God and Cosmic Evil
I'll take that as an invitation.
I'm cheating slightly and posting something I had already written.
This is a Doctor Who story. The reason I am posting it is to show the potential for the short story within fan fiction. With a show like Doctor Who, you have a vast amount of continuity, as well as a wide range of characters. How do you use that to advantage in a short story?
The piece below is part of a series of short stories that I wrote. Although it is part of a series, it is a self-contained incident (with reference to other stories) and I know some people enjoyed who had not read any of the other stories in the series.
It demonstrates how you can offer perspectives on the backstory within a fantasy/sci-fi perspective, as well as exploration of how a character reacts to them. It also offers the chance to explore something not so much seen in Doctor Who- the religious perspective of the characters.
God and Cosmic Evil
As they walked through the forest, Klein asked the Doctor what planet they were on.
"Knuhm," he replied.
"Knuhm? Is that not the name of the Egyptian deity whose temple we visited in ancient Egypt, in Elephantine?"
"Indeed, Klein. Having exhausted all the Roman gods, humans went on to name planets after Egyptian gods. The original inhabitants are all extinct, so what they called it, no one can say."
Klein's memory of ancient Egypt was a little foggy. "I remember entering the temple, but I can't remember anything after that."
"Yes, you were badly affected by race memories. An effect of encountering beings from your primordial past," said the Doctor.
The pair approached a ruined temple. There was something foreboding about it, a lingering sense of rancid evil.
"Shall we go and explore?" asked the Doctor.
"That is what we are here for, Herr Doctor," replied Klein, determined not to show any trepidation.
Though the temple was partially in ruins, it became apparent that much of it was very well preserved. It was decorated with many strange statues, some of them quite disturbing. There were winged serpents with many heads and masses of eyes, as well as monstrous bat-like creatures. There were also many carvings depicting vast armies engaged in bloody warfare, disemboweled corpses and hideous dog-like creatures tearing other beings apart.
Klein was not a superstitious person, but she was convinced that there was something absolutely evil about the place. Not just any evil, but a twisted, maddening horror. She thought she could hear a voice whispering through the air, saying 'Look out! We are coming back!' The place seemed to be playing tricks on her mind. Once or twice she even thought she could see fleeting images shifting before her.
"We've seen enough," said the Doctor. He led the way out of the temple.
"Doctor, what is this place?" Klein asked.
"Billions of years ago, when the universe was still young, my people experimented with black holes in order to gain mastery over time. They unwittingly opened a gateway to another universe, allowing in creatures called the Yssgaroth."
"What kind of creatures were they, Doctor?"
"It's not clear whether they were real beings or simply a force of negative energy antithetical to this cosmos. They usually manifested themselves as monstrous winged serpents like some of the statues in that temple. They desired only to destroy and corrupt this universe."
"If these things came from another universe with different physical laws, they must have been an unstoppable force," said Klein.
"They had a weakness. As their nature was antithetical to this universe, they were unable to remain in it for long. They found a solution to that, however."
The Doctor's face snarled as he explained these things. Clearly it was a subject that troubled him deeply.
"The Yssgaroth absorbed some of the biomatter of this universe and fashioned for themselves bodies of flesh. They became terrible creatures; giant bat-like monsters that feasted on blood."
"Vampires," whispered Klein with a shiver.
"That is where the legends originally came from. Not only did the Yssgaroth create bodies for themselves, but they also transformed and corrupted the biodata of many lifeforms in this universe, turning them into vampires. My people, the Time Lords were assaulted by a vast army of monsters. The vampires had allies too."
Despite being disturbed by these tales, Klein was fascinated. There was an epic quality to these legends, like one of Wagner's operas.
"Before this universe was born, there was another universe, a very different one. Some of its inhabitants survived its destruction and made their way into the new universe. They were known as the Great Old Ones, beings with terrible power. Among them were Yog-Sothoth, known as the Great Intelligence and Hastur the Unspeakable, known as Fenric. Fenric was the first of the Old Ones to make common cause with the Yssgaroth. Those wolf-like creatures in the temple carvings were his beasts. The Time Lords were almost overthrown by such power that was assailed against them. The war they fought across space lasted so long that it was known as the Eternal War."
"The Time Lords won this war?" asked Klein.
"They did, and it changed them forever. After facing such powers they had become gods and they saw fit to shape the universe as they pleased."
"Where does the temple come in to this?"
The Doctor frowned. "The Yssgaroth spread so far across the cosmos that they came to be worshipped on many planets. The original inhabitants of Knuhm erected temples like one to the Yssgaroth. There are even hidden cults amongst humanity that seek the return of their kind. There are always foolish people who seek power from sources far beyond them. My big worry is that the new colonists on Knuhm may take too much interest in this temple. I suspect I may have to return here."
Klein dwelt upon the things the Doctor told her about the Eternal War and the Yssgaroth. The thought of such cosmic horrors had shaken her to the core. The things worshipped in that temple were pure evil. The universe now seemed a much darker place and from what the Doctor had told her, the host of Time Lords were almost as bleak as the monsters they had fought.
There had to be a God somewhere in this dark and treacherous universe. Klein had to believe that. She had never been a religious woman, but she was no atheist. Atheism was for Communists. In her timeline, Christianity had been in decline since the Third Reich's victory over Europe, though in the Sixties it had begun a resurgence.
Klein had never given the subject of God much thought before. Her parents' true religion had been National Socialism, but they had still counted themselves as good Protestants and had her baptized and had taken her to church on occasions. Perhaps with such evil things inhabiting the universe, she needed to give faith some more thought.
That night, after she had put on her nightgown, before climbing into bed, she knelt down and prayed.
"Dear God," Klein prayed. "I don't think I have prayed since I was a little girl, but I thought I had better start now. I have seen such evils in this universe. I have seen such chaos. The forces of good and right must triumph somehow. God in heaven, I believe you are real. Show your power and grant me the chance to restore the Third Reich to what it should be. Let me reclaim the destiny that should belong to my race and people."
Klein got into bed and drifted into sleep, confident that God would grant her prayer.
