Back on Earth, Jim was absolutely furious with the way that humans were conducting their affairs. Inefficiencies, abuse of power, and the worship of money, among other things struck him daily to aggravate him. Again he wondered why he should help these people, who really didn't seem to want his help. Antiope and he were rapidly losing money as Wall Street started to expect his intervention daily as they tried to cheat each other daily out of a dollar or two. Certainly he could make the gold, but it became apparent that they only liked him for what he could easily provide them with. Additionally their principles of economics did not apply to his need for rapid development. The human established governments would tend to discourage and disregard warnings that their ways were dying and would soon be antique because of overwhelming false assumptions. Many were betting that he would actually fail. How foolish to bet on their own destruction. Jim constructed a network virus so as to defend his enterprise from such counterproductive and subversive influences. These viruses would self-initiate if someone tried to use his instruments for a purpose other than designed.
Antiope and Helen loved the good life, which Jim was providing. His second escape from Isis with Helen was impressive, but he wondered why John went back with Isis. Then he thought about the story about him and Isis being dropped off by his father. He just could not remember. He had been young. He tried to remember his father. If Aphrodite was not his mother as thought, then who could it be. He sensed something very wrong. He knew he was Aphrodite's son from the genotomes Then he sensed a possible out. Suppose John brought twins from the past to Artemis. All Xanadu believed that was his origin, but Aphrodite would always tell them both that they were both her children and no one else's. Yet John never remembered delivering the twins. He tried to remember more. He did recall being delivered to Xanadu and that he had lived somewhere besides Xanadu for his first four years. Jim decided to make a very bold move. Determined that he was not going to be gone longer than a split second, but he himself would age as he determined it was time to travel time.
He went into his private cabin, and left the women in the recreation room. "Idiot, I am going to act under the assumption that we still have a few problems that must be solved. If he brought her twins before we were born, then those are necessarily other twins."
"Not necessarily."
"Impossible."
"Nothing's impossible."
"OK then, Idiot. How could it be possible?"
"Bear in mind that I have all the facts, but I don't have your memories. Suppose Aphrodite seduces John when he brings her the twins of Isis, and she gets pregnant in the process. What would you and John think if that happened?
"
"And we are evidence that no paradox occurred."
"Uncertain."
"Suppose John will have two sets of twins to deal with, and we have Isis in earth's past. This in addition to the Pegasus and John's Box now clearly being manifestations of earth's past. Our plan to stop the Venetian invasion also still hinges on your decisions."
"Go on. What must John do?"
"Leak the information about the twins to Artemis to prove that there is a next generation and then disappear with Aphrodite to meet with you, and here they come."
Within Jim's cabin appeared John's Box, John came out and beckoned Jim to come inside. Jim entered and there saw John, Aphrodite and the twins. John explained that Aphrodite was pregnant. They were going to live elsewhere and bring their children back to Artemis so they could live as Isis and Jim. Aphrodite smiled at Jim. She could scarcely believe she was looking at her son to be. Yet he was such a fine specimen, she could sense. John sent the twins to meet Jim and said, "These are the children of Isis. The same children that I took from her, from approximately 12,000 years ago, but they were conceived in our own time on this current earth. This is their time. I believe you might want to bring her back to the future as well. I'm afraid that earth is due for a great upheaval and the entire civilization that she strived to build will be lost for all generations. I did manage to build a few structures that survived the flood."
"Children, this is Jim. He built the Pegasus and sent it to the land of the pyramids." The children immediately identified with Jim then. "What am I supposed to do with these kids?"
"Well you could go get the mother and have her watch them."
"John, that's just not fair."
"Son, go bring your sister back for me," Aphrodite pleaded.
"What about the rest?"
"You can't save them all, but they do survive the flood."
"Do we know how many?"
"Do we really want to know?"
"Take the children Jim, We must go elsewhere. Aphrodite does not need to know the future. Also remember, the tongue can aggravate paradoxes as well. You'll know what to do. I have to make this one last maneuver and then I'm retiring."
"Or is it one last set of maneuverers?"
Jim bade farewell to John and Aphrodite as he took the children back into his cabin. The Box folded and disappeared. The children took it casually as if they had seen the same act a thousand times before. "John says that you have a Box too, Jim."
"Antiope! Helen!" Jim yelled as he escorted the children out of his cabin.
They could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw Jim's precious cargo. "My goodness, Jim . Where did these children come from? Genie is good, but it certainly isn't that good."
"Well it seems that these children belong to Isis."
The women lurched back. "And I suppose that she knows exactly where her children are? Where is Isis, anyway?"
"She's in earth's past. We're going to hold these children in our time until after the fleet is directed back home. I believe in the absence of Isis, they are my heirs to the throne in Xanadu. I shall be a good guy and retrieve Isis after I've turned away the invasion."
"Do you find it necessary, to launch all the submarine missiles against her fleet," Antiope asked.
"I don't think I'll have to go that far."
"Does that mean that we're all ultimately headed back to Artemis?"
"Ladies, make up my mind. First you like Earth. Next you want to go back to Artemis."
"Well, we change our minds now and then."
"Jim, what are we going to do over the next few weeks while we await the fleet?"
"I believe we are going to be occupied sending Amazons home. We're due to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow and commence operations."
Helen and Antiope asked for their names. The children gave their names. Jim didn't like the names, and gave them different names for them to use on Earth. He called them Ching and Jan. "Well, come with us Ching and Jan, and we'll show you some nice toys."
Jim went back to his cabin and woke up Idiot. "We have two missions to undertake. I want to leave tonight, and be back tonight. We are to retrieve the Pegasus, and we must ensure her civilization is grounded and does not penetrate to other civilized planets. We can't have her encountering our past Venetian civilizations."
"Agreed. I just happened to have a course plotted. All you have to do is approve, and I'll take you there."
"Just where and when are you taking me?"
"Do you wish to take the children?"
"I'd prefer them in the present, and free from the paradoxical dangers of the past, besides we are to be gone just an instant, their time."
"John's Box transmitted the coordinates of a site where we can land, and continue on where he left. I can plot a second course to route the children and Isis back to our Earth thirty days from now. I can deliver you and the Pegasus tonight on the same retrieval routine."
Jim seemed a little confused. "You keep implying that I take the children, and on our way back, we get split up. I land tonight with the Pegasus, and she and the kids sort of get left behind at a slower pace, and don't get back for another thirty days?"
"I can navigate the course to follow that fashion. You even might gain a few points for taking the children back to her. I will open the sarcophagus lid for you and the children as you arrive. The children will be able to accept the pyramid game without being frightened by the time travel. Don't be afraid to go elsewhere, if you feel that you are about to be trapped. As long as I'm attached, I'll always be able to move you elsewhere immediately."
"In addition, our new fail-safe procedures should minimize future unpredictable jumps."
"Perhaps."
"Then it is true that everything that she accomplishes in the past will be forgotten?"
"You'll have a good deal of time available for you to be able to accomplish your objective. I have no information available concerning that lost colony. The children would be your best source of information, but I understand that they missed the forty or fifty years between their birth and now, Isis deliberately kept them on the Pegasus to keep them young while she developed Earth. We may land during her time but she may be away on a time jump."
"Our primary objective is to retrieve the Pegasus. We can always make a second trip to bring her and the children back."
Jim resolved to consult with Helen and Antiope concerning the children. He dismissed Idiot to perform other functions and returned to the recreation room. The power generators of the Box continued the process of creating more energy reserves. A googolplex of hidden manifolds were used to store this energy. All this energy was required in order to make a space-time displacement of the magnitude Jim was about to try. Yet Idiot managed to control the large numbers just as easily as the small numbers. Jim knew the correct form of the natural space-time manifold, and using Idiot he could navigate the realm of reality with precision and safety.
Ching and Jan were very interested in going back to the other land. Jim solved Idiot's riddle about the two ways back. Helen was not very enthusiastic about watching the children. She thought about her own yet to be. She passed on the option to go back in time, and so did Antiope. Jim advised Antiope and Helen that he would be back in a flash.
The three discussed with the children the little knowledge that they had concerning the other Land.. The children clearly described the pyramids and the Sphinx as well as the Pegasus. They also mentioned that they had seen the great blue ball called Earth when they were up in the sky. Jim took the children into the Pegasus mock-up. They were delighted that Idiot could make such a wonderful copy. They said they would wait till he came back, and go visit their mother in the morning. Jim spent the rest of the evening contemplating his upcoming sojourn, frequently consulting with Genie and the children
until they fell asleep.
He sailed the Dutchman towards Cairo. He wanted to show the children the pyramids before they went back.
The next morning, Idiot had managed to find a very nice spot on the Nile. The natives were taken aback at this sleek yacht that came from the mists. Helen had the children dressed in some western wear, so that they all looked like very rich American tourists. The children immediately recognized the structures in the background. Jim radioed for a helicopter service to provide him with an aerial tour of the plateau. Countless bribes yielded superb service. The five were given a first class tour of Giza. The children were even permitted to go inside the structures. They couldn't help but make the remark that the place certainly had crumbled a lot. They also commented that the Sphinx had the wrong face. The morning and afternoon had passed. That evening, Jim instructed Idiot to transport the three of them back in time.
VENETIA
Chapter Forty-Three
Dutchman Sails to Cairo