I felt the summons deep within my mind, “Rotan I need you. Whatever you are doing delegate it to someone else. Come to me at my offices as soon as you can.”
I was deep within the water-world collecting souls when I heard my master’s call. I sent out a call for assistance and soon saw one of the Lord of Punishment’s flying servants carrying a fresh Ferryman in its claws. I recognised Baal himself as he hovered over the boat.
The new boat-master grasped my hand as he was released from Baal’s grasp and said, “Rotan you had best hurry. There’s something amiss in this reality and our master needs someone of your talents to put it to rights.”
I held my arms out from my side and Baal swooped down and fixed me within his grasp. The mighty wings expanded, caught the wind and we soared into the clouds. From up here the Netherworld extended in every direction until it disappeared into the mist. I had been collecting souls and taking them to the final lock and the entrance into Gaia’s realm. This was the lands of the dead and time did not pass here as it did in the realm of life. I have no real idea just how many years had passed since my death. I was born during the end of the Würm glaciation period as a hunter gatherer. I killed a false Shaman who had sent us on a fools errand hunting animals that were somewhere else, once too many. Upon my death I found myself in front of the Lord of Punishment who had made me the first Ferryman, collecting the souls of the dead. After some time I decided to stay and serve Him rather than travel on to Gaia’s realm for the redeemed. I was his first Ferryman and had served Him in many different situations.
I had caused two cities to drown because of the wickedness practised there and abolished slavery in Egypt during the reign of Ramesses the second, leading the ex-slaves through the Red Sea to other lands. In the end the Lord of Punishment gave up on man’s cruelty and ceased to interfere in human affairs unless unbearably provoked.
Baal continued his flight back to the great citadel of Hell and I soon was able to see the towers jutting out of the wetlands below. The Arch-prince dropped into the main courtyard and gently deposited my ethereal form onto the polished flagstones.
He bent forwards and spoke directly into my ear and whispered, “All I can tell you, is that our Master is very concerned about something that the humans have achieved with their scientific discoveries that may concern us all, even in this reality!”
With that veiled threat ringing in my ears, I quickly found my way into his presence. My Master was sitting at his desk in a vast swivel chair crafted by demons out of iron-wood grown locally to his residence. A flight of stairs led from the smooth, mosaic-patterned floor right up to the level of his desk. I hurried up those stairs as fast as I could and made my appearance from behind one of his inkwells.
The great horned head swivelled round at my approach and he said, “It is good to see you again Rotan, after so many years. Once again I have a task for your unique abilities. Sit and listen while I tell you about the latest of man’s follies! This time I have to intervene or there will be no more souls in the future for us to judge and send upon their ways.”
I sat and listened as the Lord of Punishment told me about the progress that mankind had achieved in the last hundred years. It had been some while since I had been involved in the lands of the living and much had happened since World-War two and the dropping of the atomic bombs upon the cities of the Japanese. There had been a great sorting out of souls on both sides after the mega-death of destruction had taken place. Since then I had been wandering the remote corners of the Netherworld collecting the lost souls that had fallen far from the centre of residence. For my master to call upon my ‘talents’ at such a time, put me once again at the pivot point of history.
“Rotan, my children have accomplished a great achievement that will certainly wipe out all life upon this world if they succeed in returning to their home-world with what they have discovered. A year and a half ago an international expedition to the planet Mars was launched. It was and is an incredible feat of which I am very proud. Based on the favourable results that the Mars Rover discovered, the team have been sent there to verify that life exists underneath the permafrost layer. It does and it will soon occupy the warm wet conditions of the dome that they live inside. Not only that, the varied micro-organisms will find an enriched environment inside the humans that are at this moment getting ready to return. Rotan, they cannot return to this world, for if they do, what once evolved on Mars will make this their new home. These microbes have stayed alive and mutated to stay that way over billions of years and will find life on this planet very easy. If they get here, then I have seen a possible future, of a world that will be home to microbial life only. Mankind will cease to be and our reason for being here will end. They must be stopped! That is your task, Rotan. Do whatever is necessary my loyal servant, but stop them!”
