Chapter 9

They had reached the place of the new gods by midday of the fifth day. The Tribe was exhausted, especially the old ones and the little children. It was rare for them to march for days on end like this, but the Mother had been adamant. She must meet the new gods as soon as possible. Prometheus gave her a sideways glance. She no longer seemed like Pandora at all. Her face was set like stone and she looked determinedly ahead. If she was weary she showed no sign. She was the Goddess.

He looked down at the fennel stalk he was cradling in his bosom. The sacred fire still glowed within.

Ahead he could see the gods standing at the top of the cliff looking down at them. It was hard to see them properly as the sun was behind them, but he had the impression they were no taller than the people of the Tribe. He had expected them to be giants.

The path narrowed and Pandora went ahead, walking proudly in the full regalia of the Mother. For the first time it occurred to Prometheus that she must be very hot walking all that way in such heavy apparel.

They came out onto the great plateau and the Mother walked forward to greet the newcomers. Prometheus and the others fanned out behind her.

Then something utterly unexpected happened. The Mother stopped dead and reeled slightly, as if she had walked straight into an invisible wall. For a moment the whole world was still. The Tribe halted behind the Mother. Standing only a little way in front, the new gods stood and watched them and said nothing.

Slowly the Mother began to move to one side, feeling for something with her outstretched hands, for all the world as if she were feeling her way against a solid rock face. Prometheus dropped back, still nursing the fire, as others stepped forward and joined the Mother in feeling their way along the invisible barrier. He had a bad feeling about this. The new gods did not seem pleased to see them. Nor did they seem to be in awe of the Mother. He had the distinct impression that they were treating her with contempt. He drew off to the side, where a broad ledge led round to a cave in the cliff face. He beckoned to the women and children to follow him.

He had got most of them to shelter and had carefully set the fire in a hollow when he heard cries of anger coming from the place of the gods. Leaving Rena with the kindling and a strict admonition to watch the fire, he hurried back the way he had come. Then he froze in utter horror.

Atlas and his cronies were throwing great boulders at the gods! The boulders came up against the invisible barrier and bounced off, hitting members of the Tribe, who cowered in terror, trying to hide behind rocks.

Then the unthinkable happened. The gods, who up to now had only stood and watched, suddenly hurled an enormous thunderbolt which flashed with bright white light and made a monstrous noise. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that it had struck something, but his attention was held by Atlas and his cronies who scattered and began to run away back down the mountain in a confusion of men and dogs, leaping over their comrades and knocking down any who stood in their way. Prometheus ran back along the ledge out of the way and then began to climb the cliff face to try to get a better view of what was happening.

~*~

Well, whatever had happened to Hephaestus, the shot had certainly achieved its initial objective. The primitives were running back down the mountain as fast as they could go, tripping over each other in their haste to get away. Some fell and went rolling down slopes and crags. Athena stood with the back of her hand pressed against her mouth.

Aphrodite had, however, lost all interest in the primitives and set up a constant wailing for Hephaestus. Zeus, too, seemed oblivious to the fate of the wild men and strode forward giving orders for the crew to man the pods and search for their missing comrade.

Athena rushed forward. "Not you," he said, thrusting her back. "You wait over there out of the way." He indicated the far side of the plateau, behind the new civic building. "And you," he said to Hestia, who had had no intention of going anywhere anyway. "And you." This to Demeter, who looked vaguely surprised. "You're not leaving the camp in your condition."

Demeter's hand flew instinctively to her stomach and a faint blush stained her cheek.

The rest of the crew climbed into pods and within minutes the tiny vessels had taken to the air and were scouting the hillside above where Hephaestus had fallen.

The three who were left behind looked at each other.

"What did he mean, in your condition?" Athena demanded.

Demeter smiled. "I'm pregnant," she said, and when Athena looked baffled. "I'm going to have a baby." Athena continued to look baffled. "I'm doing it the old-fashioned way."

"What! You mean the Lilli thing?"

For a moment Demeter looked puzzled. Then she laughed out loud. "No, Darling. She was conceived in the usual way, in a petri dish. It's just I decided to nurture her myself rather than do it in an incubator. Since I was only going to be allowed one child, I wanted to experience the whole thing." She paused and looked up pensively. "Of course, it might not matter anymore."

Athena was still struggling with the idea of having something growing inside you, torn between repulsion and fascination. It was only later that she wondered what Demeter had meant.

"Come on," said Hestia. "There's a lovely little spring just the other side of the shield. Let's sit there and have a drink while we wait for them to come back."