3.58 The Eleventh Hour

Vida couldn't remember her time in Atlan, nor did she want to. She wasn't privy to all the details of Vikkar's affairs, bet could see how bad the situation was by how badly it was affecting him. Vikkar had been standing at the edge of the lookout for over an hour now, distanced from her his energy felt strange, like a foreign frequency, all she could do was support him in emotional ways. She slipped her arm around his waist and pulled him close. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her tight.

         "Look…" He pointed out towards the smoking city, a vessel was heading their way. 

         "Who is it?" Vida didn't recognize the sail, it was new.

         "I don't know" Vikkar faced the same predicament, but he was optimistic. "I wonder if this is Panthers finally arriving? Maybe Ku managed to ship them here?" It was a nice idea, but his theory had holes, Ku didn't have those types of connections, not personally and the new sail was a red flag of sorts.

         "Wait here" he kissed her forehead. "I'm going down to investigate."

         The ship reached the harbor before Vikkar did. Halki and Ku marched up the rocky trail toward Kergal with haste, they were only a short way up when Vikkar appeared, headed down their way.

         "Vikkar!"

         "Ku! I'm so glad it's you!" Vikkar felt better instantly, relieved to see him arrive. "Where are the Panthers, are they all okay?"

         "They're on the ship" Ku assured, catching his breath, pointing down towards the harbor. "We got caught trying to escape via the tunnel and had to reroute; Halki rescued us!"

         "What?" A moment of disbelief tainted the relief. Last time Halki came to Lemuria he had been deceitful. "Where's Torus?"

         "On the ship."

         It was sounding dubious. Vikkar studied Halki with experienced eyes, wondering if he could explain. "Tell me, what brought about your sudden desire to assist the Panthers in running away?"

         "Let's just say that I saw the Light." Halki panted, short of breath from hiking up the hill.

         "Ha!" Vikkar frowned. Halki sounded pretty convincing but it was hard to believe. He wanted to believe it, it was good news if it was true, if even one of the Anunnaki gods were having second thoughts about the psychopathic king's New Empire, the balance could really shift, but it was too good to be true. "Yeah, right" he chucked.

         "It's true" Ku replied. "Tell him Halki!"

         "Tell me what?"

         "He's come to save you, too. You need to evacuate Kergal."

         "WHAT?" For a moment Vikkar was convinced they were just scaring him in sarcastic jest. "We need to evacuate Kergal? I don’t think so."

         "Your tribe is in GRAVE danger!" Ku had serious facial expressions to back his argument, he appeared genuinely concerned.

         "Yes!" Vikkar replied, unmoved, Ku was being paranoid perhaps. "We heard. Big Boom coming to a plateau near you!"

         But Halki was serious too. "No, it's much worse than you can imagine! You MUST evacuate Kergal!" Vikkar studied him with bridled concern, he appeared sincere as well, it was alarming if it was true, now his heart rate picked up. "Atalon isn't just blowing up Aquilla's lair, he's blowing up the ENTIRE mountain you know!"

         "Yes…" Vikkar replied, still in disbelief of such a possibility. "Yes. We heard. Big BIG Boom!"

         "It's not just the explosion you need to worry about" Ku interjected. "Those weren't ordinary bombs he planted in the mountain you know. They're atomic bombs." 

         "Atomic bombs?"

         "Yeah. Remember Orius?"

         "Orius…" Vikkar was lost.

         "God of Technology. Did you ever wonder why he left?"

         Suddenly Vikkar wondered again why he left. Orius’s departure had been out of the blue, it had been weird... And then Nolan, god of Desire had risen out of nowhere, Nolan of the explosive arts and crafts… Nolan of the mysterious plutonium orders disguised as gravel orders for staged Aquillan attacks… Nolan organized all this? He didn’t seem smart enough!

         "What are atomic bombs?" He asked, afraid to know now. "Atomic bombs were designed to destroy Aquilla once and for all" Halki explained in a nutshell. "The trouble is, they'll annihilate everything downwind with toxic fallout" Ku added. "Kergal is downwind."

         "Toxic fallout? Like how?"

         "Have you seen all the sick looking rabbits in the mine?"

         "WHAT?"

         "Yeah! We can kiss Atlan goodbye, those gods are kidding themselves thinking they'll survive in those pathetic sand castles!"

         "They're poison bombs?"

         "Basically. It's called radiation, it's ancient Solarian technology. It's how the Original Nefilim blew up Sol. They'll kill you slowly if they don't kill you right away!"

         Vikkar felt the blood drain from his face as this unfolding reality was burdened upon him at the eleventh hour. He wasn't scientifically inclined like Orius was, he didn't understand the bomb technology but dots were joining fast.

         "So what are you suggesting we do?"

         "Come with us to Fomora" Halki urged. "Southern Lemuria will be a dustbin before sunset, there's still time to evacuate if you hurry up. Go gather your people, there's enough room on the ship and there's shelter coves around the other side of the peninsula for us to weather out the storm. We can start out together, we've got the Panthers, ships and Kergal to come back to if it's still habitable. Your tribe will be much safer! It’s the best we can offer!"

         Vikkar glanced up the hill towards Kergal, it would be heartbreaking to abandon the happy celebration but Ku was right, it did seem like the safest alternative. He had no idea what the atomic bombs would be capable of, but perhaps Aquilla did...

         "Please…" Halki sounded so sincere, he tried to think of an ulterior motive. "We don't have much time, I know things have been stupid and I owe you an apology for the book thing but it's too late to get hung up on these immature mistakes. You're my Brother" he urged. "We can start fresh in Fomora, just us. Fuck Atalon and his tribal hate, he won't survive here. This place is about to turn into the real Hellias, I assure you!"

         Vikkar glanced up at the sun with heavy contemplation. The last minute offer was tempting, in spite of the red warning flags waving. Was Halki really letting his Phoenix spirit guide him now? The truth was, his words of honesty and salvation were like medicine to his heart. "Let me ask Vida" he offered, opting for a bite of time and a second opinion.

         "You'll have to hurry up!" Halki ordered. "We're out of time already. I'm risking my life to save your tribe!"