Chapter 18

“Pentasa is here to meet with you along with a delegation from the Destroyers,” said Zafa smiling as she shook Jason’s shoulder. “They will be in the small conference room in fifteen minutes. Who do you want to accompany you?”

“How many of them are there?” Jason asked.

“There are six senior people in the delegation, and they have two assistants each. The leader of the group is my great-aunt and she is Pentasa’s grandmother. Her name is Astroden Aguriun.”

“I want you there with Pentasa. Please get hold of Adhhan, Jiskassa, Andrea, Linda, Razza, and Julia. Do you know what it’s about?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know. They all look serious, but my great-aunt did smile and give me a hug. I had better get the others. Give me five minutes.”

Jason looked at the time. It was a minute before six o’clock in the morning. He was due to get up for the gym. Which Destroyers was he going to see? Was this refugees or could it be a group who would propose an alliance to deal with the Gazronnaas?

Jason walked into the refresher after using the teeth cleanser. He dressed quickly. He found all the others waiting for him in his reception room.

“Jason you are slow, you are becoming more like an old man every day,” said Razza smiling. “Let’s go we don’t want to keep them waiting.”

Jason walked stooped and shuffled down the wide passageway.

Julia bumped him. “Stand up straight and walk quickly, we don’t want to give them the impression you are an old crock. You need to look strong young and virile. Make a good impression even if you are senile and have a poor grasp of what is going on.”

The others all laughed.

“Pick, pick is all you do. What have I done to deserve this nagging from my wives?” Jason asked.

“You deserve it. Lisirra wants us all to help ensure you improve,” said Linda.

Jason groaned loudly, the group laughed loudly, then Andrea put her arm around Jason from one side and Zafa her arm around him from the other side. They kissed his cheeks, one kiss on each side.

The conference room was strikingly beautiful. The portal faded they settled into the seats. The eight sides of the room were made up of windows from the floor to the high ceiling. Several windows overlooked the forest and the others overlooked the city. Jason realized they must be on the top of the palace. A few minutes later he realized the room was turning and the view changing. He glanced outside and was pleased to see several birds but no black pterodactyl.

The table was made of the black wood that made up the tallest trees. The table was at least six inches thick. The chairs were made of the same wood and were ornately carved with small animal figurines. The seat was covered by a comfortable cushion, and could be adjusted by a lever on the padded armrest. The floor had a thick carpet of a material Jason could not identify. It had an intricate multicolored pattern woven into it. As usual he couldn’t find the light source.

Adhhan moved to put her arms around Jason from behind and kissed his cheek.

“Life around you is never dull.”

“Tell us about it! It remains relentlessly interesting, mixed with periods of sheer terror, and others of incredible bliss,” said Razza and then blushed.

“So, it was you screaming last night,” said Linda.

Razza blushed even more deeply.

“I reserve my right to silence, my words might incriminate me!”

Pentasa accompanied the delegation and ushered them to their seats around the octagonal table. She introduced Jason and the others to the six senior Destroyers and described their positions and functions. They were all women. There was an admiral, a general, and the rest were the representatives of the Destroyer leadership.

The portal they had used disappeared in a puff of mist.

The spokeswoman of the Destroyers, Astroden Aguriun, rose from her chair.

“Emperor, Empresses, Queen Adhhan, thank you for accepting our delegation. We have come to inform you the leadership of the Destroyers has changed. We wish to discuss reconciliation between our peoples.

“Our government is no longer a theocracy run by a coterie of bigoted men. The previous leaders were tried for crimes against the Destroyer people and they paid with their lives.

“Emperor Jason, we wish to formally thank you for your help. We gratefully received your medical pods and our doctors removed those infernal explosive devices, inserted by the men, to keep us subjugated. The women, along with many sympathetic men, were finally able to define their own destiny.

“We formed an interim government, while we form a new constitution, and decide on our future mode of government. The priestesses shared with us the constitution of our people from Norbut 19 to use as a template to craft our own constitution.”

“Do any of you have any questions or wish to discuss what I have said before I move on?”

Jason nodded. “I would like to make you aware of some events happening of which you may not be aware. This information is pertinent to our discussion. I will brief you and then we can go over your proposal further.

“Our people are returning from Norbut 19 and we created millions of bodies for them from the templates they sent us. This process is ongoing and speeding up. The Safion have all returned as a consciousness and memory, and are waking the bodies from stasis,” said Jason. He paused to see if there was going to be a response or a question before continuing.

“Many of our people descended from Norbut 19 over the last few months.”

“The remainder of our people are traveling using the Ornark to Nasta 9 and they will change form en route as they pass through different universes,” said Jason.

“We know of the Safion, and we know they ascended with you to chase your enemies. We do not know what these Ornark are,” said Astroden shaking her head and looking at her advisors frowning.

“In Norbut 19, our people lived in huge living beasts hundreds of miles long and many miles wide. Millions lived in each of them. The Ornark consumed energy and we along with the Grork were part of the digestive process that transformed the energy for the Ornark. We behaved like our intestinal microflora. As we evolved, we began to play a bigger role in the orderly contraction of the universe.

“We have one of those Ornark here who was accompanying me when I left Norbut 19 but landed up in this universe when we hit a storm which was the interface between this universe and the transition between universes we were passing through. Many of our ships were lost to this universe. The Ornark, Nasta is his name, has communicated with his family in Norbut 19 and has given them the necessary information to adapt themselves to Nasta 9. Those of our people who remained behind in Norbut 19 have the ability to change their form as did the priestesses.

“The Ornark made the decision to join Nefta, my friendly Ornark in Nasta 9. I know Nefta well as he and I were friends in Norbut 19. Nefta stowed away and shifted his consciousness into an AI on one of the ships, so he doesn’t have a body at present. He is currently building a small frigate, to house himself, with a consortium that includes an intelligent life form consisting of rocks, called Vosges that are part of the forming universe. They play a role in forming the universe and in its contraction.” Jason concluded.

“All of this is new information, some of it is quite extraordinary and much of it is gobbledygook. The part about the Ornark and the frigate is singularly obscure. I understand our people are returning but the rest of it is more than obscure it is bizarre” — she glared at her advisors — “How will the new arrivals affect the leadership of your Empire?” Astroden asked frowning.

“My parents are still alive. They are the true Emperor and Empress of our people. I only acted as their proxy to create a secure base so our people could move when they were ready. I will defer to their wishes on their arrival. I expect them to be in Nasta 9 in three weeks as long as time distortion in Norbut 19 doesn’t affect their travel plans.

“I don’t do that much Emperor stuff. I have been studying. The Kings and Queens do most of the work. I am sure my parents will ratify any agreements we make if they decide to resume their leadership of our people.”

Andrea, Linda, Zafa, Razza and Julia smiled looked at Jason and shook their heads. Adhhan looked at Jason askance.

“Surely you will still be Emperor when your parents arrive?” Adhhan asked.

“Jason has never been the kind of man who craves power,” said Andrea. “As fast as Jason gives power and responsibility to others, so does his own power, gravitas and charisma grow. He draws nations and civilizations to him and to his Empire. He remains reluctant to encourage other civilizations to join us, but join us they do, and in droves,” Andrea explained.

“I get the impression Jason’s father is a shy scientist who is delighted to do his work if he can. His mother is the formidable Empress who is the one truly in charge in Norbut 19. She is a gorgeous godlike woman who has an extraordinary presence. I suspect she rules much like Jason does,” said Zafa. “I spoke to her together with Jason several times.”

The Destroyer women were all wide-eyed with raised eyebrows.

“You have met with the great Emperor and Empress?” Astroden Aguriun asked.

“Some of Jason’s group traveled to meet them, and we try and talk to Jason’s mother and father a couple of times a week. Time is unstable in Norbut 19, and therefore it is not always possible to keep to the schedule,” said Razza. “Some of our conversations preceded some of our other conversations as time is no longer consistently linear there. I don’t know how they are able to cope!”

“Pentasa, you didn’t tell us any of this!” Astroden said angrily.

“Grandmother, it was not my story to tell.”

Astroden glared at Pentasa and then glared at Zafa.

“How does what we have told you impact on you?” Jason asked.

“Our information was that you came from a primitive planet and you were a young man of eighty years. I struggled to understand how such a young man could become an Emperor. I now discover your mother is still living on Norbut 19 and will be here soon. That means you are much older than you appear to be. Pentasa did not inform me of all of this. Zafa, why did you not tell me about the Emperor, I would not be in such an embarrassing situation otherwise?”

Zafa went a bright red. Jason had never seen her embarrassed or blushing.

“Auntie the last time I spoke to you was shortly before I left home along with my fleet. I have no idea what the problem is. Jason has descended twice. The second descent was onto a primitive planet.”

“Madame President, your briefing document states that the Emperor was known to have descended twice. The first time was after he left Norbut 19, and second time was after he returned from Norbut 19 after the great war was concluded.” Her assistant noted.

Astroden looked at her and narrowed her eyes.

“That is all very well, Pentasa did not personally brief me the Emperor had met his mother and father, the true Emperor and Empress and they were coming to Nasta 9.”

“Auntie I still can’t understand what the issue is,” said Zafa.

“Child, why must I always explain these things to you in painful detail? This goes to the core of the issue. It was incumbent upon me to establish the credibility of the Emperor. As soon as I saw him, I had the greatest difficulty believing he was our Emperor. He was too young, too vigorous and too charming by far. I wasn’t going to believe a word he told me until I realized the true Empress and Emperor will be here soon. The story of those long Ornark and frigates confused me completely. How can our people live in living beasts? This story beggars belief.

“He speaks to his mother, the ‘True Empress’ twice a week,” she said loudly and slowly. “Pentasa how could you have omitted that critical information.”

“He has recently been to visit her in Norbut 19. Children do you not understand the importance of what has been left out,” said Astroden angrily her voice loud and shrill.

Her face was red and her neck blotchy. She glared at Pentasa then glared at Zafa. She turned to glare at her assistant.

“The priestesses told me the True Empress was friendly with my mother and even though I don’t remember it, she knew me as a child. She will know who I am and if I make the wrong decision I will be in deep trouble. She is a terrifying woman and I must be exceedingly careful. She will judge my every action and deed. She is all knowing and my mother told me one cannot lie to her. What am I to do? What to do?” Astroden asked with raised eyebrows rubbing her face and looking at Jason.

“I am responsible for momentous decisions that will impact our people and my reputation is at stake as is my life. I am uncertain about what I should do. My world has been turned upside down. I cannot believe I am in a universe I did not know existed with yet another group of our people. Everything has confused me today. I always know my mind and I am a decisive person, but today is not normal, it is a highly irregular day. The situation is entirely unacceptable. What is the answer?” Astroden threw up her hands and looked up at the ceiling much as Jason did.

Zafa and Pentasa struggled to keep a straight face but fortunately Astroden was looking directly at Jason.

“I suggest you view this as a social visit. You are getting to know us and visiting your family. We can agree hostilities are over between us and I would hope between the Destroyers and the Azloc.” Jason suggested.

“The fact we are here and talking to you, makes that obvious young man. We do not intend to sweep through other galaxies destroying advanced civilizations any longer,” Astroden replied imperiously.

“Excellent, then we can leave the major decisions until later and show you around this lovely place. My mother will be here soon, and my firm belief is she will be on time regardless of the vagaries of Norbut 19. You can talk about your options with my mother. I’m sure she will be pleased to see you if she was friendly with your mother and she will guide you to make the best decision possible. I don’t think you should feel pressured to make any decisions today. I am sure your people will understand what has happened. Under the circumstances they will accept a delay in negotiating a final agreement,” said Jason. “They will be pleased to hear we can work together on getting rid of the Gazronnaas in Bekta Delta. Your military leaders can meet with ours while you socialize and look around.”

Jason then turned to Adhhan.

“Adhhan, please ask your people to bring us refreshments. I’m feeling hungry and I’m sure our guests would like something to eat and drink. Astroden why don’t you relax and enjoy the view and tell us a little about yourself?” Jason suggested. “Our military people and yours can get together after that to plan what we do on Bekta Delta.”

“That is very helpful young man, you do have a keen sense of what we intended to do on this visit.”

****

“How did the day go Adhhan?” Jason asked at dinner.

“Astroden is a fussy persnickety woman who is preoccupied with minutiae. I feel sorry for the Destroyers. The people she was with, are much easier to deal with. The military pair got together with Yoyo and his team. He is greatly relieved to find the Destroyers will work with us to deal with the Gazronnaas in Bekta Delta and we no longer consider them a threat. Zafa and Pentasa were old colleagues of theirs and that helped smooth out any wrinkles. They are easy to work with.”

“After the meeting they joined us on tour. Astroden remarked she thought it was a pity to end hostilities with the Azloc. She said she didn’t like insects much and spiders were the worst. Jiskassa bristled and looked like she was going to tear Astroden a new hole,” said Adhhan.

“Yoyo was his charming best and told her the story about you and Valsam. He then told her the Azloc could change form to become humanoid and then introduced her to Jiskassa. Astroden was taken aback and to my surprise she apologized to Jiskassa first and then to all of us. It was a horribly uncomfortable and awkward moment.

“The military talked about the intended attacks in Bekta Delta. Yoyo’s assistant mentioned you, the Empresses and your team intended to rescue Ooryphyon, and you might even fight the Gazronnaas supreme Queen. She went on to say she heard it was prophesied you and the Empresses were important to the rescue of Empress Ooryphyon the Teokraeus.”

Adhhan shook her head then started to giggle.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life. Even now I find it hard to believe what happened. Astroden went ballistic.She was ten times worse than Lisirra at her explosive best. She had a tantrum worse than a three year old. It was an outburst of extravagant proportions. In an old woman it was not pretty.

“She shouted at Yoyo; she didn’t think it was appropriate for the Emperor to risk himself. What would people think of her if you came to harm shortly after she visited, her reputation would be in ruins. Your mother was a fearsome woman and she would punish Astroden for not protecting her son. She then launched into an attack on Yoyo. She said she was disgusted he allowed you to fight on the front line. She told him he must stop you.

“Yoyo is a cunning and diplomatic man. He diverted the discussion. He suggested she met your cousin Sundirra and your aunt, the chief scientist Barollil Agmenal who had recently arrived from Norbut 19. He suggested they were important people and at her level. He told her she should meet them as Sundirra is a Princess and Barollil the sister of the Empress. She got herself under control in no time after that and was so obsequious it was painful. She was bowing and scraping so low her nose was rubbing on the ground. She couldn’t have groveled more if she tried. It was ridiculous. I had the greatest difficulty restraining myself from laughing out loud.

“Yoyo moved the conversation subtly around to the Gazronnaas on Bekta Delta and the predictions of Barollil. Barollil explained her predictions on cue. Astroden voiced her concerns about you as Emperor fighting on the ground.

“Barollil said it was she who suggested it was critical you and your team were involved. She explained about the strands of time and how she could look at the consequences of the decisions made. The best outcome for everyone arose after you and your people were part of the rescue attempt. She talked about dogs and pigs. Astroden looked confused and angry and became angry with her aids for not telling her about them.

“Yoyo explained how you used the dogs and the boars and briefly showed the sequence of you fighting the Ghoul. Barollil was intrigued. I was puzzled as you told me the dogs and boars could not operate in Bekta Delta as the dimension that provides them energy does not exist there.

“Yoyo, then showed the sequence you gave him when Merken the cook of Ouma Chatzke predicted it was important for you to take part in the rescue of the Royal family of the Coven. He then showed a summarized version of what happened during the rescue.

“That holo-vid show well and truly boggled the brains of the Destroyers. They were amazed to see you in the shape of the cockroach. They watched the underground chase and the subsequent battle with the General and how you destroyed the enemy army. Astroden and her group were impressed. Astroden puffed out her chest as if she was your proud mother. She sees herself as your de facto mother until your own mother arrives.

“Yoyo casually went on to say you have done the same sort of thing many times. Astroden was reassured you could look after yourself. She was quiet and subdued for ten minutes. She then said, ‘I wonder what Jason is going to do in that cavern in Bekta Delta?’”

“Sundirra, then showed them the holo-vid you had sent her of the fight with the Gazronnaas King. They were fascinated to see that battle.”

“Astroden didn’t have anything much to say after that. The others in her party relaxed and we had a pleasant time.”

Adhhan then started to giggle again, restrained herself with some difficulty, then spoke.

“The women separately found an opportunity to ask me if you were still prepared to impregnate Destroyer women.

“I assured them another hundred billion would not be a problem for you. I told them that would ensure all those from Norbut 19 could descend. They walked away satisfied!”

Adhhan and the others at the table continued to giggle for some time.

Corvus and Alfred entered the room and joined them at the table.

“I heard you were meeting with the emissaries of the Destroyers. How did it go?” Corvus asked.

“We had a sticky start, but we finished well,” said Jason. “They will work with us in Bekta Delta to fight the Gazronnaas. They wanted to determine for themselves if I was the true Emperor. They started off believing it was not possible, but by the time they left they knew they could speak to my parents in a few weeks’ time and establish the truth of it all. All the indications are that they were satisfied I was who I was supposed to be. They are no longer hostile to us. They have overthrown the previous theocracy, formed a new government and they are finding their way. The woman who was the president led the delegation. She is Pentasa’s grandma and the great-aunt of Zafa.

“There is no hostility between us any longer. I am relieved as is Yoyo; we don’t have to face an awkward problem in Bekta Delta.”

Alfred and Corvus smiled.

“Your aunt’s predictions are coming true in the most unexpected way,” said Alfred. “We also heard from Jiskassa something odd is happening with the Azloc; I wonder how that situation is going to play out.”

“We have had such a difficult time with the Gazronnaas, I can’t see a way we can get lucky with the Azloc in the same way as we have with the Destroyers,” said Julia.

“I want to talk to all of you once we have concluded the business of today,” said Valsam, “Odalis Klohn, will be joining us and wants to address us.”

Jason noticed Jiskassa smiled a predatory smile and then supportively placed her arm around Valsam. Jason deliberately chose not to tap into their thinking.

Yoyo sighed and fiddled with his slate.

“Our scientists have finally come through for us. They have broken the masking methods of the Gazronnaas underground and we have located four intact large bases, two on Mars and two on Porquenta. We can now scan the ground using a new generation of sensors. We are going to look around both planets as we can do it quickly. We had a look in the areas we encountered them. The bases look like they are in the process of evacuation. We will hit them today. I don’t want them to feel they have something to return to on either planet.

“The communications device created by Rock, will be useful for our military, but did not help us to find the Gazronnaas communications. It is too many generations in advance of anything our Norbut 19 scientists have developed. Our people built a similar device to the one they use to listen in on the Gazronnaas on Norbut 19 and quickly found the Gazronnaas. We are using the devices to tap into the communications on our planets and in Mespa 49 and in Bekta Delta. Rock was surprised but was more interested in finding why his device didn’t do the job rather than get upset about the problem. He is delighted the Norbut 19 scientists think his device will be very useful, as the Gazronnaas won’t be able to tap into it.

“The Gazronnaas ships from Norbut 19 are communicating daily to our universe. Most of the communications are between family members that were previously separated. We have heard the same stories repeatedly. Many of the Gazronnaas died in Norbut 19 after their escape fleet was struck by a renegade planet while they were attempting to escape the gravitational field near an enormous black hole. Our people attacked them shortly after. The ships that we see are some of the remnants of the last of the Gazronnaas. Most of the damage to the ships was from the weapons of the Ornark.

“We heard the Queen issuing instructions. She is running the operations in Bekta Delta. Those on the ships are waiting to transfer their consciousness to developing fetuses in the pods. They will be able to start doing it in bulk in a week.

“We have used our new scanners and we found there is a deeper set of caverns where more Gazronnaas are living. Your aunt’s predictions were correct, the prisoners are definitely being held on the reddish planet with a reddish son.”

“Yoyo, when will we be ready to attack them?” Zafa asked.

“We will be ready in four days. The Destroyers will attack the other planet and its protective fleet. They also wanted to take the mining planet.”

“Yoyo, what do we know of the weapons of the Gazronnaas ships from Norbut 19?” Zafa asked.

“The scientists from Norbut 19 tell us we will be able to handle them as well as we can handle the other Gazronnaas ships. Not all the Gazronnaas weapons will work in Bekta Delta and those that do aren’t very effective.”

“Jason, is your team ready?” Yoyo asked.

“We’ve trained hard all year,” said Jason, “we are as ready as we will ever be!

“We can get into the Gazronnaas AIs. Our cyberwarfare teams with the help of the Norbut 19 people were able to find several ways of blocking the Gazronnaas offensive. In so doing they also found how to attack them. It has been a long time, but finally we are able to fight them using a similar level of technology.

“We confirmed the Gazronnaas hate us with a passion. Their communications are full of what they are going to do to us, and it is not pretty. If I had any last lingering doubts about their intentions, they have been dispelled,” said Yoyo.

“Jason, were you able to establish communication with Ooryphyon on the red planet?”

“Yes, Yoyo I have, I had to move close to the planet to be able to communicate. The captain of the scout ship was helpful and moved us right in.

“Ooryphyon is doing well despite being incarcerated, but her parents and the other captives are despondent. She can control several guards, and ensures the prisoners are well fed.

“Ooryphyon taps into the Queen’s mind and is as nasty a piece of work as the worst of the Grork.

“The doctors had some problems with several pods, but they managed to sort them out. The Gazronnaas are confident things are going well medically and with their campaign. They are convinced we don’t know where they are, and they can attack us with impunity once they have adapted their weapons to our universes. She told me she was surprised she couldn’t find any Gazronnaas who are pleasant or compassionate. She said they are harsh at best but are as brutal to each other as to prisoners. She said they are highly industrious and well-disciplined and they have reasonable morale despite the way they are treated. The Gazronnaas complain about the low level of penetration of magic in Nasta nine and Bekta Delta. They say the energy shortage slows everything down. They didn’t get a shipment of generators they needed. They are not able to generate sufficient level III energy to operate the factories.

“She did warn me there are more Gazronnaas than we thought,” said Jason.

“I am pleased she is alive and well,” said Yoyo. “She has powerful telepathic skills and uses them well.”

“Valsam, would you like to bring in Odalis to tell us what’s going on?” Jason asked.

Valsam nodded and walked outside to bring Odalis into the meeting.

Odalis walked in and greeted those at the meeting.

“Odalis please tell us what happened.” Valsam requested.

“I was summoned back home. One of our ships met me outside our galaxy and took me to the monastery of the Mount of the Enigma.

“No one communicated with me on the ship except in the most superficial way. We are trained to be able to keep our thoughts out of the common mind. Everyone was stern and serious. I began to fear for my life. I thought I was going to be judged and found to have betrayed our Queens.

“We passed directly through the blockading fleet. Either they did not see us, or they ignored us. I then thought they did see us but were going to let us through then would kill us all.

“I was close to panic on the trip to the monastery.”

“How many ships were around the planet?” Zafa asked.

“The AI showed one hundred and eighty ships; capital ships and double that number of escorts. Unusually there were eleven Queen dreadnoughts. There were a thousand Azloc ships in the solar system.”

“I had no idea what was going on. They led me silently to a room and told me to prepare myself for a formal meeting in half an hour. I didn’t know the purpose of the meeting, but I increasingly believed my time in this world was limited. I began to doubt myself and began to question everything I had done in my life.

“Twenty minutes later a procession arrived at my door and they led me to a room where the seniors of the sisterhood of Queens were seated along with the senior brotherhood of Kings. I previously believed the kings were a figment of the novices’ imagination. None of the sisters in my cohort had ever seen them.