Unknown Dusk Moon

Gideon

He dreamed.

It startrd with a voice. The voice of that Father that had spoken in his dreams.

“Will you help?” He asked from behind.

Gideon turned, finding himself and a vast room of white. He felt as small as a molecule in this place. There off to the side was an elderly man dressed in a simple white robe with a small walking stave. A white beard plummeted to his knees with eyebrows covering his eyes. He had a bulbous nose and defined cheeks of one that smiled often. He was sitting on a bench, staring at Gideon.

Gideon was surprised by the sudden appearance of the ancient man and backed up. The man let out a soft chuckle in response to the caution as he inspected himself. The old man rose, wincing at the cracking joints.

“Fascinating that many think of me as an elderly man and with joints to match!”

The ancient man cracked his back with a wince, attempting to stand up straight as he padded to Gideon.

“What?” Gideon asked dumbfounded.

“Oh, I was asking you if you would help her,” The older man corrected.

“Help who? That anform head?” Gideon inquired over the strange trapped under stone.

“Ah, she is more than that. Much more. The realm has changed. Everything has changed,” the man replied cryptically.

“What do you mean? Who are you??” Gideon was even more confused.

“Ah, do you not recognize me?” The ancient man asked, his long mustache twitching from his breath.

Old man, long beard, white robe, hazy visions…

“You’re one of those strange Europan druids?” Gideon asked, squinting his eyes.

The older men belt out a laugh, slapping Giden on the back.

“Always sharp for words. But no,” The older man cleared his throat as Gideon felt the weight of his gaze suddenly increase, “I am God- I am Adonai.”

Gideon blinked vacantly, trying to process the news. He let out a trembling sigh as he was now experiencing the things he thought only his siblings were capable of.

“You’re Adonai? You’re… Nothing like I expected,” Gideon flatly declared.

“Is it because you expected nothing of me, perhaps?” Adonai replied with a warm grin.

“Wait- you’re the one who was speaking in those visions! But why now? Why are you showing me these dreams? What do they mean?” Gideon asked a flurry of questions, all of the dreams tying to a single point; Adonai sent them.

“As I said, the realm has changed,”

“You’ve said that,” Gideon replied, frustration building at the avoidance,” you’ve said that already. Why me?”

Adonai nodded, bracing himself on his gnarled wooden stave.

“I am in need of a champion-”

“Bullshit,” Gideon interrupted, turning away as he brushed back his hair. He turned back, seeing God had not changed demeanor, “me??”

“Yes,” Adonai replied bluntly.

“A champion of what? You’re not going to make me a preacher- like crazy uncle Dean- are you?”

God let out a chuckle as he shook his head.

“Not at this time; and I wouldn’t be here for that when there are others more willing to accept such a role!” God coyly shot back with a laugh.

“No,” he repeated as he continued, “No, I am needing champions. To aid the meek, protect the weak.”

“To fight? The Dusk?” Gideon asked, flexing his hands at the thought of battling those demons.

“I will not take the ability to choose from you. You can decide. However, you will need my abilities to survive,” Adonai explained, changing the topic.

“So there is no choice,” Gideon bluntly replied.

“Oh no, there is. But in your present situation, you will need assistance,” Adonai replied gently.

“So I... Enter into a contract with you? What’s the cost?” Gideon asked, squinting his eyes. Suspicion was building. Nothing was ever free; especially when you were in deep.

“Covenant,” God corrected.

“What?” Gideon asked, taking off balance by the response.

“I don’t deal in contracts, but covenants. Your father spoke to you about them, didn’t he?” Adonai explained.

Gideon thought back to his Father’s talk before the flight. Then it hit him.

“You put him up to that?” Gideon asked incredulously.

Adonai shrugged his shoulders, “He had asked me for advice to give to you. I obliged.”

“But what’s the point of all of this?” He asked, raising his arms towards the massive expanse of white.

“A good question,” Adonai stated as he stood silently.

Gideon gripped the bridge of his nose, frustration building at the meeting.

“Ok- OK! Covenants. Why?”

“Because you enter them freely without cost. A contract you find more in the demonic; beings without love or grace who seek to extract from you,” he explained as he cleared his throat, his voice becoming soft; the voice of a loving father, “With covenants, it is open for any to join. There is no cost. I give this gift freely, you need only to choose. Your crew; your friends are relying upon you now. Gideon, my son, will you join me in covenant?”

Gideon felt his breath tremble at the idea of finally meeting God. And not only that, but God came to him asking him to become a champion.

“Why me?” Gideon asked, his voice going quiet.

“Why not?” God retorted, “you are the one I have chosen- and I never make mistakes when choosing so don’t bring up your brothers!”

Gideon shook his head with a scowl, “I’ve been waiting for all of this time for- my family could hear you- I saw the miracles that happened- for you to now show up?”

Adonai nodded, his gentle temperament firm as bedrock, “you can’t open a door with a clenched fist. It was the other way around; I’ve been waiting for you.” Adonai replied, clicking his stave, “you have been making choices with your own might. Your faith was in your family's faith. It has not blossomed on its own.” Adonai explained.

Gideon stayed silent, stewing over what he heard.

“And it’s because you’re the one I want. Think of the seeds that have been planted that now sprout in the right season,” Adonai stated with a smile and tip of his staff.

Gideon thought it over as he closed his eyes.

Join in covenant? To help me? How can he help me when I’m stuck in Dusk territory millions- perhaps billions of lightyears away!

He stopped, letting out a burdened sigh.

And what am I going to do? Turn down this potential life-line to escape? Because of what? Pride? He opened his eyes, shaking his head.

Fuck pride.

I want to live. And not just me, but my crew. I can’t just reject ‘God’ out of hand if it means they can live. Does He piss me off? Yes. Will I reject him out of selfish spite and doom my friends? Hell no. I’ll have a long talk with ‘Adonai’ once this is over. I’ll live to wrestle and fight the answers out of God afterward. That’ll be my spite. Besides, at worst, this is just a dream projecting my insecurities.

“Do it,” Gideon affirmed.

Adonai smiled, letting go of his stave. It stood in place as if waiting for his command to fall. He grabbed Gideon’s right hand and pressed it firmly in between his hands. The pressure felt overwhelming, threatening to crush it worse than slamming it into the console. Gideon gasped in pain. As quickly as the pressure came, it left. Gideon pulled back his hand to notice it was smoking; it was hot. He waved his hand around quickly but felt no pain he was expecting. He looked at his right hand’s dorsum and saw a black symbol on his hand.

The symbol was:

יהוה

Gideon’s face twisted upon seeing the strange ancient words. It appeared more of a tattoo than a brand, more a part of his flesh than a foreign addition. Adonai explained as he gently gripped the hand, “That is my Seal. The Seal of the Tetragrammaton. This gives you the authority to enter any of my domains, make use of any of my servants and their artifacts and gives you keys to the kingdom. It will also give you power. My power. My covenants,” Adonai explained, but it wasn’t enough for Gideon.

He felt at his right hand, feeling the Seal.

“Gideon my son, I love you. Now fulfill your calling. Your friends need you. The others need you.”

“What others?” Gideon asked as his eyes widened. He knew the answer was coming.

“The others with my Seal. You will meet two others with my Seal. Do not worry. You are in good hands,” Adonai exhorted with a smile as he gripped the stave.

“So now what?” Gideon asked, pursing his mouth.

“You wake up,” Adonai commanded.

Gideon blinked awake, finding himself on the Ferrum’s bridge.

He lifted his right hand, finding the cast was still set. He gulped, wondering if it was just a dream as Shindow stated. The cast completely covered his dorsum, leaving the question hanging as a vessel waiting to land. The cast would come off and reveal the answer.

He glanced at a Gnat that was staring vacantly at him, his cubed form floating in place.

“Baka!” The Gnat announced as it floated away. He spotted a few dozen more, cleaning the cabin from the disaster that was the ‘Rumbler’.

“Welcome back, Gid!” Shindow announced as she sat atop the Gnat, the assistant bobbed in place trying to correct its balanced.

He glanced around the room, seeing it was absent one dog and two Excertius.

Shindow explained as she adjusted her glasses, “your arm was set wonderfully and your ribs will be a few more days of treatment to fully seal them. So bed rest for you. I’ve calculated we have around six months of supplies, thanks to Baxter’s theft and your quick thinking grabbing the crates off the Decima.”

Shindow’s temperament was stiff as if awaiting an impact.

“Where’s Baxter?”

“Outside! But you don’t need to worry about that-” Shindow began to explain with a closed eye smile.

Gideon’s eyes widened at the revelation, “outside!? Alone?? Why!?” Gideon lashed out.

Shindow’s facade cracked, “He’s not alone, Excertius is with him! He’s well protected. You did see the Hind Canis Mark A power armor, did you?”

“Hind Canis?” Gideon asked, thinking over the dog’s massive inventory.

I missed that one…

“You know! Power armor for dogs! One size fits all! The newest tech to date, too,” She replied, winking at him.

“But why did you send him outside? We have to lay low,” Gideon retorted.

“Well he was cooped up, he has Gnats and Excertius support, he was trying the new armor, and he needed to…” Shindow trailed off, gesturing to Gideon to finished.

Gideon relaxed his face as he laid back, “And you needed samples of the planet.”

“Well if you put it that way; aye-aye sir!” Shindow replied happily as she vanished into his QSD.

He could do little more than fuss at the moment. And think.

So Adonai told Father what to say to me in the medical ward. Does that mean Father knew this mission would go FUBAR? Or did he have an idea? Or at the very least, Adonai must have known and allowed me to go to this hellhole. Either way, when I get out of this, by dammit there will be hell to pay.

He sighed as his mind began to whirl on how Baxter was doing. Hopefully not getting into trouble.

Or too much trouble.

Or at the very least not bringing the entire planet to their front door.