The Dance of Time

Aide seemed to take a deep breath himself. This is dangerous, what they're doing.

The Great One nearest the asteroid seemed to brush its surface. Scrape along it, rather, for almost a quarter of its diameter. As the Great One passed back into space, a gout of blazing material followed. Molten and half-vaporized weaponry, Belisarius realized.

Not to mention quite a few new gods. What's left of them, which isn't much. The emotion behind that thought was more savage than any Belisarius could ever remember, coming from Aide.

I really hate those creatures.

Another Great One struck the surface. Then another, and another. With each grazing blow, more and more of the asteroid's surface was being peeled away.

Another Great One came. A truly huge one. The same ancient female that had spoken to Belisarius. Somehow, he recognized her.

THAT'S BECAUSE I'M THE PRETTIEST, he heard her mocking voice. USED TO BE, ANYWAY,HALF A MILLION YEARS AGO.

Belisarius became tense. The ancient one's strike was...

No grazing strike, this. A great wound was torn in the asteroid. Belisarius could sense the gargantuan being reeling from the blow itself.

Herself.

Not only the blow, but the weapons fire that had been concentrated on her. She was shedding substance, as she moved off. Like a giant golden angel, spilling her shining blood.

ENOUGH, I THINK, he heard her say. AM I RIGHT?

The voices of several Great Ones answered.

YES.

THAT WHOLE HEMISPHERE IS NOW DEFENSELESS.

CAN YOU—?

The tone of voice, answering, seemed a mixture of pain held under control and harsh amusement.

I'LL MANAGE. IT'LL ONLY TAKE A FEW YEARS, ANYWAY. BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO GUIDE ME, SISTERS AND BROTHERS. I'M BLIND NOW.

She moved off, very rapidly, until she disappeared. Four of the other Great Ones sped off to join her.

After what seemed only seconds, Belisarius could see them returning. Just tiny points of light, at first.

It took—will take—the tenses don't work right—a lot longer than that. A number of years. But not enough for the new gods to rebuild their defenses.

As the Great Ones neared, Belisarius could see what appeared to be a lattice of light binding the five together.

Think of it as the others holding her hands. Keeping her straight.

They were moving very fast. Belisarius could sense it.

By now, she is at 97% of light speed. And she was already very massive.

* * *

Finally, Belisarius understood.

A last thought came to him, from the ancient Great One. Still with that tone of harsh amusement.

SO, GRANDFATHER. DID YOU REALLY THINK WE HAD FORGOTTEN THERMOPYLAE?

Her companions veered aside. Alone, now, the ancient Great One struck the asteroid.

No grazing strike, this; not even a wounding strike. She plunged into the core of the asteroid, in a blow as straight and true and fatal as a sword through the heart.

The asteroid simply... vaporized. There was nothing left but a great, glowing, spreading cloud of plasma and dust.

I hated the new gods, Aide said. But I almost wish...

There are no new gods, Belisarius answered coldly. There never were. And now there is only the memory of demons.

Goodbye, grand-daughter. If I ever meet the ghosts of Leonidas and his Spartans, I will tell them that their blood-line ran true.

* * *

He was back in the square at Kausambi, staring up at the sky. It was quite cloudless.

I'm glad. I never much liked clouds. Too messy.

Belisarius couldn't stop himself from barking a laugh.

Look, I'm a crystal, Aide said, a bit defensively. We're just naturally more fussy house-keepers than you protoplasmic slobs.

Tears welled into his ears. Oh, dear God, I will miss you.