Then is Now: Week Two of “Beyond Big-G City” -or- Time Waits for No One!
This Week in Beyond Big-G City!
Week Two:
Many Locations, June 20-June 26, 2025
Friday, June 27, City of Mount Olympus. Hera hosts David at a bon voyage lunch. Though the pair adamantly refuses to bond as mother and son, she gifts David with the power of Biggest of Big-Gs cloaking: impenetrable invisibility he can invoke at will for protection in the mortal world.
At Aphrodite’s mansion, the Goddess of Love is furious with husband Hephaestus (God of Fire and many other useful things), who laughs until he cries when she tells him about Monique’s proposal to sell erotic costumes to Marriage and the Media. As he puts it: “It cracks me up that you’re going to sell sex toys to my mother.” To change the subject she seduces him, eager to conduct an erotic costume test run.
Monday, June 30 Obsessed with joining David on his upcoming quest, Cleo applies to extend her one-month vacation to a six month leave of absence. On her way to tell David she finds him struggling up his apartment building steps under a huge pile of books- -research for his trip. Playing it cool, she tells him she’ll visit her parents at their home in Petra, Jordan. She invites him to visit her there, with “whoever you’re traveling with,” fearing it will be the woman who was in his sleeping alcove. Turns out he’s traveling solo, couldn’t persuade a classmate who speaks Arabic to go with him as a translator. Cleo, delighted to find an in, admits she speaks Arabic and maybe, if she’s not too busy, she could go with him.
Hermes is up to his brilliant neck in women trouble. Cleo’s six month leave request arrives with a note from boss Veronica, urging him to approve. With his top assistant gone, how in Heaven and Earth will he turn back climate change? He is also dogged by a persistent and possessive secret lover. Though determined to dump her when they meet for lunch tomorrow, he knows himself well enough to realize he’ll waver if she starts her usual come-on.
Tuesday, July 1 Ilithyia, Goddess of Childbirth, aka Elle, works in an unidentified Mortal Desert. She and her all-female security force face down a gang of camo-wearing highwaymen intent on stealing their truck of humanitarian aid supplies. With the athleticism of a super-hero, Elle dispatches the villains. Her team and the supplies arrive at Beta Village, a refugee camp created and funded by NGO WomanFront. Elle tours the village, witnesses the heartwarming progress of a child recovering from starvation learning to walk again. Before returning to base camp, she lays a spell of protection on the village, shielding it from highwaymen and overlords.
Back in the City of Mount Olympus, Monique ascends to the Olympus, Inc., cafeteria. Hardly a romantic spot, but as she possesses even greater skills of seduction than Aphrodite, she knows she’ll not only prevent Hermes from dumping her over lunch, she’ll once more reel him in with the discreet mention of his secret penchant for. . .
The Okanogan, British Columbia, Canada! Persephone, as scheduled by Demeter (Goddess of Agriculture), gives her benediction to Canada’s wine region. Due to unseasonably warm weather, the crop has matured weeks ahead of schedule. Extreme heat has killed off California’s grape harvest and destroyed twenty percent of the world’s rice. Persephone wonders how long Earth can hang on without a massive starvation epidemic. Because even immortals have to eat.
Wednesday, July 2, former US Secretary of Defense and WomanFront CEO Jocelyn Chadwick arrives at Elle’s base camp. She shows Elle a dispatch from Olympus, Inc., announcing the arrival of Ares and a special agent at base camp after sunset. They are aghast when the visitors arrive- -the special agent is the perpetually inebriated reprobate Pan! His secret ops mission: to party on down with the bad guys. . .
After a few days of practice, on Thursday, July 3, David is ready to test his command of Biggest of Big-Gs cloaking. He chooses Club Dionysus, a favorite Big-G dining venue, and is delighted to find Aphrodite and Hephaestus at a candlelit table for two. After teasing them by whispering their names, unseen, he gleefully materializes alongside their table. He tells them about his upcoming quest to the Holy Land, in search of information about his father. At first Aphrodite is miffed about their date being interrupted, but then she realizes: She visited the Galilee region near the time of David’s birth and has a very good idea who his father is. She suggests he visit the resort town of Tiberias, dropping the intel that Hera was chummy with Herod Antipas, who had a palace there. . .
The story continues next week!
Then is Now: Greek history ancient and very contemporary, actual and highly imagined. . .If you’re burned out by current events, maybe it’s time for a trip to an alternate history, Beyond Big-G City. . .
