Pyramid Scheme by Dave Freer and Eric Flint

They watched in horror as Selene tied the mule to a post and then began walking towards the mansions of the gods.

“Get Prometheus! I’ll distract her!” Liz darted forward. She pulled the huge white mule’s reins free and leapt up onto its pannier, and thence its back. She dug her heels in, hard. “Giddyup!!!” she yelled.

* * *

The mule took off into the night sky like a venturi-less rocket.

Selene turned and shrieked, and took off through the sky after her mule and its clinging rider. The moon goddess normally flew across the sky, leading her mule. But even with her divine powers, Selene wasn’t catching up with the wildly bucking animal.

* * *

Liz clung desperately to the saddle panniers. She could ride well. But there were no stirrups, and the mule paid no attention to her frantic hauling at the reins. It alternated between bucking and twisting with wild headlong gallops. They were also moving at a phenomenal speed. It felt as if the mule was doing its best to make up for the lack of a Concorde in this Ur-universe.

48

Picking up fallen women.

Jerry Lukacs’ entire life experience on horseback consisted of one ride on a led pony at a children’s petting farm. He thrust that idle thought aside and ran for Throttler. He jumped onto her back.

“Follow that moon!” he yelled. He was vaguely aware of someone jumping up behind him.

* * *

Lamont, returning with Prometheus and Typhoeus from watching a guard give a highly instructive lesson in how not to fly down the face of Mount Olympus, saw the moon, Selene, Jerry and Throttler race up into the night sky.

“What’s that?” he shouted.

“I don’t know, but let’s get to Zeus fast,” said Prometheus grimly. Typhoeus was already racing towards the sleeping place of the master of the Olympians.

Lamont met up with Cruz and McKenna, who had come in hasty search.

“What happened?”

Cruz looked grim. “Some goddess arrived with the moon, on that gigantic donkey thing.”

“It’s a mule,” interjected McKenna.

Cruz shrugged. “Whatever. Anyway, Liz stole her mule to distract her. It worked all right, but the animal is out of control. Mac and I both got arrows into the goddess. They’ve got Medea’s dope on them. But the stuff takes quite some time to work.”

“And Liz?” asked Lamont.

“Jerry and Bes have gone after her on Throttler. But look at how fast that damn thing is going!”

“I think ‘Sir’ has bitten off more than she can chew this time,” scowled Mac.

There were shouts from the resting place of Zeus. “Come on, Mac,” said Cruz. “Let’s get Medea and go and prick all these guys with the dope. Lamont, you know the most about these gods except for Jerry. It sounds like Typhoeus is having some trouble with Zeus. Go and check it out. Take the dragons.”

Zeus was indeed the most powerful of the Olympians. He’d somehow managed to start a tear in the spider-web coverlet. Incandescently angry, he’d half sat up . . . to find that Typhoeus, who had once defeated and imprisoned him, was wrapping dragonish coils around him.

Prometheus seized his arms. That would have been folly for the Titan but for the monstrous strength of Typhoeus. Lamont arrived just in time to see the Titan being flung across the room. And Typhoeus slapping an enormous coil around Zeus’ chest. Typhoeus snatched the thunderbolt hand in one of his mouths.

Another set of Typhoeus’ teeth took Zeus through the nose. “Behave!” said the third head. “Mother is very cross with you.”

* * *

Liz knew that she was in dire trouble. Extremely dire trouble. Trouble that could only end in falling. Only the panniers had saved her so far. Whatever drove the tides of the Ur-Mythworld, it wasn’t the gravitational influence of the moon. That must be negligible. And the moon must be reachable here, as it was not very big. It must actually travel quite close to the earth to be seen. But, from the way things were shaping up, it didn’t travel as close to the earth as she was soon going to be.