Chapter 10

The group walked into the magic class. Jason usually found Prof. Omulix’s class stimulating and interesting and looked forward to the class. For this lesson, the professor announced a different plan.

“You are all doing well. I’m delighted with your progress. Today we are going to the weapons range as I want to evaluate your skills. Several of you can use your magic effectively in combat, but I can’t test you adequately inside. You may do too much damage to the building; even with my wards in place. There is a gunship waiting on the quadrangle. Make your way out and I will be right behind you. I am following in my own shuttle. We have plenty of time. If you move quickly you will be in plenty of time for lunch.”

Prof. Omulix beckoned to Jason, “Jason, I will send the others back and then I will test you and Annjus together. I want to see what you have learned recently. Please tell Annjus to wait with you at the end, then I will bring you back with me.”

Jason walked quickly to the gunship and sat down next to Annjus. He explained what was to happen.

“That is interesting Jason, I wonder what she heard?”

“She knows about my tests done on Groompt Plut. I’m sure she wants to see for herself and she wants to evaluate you properly. I haven’t seen what you can do and I am interested to see your progress. I haven’t seen Vanda in action so I have no idea what she taught you.”

“You may be surprised at what I can do, on the other hand you might not be surprised,” said Annjus smiling. “You’re just going to have to wait. We will also need to see how much we can do here with the limited available magic.”

The group tests moved along quickly. Prof. Omulix tested them five at a time, first with offensive casting and subsequently she tested their defensive skills. Most of the students were able to reduplicate their crystal powers but with more powerful effects. The professor did not test the Gromelix as they were tested together with their own cohort.

“Corvus, we should try to see how our magic works when we are flying together. It will be interesting to see if the effects are additive or if they multiply as do our powers,” Jason suggested.

“Excellent idea let’s test it on the weekend on the range,” Corvus suggested.

“Jason, I have some questions I would like to ask you.” Jason nodded and led Annjus some distance behind the group.

“Jason, we are trying to think of a way to resolve Ooryphyon’s problems. Would you mind if we asked our parents and grandparents for some suggestions?” Annjus asked.

“I think you are very good for Ooryphyon and I would hate to interfere with your relationship with her. I would like to improve my relationship with her and get her to deal with her guilt. Her current behavior is not healthy and she’s going to expose herself to risk. I heard she has started evading her guards. I would feel terrible if she is captured by the Gazronnaas and becomes one of their zombies. I would value any help your families could provide or suggest.

“Do you have any other questions, Annjus?”

“Can you now explain to me properly what the issue is with Lisirra?”

“I first met Lisirra when I was trying to fly through the dimension her people were hiding in. The Grork had given the Ordreg a way to trap us. A fleet of Ordreg ships came towards us some of which were pursuing Lisirra. She piloted her ship into a large dimensional space within me. The ship was the size of one of our cruisers. She decided she wanted to have a holiday where she was as it was safe and began to build a castle befitting her status as a Zaos Princess in that space in me,. She was as difficult then as she is now. She was eventually persuaded to leave only when the Azayal gave her a property underground to which she moved her castle. Then we went to the surface of Merka and she extracted her ship.

“Lisirra was looking for help to fight the Grork. The project she talks about was her long-term plan to undermine them using the Schlogg. She had progressed with the Schlogg as far as she could go but needed allies to fight the Grork. The Zaos were trapped in their dimension and could not move back to our universe. Lisirra has formidable powers and was of great assistance to me in conquering the Grork and in the rescue of Ooryphyon who she had previously met and got to know telepathically when Ooryphyon was a captive of the Grork. Ooryphyon was much more mature then, than she is now. Her body was severely damaged by the Grork and we gave her a new body. She regressed emotionally.

“Before we rescued Ooryphyon and pursued our war with the Grork, Lisirra joined our party to kill the previous Ghoul Queen. I couldn’t have done it without her. She was a formidable partner.

“When I met her parents, I discovered Lisirra had been sexually abused and her difficulties were greater than the usual Zaos personality disorder. She agreed to have therapy. She improved during therapy, but she goes off the rails every time another woman enters my life. She is not ready for an intimate relationship even though she shares my bed and has done so for long time. She desperately wants to have children, but she can’t take the next step. I have tried to get her to continue her therapy, but she refuses. We are all stuck about what to do next.

“That is basic summary of the issues.” Jason concluded and after a few moments he sighed deeply.

“You seem to be doing pretty well with most of the rest of the Empresses,” said Annjus giggling.

They slowly walked back and watched the last of the tests.

Prof. Omulix returned the students to the University by 11 o’clock. The professor was cheerful.

“They all did well, I was impressed.

“I’m going to go off on a tangent for a bit. I had dinner with Pleb last night. She asked me to tell you about our discussion. During this week, several groups of students and guards were taken. The soldiers found more dead students than ever before. The Gazronnaas are implanting their subjects with a new device, but it is not making an appreciable difference. The intelligence group believe the Gazronnaas are targeting equal numbers of the different civilizations to try and find a host that will survive longer. Ooryphyon was advised to be careful and was given her own contingent of guards. She is being foolish and has attempted to evade her guards on several occasions. Pleb hopes someone can talk some sense into her, perhaps you Annjus?

“The Gazronnaas increased the intensity of the cyber-attacks. Our cyberwarfare teams can’t keep them out but can knock them out once they are in the system. They have free reign in the system for a few minutes. Our people can’t always tell what the Gazronnaas are doing in the system. She wants you to be aware of what’s going on and wants to know if you can suggest anything that may help.

“The University education group have evaluated our program with the young Destroyer males both here at the University and in the schools. These programs are highly effective, and it appears to be exactly what the young men need. Many of them have indicated an interest in becoming priests of our old religion.

“Marcela says her group were depleted over time and she would welcome priests into her group. Pleb is pleased with our program. As predicted the Ordreg program is performing poorly. The young Destroyer men are not immature and sociopathic as are so many of the young Ordreg males. The Ordreg males mature very late.

“The young Destroyer males are enthusiastic about learning how to use the magical powers, but so far we are not encountering many who have impressive skills,” said Prof. Omulix.

“Prof. Omulix I am in the process of considering our options. I have an idea but it will take a few weeks for me to check out what I can do,” said Jason.

“Now I would like to assess you guys. I have heard a bit about your test on Groompt Plut, Jason but I haven’t any idea how you are progressing Annjus. Let us begin with you first Annjus.

“Open your palm and create the biggest and highest flame you can.”

Annjus opened her palm and concentrated. A small but very bright flame appeared above her palm. It began to grow and brighten until it was hundreds of yards high.

“That is enough, Annjus, well done. I could see you recruiting more sources of power and could have gone on for some time.

“Please demonstrate your offensive skills. Use the targets ahead of you.”

Annjus demonstrated fireballs, beginning with balls the size of a baseball growing quickly to basketball size, then to beach ball and finally to several the size of shuttles. All of the balls exploded against their targets and did substantial damage.

“That is satisfactory Annjus, is there anything you can do differently?”

Annjus moved her arms slowly, removed her sword from transdim space and shot a powerful stream of amber fire that exploded against a damaged gunship. Soon the fire consumed the gunship.

“Excellent Annjus, that was impressive by any standards. Continue?”

Annjus created a white-hot flaming virtual sword and shot a stream of black globules at several targets one after the other. The targets once struck began to heat up and one after the other they imploded.

“Very dramatic and powerful! Anything else in your repertoire?”

Annjus pointed upwards. She created a series of black clouds that began swirling and turning about their own axes. They began to produce lightning and the lightning exploded against some of the more distant targets. Each lightning strike became more and more powerful. Jason could see the clouds recruiting more and more energy sources.

“Superb Annjus, you can terminate the clouds. Next?”

Annjus opened both of her palms and turned them downwards to face the ground. From her fingers sheets of flame began to diverge and engulf many targets concurrently. The intensity continued to grow.

“That is a useful area of effect power. Tell me what other things you can do; I will ask you to demonstrate some of them.”

“I can produce a blue and transparent flame which will freeze anything in front of me. I can paralyze someone for as long as is necessary. I can force them to tell me secrets. I can selectively burn their brain. I can squeeze their heart and if necessary, kill them. I can make myself and a small group invisible. I can protect a house or a room from intrusion. I can embed runes in a sword to give the sword specific powers. I can make myself look huge and fearsome and give myself a thunderous voice. I can heal myself and others from uncomplicated injuries and can keep a person with severe injuries alive.

“Defensively I can create a wall in front of me to prevent my enemies from seeing me and to protect me and a few hundred people. I can make a shield that will reflect whatever assault anyone tries and strike the person who initiates the attack. I can make a shield that will divert anything projected towards me. I can make visible someone who is using an invisibility spell. I can make my footsteps soundless. I can enchant boots so that I can carry something very heavy. That is about it. That was about as much as Vanda had time to teach me.

“You have done very well for someone who has been learning for such a short period of time. Now Jason let us see what you can do.”

Jason shot fireballs at the targets, then produced an intense beam that he used to cut shapes into some of his targets. He produced a sheet of flame above the targets which then slowly subsided and enveloped the targets. He created lightning from his hands to produce a fan shaped effect over a broad area.

He then created an army of sprites which marched towards the targets and sprayed them with flames. He produced his snakes one from each arm which split into three and launched beach ball sized balls of flame to strike and explode against the targets. He pulled out his Ghoul sword and produced a similar flame to that produced by Annjus which exploded against his targets. He struck the ground with his Warhammer producing earthquake effect destroying the targets and continued to the end of the range.

“I can create a form of antimatter which is too dangerous to try here. I can demonstrate it in space. I can create a black hole that will suck in matter and it will implode on a bigger scale than we saw here. I can’t do it safely, but I would be happy to show what I can do in the asteroid belt in the next system. I can create a fusion bomb.

“I can do all of those things with my powers, but with my magical powers everything is an order of magnitude bigger and I can continue to grow it. As long as I learn the mechanism of its action, I can re-create most power related effects. Master Saulius explained the mechanisms that underlie the combinations of powers. Once I understood the basics, I have been re-creating what I can do with my powers.”

“The two of you are in a class of your own. You have intrinsic skills that many will never acquire in a lifetime. Both of you must have been powerful practitioners prior to your descent.

“This coming weekend the two of you are invited to an exclusive event on Gromelikine. While you were recruiting the three tribes of your people to join the Uzliumbax I was meeting with practitioners of power from Groompt Plut and from the ancients. They will be running an advanced training event with those who have shown the most talent on Gromelikine. We will start on Friday midday and continue until seven p.m. on Sunday. I expect it will be a grueling event, but you will learn an enormous amount. They have told me each of you will gain something of enormous value. I don’t know what it is, but they were briefed on the difficulties we face, and they are going to try and up-skill us as fast as we can absorb it. Corvus and Griffexor will be there.

“I have seen those from the mini-universe demonstrate skills that I could not have imagined even existed. They can manipulate substances down to the subatomic level. They can produce alloys of enormous strength and resilience quickly and with ease. I saw so many things it whets my appetite to learn so much more. I wasted so many years learning at the snail’s pace dictated by my teachers. They teach the same way Saulius does, by learning the mechanism of action. They have undertaken to help us much more actively once they join the Uzliumbax.”

“Annjus and I went back briefly last night. Two out of the three groups signed the documents while I was there. The Undis are still in chaos. There is a war being waged between the sisters of Adhhan. The military forces are also split. If it continues this way the other ancients believe the Undis may split in half. It is a nasty mess,” said Jason.

“How is the young Queen doing?”

“They tell me they need seven or eight days to rebuild her. The structure of her brain is a little different to ours. The Uzliumbax genes made slower progress in developing within the original large monkeys. They have fewer Uzliumbax cells with our genes than we do. They have a slightly larger brain and hold memories differently from how memory is handled in this universe in most humanoid or even insect or reptile brains. The doctors are being as careful as they can. They say her brain is much less complex than Ooryphyon’s. I don’t know how long the rehabilitation will take. She is not going to be of much help to her sisters in the short term. They are going to create slots for our crystals. They can take the crystals from Norbut 19, but all of our available ones have been used in our scientists. Our existing crystals don’t work properly as the dimension does not exist in that Universe and the crystal doesn’t access some of the power it needs. The memory works but the AI doesn’t operate.”

“I assume you two will be able to come along to the weekend seminar, and you’re not going to moan and groan as Corvus did. You would think he is doing me a favor in coming along,” said the professor smiling.

****

“What is that noise, Jason?” Linda asked.

“It is coming from your storage area,” Annjus noted.

Jason unlocked the storage cabinet and took out the cube. As he touched it the outer surface began to pull away and the orb emerged.

“My mother gave it to me. I assume she is trying to talk to me.”

A large hologram formed, and the image of Jason’s mother stood in front of him.

“Mother, how are you?”

“I see Annjus is with you and one of your Empresses.”

“Do you want to talk to me on my own?”

“No, Jason, introduce me.”

After the introductions were complete Azanelja spoke again.

“Annjus was one of your original wives from here. I have not met Linda previously even though I know of all of your Empresses from your visit here.

“The purpose of my call is to confirm we will be leaving here within 10 rotations of your planet Mars around your sun. It may be a less but it is unlikely to be much more.”

“How many of you are there?” Linda asked.

“There are 1.2 trillion of us. I will send you the genetic information on those who will be high priority to receive bodies. We want to avoid descent for those who are the carriers of our knowledge and expertise. We have been training as many of us as we can to shift form to an appropriate one on your world. We will need to be oriented to your universe. As you have no idea how we live and survive, we similarly have little knowledge and understanding of what it will mean to live in your universe. One-third of us will be able to change form.”

“Those are pretty big numbers to provide bodies for,” said Linda.

“Azanelja, what will you do about those who can’t change form and we won’t be able to give them bodies?” Linda asked.

“We will expect many of our population to descend. We know who the members of the Uzliumbax Empire are, and we will target them. Jason we can do it much more accurately than you did!”

“I will send through a pilot group of a thousand scientists to pave the way and send further scientists when the first batch are ready to begin helping you. We will only keep people here who are critical to the tasks we need to perform.”

“When can we expect the first batch of scientists?” Linda asked.

“Tomorrow this time would be a good time for us. Is that convenient for you?”

“Yes, we will make the necessary arrangements,” said Jason, “how do we go about it?”

“Ask Prof. Omulix to go with you to a suitable sized medical facility where you can contain the consciousness of those we send. You grow the bodies and shift the consciousness into them.”

“How will you send them through so quickly?” Annjus asked.

“Annjus my dear we don’t walk as you lot did or travel on exotic beasts. We fly. You are perfectly capable of doing the same. You can easily learn to do it from your crystal. We also condense time. As soon as you open the portal they will fly through from here.”

“How do we organize them when they get here?” Linda asked.

“You won’t see them, but when they are all through the portal will close. You then speak to them telepathically and guide them to where you want them to go.”

“We’ll see how the process goes and then contact you. We can look at those of the people who are not essential to what you’re doing and suggest you start sending them through. Try and send some of those, who can change form, so we can begin trying to orient them to our universe and see what needs to be done. I have alerted the University to our needs. I will let you know what capacity we have left throughout the Empire to process your people. Many of our civilizations are busy with the process of replacing old bodies with new as I mentioned when I was with you,” said Jason.

“Enough of our problems, I want to hear what is happening. How are you doing with the Gazronnaas?” Azanelja asked.

“We still can’t find them, and they are kidnapping increasing numbers of people. We cannot penetrate their cloaking devices, but we can detect the cloaks from a short distance away.” Jason informed her.

“We have discovered some of our people in that universe where Jason and I met the Dermon. Two-thirds of them are rejoining our Empire, but the final group is engaged in a civil war. The two factions are arguing about the importance of using the old runes versus a new variant they have created. It is the same nonsense we had to confront here,” said Annjus.

Azanelja laughed. “We have dealt with that issue repeatedly over the years. There is always somebody who believes they can do it better. There are some things that have been improved as much as they can be improved, and one needs to stop. We have had constant arguments to reconcile the factions. We can show how the original runes were derived and that helps a lot. I will prepare a presentation for you that will be on your orb shortly. Jason, go to that universe and stop them fighting. Get the two factions together to listen to what I have to say. Such a war is futile.

“Have you been using your orb?”

“Whenever I am in my room I take it out,” said Jason.

“I am glad I have spoken to you in that case. You must practice your magic every day and you must hold the orb at the same time. Do it together with Annjus as the effect will be multiplied. Only one of you needs to touch it or hold it. First concentrate on filling it with power. Recruit the streams of power progressively until you have recruited as many streams as you possibly can and continue to fill the orb. The orb can store an enormous amount, and it teaches you to be able to use increasing amounts of power. You must both ensure you do this at least once a day. Alternate your practice using your magic while holding the orb in your hand. Once a week go to a remote location and progressively increase the power of your casting.”

“What does the orb do?” Annjus asked.

“You will soon realize what is happening,” said Azanelja enigmatically. “You have much to do and we will speak again soon.”

The hologram faded.

“The feel of that woman is a shock to the system,” said Linda. “She has such presence and she is powerful and like a goddess.”

“Let’s contact Pleb first, then prof Omulix and finally go and have a chat to the hospital,” said Linda. “Jason you speak to Pleb, I will speak to prof Omulix and then we can take her if she is available with us to the hospital. Things are happening fast.”

****

“How did it all go today?” Andrea asked the next evening in the canteen.

Jason swallowed a mouthful of a sour citrus juice, choked, coughed, then carefully sipped his juice.

“It was a heavy day with a lot on and there were many decisions to be made.

“The Uzliumbax doctors have made a lot of progress in simplifying the storage and distribution of consciousness. They wanted to create a method so the consciousnesses can be stored in bulk. That wasn’t a difficult proposition as it was already done for one consciousness at a time prior to a body rebuild. They were fearful something would go wrong and they would kill people. Eventually we used duplicated and redundant storage and expanded the storage. We used some of the Empire’s biggest AIs. The Azloc and Dinnion systems have the biggest storage capacity. As soon as a pod is available the consciousness is sent to the AI in a pod. The doctors and AIs can distribute the consciousness to available medical pods anywhere in the Empire. I had to look at every decision in the chain and sign off on it.”

“How many can be stored?” Andrea asked.

“The doctors can store a million at a time before they need to distribute the consciousness. They will expand the system quickly. I gave the go-ahead this afternoon to increase the storage to be able to handle a hundred billion. Pleb has been liaising with the Collective and they would like to participate as soon as possible and they can rebuild millions at a time. Brecht spoke to the Coven and they have even more available capacity and also want to be involved. Brecht has undertaken to speak to the other Kings and Queens on my behalf and organize it with Thomas and Bertha the AI King and Queen. The Kings and Queens are meeting as we speak. Brecht believes Cassius’s Empire will be enthusiastic as will Felix’s. They see the potential benefits and don’t want to be left behind.”

Jason ate a few more mouthfuls and drank some more juice before continuing.

“We will have thousands of experts of different kinds meeting with us within a few days. There is great interest in researching what will be needed to be done from a rehabilitation and educational perspective. Brecht is hoping the Collective will be able to enlist the help of some of the first Norbut 19 group to help sort out the educational problems as they arise and help direct further improvements.”

“What about security for the new people?” Andrea asked.

Annjus moved to answer as Jason had resumed eating.

“Before we even opened the portal, Jason had spoken with Adm. Yoyo Arsames. They will be guarded by an Army! The Admiral is taking security very seriously here. The hospitals will have many levels of underground sensors installed and even primitive sonar devices as the Gazronnaas seem so good at fooling sensors. The scientists are looking at new ways to neutralize attacks from underground. There is much less of a security issue if one removes Mars and Porquenta from the equation. He believes it is more important to secure Mars and Porquenta than to avoid the problem.” Annjus informed the others at the table.

“Once we know how much effort it takes to get them to be able to function independently, we can speed everything up,” said Jason.

“Something new and dramatic is happening around you all the time Jason!” Corvus remarked.

“Corvus this is nothing new. Ever since I have known Jason, life has been frenetic,” said Razza. “I must admit the scale of the problems continues to grow. Jason will need to find more planets to house them all!”

“I am reluctant to separate them out and put them on planets on their own. They will be re-socialized and learn to adapt to this universe and our civilizations. They will make major contributions to each of the civilizations. I am ensuring the civilizations helping us gain the benefit from their efforts. Most of the Norbut 19 people will remain for fifteen years in the civilizations rebuilding them.

“One of the questions I will need to address is what is going to happen with the Grork that usually live symbiotically with them. I didn’t even think of asking my mother what her thoughts were.”

“I did give this question considerable amount of thought,” said Andrea.

“The Destroyers made a great mistake trying to reduplicate the symbiotic relationship between them and the Grork. There aren’t any suitable symbiotic relationships available or necessary in our universe. Despite the reluctance of the Grork to consider other alternatives I believe they will do well if they are also given a form and they make the effort to learn to move. That is a necessary condition for coming to this universe. Any other alternative will be a disaster for us. Their situation was unique in Norbut 19, no such alternative exists here. It is not a good idea to not be able to procreate and live in an AI. I do understand they wanted to avoid descent. That is much less of an issue now we know we can store consciousness and give them a body when it becomes available. That way they won’t turn bad,” Andrea concluded.

“Why don’t we look at giving the Grork on Earth a body?” Linda suggested.

“Let me think about it after I have spoken to my mother. I said I would contact her about our arrangements,” said Jason. “Whoever wants to come along please do so.”

Jason opened his locked cabinet and took out the cube. Annjus sat next to him on one side and Oksana on the other. Linda and Andrea sat behind them along with Razza and Julia. The cube opened to reveal the shining orb within. Annjus reached out to hold it in her hand as the hologram formed to reveal Azanelja.

Jason introduced the women to his mother.

“Jason, I can feel Oksana was one of your original wives but not Andrea. Razza also was but not Julia. It is amazing to find them around you again. I knew them so well and I felt their loss sorely.

“Did our people arrive safely?”

“Yes, they did. We can store the consciousness of a million at present and we can distribute the consciousness to facilities around the Empire. I will expand our storage capacity quickly so we can take many more at a time.

“I wanted to ask you what is going to happen with the Grork?”

“You made us aware of the problems they faced when they tried to reduplicate their arrangement here with us. They have agreed to be transferred to bodies with Uzliumbax DNA. They do not have a suitable form to be converted to a body template compatible with your universe. We are using a random generator to give them an Uzliumbax form. They know we all have an enormous task to adapt to your universe and they will accept the challenge. They previously were not prepared to lose everything they knew as we did. They know there is no suitable alternative form for them in your universe and gratefully accepted the offer to become Uzliumbax. We are very close to them here and intend to remain close. One half of the group we sent to you consists of Grork. They have an enormous amount to offer and were appalled to hear what happened with the Grork in your universe and how they went bad. They do not want to repeat such a misadventure,” said Azanelja.