Our Gods Have Returned

By CP Harrison

My name is Cary Harrison. I was born in Paris, France, while my father was stationed there in the US Army. I traveled around while growing up. We normally didn't live in a place for more than two years at a time until he retired. After school, I went into the army and served for twenty years, and then retired. After retirement, I went back to sc

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliant Books Literary
• Release date: Nov 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889454052

CP Harrison

After retiring from the US Army, I went back to school for my degree. With some inspiration from my writing professor, I decided I would put some story ideas to pen. However, new jobs and a new family impeded my writing. However, gave me time to develop my stories. Science fiction stories have always appealed to me. Harry Turtledove has some grand stories. I admire the way he can change one instance of time and develop a new future from it. I like the idea of playing with time, and that is what this book is about.

Book preview

Our Gods Have Returned

Copyright © 2023 by CP Harrison

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN

979-8-88945-404-5 (Paperback)

979-8-88945-405-2 (eBook)

979-8-88945-406-9 (Hardback)

Brilliant Books Literary

137 Forest Park Lane Thomasville

North Carolina 27360 USA

Dedication

To My loving wife, who has supported and inspired me throughout the time we have been together. Without her love and support, I do not believe this story would have come about.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

PREFACE

For eons, the people of this world have wondered about other life in the universe. They have speculated about a first contact with extra-terrestrial life and how it would happen.

Would it be a peaceful meeting?

Would it be a conquering of our world?

Would they eliminate all human life and take the world for their own?

This story is about a small group of people who have come to a first contact situation and how they handle it. All they know from the beginning is that everything has changed in their world. They know nothing of what has happened to the people and the world outside of their little group. They only know they have survived and must continue to survive.

What they find will differ completely from what they thought was happening. It will change their fundamental views and beliefs about what they all knew.

CP Harrison

Chapter

1

Come on, guys! Bill Jenson called to his kids. If you don’t hurry, we might as well not bother to go.

He then heard the stomping of feet as both children ran down the hall and came flying downstairs. They both ran by their father and out the door. His wife, Judy, followed them out, giving Bill a smile.

As she went by him, he whispered, Works every time.

His wife simply smiled over her shoulder as she whispered back, Not for much longer.

As he continued to walk to the car, he thought about what she had said. It hadn’t hit him yet that his kids were getting older, especially his son. They were both still excited about the day trips they took. This year BJ will be a teenager and will look for kids his age to hang out with and forget about his old man. Nancy was only 3 years younger, and he still had a little time with her.

These thoughts would have to wait for another time to think about. Right now, the kids are still excited about today’s trip. He started the car and backed out of the driveway. As he put the car in drive, Nancy spoke up with a sarcastically whiny voice, Where are we going today, Daddy?

He smiled while concentrating on his driving. He said over his shoulder, You know how this works. Ask questions to find out.

There were a couple of sighs from the back seat, but no one started the game. Bill began, I’ll start it out. He looked in the rear-view mirror. We are going to be going west for a little while.

BJ sat there, like he wasn’t interested in this game, but Bill knew how he played it. He would listen intently to the questions and answers and then shout out the answer before his little sister. Nancy never caught on to her brother’s way. However, she started the questioning, How long will we be going west?

It was a good question. Nancy’s questions were showing she was now actually thinking about it. Bill thought for a moment, then answered, I guess about forty-five minutes or so.

She thought for a while, then asked, What direction will we then go?

Bill only said, We will then turn left.

Nancy sternly shouted back, That isn’t a direction, Daddy!

Her brother leaned toward her and told her in a loud whisper, If we’re going west and turn left, which way would that be? As he told her this, he used his hand to show her.

Suddenly she shouted out, South, we’re going to go South!

Bill turned and gave JB a stern look, and then he nodded.

Nancy again thought about it some, then asked again, How long will we go in that direction?

He wasn’t sure about it this time, so he could only tell her, I’m not sure, but less than an hour, I would think.

Glancing in the rear-view mirror, Bill could see both his kids were thinking. He gave them a clue, I think we are going to be doing a little spelunking.

Now BJ was showing some interest. What is that, Dad?

Nancy unfastened her seatbelt and slid forward to whisper to her mother, Mommy, what does spee…, whatever that was that Daddy said we are going to do?

Judy turned back and scolded Nancy to put her seatbelt back on. She then smiled at her husband and told Nancy. Look it up. She then handed Nancy her phone.

Nancy played with the phone a moment the asked, How is that spelled?

Judy, being a teacher, was never one to waste an opportunity. She turned and put her arm up on the seat back and told Nancy, You’re going to have to sound it out.

Nancy slumped back in her seat and then told her mother, I can’t even say it.

Bill then said over his shoulder, Spe...Lunk…ing.

Nancy started by saying, s.

Judy nodded.

So, Nancy typed that into the phone and then said. p.

Judy nodded again and said, Very Good.

Nancy next guessed, l.

Her mother shook her head and told her, Before the l, you need a vowel.

Nancy thought about it, and then with excitement, she yelled, e!

Yes, that’s right.

Now she guessed the l came next, and this went on until she had most of the word. Then the phone gave it away. Nancy hit enter, and then a list of things came up. After looking at it for a moment, she went to the Wikipedia site. Her mother had taught her that this site usually would help the most. When it came up, she took a little while to read it; however, she made sure she turned the phone away from her brother, who was trying to peek at the screen.

After a couple of minutes, Nancy shouted out with excitement, We’re going to go into a cave!

Judy smiled at her, and her father said, Yep, that’s right. We’re going to Luray Caverns.

At first, there was a flurry of questions, mainly from Nancy, but BJ was a little interested and asked some questions. However, this only lasted for a short time, and then the children quieted down. Nancy was doing something on the phone, and BJ sat there watching out the windows.

When Bill finally turned off the interstate, the interest came back for both his kids. They both kept trying to look for signs and trying to be the first to see them. Unfortunately for Nancy, most of the road signs were on BJ’s side of the car. It wasn’t long before he yelled out, You need to turn right at the light.

Bill only took a glance towards him to say, Thank you.

As he turned back to the road, he saw a slight smile on his wife’s face. 

It didn’t take long before they saw the big parking lot for the caves. It was on Nancy’s side of the car, and as soon as she saw it, she yelled out, Daddy, is that it?

When Bill nodded, she turned to her brother to rub it in. I saw it first! she taunted her brother. 

BJ said nothing back to her but sat there looking out of his window, which he knew would make her mad. This activity was the usual way it went on these trips. It was all part of the game they played whenever the family went out.

Bill quickly pulled into the parking lot. As they drove through, his kids looked at all the things there were to do. Nancy wanted to go through the maze, while BJ’s priority was to see the old cars. After Bill parked, he let BJ have his way first, since Nancy was so cruel about winning the game in the car. Now, it was BJ’s turn to rub it in, and he never passed up an opportunity to get back at his little sister. 

They all headed towards the ticket booth. While Bill was getting the tickets, Judy was looking over all the information signs. She, also, was not one to pass up an excellent opportunity. As a teacher, she used this chance to work on Nancy’s reading. She had Nancy read the signs while she helped her.

Bill got the tickets, and they headed off to the car museum. At first, BJ face showed little interest with the wagons and such. However, as soon as they got to the cars, he was in heaven. It was a good thing the museum had ropes to keep people from getting too close, because BJ would surely have drooled on some of them.

When they left the museum, it was now Nancy’s turn. She was running ahead of her family until her mother called her back. It was only a short walk to the maze, but Nancy couldn’t wait. Once they got there, she had to be the first one in, and in no time, she was out of sight. As BJ began, his mother yelled at him, Try to keep an eye on her!

BJ looked at his mother with a disgusted look, but smiled back at her and nodded.

Bill and Judy waited outside while the kids tried to find their way through the maze. It took a little longer than Bill wanted for the kids to find their way out again. When he saw them, BJ was right behind his little sister, watching her. When Nancy saw the exit, she ran ahead of him and waited by the gate to tell her brother that she had won. 

BJ kept nodding at her, but said nothing. He found out a long time ago that when he didn’t respond to her, she really couldn’t say anything else. That made her madder than if he had given a response to her. This time, though, it didn’t work because her attention quickly turned to the caves.

They took the short walk over to the cave entrance. Nancy stayed with her mother and held her hand as they walked. Once inside, they had a brief wait for the next tour to start, so they walked around the gift shop. It didn’t take Nancy long before she started asking for this or that. Each time, Bill told her the same thing, Wait until after the tour, so we don’t have to carry things around down there.

Nancy would go back and put the item that she wanted away. Sometimes she would put it in the back or hide it behind something else so that no one could take it.

Soon they heard their tour group call, and they formed up with the rest of the people. Bill figured there were about thirty people in the group, and the only children were his. The guide introduced herself as Pam, but Nancy was too excited to listen to her. However, Judy yanked her hand when the safety instructions started. She pointed to the young girl talking and said, You need to listen now.

Nancy tried her best to listen, but she was way too excited. The tour guide finished her instructions and led the group down the stairs into the cave. Now, even though Nancy was very excited, she gripped her mother’s hand.

Bill had brought his little camera and began taking pictures of both the kids and the cave. Each time there was a fascinating thing, they would take a group picture. Twice, a younger couple, who were behind them, offered to take the picture so they could all be in it. Every time Nancy would get either in front of or beside her father. She was indeed Daddy’s Little Girl.

As the tour was ending, they came into a large open area. The only thing that was really in there was what looked like an organ. Bill had read about this. Gathering his little group together, he quietly explained, They have put little hammers on the stalactites. As they play the organ, the hammers will hit the right stalactite. Each of the stalactites had just the right pitch.

Quickly, everyone hushed as Pam turned it on. The sound came from all around them. Because of the echo in this room, you couldn’t tell where each of the hammers was. After looking around, Bill found a couple, and they all watched as the hammer hit the stalactites. It was such a beautiful sound. However, Bill heard a thump not long after the music started and felt the tiniest vibration under his foot. 

Shortly, there were a series of thumps. Some were stronger than others, like whatever it was, is getting closer. It didn’t take too long before it sounded very close, and the ground almost threw Bill and his family to the ground. Then the lights in the entire cave suddenly went out. Nancy screamed, but she wasn’t the only one. After the initial shock, people started thinking, and soon there were enough lights from cell phones to light up the place pretty well. 

As Bill turned on his cell phone light, he found Judy on the floor where Nancy held onto her mother and shook. BJ was standing over them, looking around. He then turned to look around the cave. There were small groups, probably family or friend groups, scattered around the chamber. Soon the emergency lights came on. They were a little better than cell phones, but not by much. Now he searched for one person, Pam, the tour guide. She would be the one with the answers.

After scanning the room, he found Pam squatting down next to the organ. She held her flashlight in both hands, clutched close to her chest. Bill could see how scared their tour guide was. He slowly made his way up to where she was hiding. As he walked up to her, he saw the fear in her eyes. He squatted next to her and asked, Are you all right?

She turned to look at him as though she had not even seen him walk up. She didn’t speak, but slowly nodded her head. 

He smiled at her, and it seemed to relax Pam a little. He then looked back out at the people. Most of them were watching him and Pam. He leaned toward her and whispered, Do you know what to do when there is an emergency like this?

Pam nodded again while pulling a little radio out of a pouch on her side. She looked at it as she slowly explained. When something like this happens, we are to stay where we are until there is a message with instructions from above.

He took the radio as she held it up. When he keyed it and called, Bill was met with silence.

Bill continued to watch her and again smiled at her. This time, she smiled back. As he stood, he returned the radio and offered a hand to help her stand. He again whispered, I think you should explain things to these people so they will also feel better.

Pan took his hand as she stood, as she slyly nodded an agreement. She then took a couple of shaky steps forward. As she did, the people moved closer to her. It was apparent that she was very nervous, and as she started speaking, it was very soft. Quickly, someone in the crowd called out that they could not hear her. Pam cleared her throat before she began again, When we lose power like this, we need to stay together and in place until we hear from the office up top. I have the radio here. She then held up the radio so everyone could see it and then continued. So far, there has been no word. As soon as I hear something, I will let you know. So, the best thing to do is to stay calm and stay together. Someone will contact us shortly.

As soon as she finished, she turned back to him. He thought it might be so she wouldn’t have to answer any question. Bill thought she did very well, though she was so scared. Reaching for her, he patted her on the shoulder as he went to step by her. She simply returned to her spot. 

Bill went back to his family and found a comfortable place to sit. As soon as he did, Nancy jumped onto his lap and put her arms around his neck. She had been crying, and the tears were still on her cheeks. Her father gently wiped the tears away with his sleeve and slowly rocked with her. BJ sat down beside his mother, put his arm in hers, and laid his head on her shoulder. As Bill watched, Judy looked up at her husband and then back at the children and smiled a motherly, scared smile.

After about an hour, the people became nervous and began talking themselves into a panic. Bill watched Pam and could see she also looked scared and figured she was way above her head in this mess. He stood Nancy up and pointed for her to sit with her mother. Standing, he walked over to Pam, who seemed relieved when he walked up to her. As he squatted down in front of her, he asked, There’s been no word yet?

Pam pulled the radio out again, and