As the team members became conscious, they realized that they were in a dimly lit room. Candles were providing the light, but there were numerous shadows, which made it difficult to get an accurate view of their surroundings.
One thing that terrified them was the way the room looked was exactly how it looked in their dreams the other night. And a sense of foreboding overtook them. They could hear activity outside the walls, heavy plodding noises and muffled voices with a booming quality.
They started talking amongst themselves about their situation, but the only thing that they could agree on was that was what they saw in the dream.
Eventually, they heard a door open loudly, and heavy footsteps got closer and closer, stopping just at the edge of the shadows. They couldn't make out the figure, but the outline of the shape was that of something massive. And fear started to paralyze them.
A female voice barked at them. And it was in English, which was surprising, considering the makeup of the room had an old European feel about it. The voice had commanded the females of the group step forward. The three ladies complied.
Then the figure emerged from the shadows. She must have stood around nine and a half feet tall, and weighed at least 400 pounds, but she was not far. Far from it, she had some muscle definition, and broad shoulders, and long black hair.
She instructed the women to follow her, and she led them to another room, one that was brightly lit. The women were escorted to a large table and told to sit. Then another woman entered the room, one slightly taller and larger than the one who just escorted them. She was dressed like a queen, or a very important leader of some kind. She ordered the other woman to go back and check on the men. She sat down. The three ladies feet were dangling quite a distance from the floor.
The lady said that she was the queen of this village. She explained that women were the ones that made all decisions in the village, and that the men were smaller and weaker the females. And even though the three ladies were extremely small by comparison, they would be in charge of the men that came with them.
The girls looked at each other in disbelief. They weren't sure if this was a joke. But they kept quiet and continued to listen. The three women looked at each other in disbelief. The tall woman sitting on the other side of the table could see their confused look. She smiled, but it wasn’t one of evil or danger, but one of warmth. This put the three women at ease.
The tall lady then started to explain the history of their village. She said her name was Queen Stella, and where they were was a place called Aphroditis on the planet Athenian. And as far as she knew, their village was the only one on their world where females were the dominant sex. All of the women were mighty warriors, bigger and stronger than any man. But the problem was that they were being attacked by numerically superior male armies, intimidated by the size of the women. And although the men could not outright beat Aphoditis’ female army, they kept killing the village’s men when they would gather firewood in the forest.
They did this in order to stop the women from having children, hoping that they would eventually die off as they grew older with no children to run the village. But the Goddess Hera, supreme deity of Athenian, would send them signs, in which the women of Aphroditis would travel into the forest when there was a blue glow, and then return to the village with new men. Sometimes there would be females with them, smaller than the males.
The three women looked at each other and realized that if what Queen Stella was the truth, that would explain all those mysterious disappearances.
One of the researchers asked Queen Stella what became of the strangers brought back from the forest when the blue glow faded.
Queen Stella said that those brought back were unharmed. The males were given to females aged 14 to become their husbands, and any females brought back was instructed on the ways of the village, and when they were ready, were put in charge of men to make sure that all supplies were procured for the winter months, and that women warriors had proper equipment and weapons for any potential battles.
Queen Stella then asked the three women who they were, and what they did. The women responded that they were scientists investigating the mysterious disappearances of people that were hiking through the woods. Queen Stella was intrigued. The village lacked any scientific knowledge, instead relying on the strength of the women to make life better. Here were three scientists, women no less, and they could help the village improve their lives.
Queen Stella asked them about the other members of their group, the males. The women replied that they were scientists also, sent on the same mission as them. Queen Stella smiled. She called for one of her aides to come escort the women through the village.
The aide came. She couldn’t have been more than 16-17 years of age, but was already over 9’ in height. They women followed her out of the room.
The Queen then called for another one of her aids, and directed that the men in the room be brought before her. She was sure that the Goddess Hera had brought this group of people to their village for a reason. She needed to ask questions of the males in order to get a better understanding of what they could offer their village.
The men were brought before Queen Stella and seated at the table. Seven men seated on one side of the table, with their feet dangling off the ground, and Queen Stella sitting on the other side, looking like the table was too small for her.
Queen Stella introduced herself to the men. She told them the same thing she had told the women earlier, that this was the village of Aphroditis and that the planet’s name was Athenian.
The men weren’t quite sure if she was telling the truth, so the team leader asked Queen Stella some questions. If what she had said was the truth, how come there was no record of this world where they came from. Queen Stella thought for a moment. She had no answer, other than to say that the Hera was the Goddess that created everything on this world, and was responsible for the great size of the women.
The team leader thought for a moment. There was an Ancient Greek myth that he had read about where Zeus, Hercules, and Perseus, had all disappeared from Mt Olympus without a trace, and how Hera had assumed control of The Gods. But to him, it had always been a myth. What if it was true?
The team leader asked Queen Stella about the arrow and the sandal that they had found in the woods on their home world, and produced the objects that had discovered.
Queen Stella looked at them and smiled. She explained about the situation with her village and the neighboring villages, and how their men were constantly being killed to prevent the women from reproducing. Then they would receive a sign from the Goddess signaling the women to enter the forest when there was a blue glow. That was a sign that men were ready to be brought back.
However, the last time they brought men back, one of them was being chased by a bear, and one of her women misjudged the size of the bear by about a foot, and when the bear turned his attention to her, the sandal slipped off as she made her way back to the village.
The team leader asked if any of the people brought back to the village had been harmed. The Queen said no one had been harmed by the women of the village, but that the male armies of the surrounding villages had killed quite a few. The women of Aphroditis may have been bigger and stronger than the men, but the men had superior numbers.
The team leader thought for a moment, then studied the tall woman on the other side of the table. For the first time, his scientific mind stopped working, and his male mind took over. She was an incredible beautiful woman. She may be extremely tall and have broad shoulders, but her face was angelic. He felt something stirring inside him, but he quickly went back to asking questions.
Was there any way back to their world? Queen Stella answered no, that if the Goddess Hera had brought them here, they were here forever. The men of the team started to object, but the Queen raised her voice commanding them to be quiet. They immediately shut up. The woman before them may have been beautiful, but she was as intimidating as hell. So the men obeyed her command.
She called for her aide to escort the men through the village to acclimate them on their new home. But she instructed that the team leader be left with her. He may have been a man, but he was an attractive, and he was extremely intelligent. He had stirred something inside of her.