Endworlds - Nicholas Read [36]
Realizing he was being ignored he finally asked aloud, “What about me?”
Preparing alongside Lion, Jax nodded at the stray. “Yeah, Lion: what about him?”
The leader of the group hesitated, pondered, came to a decision. “Either he’s in the group or he’s not, and I guess at this point he’s in. Monarch says to keep him close, so that’s what we do.”
Looking across the room toward where the others were donning the last of their gear, he raised his voice.
“Castle, Hummer! Find a coat for him.”
The bigger boy growled, “A coat? He knows things, da, but we don’t know him. He is a brave nobody. How come he rate a coat?”
“He has to have something else to wear,” Lion replied, “and if he’s going out with us I want him to blend in.”
He stared hard at the phlegmatic newcomer. “This is only on a trial basis, you understand. A longcoat must be earned. Or . . .”
“Or taken?” the younger boy asked, eyes of steel.
Lion considered before replying. “Just hear me when I say that to wear a longcoat even on a temporary basis is a greater honor than you can imagine.”
At this, Eastwood’s eyes softened to take on an appropriately reverent glimmer.
Eventually he would figure this kid out, Lion mused. It was just a matter of time. Unintimidated, Eastwood stared evenly back. Could he be older than he looked, Lion wondered?
Naw.
“And get him a ‘nose’. He can be a Sniffer on this run.”
6 Scholars agree that Sumerian cuneiform on the Kish tablet dates to 3100BC. The earliest Egyptian inscriptions include a seal impression from the tomb of Seth-Peribsen at Umm el-Qa’ab (2900BC), the Narmer Palette (3200BC), and clay container labels uncovered at Abydos in 1998 by Günter Dreyer (3200BC). There remains debate in academia about whether writing accompanied or followed the dissemination of knowledge by oral tradition. Research suggests that the latest techniques for dating prehistory fully support the Longcoat archives. See also: Robert E. & Carolyn Krebs: Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Ancient World (2003); Pollock, Sheldon: The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India (2003); Mayrhofer, Manfred: Die Indo-Arier im alten Vorderasien (1966); and George, Andrew: Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian (2008).
7 The Greek poet Hesiod (750BC) wrote in Works and Days (Εργα καì ‘Ημέραι) that after the origin of the world people freely migled with gods in a Golden Age which later devolved in civility and knowledge through inferior Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages. His Theogeny (Θεογονíα) bears similarities with the Hittite Song of Kumarbi (1300BC) and the Babylonian Enûma Eliš creation tale (1100BC). The Hebrew bible’s court tales of Daniel interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar II speaks of a statue depicting a Gold head, Silver arms, Brass thighs and Iron legs as representing different kingdoms. Hindu writings tell of four Ages named Satya (Gold), Treta (Silver), Dwapara (Bronze) and Kali (Iron). The Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso (b.43BC) wrote of the Earth having four Ages, called Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron. The Aztec held that the present world was preceded by other cycles of creation and destruction on this Earth. The legends of the K’ich’e Maya preserved in the Popul Vuh writings (1714AD) tell of the first three Ages being considered a failure by the gods, with this Fourth Age available for the redemption of Man. While the intended metaphor and length of years attributed to each Age differs from culture to culture, it is clear that early peoples (from opposite corners of the world and therefore unlikely to have shared stories through trade) had an identical belief that civilization was in fact unwinding from an advanced origin (from Gold to Iron), and that each epoch constituted an Age.
8 On December 21, 2012 the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar used by the Maya civilization completes its ‘great cycle’ of 13 b’ak’tuns (3114BC—2012AD) marking the end of their current Age.