The doors of the ship opened and Mirov left, along with Kirubi, who was wearing a full combat armor. The crew members left after them, also wearing military uniforms to react if the humans attacked them. But on the contrary, the Sumerians received them as gods and immediately knelt before them.
"This planet will be mine forever. Now I'm more than a king. I feel like a God," Mirov thought, when he saw humanity at his feet.
He felt divine, seeing all those people prostrating themselves and reverencing him, as if he could command them through all his life. That mission was exceeding his expectations. Any failure that had occurred during the plan had until now lost its importance. He had won.
Mirov went down to the land, holding the staff, which was a powerful laser spear camouflaged, and looked everywhere. He scratched his scar for a few seconds and then let his vision wander across the horizon. He walked among the people who opened a path for him to pass by, parading his divine glory.
Kirubi and the military watched, analyzing if there was any hostility on the part of the Terrans surrounding them. If anything happened, they were ready to react, hands in their holsters. The ship Genesis' weapons remained prepared for a confrontation, which would be unequal if it happened. Mirov could feel the fear on the faces of the first human beings that approached, with curiosity and adoration. He saw that there was no danger and asked them to lower their weapons.
The Terrans, in their meager knowledge, stared impressed at everything they used: battle costumes, the ship's lights, the size of the space cruiser, and the fact that they resembled the gods they imagined in their engravings and statues. Only Mirov, with his dark appearance, drove them away. But he didn't care, he just savored the scent of fear that the humans exhaled. That was until the three attack robots appeared through the ship's doors.
The machines' walk made a deafening noise, and their menacing eyes flashed red, showing all the firepower they possessed. The people began to retreat, the panic giving traces of being instated.
"It'll be easy to subdue this people, master. They are already revering us in a sign of respect and subordination. What we command them, they will certainly do," said Radof.
"Much easier than I thought," Mirov added. "It wasn't even necessary to show the robots. Now that they have seen them, these human beings will be even more obedient. Commander Kirubi, I'm going to my quarters to prepare a speech. I want you to use the master computer to recognize their language and translate my words to these humans."
As commanded, the commander activated the computer's automatic translation function, and those human beings of the past, though they spoke a dialect unknown to the tyrant Mirov, could now understand him perfectly.
"Human beings of the planet Earth, we came in peace. I am Mirov, your God! Obey me and you will be rewarded. I can protect you from any enemy, if you do as I command. Revere me and feel all my power."
He raised his face, staring at them all, and took his staff. He lifted it toward the sky. Then he threw a bolt of lightning that dissipated into the clouds. Suddenly, a groan of astonishment was heard and everyone leaned down even more to the ground, in a sign of respect.
"I feel very good," Mirov thought.
Then he continued to speak to the people:
"I can help you organize and gain power by teaching the value of work to the development of a nation. You will learn writing to communicate better. I will teach you the technologies and knowledge to thrive under my command. Do what I command and I will be benevolent, but do not arouse my anger lest you be annihilated from the face of the Earth."
And so, they began to civilize that people, as the pathfinders did thousands of years ahead. The initial step was to establish contact with the chiefs of the tribes, guiding them to unite and form a government in the region. The first ruler was appointed by Mirov himself, among those who showed most capable of leadership and were submissive to him.
Over time, Mirov and his team taught them Astronomy, Architecture, Mathematics and, above all, the importance of making and executing laws to control society. After passing over to them all possible teaching, and creating men capable of doing anything for him, Mirov called the counselors he had chosen for a meeting in his palace, which the people built to be his resting place and his crews in the region of Mesopotamia.
"You will live in a knowledge-based reign, my children," he said covertly. "That means power. Understand how things work and use them for your development. And for that, I need to find someone who is my representative among you, to be the true leader. A king, appointed, who will be the eyes of God on this land. A wise man, who will be faithful to me as long as he lives."
Assuridor, one of the men most dedicated to the expansion of the Sumerian empire was the chosen one. An idealist, but with a blind faith to his God Mirov. Upon being crowned, Assuridor made a speech and ended with the following words:
"I will be a good king and will execute all your orders, mighty God Mirov!"
"He understood who has the full and absolute power of this planet. Everything's under my control," Mirov mused as he prepared to teleport himself to Genesis ship.
***
And the time continued to pass, while the spaceship' crew taught humans how to thrive. Lieutenant Korin and the mission engineers succeeded in producing a technology able to create the much-desired electromagnetic force field capable of preventing gravity control and neutralizing Merko's power. To assist them, the Sumerians were ordered to build Ziggurats, species of pyramid-shaped temples, where ceremonies were performed in honor of the arrival of the Gods.
Only the priests, appointed by Mirov, could enter the innermost parts, as well as himself, who came to use the installations as a residence. Korin and his team, with the status of gods, prepared a secret laboratory inside one of them, where they developed their technology from the other world.
Inside, the officer approached Captain Kirubi, who was looking at some holographic maps on the Genesis' command bridge to give him the news:
"Captain, we have the technology needed to inactivate Commander Merko's powers. To do this, we used reverse engineering on our gravity forming weapon."
"I want to know everything in detail. Mr. Mirov thinks that Merko and his friends must be coming."
Mirov approached them and said:
"I need to join in this conversation. Is it true what I heard?"
"Yes, sir. It's possible to construct a device to create an electromagnetic field and neutralize the gravity control," Korin replied.
"Then prepare it, immediately!" Mirov ordered.
Croiff emerged; served his master and the military a delicious drink from his planet as he listened carefully to the conversation. Lieutenant Korin continued:
"But there's a problem... We had to reverse engineer the gravitational weapon and we might not be able to rebuild it, because part of it was used in the new device. There are materials in its construction that we only find on planet Life."
"If it's the only way we can protect ourselves from Merko, we'll risk it. He'll come with more ships and robots and it'll be difficult to face him. I want you to also find a way to prepare an escape route if necessary. Without the gravitational shaper weapon, we can't produce artificial wormholes," Mirov said. "I'll ask Captain Kirubi to leave four soldiers and two scouting ships at his disposal for him to travel all over the planet and find the materials needed to make this device. Adapt yourself, track the planet, for there must be materials in abundance that we don't yet know. Have the engineers use nanotechnology to produce the materials that don't exist on terrestrial grounds by atomic nuclear transformation, if necessary. I know that this planet is rich in various ores and they may also find materials like those we use on our planet."
"Commander Kirubi, help Lieutenant Korin and the engineers in any way necessary to achieve our goals."
"All right, sir. I'll provide whatever is needed. We've already mapped the planet and found that it's abundant in almost all the ores we need. Similar missing materials, we'll create with our nanotechnology."
The engineers found that gold and silicon had to be found for use as components in electromagnetic devices. Kirubi's military men analyzed the planet with the computers and discovered large amounts of gold in the region that currently corresponds to western South America, South Africa, and Central America.
Silicon was used to manufacture laser ray weapons and as semiconductors in electronic components. Gold was an excellent conductor of very suitable use for manufacturing of devices in general. It was also used in hydrogen-isotope production reactions, to generate energy in nuclear fusions. In turn, this energy was necessary to the spaceship and to the war devices of the extraterrestrials.
The scouting ships went to these places to extract the elements from the ground. Meanwhile, in the north of the region that corresponds to Africa today, the engineers found an area in which soil the first devices that would be built to generate power could be installed.
It was the region where lived the people who then formed the empire of Egypt. This civilization developed on the banks of the Nile River with the intention of cultivating plants for agriculture and raising animals, with an organization that astonished Mirov. So much so that he, in person, wanted to know the region after knowing how their society worked. The ship Genesis sailed over to monitor it. The alien beings decided to introduce themselves to the peoples of the region and influence them, as they had done with the Sumerians. The Egyptians were stunned to see the great mother ship landing, along with the robots. It was a way for Mirov to demonstrate power by ordering the flying machines to land along with the great battlecruiser. The visiting leader also came to be regarded as a God in their eyes.
The team led by Mirov also used their knowledge to help the tribes of the region, as they had done with the Sumerians, and to form a great Egyptian nation. The chiefs of the tribes elected the first pharaoh, Kaenematon, as ruler. He learned from Mirov how to run the government. Several other sciences were passed on to the Egyptians as agriculture, architecture, and writing.
The supreme ruler of Egypt rose to this status with Mirov's help, who taught him to use some of their weapons, such as the laser spear. He also took him to visit the great ship. All this power seduced the Pharaoh, and his company pleased Mirov.
Kaenematon left the ship as if he were a God. The people revered him as they did with all the extraterrestrial visitors. This influence and prestige would be an advantage to Mirov, and was already part of his plans to rule the Earth's nations. He would leave some as his trail, his children through Earth. Men of great power to dominate the people, but not beings capable of resisting him.
"What a powerful flying object you have here. Lights everywhere, and all these things I don't understand," said the impressed Pharaoh to Mirov as he entered the ship for the first time and saw the computers' holographs.
"You'll learn how to use the ship to travel wherever you wish, Kaenematon. We'll teach you. A God must fly to other worlds," said Mirov, with persuasive words in the ruler's ears.
The pharaoh was paralyzed like a statue, staring at the ship's hatch. He thought of what it would be like to be able to travel with those visiting beings and to know other worlds. Mirov read his thoughts:
"King Kaenematon, have you imagined reigning over other worlds and being able to come back to your kingdom here in Egypt according to your will?" Mirov asked.
"Sir, I was just reflecting on that now. What you offer me can't be possible!"
"I will show you that nothing is impossible when you are a God. You will become one of us if you do my will."
"You are my God, as you are my people's. I will serve the Lord as you wish," replied the Pharaoh, kneeling and bowing his head.
Mirov smirked maliciously and felt the power circulating in his veins.
As Pharaoh Kaenematon retired to his great palace built with the help of the extraterrestrial architects, Kirubi reported to Mirov on the command bridge what were the intentions of the electromagnetic engineers:
"Mr. Mirov, our technicians believe that the devices must be installed camouflaged in the form of large obelisks and pyramidal constructions from which we can launch the electromagnetic rays into the exosphere and spread the great antigravity field all over the planet. You need these objects installed on all continents, so that together they can form a network with a large force field."
"They have my permission to work as quickly as possible. Don't forget to rebuild the gravitational weapon. I don't want to be restricted to this planet and now, with all this power, I feel that I can conquer other worlds. Use the engineers and materials you need. After eliminating Merko, nothing nor anyone can prevent me from gaining power."
"I'll give the permission now, sir," Kirubi said.
Thus, Mirov convinced the pharaoh to build great pyramids following the specifications and orientations of his engineers. He told Pharaoh that they would be great tombs and would serve men like him, connecting the world of men with that of the gods. The sacredness of the pyramids also served to keep the onlookers apart.
The Pharaoh engaged hard in the building and used many workers for such a feat, obeying Mirov's orders. He hoped to be rewarded for his loyalty to his god.
The attack robots, with their great strength, helped to move the large stones that were cut to the perfect measure by the lasers of the scouting ships and adjusted one on top of the other with millimetric precision. The engineers instructed the workers to drag the large stone cubes over the wet sand, which diminished the friction of the soil.
The whole world would become an electromagnetic network in order to form a large antigravity field. The trap to eliminate Captain Merko was ready.
Many years passed before they could build the necessary pyramids and artifacts all over the planet.
When the engineers triggered all the devices from the strategic locations, the gravitational field would be blocked and Merko wouldn't be able to use his powers against Mirov. The weakened commander would be an easy target. Finally, he would be destroyed.
They also aligned the three largest pyramids of Egypt to the Orion Constellation, more precisely to the region of the three stars of the Hunter's Belt. So, after the structures had fulfilled their goal of forming an electromagnetic network around the planet, thanks to extraterrestrial technologies, they could create a space-time path that would quickly take them to Sirius's binary system. From there they could take advantage of the gravitational waves to move quickly to anywhere in the galaxy.
"A perfect plan! Our engineers are very efficient..." Mirov said proudly, his eyes bright.
"You're also a very clever master, persuading people to do what you want," Radof commented.
"What do you mean by that?" Mirov inquired irritably upon being interrupted by his servant with ideas he didn't like.
"No big deal, sir. I meant that you have a great power of argumentation," replied the servant, after swallowing dry, trying to save his neck.
The reconnaissance ships returned regularly from their missions, loaded with gold and silicon. For this, they contacted the nations of the region where the gold was extracted, which ended up helping them in the collection. After all, for the Terrans, all visitors were gods.
Kirubi ordered the explorers to mark the extraction sites for a new and possible need for exploration. The markings were made with radioactive nanoparticles, detected only by the alien technology coming from the future.
"A golden gift to the gods who came down from the skies as proof of our loyalty," said the kings, proudly to be able to offer them something of value.
The other pyramids, little by little, were built. In their cores, there were nuclear reactors fed with hydrogen isotopes, that would supply the ships when these were positioned in their apices. Everything was getting ready to receive Merko and his crew and destroy them.
The command room of the space cruiser Genesis was in celebration. Finally, it was time to test the effectiveness of the force field-generating electromagnetic weapon to neutralize the enemy's powers. Mirov knew that Merko's power was due to him absorbing cosmic radiation and mastering gravity, manipulating this powerful force of nature. By obstructing this radiation's passage, the rival's powers would be annulled.
"Captain Kirubi, is everything ready for the test with the new device?"
"Yes, Mr. Mirov. Lieutenant Korin personally accompanied the work and now we can turn the energy field on."
"What are you waiting for, Captain? I want to see the result of all this work," said Mirov.
Captain Kirubi gave the order:
"Turn on all devices."
A large force field was formed around the Earth and energy was launched from all parts of the planet, forming an intrinsic tangle. The color of the energy was bluish-white, since in the obelisks they had incorporated quartz and silica crystals, that allowed the energy's propagation, as well as in the pyramids. Everything had been placed in sites of great energetic power, according to the orders and supervision of the extraterrestrial engineers. This way, a large electromagnetic network was created with a high degree of technological evolution.
The tension lit up the skies as the rays came out of all parts of the planet, causing the energy mesh to close, wrapping the globe. Mirov thrilled with the project's success.
"Very good work, ladies and gentlemen! When our enemy enters the planet's atmosphere, I want you to turn on the force field. This will be an added advantage for me. What about the gravity shaping gun?"
"Sir, we were able to get it back and we've already installed it in Genesis ship. A smaller prototype was placed on a scouting ship. If you need to run away with the officers, this will be another choice," said Lieutenant Korin proudly as he showed his efficiency.
"Very well, Lieutenant. Now let's wait for our prey," said Mirov sounding triumphant.
He enjoyed having a chance to flee if his plan failed. He savored the possibility of defeating Merko, eliminating the enemy who had held him prisoner for ten years and had made him flee his planet like a scared rabbit, when he was still a king. Now it was his turn to take revenge.
***
Meanwhile, on the battlecruiser commanded by Captain Merko, everyone listened carefully to Dr. Zara's words. Sivoc liked very much what he heard.
He decided to follow the doctor's opinion in the search for Mirov's possible whereabouts. Zara had thoroughly studied the history of planet Earth and knew exactly when civilizations were formed, increasing the chances of finding Mirov in those periods.
"Zara, where do you think Mirov is now?" Sivoc asked, his hand under his chin.
"Since we have no alternative, except to use the knowledge, I think he'll go to the beginnings of human civilization. If he couldn't destroy the human race and what he sowed on Earth was the origin of life, all that's left to him is controlling the inhabitants of the planet and govern them. Mirov will prefer to start his domain where there are no weapons or constituted government systems. This will be a time in human history where he'll be able to reign with absolute power."
"Where and when?" Merko asked curiously.
"In the cradle of the first human civilizations, in the old Mesopotamia."
Nicholas looked at his wife with great admiration, as did the others. Zara showed more and more that, besides being wise, she was a very impetuous woman. Everyone on the ship looked at each other, gaping, waiting for confirmation. Was the doctor's intuition right again? Merko, after a while, cast over Zara a piercing stare. Then, he looked at everyone around him before he asked Drako, his confidence slowly restoring itself to the thought that the end of that journey might be near:
"Drako, is it possible to trace a course to Earth's past in the time of the earliest human civilizations?"
"Yes, Captain. I can recalculate our trajectory using the transwarp to reach this period of human history."
"Do it! Let us go back to the time of the ancient Sumerian people."
***
On planet Earth, Dargan, the spy, was waiting for new direct orders from Mirov. He continued his routine as a collaborator at the Cosmology Institute in Los Angeles, where Nicholas worked.
For now, no one offered him any danger, because Lorena and the girls were not there, hidden by Merko in another country. But soon Dargan's life would also change...
***
Meanwhile, in the past, the battlecruiser Star Hunter and the scientific ship Science followed them going towards Mesopotamia. The rear propellers of the two ships were activated and they sailed on the way to another adventure.
Merko, on the command bridge, was thinking of Lorena. The longing there was the sole counselor of his soul.
"I need to imprison Mirov and get to my destination in the future fast, to be with Lorena and little Helen. I don't want to waste another second of my life away from them. I love them so much!"
Merko knew that his rival must have prepared some trap for them. He'd fought many battles and that one wouldn't be easy. Planet Life's military men were well-trained and had the best weaponry. He wouldn't lose hope... He thought they could survive what could be the final battle against Mirov.
Nicholas and Zara remained in their accommodation on the ship. Despite the dangers they would have to face, he felt happy beside her and watched her with tenderness.
"I know it must be difficult for you to take part in a mission as dangerous as today's. You're a doctor who likes genetic research and saving lives, not reaping them. Even so, know that I'll always be by your side and protect you, because I love you and I'll do it for all eternity, even with all the differences."
"My world is now you and my family. That's what matters to me," Zara stammered.
He kissed her gently on the lips and vigorously laid her on the bed. Without letting go of her lips, he stroked her skin with graceful movements. He slid his hands down her body while he smelled the sweet smell of her red hair. She hugged him, returning the soft touches and they experienced a pleasant exchange of caresses. After satisfying their desires, they took the opportunity to get some sleep.
After a few hours, Nicholas and Zara woke up. He thought of the dangers that awaited them and felt strong and trained for combat. Even more now, beside Merko who was an example of courage. Zara, worried, was only thinking about surviving and protecting her beloved for them to return to her daughter's company.
Nicholas smiled at her and stared into her beautiful eyes. That was when he realized in their reflection that a large blue sphere was approaching. He turned his face and looked through the ship's transparent hatch at the great planet, which to him was the most beautiful in the Universe, and seemed to embrace them more and more: Earth.
Something made him fill himself with hope, willing to fight until the end to save that planet that was his. So, he murmured staring determinedly at his home.
"Get ready, Mirov. We're coming."
THE END
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