The orcs entered the city before midnight, and I successfully closed the gates without needing to worry about the goblins entering. The Peruvians were not happy with the arrangement I’d made with the orcs, and I figured the orcs felt similar disgust with the arrangement. Klapdud did the right thing but I was sure he’d pay the price.

Magus Sonshel was not pleased when she woke up but agreed to follow my will. I chose not to argue with her about her word choices and was just happy there was a temporary peace between the two subspecies. Opening the gates reminded me that I needed to fix them so they could be opened manually. I set Robbie and a few of the robots to the construction task of a crossbar and handles. It would be finished by this evening. I planned on leaving at sunrise the following morning and scrambled for much of the morning making sure the items were checked off my list.

At noon, I hosted Klapdud, and Magus Sonshel for lunch served in my nearly empty castle. Robbie had loaded the food processor, but I had it kick out a natural raw meal that both Shel and Klapdud would appreciate. I walked Klapdud to the entrance of Don’s cave and introduced the two. Of course, Klapdud couldn’t talk with the griffon and vice versa, but they understood my warning. Peace would be held as long as they avoided violence against each other. El Dorado would be a safe zone to all inhabitants, and my lasers would enforce that law.

Of course, that meant leaving behind an APRIL level computer core, but it was a small price to pay. Theia kept trying to get me to recreate Zeus but having memories of and recreating a life…two different things. Zeus was evolving into more than the sum parts, and I didn’t want to replace him with a cheap replica. The new APRIL wasn’t programmed to reproduce and would stop working after a hundred or so years. By that time, I doubted anyone would notice since I’d warned them the turrets would cease working in a few generations.

Lunch was—stressful, but Shel had consumed the language tome and spoke fluently with Klapdud. It helped, and Klapdud swallowed his pride and spoke with the woman. I hadn’t realized it would be an issue but smiled inwardly. Yeah, women rights! Theia made an appearance, and Klapdud was forced to accept the fact that a woman could be more intelligent than himself. After all, Shel kept referring to Theia as ‘Goddess Theia.’

After Klapdud left, Theia informed me that he too would be capable of magic if properly trained. Once Shel was informed it was expected of her to train all residence, her jubilance wasn’t nearly as high as before. Educators educate everyone regardless of their status in life. If they can learn, they should be taught.

###

The goblins attacked the city shortly after lunch and died just as quickly to the last goblin. It never occurred to them that attacking the walls was causing the turrets to kill them. I suppose I could have said something, but they attacked my shuttle and then the walls without ever giving up. I’ll give them credit. They were determined.

Robbie and the other robots started to load the shuttle with nearly three metric tons of gold. I figured I’d be more than comfortable at home. Of course, I needed to connect the portable fusion generator to get enough power into the shuttle, but it was a matter of gravimetric force rather than fuel. That force required energy, thus the need for the fusion generator.

“Theia, how close are we to being ready to leave?”

“You’ll need to move me or have you forgotten?”

“I haven’t forgotten. I—”

“You still have me in that kill box.”

“It wasn’t a kill box.”

“You meant to use an EMP on me.”

“I—Not you.” I took a slow, steady breath and chose my words carefully. “Zeus and I were not sure what would happen when we created a cyborg. You know this, but I’m glad the EMP was never needed or used.”

“Hmm.”

Theia and I worked at removing the Faraday cage and other protections surrounding Theia. An hour later her physical body was resting comfortably in the shuttle’s protective storage room. I took a look around my home and sighed. We left the couch and office desk and had Robbie move it into the new library.

Shel quietly followed me around and was her usual quiet self. We’d build a stairwell down to the base of the cliff from inside the mountain and installed a door which could be activated by providing a little Mana manipulation. After checking everything twice more, she finally cleared her throat, causing me to pause and look at her.

“Just Caden, perhaps you wish to stay?”

“What?”

“I don’t think you have anything here unless you wish to take more gold.”

My mouth was dry as I stopped stalling and realized the time had come to say my goodbyes. Through my building project and with the gold I’d pulled from the mountain, I’d nearly drained the valley of its wealth in metals. I left the city its gold, but it became a slow process pulling more gold from the mountains near my castle.

“Magus Sonshel,” I said while carefully placing my hand on her shoulder, “you are an extraordinary woman. I’m sorry I’m not staying around longer. I haven’t always thought about the needs of those around me, but I’m glad to have saved you and your people.”

“Will you not return?”

“Probably not in your lifetime but you never know. You can make the lives of this world better. My people have a legend of a grand city of El Dorado, a city of gold. I have given you the tools; it’s up to you and the orcs to make your mark in this world. Good luck.”

I pulled Shel into a quick hug and released her before she could return the gesture. As I turned towards the shuttle, I nearly started laughing at the look on her face. Once settled into the shuttle’s pilot seat, I closed my eyes and took a shuttered breath.

“Are you all right, Caden?”

DJ barked and settled down on a large pillow next to my chair. I took a moment to compose myself and messed with DJ’s ears before responding. “Yes, Theia. Take me home.”

###

Just as the sun broke over the El Dorado Valley, my shuttle shot from the mountain and reached orbit minutes later. I’d spend thousands of hours in Virtual looking over Earth, but this was the first time I’ve been in space, for real. The artificial gravity prevented weightlessness and although Virtual felt no different than this…I knew it was real and I was in awe like I’d never been before.

We took a couple of orbits around the virgin Earth, and I realized how empty it was compared to my home. No cities lit up the night sky, no satellites, moon bases or shuttle crafts marred the heavens. I knew humans had built a few cities during this time but saw no evidence from orbit.

“How do we do this, Theia?”

“If the planet split I suggest we get to L1 or L2 to make sure we don’t crash into anything.”

“There are some satellites at the Lagrange points in my time.” I closed my eyes and tried to remember the positions of said satellites, and we settled on a space between the two areas. One thing most people fail to realize is just how vast space is. The odds of running into something is very low, but it was always better to be prepared.

With the location determined, we moved away from Earth and my moon. The shuttle wasn’t the fastest mode of travel, but we made it there less than four hours later. Theia assured me everything was ready, and I wouldn’t need to secure DJ, but I put him in a crate just the same.

Ball.

“No ball, this time buddy. We’re going home. I need you to rest easy for a little longer. Okay?”

Home. Bone.

“I’ll buy you the biggest bone I can when we get home.” I knelt down in front of DJ and pressed my forehead against his and told him I loved him then locked the gate.

“Theia, let’s go home.”

“Strap in, and I’ll begin.”

Once settled and I double checked my strap, Theia ramped up the reactors. Typically, fusion reactors were quiet but what started out as a low whine, gradually started building until my chair started shaking.

“Um. Theia.”

“Compensating.”

The vibrations diminished but neither the quaking nor the noise went away. Finally, when I was about to ask about the engines my ears popped and I lost consciousness.