Scripted on a single clay tablet in cuneiform of which two thirds is missing, the Sumerian Eridu Genesis composed in 2300 BCE predates the biblical book of Genesis. It is the tale of the creation of modern man by the god En-Ki and of the mass extinction caused by the great flood from which
Ziudsura (Noah) is saved.
DAWN OF TIME — ARRIVAL
Earth: a clearing in a tropical jungle somewhere in Africa. The sun was rising in the clear blue sky. Twelve naked male and female Homo sapiens emerged timidly from a copse into the clearing to forage for food. A female looked up sharply and pointed at something in the sky. They all huddled together fearfully watching a strange white donut-shaped ring of smoke coalesce. All had fallen silent — no birds, no rustling of leaves — the eerie stillness had spawned a gut feeling in them that something prodigious was about to happen.
In the blink of an eye it did: an enormous grey bird materialised within the ring, and then the ring dissolved. Blanketed in the shadow of the gigantic airborne beast, the natives backed trembling deeper into the cover of the forest, only the bravest of them remained fearless with his eyes fixed on the long snake-like neck of the flying monster. Then, the shadow of the strange hovering beast began to grow in proportion. A sudden loud hiss erupted from jets of vapour discharging from the giant bird’s underbelly that caused the courageous gazer to flinch. The beast hung like a massive vulture at the treetops menacing in its silence. Then, another noise, a noise totally unfamiliar to the spectators: the whirring sound of a servo as a hatch opened in the bird’s belly.
The dark-skinned bold observer retreated a few hurried steps when a light appeared inside the open hatch. But he couldn’t take his eyes off it. Then, to his surprise a metal ladder extended from within down to the ground. He figured the gigantic bird was of the gods, the same gods that at times flashed bright lights in the sky and caused the clouds to rumble with a voice that would make the ground beneath his feet tremble.
An old Shaman with long ochre braided hair burst from the huddle of frightened natives and with his braids flicking about like snake-heads crouched down beside the brave one. Eyes wide with fear, his face decorated with raised scars, he pointed a trembling rib bone at the giant bird while squawking a warning of impending doom. But there was more to come because from within the bird, a person in a strange suit appeared and began to descend the ladder. When he reached ground, he removed his helmet and gloves, knelt down and clutched a handful of soil.
And so it came to pass that En-Ki of the Anunnaki from the planet Nibiru made first contact with primitive man.
In due course the Anunnaki established a gold mining operation utilizing a workforce of giant androids they called the Nephilim. However, it was not long before the harshness of the conditions took a toll of the Nephilim, and so a remedy was sought. En-Ki, being not only the mission commander but a genetic scientist came up with the solution to genetically engineer the primates to replace the Nephilim as the primary labour force.
And so En-Ki altered the genome of the primates and created in due course a new being in his likeness.
Upon learning of this Anu the great lord of the Anunnaki on Nibiru, was outraged. The laws he had created had been violated and so he called upon his son En-Lil, younger brother of En-Ki, to venture to Earth to obliterate the human abomination and to prosecute En-Ki for his abuse of the divine law.
As a result, a war on Earth ensued between the brothers and continued for decades until eventually, with his fighting forces diminished, En-Ki faced defeat. In the eleventh hour En-Ki called forth Ziusudra his most valued human creation and warned him that his brother En-Lil would generate a great flood to eradicate all humanity, and confided in him the means by which to survive the catastrophe with his family.
Satisfied he had set in motion a plan to save humanity, En-Ki surrendered.
En-Lil confronted his brother and they fought with swords. En-Ki was no match for his warrior brother, and was fatally wounded.
En-Lil decreed to him, “Our Lord master and father gave me the authority to sentence you. Your consciousness shall be imprisoned for eternity banished to oblivion. Your physical presence will be no longer.”
Prepared to accept his fate En-Ki replied, “There will be no victor in this war En-Lil, for the time will come when you will meet your match. Destiny has been set in motion.”
Showing no mercy, En-Lil fired a weapon at En-Ki, which drew the very lifeforce from him and into an orb, which he then concealed in another dimension of the metaverse for infinity.
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THIS STORY IS set in the future, in a dystopian society where the necessities of state survival are paramount, at the expense of the people and their environment. The world is split into trading blocks: the EU, the Polar Block, the Americas, the Asian Block and Oceana, the southern hemisphere block. Africa is non-aligned and is a seething cauldron of warring fiefdoms.
The arsenals of the big-league countries are now more volatile than ever, due to advanced destructive weapons capability. Terrorist attacks on civilians by sectarian extremist religious groups and socio-political fanatics have the world on a knife-edge. Society is insecure, with fears that an accident or misplaced foolish word from an over-zealous world leader could easily trigger nuclear war.
Throughout this tangled world rebellion is ubiquitous, with the common folk prepared to fight against those seeking to supress the will and voice of the people. Humanity has had enough of politics. Rebel organizations opposed to the block systems are gaining support. These rebels are not communists, nor socialists, not even capitalists. They consider themselves merely activists, champions of ideals. This is the story of one of the greatest of them.
Oceana’s fascist overlords are planning to break a long-standing nuclear non-proliferation protocol by permitting an American nuclear submarine to enter Sydney Harbour. One man threatens their scheme: Black Alice.
A heavy metal singer and leader of a rebel peace movement — The Octagon — Black Alice has been labelled a dissident for having incited unrest amongst his rapidly-growing legion of supporters and fans. The top dogs of the Gestapo-like Oceana State Security Directorate want him eliminated…