Read Online The Day of the Nefilim by David L. Major - Free Book Online Page A

was quite affable when he’d had a few. He should do it more often, the General realized. “Bring a couple of the Nefilim back with you, if they’re agreeable. Tell them we need to meet personally. There are some decisions to make. I’m just sitting here having a drink with President Veal, we’d both like to say hello, wouldn’t we, Helmut? Yes, of course we would. See what you can do, there’s a good General…”
    The Secretary-General reached forward and cut the connec-tion, already turning, laughing, to continue his conversation with the President of Europe.
    * * *
    Bryce had been surprisingly hard to persuade, but descriptions of creatures with multiple rows of sharp teeth and coal-black eyes with glowing red pupils, combined with Bark’s retelling of the General’s capacity for immediate and terminal discipline, finally did the trick. They turned back towards the surface.
    “I suppose that means we’ll never get to see one of these creatures,” Reina said.
    “I’ll draw you a picture,” replied Bark impatiently.
    “What about Thead?” broke in Sahrin.
    “Yes, what about your friend?” asked Bryce. “You aren’t going to leave him down there, are you?”
    “Oh, yes, Thead,” replied Bark, not sure that he wanted to be reminded. He cursed quietly to himself. They turned back, not at all sure what good they could do. The two locals, not about to be left alone, followed.
    “Just as you should, without a doubt,” fumes the Senator, who for some reason regards himself as the closest thing to a friend that Thead has got. Frustrated by his inability to talk to anyone, the Senator is beginning to feel alone, surrounded by the ghosts of the present.
    * * *
    The General noticed that Thead was getting active again, recovering from the stupor of terror that had been keeping him conveniently immobile. He gestured, telling Thead to come and stand where he could keep an eye on him.
    Thead got to his feet and came over, not happy at lessening the distance between himself and the Nefilim. One of them sensed his fear and snarled, eyes flashing, thin lips sliding back over its teeth.
    The General watched as the floor slowly claimed the soldier and the female archaeologist. After a few minutes, the only sign of them was a few irregularities in the rock surface. Finally the stone crept over them, like moss growing over something rotting on a forest floor. There was no trace at all left of the two victims.
    A new, more urgent tone entered the sound that had been pulsing through the room. Visible aethers moved around the Nefilim as they communicated between themselves.
    So this is how it is done, then, the General thought to himself.
    So they’re doing it again, Thead thought to himself, recalling the legends in which other races served as the catalysts for the Nefilim grids.
    Thead could see from the General’s face that he had never seen this before.
    “Like a crystal, in a radio set,” Thead said, moving closer. “Their energy will be used as a tuning device by their grid. I hope you’ve done some research on your new friends. It is never a good idea to enter into an agreement with an unknown quantity. Or that’s how it is in most places I’ve visited. Perhaps you do things differently here.” He was prattling. He stopped when he saw the General’s face darken.
    The General didn’t reply, but he understood what Thead meant.
    The lines of energy and force that covered the planet’s surface formed a geometric pattern of finely tuned links, each of which was allocated a function in the grid. This was the source of the mythology surrounding ley lines, sites of power and gravity anomalies. Sometimes there was some science involved, but usually it was too heavily rooted in folklore to mean much.
    But this was the real thing. As Thead had said, the life forces of the victims would act like crystals, focusing the earth’s raw energy and sending it, in a purified and concentrated form, to other points on the