The Rebirth of Earth

I, Nabu, invoke An, the eldest god, to give power to my tale. The gods, including myself, were present for the first creation and may be so again. May the reader of the present see both their future and their past.

After the Earth's surface was destroyed in nuclear war, some of her population fled to outer space, while others, led by the oceanographer Tiamat, developed a new civilization underneath the sea. They designed machines to produce oxygen from the sea water, and slowly built all the technology necessary to deal with the results of genetic mutation. Some grew tails like scorpions, others scales like fish. Snakes and dogs came below the sea with them, and evolved to resemble dragons and monsters of old.

To keep peace in this disparate underwater community, Tiamat cultivated close relationships with members of all communities, including the increasingly intelligent animals. Her submarine, nicknamed the Dragon, prowled around all the inhabitable oceans of the world, around reefs and through trenches. Also on board was the formerly evil scientist Qingu, who had repented from creating weapons of death and then devoted his considerable intellect to fabricating machines that would ease the quality of life for humans and animals alike. With the help of new technologies and low population density, all gained extraordinarily lengthy lifespans.

As the surface smoldered and the deeps birthed life, the spaceships that had fled earth long ago returned to see what resources could be salvaged and if their now-tested terra-forming could remake the Earth. The head hydrologist, Ea Nudimmud, noticed Tiamat's submarine while browsing his radar screen. He realized that she could be a rival to their intentions and passed the information on to Anshar Anu, head of the fleet. They attempted to pay Tiamat a visit, but were too terrified of the creatures of the deep to continue and fled back in their pods. Certain that the monsters must be evil, they decided to plan an attack on Tiamat's domain. However, none of their spaceships had weapons that could handle the changing pressures down to the depths where the seafolk dwelt.

At this time, they warily parleyed with a fleet that had made the longest journey, to and from a different galaxy. This fleet had developed far greater technology, and their advances had reached their peak under the chief engineer, Marduk. Ea and Anshar offered Marduk a tremendous bonus if he would join them in their fight. He demonstrated some his technology, including a machine that could make objects appear and disappear, and they were flabbergasted. So great was their amazement that they did not even read his contract, which under the pen of the ship's scribe, the author of this very tale, was a constitution rather than a contract. Under this agreement, Marduk gained power over both fleets and thus both galaxies, with particular control over Earth. With this at stake, he would have no mercy for Tiamat.

Marduk's weapon of choice was his weather-controlling device, which he used to target the so-called monsters that inhabited Earth's seas. He cooled some waters so drastically that their cold-blooded inhabitants went dormant and died. In other areas, he evaporated the waters until the population drowned. The remainder he electrocuted with lightning bolts.

All this while, Tiamat and Qingu were furiously attempting to find a defense mechanism against Marduk and his fleet's attacks. Qingu recognized some of the technology from prototypes he had worked with, but it was to no avail. He had sworn long ago to focus on instruments that would allow life to flourish instead of his earlier fatal machinery, and he had nothing left to rapidly weaponize. He collapsed, grieving the death of so many of his friends. Tiamat knew that her only choice was to challenge Marduk to single combat: her life for her world.

She drove her spaceship up to the surface, blinking a message of truce from the lights on top. Marduk hesitated, then realized that his victory was within his grasp. He first ascertained Tiamat's position with a sort of X-ray, then sliced through the ship and her very body with a laser. There was no one left to dispute his rule.

It is my deepest wish that this story might meet with your favor, O reader, and that you might glimpse some fraction of our divine splendor from the retelling.

Author's Note:

In the beginning, according to our ancient Babylonian myth, the sky gods did battle with the dark and evil gods of the deep. They feared the monsters of Tiamat, and so chose Marduk to do battle for them. He asked to be made the greatest of them and displayed his mighty weapons as proof that he could defeat Tiamat. After his victory, he divided her body to create the land of Mesopotamia. Since it is very difficult to modernize a creation story, I thought it best to make this a second beginning for Earth's civilization, post-apocalypse. The sky gods are represented by the space race, while the primordial gods of the deep are made the rulers of an underwater civilization. Just as in the original, they battle for control of Earth. While as you can see, I myself was on the side of the sky gods as Marduk's scribe, I have gained more sympathy with Tiamat over time and wanted to portray her well. Since this story is post-apocalyptic, I may make it a later chapter after I write the other stories, depending on how they fit together. In the original story, Marduk is chosen by the other gods to fight because of his magical powers and weapons, but I have made this story scientific rather than magical. Thus Tiamat's spaceship is a dragon, instead of Tiamat herself. I did not have Marduk remake the Earth from Tiamat's body, which might offend your modern sensibilities. Instead of making her skin into the sky, I had him put her ship in orbit as a trophy.

Bibliography:

"An/Anu (god)." Link.

"Sea Water Waves During Day Time." Link.

Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends: Babylonia and Assyria. David D. Nickerson & Company, 1916.

"Wave Smashing Schuim Spray Zee." Link.