When the Gods Aren't Gods: Book Two of The Theogony by Chris Kennedy

now.”
    “Are you saying that time travel is possible?” asked Calvin.
    Arges nodded. “Can you prove that it is not?” he asked.
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     

Chapter Seven
     

Conference Room, DUCC, Washington, DC, April 7, 2020
    “So, what did Arges mean by ‘heroes’?” asked the Secretary of Commerce.
    “ He tried to explain it to me, but I still don’t get it,” answered the president. “He said that every time societal upheaval has happened before, there have been some sort of leaders, he called them ‘heroes,’ that came to the forefront and led their civilizations back from the brink of anarchy. He thinks that some of the members of Calvin’s platoon are these people reborn.”
    “So, from some cosmic sort of perspective, it’s preordained that we’re going to win?” asked the Secretary of the Air Force, with a look of hope in his eyes. “The good guys always win?”
    “No,” replied the president, “even if you believe this whole hocus pocus magic that some sort of heroes show up when needed, Arges said that good doesn’t always win. In fact, they used to have some sort of box that allowed them to see into other universes. In many of these, the ‘good’ civilizations have won and are still in existence. But in others, the ‘bad guys’ won. Arges also said that in one universe, the Milky Way didn’t exist anymore.”
    “What?” asked the science advisor. “What do you mean, it didn’t exist?”
    “I mean that it was completely destroyed,” answered the president. “It was just gone. 300 million star systems, all just gone.”
    “That’s impossible...” said the science advisor. “What could do that?”
    “They don’t know,” said the president, “but Arges said that he would greatly like to avoid that happening in this universe.”
    “ Yeah, me too,” muttered the science advisor.
    “So, what’s the deal with these heroes?” asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
    “I don’t know,” said the president. “Arges was very vague. He just said, ‘they rise.’”
    “Do you believe that?” asked the Chairman.
    The president shrugged. “I don’t know. It sounds like wishful thinking to me. Arges believes it, though, as do the other two Psiclopes. They all believe that there is an all-powerful being or force that watches over us.”
    “God?” asked science advisor.
    “It could be,” said the president. “I asked the same question. He didn’t want to say ‘yes,’ but he also didn’t want to rule it out, either. But he did say that the being wasn’t entirely focused on ‘the good guys always win;’ in some universes, the bad races won in the end.”
     
     

National Assembly Building, Abuja, Nigeria, April 10, 2020
    “I would personally like to thank everyone for coming today,” welcomed the German Luftwaffe general, Heinrich Gottlieb. Calvin looked down the long table that held the personnel review board. In addition to the German that was the board’s chairman, there was also a representative from all of the original members of the world government: the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Chile, India, Australia and the host country of Nigeria. This was the second board for all of them, as the same admirals and generals had met several months previously. The Vella Gulf’s squadron had sustained a number of losses on its first mission and they had met to fill them. “I would also like to thank Lieutenant Commander Hobbs for making time in his busy schedule to be here today,” Gottlieb continued. “I know his experience will be able to add much insight into the selection process.”
    Today’s board would probably be more challenging, Calvin knew, as many of the new nations were also in attendance. He expected all of them to jockey for positions in both the squadron and in the platoon. Russia would certainly expect to be compensated for its support of the process, he had been advised, and he knew