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The Hermit
Chapter Ten

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Jump Start

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    Conversation With an Idiot

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The Hermit speaks of withdrawal—not escape, but illumination.
A lantern lifted into darkness.
Wisdom earned through solitude.
Truth revealed only when one dares to stand apart.
 
​The Hermit is a powerful card that symbolizes wisdom,  spiritual

enlightenment, and inner guidance. It often appears when we need

to step back and reflect on our lives, delve into our inner world, and

gain a greater understanding of ourselves

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And aboard the Dutchman, drifting in quiet hyperspace, Qblh found himself doing exactly that: standing apart from Earth, from Isis, from destiny itself… and from the people now waiting on him.

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Jim sat before the navigational core, the Dutchman humming softly around him. Hyperspace shimmered outside the ports like a frozen aurora. He hadn’t meant to ignore Helen, but the ship kept pulling him inward—toward thought, toward memory, toward the increasingly tangled lines of time.

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Helen sighed behind him.

“Jim… come up for air sometime today?”

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He almost smiled. “Just a few more seconds.”

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“Right,” she muttered. “The Hermit at work.”

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Before he could answer, John strode in from the corridor.

“Well,” John said dryly, “the men in black are back. Looks like another Chicago mess, and this time the whole crew’s invited.”

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​Jim rubbed his eyes. “Of course they are. Call out the marines—the Flying Dutchman rides again.”

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Time, Paradoxes, and a Very Patient AI

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Jim tapped the console.

“I suppose we can thank Genie for this. Paradoxes tend to fracture the continuum, and Genie hates stepping on broken glass.” He paused. “Idiot, how did you think of sending me the pyramid plans?”

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Idiot’s voice replied with its usual calm.

“The Amazon library contained them. I retrieved the designs from historical archives.”

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Jim frowned. “You didn’t get them from our earlier visits to Earth?”

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“There may be more complex temporal networks than originally calculated.”

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Jim leaned back. “Wonderful. More time webs. As if one wasn’t enough.”

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