Chapter 3: The Azloc

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”

– Sun Tzu

“Linda let us get back to your summary of the discussions you had with the allies, was there anything else of import that was discussed?” Philippa asked.

Linda frowned while she looked down at the beautiful table in Brecht’s dining room. She interlinked her fingers, then looked up.

“The Spider/Ant group are rampaging through their galaxy conquering planets. Cassius and Felix are receiving a flood of refugees. The refugees call the Spider/Ants the Azloc. We discovered the Destroyers attacked, invaded and then destroyed two Azloc planets.

“The Azloc are conquering other advanced species to commandeer their industrial capacity to fight the Destroyers. The refugees say the Azloc are poor communicators. They use a primitive translator and say little.”

“What about telepathy?” Celia asked.

“Many of the species are telepathic and say they cannot communicate with the Azloc,” Linda replied. “The Azloc are known to use psychic powers and are resistant to psychic attacks,” said Zafa.

“I seem to remember the Uzliumbax advanced AIs told me they have discovered several channels of telepathic communication, we should talk to them about it,” said Philippa. “Maybe it will be useful for us to know how to use other channels.”

“The Uzliumbax AIs are touring the ex Safion planets and are commissioning manufacturing facilities to support the war effort on Porquenta, Mars, Yektapok and Venus. They are meeting with Ooryphyon and the Teokraeus. It will be an opportune time for us to see if they can teach us to communicate on multiple channels,” suggested Jason.

“I wonder if the Azloc can communicate chemically?” Philippa asked.

“We asked that question of the refugees but none of them know,” Linda replied.

“So, what is happening next?” Andrea asked.

“The Zaos are coordinating the intelligence effort to probe both the Azloc and the Destroyers,” said Linda.

“Jason what do you intend doing?” Andrea asked.

“I shall be helping the Uzliumbax and getting to know them but Cassius, Felix, my mother-in-law Brecht, my other mother-in-law Mergal, and Queen Lynas believe I should complete my education at the War College on Mars. They say I have Kings and Queens coming out of stasis. I will delegate as much as I can,” said Jason.

“I think we can all enjoy a vacation,” said Felicia.

The others nodded.

“The Teokraeus are due to come out of treatment later today,” said Philippa. “I am going to see my sisters on the estate then go to the hospital. If any of you want to come along, please do. I am sure you will enjoy the change. Ooryphyon has been doing additional rehabilitation and is helping the Teokraeus go through their own rehabilitation programs.

“Ooryphyon felt she was still weak and could not use her legs and arms as well as she could prior to her capture. She says she could barely move for centuries and now she has to think about every movement and she is exhausted. She wanted to build herself up so she could manage the War College. The Collective team started doing gym and martial arts. She has also started to learn to use her new crystal,” said Philippa.

“I suspect much of her frenetic activity is to deal with her anxiety about her parents. When she heard of the Destroyer attack, she was very worried and chose to stay with Brecht, rather than come along to the meeting,” said Philippa.

“I will go into the hospital after lunch. One of them will come out every half an hour until they are all conscious and ready for rehabilitation,” said Jason.

“How many Teokraeus were saved?” Linda asked.

“Forty-four, nineteen were alive but in a bad way, the other twenty-five were in stasis.”

“Jason, you can’t be there for them all. It will be too much, instead we can take it in shifts. You should prepare a hologram of what happened, that we can all use with a personal greeting from you, in which you talk of the importance of rehabilitation and say you will visit as soon as you can,” said Andrea.

“Jason; I think it is a good idea. My mother has allocated bugs who have been through the process to help. Prepare a hologram for them of your experience of rehabilitation and how hard it was; emphasize how important it is. The helpers will take most of the load. We can give them the holograms with the message from you. We also need to make sure Ooryphyon doesn’t exhaust herself,” said Philippa. “After rehabilitation we can give the Teokraeus a holiday on the Estate and then take them with us to Porquenta. We can help them decide what they want to do in the future.”

***

“Jason, I don’t want to be bored while I am here on Porquenta. I also want to go to the War College. I have been out of contact with what has gone on for millions of years. Now I am behind, but in a young body. I want to learn the state of the world and its new knowledge and begin my life again and make new friends. Many of the Teokraeus also want to go back to study, what about it?” Ooryphyon asked.

“Sure, we can accommodate you in one of the half-a-million places at the War College and University. We are all starting from first year with a new curriculum. Ooryphyon, do you want to join our group, or do you want to start afresh?”

“I want to be in your group, why would I not do so? When will the others arrive?”

“They should all be here, let’s walk down to dinner and I will introduce you,” said Jason leading the way to the portal.