Chapter 8

“I mean, if the relationship can’t survive the long term, why on earth would it be worth my time and energy for the short term?“

― Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song

“Thank you very much for visiting us Jason, we see far too little of you. Welcome to our home, Andrea,” said Nestarphenon Periphyon; Ooryphyon’s mother. “Zeptophar is in the living room watching the news.”

She hugged and kissed Jason on the cheek, then hugged Andrea tightly.

She led them through to the living room looking tearful.

“Zeppy, Jason and Andrea are here.”

Zeptophar walked over to Jason and hugged him with his left arm in the Teokraeus manner. He moved back a pace and placed his hand on Jason’s chest.

“Nestar and I are unhappy about how Ooryphyon is behaving. When she sees us, she rants about how you have mistreated her and we cannot make her see reason.”

“Let us talk of other things first, before we return to the contentious subject of Ooryphyon and her behavior,” said Nestarphenon as she poured them drinks and passed around small cakes.

“I know Jason prefers to be informal, please call me Nestar and my husband Zeppy. People who know us well, call us by our shortened names. Jason even though you have forgotten we lived at your palace and Zeppy and I worked with you. We saw each other every day.

“This drink is from a fruit that only grows on our planet of origin. All the original inhabitants of that planet have been kidnapped or have gone elsewhere. Thank you, Jason, for clearing the planet of the vermin who had taken it over. There are too few of us to live safely on the planet and we prefer to be close to Ooryphyon as she is our only daughter,” she continued.

“Who is cultivating the fruit and harvesting it for you?” Andrea asked.

“Trees bearing the fruit grew prolifically during our absence. We have leased large areas to Uzliumbax farmers whose families we know. When our people are recovered from the Destroyers, we will once again have a critical mass of people to populate the planet. The planet is part of the Uzliumbax Empire and it is being redeveloped for us to prepare for the return of our people. We have opened the planet to migration for the first time,” said Zeppy.

“Andrea, the planet Brenadarya, is stunningly beautiful and was a popular holiday destination for the Uzliumbax. We have a palatial holiday home on Brenadarya, that has been well-maintained. It is much like our home on Gromelikine. Soon the planet will be linked by portal from Mars and Porquenta,” Jason explained, then remarked, “I love this juice, Zeppy and the taste of the little cakes is delicious and quite unique.”

“We have many unique herbs and spices on Brenadarya. They have interesting flavors and were much prized in Uzliumbax cooking. We have farmers queuing up to live on Brenadarya and grow these herbs and spices. They can only grow in our soil.” He replied.

“Philippa is there with Lauren my daughter and Robert who runs my food companies, working on a plan to develop food production and resorts,” said Jason. “My companies used to work with the Teokraeus in the past and we were asked to help out again.”

“How are things going for you on Porquenta?” he asked.

“The attack of the Azloc shocked us, but it had little impact in our residential area. Zeppy and I are busy marketing the produce from Brenadarya to the Uzliumbax. We are looking forward to the portal. It will save us a lot of time in the shuttle. Robert was fortunately also unaffected. They didn’t attack his farms or his schools.

“We often cook with him and Marie and spend quite a lot of time with both re-creating our old Teokraeus recipes. Both of us are enthusiastic cooks and Robert as you know never tires of cooking and creating new dishes. He can’t wait to market our food into the Collective and Coven.

“Jason, he has established 20 farms so far, to grow our produce. He decided to invite partners he knows well and trusts from the Collective to join him. They are in negotiation with Robert and with us. Porquenta and Mars are much like Brenadarya. Robert is also trial growing some of our produce here. We are surprised to find that our fruit trees thrive here, but they are yet to produce fruit.” Nestar explained.

“We see quite a lot of Ooryphyon but recently her company has become unpleasant and tedious. We do like Annjus. She has become less stiff over time. You know she was one of your Empresses?” She asked.

Jason nodded.

“I understand from what you have told me, Jason, before your visit, Ooryphyon made several accusations. You did tell me what she said,” Nestar remarked. “You said there were some questions you had for us?”

“She has accused me of not making adequate provisions to protect the Teokraeus. I don’t remember my prior relationship with Ooryphyon or with you Zeppy. I understood from Oory you worked with me for many years and then you retired and Ooryphyon took over. I must have decided to chase after our enemies to Norbut 19, but I don’t know what I did to protect the Empire and to protect the Teokraeus. Can you tell me?”

“You offered to hide our planet even from the Uzliumbax and you also offered some of us the option to hide under the ice on the moon you rescued us from. Our planet was well protected. We were provided with a guard if we chose to hide on the ice moon. I don’t think you knew, and I don’t think we knew how long you would be away. The way you talked sounded as if you were intending to be away for half a year, no longer. The Teokraeus came from an even more ancient universe than Norbut 19, but we lost the information on our background. We warned you about the instability of time in contracting universes; it was not going to be something you could control or manage satisfactorily,” Zeppy explained.

“Ooryphyon blames me for placing her at risk for capture by pirates. Can either of you explain to me the circumstances around her capture by the pirates?” Jason asked.

“Ooryphyon chose not to go with you even though you invited her to. She wanted to have a child and she did not want to delay it. She remained in the Uzliumbax capital and became involved at a distance with a young man who she believed was an eligible Teokraeus. She did not know she was involved with a confidence trickster. You had told her not to travel and not to expose herself to any risks. She travelled to meet this young man and placed herself into the hands of the pirates,” Nestar explained.

“Ooryphyon like many of our younger Teokraeus went through a difficult time as she approached adulthood. She was emotional, difficult and irrational for a hundred years. After that, she became a reasonably sensible adult except around the issue of becoming a mother. She was obsessed with becoming pregnant and having a child. She wanted to become one of the Empresses and have a child with the Emperor but knew she could not, as the Teokraeus were not compatible with the Uzliumbax,” said Zeppy.

“After the reconstruction, she has gone back into that adolescent emotional state. She was able to control her emotions to some degree until she failed to become pregnant on her ridiculous schedule. Most of our women take up to 100 years to become pregnant. Several of our group go back 15 million years, so 100 years is nothing in the scheme of things. Most of us were able to deal with our emotions after the reconstruction, but Ooryphyon regresses into an irrational emotional state.” Nestar held her large egg head with both hands. “She has gone off on a tangent and I don’t think any of us are going to be able to bring her back in the short and perhaps even medium term. Since childhood, she tends to blame others for her problems and is doing it again with a vengeance.

“She was kidnapped because she suspended her judgment and travelled when she should not have done so. How that is your fault, I have no idea. You did as much as you possibly could before you left for Norbut 19. You didn’t know you were going to be away for more than a million years,” said Nestar.

“Is there anything that Jason can do?” Andrea asked.

“Ooryphyon will not be amenable to any discussion or any attempts to change her mind. Her mother and I have gone down that pathway with her last time and this time again. She hates to miss out. I would suggest you carry on with your own life and if you can enjoy yourself conspicuously without her it will arouse her interest. Don’t invite her to everything. Invite her to the lesser events and begin slowly to reduce the invitations you make to her. Be friendly but don’t try and influence her, be supportive but don’t push her.

“She has previously expressed an interest in relationships with other women. Annjus is a pleasant young woman and I think presents no danger to Ooryphyon. In the short or medium term, Ooryphyon may join Annjus’ Association, but in the long term, she will want to return to you.

“We spent some time with Annjus and we have renewed our acquaintance with her family. We knew her mother and grandmother previously. There is far more chance that Annjus will join you than Ooryphyon in the short term,” said Nestar.

“That is helpful,” said Andrea. “I will make sure we keep in contact with you. I look forward to a trip to Brenadarya.”

Jason hugged Ooryphyon’s parents, thanked them for their hospitality and guidance and promised to keep in more frequent contact.

They walked together to the shuttle accompanied by a security detachment and made themselves comfortable before takeoff.

“I found that brief chat enlightening and helpful. At least I understand more about what happened,” said Jason. “If the Teokraeus is more ancient than our people, where did the come from. Odalis is also older than we are. I hope Odalis will tell us about her origins in the future. All this ancient stuff is so weird and hard to comprehend. The more I find out the less I know,” said Jason.

“Linda sees Ooryphyon’s parents more often than anyone else. When I spoke to Linda, she indicated it will take Ooryphyon quite some time to come around, but I now understand the background much more clearly. I like them very much and I will ensure we see them more often,” said Andrea.

Jason nodded.

“Jason, when are you traveling next to that other universe?” Andrea asked.

“Prof. Omulix suggested I go tomorrow. Jiskassa wanted to come along but the professor does not think it is a good idea. She doesn’t know if she can go through the same portal along with me. It’s never been done. Annjus is going to go at the same time as she also asked me when I was going. She loves to tease me and give me a hard time,” said Jason.

“Jason, she is besotted with you, but she won’t accept it. She is a highly independent young woman who is determined to be the best of the best. Her grandmother and mother pushed her to meet you, so she made no efforts to do so. She developed a strong interest in you as your incognito self but made every effort to beat the stuffing out of you as you didn’t have a valid background. I haven’t seen her talk to any males other than you. She can be colder than Jiskassa,” said Andrea.

“She alternates hot and cold with me. She is much better since our trip to Norbut 19,” said Jason then turned to look at Andrea. “I’m surprised our intelligence did such a poor job of my cover story. I was singularly unimpressed with them when I heard the results of the investigations by Annjus and Oksana. Whoever did the lousy job has been disciplined and punished after I brought it to the attention of our intelligence services. Porquenta ensured the complaint reached the highest levels,” said Jason.

“I heard you tell Razza at breakfast your mother sent you a gift but you didn’t say what it was. Are you a bit disappointed?” Andrea asked.

“She sent me a device that allows me to communicate with her easily. I am delighted to be able to chat with her. She did mention the device can do more than I expect and will be useful in other ways.

“I am happy with the communicator and locket from my mother, but I am frustrated since I got back. I struggle to see how we are going to tackle the next stage of our educational development. I have a new crystal which I know is operating, but I cannot understand the frame of reference of the education. The AI is asking me to be patient and to learn what I am being taught, but I cannot make head or tail of it. It is a bit like learning the binary system without putting it into the context of other numeric systems. You can learn it mechanically and you can use it, but how does it fit?

“We need something to help us get a leg up quickly. Some fundamental concepts are missing. Marcela is aware of my issues and is in the process of working with the group choosing the essential scientists who will receive the new crystals, but they will have the same problems I have had. I can understand the magic methods and quite a lot of concepts in the social sciences but not the hard science stuff we need. The AI is reassuring; it pats me on the back, and it encourages me to carry on. The AI tells me I must appreciate that the mathematics was derived in an entirely different universe where the rules are different. That mathematics and the related physics will not make sense immediately because it is describing a different world. We need the basics from the perspective of our universe. Doing it the long way around will not be fast enough,” Jason explained.

“I know we don’t have any understanding of the next level of power and energy. I know we have to comprehend an entirely new set of concepts and then we must move to an even more complex set of concepts that underlies the power behind the magic. I know I am not going to grasp 25 million years’ worth of development overnight, but it doesn’t change how frustrated I feel doing what I am doing.

“I looked at the future topics and I can see there are mathematics and physics concepts that describe all the universes. There is an enormous amount to go through before we get from the basics to reach our current situation,” Jason explained.

“I am sure you will find a way of tackling the problem, Jason,” said Andrea and put her arm around his waist. Jason kissed her.

“My mother also said I would begin getting back my memories. I have had a few flashes of memories, but again little of it makes sense. I know my mother was trying to be helpful when she sent the glowing orb to me, but I wish she would’ve told me what else it does.”

“Give her a call and ask her. Tell her the problems you are having learning the science stuff. What else is going on?” Andrea suggested.

“I hate being on the back foot like this. Most of the time the initiative is in the hands of the Gazronnaas and we are trying to defend against what they are doing. They are learning to use their magic while occupying the students. I am as frustrated as hell; we can’t get ahead. We don’t know where their bases are, and we can’t penetrate their communications. We can’t even operate most of their devices,” said Jason.

“It is not much better on the emotional front. Lisirra has not improved one iota. I did ask the doctors to try and make her less emotionally labile, less jealous and less paranoid. I don’t know if they couldn’t do it because her mind is so complex or whether they simply didn’t do it. She is as difficult as she was and getting a new body hasn’t improved her attitude.

“Ooryphyon is not going to come around for ages. Annjus will continue to beat me up because she can, and she wants to. At least Neg is out of contention. That is one tiny victory on the back of many failures.

“I was ashamed and embarrassed to meet my old girlfriend on Norbut 19. She is much worse than Lisirra. I don’t know how I could have tolerated her for 10 minutes. It gave Annjus more ammunition to hit me with.” Jason said.

“According to my mother, the Dermon character may have fooled me. She told me I must deal with him, he cannot be allowed to continue to roam around. She implied that I have a lot to learn from Annjus about the situations in which I find myself,” he added. “I didn’t agree with her. She said she could be wrong but there are more malign entities around than one realizes.

“Jason, Lisirra is the kind of woman who will continue to provoke you until you take action. You make the critical mistake of tolerating her and allowing her to continue her bad behavior. She is very attached to you, but she will continue to test you until you begin to learn to control her. We have all watched you with great amusement. When it comes to emotionally labile women you have absolutely no idea how to handle them. Lisirra needs a man who will manage her and control her. She will only flourish if you provide her with such an environment. What form that control needs to take I don’t know, but she tests you and you don’t give her what she needs.”

Jason remained deep in thought until the shuttle landed on Mars.

****

Jason made himself comfortable on the lounge chair in Prof. Omulix’s office.

“Prof. Omulix, I would like to get your advice on how I should approach the Dermon on my return.”

“May I ask what your mother told you about the demons?”

“She felt I was taking an unnecessary risk for a low return while trying to learn from the demon. She said in all her years she had never heard anything positive about creatures in decaying universes. She said they were underhanded and long-term planners. They aimed to conquer other civilizations and spread themselves over as many universes as they could, so once their own worlds were destroyed, they could go elsewhere and continue the same process. She recommended I kill him in order to protect the world Groompt Plut; which is the name of the planet I go to.”

“There are two issues, the first one is you like him and the second is you have some doubt he is as evil as other demons. I have a simple solution for you. Do you remember I told you I could do a spell to spy on the Gazronnaas?”

“Yes, I do remember you telling me, and it wasn’t working as they could block it.”

“My incredible new crystal taught me a variation of that spell which is to set the scrying so certain conditions need to be fulfilled before it alerts you to observe what it is looking at.

“The demon has taken no action against you. He has befriended and assisted you. I suspect he likes you and enjoys teaching you. He knows advanced magic but I am sure he has periodic meetings with his superiors. You need to listen in on one of his conversations. If no such conversation occurs, you don’t need to take any action. Alternatively, you can avoid going to visit Groompt Plut, so you don’t have to face the problem at all.”

“I feel some responsibility towards Groompt Plut. I would prefer not to avoid going back. Can you teach me the spell?”

Prof. Omulix spent 10 minutes teaching Jason how to cast the scrying spell and how to set the conditional alert.

“The way it works is you set the scrying to observe the demon. Your crystal monitors what is going on and the AI decides if an event should merit your full attention. I use it to let me know if someone is approaching my door. I set it at night to alert me if the sensor sees any Gazronnaas shields.”

“That is very clever professor and very simple to implement. I will try and keep a watch on him even if I’m back and I don’t observe him doing anything this time. I’m confident I can do it and if I forget I will ask my own crystal. I had better get going.”

Jason called up the portal, passed through, put down his pack in his room and walked to the small front room, then the kitchen of the castle. No one was around, so Jason walked back into his room and shut the door and locked it. He tried out his scrying spell and found he could observe Prof. Omulix in her office, talking with Annjus.

“Annjus, you just missed Jason he has gone through the portal. I will tell him when he gets back to contact you about your project,” said Prof. Omulix. “Jason, you overheard that conversation. Contact Annjus when you get back, now I don’t need to remember it. I have cast an anti-scrying enchantment which warns me if someone is scrying. Yes, it works across universes, now turn it off.” She waved and smiled.

Jason set up his scrying and soon saw master Saulius Kerivas walking purposefully between the stalls in the marketplace. He walked into a small shop that looked like an herbalist or an apothecary. When he could not see who he was looking for he asked for Thomas the master of poisons. Jason instantly became alert.

Thomas was a very old man and he walked with a marked limp and used a crutch. He was assisted by a young boy who looked no more than 13 years old. The young man treated Thomas respectfully. Thomas became more animated when he saw Saulius.

“Master Saulius, well met. I have not seen you for several years.”

“Master Thomas, it was well over two years ago that I was here last. We were highly successful that time!”

Master Thomas laughed. “I am delighted to hear that. How may I help you today?”

“I have a little problem that is annoying me that I need to deal with.”

“Do you need to dispose of one or many?”

“It is only one. It is cunning and I don’t believe I can trap it or kill it without some help. I would hope you can give me something that would not place my life at risk if I put it in food.”

“That is not so easy. You and I may look different to the enemy, but we are vulnerable to the same poisons. You must take great care when you use it. There is no antidote.”

Saulius nodded.

Thomas walked awkwardly and uncomfortably to a cupboard which he unlocked. He removed a small leather pouch before locking the cupboard and returning the key to the inside of his voluminous coat. Saulius handed over several coins. The two men nodded to each other and smiled. Saulius placed the pouch into an inner pocket turned and walked out of the shop. He began walking quickly back to the castle.

Jason terminated the scrying after Saulius returned and placed the pouch into his cupboard. He then popped his head into the kitchen and noticed the cook working there.

“Hello Ortana, how are you?” Jason asked.

“We are doing well my Lord. Everything is now in its place and the castle is clean once again. Morgan is dealing with a plague of rats. The river flooded two days ago, and the village has been suffering as the rats take up residence in the houses. We have several big cats which can kill the rats outside the rat holes. If you do see a rat in your room please inform Morgan.

“There is some bigger news. We have heard the military is looking to appoint a king to replace the deposed and assassinated King. All of us hope you will take up the role.”

“That is interesting Ortana. Do we know who the main contenders are for the role?” Jason asked.

“No, my lord, we heard they are doing tests on possible candidates. We don’t know how they choose those candidates.”

“After my recent experiences, I am far from sure I have the makings of a great leader of Groompt Plut,” said Jason smiling.

“My Lord why don’t you go and relax in the small dining room. I will send through your whiskey and a few snacks before dinner. Master Saulius has returned from the market. I will inform him you are back,” said Ortana.

Jason walked to the small dining room and switched on the holo-vid to watch the news. The news was dominated by speculation that the military had decided on a possible King. Jason saw he was highly rated by the media as one of the major possible choices.

“Welcome back Jason, I hope you had a good trip,” said Saulius as he gripped Jason’s forearm firmly in greeting.

“It is an easy trip and I’m happy to be back. How have you been?” Jason asked.

“All of your staff have returned, and the castle is back in its pristine condition. There is very little that is new and different other than a plague of rats,” said Saulius.

“Jason, how goes your conflict with the Gazronnaas?” he asked.

“We are struggling to progress but for the time being we are keeping them contained,” Jason explained.

“They cannot understand our technology and we cannot understand theirs. Unless we find a way to deal with them quickly, they will learn to be effective in our universe,” said Jason.

“When we tried to invade some of the older universes millennia ago, we encountered ancients that must be much like your Gazronnaas. We made little progress against them. We have tended to move to newer universes even though we are much less comfortable in them,” observed Saulius.

“Master Saulius what is this universe called and where does it rank in terms of age.”

“This universe is called Nefa. We have not given it a number. It is an older universe only because it is small. This planet is in one of the galaxies that were some of the last to develop. This universe has only a few billion years before it will begin to change from growth and development to contraction and destruction,” said Saulius. “It is such an unusually small universe we think it may have split from a bigger one.”

“Master Saulius, what is the planet like that you come from?” Jason asked.

“It is much colder than here; we cannot live comfortably on the surface any longer. The sun is dim and provides little energy. We have adapted to our lifestyle over a very long time. I found the transition to this planet very difficult; it was so unfamiliar so hot and bright.”

“Did you leave any family behind?” Jason asked.

“My parents and my sister are still alive. My wife died many years ago. I have two adult children both of whom fight in our army.”

“What is the name of your universe?”

“The universe is called Mepar 4 Beta 3 by us. It is not as old as Norbut 19 where your people came from. They couldn’t survive in our universe and we couldn’t survive in theirs. There are too many fundamental differences between our universes. We have never encountered your people; of that I am sure.”

“Dinner is served,” said Ortana as she carried a tray laden with food followed by her assistant similarly burdened.

Jason and Saulius enjoyed the meal and each other’s company.

“Tomorrow we will begin with your sword work, spend some time on throwing knives and finally we can practice some offensive and defensive magic, unless you have other plans Jason?”

Jason nodded. “That should be fine. I’m pretty tired and I think I will go to bed early.”

Jason washed and cleaned his teeth before he settled into bed. He awoke two hours later roused by his scrying alert.

Saulius was facing his cupboard. Inside the open door was a ring of metal which showed a black striped Dermon with a large head sitting behind a heavy dark green table. Behind him was a battle scene on a bleak hillside. There was carnage on both sides and many of the warriors were wounded. Two very different warriors fought in the foreground, one in burgundy armor and the other in an armor of deep green. They were both injured.

“Saulius, you have not contacted me for a week. Has your Lord returned?”

“Yes, Arch-Lord, he arrived late today.”

The Arch-Lord was dressed in soft burgundy clothing. His face was ebony, and he had yellow cat eyes. His ears were large and converged to an upward point above his bald pate. He had two bony ridges that could be mistaken for horns. He had long sharp black teeth a forked tongue and blue gums that were seen when he grimaced. “Why did you not inform me immediately, Saulius?” He narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth as he spoke angrily.

“I called you the first opportunity I had Arch-Lord. He has only been here a few hours.”

“The commission has decided upon the fate of your Lord. As he was before he would not be of risk to us. As he is now, he presents a high a risk to us and our future. He has enough power to disrupt our plans. We know of his people from Norbut 19, but have not directly encountered them. They are much more advanced and powerful than we are. From your description the Uzliumbax Empire is already not far behind us. He will stand with the people of Groompt Plut against us. If you have the inclination try and make his death look like an accident. Personally, I wouldn’t bother. Take him away from the castle and kill him. Bury the body and tell his staff he has returned to his Empire and won’t come back to the castle. We have another target for you to cultivate elsewhere. Don’t waste too much time,” said the Arch–Lord. He bared his teeth again and lifted his clenched fist directly above his right shoulder.

Saulius paused, slowly nodded and copied the gesture of his superior. “I will obey the edict of the commission,” he replied and then asked a question.

“When can I speak to my family?” Saulius asked.

“In due course Saulius, we need to assure ourselves you will do your duty.”

The picture dimmed. Saulius closed his cupboard and sat on his bed and sighed.

“I wish it was otherwise,” Saulius muttered talking to the blank wall before he climbed into bed and switched off the light.

Saulius worked with Jason all morning. Jason began to feel he was mastering the art of knife throwing. By the time they had completed the magic session, Jason realized how much he had learnt from his new crystal and how quickly he was forging ahead.