QBLH
Chapter LXXII
The Eight of Pentacles
Prudence
While in ghost-mode Jim did not follow time sequentially from our point of view because he time warped several times to view the events. After learning much, it was his time to return to his body and Jim rematerialized on a backstreet in Colchis. Before he was returned however, he was admonished to serve not as the emissary to Isis. Effectively his mission to eliminate the advocates of goddess worship had been upgraded.
"Well that pretty well determines what kind of approach we are going to take with the Israeli-Palestinian problem, Idiot."
"Pardon, Jim? I am not sure I understand."
"Have we not verified certain Biblical facts?"
"I am not certain I understand, Jim."
"What is wrong with your memory banks, Idiot. Don't you have any record of my displacement to Egypt while in ghost mode?"
"I was not able to effect the transfer, Jim. There seemed to be a glitch which I haven't been able to decipher. You only now just returned to consciousness. I am afraid you blacked out immediately after the aborted transfer. I don't understand, Jim. This is the first time that I have failed to implement an intended execution, but it is also odd, that things are as they would have been as if you succeeded in the transfer. Apparently for some reason it was not necessary. It is curious, Jim. Do I need a tune-up?"
Jim became aware that his artificial intelligence unit was not to be given access to his most recent episode. Jim did not believe that he had dreamed these visions, but believed instead that Yaohushua had demonstrated that He too had a very advanced "merkabah unit" which made Genie seem like a toy. Apparently this seemed to indicate that he should return to the future and disregard and neutralize anti-Israeli sentiments to a certain extent.. With regard to the Palestinian problem. Both Muslim and Jew would be required to live as neighbors or reap the wrath of God. If either party, being stubborn, could not accept their own shortcomings by remaining deceived by false prophets and other anti-Christian beliefs, then unfortunately much more suffering could be expected in the future. How much of an apocalypse would it be too shatter the beliefs of billions? To Jim what the world believed now or in the future was immaterial. What the world believed was the deceiver of all. Jim appreciated the fact that realization of the truth is not easy nor are facts ever clearly apparent, so it would be imperative to assist those who strayed out of ignorance with patient love and not try to beat them into submission with a savage display of power, strength, or tyrannical authority..
It seemed that Jim was to be nothing more than a watchman for the twenty-first century and he would be responsible for giving Earth a helping hand. Jim would finish his vacation with Helen and Antiope, return to Artemis and Earth, and then see what he could accomplish.
It was odd, Jim thought, that he should worry about what would happen 3500 years from now as if it would be tomorrow. Yet that was almost exactly his situation. He knew very well by now that he was the king who ruled the two kingdoms, and the Pharaohs indeed lived their lives in a manner that Isis wished Jim to rule. Yet being the Pharaoh to Earth did not suit Jim's tastes. He thought that it would be a pleasant little joke against Isis to pull a grand power play of his own. He would establish democracy as an ideal for humanity rather than the kind of authoritarian rule which Isis preferred. He could also make side trips to other parts of this ancient world to witness some events which he wished to view. He thought of Israel and his obligation to that nation in the twenty-first century. He considered the option of visiting the time of Mohammed as well so that he could best determine as to how to assist these warring factions to resolve their differences. He had no doubt in his mind that he would be permitted to witness these events, just as he had been permitted to visit the Nativity as well as the Burning Bush. He had made the second visit in the spirit, that is, via ghost mode. Jim could not underestimate now the power of his Dimensional Controller nor the power of the technology which made it all possible. Even more so, he definitely could not underestimate the power of Yaohushua, Who now seemed to have befriended him. Was it Jim's own wish or was it the power of this powerful God which inspired him with such passion to visit the earthly manifestation of His Son, perhaps even to be his close friend. Would it be possible that he could be one of his friends in recorded history, but if so who? This possibility would never slip away from Jim's imagination, and would indeed be a primary motivational factor as he would navigate himself through time.
Jim reconsidered his position in time. The riddle to resolve the differences between warring powers and their seed seemed to be his task, and now it even seemed plausible. What was a distant impossibility to him as a schoolboy on Artemis was now but a technical fine tuning. Genie's remarkable circuits saved him from having to perform these tasks repetitively, but one should never underestimate how much additional power this gave Jim. His immediate task now was to get Medea and the fleece to Greece. Medea could choose her king when she got there. Jason would undoubtedly dump Medea when he would discover that she would not have sex with him. It would not be difficult for Medea to set up another as a consort who she could set up as king. It mattered not who she chose. Jim would eventually arrive posing as Theseus to set up a new form of government. He knew this would delight Antiope to no end, and Helen would certainly burn with excitement as she awaited her turn as the queen of Troy, and their trip to Paris afterwards. Antiope would arrive back in the future with an entirely new appreciation for democracy, and would certainly prosper quite well in her future relations with the Americans.
He would need to find the Argonauts.
Before joining the Argonauts again, Jim needed Genie's assistance to determine how to resolve his problem if existing as both Hercules and Theseus. Legend had it that they were two separate individuals. The Argonauts would recognize him as Hercules, but his role as "Hercules" had ended, indeed, if he had ever played the role in the first place. Supposedly, according to some accounts of the legend, as in this case, Theseus was not on the voyage from Greece to Colchis.
It did not matter, Jim supposed. Thus far, he had not changed history and he never promoted his role as Hercules. Theseus would be historically remembered as an enemy to the Amazons. Apparently, there rested the solution. As Hercules, Jim would be friends to the Amazons as they were quite willing to support the efforts of the Qblh, of their lady Isis.
On the other hand, Theseus would be a force which would actively oppose and eliminate the Amazon's control in the region forever. After Theseus, there would no longer be Amazons. Jim needed the dual role to mask his own tactical maneuvers.
Jim's other problem was Medea. Medea recognized and knew Hercules to be her Qblh and she was in love with him. Perhaps a slight makeover and a little cooperation from the Argonauts would allow Jim to accomplish his impossible task of playing the roles of both Hercules and Theseus.
Some may question Jim's right to tamper with the religious beliefs of the people from that particular time period. These same few who would question the legitimacy of Jim's intentions would conveniently disregard the reason and the source of a certain amount of man's cultural religious beliefs. Jim was quite aware that his consort, Isis, had never truly given up on her efforts concerning earth domination. The battle about earth domination was not confined simply to the twenty-first century time period, but had extended itself into earth's past as each opposing force had gained access to the ability to cross the event horizon.
It would also be impractical for Jim to be remembered as Qblh only, or as Hercules, or as Theseus. He was all these individuals and no single name could be classified as an appropriate title for this master of time and space. Isis knew this and this could be the reason why she changed his name as often as she seemed to change her wardrobe. "Hey you", could have been just as appropriate a title. However, things could get confusing if there were more than two people present.
Who would win the conflict seemed to be pretty much in the air. There certainly was no telling with respect to how Isis would react to Jim's tactics. It always seemed that she was unpleased by his apparent victories, almost as if she knew she would "lose" and this didn't matter.
In this case, Jim would believe that he would have effectively destroyed goddess worship from Isis's point of view. She would simply see a 3500 year period during which her influence was at a low ebb. She had successfully controlled earth for the previous 7000 years, and still, was after all, responsible for establishing a working civilization of men, in spite of themselves. Jim was simply campaigning to gain independence for the planet; an effort which was supported by his father.
It seemed that Isis held all the cards and Jim would eventually confirm his actions to her wishes. This, though, was not the case. Jim had encountered a Force in the universe much greater than Isis and himself and it had been made quite clear to him that it would be quite foolish to consider Isis a goddess after Jim encountered this Field of Force and Will, known as Yaohushua.
Jim's predicament was that he had to deal with Isis and Yaohushua both, and that was by no means a simple task. The temporal concerns of men seemed to be petty compared to both these concerns; yet both forces seemed to be very much concerned with the welfare of earth and its inhabitants. The stakes simply seemed to be the method by which men would be governed.
Jim was not hypocritical. He desired to live life independently and he wished to grant his subordinates the same privilege. As odd as it was, Jim was actively fighting a conflict so that he would not have to rule mankind as Isis wished. Yet, his efforts to avoid rule, seemed to do nothing more than consolidate his powers.
"Idiot, how difficult would it be for me to change my physical appearance so that the Argonauts will not recognize me?"
"Not difficult at all, Jim. If you so desire, it will not be difficult to construct a manifold so as to perform reversible plastic surgery."
"Very good, Idiot. I suppose it would only be appropriate to allow Antiope to choose my facial features and any other details which she feels appropriate."
"Would you like to implement a transport to her tent, Jim?"
Yes, Idiot, that will work well. Initiate!"
To the Colchis commoner, Jim appeared as nothing more than a beggar babbling into thin air. They did not understand his language, nor would they have been capable of understanding the fact that this beggar was talking to the interface unit after of a highly developed artificial intelligence unit. There was no one to observe Jim's dematerialization and subsequent rematerialization a moment later. Neither was there any witness able to notice his physical transformation. As usual, Idiot performed his task well. Antiope was only too willing to provide Jim with suggestions concerning his physical appearance of her Theseus, but she did not actually get to see Jim's makeover.
Rather, the transformation was performed in between Antiope's tent and the back streets of Colchis while Jim was being displace through of Idiot's space-time conduit manifolds.
Theseus then decided to make his way to the palace of Colchis. Oddly enough, it was Helen who stopped him at the gates to the palace and denied him entrance. Only the Amazons, the Argonauts and select members of the community were permitted to attend the banquet.