The Core World of the Cassius Empire:
“We are delighted to welcome all of you back after your triumphant campaign,” said Emperor Cassius, Jason’s favorite uncle. “Jason, did you meet your children?”
“You have got to be joking!” said Jason, “I am completely frazzled and feel as if I am being torn by so many contrasting demands I don’t know what to do next!”
“How is Philippa?” Empress Alana, his aunt asked.
“I haven’t spoken to her for a few weeks.”
“I thought Philippa was going to chop off my head when she saw me. She was so emotional during the pregnancy and I had solemnly promised that I would be back for the birth of the baby. I am more than a month late in seeing my own children. I don’t know how I can see all of them,” said Jason.
“Jason, I am going to introduce an important concept I think you should know about. You will need to listen to me very carefully, because I believe that what I tell you may assist you. I have an idea that will help you solve your problems and will provide a way for you to move forward.
“Are you following me, Jason?” Empress Alana asked.
“Aunt Alana I follow what you are saying, you have a concept you want to teach me?” Jason replied looking at her quizzically. “The way you are talking about it leads me to think it is a very difficult concept or I will have great difficulty understanding what you tell me. In matters of the heart I am somewhat early in my development.”
“I admit I am talking slowly for all those reasons. How does Cassius speak to his subjects?” Alana asked rhetorically grinning broadly. “I am not sure you are familiar with the concept of the use of broadcast technology, so I did not introduce the idea too quickly in case you became even more frustrated.”
“Alana, that is very good advice and it is very clever. I am reluctant to admit you have a good idea. I feel I have to say, sometimes even for an Empress you are too big for your boots!” Jason remarked, kissed his aunt on the cheek, then hugged her tightly. “I need to think and I need to discuss what I do with Porquenta. He has a bigger brain than me and I am sure he can suggest a good way to go about this task.”
Cassius turned to speak to Jason with a frown on his face, “Jason, I’m going to need to talk about a serious matter. Your favorite Tyrannosaurus Rex Queen, Lynas Parayekt of the Parzool is frantic to speak to you.
“Even though I am dying to hear about the urgent matter Porquenta spoke with you about earlier, you must call her.
“Too late! My secretary is waving and tells me Lynas wants to speak to you right now. She knows you are back,” said Cassius. “I have no idea what this is about, she refused to tell me, but she sounded frantic.”
The hologram formed, flickered a few times and then firmed into the image of Queen Lynas Parayekt. Jason noticed she looked agitated and was nervously fiddling with her fingers. He was surprised to see her in her human form. She began to speak without any preamble or any greetings, which was very unusual for her as she preferred lengthy formalities.
“Jason, I need your help with a pressing matter. I have a problem and it is a very serious one. I have a large group of dinosaurs who are threatening civil war. I cannot recall if I told you previously, we are divided into two totally distinct types of sentient dinosaurs. We are the Dymonix and...”
Jason interrupted her. “Let me guess they are the Gromelix.”
“How in heavens name did you know that?” Lynas asked.
“Lynas you continue to underestimate the powers of my mind, I know many things about this universe that are inscrutable to others. That is the characteristic of those who feature in prophesies,” Jason grinned as Alana moved back from the table out of Lynas’ vision and looked up at the ceiling and then put out her tongue at Jason.
“Carry on, explain the problem, I apologize for the interruption, but I will explain why I said what I said when you finish!” said Jason enigmatically.
“Jason, you continue to surprise me. I will continue with the sorry tale. We first encountered the Gromelix when our Empire was expanding. We were delighted to find more sentient dinosaurs, predators like we were, but they were smaller than us. We were friendly and unthreatening to them. They were not pleased to meet us, they were not keen to have anything to do with us. However, for reasons we do not know, even to this day, they decided to become part of the Kingdom but they tend to be paranoid, grumpy and generally irritable and often behave emotionally and irrationally.
“They do their share of everything without complaint, but they have limited involvement with us. They pay taxes without complaint and receive all the benefits our planets receive including defense. They are represented in our Parliament, participate in the Armed Forces and meet the expectations of their obligatory involvements elsewhere. They even contribute scientific findings. They supplied their quota of soldiers for the war, but otherwise had no interest in the intergalactic conflict until recently. None of their soldiers will serve for longer than a hundred years. They leave service when many of them are becoming good leaders. Not one of them has a rank higher than a captain. They simply lack commitment to anything that is part of the Kingdom and do not even broadcast our news.
“Two weeks ago, they saw a communication from you about you studying with the Azayal and then you noted the impending war with the Ghouls. I don’t know why they reacted to that particular communication. We had previous communications with you about the impending conflict and a potential role for us, but I suspect they simply did not notice and did not attend until they saw your brief communication. I don’t think they are even aware of who you are. They obviously missed all the discussions in parliament and they evidently don’t watch our news.
“Suddenly, they wanted all the background on who you were and how you came to be associated with us. They were outraged we hadn’t told them about you and had told them nothing of the war between the universes. We showed them the broadcasts of your fight with the cockroach general, the subsequent alliance with our partners, previous communications in parliament, and finally the intergalactic conflict. I noticed they watched the fight with the cockroach in parliament over and over for a week. They subsequently became more agitated and angry. They complained that no one informed them directly of these important events. They said electronic documents do not constitute information in a valid form. Events of importance needed to be told to them face-to-face.
“I had the most frustrating conversation I have ever had, with their ambassador, who threw a tantrum in front of me. He has refused all previous invitations to the palace including the one when you met many of our important people after you fought the cockroach general. The ambassador insisted they had been insulted as they had not been invited on their own to discuss the important impact you had made and the fact you had met the Azayal and were waging war on the Ghouls. They want to know why they were not invited to participate in that conflict. We reassured him there were Gromelix troops fighting Ghouls it was not enough. That was when he had his tantrum and stomped around my office shouting, then he left in a rage. My advisors and I struggled to understand what his problem was.
“They know everything about us, but we know nothing about them. We are only allowed in one restricted area on one of their sixteen planets. They do not allow tourism. They have free passage anywhere in our kingdom. They have their own king; who has had nothing to do with us. If I have spoken fifty sentences to him in a hundred thousand years it would be a lot. He has called me every day for the last two weeks and is upset. He has told me his people are not happy with us. We can no longer land on their planet.
“Yesterday he warned me of an impending declaration of war. He will declare war in the next week if we do not do the right thing. None of us here have any idea about what the right thing may be. I would like you to go and visit them. There is nothing more we can think of doing, I am feeling desperate and I need help. You are somehow involved and I hope you can end this trouble,” Lynas said. “I have tried everything I can think of and my advisors can think of to resolve the problem. We still don’t understand what the problem is we are trying to resolve and why the problem we can’t understand is leading to a declaration of war.
“Let me confirm a few things about the Gromelix if I may?” Jason asked.
“Please ask and I will do my best to answer,” Lynas said.
“They can create lightning?” Jason asked.
“Yes, no-one knows this other than our military,” Lynas said.
“They have an EMP like attack that drains power?”
“Yes, that is true, they are of enormous value in boarding ships. They drain all AIs, defensive sensors and armament,” Lynas said.
“They can fly and they have an electrical and fire attack?”
“I have never heard about them flying. They do produce fire and electricity. The fire is five thousand degrees Centigrade and their lightning attack can kill up to fifty Tyrannosaurus Rexes. It jumps from one to the other. They are very dangerous. They are also more advanced than us. They do send us scientific papers, but we suspect they are way ahead of us,” Lynas said.
“Their eggs can feed off the power within an AI and they can hatch and feed within?” Jason asked.
“This is not something that we know. It is a very strange developmental path if that is true Jason. Please also tell me how you know about this and all the secret information only known to us,” asked Queen Lynas Parayekt. You know about them flying and we do not and the egg feeding off electrical power. This is bizarre. Please explain Jason!” Lynas beseeched Jason.
“The first Ghoul I met when I joined the Azayal was the Vizier to the king. The Ghouls feed off the energy of people. He was attempting to feed off me. I pulled back, depleted him further, but at the same time I acquired encrypted information from his brain. It took some time for my AI to decrypt the information, even with the help of Porquenta.
“There are memories in each Ghoul of a Gromelix that behaves in the way I described. The Ghouls are terrified of the Gromelix who lay eggs in them. I will send you the updated version of the history so you can see and hear what I found and how I used the information in the war. It seems, your Gromelix are linked to the Ghouls’ historically. How I am involved and what role the Azayal play, I will have to find out.
“I will send you the history of all that has occurred since I last met with you. I suggest you send it to the King of the Gromelix and ask his permission for me and my people to visit. I want to take my groups. Say to him we will discuss whatever he wishes. Let us disarm him a little. Tell him that we have been fighting the war and I need to relax and see my children who were born while I was away. There is a risk it could inflame him, but I doubt it. Say, I will be with him in a week. Tell him my life will not be worth living if I do not spend time with my wives and children after missing so many births,” Jason finished.
“I am feeling much relieved. The Gromelix and the Ghouls, what a strange tale. I will watch it and send it to the king as soon as I can copy it to him. Thank you very much for your help. I will call you if he does not postpone the war.
“Congratulations, Jason on the birth of your children. How many have you had so far?” A relieved Lynas asked laughing.
“Fourteen and a half million so far and I am expecting a million a week for some time. All of the babies are miraculous but one is a true miracle. Sheila, Porquenta’s representative and AI is also pregnant. Porquenta is so excited he is beside himself. I had no idea whatsoever she could get pregnant, but I am very excited and intrigued to discover how the baby will turn out. A baby with an AI has to be one of the most extraordinary events I’ve ever heard of,” said Jason, “and Alana recommends a broadcast program for me to establish a relationship with all of my children.”
Lynas laughed loudly. “Jason, I will tell that to the king of the Gromelix. Nothing I have said to him that makes sense to me, makes sense to him. Your story makes no sense to me and I suspect makes as little sense to you, therefore I expect he will find it is exactly what he wants to hear. Even listening to that last sentence makes no sense.” Lynas laughed again loudly. “I feel very much more cheerful and reassured. The bizarre and unusual has always fascinated me.”
“May I ask, Lynas, why you are in humanoid form?” Jason asked.
“One of the reasons we wanted to be able to try different forms, is the problem we face with our large size. In our large size, we are exclusively carnivores and we consume massive amounts of food. Feeding our population is exceedingly difficult. As insects or as humans we consume less food and we can eat and metabolize vegetable matter. It is more efficient for us and economical to live this way. There are enormous advantages to having smaller hands. They are much more dexterous, as are the claws the insects use. Our environment is more suitable for the humanoid form. There are some of our planets that we do not use that would be potentially much more suitable for insects. We are exploring living on these planets as insects.
“In the humanoid form, we enjoy cooking. Cooking has given us a lot in common with the diverse species in our alliance. In war, our large form is helpful, but we cannot board most ships. We use the Gromelix, but a humanoid form would help. I like having different forms. I enjoy flying as an insect and find it wonderful exercise. The sense of smell as an insect is quite extraordinary. Their resistance to radiation has been of great help to our scientists. It is much like your concept of clothing. You have dedicated clothing for different purposes. It is useful to have a dedicated body for different purposes.
“I have received your communication. I will send it on to the king with your message and I will keep you informed.” Queen Parayekt said, then waved. A few seconds later the hologram faded out.
“That was an extraordinary tale, Jason!” said Alana.
“Just wait until you watch the updated story. Watching is far better than having the story told,” said Razza. “I can hardly believe what I have gone through since I met Jason. I’m even more surprised we have survived it all. Alana our Azayal experience has made us much stronger, it was a great idea.”
“What are your future plans?” Cassius asked.
“I need to talk to the allies about the progress of the war and then make a plan to conquer the Ghouls. I have to be there. I just cannot see how I can get everything done,” said Jason. “I also made some commitments to help derive mathematics theory for the Azayal. It is not a big job but no one else seems to be able to do it. I finish one task and they send me another.”
Alana looked at Jason and raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to one side.
“Again, your aunt will come to the rescue. Go and spend a week on Porquenta with your women and babies. Take some time every day to derive the mathematical theories. At the end of the week go and see the Gromelix and sort them out in a week, that is the absolute limit of time I can give you.
“Philippa and I will liaise with Porquenta to convene a meeting of the allies in two weeks, on Porquenta. I think we need to meet Mergal face to face. In the meantime, I reckon your capable staff, along with ours and the Collective can coordinate to form a transitional plan. I will prepare an agenda with Mergal. The work will be done. The meeting is necessary to cement the trust between the leaders and firm the alliance.
“I suspect, no I know, there is some critically important key event that will occur while you meet the Gromelix. Your mere presence will bring important matters to light,” said Alana, “and I have no doubt trouble is ahead when you see the Gromelix. They are prickly and paranoid and that is a recipe for misunderstanding.”
“You can travel to the dinosaurs quickly. You take the gate from here to the Collective and another portal to the Dinosaurs. It is easy,” said Alana. “At most it will take a few hours. You don’t need to go far to see the Gromelix. I think it’s about fifty minutes.”
“I am surprised Chuck hasn’t been to visit Lynas already. My grandson is such a scamp, it wouldn’t surprise me to find he and Porquenta set up a strategy tournament there and he has been along already,” replied Jason.
Alana smiled broadly. “What can I say? He was the third one through the gate. Chuck and the Queen get on famously. He has his own room at the palace and he has several friends he has made amongst the younger tyrannosaurus rexes. He and Chloe have both been to visit and play. She is a very impressive young lady. I adore those two. Your gate fees must be horrific with the amount of intergalactic travel they do,” said Alana.
“I warned them about the cost of gate travel when I spoke with them some time ago. Philippa said they negotiated a deal with my mother in law, which cannot be revealed. They travel free from what I can see. Nothing is charged to me or Lauren. My mother in law refuses to discuss the matter. The staff on the gates know them well. They make a point of visiting the gate people. No one else apparently ever does. Chloe bakes for them.
“Chloe is the master financial strategist and I know I would lose my pants in any negotiation with her. She can argue the hind leg off a camel and leave the camel feeling happy about it.” said Jason.
Cassius looked at Alana kissed her and held her hand.
“Jason my boy, I am Emperor in name only. Welcome to Alana’s Queendom. I do the easy entertaining and she organizes all the hard stuff.”
Alana looked at Cassius lovingly. Jason left them looking into each other’s eyes.
1. Jason’s Battleship
“These gates are convenient. We traveled in seventy minutes across four galaxies. In an hour, we will arrive at Gromelikine,” said Andrea.
“I listened to the conversations the Gromelix King had with Queen Lynas Parayekt. His behavior was abominable. He reminds me of a spoiled child,” said Linda.
Jason nodded slowly. He crossed his fingers, placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his fingers. He sighed.
“I think she is ready to throw them out of the Kingdom. They don’t need to start a civil war to be freed from their union with the Tyrannosaurus Rexes,” said Jason.
“Jason, no doubt there is a big issue behind the scenes.There is no use speculating what it might be. We need to get there and start talking,” said Razza.
Jason nodded and sat back deep in thought.
When he returned his attention back to the others, Perdita caught his eye.
“Jason, I enjoyed talking with your daughter Lauren when we were on Porquenta. She is a capable and intelligent young woman and I did like her husband, Dan, very much. He is a charming and understated man,” said Perdita. “I was interested to hear what was happening on Earth.
“She told me she spoke with you about the progress the leaders have made in their discussions on Earth. I understand the nations will unify and join your house, it is only a matter of time. The leaders have had discussions with both Cassius and with Brecht Chatzke your illustrious convincing diplomatic insect mother in law. Cassius told them if they joined your house, they would become part of the Empire. Your mother-in-law told them to ignore your protestations about leading Earth; she said you are a great leader and other people will run Earth. She told them that you will keep them safe. She said you are perfectly capable and when push comes to shove you own Porquenta, Mars and Venus.”
“Earth has such a long way to go. It needs people with experience to help the planet catch up with the Collective,” said Jason. “I never thought they could ever agree on anything. I was surprised to hear how far they have gone to be prepared to unify Earth.”
Perdita nodded before continuing.
“Brecht explained all the allies would help Earth to develop. She told them the planets selected you to own them not vice versa. She informed them her daughter, the Empress Philippa, runs the show administratively on your behalf. Philippa runs thirty planets and one more will not be much more of a challenge. Brecht said Lauren has agreed to be the face of the house on Earth and she says Lauren has the ability to run Earth with her eyes closed. Most of the administration is done by an administration AI that could run twenty planets much more complex than Earth. She says few politicians are needed. The AI has rules for planets at different levels of evolution which it applies depending on the stage they have evolved to. These rules are based on past experience and extensive evidence and they work well. The law of the Empire is simple and politicians are not needed to make new laws except in rare situations. The AIs polish the laws using existing knowledge and evidence from past experience, then convert the laws into the rules they apply. There is a coherent set of laws for every developmental phase of a planet with associated sets of rules. We do it the same way in the Jumo Empire. The Collective under Ouma Chatzke have much the same system which they say was influenced by the ancients.
“Both Cassius and Brecht independently told them telepaths would quickly find and incarcerate the terrorists on the planet. They told the leaders they would assist the people of Earth in the same way they developed many planets before them. I also told Lauren to tell them how much you have done for the Jumo Empire,” said Perdita looking at him and smiling. “I suspect the sales job is done and you will be even more fabulously wealthy. Assets seem to seek you out. You are not only a black hole for trouble. You are a black hole for money! You are going to be an Emperor of a huge domain. I suspect you will be as reluctant an Emperor as you are a reluctant Warlord,” Perdita added laughing.
“I am not as reluctant as I first was to take on Earth. With Lauren in charge and Philippa helping her it will be a breeze. If Brecht and the allies help Earth develop, I will be happy to do my bit!” Jason stated smiling wanly.
“I love the sound of the administrative AI. Porquenta is very excited at the prospect of being able to participate in the development of Earth, but I suspect his real aim is he wants more manpower for Porquenta, Mars and Venus. He tells me he is busy building an AI for Earth that will deal with its entire AI and computing needs for the next hundred years,” said Jason before continuing thoughtfully.
“Earth already has integrated teams of experts from the Collective and the Empire helping with the necessary political development. With this level of assistance, I am looking forward to the prospect of helping Earth move forward reasonably quickly. Even though I joke about not wanting to run things, I am happy to do what I can. I am not a good day to day administrator, but I think I can make reasonable decisions at a high level. I watch Cassius and Brecht in action and they involve themselves only in working on major decisions. The rest of the time is selling the ideas and keeping people happy. They rarely tell people what to do.
“When I think about it they both listen a lot, give superb advice but rarely and they take long term views. Alana is a great administrator, she has superb social intelligence and is a master in the area of intelligence. Brecht is very versatile and a great leader and the best mother in law anyone could have,” said Jason. “I admire her enormously.”
“Ouma Chatzke and Cassius both say they have special programs for disadvantaged peoples. Cassius says compulsory military service makes an enormous difference to help the younger people integrate. He and Ouma Chatzke offered to help us if we don’t have the ability to cope with the volume of people involved,” said Jason.
“Linda you look like you are bursting to tell us something amusing.”
Linda laughed.
“I was speaking with Chuck and Chloe, and they are even funnier in person than when you tell stories of their adventures, Jason. Your grandchildren are exceptional young people. They are traveling the galaxies in their own shuttles with their war games teams at least once a month and are participating in strategy tournaments. In the tournaments, they fight for first place, but recently they decided they would not participate in the same tournaments unless they were really big ones. They and their teams each have outstanding reputations for innovation and unique solutions, much as you do. They have even traveled between universes. Mergal sent a ship to fetch them to visit her and to participate in a competitive set of simulations looking at the possibilities of how the Ghoul worlds could be taken. Admirals and generals participated from all the allies. Mergal hid them and their teams in a different room, with a proctor to ensure scrupulous fairness, and they competed against a thousand teams. The tournament was arranged during school holidays and they spent a week playing. They placed equal first. You can imagine the uproar that followed when the winners were announced. They are now well known in the Azayal Kingdom,” said Razza. “They and their teams present well on the media and made a big impact. Lauren says they are behaving much more maturely.
“That was why they were so secretive and only spent a day with us on Porquenta. They didn’t want to embarrass you if they did poorly, so if you didn’t know they were going and if they performed poorly you would not think less well of them. I told them not to worry about it.
“They both said they would rather surprise you after it was done. Mergal called me just before we left and told me about the initial uproar followed by their mature and gracious behavior,” said Perdita.
“They were chatting to Col. Constance Ross from Intelligence. She told them about her intelligence simulations and her father gave her intelligence simulations when she was younger. Both Chloe and Chuck wanted to try one of her simulations. She gave them a pack of her favorite simulations. Both of them disappeared soon afterwards and when they returned, they were both elated. They begged for some more. She gave them her whole suite of simulations for them to attempt when they returned home,” said Julia.
“Those are good skills to have. I found the intelligence simulations some of the most challenging of all the simulations I have done; you are constantly evaluating possible and probable implications from the data found,” said Jason.
“I am really missing Pardela. I became quite attached to her,” Razza said.
“I miss her too,” echoed Julia and Perdita.
“She said she couldn’t come with us even though she desperately wanted to come, because so much time passed while we were away, she had a lot to catch up with what was going on,” said Razza. “She is intimately involved in the restructuring of the University. She said that everything is now up in the air with a whole host of educators now spending time with the Azayal. I find it strange the Orcs and the Warriors of the Apocalypse keep themselves very much to themselves. I don’t know whether they want to be invited to participate more directly or not.
“They have willingly sent scientists to Porquenta. Maybe at the leaders meeting it could be something worth discussing. Integrating all the knowledge and education would be a monumental task, but I do think there may be holes and vulnerabilities each of the allies have and do not realize,” said Razza.
“I understand the Coven educators are delighted to have the opportunity to participate and learn from the experiences of others. They are finding the incubator environment of Porquenta stimulating.
“My father and grandfather are keen to lift the standard of Coven education as fast as they possibly can. The morale of the people is at an all-time high, despite the war continuing. They enjoy being part of a positive alliance and they are already seeing improvements in the standard of living in the Coven. The planetary AIs are participating in all of this activity and are also enjoying the new challenges. Nuswa, Porquenta, Mars and even Venus are beginning to participate and they all have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, Venus is going to need as much work as Nuswa. The refurbishment of planetary AIs is a complex and a big job according to both Claudette and Sheila. Nuswa is excited to hear of the pregnancy of Sheila. She says she is the grandmother and it is her first grandchild. Claudette is envious of Sheila, but she is having to do a lot of work to help Mars finish her upgrades and is also spending time with Sheila working on Venus and Nuswa.
“Jason she’s going to insist that you impregnate her as well. Mars is quite jealous of Porquenta,” said Razza smiling.
“I could not believe how excited Porquenta was. He has a grandchild to focus on and even though it is a fetus he is like a mother hen watching its development. His planet is growing and thriving and he says he is fulfilling his purpose every day. He is nothing like how I imagined an AI to be,” said Razza.
“He told me he regards me as a daughter as well. I was quite touched,” said Julia. “I spent quite a lot of time talking with him while we were on the planet. He has so many active projects, it is impossible for me to keep up even with my own AI. He tells me he’s still using only five percent of his current capacity and he told me he is keen to get more people from the Azayal and from Earth,” said Julia.
“His current interest is in building up your intelligence services. He has spoken about his plans with Chuck and Chloe and I think fired up both of their imaginations. They were excited to hear Connie was in intelligence and asked her how she learned about intelligence activities. She explained she did dedicated intelligence simulations. That added more fire to the appetites of both of them,” added Julia. “They begged to try some of Connie’s simulations.”
Jason smiled and nodded.
“They never cease to amuse and amaze me,” he remarked.
“Porquenta has been speaking with the experts from the allies and they are assisting him with the structuring and organization of his intelligence efforts. He is concentrating on decontaminating your companies,” Julia explained. “He believes you still have companies with criminal employees from the time of the priests.”
“I spoke with Chuck and Chloe after they had done three intelligence simulations. I then suggested they talk to Jacques from the Warriors and Marduk from the Orcs to see what they have. I want to draw in the Orcs and Warriors a bit more,” said Julia on a roll.
“He has never given me any intelligence sims,” said Jason. “I wonder why?”
“I will explain why. Chuck and Chloe went to speak with Porquenta to ask what he had. He said he was not aware he had any simulations of intelligence activities and said he was searching for some. He contacted Connie and thanked her for stimulating Chuck and Chloe and said the query from your grandchildren unlocked an intelligence section previously hidden within his memory. He found all the information he needed to set up his own services. He was excited and when I last saw Chuck and Chloe, they were deep in conversation with Sheila and Claudette talking about intelligence simulations.
“What do your family think about our relationship Julia, you did spend some time with them?” Jason asked.
“They loved Porquenta and enjoyed their stay. They tell me they only heard good things about you. I think they were a bit intimidated when they were exposed to the level of service we enjoy, the magnificent food and the wonders of Porquenta technology.
“Our meeting was too brief. They hardly spoke with you, Jason and that is unlike them. My mother said you have an aura that is overwhelming. She said she has never seen my father tongue-tied. They would like to meet you next time we are in the Empire on their own turf and over a meal or two. They would like us to formalize our relationship at some time,” said Julia. “My mother thinks you are a great catch, but she is scared when she hears what we have done and worries about my safety. She offered some of our warships and troops to help protect us.
“My father says you are an extraordinary man. He was most impressed to see how unpretentious you are. He says you feel more of an Emperor than Cassius. When I asked what he meant he said he could not explain it. He said even when you are joking you have a presence that makes him breathless, replied Julia.
“My father and Felix said the same. Cassius says your presence is growing quickly. He said Ouma Chatzke met the Emperor of your people a long time ago and said he had a huge presence. She said she could feel him as he approached her planet. She says you have a way to go!” Perdita volunteered smiling.
“How did you go with all of the mothers and babies?” She asked.
“I was overwhelmed with babies and with excited mothers in the Palace. They had a lottery for women who are living elsewhere to bring their babies to see me. I saw babies for half or more of every day. I was able to spend plenty of time with Philippa, Andrea, Linda, Celia, Felicia and their babies. Philippa is back to her former self and is calm and collected again,” explained Jason.
“What is happening about your wish to find a way to communicate with the mothers and children more regularly?” Andrea asked.
Jason nodded slowly.
“I had a very interesting discussion with Porquenta about establishing a relationship with the children. I said that I have always felt responsible for every child I fathered, but I am overwhelmed with the numbers of mothers and children. I said I could hardly conceive of twenty-nine million babies. He said that the number has gone up to thirty-four million as whenever I am on the ship, in the Empire or the Collective, my sperm is recovered and stored and given to my other women.
“I said even with one million babies, I couldn’t establish a relationship. He asked how he could help. I told him of Alana’s advice to use technology and to try a broadcast. He said that he thought it was a good idea, but he would like to make another suggestion. He said he will dedicate part of himself to communicate with each mother and baby every day, but he would communicate with them as if it was me. Each mother would record the development of the child with him and he would ensure each child was superbly educated. He would read to them and tell them stories as they grew older. He said later when he was more utilized, he would dedicate an AI to the task. He had the audacity to tell me my personality and mannerisms were well known to him and he could easily do my parenting job,” said Jason laughing. “I said he was rather full of himself considering his only experience in the area was one grandchild in utero. He had no reply to that, but he did laugh.”
“At first, I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. I did not want the mothers to be duped into believing that it is me when it is not me.
“He told me he had already spoken with all of them and asked them what they thought of this as an idea. He said that most of them said that they had already had a child with me by proxy, and they believe that it is an excellent idea. Even Philippa apparently believes that providing continuity to the child is a great idea and having comparative developmental information is of great value. He said most of the mothers shared a similar view.
“The ones with whom I have regular contact simply wanted to know when it was the real Jason or Porquenta. All the children in all the nurseries will hear their father’s voice every day and will hear children’s stories as told by their father when they reach the appropriate ages or developmental level. When they are old enough, they will be able to speak directly to their father. Porquenta will modify how I am as I get older. If any child later spends time with me, he will provide me with all the information of the background of my relationship with that child,” said Jason. “It is in a way a bit freaky, perhaps it’s more than a bit freaky, but Porquenta insists they are as much his and Mars’ people as my people. Mars is quite keen to take over with the women who were born on Mars when she has been fully refurbished.”
“I have a funny feeling; this idea is going to get bigger. I spoke with Alana and I told her what Porquenta suggested. She thought it was a fantastic idea and wondered if this could be an idea that she could implement for parents who were remote from their children and could not communicate on a day-to-day basis. She said she was going to speak to Porquenta about it. She told me children respond well to advice from an AI and they use them extensively in the Empire for career advice. AIs do well with teenagers. She thinks it’s an idea that could help many families,” said Jason grinning. “I think a new business is born and it’s a ripper!”
“People, we are getting quite close to Gromelikine, the Gromelix home-world,” said Andrea, “but ground control will not let us land.”
“This childish King is beginning to frustrate me enormously and I’m getting totally pissed off with him. He likes playing foolish power games. Do any of you have any thoughts about what to do?” Jason asked.
“Chuck made a very interesting remark when I spoke with him and I have been thinking about it a lot. He said that it was clear in the minds of the Ghouls that the Gromelix are not small like the ones we have heard about, they are very large and they have small young,” said Perdita, “the question is where are the big ones? Why are they hiding? I think he is right, we are speaking with the Gromelix but we are talking to them through the children.”
“That is a very interesting idea. Chuck is a very bright and insightful young man. Why would they use immature children to deal with us and the other dinosaurs? What kind of game would they be playing? It does make some kind of perverse sense of what Lynas is talking about. Children are not interested in politics, they behave immaturely and certainly the king behaves far more like a child than an adult. It also explains why the adults are not aware of information. Children would not have the judgement to know what is important.
“What do their parents have to hide?” Jason asked.
“Andrea I am patching myself through to the idiot King. I have his direct line,” said Jason.
“Hello,” said King Nasgor Epilex.
“This is Jason Kargo and I want to know what you are up to?” Jason asked. “You are refusing to let us land despite agreeing to our visit. Not only that, I see that we have had a threat you will shoot us down if we do not depart.”
“Now Nasgor, I am tired of speaking with you and I am tired of this nonsense. Put on your mother, I can sense that she is close behind you. I will not play your childish games and pranks. I also know that you did not give your mother what was given to you for her. Now put her on before I come down and smack your bottom!” demanded Jason angrily.
He could see Nasgor was speaking from a cavern high on a mountainside. He could see the breathtakingly large entrance puffy clouds scudding past and several mountains in the distance. He could also see Nasgor was looking acutely uncomfortable, was hopping from foot to foot and was listening to a voice behind him.
“No Nasgor, I do not want to hear a story. Put your mother on to speak with me… You don’t fool me for a second and you are in serious trouble with me already… You didn’t tell your mother she was supposed to watch something that was sent to you… Nasgor you will not lie to me!” said Jason fiercely.
Nasgor looked very awkward hopped from foot to foot and was anxiously scratching his side.
“Nasgor, I can see you are trying to think of what to say. You’re getting yourself into more trouble. I know you are but a child and your parents are probably both there. I will not play this game. I know the Gromelix have a problem, but I insist I talk to a responsible adult about solving it. Put on your mother!” said Jason in his most parental voice.
Jason saw a huge head come into the image.
“How dare you order my son around!” The large head said.
“And it is nice to meet you Queen Dragon,” said Jason flippantly. “I suspected you were all dragons not dinosaurs, but Queen Lynas does not know this. How should I address you?”
The large head sighed audibly and appeared to cogitate for several seconds.
“I am Queen Elizaveta Epilex, how do you know about us?”
“Let me transmit the file I wanted you to watch which your dear son did not tell you about. My AI will send two files, the first smaller one is the one most relevant to you for our discussion to come. The second is more detailed and will provide the context of the story. Watch the first and decide if you want to see me. Watch the second at your leisure. The first will take you half an hour. Call me back when you have watched it,” said Jason flatly.
Jason’s AI sent the files when the receiving address was given to him. He cut the connection.
“Watch the attitude change when she calls back,” said Jason. “Let’s have a snack while we are waiting, I think it will be a long day.”
They ate and chatted for nearly an hour before the Queen got back to them.
The huge head reappeared along with several other huge heads.
“Jason, I will introduce you to our senior Dragon Council.” The Queen said and proceeded to introduce the others who remained silent thereafter. Jason introduced those who were sitting with him who likewise chose to remain silent.
“First, I would like to apologize to you for our rudeness to you and the Queen of the kingdom, Lynas Parayekt. I watched the first five minutes of your riveting presentation of your encounter with the Azayal and the Ghoul vizier, before I called my colleagues. We watched the remainder of the presentation together and had a brief discussion.
“I will renew our invitation for all of you to visit us. Please take a shuttle and you will see a flight path appear in front of you as you approach the ground. You will be guided to this cave which houses our palace and home,” said Queen Elizaveta Epilex, “and in the meantime, we will begin watching the other holo-presentation.”
The faces faded and as all transmission cut out Razza turned to Jason.
“That went a hell of a lot better! I wouldn’t be surprised if they started off the whole thing as a prank and have been stuck with the consequences since then and now they can’t think of a way to rectify the situation. They look like a very proud people to me,” added Razza as they walked towards the hangar to catch a shuttle.
The shuttle pilot followed a broad green pointer which formed in front of the shuttle when they hit the atmosphere. Fifteen minutes later they reached a dinosaur sized multi-shuttle shelf with fifty gigantic Dragon shuttles parked on it. The shelf had no visible supports and they could see no sign of its attachment to the cave. They found an empty space on the platform and debarked.
“I hope this shelf is not going to float off,” said Razza.
There was a wide gap between the shelf and the cave entrance.
“Walk over the gap. It is a firm but invisible ramp,” came the Queen’s booming voice from within the cave.
Jason led the way over the ramp that felt like any other firm surface. Half way across he looked down and saw the ground six thousand feet below and saw hundreds of dragons flying lazily in the currents. The mountain formed a sheer cliff in front of the shelf and looked like a canine tooth as it rose to a peak thousands of feet above. The air was balmy and comfortable despite the elevation of the cave. The entrance was bleak, but imposing, showing nothing beyond. The floor was of smooth solid rock. As they walked forward a monstrous cavern opened fifty yards from the entrance. An austere castle stood bravely carved into the rock and was the same color as the dark brown rock. It had a Zen like simplicity and it was built for function not for style.The castle looked as though it had been roughly hewn from the heart of the mountain.
The Queen, Elizaveta Epilex stood beyond. In real life, she looked even bigger than Jason expected. She was twice the size of the Queen Lynas Parayekt of the Tyrannosaurus Rexes.
“Welcome to my Castle,” she boomed deafeningly while beckoning them forward. Jason could see heavily armed guards, with assault rifles the size of frigate cannon, watching warily in the distance.
“We will sit in the garden as I do not know what furniture will be suitable for you. I regret we have not done the appropriate research to seat and entertain you comfortably.”
Jason shed his clothes and put them in his backpack before turning into his dinosaur form. The others did the same.
“I did not know you could do that!” The Queen boomed looking startled.
“When you have time to watch the presentation in full, you will understand a lot more,” Jason boomed in reply.
The Palace stretched endlessly into the mountainside. They walked for fifteen minutes before they reached a sparsely decorated but impressive meeting room with a smoothly carved stone table and the same familiar benches the Tyrannosaurs used. The wall was smooth and filled with intricate but large colorful battle scenes painted directly on the rock. A portrait of a dragon hung behind the large bench at the head of the table.
As soon as the Queen and the Council sat down, the tension in the room rose to be palpable.
“I regret we have not had the opportunity to watch the remainder of the presentation, as we had several issues that we had to discuss that arose from our last discussion,” said Elizaveta Epilex.
“Some of us are far from sure you can help us and add any value to solving our problem,” said Coccydioborgus Effulix Senior Counsel to the Queen irritably. “What do you know of our problems?”
“I know very little of your problems. I will summarize what I know. You have a serious issue with the kingdom and for some reason you have sent your children to do adults’ work. Whether that is a problem or not I have no idea. That you have chosen to hide yourselves from the others may or may not be the problem. Queen Lynas Parayekt hoped I could be a mediator. Until you define your real problems I am not going to indulge in guesswork,” said Jason equally irritably.
Coccydioborgus Effulix belched blue flame and acrid smoke from his mouth. Razza looked startled. Jason belched a green flame and a foul yellow smoke that wafted to the ceiling where it was stirred by a huge fan lazily circulating the air. A pungent smell filled the air. The Gromelix looked at each other and seemed agitated. Jason remained silent and looked at the Queen.
She quickly regained her composure and turned to face Jason.
“Our people are at least a million years older than the dinosaurs. Unlike them we have historical records to show we were genetically designed. We don’t know from what template, but we have many common genes with the Tyrannosaurus Rex. You cannot distinguish our children from the children of Tyrannosaurus Rexes. We have no history prior to us becoming sentient. Our records of the early years are incomplete. Our creators were beings like yourselves. We did not know the reasons for our creation, but we have dreams of a purpose that we cannot clarify.
“There are evil creatures a composite of two types of beings, one a parasite upon the other who attempted to befriend us and soured us on relationships with others. The fact our creators abandoned us still rankles to this day. We were distressed and discomforted to see your form.
“The Tyrannosaurus Rex have been honorable during the time we have known them and we have been part of the kingdom. They leave us be, collect trivial taxes and we fulfill our obligations to them. Our children serve as politicians, our youngsters fight for them until the age they begin to look like dragons.
“One of our children may have mentioned the Azayal and also possibly the Ghouls. We resented not being told about these important matters. We felt we had been betrayed. We felt it was more honorable to declare war, than it is to simply say we wish to separate ourselves from a people we considered honorable and then did not inform us of important events,” the Queen said.
“Hear Ye,” thundered the others.
Jason shook his head as if to clear it — “I would’ve expected more from you than this absolute nonsense,” said Jason. “First of all, you send your children to be ambassadors and then you receive little information from them that is of value. They are children and they have no useful perspective on the importance of events. They create an impression of your people that does you no justice and then you react adversely to a so called lack of information. That information was provided to your children. The child King did not pass on what I had wanted you to look at before you spoke with me. I am going to give you one more opportunity to get yourselves out of this mess and explain to me properly what the problems you face are. I will not sit here and accept the drivel you are feeding me. I will wait until tomorrow morning, 10 o’clock and if I don’t hear from you that will be the last you will see of me.”
Persephone Omulix, the Sage to the Queen stood to speak. “There are matters that are not for you to hear and these are the secrets of our people. We will speak amongst ourselves, but I have my reservations about proceeding further.”
“Let me speculate in an idle way from what I do know. Let us say the dreams of the Ghouls are mirrors of the dreams you have. Let us say you have dreams of laying eggs in the Ghouls and draining them or perhaps you have even infested Ghouls in the past and wish to do so again, but you do not admit it. Perhaps it is an important ritual for you and is a deep secret. Perhaps you think the Azayal are your creators. Perhaps you are agitated by all this. I don’t know, this is all idle speculation, but I know you have a serious issue and you are not sure you can solve it on your own and hate anyone else knowing your problem,” said Jason. “The problem embarrasses you.”
“Young man, you are treading on dangerous ground,” said Coccydioborgus Effulix Senior Counsel to the Queen, involuntarily belching more flame and smoke while looking daggers at Jason.
Jason doubled in size, and 18-inch claws emerged from his upper limbs. He bent his head to fit under the ceiling as he reached full height. “I hope you are not trying to intimidate me. Don’t start what you can’t finish,” said Jason belching blue flames and white smoke and a truncated electrical discharge that was followed by a loud boom!”
The Gromelix sat absolutely still, looking nonplussed. Jason saw Julia and Razza were looking amused, and then turned to see Andrea and Linda were beaming.
“We will now leave you to your deliberations. Queen Epilex we will see ourselves out. If we hear from you, we will return, if not I am pleased to have met my first dragons,” said Jason.
The Queen roused herself from a trance. “Wait I will walk you back, this is a very strange meeting, I have to say!”
She led them out and back to the landing area without a word then said: “You are a surprise to us all, please bring back the rest of your group who were with the Azayal when you return!”
She turned and walked into the cavern without a backward glance.
They changed back to their humanoid form, dressed and returned to the ship.
“I wonder what tomorrow will bring,” Razza speculated.