“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
—Lao Tzu
Three large bouncers pushed the six, seventeen-year-old Destroyer young men, to the door of the tavern then shoved them onto the walkway.
“None of you is welcome here again. This is a place for socializing and drinking not evangelizing!”
The biggest bouncer threw a large beer box at them.
“Preach your garbage on the corner.”
The bouncers laughed at the young men sprawled on the ground.
The boys looked at each other and grinned. One of them said. “Grab the box, Gohler you can be the first to speak.”
They walked to the corner, set down the box and stood in front of Gohler as he began to talk of the Destroyer religion.
Most people cast a glance at them and walked on. Several young four-armed, well-muscled males stopped to listen, and then began to heckle them. They began to push and shove the youthful Destroyer audience supporting their comrade.
They began to argue and moments later it descended into a brawl. The police arrived shortly after and arrested the participants in the fracas.
The sergeant called the families and requested them to attend a law and order seminar convened by the station AI. After the seminar, the AI spoke formally to the Destroyer mothers.
“This is the eighteenth similar event we have seen in the last two months. If your sons disrupt the peace again, the punishment will be short-duration pain at intensity five. The Uzliumbax Empire tolerates the behavior of immature young people and allows them more latitude than adults. We all enjoy freedoms but along with freedom comes responsibility. Activities of an individual cannot impinge upon others. Street corner evangelizing is not permitted.
“If you wish to preach you need to hire a venue or find a venue in your community that supports your beliefs. Advertise what you wish to talk about and speak or preach to those who attend. We do not permit preaching at a school, university or workplace without the explicit permission of the organization.
“The new religion of the Destroyers does not enjoy a positive reputation in the Empire. The Ordreg, who your sons encountered, loathe the religion. They were approached by the same fake gods who later came to us but the Ordreg saw through the charade.
“Citizens have legitimate avenues for personal self-expression. Please use those avenues and stay clear of the legal system,” said the AI, shaking the hand of Gohler’s mother first, then Gohler and then she showed them out of the facility along with the others and their mothers. Each pair walked in different directions.
“Gohler, the Emperor made us welcome here, and the system is more benevolent than home ever was. The idiotic religion never interested you back home, why are you evangelizing here?”
“It was Dromat’s idea, he thought it would be a good joke. We went for a few drinks, Dromat thought we should tell the people about our religion and it got out of hand. The bouncers turfed us out but gave us a box to preach from. We thought it was a good idea until the Ordreg group beat us up. I heard them say the same foolish fake Gods tried the same on them. They said if we believed in the religion, we proved we were fools; we proved the case that Destroyers were morons.
“It is nonsense mum. Ours is a legitimate religion.”
“Gohler, you are a foolish young man. Do you keep your head in a bucket? How did the history of how we acquired the idiotic religion miss entering your brain? I sent the background history to you at least three times in different forms.”
“Sorry mum, it looked so boring I didn’t read it.”
“It is time to go home. One of the forms was a holovid, we can watch it first. Then we can chat about it. You can read more about it if you wish.”
“Oh mum, you know I hate reading.”
“There are many holo-vids in my library you can watch, some are from here, some are from back home. The ones from home are propaganda, but one of them was prepared by one of the priestesses and it is excellent. We will start off with the one I sent you.”
“Ok mum, I will watch it if you watch with me.”
“Dromat is not a great influence on you. Isn’t it time you started to date? Get interested in girls, that should keep you out of trouble. That girl Defonk seems to be interested. She finds a reason to call you once a week. Go out with her, you might even have a good time. She is an attractive, sensible young lady.”
Gohler blushed. “Mum!”
“According to his mother, Dromat is struggling at school. He will pull you down to his level if he can. He had no religious interest before today, neither did you. If you feel a profound interest in the pustulant religion of your hypocritical father, we will book you a room. You will always find some brainless individuals who will come along to laugh at you.”
“Mum, he isn’t that bad. He wants to be my friend and he does fun stuff.”
“That is idiotic. I don’t like you going out to drink and then get into trouble. Today must be a lesson for you. I will ground you for the next month!”
“Oh mum, that is too long. It was a joke.”
“You can refine your comedy act at home during the next month, Gohler. I also suggest you watch the vids because if you do not, I will extend your grounding for a week every time you cannot answer my questions about the dubious religion of your half-witted father.”
“Dad is quite a good guy!”
“How do you know? He showed no interest in you. I think he has seen you twice in your whole life. I had to pass through all kinds of hoops for centuries before he allowed me to have a baby. Once he fathered you, he had no interest in you and is not interested in anyone other than himself. What did he ever do for you? The only interest he had in the religion was how he could exploit it. On the holo-vids, he shoots his mouth off as if he is a great believer. I never saw him do an honest day’s work. Can you call him anything other than a parasite?
“The only person I know who is a bigger fool than your father is Dromat’s father. Your father is not stupid, he is lazy and exploitative and above all lacks judgment and common sense. Dromat’s father is not only a fool but he also stupid. He believes what he says. Dromat is like his father; insipid, has a puerile judgment, and a big mouth; a sad combination. Dromat will face limited options for his future. If you want a difficult and unfulfilled life, follow people like Dromat. Remember every bad decision you make reduces your future choices until you are on the bottom of the barrel. Above all pick your friends with care.
“On Mars, you can become a decent human being, but you don’t get a free ride here because you are a man.”
“Mum, you are going on and on!”
“Yes, I am and I have a good reason to do so. I want you to learn to think about the consequences before you act.
“You have a good brain. Despite doing minimal studying you do well. You are a reasonable sportsman. Girls find you attractive. Think about the consequences of what you do; don’t follow those with poor judgment. Be careful how you choose your friends. Remember women will not fall over themselves for you here. The ratio of males to females in the Uzliumbax Empire is 1:1. Women and men have equal power. Wake up and see the sunshine before it is too late.”
“I never knew this is how you felt, mum,” said Gohler looking at the floor.
“At home, I could never talk like this, I had to tolerate life without complaint in our repressive obscene society. That is why we left. I wanted you to have the chance to become a decent human being. If you want a respectable set of spiritual beliefs, look at our old religion, it has plenty of depth and impressive values. It is full of richness and provides a pathway of self-development. I discovered the Gromelix and Tyrannosauruses share similar beliefs. I will find you something to read about it. Most of us have been exploring our past heritage, and it provides us with a positive framework to view the world.”
Gohler walked looking down at the ground for the next few minutes.
“Dromat is not that bad.”
“Yes, you are correct. He is not that bad yet. If he carries on the way he is going he will have a life trajectory that is heading downwards so fast his nose is going to hit the ground this year. His father won’t save him here. You know what he is like at school. You told me he doesn’t study and fools around. He avoids all physical activity when he can and then tries to bully others.
“I want you to learn to look at the consequences of all the decisions you make, think consequences, live consequences. You are deluding yourself if you think you can mess around and face no consequences. This is not a harsh society. Gohler, you faced a first wakeup call tonight. We can all see you have real potential, but you need to learn to make good decisions.
“Tonight, you made an error of judgment. Remember, Gohler, this is not a rehearsal for your real life. The police arrested you and they warned you of the potential consequences of your actions. Take it seriously. You made a poor decision, but it is also an opportunity to learn something. We also learned many other young men are doing as you both did. Some will learn from their lessons others will fall by the wayside. Dromat will try to laugh it off as nothing.
“Be very careful who you choose as friends in your life. Friends can enrich your life or they can lead you to destroy your life. I know I have repeated myself, but I want you to learn to use what you have and make a good life for yourself.”
Gohler sighed and looked downcast.
“Enough of all of that, I will move to something else.” She grinned broadly. “Gohler, I am pregnant, you will have a sister this year.”
Gohler turned to his mother and beamed.
“Wonderful mum, I am excited, I always wanted a brother or sister,” said Gohler. “Is it true the Emperor agreed to father children with all the Destroyer women?”
“The Emperor keeps his word, and he acts fast. Your sister may well be one of the descended Uzliumbax. Even if that is not the case, it is a great honor to have the child of the Emperor.”
“Congratulations Admiral mother, we will have a baby!” Gohler saluted then skipped next to his mother, moving ahead then pausing and waiting for her grinning.
They walked through the portal together, both smiling.
Jason’s room on Mars campus was dominated by the bed in its largest configuration.
Ooryphyon placed her hands firmly on Jason’s hips. “Now is my time, Jason, go for it!” She looked into his eyes and moved her hips slowly at first and then faster and faster. Several minutes later her movements became jerky and uncoordinated. She shrieked and convulsed then fell onto Jason’s chest, panting.
Andrea turned towards her on the bed and propped herself on her elbow. “Girl, if you try any harder you will break something next time. You must look after our Warhammer!”
Linda and Razza laughed.
Jason looked down. “It’s still looking all right. It may not be ready for action, but it is undamaged.”
“The Teokraeus are animals in bed!” Linda remarked patting Ooryphyon.
Ooryphyon lifted her head and smiled.
“Ok people, it’s time to get moving,” said Razza.
Jason lifted a complaining Ooryphyon out of his way, swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up while holding her, and placed her next to the bed. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. “Come on, ladies it’s refresher time. Let’s get going.”
Ooryphyon grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the refresher. “Come on wash me.”
The room was luxurious. Striking art drew one’s attention to the walls. Jason’s desk was a substantial piece of furniture and had an antigravity chair that floated next to it.
Andrea pushed a button. The bed shrank and moved under a sofa.
The group followed Andrea into the spacious refresher. Jason massaged Razza’s back. She arched backward and grabbed his hand and held it to her cheek.
“People, fifteen minutes to get to the gym, no time for dawdling. Let’s walk above ground in the fresh air. It is a lovely day. Move it,” said Razza in her best parade ground voice.
They walked along the Mars campus arm in arm laughing and talking, as the path meandered towards their destination.
Mars the planetary AI modeled the campus architecture on that of Oxford University. Most of the campus was underground as the Safion and Uzliumbax preferred to live underground and to leave as much of the surface pristine and undisturbed. The campus was bigger than the original one. Even the surface buildings were larger than the originals. Undulating lawns with colorful flowerbeds and mature trees gave the campus a relaxed feel. Colorful birds native to Mars sang in the treetops. They looked similar to their equivalents on Earth. Students walked hurriedly through the gardens appearing from or disappearing through portals.
The group finally entered a portal to go down to the gym and made their way to the exercise machines.
The machine AI identified Jason and set the muscular resistance. He lost consciousness as intended, then woke twenty minutes later after his workout; his muscles aching. He walked to the red wall and stood there for a few minutes as the wall worked its magic. His aches disappeared.
He met up with his group next door to practice their martial arts routines, then spar. Today he was to fight Emic a young man from the royal family of the Dinnion, one of the most advanced civilizations in the empire.
Emic smiled at Jason as they bowed before their bout. Jason smiled back.
Jason had worked hard during the term to learn the amalgam of fighting methods now taught in the Empire.
“Begin!” Shouted the instructor.
Zerna Parengus, the instructor came from the Azayal an ancient people who had begun moving their solar systems back to the Milky Way from a sub-universe from which they had taken refuge. Zerna had met Jason and his group when they studied with the Azayal at the War College in Merka the capital. She was a dedicated instructor with a love of the martial arts. She thoroughly enjoyed her work on Mars.
Jason and Emic moved carefully watching each other, before Emic attacked in a flurry of blows, tearing Jason’s arms and scratching his abdomen. Jason counter-attacked but found himself on his back with Emic’s fist at his throat.
“Killer blow, five points Emic,” said Zerna. “Carry on, you have a few more minutes.”
Emic helped Jason up, grinning.
Jason again moved to attack Emic. Emic moved to the side and held his stiletto blow a quarter of an inch from Jason’s temple.
“Excellent, Emic, well done, smooth and masterful!
“Class, what could Jason have done to counter the first killer blow of Emic?”
Zerna took out her slate and made a notation, then looked up.
“Yes, Corvus?”
“Emic telegraphed he was moving to throw Jason. After his last blow, he turned to block Jason’s counter punch and prepared for his throw. Jason struck without watching how Emic was moving and missed and ‘gave’ Emic his arm as Emic dodged. Jason was off-balance after he missed Emic. Had he swung his back leg and turned to follow Emic, the throw would have failed and Jason would have had ample opportunities to strike at him. Emic surprised Jason and Jason didn’t consider how he was going to defend himself as he fell. Jason landed where Emic placed him; he did not roll and evade and left himself wide open. You must think while you are being thrown and then move fast on the ground to evade your attacker.” Corvus replied.
Zerna switched on her hologram and enlarged it so the group could see what she was showing them. She played the fight from the time of the start of Jason’s counter-attack in slow motion. Jason could see his errors.
“Well done Corvus, that was an excellent analysis. Now watch the second fight.” Zerna played it at normal speed. “Now what could he have done better?”
“Yes, Annjus?”
“Jason made a classic error. He was concentrating on his forward attack. Emic surprised Jason when he moved sideways. Jason was low with his legs bent, concentrating on his power, but his legs were not wide enough apart. It made him stable front to back but not sideways. Then as Emic moved, and he tried to turn, he lost his balance and did not swing his back leg around as soon as Emic flagged the movement. You can see Emic placing his legs to move. Jason needs to improve his situational awareness. He is too slow and he repeated the same mistake twice.”
Zerna raised her eyebrows. “Let us look at the fight in slow motion. Can you see what Annjus saw?”
Zerna projected the fight in slow motion. “Well-done Annjus, your analysis was accurate. That is all for today. I will make sure you will work through these two instructive fights during your learning session tonight and I will show you the counter attack options in our lesson tomorrow.
As he walked to the refresher, Jason glanced at the superbly fitted out underground gym. Holograms on the gleaming white walls displayed the campus grounds hundreds of feet above them.
The refresher equipment and rejuvenation devices were the best the Empire could produce. It looked clean and inviting, the equipment sleek and inspiring.
Jason dragged himself into the refresher. His body ached from the throw and his neck felt it was out of alignment. He had a dull headache. His arms oozed blood from several deep cuts and his stomach burned. Emic’s claws had torn him.
Jason limped into the refresher clutching his stomach. He looked at the wounds knitting together and disappearing. Andrea and Linda hugged him as they washed.
They moved to the dressers lining the walls and ordered outdoor clothing before walking to the portal and the canteen.
The canteen was fitted out as an elegant restaurant. Students used the holographic menu and were only offered food suitable for their species. Server drones delivered the food.
Begona Keris and Pukini Punahele, his friends from Merka, the Azayal capital sat facing Jason. Begona sighed and looked at Jason. She looked left and right before speaking.
“Jason, you look unhappy.”
“Begona, I am making slow progress. I thought I could surprise the Uzliumbax and Dinnion much as I did when our group started to train with the Azayal. I am far behind many of the ancients,” Jason whined.
“Jason, you are such an idiot! Your expectations of yourself are ridiculous.” Begona remarked.
She looked around before she spoke again.
“Andrea, can you correct me if I misrepresent the facts? Now, as I was saying, you were complaining you are not doing well.
“You are fighting against a different level of beings. Most of those you go up against have had much more experience than you have had. You have only recently been exposed to advanced fighting techniques. The others have had years of top-level fighting. The Azayal fight well but the Uzliumbax were bigger and more vicious than anyone according to my parents. We were of feline origin, fast and light. They were from predatory apes, heavier, faster, and with better natural weapons. The Uzliumbax in our group are fanatics and our group is the elite of the elite. I began to understand this after chatting to Oksana yesterday. Oksana pretends she is laid back and relaxed but I have realized she plays a different less overt competitive game. She told me Annjus was the junior champion of the Uzliumbax three years in a row. Champion of trillions! She and Oksana began training in martial arts at three! Oksana performed almost as well. Both of their families are fanatics! Annjus had the best trainers in the Empire to make sure she was the best of the best.
“I also heard you moaning yesterday that you weren’t doing that well in your studies. I said nothing as Oksana was at the table and I don’t trust her further than I could carry her and her shuttle. She tells Annjus everything. Annjus dislikes you and doesn’t hide it, and I don’t want to give Annjus more ammunition to wind herself up even more.
“Earth was primitive and the Azayal were way behind the Uzliumbax. The subjects we are doing this quarter are subjects you have not done formally at a sophisticated level. Annjus has a doctorate in law and one in politics. She has done most subjects that are part of the social sciences. I don’t know what else she has done. Emic was more science-oriented but has had extensive experience in the subjects we are studying this term,” said Begona. “The Dinnion and Uzliumbax believe in well rounded people. You can see it clearly in Annjus, Emic and Oksana. They have had superb education.”
“Begona, you are doing fine,” said Andrea smiling and nodding, “Jason please listen to her.”
“We have all discovered the Uzliumbax and Dinnion along with most of their past allies insist on a broad education. We the Azayal, concentrate on the sciences and engineering. You are not with a beginner group and you mix with the best of the best. You may have Uzliumbax genes, but you did not get exposed to their education in-depth,” continued Begona.
“I want to know why you feel the need to be the most outstanding amongst your people?” she asked.
Begona looked around her before whispering.
“As the Emperor, you need not be the best of the best. It should please you just to be competitive amongst this amazing group. We are not living in the Stone Age. The Emperor need not be the best fighter or the greatest academic.”
“Begona, we said something similar,” said Linda sighing. “It goes in one ear and out the other without engaging his brain. He says he has something missing and education will fill the gap. He has to do well or he will never be a good Emperor! The whining and complaining drive us crazy.”
“Jason,” said Corvus, “I have been learning to fight for over a thousand years. I am bigger and heavier than most of you guys. For someone who has had so little training, you fight well. Most of us are champions in our civilizations and you rank in the top five here amongst the best of the elite.
“You are not far behind Annjus and Emic despite the gap between you. I find it tiresome how you drive yourself for no good reason. You are improving. As Begona says you need not be the best in everything. Ask yourself what mistakes you have made and work on them,” Corvus continued.
Jason sighed.
“I bet you Jason has moved on to think of his rune inadequacies,” said Ooryphyon laughing.
Jason looked at her and frowned. He then grinned.
“You read my mind you sneak!”
“So?” Ooryphyon said, then poked out her tongue. “You are my idiot and my role is to make you into a better person. I must monitor what you are getting up to. Someone has to do it, if Lisirra is not around.”
Corvus sighed. “We spent thousands of years learning the runes. My aunt Ajenix became a mystic and meditated on the runes for half a million years before returning to teach. You complain you know little in two months! I predict from the current class progress the university degree will be extended to make sure everyone masters our runic powers. Your group is moving ahead faster than we did.
“Mastering the runes is a hard slog. The crystals slow us if we use them,” said Razza. “They drive me nuts.”
Jason turned to his friend. “I must admit I find the runes hard, but I can see so does everyone else other than the Gromelix. Corvus, I asked your aunt; prof. Ajenix Omulix why we are so knocked out after we cast. I produced a tiny fireball and threw it. That trivial task knocked me out for two days. She advocated patience and practice. I can only cast three times a week as I get sleepy if I do more,” said Jason. “Corvus, how long does it take to get better?” he asked.
“How long is a dragon from the nose to the tip of its tail?” Corvus asked. “Everyone is different. We Gromelix expect it to take a long time and we are magical beasts,” said Corvus grinning. “Several types of casts can take so much power from us they could kill us. The practitioners of the arts learn to source the powers from the environment and learn how to tap and harvest them. They can cast with little effort. However, my aunt says few will gain such skills. Most take a long time to gain skills at the level of my aunt, but her mentor accessed great powers within days. He is the only known Gromelix to do so. Most take a quarter of a million years. Most experts believe we must master the runes, then if we are fortunate we can access powers.” Corvus explained.
“Jason, let us see what you can do in the next few weeks,” said Ooryphyon smiling. “You might avoid the blood, sweat, and tears needed on this new pathway to find your powers. You are a person who accesses your powers in days. Meditate on that,” said Ooryphyon and laughed. “You draw in trouble and you draw in money and women. Apply your skills to powers. For you it should be simple as long as you don’t overdo it. Aah, but he always overdoes it!”
“On that profound note, can we end this cycle of the same discussion repeated in different words and make our way to politics, Ooryphyon? These bloody runes drive me nuts. No one will solve the issues in days, not even Jason!” Razza noted.
Razza smiled and put her arm around Ooryphyon as they walked to the lecture.
“Now Jason knows runes are not the only path to magical powers, he will play with trouble soon,” said Ooryphyon giggling and snorting. “You can refer to me as the great oracle!”
“Last night, I scheduled you to learn how the Azloc govern. I have broken your group up into pairs to discuss a problem I will give you.
“I want you to discuss how to rule the Azloc if you conquered them. Please define what criteria you will use to decide what conquering them means. What do you have to achieve to enable you to say you have conquered the Azloc? You have fifteen minutes on the definition and forty-five minutes to explain how you will rule the Azloc. I will tell you when 15, 30 and 45 minutes pass and give you a final 55-minute warning to draw the threads together. Look at your slate and find this lecture on the calendar. You will find who your partner will be. The AI matched you. You will work with the same partner from now until the end of the year,” the professor explained.
“No, you cannot change partners. If you have differences, you need to work to resolve them. Politics is learning to work with people even if you dislike them to achieve the best for your society.
“Please begin and keep the sound level down. You may use the space on the other side of the divider.” She directed.
Jason was horrified to discover he was with Annjus. She looked similarly discomforted. She stood and nodded to Jason as she walked around the barrier.
“Annjus, what do you think we need to do to convince ourselves that we have conquered the Azloc?” Jason asked.
Annjus looked down her elegant nose at Jason and sniffed.
“Let us first answer the questions on our slates before we discuss them. That way you don’t use my ideas and you must think for yourself. Our family rule many planets and we know what the definition needs to be and the kind of rule that will work. If you ask my view first, I become suspicious you will suck out my ideas and you won’t think for yourself. My life is full of people who have tried to use my ideas to leapfrog ahead. You will need to do your own work and not be a parasite.
“Let us both think and both produce ideas. We will soon see if you can think for yourself or not, now let’s get going, our time is passing,” said Annjus tilting her head back and looking at Jason with narrowed eyes.
“Fair enough Annjus,” said Jason. “I tried to use your superior brain, so I did not have to think. You caught me and my underhand methods! We primitives struggle to think for ourselves. That is why we ask our betters how we should think. I searched but I cannot find anyone else whose brain I can use as you are my only partner. Now I am forced to think for myself. It is so hard I will have to cogitate over such a complex problem! Annjus what shall I do if I burn out one of my two brain cells?”
“Fool!” Said Annjus giggling. She turned to her slate and began to work.
Jason switched on his slate and a few minutes later announced he had completed the task.
“Hang on a few minutes, I have nearly finished. “You can’t have thought through the issues if you finished the task before me,” said Annjus biting her knuckle and continuing to work.
“Fifteen minutes,” intoned the professor.
Annjus lifted her head. “I am done, did you consider the issues in depth?”
“Now let me think? No, Annjus I can’t answer the issues in depth. I am only capable of shallow thoughts. If they need more complex thought I will be forced to use your answers. We primitives find deep thought is beyond us. We can only understand other primitives as simple as us. That is why I appreciate Ben, he struggles to cope,” said Jason looking sad and woebegone. “Superficial can be excellent as I finished both parts of the question.”
Annjus shook her head and laughed. “Right let me hear what your definition of having conquered the Azloc is.”
“Very well then Annjus, I will give you the superficial definition; the only one I can give. I am tired of this unaccustomed cognitive effort. Through the fog, I had the glimmerings of an idea, a vague shape of a concept. I hesitate to share it with you, but I will if you promise not to laugh at me,” said Jason.
“Yes, for the sake of the prophets, get on with it.”
Annjus frowned and looked at Jason with eyebrows raised.
“If the most senior queen surrenders, I will know I conquered them. Annjus I apologize for the fact my answer is so brief and superficial, I confess I could not see a deeper answer. What did you say?”
“I had fourteen criteria that confirm they were conquered.”
Annjus went on to list her criteria which included facts such as shooting had ceased, there was no evidence of guerrilla actions, the enemy was not being reinforced, they were not trying to board ships or instituted ground actions, etc.
“Annjus, that was a very comprehensive account. I agree you establish that the enemy is not actively attacking you during the time of observation. On the other hand, what if they were loading assault craft, waiting for reinforcements, loading cannon or missiles? How do you know they accept they have been conquered?” Jason asked.
“Fine, you have your view, I have mine. I know I am right. Let us agree to differ and move on, Jason.”
Annjus looked at Jason intently. “How do you rule them?” Annjus asked.
“I meet with the ruling queen and tell her what I want her to do,” said Jason. “I inform her I choose to allow discussion. If she needs help, I give it to her. Then I wait to see if she does as I ask. If she won’t do as I direct, I kill her and move on to the next queen in the hierarchy.”
Jason leaned back. “What did you say Annjus?”
“I create a council of Azloc and our people and I land forces on Azloc planets to make sure I control them. I free the poor drones from the tyranny of the Queens and give the Kings equal rights to the Queens. Then I introduce the concepts of the Manulux and Associations. In my view, the problems of the Azloc derive from the tyranny of the queens.” Annjus explained.
Jason nodded and smiled. “Annjus your answer in both cases is comprehensive and profound but we can’t reconcile our views. I think you should inform the professor or I can do it when we present. If you decide you could accept my viewpoint you could tell the professor you agree with me. You could say Jason’s suggestions are primitive but I was easily persuaded to accept his viewpoint as his ideas encapsulated the best solutions. Then you could add you suddenly realized simple is good.”
Annjus shook her head vigorously.
“Never! You and I have completely different views. Your ideas make me insecure and queasy. I cannot understand how you can do so well academically with such a simple view of the universe. How do you know they are truly surrendering? My way is safer. I will make sure I have beaten them into submission and I have full control of them to run the Azloc properly. They need to fit in with Uzliumbax concepts.”
“Annjus, I fully accept you believe what you described, but we are discussing the Azloc, not the Oojokhi. Perhaps the professor will agree with you. She is an Uzliumbax and is undoubtedly very clever and a deep thinker like you.” Jason replied.
Annjus shook her head and laughed. “Jason you are a nitwit! I have studied politics for many years. I heard you say you were not exposed to politics before you came here. I learned your mud planet was only recently unified after years of wars. The Uzliumbax waved lived in harmony for millions of years. We have helped many civilizations develop rigorous political systems so they can be similarly fulfilled. Our family association runs hundreds of planets. We are a family that lives politics and administration.
“Jason, please correct me if I am wrong, you have only run a small computer company involved in corporate cybersecurity. Was that the full extent of your experience?”
“Annjus, you are correct. There is only one small error. I didn’t run the company myself for long. My daughter ran it for me. I am not a good administrator. She is a great administrator and relieved me of most of my stresses. I liked her telling me what to do and when.” Jason responded.
“I rest my case,” said Annjus.
“You have fifteen minutes left before you present your findings,” warned the instructor.
“Jason, please tell me about life on your mud planet?” asked Annjus.
“Thank you for asking Annjus. I lived near a wide river. We lived in mud huts without electricity. We were barely out of the Iron Age. Animals wandered around the streets at night. I was an old man of eighty getting ready to die before I was rescued. My wife had recently died.
“I was offered a chance to study in the Empire. The planet Mud was being restructured; extracted from the morass. I was offered a chance to re-educate myself amongst the glorious ancients. We primitives didn’t believe we had much choice. We knew if we didn’t do as we were told the Emperor intended to put us into stasis and might even obliterate the planet. We were placed in crates as are animals in cargo ships; to be carted to experience a real civilization. We study twice as much as you do as we know if we do not pass, we must work in the Emperor’s mines. We know on the mines we are beaten by the overseers twice daily. Forty percent of those sent to the mines die every year,” said Jason.
“I never realized the Emperor was so hard on the people of his planet of origin. My mother said he was tough but fair. My grandmother warned me not to get on the wrong side of the Emperor, now I understand why.
“Where did you meet the Empresses? You seem to be very familiar with them.” Annjus asked.
Before Jason could answer, the professor announced. “Your time is up. Please present your findings. Annjus please begin, you can present your consensus opinion?”
“Professor I can’t present a consensus position. Jason and I disagreed on everything. I can only explain what he said and what I said,” Annjus explained.
The professor grinned. “I will ask the other pairs to present first and leave you for last.”
Jason listened carefully to the presenters. A little over half the class had views similar to Annjus, the rest were closer to Jason’s approach.
“Annjus please present your divergent views. If Jason is unhappy with how you present his views, I will give him a chance to express them,” said the professor.
Annjus explained her answers and accurately summarized Jason’s.
“Jason, was that a correct summary of what you said?”
“Yes, professor, that was an excellent summary of my views. Annjus showed she clearly understood how our views differed. I could not have done better.”
Jason saw his friends were smiling and giggling.
The professor addressed the class. “As you can see, your views were polarized along the same axis as Jason and Annjus. Jiskassa sat with me during this exercise. She told me the correct answer.
“Jiskassa, please explain your solution.”
Jiskassa stood up. “Certainly, professor, I will be happy to do so.
“I speak as the third queen of the Azloc. When you try to conquer another species or people you need to understand how that civilization works. You need to apply what you know so you can decide if you have conquered them and then if you can rule them. Many of you showed you have little understanding of the content you were provided last night. Several of you believe you must reform us,” explained Jiskassa coldly.
“We communicate poorly with others,” said Jiskassa and paused.
“I see several of you looking at me incredulously. You assume we communicated in the past as you hear me communicate today. That is not true. We communicated poorly verbally, and telepathically. We can hear in our native form, but we can’t produce sound so we used a translator we made. We used runes when we used telepathy and communicated symbolically. Most of our direct communication was chemical or on our network. We are all linked with each other. We used a translator from our chemical language to verbal language to communicate with others through a device that created sound. The translation produced by our translators was poorly designed and hardly helped us. I cringe when I hear how we communicated with others. We did not know how poor our spoken communication was. We suspected mammals were organized differently but we couldn’t study their political and social organization. We assumed our thinking was profoundly different from our neighbors and that was why they couldn’t comprehend what we said.
“We conquered other civilizations to make use of their industrial output. We had no word for, nor any concept of an alliance. So, if we needed someone to help us, we conquered them. Our communication with them was so poor they didn’t know what we wanted and why. We gave them production goals, the resources to achieve these goals and left them to it. One civilization revolted. We eradicated every single one of them.
“I will now explain how we work. The dominant queen sets goals for her subordinates. She expects them to do what she asks. If they don’t have the resources, she makes sure they have them. So, we expected our conquered civilizations to behave as we behaved. There are no committees and workgroups, no councils and debates. We are all in constant communication. We know the thoughts of each other. We communicate, but the senior queen decides what we do. Then we do it. If we need help, we ask for it. We don’t argue.
“When my mother ordered me to attack and destroy my sister Valsam and the Emperor I tried to do exactly what she wanted done. If I argued with her I knew she would kill me. I did everything I could to ensure I did as she asked, to the best of my ability and the ability of my sister queens who came along to help me. They, in turn, did what I required of them without question. Valsam and I grew up together. She was my eldest sister. I liked her and respected her. My feelings did not change the decision I made. My mother was the ruler and obey her, I must; that is the way of the Azloc.
“It was a fierce battle. Most of our ships were severely damaged. My ship was severely damaged and I was critically injured and lapsed into unconsciousness. While I was unconscious, Valsam demanded we surrender. We are linked like a network, so my junior Queens knew I was unconscious or dead. One of my junior sisters established she was next in command. She confirmed with the other queens she was the acting senior queen. Because she was a junior queen it took her a long time to know she was responsible and her role was to surrender. She finally surrendered. Meanwhile, my sister Valsam’s ship was severely damaged, and she was unconscious by that time, but her assistant drone accepted the surrender and communicated with Valsam’s most senior queen who commanded hostilities cease.
“When the Destroyers attacked two of our planets recently, we did not try to communicate with them. My mother has a morbid fear and loathing of them. We repulsed them following a long vicious series of battles in space and on land after they landed troops on several planets as we knew surrendering to the Destroyers was not an option.
“We do know the Dinnion and respect them so surrendering was a choice if we were losing in battle to them. We knew my sister, Valsam, who is the number two to my mother had chosen the Emperor. We saw the Emperor as we saw the Dinnion and so we surrendered. I suspect the way we decide if we surrender is not dissimilar to other civilizations. If you believe your enemy will do horrific things to you, you won’t surrender. We have fought the Uzliumbax, and we knew they behaved with honor.
“When we surrendered to Valsam we became loyal to my sister and the Emperor. It was easy, it fitted with our Azloc way. You will learn how we network in more detail later as the empire military will adopt our communications methods,” Jiskassa explained.
“Several amongst you wanted to set up structures to rule the Azloc similar to those you use in the Empire and have used with past enemies of the Empire. It could never work. Once the dominant queen agrees to surrender, no conquering army is needed to make sure the terms of surrender are accepted. The conqueror sets the objectives and we do our best to achieve them.
“Our society works on a group mind. Queens are the network nodes and servers in a distributed network. The brain of the Queen is ten times bigger and more powerful than the drones and is double the size of the brain of the kings. Drones refuse to work without a queen. They wither away. The same happens to the kings if they lose contact with the nest.”
“Yes, Begona, you have a question?” asked Jiskassa.
“Jiskassa, do you think Jason is your Emperor?”
“Begona, that is an excellent question. Professor, the question is off-topic, shall I answer it now or after the class?”
“Jiskassa, the question is relevant, please answer it,” directed the professor.
“We have a class of queens who are the holders of our ancient wisdom. They foretold of a great Emperor who we would identify and the sacred Queens would test. If he qualified, we were to serve him. We were to be his builders and fighters and we would play an important role to help him destroy a mutual terrible ancient foe. My sister, Valsam, believed she had found the Emperor. She tested him for a month to satisfy herself he was the one.”
“What do you think?” Oksana asked.
“You may think my answer should be if Valsam says she believes so do we all. My mother subscribes to that model, but in her earlier years, she allowed independent thought and opinion amongst the queens. She then developed a morbid fear of the Destroyers and what they might do to us. She began to restrict discussion and disagreement. Valsam is encouraging more discussion and debate, but we independently believe the Emperor is our true emperor. Independently we agree with Valsam.
“Our oracles foretold that the Emperor would have grandchildren who solve problems we could not solve. A mere child, the grandson of the Emperor solved our communications problems of a million years within five minutes of meeting my sister. He and his sister are amongst the greatest strategists in the Uzliumbax Empire. They are mere babies in Azloc terms. They both could get into our group mind without any tuition and adapted to it in minutes.
“Our sages foretold the Emperor’s power would be like a beacon to us. Valsam sensed him from outside the solar system of the Dinnion core planet. He joined our group mind directly after his grandchildren without instruction. His mind works similarly to the queens. He adapted to server methods as if he has used them for a lifetime. We can sense the power of the Emperor and we feel strongly drawn to him.
“My mother does not want to lose power; she is preventing the Emperor from being assessed by our sacred queens. Those queens sensed the power of his mind and believe he is our prophesied Emperor. They are yet to confirm he is who we think he is to our mutual satisfaction.
“We suspect the Gazronnaas are the feared enemy we are to fight together,” Jiskassa explained.
The professor looked at the time hologram on the wall, then lifted her arm and palm upwards, and nodded to Jiskassa. “Thank you Jiskassa, our time for this session is at an end. The correct answer that I was hoping to hear was that you must get the most senior queen to surrender, and if you are to rule them, the conqueror must do it through the most senior queen. Remember, there are no simple answers when communication difficulties complicate matters. Jiskassa, I hope to understand the Azloc better. I will create another opportunity. Thank you once again. Those of you who imposed Uzliumbax cultural beliefs upon the Azloc did not understand the implications of the material sent to you.”
“Jason, I don’t know how you knew how to answer those questions. You know more than you should,” said Annjus banging her fist on the arm of the chair and flounced out.
