“Xenophobia doesn’t start wars.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Then how are the humans allied with the Tsihn? And how are the Skorpis working with…” My words choked in my throat. Suddenly I understood what was happening.
Aten slowly unfolded his arms, studying me like a zoo-keeper who had just added a new specimen to his collection.
“This war—” I hesitated, thinking furiously. It was the only explanation I could see. “This war is really between you and the other Creators. You are fighting among yourselves, and using us as your pawns.”
His utterly handsome face twisted into a smirk. “Of course. I’m surprised it took you so long to figure it out. You who prides himself on his growing wisdom.”
“But why? Why would you have such a falling-out with the other Creators?”
“It’s not only me, Orion. Our little family has split into two almost equal camps. Equal and opposite. Much as we did over Troy, except that this time, instead of a paltry few Greeks and Trojans, we are dealing with interstellar civilizations.”
“And you drive them to war?”
He shrugged carelessly. “There was no other recourse. The other Creators would not listen to reason.”
“They would say the same of you and your allies, wouldn’t they?”
“I imagine so.”
“You still haven’t told me why you’ve split; the source of the conflict.”
“We have reached the ultimate crisis, Orion. A dilemma so crucial, a turning point so critical to our survival, that we Creators could not agree on how to handle it. I told you that this war was part of the ultimate crisis, and so it is. Until I can force the other Creators to agree with my plan for handling the crisis, we will be powerless to face it when it finally falls upon us.”
“So you’re sending billions to slaughter, destroying whole planets, to decide how to deal with this final crisis.”
“It is necessary. For our survival.”
“You make war on each other by using us—and other races, as well.”
“Why not? Do you expect us to fight each other, to kill one another?”
“And Anya? Whose side is she on?” But I knew the answer even as I asked the question.
Aten’s face clouded over. “I’m afraid she is not among my allies. In fact, she is leading the opposition.”
“Then, to serve you I must fight against her.”
“It’s her own fault, Orion.”
I did not care whose fault it was or which of their sides was in the right, if either of them was. All I wanted was to find Anya, even if that meant working against Aten.
I looked into his gold-flecked eyes and saw that he understood precisely what was going through my mind. I could not hide my thoughts from him.
“The last thing in the world that you want to do is find her,” he warned me. “She is far beyond the paltry romance that you once had with her. She has reverted to her true form, Athena, the warrior goddess. She no longer cares to don human shape. She no longer loves you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He made an indifferent gesture with his hands. “What you believe or fail to believe makes absolutely no difference.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“No, Orion, it doesn’t. You can chase across the whole galaxy seeking your beloved goddess. You can think me an egomaniac who sends his own creations to slaughter. No matter what you think, if you find Anya now she will kill you. Without a second thought.”
“No! She loves me.”
“Perhaps once she did. But she has outgrown you, outgrown the foolish desire to take on human form. She is truly the goddess of death, Orion. Your death. Believe it.”
CHAPTER 14
For the next several days, as I worked with the human scientists, my mind kept spinning around the revelations that Aten had heaped upon me.
Anya was fighting against the Golden One. The Creators were split apart, and they had split the human race into two warring factions. They had even enlisted alien races in their ever-expanding war.
And Anya no longer loved me. That I refused to believe. She might hate Aten, she might be fighting against the Golden One with every quantum of her strength and knowledge, but she would never turn against me.