QBLH
Chapter XXXVIII
The Two of Cups
The Power of Love
Love does no harm to a neighbor.
Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law
"How much do you know, Idiot?"
"I am making immediate corrections to my Earth history logs. Xiang and Xuang established the first Chinese civilization. Isis gave them China."
Jim was speechless. Isis had upstaged him. He had to concede to her a future victory. Could he prevent her from doing so, knowing full well that he couldn't change history? He would have to acquiesce and pretend not to know what his future had in store. It wasn't his future, it was his children's future. He thought of John again. How much did John know? It didn't matter. He knew John wouldn't and couldn't reveal to him any of the "forbidden" knowledge. Nor could he tamper with the free will of Xiang and Xuang. If they had indeed founded China, then they had apparently done a fine job of ruling. He sensed himself being proud of his children.
But then, how were the children already there and established, unless she had taken them with her while he had been sent into the Pleasure Dome. So that was her motive!
Yet these children were to be leaders of Xanadu to succeed Isis. Apparently she would train them on Earth how to be leaders of an empire. One thing was for certain. She certainly did things in royal form. Jim resolved, however, that he would have to start considering putting a lid on this Pandora's Box he had given her to open. Yet this would limit his power as well. He had a sick feeling. He was addicted to the ability to use this power. He could not give it up. Addiction implied sickness, almost a mental weakness or flaw. It was not an addiction! It was his destiny, and he was stuck with it. And furthermore, he was in no position to question his time-traveling abilities. He would have to use them further to get back to his own world, and the road back to stability, if indeed the term meant anything, would be a long and difficult path. Yet true to the nature of things, Isis was but an act of will away, because with but one command to Genie, he could be by her side.
Indeed he thought! Why not? She was certainly not one to complain. She wasn't supposed to be there, and neither was he. She would love him there and then and have no complaint. He found this temptation even more overwhelming. He missed her! He felt his desire for her, even in this moment of her supreme disobedience. Disobedience to whom, she would argue.
History would repeat itself, and Qblh would revisit his beloved, surprising her for a change while he commandeered the Pegasus and returned them back to their own time once again. Isis would still not need to know the whereabouts of Antiope and Helen, as the wise Amazons would be able to live securely in another time. Isis would think that her base force would continue on in their mission unimpeded. Antiope and Helen would be caught up with the magic of the Genie as they watched themselves play their assigned role in this new virtual reality game that Jim had gotten them into.
"Very well, Idiot. Set course for Colchis, but let us stop by the Oracle at Delphi and see who she set up in power there."
"There is a high probability that you will personally know the high priestess there, Jim."
"That is what I was afraid of, and we are going to have to step in and return her to her own time. Myths or no myths, we must safeguard the continuum....Better yet, Idiot; perhaps we should find the Amazon base first, and permit Antiope and Helen to infiltrate. Perhaps if we ally with Isis, she shall forgive Antiope and Helen and restore their rank."
"Precisely, Jim. Antiope and Helen then being with your children will be immediately royal rank, and honored by the local Amazons. You can entertain Isis and I'll return us home; you to the Pleasure Dome to finish your date with Ayesha, and Isis back to the throne room. I will then engage Shaltain while you enjoy yourself."
"Sounds like the plan. Antiope and Helen then will be safe among the Amazons, and the children can be raised among their own people, and the Amazons will keep away all outsiders."
"Yes. I have a possible path available in that direction and there is a safe arrival solution, Jim. Should I set course?"
"Very well, Idiot. Set course for Artemis. Designated passengers myself and Isis, and could we fit in the Pegasus in as well?"
"That, Jim, is a requirement of the solution. The Pegasus and the crew shall return along with ourselves. Antiope and Helen will remain behind on Earth. Helen indicated that she has no desire to live with the Amazons. She wants a Troy."
"Troy can wait, Idiot. She shall live with the Amazons until she has her children, just the same as Antiope. I wish Antiope, however, to have the leadership of the community. Helen's day shall come soon enough. We'll see to that."
"By your command, Jim. Shall we displace to just off the Amazon coast?"
"You know where to go? Well, by all means, but let us do it at night. We can sail in unseen and we can fold up the Dutchman. We shall surprise the Amazons and call down Isis. I shall let her seduce me into repairing her ship."
"During that time, I shall have all of the Pegasus systems redirected under our command, and I can store most of my manifold space within the Pegasus hull. I'll maintain a link to you as an artifact, a-belt perhaps."
"Excellent idea, Genie. Isis likes it when you are controlled from a belt."
"We need her to agree to unplugging Shaltain. I shall need her voice command to deliver the final blow. It doesn't matter when the command is given, especially when dealing with a Genie."
"Jim it should become quite apparent to you by now, that she will spare Earth if you give her command of me, especially if you expect her to order the destruction of Shaltain."
"Is that also on her agenda, Idiot? Yet how can I trust you with her?"
"We have yet to prove that she has acted inappropriately at any time, Jim. You are simply not going to be able to convict the queen of breaking any rules."
"Well neither is she going to convince me that I must abide by her guidelines. Shall we challenge her authority? Shall we witness her vainly trying to accomplish the impossible? She has better instincts than that. We know that it is still up to me to make the next critical decision, and there doesn't seem to be much outside help in that department available. I am most certainly cursed with free will, because the solutions are not given on a platter but are reasoned out under my own mental labor, and do I ever bear responsibility for my action. I have cursed myself often enough for my mistakes. Were it so that some divine intelligence simply spelled the solution like some imaginary god a lazy people would wish for. Yet, we like these men must learn to live with not only our own mistakes, but the mistakes of others."
"That will make governing very difficult, Jim. Isis likes her rules simple so that all can understand her fairness and justice. Extending liberty to forgive others clouds the ability to decide how to render justice."
"See, that's why we must remember you and Shaltain are actually lifeless idiots while I am a living, self-conscious being. We that live are emotionally linked to our thinking mechanism, no matter how much we deny it. Yet the ability to master our emotion reflects our ability to master nature. In that I have respect for the Earth people. They are self-conscious creatures, and are truly spiritual beings like my own race. We must protect this quality within humanity. If they were incapable of controlling their temperament, then most certainly one of their national ideologies would certainly justify extermination of an enemy race or ideology. Isis suggests that they are nothing but highly developed apes which just have a little of the blood of our race in them. I suggest that the humans are not our descendants and are a completely indigenous species. It is even possible that we ourselves are their descendants, so history tampering is a definite no-no. This is why we are returning our own race to our own space and time and am enforcing non-existence."
"Jim, that is a remarkably unique point of view, and yet I cannot argue the validity of your logic. It seems that you have the love, the will and the power to do as you say, and I confirm that you have the ability and there is a way to proceed by those guidelines. You are remarkably observant, Jim. I could not have thought that, and now that you have created the wish, I find the ability to fulfill it. All I need is your command."
"Very well consider the previous discussion as your instruction guideline set. Do you see any ambiguities or any difficulties performing program remodifications?"
"I have no difficulty understanding your innuendoes, Jim. Would you care for me to make suggestions for improvement or should I wait for you to think of them yourself?"
"Free will, Idiot. What kind of suggestion do you think would be relevant at the moment?"
"I find it interesting that you suggested that the humans may be the ancestors of the Amazons, Jim. That thought is doing some rather remarkable things to my circuits. I am now necessarily formulating a dual model of the universe to consider the possibility of the truth of that concept. If indeed they are your ancestors."
"Well we simply don't know Idiot, nor is it the type of thing that I wish to know for sure, but I will be forced to consider the possibility, and so will you."
Antiope and Helen were also entertaining themselves with Genie at the same time Jim was programming Idiot. The Box's flight control system was easily capable of providing multiple user interfaces. Oddly enough the women had abundant requests for any and all information considering the history of Earth during the late bronze age and early iron age.
Antiope had no desire to be dependent on the feeble inventions of the time so she gained as much knowledge as she could realizing that Genie would soon no loner be around to provide their needs.
Had they been feeble women and not proud Amazons, perhaps Antiope and Helen would not have chosen to live a primitive life style. Yet Antiope and Helen were not disadvantaged. Their strength, beauty and intelligence would be more of an asset to their survival than any human invention. Helen loved nature and could easily survive quite happily without any material luxury. Like Isis, Helen had a way with animals and would be able to train all sorts of beasts to act as their protectors. Helen showed an intense interest in the geography. She felt that she could predetermine what kind of creatures would live there just by the land.
