“Why me?” she asked Thoth at length.

“Why you what?”

“Why have you taken such an interest in me? Me, of all the females you’ve encountered ... of all the ones you could have ...”

“I was drawn to you by your intellect. And by your hurt. I sensed your inner turmoil and felt that you could truly benefit from the inner peace I could bring you.”

“And you were right.” She smiled and ran her hand along the strong angle of his chin. “You were so right. I feel as if I could—”

And suddenly Thoth pitched backward, grasping at his forehead. Soleta immediately sat up, consternation evident. “Thoth? What’s wrong? What—?”

He fell forward, gasping, clutching at his chest.

“What’s wrong?”she repeated, even more alarmed than before.

“I ... I don’t know. My head ... feels like ...” Suddenly he gripped her by the shoulders. “Love me.”

“What?” She tried to smile, although it wasn’t easy considering his agitated state. “In the mood again already? If you—”

“Love me! Believe in me! Do you?”

“You know I do!” Soleta was completely confused. “How could you not ... ?”

“I can’t feel it! I can’t feel you. It’s ... it’s as if I’m blind ... I—”

And suddenly there were flashes of light from all around them. One by one, then by the dozens, the Beings were springing into existence, all babbling in similar agitation to one another. Soleta quickly tugged on her clothes, but Thoth was wandering around, naked, looking like a flummoxed Greek statue, despite the fact that he was Egyptian.

The voice of Artemis cut above the rest of them. “You feel it? You all feel it?!” There were nods, confused babbles of assent.

“Feel what?” Soleta asked Thoth. “I don’t feel anything. Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s ...”

“Everything’s changed! How can you not feel it!” His temper flared and he grabbed Soleta and shook her fiercely. “How is this happening? How is this—”

“Stop it!”Soleta effortlessly yanked her arms out of his grasp. The move sent him off balance, and she came forward quickly and shoved him hard. Thoth stumbled back, and although he righted himself just in time to avoid falling over completely, he still gaped at Soleta as if seeing her for the first time.

Soleta blinked several times, and was then filled with mortification. “I’m ... I’m so sorry, Thoth. I’ve no idea what came over me ... I ...”

“Maybe she has had something to do with it,” Anubis said, pointing an angry finger at her. “Perhaps her dalliance with you, Thoth, has simply been a means of putting you off guard.”

“Don’t be an ass, Loki.”

“Anubis. I prefer Anubis—”

“And I prefer that you go straight to Hades!” shouted Artemis. Nearby her, Tyr the swordsman and Hermes the messenger were nodding in agreement.

“This is no time to turn against each other,” began Thoth.

“What’s happening?” Soleta interrupted. “Tell me what’s happening. Perhaps I can—”

Suddenly the combadge on Soleta’s uniform beeped at her. She looked confused, as if she’d forgotten it was there, or what it was for. She tapped it and said tentatively, “Yes?”

“Lieutenant, this is Captain Calhoun,” came the familiar voice. He sounded quite calm, even a bit amused. “Are any of your godly friends nearby?”

“We are all here!” shouted Artemis. “Calhoun, are you responsible—”

“For the weakness you’re no doubt feeling at the moment? Yes. Yes, I am. Or more correctly, we are.”

“You mortal bastard!”bellowed Anubis. “How dare you! Do you have any idea of the forces you’re unleashing? The retribution you’re bringing upon yourselves?”

“I have a fairly clear idea.” Calhoun’s voice crackled over the combadge. “You, however, have no idea at all. And unless you and your associates clear off Danter ... clear out of this sector of space, in fact ... and take your mind-sapping ambrosia with you ... then this mortal bastard and his wife, the mortal bitch, are going to kick your pseudo-Egyptian-Greco-Roman-Norse-Mesopotamian asses. Not only that, but we’ll tell every other existing race how to dispose of you as well, using the exact same techniques we’re using now.”

“And unless you, Captain, cease whatever you’re doing immediately,” and suddenly Artemis’ bow was unslung and an arrow was nocked and aimed straight at Soleta, “then your little pointy-eared lieutenant dies.”

Soleta gaped, staring at pointed death from less than ten feet away.

“No,” Thoth said sharply. “She’s an innocent in all this. Put it away, Artemis.”

“Stand aside, Thoth!”

“Put it away!”

Thoth stretched out his hand, and energy leaped through the air, enveloping Artemis. She staggered, swung her bow around, and the arrow flew off course ...

... and thudded straight into Thoth’s chest.

Thoth staggered, looking down at the shaft protruding from him, even as Soleta let out an alarmed shriek. He sagged to his knees.

“Thoth!” cried out Artemis, and she ran toward him. “Thoth, I’m sorry ... I ... I didn’t mean ...”

Soleta started toward Thoth, but he held up a hand and shouted “Stay away!” even as he gripped the arrow firmly. He gritted his teeth and then let out a howl of pain as he ripped the arrow from his torso. Soleta saw something glowing from within the hole, some sort of energy that appeared to be seeping out of him.

“You ... you have to be all right,” she said desperately. “You can’t die. ...”

“Oh ... we can,” Thoth said, his voice rattling. “If ... if we suddenly find ourselves bereft of energy ... if our own weapons are turned against us ... we can die quite well ...”

“Thoth ... !”

“Get away from him!” shouted Artemis, and she shoved Soleta furiously aside as she knelt down next to Thoth. “Thoth ... this ... this can be fixed ...”

“Can this, I wonder?” said Thoth, and the hand that was still holding the arrow jammed it upward into the pit of Artemis’ stomach.

Artemis screamed, a scream heard from one end of Danter to the other, and Thoth, his face a mask of fury, ripped the arrow upward through her body in a move that would have disemboweled anyone else.

But it was not internal organs that spilled from Artemis, at least nothing like any that Soleta had ever seen. Instead it was almost like solid light, twisting and turning from her, and Artemis shrieked and cried out and pounded upon Thoth, and howled at him in tongues that had not been spoken since the dawn of man.

“Artemis ... my sweet,” Thoth managed to say, his voice choking, “I remain a god of truth ... and I believe the truth is ... that we have overstayed our welcome ...”

Then the very air seemed to crackle, and Soleta fell back as a burst of light and heat blasted her, sending her sprawling flat ten feet away. She gasped, then scrambled to her feet, and she saw the two gods fading, fading ...

... and gone.

The rest of the Beings stood there for a long moment, more stunned than she would ever have thought possible.

“Loki ... wha ... what do we do now?” said Tyr.

And Anubis looked heavenward and growled, “We get the bastards who did this. We destroy them, restore the balance to this world, and annihilate any else who come. We build our reputation as gods of destruction! They will fear us and bow down to us!”

“What about this one?” asked Hermes, indicating Soleta.

“Forget her. She’s meaningless. Only Calhoun matters. Calhoun and Shelby and their minions,”roared Anubis, “will know the fury of the gods unleashed!”

And then, from over Soleta’s still active com link, came Calhoun’s mocking voice:

“I can’t wait.”

EXCALIBUR

I.

MARK MCHENRY, standing in the sickbay and looking down at his own unmoving body, suddenly staggered and clutched at his chest. He felt as if something had suddenly been yanked away from him, and he had no clue what it was.