The God Reborn

Chapter 7

Laura forced herself to turn away from the globe and focus on cataloguing the existing and expected food supplies at each haven across the continent to ensure that each Aeon had laid by enough food to last through the winter. But she knew the food supplies would be worth little if heathen were climbing the havens' walls.

She reassured herself with the fact that she could still discuss winter rations with each of the Aeons at havens around the world. This proved that the heathen had not succeeded in destroying her communication cable network. At least not yet.

She ached for news of victory, and of defeat for the heathen who threatened the periphery of Vinicius' Sanctuary. She pined for her power to view everything that occurred on the face of the planet as it happened. But her satellites' orbits had long since decayed until they burned up in the atmosphere, and it had been centuries since she'd had the ability to launch new ones. Now she could only get real time updates of world events by listening to the reports from her Aeons across fiber optic cables.

If the heathen really had discovered her weak point, the cables, they would continue to press their attacks. If Vinicius succeeded in beating off this current attack, the conflict might continue, until either the Aeons' defenses were broken, or she eradicated all heathen who knew of her weakness. The imminent struggle would finally complete or undo the empire she had founded one thousand years before.

She summoned Kobus to join her upon the mountain peak where she held her war council. He appeared in a moment, standing in the shade of the lone apple tree that improbably grew out of the rocky summit.

"How can I be of service, Laura?" asked Kobus in his heavily accented English. He was dressed in red leathers, which matched his light brown skin but clashed with his blue eyes. His sigil of a roaring bear's head was etched in his armor in scarlet. A matching pair of scimitars was shoved into his thick belt.

"This latest attack near Vinicius' haven," began Laura, feeling her long red hair blowing in the strong breeze. "What measures can you take if Vinicius fails?"

"Ek se, an outcome we would be wise to prepare for," responded Kobus. "It is fokking crazy to leave this battle in the hands of the traitor."

Laura fought back frustration. She did not want to have this argument again. Kobus made no secret of his hatred for Vinicius. And many of the other Aeons sympathized with Kobus' view. There was only so far she could go to protect Vinicius without imperiling her leadership of the pantheon.

If Vinicius' forces failed to win the upcoming battle, Kobus would probably push for her to take action against Vinicius. And then she would have to make a painful choice. But for now, she could hope that Vinicius would prevail.

"Where is Abril?" muttered Kobus testily. "She is the only Aeon I trust."

"Abril is undergoing her rebirth ceremony back in the Great Haven. My physical form is there to bear witness at this very moment. You might recall that her rebirth falls only a few days after Vinicius'. Speaking of which, if Vinicius fails, what can we do to retake the cables?"

"We can deploy better-armed reinforcements to refight the battle, ne" responded Kobus. "We have equipment held in reserve, manned by trained crews, at our best defended havens."

"I know," responded Laura. "But how much of this equipment is battle ready, and within striking distance?" Even as she spoke, the information was pouring into her brain. Kobus, however, was intimately knowledgeable with this matter and could provide a better analysis than she could.

Kobus paused for the briefest moment as he prepared a detailed answer. "It depends," he said, "on the lead time and how much fuel we're willing to burn."