The travelers slept around the campfire that night. No one said anything in particular or suggested it, but everyone felt the same. It was that feeling that they were being watched, and that feeling would not go away easily. They all felt the need for company and the need to watch each other’s backs.

When the stars glistened and the moon rose, Boston woke up feeling antsy. She felt like she missed something, but her hand went straight to the amulet and found it hanging around her neck where she had vowed to always keep it. She thought that perhaps she missed something in her backpack, so she got up as quietly as she could and inched to her tent. The tent flap was closed. When she opened it, she screamed. Two dog-yellow eyes peered back at her.

Everyone woke and hurried to her. But she watched as the eyes darted to the side. Boston almost looked in the same direction though nothing could be seen through the tent. Then the eyes sank into the ground. Lockhart and Katie arrived in time to see the last bit of the eyes before they vanished in the dirt. Then they heard the sound of thunder.

“That’s the river!” Lincoln shouted, drawing on some memory from his years in the CIA before he came to work for the men in black.

“Make for higher ground!” Alexis shouted, and they started for the temple they had seen earlier in the day. Boston tried for the palace, but Lockhart and Roland combined to drag her to the temple steps.

“Someone has to warn Anenki,” Boston protested.

“Can’t worry about that now,” Lockhart said, as he shoved her up the lowest set of steps. The temple consisted of five terrace layers of solid bricks. Each layer stood a man’s height and set back a man’s height in distance from the lower level. The fifth and topmost level looked about the size of a house. It was, in fact, the actual temple part, where priests sacrificed the animals on a stone slab, and dedicated the fruits in season to Enki, god of Eridu.

When everyone got to the temple, they saw the water. It looked like a black snake against the ground. Curiously, it kept its shape even when driven out of its banks. It curved and ran right over their camp. It extinguished the fire there and came on to the temple. It crashed against the bricks and shook the structure, but the temple seemed to be too much for the river, and the travelers had climbed too high up to reach.

A man came out of the building when the water arrived. After one good crash against the bottom most layers of the step pyramid, the man waved his hand. The waters obeyed some imperative and turned away. They rushed right past the front door of the palace and reentered the riverbed. No further water came from the river after that.

“Looks like you have a bug problem,” the man said. “Like a cockroach, you know.” He pushed his glasses up on his face and smiled. That action got the ones close enough to see in the dark to raise their collective eyebrows. What was a Neolithic man doing with eyeglasses?

“A present from Anenki,” the man answered their unasked question and vanished.

“What?” Boston wondered.

“Enki, I presume,” Lockhart responded.

“I think he means the bokarus,” Roland responded differently. “The cockroach, I mean.”

“Darn.” Lincoln walked up to join the group. “And for once I was having a good dream. Now all our stuff is going to be soaked.

Their stuff, as Lincoln called it, turned out to be in place, dry and the technology all functioned normally. Their tents were amazingly still up, and the fire got relit. “Enki went to great lengths to be thorough,” Lincoln commented.

“Yes, thanks,” Lockhart said with a look to the sky. He explained to Boston’s curious face. “It never hurts to be polite.”

“Exactly,” Lincoln agreed. “Thank you. I recall from the stick people what it means to get on the wrong side of the gods.”

“Oh, Lincoln,” Alexis protested and dragged him off. “I was trying to forget about all that.”

Everyone slept well after that. They felt that if they were being watched, they were also being watched over by someone far more capable than a bokarus cockroach.

~~~*~~~

When the morning came, they felt refreshed and after some fake coffee, they trooped down to the cooking fires.

Risah, already up and moving, worked on the luncheon for their coming guest. Lili was there with Nanna and Niudim, but Lili presently talked with a young man. When Alexis and Boston walked up, Lili introduced Gordon who said he was pleased to meet them and promptly decided he had better get to work. Alexis and Boston both watched Lili as Lili watched Gordon leave.

“He seems very nice,” Alexis said, as they went to join the others. Lili only smiled and nodded. Her tongue seemed tied.

Nanna, though, had no trouble talking. “Gordon, Gordon. It is all I hear.”

“Oh?” Boston got nosey. “A boyfriend, or maybe more?” Lili turned a little red.

“No way,” Nanna shook her head. “At least not until Gordon finds the courage to speak to Daddy.”

“Nanna!” Lili scolded her little sister, but Nanna thought it was funny, so Lili stomped off to help Aunt Risah with the mush.

“Careful,” Alexis spoke wisely. “It will be your turn one day.” Nanna paused but shook her head. That day seemed an eternity away. She responded typical of the way teenagers thought.

They all ate the mush. The gruel did not taste like grits or oatmeal or cream of wheat, exactly. It tasted like mush, helped with a little fruit on top, but not helped much. Lockhart gladly set his aside when he saw Anenki and Bashte arrive. They cooed at each other like they were the only two people in the world. Alexis and Boston sighed to see them, but Nanna thought it was gaggy.

“I mean, they are so old,” Nanna said.

“Good morning.” Niudim said and waved, like they were far away. Actually, nothing in Eridu was that far away as the morning proved. Anenki gave the travelers the grand tour, as he called it. They got done in an hour and ended up at the irrigation camp.

“Kiluk,” Anenki pointed. “He is the chief of the irrigation project. Presently he and his staff are setting the minimum standards for plowing new fields. As the city grows, we will need to cultivate more and more land.”

“Standards?” Katie asked.

“Sure,” Anenki smiled for her and waited for Lincoln to catch up in his notes. “Right now, innovation is highly prized. We are all trying new things and looking for ways to do things. But we need to set the standards to make sure the best ideas are not forgotten. In a generation, standards will become rules and we will be able to make improvements, but innovation will be harder. Another generation, and rules will become regulation as we give birth to inspectors. By the third generation, regulations will become traditions, and then innovation will be very difficult.”

“As quick as that?” Lincoln asked.

Anenki nodded. “About a hundred and fifty years, or so.”

Kiluk waved to the visitors and limped over to talk to a man. Alexis noticed and felt more concerned with the limp. “Crippled?”

“Since birth,” Anenki confirmed. “People like Kiluk and Niudim are one of the main reasons I agreed to build the first city. Normally, I don’t interfere like this. It isn’t safe, given all I know about the future. But in this case, I have innovated nothing. I just made it possible.”

“I suppose in the old days the life expectancy for someone like Kiluk would not be good,” Katie suggested.

“Or Niudim, or anyone who got old,” Anenki confirmed. “Now, at least they have a chance—for a few generations anyway.”

“I understand,” Lockhart said, and as they wandered over to the temple, Anenki heard all about the river in the night.

Anenki looked at the temple. Some of the bricks crumbled and several looked more like mush than bricks. “But hey, Duban is still working on the formula. Innovation, remember?”

~~~*~~~

Gagrena arrived close to three in the afternoon. She came into town seated in a plush chair, carried on the shoulders of four rather large men. Seven men followed her carrying spears like a kind of honor guard. Another dozen people came after that, women mostly, to attend to Gagrena’s needs.

“Welcome to Eridu.” Bashte had to say it. Anenki wanted to say some other things. To be sure, Gagrena looked like a beautiful girl who had become a stunning woman, especially with all the pampering. But she had the personality of a snake, and she had a bad attitude about everyone. In short, she only thought about herself, and believed everyone else should think about her too.

“Anenki.” Gagrena smiled at him. “Put me down, put me down.” As soon as her feet touched, she rushed up and threw herself into Anenki’s arms. He gave her a hug before he extracted himself from her bear-like grasp. He drew a line at the kiss. He did not want her kissing even his cheek in a friendly greeting.

“Welcome to Eridu,” Bashte tried again.

“Yes you.” Gagrena acknowledged her at last. “The nursemaid. And how are the children?”

“They are wonderful,” Bashte answered with a friendly smile. “I am sure they would love to see you. Why don’t we visit them? We could spend the afternoon in playtime.”

The look of horror that crossed Gagrena’s face looked priceless. Anenki felt impressed. Bashte did not have to do anything except tell the truth and be sincere.

“I did not come here to play with the children,” Gagrena responded. “That is your job, isn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s not a job. It’s fun.” Bashte stepped up and kissed Anenki, and they shared some passion in that kiss. Anenki responded with his whole heart, which made it worse for Gagrena. Then Bashte wandered off slowly toward where the children were playing.

“So, what brings you to Eridu? I thought you and Pak were going to build your own city?”

Gagrena watched Bashte and steamed. She looked at the sky and offered a suggestion. “Can we go inside where it is more private?”

“Of course,” Anenki could be gracious. “But your people will have to stay out here.” He shrugged. “We have a nice place for you to spend the night. It is right beside the rooms for the children.” Gagrena paused. “Of course, if you would rather stay out here where you could be attended by your people, I will understand.”

Gagrena frowned and waved Anenki to go with her to the door. “Pak is an idiot,” she said. “I have to do everything myself.” Anenki knew that meant she made all the decisions. He well remembered their few years together. He felt sure that did not mean she did actual work.  She would never lift a finger. “I am going to need some of your chief men for a while—just to teach my own people or my city will never be more than a big village.” Anenki understood. Eridu pioneered most of what would be needed to build and maintain a successful city. His only fear was once Gagrena got her hands on his experts, he might never get them back, alive.