Chapter 17
November 3,390 BC
Earth: Village of Assur
GITA
The pounding on the door startled Gita out of a fitful sleep. Beneath her, she heard her father curse, and then a crash as the clay urn which held last night's mead shattered upon the floor of the hovel which was her home. She grabbed at the ropes which kept her hammock suspended above the living quarters. Once upon a time their house had a second floor, but it had long ago collapsed due to termites and lack of maintenance, leaving Gita with nothing more than a few floor struts from which to suspend her belongings.
"Go away!" her father Merariy shouted.
"Open the door, you lousy drunk!" a familiar voice shouted from outside the door. "Or I'll bash it down!"
Gita's eyes shot open. Her heart pounded in her throat as the awful t
