QBLH
Chapter LXIV
The King of Swords
Gone Fishing
Jim and Idiot continued their discussion throughout the journey, until the green shores of what would be Greece loomed on the horizon. Rather than make landfall right away, Jim resolved to use the shadow of the night so that Genie could change the form of the Dutchman. That evening Genie folded the Flying Dutchman, and then wrapped itself around Jim's waist, and then he swam to the mainland. In the process, he lost one of his sandals. With his belt, Jim would be able to provide gold pieces in exchange for bartered goods, Chicago style. It would be only natural for him to walk into the local cities and inquire the local kings concerning their desires and fears.
Rather than trouble the reader with details, we find Jim navigating a ship built by someone known as Argos with a motley crew of Greek jocks making waves towards Georgia, south of Russia; OOPS! I meant Colchis. Jim had managed to find his Jason, and had talked him into a journey for a golden fleece. The king, of course finding the story unbelievable, promised to declare Jason his heir if he could retrieve such an impossibility. The resultant quest had been somewhat a result of Jim baiting the king as well as a little intimidation. Jim declined to lead the crew, he would prefer the leader to be a man of the time. He also allowed another, Typhis, to claim the rank as navigator. Knowing, at first, nothing concerning navigation, he proved to be an eager pupil, and soon learned about the constellations and other astronomical tidbits which Jim fed him. He was somewhat reluctant to believe that the Earth was a sphere, but it did seem to be a good way to explain why the sun rose every day in the east and why the constellations moved the way they did during the night. The currents of the straits made it difficult to steer The odd wind patterns also made the way difficult through the straits. None had ever been so far, and all were afraid. The Trojans who controlled the straits were no help either. Because the Argos had not paid the appropriate tribute, the fortifications on the cliffs bombarded the little ship with huge rocks which they launched using huge cliff-based catapults..
Yet Jim was there showing no fear. The catapults were not accurate and were meant more to distract the ship's steersman so that he would crash upon the rocks. Typhis was more afraid of Jim than he was of the boulders. To comfort the crew, Jim had Genie disintegrate one of the boulders by his verbal command. His mind still pondered the twenty-first century and the problems of that time to which he must return. He casually guided Typhis as to which way to command the helm and harness the sail through the Hellespont as his mind considered more important matters. Idiot managed to correct any course errors. He considered his true mission.
'Go tell this young man,'
said the other angel,
'that Jerusalem will some day be so full of people
that she won't have room enough for all!
Many will dwell outside the city walls,
with all their many cattle -
and yet they will be safe.
For YÁOHU UL Himself will be
a wall of fire protecting them and all Jerusalem;
He will be the glory of the City.
'Come, flee from the land of the north,
from Babylon,' says
YÁOHU UL to all His exiles there;
'I scattered you to the winds
but I will bring you back again.
Escape, escape to Zion now!'
says YÁOHU UL.
YÁOHU UL of Glory has sent me against the nations that oppressed you,
for he who harms you sticks his finger
in the YÁOHU UL's eye!
'I will smash them with My fist;
their slaves will rule over them!
Then you will know it was YÁOHU UL Tzavulyáo
(the Commander of Heaven's Armies)
Who sent me.
Sing, Jerusalem, and be glad!
For I have come to live among you,'
says YÁOHU UL.
At that time many nations will be converted to YÁOHU UL,
and they too shall be My people;
I will live among them all.
Jerusalem existed now as the property of a Jebusite tribe, and Jim wished to make a visit. At once this city had been the seat of the noble Melchizedek. He considered what type of people lived there now. Whoever they were, they were dated to lose title to the land to the invading Israelis. It was odd to him how little difference he could feel between the needs of the present time and the needs of the twenty-first century. In the privacy of his cabin, he managed to survey the city remotely using Idiot's extremely mobile satellites.
He saw that Isis had several of her temples in that city, only under the names of a different goddess. Each city-state had adapted to use different female names in order to do her reverence. The Amazon tribes educated the high priestesses, and ensured that the temples had a bountiful supply of priestesses as well. A fertility bull was often idolized near each temple, and the local king was guaranteed favors so as to maintain the laws of the Queen of Artemis. Seeing Jerusalem with these temples did not really surprise him that much. The entire world was under pagan influence and an Egyptian pharaoh had recently done what he could to eliminate the Hebrews through an alleged genocidal effort.
It was not difficult for Jim to trace the primitive beliefs of the Greek sailors through the Phoenician lore which had its roots from Egypt. A New Dynasty had been established in Egypt that was hostile to monotheism. Evidently, Isis had been a little insincere in her pledge to honor Jim's concept of one God. However, by instituting a pagan set of beliefs she allowed an atrocity to occur, since the pharaoh she endorsed massacred thousands of infants. She punished Egypt by establishing a woman as pharaoh, forbidding any man the throne. She knew Jim would be furious at her blunder, but as usual she would show no signs of admitting a mistake. Instead she had gracefully permitted Jim to remove her from the scene. She had wisely kept Xuang behind the scenes designating him the privileged role as High Priest to Isis. This permitted him to coordinate the activities of the Amazons as he visited the temples in the various districts. Isis arranged transportation via the Pegasus. Xuang rarely used public transportation.
The strength of the Jebusites was in the alliances that they had established between the Hittites who were now launching boulders at his little ship and Egypt which an old senile pharaoh, Merneptah, now ruled. He was son to the Rameses who had failed to find Moses. Merneptaj falsely reported that he had located the tribe and destroyed them, Truth was that Joshua was just beginning his campaigns and he was based in the hills, and the Egyptians stuck to the plains where there army and chariots could have the advantage. As time went on, the Egyptians had less of an influence over Canaan, and then the tribes of Israel were able to settle.
The Amazons controlled the Hittites via brothels and temples which had been established throughout Anatolia. The Amazons were never really contemporary with early Israel, as QBLH would have withdrawn these space invaders from the planet by the time they began to settle.. The rituals introduced y the Amazons would still persist for a few years throughout the regions, but there would be no actual summoning of the powers of Artemis anymore. . The departure of the Amazons and the fall of Troy in 1184 BCwould bring an end to a fabled era, which would be the source of some rather classic legends. Jim would use Helen to bring about the demise of imperial Ilium, the city which dared to sink his little ship. There would be no pursuing craft, once Argos left the Hellespont, for it had not been expected that they would have succeeded.
All the Greek heroes were exuberant and hailed Jim as a Hercules, even though he declined the title. Yet it was hard to get rid of a name once the men made it stick. Jim already had a record of some extraordinary feats. Were it not so, he would have never found so brave a crew. The next strait was less fortified and a little wider and easier to navigate. The crew marveled at the vastness of this new sea that they had never seen but heard much about. It would be a few more days till Colchis, and Jim would attempt to relax by doing a little fishing.
