QBLH
The Ace of Pentacles
New beginnings,
Opportunities,
and Abundance
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Chapter LXV
Antiope's Amazons
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Perfect contentment
Once in the Black Sea, Qblh and the Argonauts were not permitted to relax for long.
A powerboat approached. Aboard were Amazons. The men were terrified and claimed they were witches, accompanied by a dragon in their boat. Jason permitted the visitors to board. Saying nothing, they went straight to Jim and bound him. He did not resist. The men were speechless to see their hero rendered powerless by women. Swearing instead that these were witches who had enchanted Hercules, they watched helplessly as Jim was carried away, praying to their gods that he would be disenchanted and regain his freedom to assist them once again.
Jim was rather pleased to see Helen again and more than happy to allow himself to be taken prisoner. Helen waited on the shore for her love as her warriors brought him ashore. Jim made no effort to admit his willingness to be captured, yet it was not long before the Amazons realized exactly who Antiope had ordered brought to her camp.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you, sweetheart? You gave yourself away when you blasted that boulder. We were curious when we heard tales of a defiant ship of foolish heroes who refused to pay tribute. My heart skipped a beat when I saw you on the ship’s prow. Antiope is waiting for you in camp. You are right—it is just as Genie showed us in Chicago. This is a marvelous adventure, Jim, but we have missed you. Why spend days sailing to Medea with those men when you can spend that time with us? We would rather take you ourselves. Surely you do not seek the company of men over ours.”
The other Amazons showered Jim with attention as well, now recognizing him as their Qblh. He was drowned in chatter, unable to get a word in edgewise. Naturally, he performed magic for them, entertaining them in the way they loved. Several dozen remembered him from the Pleasure Dome and asked for the gifts he had promised.
Jim found himself momentarily at a loss, realizing he would eventually need to return to Artemis simply to discover what he had promised these nymphs. Helen’s ambrosia quickly enchanted him, and she chose not to wait even an hour before reasserting her power over him.
“For now, you are mine,” she told him, leading him to her well-prepared tent.
Alone with his lover, Jim undressed her and breathed in her fragrance. He buried his face in her hair as she guided his hand over the silk-soft curves of her body. Holding him close, she drew him down, imprisoning him within her charms as their unconsumable passion took its toll. Her tears bound him as she begged him to cease his labors and spend more time with her. Unable to promise eternity, he agreed to the next few days while the Argos continued toward Colchis. The ship sailed slowly, and it was easy for the Amazons to match a full day’s progress with only a few hours on horseback.
The following day, Antiope joined the caravan, which soon swelled into an army with the arrival of the main Amazon troop. Many wondered when Qblh would take them back to Artemis, as promised. Riders were sent ahead to Medea to prepare her reception. Medea was delighted to learn Jim was coming and prepared to leave with him, but the king opposed her departure and vowed to destroy the temples if she left. Medea retaliated by withholding the royal concubines, starving the king’s forces of morale. When the army grew restless, the king withdrew his threats—only to begin plotting anew. Distracted by news of a foreign ship’s arrival, he promised Medea’s hand to his son if the prince could prevent her from leaving. The doomed prince accepted.
Jim activated Genie and requested a transfer to Artemis, soon finding himself lost in an Amazon orgy, often unaware of which planet he occupied. For several days he remained under ambrosia’s influence, making love repeatedly to the same woman on Earth and Artemis alike. He made a game of visiting the Pleasure Dome immediately before—or after—an Earth rendezvous. Antiope and Helen declined such episodes, but most Earthbound Amazons delighted in the experience, though left dazed by its implications. Idiot permitted the episodes, allowing Jim to acquire at least fifty additional golden pegs during the excursion.
Helen did not care for the “necessity” of so much of his attention being devoted elsewhere. Still, his efforts quelled Medusa’s rebellious spirit and soon persuaded all to treat Antiope and Helen with deference. Jim learned much from the women’s constant conversation. Antiope and Helen were not neglected; he spent each night with both.
It bears reminding the reader that Amazons do not age as Earth humans do. Isis would warp in and out of local Earth space while exerting influence from Pegasus’ inertial frame. During these materializations, priestesses could be transferred to or from Earth assignments. Many of the maidens with whom Jim mated could thus be hundreds of Earth years old—or not yet born at all. Jim traveled back to the future to meet them, depositing seed after—or before—their journeys. Time is meaningless here. Because each conception passed through a singularity, causality appeared violated. The physics defy easy explanation. The result was simple: all Amazons were impregnated at that point in Jim’s timeline, and incubation had just begun.
It is odd to imagine Andromeda impregnated in the Pleasure Dome before traveling into the past, living many years, and only now carrying a child. Yet conception occurred only now. Amazon births have never been easy to explain. Idiot later attempted a technical explanation, which Jim halted after five minutes. Results were easier to accept than explanations. Less than thirty Amazons remained awaiting him in the Pleasure Dome, and Idiot still projected over ninety-nine percent certainty of mission success. Each Amazon would eventually return to the Pleasure Dome, recalling the Earth adventure as if it were a dream—yet their shared memories would confirm its reality.
The Amazon caravan paralleled the Argos, intending to return Jim to the ship just before its arrival at Colchis. Antiope would then retreat to Lesbos to await her Theseus and her Hercules. Amazons isolated themselves from human men not from lack of love, but because they would destroy their lovers. Even if a man survived, the knowledge that she did not age would break him. Priestesses rotated locations before such truths became evident. Some Amazons were revered as goddesses. They were forbidden to die on Earth assignments; by the Stone’s power, Pegasus would retrieve the injured for treatment. Lately, Pegasus was unavailable, leaving Antiope and Helen as leaders. Both were equipped with Idiot-designed, well-camouflaged defensive systems linked to Helen’s moonstone and Antiope’s girdle.
When Antiope arrived, Jim was with Helen in her tent. Antiope burst in regardless. Helen felt no jealousy and, tiring of Qblh for the moment, assisted Antiope by removing her girdle and helping her undress. Jim soon found himself subjected to a double-barreled dose of ambrosia.
“Would you like to meet your daughters, Jim?”
“No sons?”
“We weren’t that fortunate. Perhaps next time.”
“And the boys I see running about?”
“Miraculous mutations. Won’t Isis be delighted with these semi-human males? They are neither mine nor Helen’s. We prefer not to raise sons in this era.”
“How do you like your adventure, Antiope?”
“Believe it or not, everything aligns with what Genie showed us in Chicago. I am amazed. That Box of yours is the most incredible invention of civilization. Who invented it—you or John? Time travel blurs credit, but what does it matter? I am uneasy living in the past and would welcome returning home, yet our adventure has just begun. Death is real here, and we fear dying before returning. You have done this before, Jim. Our queen shows no fear, even without Genie. That is refreshing. Your gift to me is the greatest any woman has received—and more than enough.”
“No biggie,” Jim lied.