Vengeance of Orion Read Free

Troy bulking dark against the deepening violet sky.
    Agamemnon. Troy. How did I get here? How long could I survive as something lower than a slave?
    ***
    Falling asleep was like entering another world. My dream was as real as life. I thought perhaps it was life, a different life on a different plane of existence.
    I stood in a place that had neither time nor dimension. No land, no sea, no sky. Not even a horizon. A great golden glow surrounded me, stretching away to infinity on every side, warm and so bright that it dazzled my eyes. I could see nothing except its radiance.
    Without knowing why, I began to walk. Slowly at first, but soon my pace quickened, as if I knew where I was heading and why. Time was meaningless here, but I walked endlessly, my bare feet striking something firm beneath me, though when I looked down all I could see was the gleaming golden light.
    And then, far, far off, I saw a brilliance that outshone everything else. A speck, a spot, a source of radiance that blazed pure gold and drew me forward like a magnet draws a sliver of iron, like the fiery sun draws a falling comet.
    I ran, I flew toward that burning golden glow. Breathlessly I raced to it, my eyes painfully dazzled, my heart thundering wildly, the breath rasping in my throat.
    I stopped. As if an invisible wall had risen before me. As if my body had suddenly become paralyzed.
    I stopped and slumped to my knees.
    A human form sat before me, elevated above my level, resting on nothing more substantial than golden light. He was the source of all the radiance. He shone so beautifully that it hurt my eyes to look upon him. Yet I could not look away.
    He was splendid. Thick mane of golden hair, gold-flecked eyes. Skin that glowed with life-giving radiance. Utterly handsome face, masculine yet beautiful, calm and self-assured, the hint of a smile curling his lips. Broad shoulders and wide hairless chest. Bare to the waist, where draperies of gleaming gold enfolded him.
    "My poor Orion." His smile turned almost mocking. "You are certainly in a sorry state."
    I did not know what to reply. I could not reply. My voice froze in my throat.
    "Do you remember your Creator?" he asked, tauntingly.
    I nodded dumbly.
    "Of course you do. That memory is built so deeply into you that nothing but final destruction can erase it."
    I knelt before my Creator, my mind whirling with faint half memories, struggling to find my voice, to speak, to ask him . . .
    "Do you remember my name?" he asked.
    Almost, I did.
    "No matter. For the present you may call me Apollo. Your companions on the plain of Ilios refer to me by that name."
    Apollo. The Greek god of light and beauty. Of course. The god of music and medicine—or is it biotechnology, I wondered. But I seemed to recall that he had another name, another time. And there were other gods, as well. And a goddess, the one whom I loved.
    "I am being harsh with you, Orion, because you disobeyed me in the matter of Ahriman. You deliberately twisted the course of the continuum, out of sentiment."
    "Out of love," I replied. My voice was weak, gasping. But I spoke.
    "You are a creature, Orion," he sneered. "What can you know of love?"
    "The woman," I pleaded. "The goddess . . ."
    "She is dead."
    His voice was as coldly implacable as fate. I felt ice freezing my veins.
    "You killed her," I said dully.
    His sneering smile faded into grim solemnity. "In a sense, Orion, it was you who killed her. By daring to love a goddess, by tempting her to assume a human form, you sealed her doom."
    "You blame me . . ."
    "Blame? A god does not blame, Orion. A god punishes. Or rewards. You are being punished—for the while. Accept your fate and your punishment will cease."
    "And then?"
    His smile returned. "I have other tasks for you, my creature, after the Trojans have beaten off these Greek barbarians. Don't be afraid, I don't plan on letting you die again, not for a while. There is much work for you to do in this era."
    I began to ask him what he