Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 15:05:45 MDT From: Robyn Meta Herrington Subject: SUB:CONTEST: The Garden of Eden They submissions keep rolling in. Critiques to ME rmherrin@acs.ucalgary.ca Robyn ====================================================================== The Garden of Eden He glanced at the instrument display with only a token interest, born more of habit than necessity, then glanced away to the blue planet spinning above the window. The ship was nearly as intelligent as her pilot and perfectly capable of landing without his interference. His frown deepened as he watched the planet and for a moment a trace of sadness, quickly replaced by anger, passed across his face as he saw the blinding white flashes flickering across the countryside leaving death and destruction in their wake. He glanced at the computer and nodded. A bubble of force immediately surrounded the ship as it entered the atmosphere, protecting the single occupant from the heat of entry and more importantly, protecting the ship from the probing radars on the ground. To all intents and purposes the ship was now invisible. No further instructions were necessary. His landing site had already been chosen as he streaked towards the south pole. The ship landed without a perceptible bump then the eternal snows of Antarctica began to melt beneath the ship as it sank to ground level far beneath the ice cap. The computer shut down the engines and the pilot sat down to work in front of his view screen. Time was now of the essence. *** Silently Her Majesty's submarine `Stalker' closed on the Chinese vessel. Her tubes were loaded and the other vessel was doomed from the moment the computers locked on to her position. Lieutenant Walker watched the plot with growing anxiety. The Chinese vessel was the last ship in the enemy's fleet just as his own was the last serviceable ship in the allied fleet. Only one would sail away from the battle and then only if luck was on her side. He was so engrossed he never saw the entity as it walked through the pressure hull without disturbing a single atom of the high tensile steel. He only became aware of its presence when it spoke to him. `Come.' The hairs on the lieutenant's neck rose as he turned and saw the being standing behind him in the control room. He licked suddenly dry lips and glanced around the busy nerve centre of the ship but no-one else seemed to be even aware of its presence. Then it reached out its hand and took his. `Come.' Like a small child the lieutenant walked slowly beside the being right through the pressure hull into a thousand feet of water. *** The crew of the Chinese vessel were as yet unaware of the other vessel closing fast in a determined attack. People's Staff Officer Kim Loe went about her duties without knowing she had twenty seconds to live. But twenty seconds was more than enough for the entity as it walked into her cabin. She turned slowly and saw it. For an instant she tried to scream then a wonderful calmness came over her. `Come.' Child-like, she took its hand and like the British lieutenant walked through the hull and out of the submarine into the depths of the south Atlantic ocean. Behind her the submarine suddenly ceased to exist in a blinding detonation of nuclear might. *** Beneath the force-field all was serene but above the bubble the dark gathering clouds of an atomic winter that would destroy all life on the planet raged. The garden was beautiful but Lieutenant Walker, late of the British Navy, and Kim Loe, Peoples Staff Officer, were not aware of the beauty. Nor were they aware they were naked. They could not remember even their names or how they got there. They were there and that was all they knew or wanted to know as the days passed into weeks and the weeks into months and still they were not aware of the entity that protected them. Loe became aware of his presence first. Her eyes widened with fear as she nudged the man. Walker froze then dropped to the ground in superstitious awe as the glowing being stood before him. Taking her cue from her companion she fell to the ground beside him and with more bravado than the man cautiously glanced up at the entity. `Who am I?' it asked softly so as not to alarm the man. The man hesitated then raised his head a fraction. `You are God.' Was there a flicker of displeasure on the glowing being's face? For an instant Loe thought so then dismissed the thought as the being began to address them. `All the fruits of the garden are yours. And all the animals in the garden are yours too. To feed you and clothe you I have made these provisions. But of the tree in the centre of the garden you may NOT taste. This tree is mine alone. If you should taste of its fruit you would know all I have done and this I do not want just yet.' And the woman that had been Loe glanced up at the being and for a moment their eyes met and he knew immediately what thoughts were going through her mind, what she was planning to do. As he had always known. Then the thought struck him. Of all the great religions in the world not one had ever granted him a sense of humour and all through the millennia that had annoyed him. Leaving them prostrate he strode off to the centre of the garden with a smile on his face as he remembered the date and the name of the day that would have been. This time the apple from the tree of life would have a massive dose of laxative in it. After all it would soon be Halloween. Trick or Treat. His smile broadened. Let's see how she would explain that to the new Adam! *** -- -------+++++++-------+++++++ +++++++-------+++++++------- Robyn Herrington Operations Manager, Microforms Services University of Calgary, MacKimmie Library Ph: (403)220-6903 http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rmherrin rmherrin@acs.ucalgary.ca -------+++++++-------+++++++--------------+++++++-------+++++++-------