Atlantis 13

          Akula was pleased to see that his deception had worked. Now that he possessed the Wishstone, the Gods would have no choice but to help him. “Didn’t I tell you it would work?”  Akula said to Hokum.
          “I don’t understand the need for all this deception,” Hokum said. “Why didn’t we just take what we wanted?”
          “That is what so special about the Wishstone,”  Akula said. “It cannot be taken, it has to be given by the bearer. If it is taken, it will lose its power. Besides if there is no need to use force, do not use it. No need to drain the pond to catch a fish. It’s much more effective to use deception.”
          “Besides, you know what I always say,”  Akula continued. “By way of deception, thou shall I do war!”                                                                
          He went to Wotan and triumphantly showed the relic to Wotan. He could not believe it. “How did you get this relic?”  Wotan said stunned.
          “That is not important,” Akula said. “What is important is that you have to help me.”
          “What is it that you want?” Wotan said.
          Akula looked at the small relic in his hands. “Such a small object,”  Akula said to himself, “but within it lies the power that will make me greater than everyone.” He looked triumphantly at the perplexed Wotan. “You know what I want,”  Akula replied. “Everybody knows what I want..........I want Atlantis!”
          Wotan pleaded desperately to Akula to change his mind. He offered him everything, but Akula would not give in. Wotan looked into Akula’s eyes to see if there was a slight chance he might still change his mind. But Wotan could not see anything and realized that his hope had been in vain. He was just talking to deaf ears. So he gave up.
          “Very well,”  he said, “if that is what you want, then that is what you will get.”  Akula noticed a strange, underlying tone to Wotan’s voice as he spoke, but he could not tell what he meant by it. “The key to Atlantis is that what makes it so great,”  Wotan continued. “The great reactor that we build for the Atlanteans and that houses the “Stone of the Gods, which you so vigorously seek. If this reactor is shut down, the energy supply to Atlantis will cease and the whole continent will be left helpless. They will also no longer be able to produce those dreaded weapons that decimated Kano and his army.”        
          Wotan took a folded document out of his pockets and handed it over to Akula. “On that piece of paper you will find what you need to know,”  Wotan said to Akula.
          Words cannot describe the joy that Akula felt rushing through his veins. He now had the means to fulfill his dreams. Atlantis and all its wealth would soon be his. He couldn’t wait before he could finally sit on the legendary throne of Atlantis.
          “Are you happy now?”  Wotan asked.
          “Happy?” Akula answered. “I am more than happy. Everything was all worth it. I will never regret what I have done.”  With that said, Akula turned around and quickly walked away. Wotan stared at Akula until he had disappeared.
          “You will,”  Wotan said. “You will.”

--o--

 Click on Part 14 for what happens next in this series.

Atlantis 14

          Wotan went to Karna and asked him why he had given the Wishstone to Akula, whom he knew would almost certainly use it for evil purposes. Karna was baffled and bewildered.
          “But I did not give it to him,”  Karna defended himself. “I gave it to his son.”   
          “Then we must pay Zhuk a visit,”  Wotan said.
          Zhuk was absolutely shocked, when he realized what had happened. “I have been tricked,”  Zhuk said confused. “I only gave it away to save someone’s life. How could Akula save his own son, his own flesh and blood?” “I will go to Akula and demand an answer!”
          “Don’t,”  Wotan said, “there is no time for that.”
          “What do you mean?”  Zhuk said.
          “We cannot tell you that,”  Karna said. “But I have not forgotten how you once saved my life.”  Karna instructed Zhuk to build a ship, a huge ship. One that was large enough to carry a large group of people and animals and stay afloat for an extended period. “But do it quickly,” Karna urged Zhuk, “because everything will soon come to an end.”
          Akula had thoroughly studied the documents that Wotan had given to him. Shutting the reactor down was easy. The hard part was getting someone inside, who could do the job for him. Akula knew that there was only one person qualified for the mission and that was Hokum. There was no one else that Akula felt could do it or could thrust for that matter. But Akula was still hesitant because he was well aware of the dangers involved. Hokum would have to go deep inside the lion’s den. The chances of getting caught were great and who knows what the Atlanteans would do to Hokum. They had in all likelihood not forgotten Hokum’s treachery. That is why Akula was reluctant to send Hokum. He did not wish to lose someone, who had been so loyal and served him so well. But on the other hand, he could not send someone who might betray him and warn the Atlanteans. “No,”  Akula said to himself. “I cannot take the risk. Not now I am so close to conquering Atlantis.”  There was no other option, he would have to send Hokum.
          Atlantis’ soldiers surrounded the massive golden statue that Akula had left behind. Akula had finally agreed to surrender and the statue was a sign of good faith. It stood over three stories high and was the pride of Akula. The soldiers towed the giant statue to the beach and loaded it into a ship that brought it to Atlantis. The citizens of Atlantis were happy to see the statue. According to them, the statue was a sign of submission by Akula. By giving the Atlanteans such a priceless thing that meant so much to him, he had in reality admitted to the supremacy of the power of Atlantis. A national holiday was declared the day the statue arrived in the capital of Atlantis. The entire city was celebrating that evening. The people had gathered in the center of the city and were dancing and drinking to the sound of music. Even the soldiers, who normally were so alert, seemed to be swept away by the widespread euphoria. As far as everyone was concerned, the war was over and once again, Atlantis had come out on top.
          Hokum was waiting patiently deep inside the solid, golden statue in a hollow room. He had so far managed to penetrate the heavily guarded portals of Atlantis, but now came the most critical phase of the mission. He waited until things had calmed down and then made his move. He gently lowered himself onto the ground. He had to be very careful. There was no room for any mistakes. “I don’t want to think of what the Atlanteans will do to me, if I get caught,”  Hokum said to himself. “I would rather commit suicide, then surrender.”  Hokum knew he was in the northern part of the city, very close to where the reactor was located. He made good use of the darkness and the fact that many guards had left their posts. He managed to reach the reactor without being detected and sneaked inside the building.

--o--

 Click on Part 15 for what happens next in this series.

Atlantis 15

          There was no one inside the building because everything was completely automated. “The knowledge of the Gods is truly amazing,”  Hokum thought. “Everything works by itself. Now I have to find the room that I am looking for.”  Unfortunately, the huge structure was like a maze. That is how big it was. Luckily, he possessed a copy of the layout of the structure that Wotan had given to Akula. Hokum felt uncomfortable and wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. “For some reason this place gives me the creeps,”  Hokum said to himself. “Why do I have the feeling that someone is watching me?”  After a lot of patience, he finally found the room he was looking for. “This must be it,”  Hokum thought. “Soon it will all be over.”
          Akula was waiting restlessly on his throne. The moment Hokum had accomplished his mission, Akula and his army would attack. “Why am I so worried?”  Akula thought. “This is so unlike me. Is it because I am worried about what could happen to Hokum? Was there a remote possibility that he actually cared about someone?”  After all, he had grown up with Hokum and known him all his life. He had to admit that Hokum had served him faithfully and done so effectively. Even when Akula was still very young and getting into a fight, Hokum would take care of things. Hokum was the closest thing he had to a friend. But Akula did not like the idea and brushed it aside. “No,”  Akula said. “I do not care about Hokum or anyone else. I am just nervous.”
          “Nervous?”  a deep voice said. Shocked, Akula turned around to see who it was. “Wotan!”  he said surprised. “What are you doing here?”
          “We have come to visit you,” Wotan answered.
          “Zhuk is very angry at you for that dirty trick you pulled on him,” Karna said. “Don’t you feel any remorse?”
          “Why should I feel sorry?”  Akula responded. “It worked! Besides I’ve always believed that the goals justify the means. I do not like the fact that I had to deceive my own son. I wished that the Atlanteans had surrendered when we had them surrounded and perhaps things could have been different. But when Zhuk is older, he will inherit my kingdom, including Atlantis. He will benefit from my actions now and understand why I did what I had to do.”
          “So you have absolutely no regrets whatsoever?”  Karna asked.
          “None!”  Akula said emphatically.
          “Too bad its not going to last,”  Wotan said.
          “What do you mean by that?”  Akula said annoyed.
          “You’ll see soon enough,”  Wotan said and before Akula could react, he stunned him with some sort of object. Unconscious, Akula fell on the ground like a brick.
          Hokum had at last found what he was looking for. He looked carefully at the metal switch. “Strange,”  Hokum thought. “In my hand lies the power to defeat the mighty Atlantis. I’ve always thought that it would require something very special to defeat Atlantis. Perhaps a mighty army or a special weapon. But no, with just a simple turn and nothing else, I can do what was thought to be impossible.”  Hokum touched the cold, metal switch with his finger. “From this day on my name will forever be inscribed in the annals of history. I will no longer be referred to as Hokum, but as the one, the only one, who vanquished Atlantis!”  He grabbed the switch, hesitated for a moment and then firmly pulled it down.

--o--

 Click on Part 16 for what happens next in this series.

Atlantis 16

          Outside the building, the streets in the center of Atlantis’ capital were filled with its citizens. The careless people were still busy partying, as they had done the whole day. The noise of laughter could be heard in every corner. Huge amounts of alcohol were consumed to celebrate the great victory. In the mood that prevailed nothing seemed to worry the citizens of Atlantis.
          Suddenly, a strong gust of wind rose up from the sea that was accompanied by a strange-sounding noise. At first, the sound could barely be heard, but it gradually grew louder. Immediately, it was quiet among the large crowd. The people stopped with whatever they were doing to see what was causing the mysterious noise. The rumbling sound of the wind grew stronger and stronger until it had turned into a high-pitched, loud-shrieking sound. The disturbance grew so strong, people could barely hear eachother.
          “Where is that sound coming from?” people shouted. Everyone, including the guards, who normally stood motionless, became restless by the strange sound. People were wondering what was going on, because they had never experienced something like this before. Something was wrong..........
          The last traces of hope that nothing was wrong and everything was still okay vanished, when the ground, for no apparent reason, began to shake uncontrollably. At first, plates and other dishes fell and broke on the ground and as the tremor grew in strength, pillars and the walls of various buildings started to crack under the force of the quake.
          Then, without further warning, came the thundering explosion of the volcanoes that dominated the landscape of Atlantis. Gigantic pillars of hot, molten magma and fire burst miles into the air. In a second, the streets of Atlantis was turned into a scene straight out of hell with panicked and frightened people running like ants in an anthill. Many were crushed in the chaos under deadly falling debris. Men, women and children, while shouting and screaming, fled to the huge temples or seeked shelter in the great hallways of massive buildings to escape the hot ash that rained down on Atlantis. But while streams of magma was busy making its way down from the hills to the city and preparing to finish her off like a helpless animal, another new disaster made its presence felt as if to let the citizens of Atlantis know that for them there would be no tomorrow.
          The first shockwave of a colossal earthquake slit with tremendous force the beautiful city of Atlantis in half. In a split second, the ground was torn apart beneath thousands of people, who were unfortunate enough to have stood above it. The last thing their eyes saw before their last breath left their bodies was the terrible, bottomless chasm that had opened before them. In the heart of this chasm, miles down under in the heart of the earth, while the surface was being torn apart, blossomed a mighty fire. From it rose such an indescribably hot wind that people, who were somehow still alive, after inhaling the invisible but deadly air, fell dead like flies.
          A second, even more massive and frightening earthquake came, and, while the last buildings of Atlantis still standing were falling apart, split the entire island of Atlantis in half. The water of the Atlantic Ocean broke through and flowed into the gigantic, hot canyon of molten magma.
          Gradually, almost calmly after the two devastating earthquakes that had finished her off, the entire island of Atlantis sank like gigantic, flat stones to the unknown depths of the ocean until it lay hundreds of meters deep under water.

--o--

 Click on Part 17 for what happens next in this series.

Atlantis 17

          Akula regained consciousness with Wotan, Karna and all the other Gods standing around him. Although he didn’t know how, he could see what was going on. Silently, he watched the events unfold before his eyes as images flashed before him.
          The apocalypse was felt in every corner of the world. The coast was to be dealt the first blow. Unfortunately, many cities in the world had been build close to the sea to take advantage of the sea as a means of transportation. But now people were sorry that they had done so. Gigantic Tsunami-waves, that followed after Atlantis had disappeared under water, ripped and swept away cities along the coastline. The raging waters soon reached miles inland and covered the land. The coastline was the first to feel the demise of Atlantis, but it certainly wasn’t the last.
          Further inland, powerful earthquakes, unlike the world had ever seen before, rocked the land. The continents were shaken up from top to bottom by the force of the quakes. In the end, every single city and their inhabitants were destroyed by the rampaging forces of nature.
          There was an eerie silence in the room. Akula looked at each and everyone of the Gods, who were staring at him, until his eyes met those of Wotan. “You knew, didn’t you?”  Akula said bitterly to Wotan. “You knew something was going to happen. You knew it all along. That is why you said that I would be sorry. But I do not understand. I had the Wishstone. You had to help me. Why did you deceive me, when you told me how to defeat Atlantis?”
          Wotan gave Akula a disgusted look. “You, of all people, should not complain of being deceived,”  Wotan said. “You, who always says “By way of deception, thou shall I do war!” You have persistently used deception to attain your goals.”
          “Besides, I did not lie to you,”  Wotan continued. “I merely gave you what you wanted. You wanted to defeat Atlantis and that is what I gave you. Nothing more, nothing less. What you did not know was that Atlantis destruction would have disastrous consequences that would affect the other regions.”
          “But what caused all the destruction?” Akula asked. “You have to understand,” Wotan said,  “the reactor in Atlantis had another hidden purpose, besides providing precious energy. After we raised the continent from the bottom of the ocean, we found that she was highly unstable and as a result, was unfit for any inhabitants. To alleviate this problem, we created the reactor to serve as a gigantic electromagnet. The magnetic field that it created would push off against the earth’s own magnetic field and this is how we made sure that Atlantis would always remain afloat as long as the reactor was still on. That is the real reason why we gave the “Stone of the Gods” to Atlantis and not because we favored them as you have often accused us of.”
          “So,” Akula said, “when I send Hokum to disable the reactor, I also caused everyone else’s destruction?”
          “Unfortunately yes,” Karna said. “When Hokum turned the reactor off, it not only stopped the energy-supply to the defenses of Atlantis, but also the magnet that kept Atlantis from going down. Of course the sinking of Atlantis is like throwing a stone in a buck of water. The waterlevel would be raised substantially and the Tsunami-waves that followed would destroy all the cities along the shoreline, not to mention the earthquakes and other seismic disturbances that would be triggered by the cataclysm.”
          “But why would you do such a thing?” Akula said. We’ve never done anything to the Gods.”
          “Why?” Wotan said. “Because you have all sinned in our eyes. This is your reward for defying the Gods. We’ve told you many times to stop warring and do what we had planned, but instead you’ve turned our dream into a nightmare. But in the end, the sinners have been punished and the world had been rid from the evil that polluted it soil.”
          “But if you wanted to punish us,” Akula said, “why wasn’t I allowed to die like everyone else? Why did you rescue me from my palace, where I would have surely died?”
          “Death would be too gentle of a punishment for someone like you,”  Wotan said. “Your fate will be much worse than Klamath, Liu Tzu, the Atlanteans or anyone else. You were the one who masterminded the whole thing from the start and thus your punishment had to fit the crime.”
          “What will happen to me?” Akula said.
          “Since your actions were motivated by your desire to rule over Atlantis,” Wotan said, “it is only fitting that you be doomed to dwell in Atlantis for all eternity. From this day on, you are a cursed man. Never again will you see the sunlight or your home again. These forsaken ruins are now your kingdom. These corpses your people. That is how it shall be..........till the end of times.”
          “Tell me one more thing,”  Akula trembled, when he saw that the Gods were about to leave. “Am I the only left?”
          “No,”  Karna said. “There are a few survivors left. One of them is your righteous son. I showed him how to construct a ship that could survive the disaster. He and a small group of followers are now safely aboard this ship. When the water has receded and the land is dry again, they will release the animals that they are carrying and once again populate the world. They will build a new civilization that is different from the one that perished. However, this time they will have to do it on their own. The Gods will no longer provide humanity with the knowledge to prosper in life. Humankind has to find her own way, the right path that will lead them away from war and towards peace. The different races that have fought against eachother have to learn to live in harmony with one another. Only then can mankind truly prosper.”
          “The time has come for us to leave,”  Wotan said to the other Gods. “Our experiment was a failure, but perhaps someday mankind will see the light and solve her problems. We shall stay away from this world until the time is ripe for us to return.” Karna turned his head in surprise and looked at Wotan.
          “I thought that we would never visit this world again,”  Karna said.
          “We will,”  Wotan said. “I have seen the future. One day, we shall return.”
          “So if you have seen the future, when will that day be?”  Karna asked.
          Wotan smiled at Karna and said: “One day, mankind will once again discover the secret to the “Stone of the Gods” and when that day comes, then and only then, will mankind once again see us flying through the skies in our ships.”

--o--

 Click on Part 18 for what happens next in this series.

Atlantis 18

          “That was some story,”  Jack said to Olaf. “I do have one question. You told me that Akula always wore the symbol of Atlantis, the trident, on his chest. You also have a trident on his chest. Am I right in assuming that this is no coincidence and that you are really Akula?”
          Olaf stood up from his chair and turned around. For a moment he just stood there with his hands clasped behind his back. Finally, he broke his silence. “You are right,”  Olaf said in a sad tone. “I was once called Akula, a long , long time ago.”
          “You know,”  Olaf continued, “I always knew that I would someday rule over Atlantis, but I never thought it would be like this. Sometimes I wish that somebody would kill me and end my misery, but alas I am no longer mortal.”
          Olaf turned around and looked at Jack. “I guess that old witch was right after all,”  he said somberly. “Do you remember her prophecy?”  Olaf asked Jack.
          Jack nodded in response. “He, the one called Akula, is destined to one day become sole ruler of Atlantis. They will be bound together for all eternity. That is how it was meant to be. So it is written, and so it shall be done.”
          “Can’t you go back to the surface?”  Jack asked.
          “I can’t,” Olaf said. “For some reason I cannot leave this place. I’ve tried to, but something forces me to return.”
          “So you are doomed to stay here,” Jack said.
          “I have to face the facts,” Olaf said. “My fate is sealed in this place. And even if I could leave, where would I go? My kingdom, my home, my whole world as I knew it, its all long gone. All the people I once ruled over are long dead.”  Olaf raised his head and looked at the mirror.
          “I am a shadow of my former self,”  Olaf mumbled. “I am just an old man, whose all alone in a place filled with corpses only. Can you imagine what it is like to stay in this forsaken place? Can you feel the loneliness?”
          Jack looked around him at his surroundings and imagined what it must be like to live in this place in solitary confinement with no end in sight. The silence was enough to break any man. For Olaf there was no hope and without hope, you didn’t have the strength to endure.
          “The only sound that I hear is the sound of my own voice,” Olaf said. “I have the feeling that the ghosts of the dead are around me. They are haunting me. Someday, the silence will eventually get to me and drive me mad. Only my will prevents that from happening, but I do not know how long that will last.”
          Jack realized that was exactly what the Gods had intended. First, Olaf would realize the scope of his mistakes and, as time went by, slowly drive him mad. He felt sorry for Olaf, but was not quite sure what to say to him. What could you say to someone like him.
          “I am so sorry for what I’ve done,”  Olaf continued. “The war with Atlantis that killed millions. All those people are dead because of me. Klamath, Liu Tzu, and especially Hokum. I now realize that he was the only true friend I’ve ever had and his premature death is all because of me. It’s all my fault. I just wish I could turn back the clock and undo what I have done.”
          For a moment Jack thought that Olaf would break down, but he regained his composure.
          “Don't worry,”  Olaf said to Jack, when he saw that Jack was about to get up, “I will make sure that you get back home.”
          Jack wanted to say something that could somehow console Olaf and stood up from his chair. But the moment he raised his body from his chair, he began to feel very dizzy. He tried to control it, but to no avail. Jack fell on the ground unconscious.

--o--

 Click on Part 19 for what happens next in this series.

Atlantis 19

          It had been several days since the storm had ended and a massive search and rescue mission had been organized by the coastguard of the Virgin Islands. Hundreds of planes, helicopters and ships had scanned the ocean, but still nothing had turned up. Nobody had seen a trace of Jack and his ship. After a while, people lost all hope of finding Jack. One by one, they gave up hope. “If Jack was still alive, he would have returned by now,” people said. Although nobody was saying it in her face, Janet knew what they were thinking. Janet had to face the inevitable. Jack had simply perished in the raging waters.
          Almost everyone agreed that Jack was dead, although his body had not been found. The police concluded that Jack had probably drowned and that his body was probably devoured by sharks that inhabited the waters. People could only hope that he had not suffered too much in his final hours.
          A funeral was held for Jack on the Virgin Islands. The entire town had come to pay their last respects. It was a real tragedy, because the people felt that they had all lost a good friend. It was a great loss for those who knew him and liked him. “Such a pity,” someone said. “They were such a happy couple. It’s a shame things had to end this way.”
          The graveyard was now empty, except for Janet who had stayed behind. She was still standing over her husband’s grave and weeping, despite the fact that she was well aware that Jack’s body was not in the coffin. She couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She couldn’t accept the fact that her marriage to the man with whom she had spent her entire life had come to such an end.  The dream she had before Jack had left port had come true.
          Suddenly, someone anxiously called her. It was Jurgen, the policecaptain. “Janet, Janet,”  he uttered to her. “Cheer up, I have good news!”  Janet just stared at the excited Jurgen as he rushed towards her. “I have just been contacted by the coastguard over the radio,”  he said when he caught up with her, “and guess what they told me?”
          “I have no idea,”  Janet said in a sad voice.
          “They have found a lifeboat, with someone in it, drifting on the ocean,”  Jurgen said. Janet hopes immediately began to rise. “The man was unconscious,”  Jurgen continued, “but, thank God, still alive. I have to admit that at first, I had my doubts. After all, we’ve had many false claims made before, but this time, they assured me, there was no mistake.”  Jurgen grabbed Janet by the shoulders. “They’ve found Jack!”  Jurgen said. “They’ve finally found Jack!”
          A week had gone by and Jack had fully recovered. He was released from the hospital and Janet had come to pick him up. Together they were driving home in their car. Jack was silently looking out the window. He had not told anyone about what he had experienced during his ordeal. After a while, they approached a cliff overlooking the ocean.
          “Stop the car,”  Jack said all of a sudden. Jack stepped out of the car after Janet had stopped the car and walked towards the cliff overlooking the ocean. He looked at the waves that slammed down on the rocks beneath him. It seemed like it was only yesterday that he was struggling against the waves, trying to stay alive on his lifeboat. Jack thought of what he had experienced with Olaf.
          “It must have been a dream,” Jack thought. “I got hit on the head and must have been hallucinating..........but then again, I’m sure that I got knocked overboard by the wave. But if I did, how did I get back on the lifeboat where the coastguard found me?”
          Janet had also stepped out of the car and put her arm around his neck. “It’s a miracle how you survived that storm,”  Janet said to Jack. “Nobody could survive in those hostile waters.”
          Jack nodded in agreement. He turned his head to look at Janet and said: “Do you know the story of Atlantis?”
          “Sure I do,”  Janet responded. “When I was a child, my father used to tell me these sailor stories about the lost continent of Atlantis. It’s about a great civilization in the Atlantic Ocean that was swallowed up by the sea.”
          “Do you think the story is true?”  Jack said. “I mean that the Virgin Islands  were once part of Atlantis and that we are actually standing on what was once a mountain of Atlantis?”
          “Of course not, silly!”  Janet said. “C’mon, we need to get back home. The doctor said that you should not overexert yourself and need to get some rest. We have no time to waist on a myth.” She turned around and walked back to the car.
          “I wonder,”  Jack to himself. “I wonder.”

--o--

 Click on Part 1 for what happened previously in this series.