Chapter 5

Everything was falling into place now. Then she had a moment of disambiguation. Where she was heading the bus was not where she wanted to go, but where her father had spent the last 16 years of her life, planning for her to go.

She had hopped, skipped and jumped around those caves and vaults for more than 16 years while he kept growing further away from reality. She could now understand what she could not before. He had ‘seduced’ her. Not sexually or even physically in any way. He held out a vision of power and glory though, that over so many years made her think that what she was poised to do was what he would have done were he still alive.

She was 22, her brother Karl 27. Even at an early age he recognized it was not his son that would be the standard-bearer for his dream, no, it would be the six year-old girl. Erika would be raised to better understand the destiny he planned, that others had been planned for. Even Hiro did, could not understand how his vision, his dream, their dream might change the world.

She now, almost 20 years after her journey to Hell had begun, could she see the true nature of that dream. He was trying to resurrect the past. Hiro was trying to do what those before him had tried and failed; as if technology and superior weapons could surpass sheer weight of numbers. In that moment of clarity an old adage overcame her.

Was not the very definition of insanity, doing the same thing that had led to failure before but expecting different results, that was what he was doing, they were doing. He had taken Kaga and Odessa’s money and woven their dreams with his. She could see that now. In more than 60 years he had raised 50,000 of the finest men and women and began to equip them to fight a war that had been lost long before. Now he wanted what she had, what she knew, what she had found in those deep dark places while her father planned his dream for her. He had said in 10 years his ‘army’ could grow to 500,000 and with what she was doing, be un-stoppable.

Now her new, possible allies, could each field a million troops today and still ready more, many more. They saw, and rightly so, that just like using ‘the bomb’ once deployed, they now became the very thing they did not want. They would become the target of everyone else and eventually be exterminated. It had happened before for time immemorial. The strong defeated by sheer numbers of the weak.

In nature this became evident also. One fire ant itself is crushed in an instant without any effort. Brought together by a cause, like a new home, 100 million or more become a swarm nothing can stop. A killer whale or shark are overcome by a vast school of peaceful and simple fish to the point they can do nothing to feed their aggression. So it would be here.

Erika knew that her purpose, the real purpose for what she wanted to do was not to gain power, prestige or personal glory, nor was it to foster the long forgotten and flawed dreams of others. It was to survive. Survive what she thought of as ‘Armageddon’.

Death and destruction on a global scale. Not what religions had threatened for millennia, but the culmination of the clash between man and nature.

She knew in her heart and deep inside her very soul that she did not have any way to stop it. What her hope was that what she was doing would treat the symptoms at best but not be the cure. That magic was beyond her thinking.

She was in a quandary now. Too much, too soon versus too little, too late; both would bring about failure of her plans. Given what she had seen in the caves, any remedy would not come from her, or children or even the children’s children. A dynasty would be required. That 1,000 years, foolishly predicted as a golden age would hardly be enough time to prepare some kind of response. Even then, she would not be around to see it worked.

Yes, that event at home would be very interesting and not for the reasons that might be thought. This entire endeavor could end up in smoke. Others might better judge if she was as crazy as her father for taking this course of action. Even if all she told them was the why, it would be difficult for anyone to fathom. She would not mention what she saw in the caves or even what else was there. Something’s are for the gods to ponder, not mere men.

Erika reached over, took Marta’s hand and tried to gain some sleep. The tears falling from her eyes made that difficult. Her never to be spoken thought came upon her once again; “What if...”