A Deus Ex Machina of One's Own

Her Captain and Crew who fight the good fight

Prince Nyktos was bored. It hadn't always been so; once his job was a demanding one, riding his silver chariot across the sky, dragging the darkness behind him. But ever since they'd gone computerized, it only took him three out of twenty-four hours in the day to do the job. That left twenty-one hours to fill, and it was so monotonous. How long had it been since he'd visited his sister, Princess Aurelia? He'd just pop over to her place and see if she still had that mortal consort...Nyktos never could remember his name.

But just before his skimmer arrived at Aurelia's palace, Nyktos changed his mind. It was depressing to see Aurelia and what's-his-name still so happy together after all these centuries. How could she have kept a mortal around for so long and never tired of him? Nyktos always tired quickly of the mortal women he chose...it was unfortunate they were the only ones he could choose. He turned the skimmer around and floated randomly over the surface of Olympia; there were many other brothers and sisters he could visit, but none of them appealed to him. How many years had it been since his last trip to Earth? Since he couldn't remember, perhaps it was time to go and find another consort. The souls-in-resting who served him in the Palace of Night just weren't the same, somehow. They lacked the substance of mortals. He chuckled at his own pun, but the truth was Nyktos didn't mean substance in any real sense of the word. It was just that mortals were so amusing, in their busy, preoccupied little way.

Nyktos, Prince of Darkness, was perpetually twenty-five years old. He personally considered this a very good age to be, though some of his brothers and sisters had chosen to grow older. Aurelia was also a quarter of a mortal century, but for some reason she seemed to handle her life far better than Nyktos had. He sighed. There was something almost futile in being an immortal; no matter how many mistakes he made (as long as Night arrived every day at the same time, all over the globe) it didn't really make any difference in the long run. So here he was, no telling how old really (just how old the Earth was he had forgotten somewhere along the millenia) and he'd never really been in love. Well, there had been that little Egyptian girl, sometime during their Fifth Dynasty. But surely that was a long time ago, now...

As the skimmer neared the station for Earth transport, Nyktos mentally calculated the number of years since his last visit. It must be over a hundred. That would make it somewhere around 1992 or perhaps '93. He wondered what had happened during all those years. Had they finally been allowed computers? The Overseer was notoriously slow in granting the mortals Knowledge. They'd had computers on Olympia for...it must be a thousand years, now. Surely they had them on Earth by now. That would certainly mean a change in their lives -- it had changed the lives of the Olympians almost beyond recognition. There were times (many of them, actually) when Nyktos longed for the old days. Perhaps the humans did, too.

He emerged from the transport corridor somewhere near the North Pole. He didn't feel the cold, of course, but he did know a moment of annoyance -- was there something wrong with the computer, he wondered? He was certain he had given directions for somewhere around New York city. The last time he had visited Earth that city was blossoming into the industrial capital of the North East -- how much progress had it made in a hundred years? He knew there wouldn't be anyone this far north to provide entertainment, and turned the skimmer southward, preparing for faster-than-light acceleration. He should be over Canada in a few minutes, he thought.

But before shifting speed, he glanced down casually at the North Sea. Perhaps he would spot some whales -- they were his favorite of the Earth animals. He saw a large pod below him, and brought the skimmer down closer to the water.

They were beautiful -- large sperm whales, with a number of pregnant cows in the pod. Then he frowned. The next thing he saw was a whaling ship, nearing the whales. The design had changed in a hundred years, but he knew a whaler when he saw one. It looked much more sophisticated than the ones he'd seen, and therefore more able to inflict damage on the whale pod. He prepared a blast of sleep gas to drop on the ship -- the inhabitants would wake up a few hours later, and wonder how they had lost the whale pod.

Just after he released the gas, Nyktos spotted another ship. But this one wasn't a whaler -- it wasn't even large. However, it appeared to be attempting to place itself between the whaler and the pod. It flew a banner that read Rainbow Warrior, and below it a larger flag with a logo and the word Greenpeace. Nyktos wondered what it meant, and readied another blast of sleep gas just in case it was a sister-vessel to the whaler. Something told him this was a very different kind of ship, however, on a special mission. He glided close to the prow, and saw that there were women onboard as well as men. This in itself was strange; in addition the people on the ship seemed to be intent on intercepting the whaler. They were yelling and running back and forth -- someone had realized there was something wrong on the whaling ship -- his sleep gas had taken effect. Suddenly, they spotted him. With a curse, he realized he had been careless in his curiosity -- he turned the skimmer for a quick escape. They would think he was just a hallucination of the cold, he hoped.

Then, he saw her. She was standing and leaning over the railing of the ship, staring at the skimmer. His eyes met hers', and he felt a jolt go through him as if he had shifted into hyperdrive without warning. Her hair was long, the color of a flame, and the icy wind whipped it around her head in unruly tendrils that made her appear to be burning in its' center. Her face was small and white, with enormous green eyes and a small, pink mouth that was opened in amazement. In a quick arc of silvery light Nyktos swung the skimmer down to the deck, dropping another charge of sleep dust over the ship. He snatched up the girl as she slumped into unconsciousness, wondering why she was wearing pants like a man, and lifted her into the other seat of the little airborne flier. He noticed that her jacket bore the same logo...Greenpeace.

When the skimmer arrived back at Olympia, Nyktos took the girl to the suite of his palace in which had housed his consorts in the past. She would sleep for several more hours; the sleep dust didn't have any long term effect, and he could go to program his computers for the next day's nights and still be back before she awakened. He was longing to talk to her, to ask her why she was on that ship so far from civilization...why she had been wearing a man's clothes and apparently doing a man's job. Was it possible the Earth had changed so very much since his last trip? He couldn't remember it having progressed that quickly before. But for the first time, Nyktos misjudged the timing of the sleep drug. Mostly, this wasn't due to any error on his part -- the metabolism of women had also changed during that hundred years; they were more fit and took more exercise, and Nyktos' captive awakened approximately two hours before he expected her to. She looked around at the sumptuous room in which she lay, experiencing great confusion. What was she doing here, in this bedroom that looked like something out of a European castle, when she should be at her post on the Rainbow Warrior? She couldn't remember how she had come to be there, but she did have a raging headache.

She swung her legs off the bed, noticing that her jeans had marked the pink silk with grease from the ship. Who would design a bedroom like this one, she wondered -- a very rich courtesan? She staggered to the door and opened it, to be confronted by a long hallway. She turned back into the bedroom and made her way to the other side, where there were two similar doors. One led into a large wardrobe, containing a lot of expensive, antiquated clothes that appeared to come from a number of different eras. The other was a bathroom, but not one like she had ever seen before. There were no taps, and she couldn't figure out how the water would run into the bathtub or the shower. There was a toilet, but it had no water in it, either. In fact, it appeared to be a bottomless pit. She wondered, if something like a child or a cat fell into it, where would they end up? Out into the corridor again, she walked in the direction of what appeared to be a large room at one end. This turned out to be some kind of a reception room or foyer, and at a conservative estimate she figured a 747 would've been able to land in the middle without grazing the walls. The furniture was strange, and otherworldly -- like the clothes in the wardrobe it was antiquated and seemed to be from many different countries and periods; but none of it was exactly like anything she'd ever seen on earth, not even in museums. She wondered why there weren't any people in the place. Finally, she heard something that sounded like a laser printer for a computer. That would've been the last thing she expected in this mausoleum, but nothing was a surprise at this point. Room after room, corridor after corridor of empty, glittering chambers. Perhaps it was some kind of a convention center, and they were between engagements. Again, she wondered, how had she gotten there.

She followed the sound of the printer to a room different from all the rest. It was filled with state-of-the-art high-tech computer equipment, and finally she saw another person. He was sitting at a console, his back to her, watching three monitors at once and typing into a keyboard. But he seemed to match the palace more than the computer room -- he wore a uniform that looked like something out of a Star Trek episode; or maybe that should be Buck Rogers.

"Uh...hello...are you in charge here?" She asked. He whirled from the console, one black eyebrow shooting towards the equally dark hair that fell over his brow. She had to admit that he was a fine specimen of a man, as they would have said in a Regency romance novel. In fact, he was probably the best-looking man she'd ever seen. He rose from his chair, proving to be somewhat over 6' tall. He was slender, but his legs and torso were shapely. It would have been difficult to pinpoint him as to nationality; his skin was dark, but on a lighter-haired man that would have been dismissed as a good suntan. He smiled, revealing perfect, white teeth. This guy was much too good to be true, she told herself. She must have been injured and was now lying somewhere in a hospital bed, unconscious and delirious. Then again, there were no hospitals near to where the Rainbow Warrior had last been working.

"Greetings, lovely one. My name is Nyktos. And this is indeed my palace."

"Uh-huh. Well, whatever turns you on. I'm Tessa. Listen -- how did I get here?"

"All will be explained to you. But if you wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes, I have to program the computers now. It would be somewhat catastrophic for Asia if their night didn't arrive this evening."

For a moment she didn't say anything, just stared at him. Then she crossed to the chair beside his and sat. "This I've got to see," she replied. "Just what is your job, anyway?"

He resumed his chair and gazed into the console, pushing some buttons and typing on the keyboard. When he seemed satisfied with his progress, he turned to her. "I am Nyktos, Prince of Darkness. You're in my palace on Olympia. I apologize that I wasn't with you when you awakened -- usually the sleep dust lasts longer. You must have an unusually strong constitution." He slid his chair away from her, to another console. She watched him, frowning.

"Did you say 'Prince of Darkness'? Is this some kind of joke? The Prince of Darkness is one of the names of the devil, a Christian mythological figure. And you don't look anything like what they believe him to be."

"I've been told that before. You humans are quite ridiculous in your belief systems. Who else would the Prince of Darkness be but he who brings the night? It has nothing to do with religion or good and evil, I assure you."

"I'm not a Christian, so I don't believe that anyway. But I sure as Hell don't believe someone has a job bringing the night, either!"

"Then how do you think it arrives?" He was moving away again and she followed him, sliding around the bank of computers as if the chairs were skateboards.

"How would I know? It just does, because the earth revolves around the sun."

"In a way, that's true. But it's really much more complicated -- it requires all of us working nonstop. Well, it used to be pretty much nonstop; now that we've gone computerized it only takes a couple of hours. Do you know what a computer is?"

"Of course I do! I've never seen a setup like this, but I know the basics."

"So, they finally allowed you to have technology. It's about time."

"Who are 'they' -- and 'we'?"

"Well, the 'we' are my family -- my brothers and sisters. Me, Aurelia, Princess of the Dawn; oh, there are too many others to tell you all about now. Our job is to provide the winter and the summer, and spring and fall, the rain, snow, sunshine, wind...it goes on and on. The 'they' are the others -- the ones who are in charge of your lot...humans."

Tessa could feel a migraine coming on. "I see." The way she said it sounded like, 'I see you're a lunatic, and wish I was anywhere else.'

"If you will be patient just a few minutes more, I will explain everything to you."

And so they came to be sitting on a balcony of the palace, drinking cappucino and looking out over Olympia. Tessa would have liked to deny what she saw, but realized this was impossible. Olympia was quite obviously not anywhere on Earth. For one thing, the sun seemed different; closer somehow. And yet it wasn't any hotter; in fact, the air quality was far superior to earth. The land wasn't the colors of earth, either -- it was all pastels and silvery translucents, as if one could step on the ground and sink right through. She decided she didn't want to try it.

"OK, Nyktos -- so I accept your story. It only negates evreything I've believed all my life, but fine. What I want to know is, why am I here? Am I dead? I certainly don't feel any different."

"No, Tessa; you're not dead. If you were, you wouldn't be with me. I've chosen you as my consort."

She stared at him for a moment. "What did you say?" "My consort. Lover. To live here with me."

"Well, that's a nice offer. I mean, you're very good- looking and all that, and this is a beautiful place. You're obviously highly intelligent. But I'm afraid I have to decline. It has nothing to do with you personally, but I have important work to do on earth. Besides, what would people think if I just disappeared? My parents would worry about me."

"I was shocked to see a woman doing a man's work. How can your family allow you to risk your life in that fashion?"

She peered at him curiously. "Nyktos, how long has it been since you were last on earth?"

"About a hundred years, I think. Are you trying to tell me it's now considered normal for women to do things like work on a whaling ship?"

"The Rainbow Warrior isn't a whaling ship," she exclaimed indignantly. It's a Greenpeace ship -- we try to stop whalers!"

"Do you? Why?"

"Because whales are being hunted to extinction -- if you visit again in a hundred years, there won't be any left." He frowned. "Really? How did you allow yourselves to be so imprudent?"

She laughed bitterly. "Are you kidding? With all the species that are becoming endangered, we'll be lucky if there are any animals at all left soon. Ten visits from now you could come to an earth with nothing but buildings."

"I can visit as often as I like -- I'm not confined to one visit every hundred years. But I've been busy, and I forgot."

"You mean you haven't had sex in all that time?" "Of course I have! But the 'waiting souls' aren't the same as a human woman -- they seem somewhat fleshless, if you get my point."

"I'm afraid I don't. Do you mean you have sex with souls that have no bodies? How? Are they your slaves? This doesn't make me look forward to death much -- not that I was, anyway."

"They do have bodies, but they're not exactly real. I can't explain, but you'll see them around the palace sometimes. They act as my servants, but they're not slaves. They're souls who have some bad karma to work out, and can't be reborn until a suitable situation is found for them. And I only have sex with them if they want to -- just because they're incorporeal doesn't mean they don't still have human desires."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Nyktos, but you definitely nabbed the wrong woman. As I said, I have important work to do, and I choose my own sex partners."

He blinked. "You mean you've had more than one? Are you presently married?"

"No, and I never have been. I keep forgetting all the time you haven't been to visit us. Just as women do mens' jobs now, they also select their own lovers -- and marriage isn't a requirement. I haven't chosen you, and as gorgeous as you are, I don't plan on doing so."

"But I've chosen you! It won't be a problem for you, because I'll return you to earth at the exact time and location I took you from. If you stay with me for a hundred years, you won't miss any of your precious work."

"How can you do you that? Are you a Time Lord, like Dr. Who?"

"There's only one Time Lord, and that's my cousin, Chronos. But we all have the capacity for travelling in time, through the use of a machine he built for us."

"Well, thanks and all that, but the answer is still no." Nyktos frowned. "I didn't ask you if you wanted to stay with me. I've never had this problem before; I don't understand why you're being so stubborn."

Tessa shrugged. "I'm just not interested. This place is boring and creepy." She drained her cup. "In fact, I think you'd better take me back now." She stood and put her hands on her hips, looking down at him like a mother with a recalcitrant child.

"I brought you here for a purpose!"

"Your purpose -- you just want a bed partner. I have a larger purpose!"

He seemed taken aback. "Really? What's that?" "I work for Greenpeace -- surely you realized that when you took me from the ship."

"Look, I told you I haven't been to earth in awhile. I don't know what that is."

Slowly, she sunk back into her chair. "Then I'll have to tell you about it. Nyktos, as the Prince of Darkness you must have special powers -- am I correct?"

"I don't like to brag, but I do have some rather extraordinary abilities."

"Awesome, huh? Well, the earth needs those abilities right now if you're gonna have a job in a hundred years. I can't believe you people just sit up here playing with your computers, and know nothing about the fact that the earth is being destroyed."

"Destroyed! By what? Have the invaders arrived?" "What invaders?"

"The ones from another galaxy -- I know they'll be coming eventually, but I'm a little fuzzy on the dates. The last convention I went to, we had a speaker about it -- but I wasn't listening very well, I'm afraid."

"Oh, great -- invaders, huh? Well, I wish you'd listened a little better, but that's not what I'm talking about. You see, it all started with industrialization and overpopulation..."

It was over an hour later that Nyktos nodded gravely. "I see. And you think I could be of some assistance? I wonder if that might be forbidden. Of course, I don't remember ever getting any specific instructions to that effect...I'll have to check the manual."

"And if it's not specifically forbidden...you'll help?" He shrugged. "Why not? I'd like to think I'll still have this job in a hundred years, and as I told you before, I'm getting pretty bored. I guess my own purpose is out of the question? Now I understand the relations between men and women in your century, I realize it would be coercion for me to ask it of you."

Tessa grinned. "I haven't had a boyfriend in six months. My last relationship ended badly, and with the threat of AIDS it's difficult to think about romance. You're without a doubt the best-looking man I've ever seen, which makes sense since you're not even human. If you can get us back to the moment in time when you took me from the ship, I don't see why we can't do whatever we want to in the meantime."

"Really? I hope you won't be disappointed -- perhaps things have changed in a hundred years."

"You mean, maybe I could teach you a few things? I'd be happy to, my lord Prince." She rose and held out her hand, smiling down at him.

"I have just one question...what is AIDS?"

***

The skimmer arrived back at the Rainbow Warrior at precisely the moment when the sleep drug was wearing off, and Tessa's crew mates were waking up without remembering having been put to sleep. Tessa admired his equipment and skill. This time, however, the skimmer landed on the deck of the ship within sight of the crew, and Tessa and Nyktos emerged. All the people onboard saw, however, was Nyktos get out of the skimmer and embrace Tessa -- they didn't realize she had ever been gone.

"My darling Nyktos!" She greeted him loudly, for the benefit of her colleagues. "You've come to assist us, as you promised. My friends," she turned to the cluster of men and women who were now staring, dumbfounded, at Nyktos and the silver skimmer, "this is my dearest Nyktos -- a very wealthy and influential man in his home country. He has come to assist us in our battle."

The group drew closer, and one separated from the group to come forward. "Greetings, Nyktos," he said, glancing uncertainly at the skimmer. Tessa had insisted Nyktos dress in black jeans and a turtleneck sweater, which were provided for him by some kind of a computer at the earth-shuttle base. "I'm Charles Barton, the Captain of the Rainbow Warrior. Do you have a last name?"

Tessa knew a moment of panic -- what was his last name, anyway? But Nyktos held out a hand to Charles and replied smoothly, "Nyktos Jovian."

"Glad to meet you. Unusual name -- what nationality is that? I mean, what's the country where you're so important?"

"Tessa exaggerates somewhat -- I provide service to my government in whatever humble way I can. That's Argentina, by the way, but Nyktos is Greek and Jovian is Italian. My parents were in the diplomatic corp, and travelled extensively. I was born in Argentina, and there I remained. Well, most of the time."

Before Charles could ask Nyktos any questions about the skimmer, a man came running down the deck, slipping on the wet boards. "Captain! Come now -- they've spotted a pod -- they're moving in!"

"Stations -- everyone to their stations! Let's see if we can cut the bastards off."

"Wait." Nyktos put his hand on Charles' sleeve. "I can turn them back."

"What -- by yourself? You must be mad, man -- you've never seen a whaler in full thrust. They'll ram right through us if they can."

"Get your men into position, but give me a few minutes. I assure you I'll drive them off -- and they won't be back this way for sometime. In fact, they probably won't sleep for months, and if they do they'll endure nightmares of me." Charles glanced at the skimmer. "Does it have anything to do with your unusual vehicle?"

"It has something to do with it, but I have my own powers. Fifteen minutes, that's all I ask."

"All right; but we'll be ready to move in if you can't do it. And be careful -- they don't have anything in their minds but getting a whale today, and they wouldn't mind killing you in order to get it."

"I assure you they won't be able to do that." Nyktos turned and walked back to the skimmer. He lifted the glass dome and slid inside, the dome resealing around him. As the skimmer lifted off from the deck with no visible starting of an engine or noise of one, Charles turned to Tessa.

"An unusual man, your friend."

"You have no idea, captain."

"How could he have found us this far up? And how could that little ship fly so far without refueling?"

"I don't know, and he won't tell you. But believe me when I say he's the answer to a prayer."

Nyktos couldn't remember when he had been so excited about anything. Part of it was Tessa -- he finally understood what Aurelia had tried to explain for so long. There was a feeling inside him, a realization that he would do anything to please this woman, to make her proud of him. This must be what love was. But that was only part -- the rest had to do with the sheer exhilaration of being a member of this enterprise that was so important. Perhaps there were other things he could do to help these people, the people he served and brought the night to. If they succeeded in destroying their world, what would be left for him and his siblings? It would be a terrible waste, and Nyktos wondered why nobody had noticed before. They were like him, absorbed in their own little part of the grand pattern -- they had missed the fact that the very fabric of the pattern was deteriorating.

The skimmer glided effortlessly over the icy sea, approaching the whaling ship from behind, where none of the crew would spot him too soon. He swept around the bow and burst over the deck right in their faces, enhancing the aura around him with a burst of silvery light. What they saw was a huge, glowing globe that landed on the deck beside their equipment. "Captain," one of the men yelled, "There's -- something -- on the deck! I think it must be a ufo!" The captain and several more men came running from where they were watching the whale pod for movement. "Are you drunk, Johnson?" The man called back. "We're ready to move in -- you're gonna give those crazy Greenpeacers the chance to cut us off!" He stopped, open-mouthed, as the bubble of the skimmer opened and Nyktos stepped out. Just as with the vehicle, what he saw wasn't exactly the reality of the Prince of Darkness -- which would have been intimidating in itself.

Nyktos voice boomed out as though through a megaphone. "Desist, earthlings! The heavenly host has seen your sins and sends me as a warning -- kill no more of the Allmighty's creatures, or suffer the punishment of the damned!" Nyktos searched his memory for the religious myths of these people. He thought he was doing a pretty good job, but was prepared to back himself up.

The men cowered together in a clump. What they saw was exactly what they would have expected from an angel -- he seemed to be fashioned of light and power, and taller than any man. The captain was of sterner stuff, however. Though he didn't approach Nyktos, he stood firmly in his place on the deck. "Is this some kind of a trick by those crazy environmentalists? You're not gonna scare us away -- it cost a fortune to get this far, and we're not going back without one o' them whales. Murphy," he addressed one of the crew, "Get my gun from the cabin. We'll see what this guy is really made of."

Murphy didn't move, but Nyktos swung one arm in an arc towards the captain. A burst of light came from the end of one finger and landed in what appeared to be an explosion on the deck -- a few feet from where the captain was standing. "You try my patience, human! The next blast will be for you -- come about and leave this place, and never return!"

The captain stumbled backwards, waving his arms in front of him as if he could make Nyktos disappear. "Come about! We've been attacked by aliens -- get this thing southbound!" "One more order, lowly spawn of a syphilitic leper-whore!" Nyktos was proud of his memory of these peoples' terms, "Nevermore will you hunt the giant white beasts -- they are beloved of the heavenly host. Your days as a whaling captain are over. Any man of this crew who dares to hunt the beasts again will contend with me!"

There was a muttering amongst the crew, and the captain was paler than the grimy white scarf he wore around his throat. But their glances slid surreptitiously towards the scorched area of the deck. None of them wanted Nyktos' beam aimed at them. As the ship swung round, Nyktos turned and walked back to the skimmer. Sliding inside, he lowered the dome slowly and rose into the sky, circling the ship once as if to underscore his words, and sailed back to where the Rainbow Warrior was waiting.

The entire crew was assembled on the deck, waving him in to land. Nyktos was filled with a warm glow he couldn't remember feeling before...perhaps long ago, in his childhood on Olympia, when the earth had been very young. Before man, before the animals...had it really been so long? Now he wanted to keep that glow with him.

Tessa came running towards the skimmer as it landed, and threw her arms around Nyktos. "The captain says you were magnificent! He watched you through the telescope, but I couldn't see -- do it for us!"

"Later, angel," he whispered in her ear. "I'm afraid displays like that one are somewhat draining. I'm off home to rest. And I have a lot of work to do there; people to recruit in your cause. But I'll be back tomorrow."

"I'm going with you. We can rendezvous with the ship -- I'll get their position for the same time tomorrow, then you'll be able to do your computer work before we come. And I can do some of the recruiting of your people. After all, I'm the one who knows what's going on."

"You mean, you're coming back with me to Olympia?" Nyktos felt a surge of joy go through him, so violent it nearly knocked him over. "But you said..."

"I said I had important work to do here. I never said I wouldn't be with you. Just try to get rid of me now, prince...your kidnapping days are over."

He grinned, hugging her tightly.