The Anunnaki Bk. 02

As they got closer to the glass doors he was reminded of watching people milling around at a large indoor shopping complex. Beyond the doors he saw kiosks displaying items of food, clothing, household goods and innumerable other items. The rows of outlets went off in three directions and seemed to stretch on forever.

His sense of the mundane hit him and he slowed to a stop as he stared.

'Great,' Max thought to himself with a sigh, 'I've traveled a hundred and forty million miles to get to the West Edmonton Mall!'

-*-

After a brief pause to wait for Max to catch up, Ëa led him through the concourse but only for a short distance. They turned toward an elevator bank and went up to the fortieth floor.

"Your new home is on this floor," Ëa said, the first he'd spoken since they walked off the shuttle.

"No," Max said nervously, "I don't think so."

Ëa turned to face him with a quizzical look.

"I really don't like heights," Max said sheepishly.

"Max," Ëa said with surprise, "We've just descended from an orbit of over two hundred miles. This level is only about two hundred yards off the ground."

Max shook his head and backed up against the wall of the corridor. His eyes were wide and his breathing became shallow and labored.

"This really bothers you doesn't it," Ëa said gently.

Max nodded vehemently and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Very well," Ëa said with a smile, "We'll find you something on the first floor. Would you like to see the view before we go back down?"

"No," Max said quickly.

Ëa nodded and led the way back into the elevator. They got off at the fifth floor and turned to their right. They walked for a very long time; Max estimated it was about a mile or so before they stopped at a large reception area.

As they approached a large desk similar to any office reception room on Earth a young twentyish woman with blond hair and wearing a silky toga with bright red embroidery jumped up from behind it. She rushed around the end of the counter and smothered Ëa with a bear-crushing hug.

"Ëa!" she squealed like an excited teenager.

"Monica," Ëa said as he embraced her and lifted her off her feet. He spun her around and she continued to squeal with delight.

When he placed her on her feet again she pressed her lips to his. Max watched with a raised eyebrow as their kiss went on for almost a half a minute.

"Now my child," Ëa said as he gazed into her eyes, "Please summon Norton. We have a new guest."

She released her grip on him and stepped away breathlessly.

"Only if you promise to visit me tonight," she said suggestively.

"I wouldn't miss it," he said with a grin that told Max a great deal about their relationship.

She giggled playfully and returned to her place behind the counter. She put a call through on a standard office telephone speaking quietly into the receiver. She placed it back in the cradle and looked up at Ëa with a smile. She never once looked in Max's direction.

"He'll be right out," she said with a flirty grin.

Ëa grinned at her once more and then turned to Max.

"You'll like Norton," he said, "I think you two have a lot in common."

After less than a minute a man wearing a richly embroidered toga, sandals and a cloak made of red velvet came out and greeted Ëa warmly. He looked to be in his mid-thirties

"My dear friend!" he said excitedly, "How good it is to see you."

"My friend Norton," Ëa said as he extended his hand Human style, "It's wonderful to see you too."

The two shook hands like old friends and then Ëa turned and gestured to Max.

"Please allow me to introduce you to my particular friend Max," Ëa said.

"Hello Max," Norton said with a salesman's grin, "Welcome to the Cydonia Habitat."

"Cydonia," Max said.

"Yes," Norton said, "We stole the name from NASA. I'm sure they won't mind."

"They'd have to find out first," Max said.

Norton laughed uproariously and nudged Ëa in the ribs.

"I see you've brought a joker," he said.

"I think you'll find that Max can be quite funny," Ëa said with a wry grin.

"I'm sure that's true if this intro is anything to go by," Norton said with a laugh, "Now, what brings you here today?"

"Max needs a place," Ëa said, "So I told him he'll be in this wing."

Norton's grin slipped momentarily but was back in place in a heartbeat. Max cocked his head to one side as he heard the thought that leapt unbidden into the man's mind.

'What the hell are you thinking?' he thought, 'This area is for VIP's. This guy looks like a parking lot attendant!'

"Monica," Norton said calmly and without skipping a beat, "Please look up what our arrangements are for Max today."

The blond girl smiled with a slightly raised eyebrow and began to search the computer on her desk.

'There goes the neighborhood,' she thought in a sing-song voice as she typed.

"Yes," she said officiously but with her bright smile still in place, "We have Max Copeland assigned to the condo habitat on the fortieth floor."

"Well," Norton said with barely disguised relief, "That's taken care of. He's got one of the finest condo units available."

"As I said," Ëa pressed gently, "Max is my particular friend and I've decided that he'll be given a dwelling here."

"Well," Norton said, his agitation still suppressed but not hidden, "As you know, there's a long waiting list for the units in this wing. They're typically reserved for families. They're so big you know."

Ëa smiled humorlessly.

"You don't have a family Norton, just a wife" Ëa said, "Unless things have changed radically since I was here last."

"Well, no," Norton stammered, "I don't but I have to manage all the Human habitats here."

"If I'm not mistaken," Ëa said with a wide smile, "Monica does most of the work for you, but I'm not here to debate. I've decided that Max will get one of the dwellings in this wing. Please make the arrangements."

"Well of course!" Norton said with his best fake smile in place, "I'm sure he'll love it here."

Max tuned out most of Norton's thoughts for the next forty minutes as they assigned him a place that looked out on the Cydonia plain.

Even though he noticed it on the descent aboard the shuttle, he didn't get a chance to pay much attention to the enormous stone pyramid complex on the eastern edge in the lee of the mountain range. Now he could study it at leisure from his breakfast nook on the second floor where they now sat to go through all the documentation.

"I'm surprised there's so much paperwork for this," Max said, looking at the reams and reams of forms spread across the table, "I've never known the Dingir to use anything but tablets."

Norton looked up from the paper he was working on with a testy expression.

"They leave managing the habitats to me," he said briskly, "I prefer to use methods that are, um, familiar to us Earth people."

Monica poked her head in through the front door to inform Norton that the Director of the condo habitat was waiting for him in his office.

'Let the corridor rat wait!' Norton thought impatiently.

"Tell him I'll be there in about ten minutes," he said out loud with his salesman's grin, "I have one or two more things to go over with Max here first."

'Trailer trash,' Monica thought to herself as she smiled at him.

She walked out the door and was gone.

Max looked at Ëa who stood close by with his consummate grin. He didn't say anything but Max knew he'd heard the same thoughts as he.

-*-

After a few hours Max began to feel hungry. He'd already checked his cupboards and found them bare. He needed to get some food and now was the time to figure out how to do that.

He walked out his front door, which gave out into one of the sterile looking corridors that permeated the habitat. He turned toward the reception area where Ëa had introduced him to Norton.

He approached the reception desk but no one was there. He frowned and looked around and then heard some stifled sounds. He stepped behind the desk and the sounds became more clear. They were the sounds of physical exertion. He stepped toward a plain looking office door and listened outside. The muffled sounds of people having sex came from within. After a few moments they called each other's names out in the throes of passion and now Max knew where to find Monica and Norton.

He considered knocking on the door and then decided not to. He then considered just walking in on them. After the very uncharitable thoughts they'd both had about him, it would serve them right, but Ëa had told him that people can't control what they think. Even when they think very nasty things, it may just be a stress reliever.

He shrugged and meandered out of the reception area and toward the condo habitat.

He became aware of a sound. It seemed to be a sibilant buzz that hovered just at the edge of hearing. He came to a door fitted with a standard fire door type push bar across the middle. He pushed against it and his eyes went wide at the sea of humanity spread out in front of him.

He stepped through the door and found himself on a wide balustrade that looked down over a large food court. There were kiosks serving foods of various types. There were signs written in English, German and maybe Greek or some other Cyrillic script as well as a few other languages. There was another that he couldn't read but recognized immediately. It was the Cuneiform writing of the Dingir.

Looking around the place he saw both Human and Dingir mixing together easily. Although they all dressed alike in togas in a rich array of colors the aliens were easily distinguishable by their height.

Max's stomach growled and he decided he needed food. Then he paused. He had no idea what people used for money in this new world of his. He frowned and decided that he might as well at least approach one of the outlets.

He made his way down and stood looking at the menu posted on the wall. He was standing just a few feet away from a falafel stand.

"Hey!" a voice said from behind him, "You look lost!"

Max turned to see a girl with medium length chocolate brown hair smiling at him. Her grin seemed to hide a mischievous air to her, but not very well. Like everyone else she was dressed in a toga with laced up sandals. He had to admit she definitely looked good wearing it.

"You're new here," she said with a smile.

"That obvious huh," he mumbled.

"It's the pants," she said gesturing at his legs, "I haven't seen pants in about six months."

"Is that how long you've been here?" he asked.

"Oh no," she said with a laugh, "Much longer than that! I just visited Earth six months ago."

"You can do that?" Max said with surprise, "Just visit any time you want?"

"Well, sort of," she said, "You have to wait until there's a transport going there, but yeah, anytime you feel like it, you can go visit, or go for good if you want."

"Well," Max said slowly, "You may not find many transports going back to Earth for some time. The people there kicked the Dingir off the planet."

"Yeah, I heard about that," the girl said with a vague sadness, "But don't kid yourself. If they want to go there, they will."

"So," Max said, not quite knowing how to broach the subject.

"You're hungry," she said matter-of-factly, "Let me show you."

She stepped up to the counter and smiled. The man serving from behind the counter beamed pleasantly at her. Apparently she was a regular.

"Omar, what would you recommend for my very hungry friend here?" she said as she gestured toward Max.

"Ah," he said knowingly, "I have just the thing!"

In minutes he handed Max a tray with some steaming rice, Greek salad and a large wrap with an enormous amount of Gyros with Tzatziki sauce. There was also a large glass of iced tea.

"Is this for both of us?" Max asked looking at the pile of food.

"No," she said with a laugh, "I wouldn't want you to go hungry. I'd eat two thirds of that in no time!"

Omar then served an identical tray to her with a wink and a smile.

He nodded his thanks and was looking around for someplace to sit.

"Come on," she said as she tugged at his arm with a free hand, "You didn't think I'd let you eat alone did you?"

She led the way to a large communal table where almost a dozen men and women already sat.

"Guys," she announced as she led Max to a chair, "I've found a lost soul looking for salvation. Please meet, um, oh my goodness, I was talking so much I never thought to ask your name!"

"Max," he said with a shy nod.

"Max!" she repeated with a giggle, "I'm Marie."

Max froze at hearing her name. His thoughts immediately turned to his wife, dead more than eleven years now. He stared into space for a long moment and bit his lip as his mind filled with images of her.

'If only she could see me now,' he thought wistfully.

"This is Steven, Bella, Roberta—," Marie went on, not noticing Max's flustered expression.

"Relax Marie," Steven said with a smile, "There's no way he'll remember all our names anyway. Have a seat Max and join us."

Max sat down and nodded to everyone, trying hard to smile as he attempted to banish memories of his wife from his mind.

"Judging by the clothes," Steven said with a grin, "You're fresh off the boat!"

"Just got here this morning," Max said.

"Oh yeah," a black woman opposite him said, "I heard we were expecting a new neighbor. I'm on the fortieth floor too!"

Max blushed a bit and nodded.

"Yeah," he said shyly, "That was the plan."

All eyes at the table turned to him then.

"I uh," he said, "I asked for a different place."

"Really?" the black woman said, "Why would you do that?"

"I'm uh, not good with heights," he said with an embarrassed cough.

Everyone at the table laughed heartily. They guffawed and chortled and poked each other in the ribs as they laughed it up.

"No seriously," Steven said between chuckles, "Why would you ask for a different room?"

"And how in God's name did you get it?" a man at the end of the table named Mark said loudly with his own laugh.

"Uh," Max said, "I don't know, I just told Ëa I couldn't live on the fortieth floor."

All laughter and talking died at once.

"Did you say Ëa?" Bella asked quietly.

"Yes," Max said, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

Steven suddenly let out another guffaw.

"Looks like we got a name dropper here!" he laughed.

"Oh come on," Marie said with her own giggle, "Maybe Ëa really was there."

"Yeah right!" Mark said to more hilarity.

As everyone continued with the laughing Steven slapped him on the elbow.

"Okay, so you didn't like the fortieth floor," he said, "What floor did you end up on?"

"Um," Max stammered, "I guess it's the first, but I also have a second and third floor."

Again everyone at the table went quiet.

"Three floors?" Marie said in amazement, "You've got three floors?"

"Uh, yeah," Max said, "Why? Is that not normal?"

"Not normal?" Steven said loudly, "No one gets three floors! Of course it's not normal!"

"Oh," Max said suddenly becoming uneasy.

"Seriously," Marie asked, "You've got three floors? What part of the building is that in?"

"Um," Max said, "I'm not sure, but I had to walk pretty far to get there."

"How far is pretty far?" Steven asked.

"I don't know, a little under a mile I guess." Max said uncertainly.

They went silent again and simply stared at him.

"The only place in this entire habitat a mile away is the VIP wing," Steven said.

"Is that what it's called?" Max said.

"How the hell did you get Norton to assign you to the VIP wing?" Steven said a little irritated, "There are people here from day one who've never even seen the VIP wing."

"I don't know," Max said as his appetite suddenly disappeared, "I just got it, I don't know how. I gotta go!"

They continued to stare as he stood up and stalked away. He'd gotten no more than a dozen paces when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Hey Max," Marie said breathlessly, "Max wait up."

He stopped and turned to face her with a sullen expression.

"Hey I'm sorry," she said, "My friends just never met anyone from the VIP wing. Neither have I. I guess we were a little jealous."

Max shook his head and frowned.

"Will you forgive me?" she said as she placed her hand lightly on his arm.

He took a deep breath and sighed and then smiled awkwardly.

"You know, I just got here," he said, "I had no idea this VIP wing you talk about was so special. Ëa just told this Norton guy to put me up there. I didn't know it was such a big deal."

"Really, you said Ëa took care of it for you?" she asked in awe.

"Yes! Why does everyone do that when I say his name?" he said heatedly.

"Well, it's just," she sputtered and then sighed, "None of us has ever met him in person. We've met a lot of the others, you know, the common Dingir, but Ëa, Enlil, Nannar and Inanna, we've heard a lot about them and we know they're big deals in the Dingir world. But none of us have ever seen them in person!"

Max grimaced and looked her in the eye.

"Trust me," he said emphatically, "You're not missing much!"

"Seriously, you've met all of them?" she said in disbelief.

Max nodded and looked down at the floor.

Suddenly she squealed and threw her arms around his neck.

"Oh my God!" she screeched, "It's like I met a rock star!"