing hatred of the human race. To raise his creation to demigods, without his brother's knowledge, was the only way Enki could conceive of ensuring mankind's ultimate survival.'

'I understand. We're the good guys.' Tory motioned with both her hands for him to be out with it.

'Not by the Bible's reckoning. You see, Enki was the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It was he who made human's self-aware. Before this, humankind only knew enough to follow the orders of their creators.

Humans knew nothing of reproduction, having been genetically engineered by the Nefilim. As he had yet to have an original thought, mankind knew nothing of good and evil; he ate and laboured as an animal. But Enki knew we possessed the potential to have great intelligence, and, given some self-respect and encouragement, we could create, achieve, dream, and aspire to be every bit as wondrous as our creators ...

perhaps even more so! For humankind had a far greater capacity to love and respect their fellow creatures ... we did once, anyway.'

It was a lovely story, which she had read over and over. 'Dad?' Tory appealed for the one vital piece of information that eluded her.

'The name you seek is that of Enki's first-born, Marduk,' Myrddin admitted finally, with a heavy sigh.

Tory gasped, her eyes boggling in their sockets, as she thought back over her research. 'Ra,' she stated, to be sure she understood correctly.

'That was the Egyptian name for him, but he has had many others.'

Tory had to sit down before she fell down. 'So, who was the woman who was here just now?'

The question brought a frown to Myrddin's face, but he thought it wise to inform Tory of the whore's identities. 'She is the daughter of Enlil's first son, Narnar, who also went by the name of Sin. She has had many names: Irnini, Inanna, Ishtar, Aphrodite, but the Celts called her Arianrod.'

'You stole the chariot from her!' Tory considered it wasn't any wonder that the Goddess and the Merlin didn't get along.

'No, no, no, no, no!' He became disgruntled.

'Throughout the course of the ages, the story got all twisted. It was she who stole the chariot from me! For a short time, anyway.' Myrddin calmed a little. 'In my travels through time, I spent many years in ancient Egypt during the time of the Pyramid wars. Ashtoreth, as she was then known, stole my transport. And although she never discovered its true function was that of a time machine, she used it to transport herself from one destination to another. Of course, she didn't need any technological assistance to do this. But she took pride in hovering over many a battlefield in a chariot belonging to the bastard son of her greatest adversary, Ra.'

As Tory's mind processed all the information, a few more pieces of the puzzle slotted into place. 'So it is Enki who has been nominating and collecting the Chosen?'

It made perfect sense. Only recruiting those of his line due to their immortal potential he looked for descendants who were born leaders, thinkers and humanitarians. He would then send an instructor, the like of Taliesin or Myrddin, to guide the Chosen One's spiritual, physical and mental development.

'Half of these Chosen ascended into heaven to learn the wonders of space ...' Myrddin filled in the blanks, 'leaving the other half to protect the Earth and his precious mankind, until the day of his return.'

'Great!' Tory grumbled at her lot. 'Why does Maelgwn get all the fun stuff?'

Myrddin shrugged, for he had been given the same fate as his daughter. 'He must help contend with mankind's enemies in space, as we must deal with our enemies here on Earth.'

Like Doc Alexander, Tory thought on the quiet; just how did he fit into all this?

She strongly suspected that he was an incarnate of Caradoc. Perhaps the last of Maelgwn's line, Cadwaladr, who, according to the histories, was utterly barbaric in temperament and behaviour. He was hellbent on destroying the entire English population of Britain, and spared neither woman nor child, condemning them all to horrible deaths with ruthless savagery. He also called himself a Christian, so Tory could only assume this meant Taliesin had not tutored Cadwaladr as he had those before him. But why? Only Taliesin knew.

After speaking with her father Tory returned, the base to research some of the Gods he had mentioned. And just what had been the cause of the contention between Inanna and Marduk? The answer lay in the disappearance of Inanna's husband, Dumuzi, who was Marduk's youngest brother.

Inanna had been rendered infertile by her aunt, Ninharsag, when she had done her aging relative out of her place in the Pantheon of Twelve - the great council of the God's. In her want for children, Inanna had persuaded her husband Dumuzi to rape his sister and then she planned to claim the resulting child as their own. But rape was considered a most grievous offense, and it fell to Marduk to punish Dumuzi for his crime. Marduk stripped Dumuzi of all his kingly possessions and banished him to the wastelands where he would ponder his wrongdoing for a time. When Dumuzi had repented, Marduk planned to allow him to return to his wife and lands. But Dumuzi mysteriously vanished during his time in exile, and Inanna accused Marduk of murdering him. Although Marduk swore he had done naught but carry out Dumuzi's sentence, he was condemned by the Pantheon of Twelve and banished from their midst.

'But what did Marduk have to gain by murdering his brother, of whom the ancient texts claim he was quite fond?' Noah queried Tory, after they had studied the story closely.

Tory shrugged. 'Well, Inanna was of Enlil's flock and therefore opposed to the human race ... whereas my grandfather was of Enki's line who supported the advancement of mankind. Maybe that had something to do with it.'

Noah didn't seem convinced. 'But what of Inanna's brother, Utu-Shamash? It seems to me that he had more cause than anyone to despise Dumuzi.'

'How so?' Tory queried, most interested to hear.

Noah knew these ancient texts backwards, having had more time than she to study them.

'Well, before her marriage to Dumuzi, Inanna and her twin brother, Shamash, had been rather close ... too close, if you get my drift.'

'They were lovers?' Tory queried, sounding daunted but not surprised.

Noah nodded. 'Apparently Shamash was rather put out when she wed Dumuzi. So by getting rid of Dumuzi and framing Marduk for the crime, Shamash would have killed two birds with one stone.'

'Interesting,' Tory granted. 'But I am wondering, how does one murder a God?'

'Well,' Noah raised his brows, 'you can't. However, there are several references to Gods being dismembered, and by separating all their body parts they were rendered as good as dead.'

The thought made Tory a little uneasy to say the least. 'To spend eternity fully conscious, incapacitated and alone ... how completely horrendous! However,'

she thought again, 'Dumuzi must still be hidden somewhere on this planet.'

'One would think so,' Noah agreed. 'But the heartbroken Inanna searched from one end of the Earth to the other and found no trace of him.'

'And if my grandfather was falsely accused, you can guarantee he would have searched for Dumuzi as well.'

Tory sighed, realising that her chances of succeeding where the God's had failed were very slim indeed.

13.

TO CATCH A THIEF.

When Tory learnt of the plan to send her daughter to obtain Doc's personal code key from him, her first reaction was to volunteer to go in Rhiannon's stead. But Rhun rejected this idea for two very good reasons. One, his father had instructed Tory to stay hidden. And two, Tory lacked the telepathic knowhow for which Rhiannon had been selected in the first place. After much argument Tory finally consented, but she was not about to let her daughter attempt the feat without a safeguard.

Out came the Stormers that Tory had procured from Atlantis during her most recent visit there. She was of the mind to test the stun capabilities on an immortal. The weapon's effect on a normal man could knock him out for up to twenty-four hours - but someone of an eternal disposition? That was quite another matter. As an immortal who had no integral part to play in their current mission, Brian nominated himself as the guinea pig for their target practice. Rhun had a large section of the earthen floor in the cavern of abodes cleared to use as a testing ground for the handheld weapons.

Floyd, Noah, Teo and Nicholas stood at a distance, observing Tory demonstrate how the Stormers were operated.

Brian was taking little notice of what was being said to him. He was busy mucking about with the laser sword capability of his weapon, when he swung around and accidently severed Rhun's left arm at the elbow.

'Fair go!' Rhun looked to his body part, laying in the dirt at his feet. 'I was using that.'

Brian, who had never been confronted by such a scenario before, was unable to see the humour. 'Jesus, Rhun ... I don't know what to say.' The sight of all the blood gushing from the stump that was once his nephew's arm, made Brian's stomach turn. 'Will it grow back?'

'I don't think it works that way.' Rhun knelt beside his amputated portion, and took it up with his remaining good hand.