ZYCLO

THE TALE OF THE ALIEN ACTOR

By Burt Goldman

INTRODUCTION

Relax my friend, and I will spin you a tale never before heard by any human being. I will

tell you the story of… me—myself, Zyclotone Ryketoo. You may have heard of me through a

name I adopted some time ago, John Marlin, or perhaps Jeronimo Aguilar. But as my narrative

will begin prior to my Marlin identity I will refer to myself as Zyclo. Also as the science of

physics is only now being popularized I will have to support this document with what scientists

would call a theory, but what I would call, having utilized the process, a fact.

Forgive me please when I use words that are unfamiliar. For some of them there are no

similes in your language, no definitions, but the strangeness of the names, and the words, will not

take anything from the story, I promise.

The accepted theory of some of your scientists is that of an infinite number of universes,

a Multiverse, parallel to this one, that you would call, reality. But in reality, your reality, this

reality is only one of a vast number that exceeds a trecentillion. That number is the largest I know

of. It would be expressed by a 10 with 903 zeros after it. That number becomes more meaningful

when you realize that every third zero represents a thousand times more that which preceded it;

there are 301 times that the number increases a thousand fold. Trecentillion grains of sand would

be more sand granules than is on a hundred worlds of the size of Earth. The human mind cannot

conceive of such a number, much less the concept of infinity. To define the indefinable, a

definition of infinity, would be, ‘one more’. Whatever the number, one more, and again after

that; on ad infinitum.

There are more universes in the Multiverse than even your greatest scientists could

possibly imagine. I, Zyclo, was bred in one of those. My reality was, is, and will be. I long to

return to it, but alas—that has proved to be impossible. I have tried everything. For more than

seven hundred years I have tried, without success. I have only one process left to me and I

hesitate to use that one because if it fails, I will have to accept the fact I can never return to

Clanzith—my world.

Clanzith is a six dimensional world—a world far beyond your own poor four dimensions.

A Clanzithan such as I, as example, can merge with your earth and gain energy from it; I also

have the ability to travel at speeds you could not even imagine when I am within the earth. As

you cannot possibly envision a world with six fixed dimensions, set your mind to thinking about a

two dimensional world. A world of length and breadth, but without height or time. A world a

caterpillar would inhabit. Nothing higher than itself. A caterpillar that travels in a two

dimensional, flat, three hundred and sixty degree plane. Were you to be transported to that

caterpillar’s view of reality, you would have an idea of how I feel in your reality. Think of the

power you would possess in a world of two dimensions if you were the only four dimensional

creature. You would have the advantage of knowing about time, and space. You would have

height and vertical movement available to you—how powerful you would be, and how unhappy

you would be in a world such as that. Consider that for a moment and you would have a clue as to

the powers that I possess, as a six dimensional creature, in a four dimensional world.

The example is not that far off as the caterpillar transforms itself from the two

dimensional sphere to the four when it breaks through its chrysalis and turns into a butterfly. I am

a butterfly in a world of caterpillars with two extra dimensions available to me.

What are those two extra dimensions? Ah, all in good time, I did refer to one of them

when I said I have the ability to merge and travel within the earth. But first, before I begin the

final process to return to Clanzith, I will leave you with this chronicle. My testament to the good

people I’ve met here on Earth that I have come to know and in some cases, to love.

CHAPTER ONE

My story begins on Clanzith. I was alone in my holoroom. I was still companionless and

had not shared Yeegal therefore had not fathered a child. I recall clearly tiring of the woodsy

holowalls. I switched the program to a Falacian street scene. The room changed and again came

to life. I found myself sitting outside a coffee shop admiring the passing parade of characters.

Next to the forest it was my favorite setting but after an hour even Falacia could not get me out of

my depressive state. I bashed the terminate program button on the control panel with my foot and

suddenly I was in a small, dreary room with four grey walls and an oppressive ceiling of white,

reflective jungabits. I remember heaving a great sigh as I left the room to brew myself a real cup

of coffee not the holo stuff that felt well enough when going down but did not satisfy any but the

immediate senses.

My communication ring vibrated and my finger tingled with the familiar sensation of

someone attempting to contact me. I closed my fist and the voice came through, “Professor

Ryketoo?”

“Who is it please?” I answered while pouring myself a steaming cup.

An unfamiliar, deeply rich voice responded, “My name is Narja, Nelso Narja. Does that

mean anything to you?”

“No,” I answered, “should it?”

“I suppose not. I was a student in your infinite mathematics class two years ago.”

I sipped at my coffee and sighed. “Mr. Narja that class consisted of three hundred reality

students and forty thousand holostudents. Why would I remember you in particular?”

The voice raised an octave but still in the lower register as I heard, “Because I am the one

you struck with the yardstick when I told you I had the answer to the pi sequential.”

That rang a bell. I did remember; the person, not the name. The pi sequential. The one

remaining mystery. The great Clanzithan unsolvable. The mathematical conundrum. The infinite

finite. Solve the sequential and all the mysteries of the universe unravel. I remembered. I had

been furious at the person’s allegation. His broad statement that everyone in reality and all those

in holoclass had heard. The quantum computer had already reached a quadrillion extensions. My

lecture at the time had been on the futility of keeping the computer working on a problem that had

clearly proved to be irresolvable. The Quantum computer was doing a billion calculations a

minute with no end in sight. Prior to that the great Nes Triaco, our ultimate mathematician, the

man who had solved the singularity process and who had proved the initial explosion that created

the universe was due to an implosion of a mirror universe; he had shown us that solving the pi

sequential would be akin to a spiritual breakthrough. It would be a matter anti-matter meeting.

Our minds, he had theorized, could not, at our present stage of development, take the path the

solving of the pi sequential would lead to.

Nelso Narja. So that was his name. The answer to the pi sequential indeed. A dark

skinned, nervous student still wet behind the ears had solved the sequential. What a laugh. Yes I

remembered. I had been so frustrated with my own seeking that when Narja had announced he’d

solved the conundrum I freaked out. I whacked him with the nearest object which happened to be

a yardstick I kept behind my desk to remind me that Occam’s razor was still the prime source of

interpretation. The simplest solution was usually the correct one. And that one should not

increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything. The one

area that Occam would not apply was the pi extension. Pi is always the same number, no matter

which circle you use to compute it.

Here was a youngling, telling me and heard by our 40,000 holostudents as well, that he

had solved the riddle. What nonsense. I struck him much to his dismay. Professors did not strike

students. I must say I was lucky in that it was only reported by seventy two holostudents, and

fourteen reality students. The rest of the class stuck by my side and the matter never came before

the full board. I tried to forget the incident and indeed had done so but Narja brought it all back

with a fury. I also recall giving him a zero grade so that he would have to take the entire year

again. I felt that would teach him a good lesson, one he would never forget. Students did not

contradict, or argue with their professors.

I clicked on the holoreceiver and he stood before me shimmering with color and a smile

on his face that I remembered only too well. “Thank you Professor. I feel much better being in

holopresence.”

“What is it you want Mr. Narja?” I asked.

“Only to express to you gratitude.”

“Gratitude.”

“For striking me.”

I shook my head. “Mr. Narja, I fail to see how your thanks would be a factor in my

temporary loss of judgment. I cannot accept your gratitude. Is that the reason you called?”

His head shook violently as he said, “No, not that at all. I called to ask a question. If you

feel you cannot accept my thanks then perhaps you will at least allow me a moment of your

time.”

“Ask your question, and then you will please leave me alone.”

“Thank you Professor. According to your last paper on the semantics of quanta you stated

that only when an event or object is observed is it real and that observing a thing changes it in

some manner. What if there were a set of laws that would have an effect only on a supernatural

entity? What if there was a person who could observe without disturbing the observed event? Oh

let us say a person from a seven dimensional world. He would be a person unaffected by the laws

of physics.”

This was nonsense. First the pi exhortations and now this. “Mr. Narja, your question has

no meaning. Clearly such a person does not exist and if he did exist he would be on another plane

and hidden from view so what is the point? Why are you bothering me with these suppositions?”

“Because Professor. I have solved the problem. I discovered the answer to the dilemma of

pi.”

The look of disgust must have shown on my face. I was about to turn off my receiver and

rid myself of this annoyance when he continued, saying. “Pi is a doorway.”

“To what?” I asked.

“To other universes. To other observable universes. You yourself have said that when, if

ever, we complete the pi progressions we will find a spiritual equation. Well it is true. That

equation can take you to any of the infinity of realities of the greatest, the ultimate spirit.

“I have discovered the means to attain that result.”

Skepticism raged through my mind like a storm. This, this insignificant worm of a man is

telling me he has solved the greatest enigma of our time. A riddle that great minds from Arstogoli

to Zzygotll have pondered all during the mature periods of their being. A knot I myself have spent

decades attempting to unravel and this thing in front of me is saying he has the answer. What

possible purpose does he have for irritating me in this manner? He must know how he is angering

me but he stands in front of me with that sickly smile on his face waiting for a response. Respond

I did. With a squeeze of my hand the circuit was broken and his image shimmered for a

millisecond then disappeared. I was determined now to send in a severe reprimand regarding

Nelso Narja to the University board. I will specifically ask them to bar Narja from my classes.

Even better than that, I went to the universal h-mail and linked it to the entire college. I had to

stop this at its infancy. I did not want Narja polluting the minds of over forty thousand of my

students.

Much to my surprise he contacted me again; he must have seen the holomail. What I had

said was this:

“My students, recently you were subjected to a tirade by one of your fellow students,

Nelso Narja, who I unfortunately had to reprimand. Mr. Narja said that contrary to the best minds

of our generation he has the answer now. All the most respected of our scientists agree. The

Quantum Computer will take decades to have the answer to the pi enigma. Mr. Narja, a second

year student, says he has already completed the sequence. He claims to have solved a puzzle the

best minds in the land have failed to resolve. As the head of the quantum mathematics

department I know this to be impossible. Please do not allow Mr. Narja’s statements hinder your

own pursuit of the answer. His ideas, if you will pardon the expression, are crackpot ideas. Do not

be fooled by his excitement. It cannot be done as he said.”

And that, I felt sure of at the time, was the end of my relationship with Nelso Narja. How

very wrong I was.

That evening my companion called, I did not feel she was right for a blending and so we

spoke of inconsequential things for a time and then I unwrapped my outer layer and slipped into

the restabule to enjoy a dreamless sleep. But sleep would not come. My thoughts turned to Narja

and his ridiculous claims of pi success. Then I ran through the prime numbers mentally as that

always worked for me but on reaching 1,013 with sleep still not on the horizon I got up and

walked into the holoroom to relax with an electrical storm set at one hundred degrees.

One of the few holorealities was the electrical storm setting. The normal daily electrical

drizzles were fine for keeping up my strength and restoring any grains of lost or dissipated energy

but there was nothing like an electrical storm to fill every pore with a buzz. The electrical energy

was as real in the holoroom as it was in the bedroom; it was as stimulating as a multimassage. I

stood in the center of the room and luxuriated in the rain feeling the smash of a lightning bolt on

my body every few seconds. Finally, after five minutes of that, I turned off the storm and

requested a calm stream alongside a flowering meadow. I sat surrounded by the sweet smelling

aroma of a thousand poskos and millions of molecules of their sweet aroma floating everywhere.

I was in olfactory heaven, it was one of my favorite holovisitations. Finally, after a half hour of

intoxication I called for a massage technician and a bed and was soon sound asleep wondering

what the next day would bring.

My finger ring was vibrating incessantly. I awoke with a start and squeezed my hand

bringing an audio response. I heard the words, “Show me—please.” Still groggy, I glanced at the

ceiling and noted the time. Barely an hour left in the sleep period. I squeezed my hand again

quickly and there in front of me was Holo/Nelso Narja. I groaned and shook my head slowly

thinking to terminate this call before it started when Narja spoke up shaking my resolve with his

next words.

“I can prove I’ve mastered the pi sequential Professor, I can prove it. Just let me talk to

you, please. I’ve made the discovery of the millennium and just because I’m second year, and due

to your criticism, no one will even listen to me. Professor, you must hear me out.”

What could I have done? I must end this, I thought. I told him finally, after a few

moments of silence, which Narja was clever enough not to interrupt, “O.K. Narja, tell me. What

is the discovery? And how will it help society? Tell me.”

“I can’t professor. Not on the holophone. I’m only a short distance away. Let me come to

your room and show you. You will not regret it. Please. Just give me fifteen minutes of your

time.”

Well, in for a digo in for a dok. A short while later Nelso Narja slipped through the power

screen and was standing in my living room a device of some sort in his hand. He put the thing on

a table and looked at me as though he was waiting for me to say something. I just looked at him,

and then at the mechanism that was on my table.

“It’s a pi-instigator. At least that’s what I call it.”

“And what does it instigate?” I asked.

“Travel.” He said.

“To where?”

“To other universes.”

About that time I was ready to throw him out of the room when he said. “13, 17, 13, 117,

131, 17.”

“What’s that supposed to mean Narja?”

“What do they mean to you?” he asked in turn.

“Other than the fact they’re prime numbers, they have no meaning.”

He looked at me with a face frozen in seriousness. “Those numbers are in the final

grouping of the extension of pi.”

He showed me a plamcard with the numbers lit up. “Look at them professor. No matter

how you break them up, singly, in pairs or extended. It always winds up a prime.”

Once again I punched at my communicator to turn off the connection when I realized he

was not holo/Nelso, he was physically in presence, Nelso. Damn. I started to escort him to the

door when he again said, “Let me prove it. Let me prove it professor, please.”

“All right Narja,” I replied, “prove it.”

He picked up the implement he had brought over and placed it in my hands. “Energize it

Professor. Send it 5,000 volts for three seconds.”

And so, just to get rid of this bothersome creature I did. I gave it 6,000 volts for good

measure and kept it up for four seconds. Withdrawing the energy, I placed the device back on the

table. “Now what?” I asked.

“There are three steps Professor, when you complete them all you switch to a different

reality, a different universe actually. Remember universes are infinite. Whatever reality you

envision, and whatever position you put yourself in, there you will be; so pick a good one—think

about a perfect world that you made. You will be you, but you will be a you in a different

universe with all your present memories and resources. So be careful, be very careful with what

you mentally create. Just so you won’t have any hard feelings towards me remember I told you to

think about a world you would make if you have the power. Remember that I told you that. And

remember I said the pi extension completed is a doorway to one of those infinite universes.”

I think it was about then that I gave him a tsk tsk and shaking my head in the negative

said, “Mr. Narja, I do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about. Just prove it to me as

you said you would and then leave. I want to go back to sleep. What are the three steps?”

“The first step in the sequence are the numbers 13, 17, 13, 117, 131, 17. That’s a key. In

saying it as we have just done the door to the second step may be opened for no more than five

minutes. And so we now have five minutes for the second step which you have already taken.

That step was expending, at a minimum, 5,000 volts for three seconds. A device is not required

but it does make it easier.

“And the third step?” I asked as I glanced with longing at my bed.

“That is saying the next fourteen numbers, once again in order; once again all in prime no

matter how you separate them. The very last 14 of the sequence. I can say them now if you wish

but only you will be affected as only you carried out the second step. If you require proof, this is

it. But I have no wish to harm you Professor Ryketoo in spite of what you said about me in your

recent h-mail. Please be very sure you have the right reality, the most beneficial universe in your

mind. You can be beggar, or you can be a king. It is all up to you.”

I just looked at the man. Obviously mad as a quardlock. I had to get rid of him. Perhaps if

I go along with this charade he will leave.

“All right,” I said, “I just created a mental image of the universe I want you to send me to

so say the fourteen numbers and you can leave.”

“If you’re sure Professor.” He said more as a statement then a question. I nodded and

headed him toward the door as he started spouting the last fourteen primes of the pi sequence. He

then started laughing, I thought for a moment he’d gone mad. He was screaming with laughter.

And then he began to fade away. Nelso Narja yelled but his voice came to me as if from a great

distance. I heard the words. “How’s that for a crackpot Mr. Professor?”

I suddenly felt a whooshing as though a giant hand was shoving me gently, so very

quickly forwards that the air in front of me felt as thick as a dense sea. The feeling of forward

motion continued for a few more minutes and ended as quickly as it had begun. I looked around

and discovered I was in a forest. My home and Narja had disappeared. There was a strange aroma

about. I’d never sniffed anything like it. Now if this were a joke I do not appreciate it. “Narja,” I

yelled, “Nelso Narja, where are you? Where did you go?”

There was no reply. I thought I would never see Nelso, or my home again unless I could

solve the great paradox. The enigma that had proved beyond every mathematician on the planet

until Narja came on the scene. He had proved his point. He proved it with a vengeance. For I had

switched to a world created by my own skeptical thoughts. And that world—this world, turned

out to be a dilly.

Narja had solved the pi enigma. No question about that. I had been wrong about him, I

thought he was just an egotistical kid who wanted attention. God was I wrong. Narja proved his

point though. He proved it with a vengeance.

I had to get back. I quickly recited the primes I knew—then I shot 5,000 volts into a

nearby tree for three seconds, I waited, thinking about my home, but nothing happened. I tried to

remember the final six primes that Narga had recited, they would consist of the basic primes but

having paid little attention at the time I could not remember them only that there were fourteen,

and each consisted of the prime number 1, 3, or 7. Getting the right fourteen numbers in the

correct order would be difficult. The permutations are practically endless. I had to find a

computer to work it out. But first I had to find out where I was. What evil had Nelso Narja

wrought? I noticed a hill not far away in a heavily vegetated area. Heading there to orient myself

I soon found myself on top of a tree looking around to see if I could see anything familiar. It was

deep night but there was a sliver of a moon and so everything was bright and cheery looking but

there was nothing to be seen on either side. But then looking towards the horizon I saw a

brightness far from my hill. That much bright must mean a city. I headed for it to discover what

Narga had gotten me into.

And so, that is how I, Zyclotone Ryketoo came to your very bright, primitive world. To

say I was disoriented would not be a grain of the emotional upheaval I was undergoing. When

walking to the nearby town in the brightness of that sliver of moon I must attest to a fear that

snapped at me. I had not yet learned that Narga’s three steps had worked only too well. I had not

yet learned I had been thrust into an alternate dimension, a parallel universe, a world of my own

making. My thoughts of power on Clanzith had brought me to this. The image in my mind, when

I was prepped by Narga for the trip, I really had no faith in achieving. I was wrong again. I

achieved it ten-fold. The thought was that of power. I was thrust into a dimension where I had

power. My natural six dimensional being was power indeed when placed in a four dimensional

environment. But this I had no way of knowing at that time.

The first thing I noticed when I reached the town was that it was a sleep period. No one

was to be seen. I soon learned about night and day. To my eyes, brought up and developed on a

planet where the brightest day was darker than was that sliver of a moonlit night. I was shortly to

learn this for the sun soon rose and lightened the sky. It was all I could do to keep from screaming

at the brightness. It was blinding. Not being able to see, my arm pressed against my eyes, I

stumbled into a closed building, the largest I could find and withdrew into a back closet closing

the door against the light. I was in a place of worship I believed as there were unfamiliar icons

everywhere along with the smell of wax.

My thoughts hosed out in every direction seeking solace from kindred souls. But alas

there were none. Where were all the people? The town was apparently deserted. I could feel not a

jot of response. Do recall I still was not sure if this was an elaborate holohoax played by friends

or reality. My mind stretched out further and further until my rope of thought, twirling throughout

the town reached someone. But there was no one. The place was indeed deserted.

I settled into the confines of my space deep in thought. After a time I heard movement

from outside the door and reached out to greet whoever it was. Much to my surprise there was no

one. But then I heard more movement. Opening the door I was greeted by a blast of light that

blinded me and an irritated voice in a language I couldn’t understand. I stabbed into his mind and

picked up the language in an instant even though I knew it could cost me years of life. But I least

I understood him stating; “Jesus Christ you scared me. Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Backing into the closet I yelled out, “Please sir. I was only just resting allow me a few

moments. The light is hurting my eyes.”

“Light, what light? You mean this candle? Do you have an eye problem?” was the

response. “I guess you must because it’s pretty dark in here.”

What was going on? Here was a person not two lengths away from me who spoke an

unknown language and I couldn’t communicate with him except on a physical level. There was

not a jot of mind attachment. Feeling guilty about it I decided to break one of our strongest laws.

As I had already stabbed into his mind I decided to do it again and so without an invitation, and

without his opening or inviting me in voluntarily, I feathered into his mind. What I found there

caused me to fall into a faint and I lost consciousness. Three days went by until, late in the

evening, strapped to an iron bed, wearing a tent like robe, I awoke.

There was a monk of some religious order reading at a table at the end of the room. I

gently feathered into his mind to verify what I thought I received from my first visit to a strange

mind. Strange indeed, the monk not only verified the fact he enlarged on it and enhanced that

fact. I had indeed been thrust into a different reality. A world so different from my own it was

like a bad dream. But it was no dream. This was my new reality.

My first thoughts were that of getting to a computer and get it to working out the

permutations of the fourteen prime numbers so that I might return to my own reality. But before

that could happen I had to get away from my restraining bonds and discover exactly where I was.

Delving into the monks mind was like jumping into a morass of evil. There was no empathy or

order there. Surely this could not be indicative of all minds in the reality I found myself.

Reaching out once again I discovered that the town was filled with people but none of the minds

were in control. That was the reason I could not sense them. I had to once again bypass the

directives of my world by going into minds without permission. What I found was that same

morass of confusion I picked up in the monks mind. Not evil as I first suspected but not a bit of

compassion or empathy from anyone.

There was a general and unknown feeling coming through from virtually every mind I

feathered into. It was a feeling of hunger; but how could that be? I would have to investigate this.

I tugged at the leather binding me to the table and the bounds came apart with a snap. The Monk

looked up for a moment and then returned to his papers. Snapping the other hand loose I lay back

on my bed of wooden planks and searched the town seeking a being who was not hungry. Settling

in I hosed through the populace until, reaching a family that was feeding, I suddenly felt ill. They

were eating. Chewing meat with teeth and swallowing it. What had I gotten myself into? Yuck.

The people of this reality eat meat, chunks of meat. And vegetation. Pieces of vegetation is also

chewed up and swallowed. I had heard seers tell of such things but until now had hardly believed

it possible. Here was a race of people who had teeth, who gained energy from fodder, from meat,

from digestion. It was unbelievable. My own energy was at a high as I had been sedate and

inactive since arriving in the reality I found myself. I needed no enhancement of energy as yet.

In considering sustenance for my energy reserves however I realized there were no

electrical drizzles, no lightning flashes, no storms. How then would I replenish my own energy

base when the time came for that? I was beginning to rue the day I thought of investigating the pi

progression. When I finally located a computer and worked out the proper permutation of the

final fourteen to get me back to my world I would have to dispense at least 5,000 volts. If the

atmosphere did not permit me to feed how would I replenish my energy? Testing myself I pointed

a finger at the ceiling and shot forth a thousand volt discharge. No problem. I had blasted a hole

in the ceiling with a crash like thunder and the monk fairly jumped out of his skin with the

discharge, but my energy base was full. I had 50,000 volts in reserve. No problems for the

present. I would not require a feeding for a month in my present state. But I couldn’t lie there

much longer. Besides the monk had gathered up the skirts of his robe and was now running as

though a demon from hell was chasing him. I guess my test and the smashing roar of the bolt

surging into the ceiling frightened him.

Well I couldn’t lie there indefinitely. I got up and looked around my surroundings. It was

so bright in the cathedral, for I soon discovered that was where I was, that I could hardly see

anything. In the main room, the largest room, there were many windows with sunlight streaming

in. I avoided that room and in seeking relief from all the bright areas withdrew back into my

windowless closet to await nightfall.

At this time I should tell you something about my make up. By now you must have

realized I come from an entirely different universe. From your point of view I am an alien. Of

course from my viewpoint you are the alien. Be that as it may to better understand the material

you are about to read you must understand more about me. It will sound strange just as my

realization of your race sounds so strange to me.

My planet is called Clanzith. It is the third planet from our sun and the circumference is

38,000 miles, a bit larger than your own. Sound familiar? It is in many respects similar to your

own solar system. Clanzith is the only habitable planet in my solar system as is Earth in yours.

Your gravity is somewhat weaker then ours which means that I feel like I’m floating much of the

time. In many respects ours is a mirror image of your reality. In the infinity of universes, I was

thrust into this one for reasons I do not know. That is a great mystery that I was to eventually

unravel. Our languages are virtually the same due again to the magic of infinity so it was easily

assimilated by myself when I stabbed into the monk’s mind. Our bodies are similar. I can pass, at

any time for any human. I am taller then most, six foot two, but by no means freakish. My

complexion, as you see, is much lighter then even the fairest of humans, that comes from being a

native of a planet further from the sun then Earth. Our full daylight is similar to your planets

night at two a.m. with a full moon. But other differences are much more profound. You will not

be able to fathom it when I tell you that I do not eat, nor do any of my race, nor is it necessary for

me to breathe, I only take a breath when I wish to speak. That I will have to explain. But allow

me to describe my body first. My lungs are tiny compared to yours, my kidneys much larger then

yours. I have no heart and do not require very much oxygen. I have a penis, (we reproduce in

much the same manner as yourselves and I do require liquids) but have no stomach. My brain is

larger than yours and the frontal lobes are different in every way from yours. My backside is the

same as yours except for the fact I have no colon or anus. I do not eat and so do not defecate

although I do urinate.

I am not a creature energized by oxygenized cells. I am an electrical being. I store

electrical power and that enables me to move about and to control my movements and also to

think. In all other ways I am much like you. I restore my energy during an electrical storm. When

a bolt of lightning strikes me it is like a super charge to my system. I attract lightning; if there is

any around I will be struck. Lightning is necessary to my well being. But occasionally, when I

weaken and there are no signs of storms, there are other ways I may restore myself. One is

through a vortex, there are many of those on earth and I am aware of the location of every one of

them. The usual method that I use is the earth of Earth itself. I have the ability to blend my body

with electrical fields. I come from a six dimensional world, one of those extra dimensions is the

ability to merge myself with your elements. I can become the earth. The earth in most areas of the

world is a hotbed of electromagnetic electricity. When I blend myself into the earth with

outspread arms and legs I draw the energy into my body. To fully replenish takes only a few days.

A lightning strike will do the same thing for me in a fraction of a second. I often use the earth to

replenish my energy.

My extra dimensional make up allows me to listen to your thoughts. I can siphon off your

energy simply by desiring a link between my mind and your aura or energy field. And one other

thing. Longevity on Clanzith is not what it is on Earth. The average life span of a Clanzithan

would be equal to twenty five hundred of your earth years.

But back to my tale. I waited for darkness and left the church. It was early and many

people were about. They all looked so primitive. There did not appear to be any electricity or

steam. Nothing nuclear. Nor did I see any vehicles. Just horses and a few carriages. Mostly the

people walked. Well there was only one way to do a thing and that was to do it. I came up to the

first woman I saw and introduced myself. “Excuse me miss, I’m Zyclotone Ryketoo and I’ve just

come into your town. Is there a place I can stay anywhere, a hotel or inn perhaps?”

“Zy…what? Say your name again.”

I reached into her mind and discovered a loving uncle she respected, “Marlin,” I said,

“my name is John Marlin.”

She brightened up immediately. “Really. That’s my uncles’ name. Is your family from

around here?”

Reaching into her mind again I picked out a phrase and said, “From just over the

mountain.”

She smiled and held out her hand. “Gloria, I’m Gloria Wesling.”

I touched her hand and looked up. Four horsemen thundered towards us. They appeared

to be soldiers, all armored up holding wicked looking lances. People on the road were kneeling.

The front man shouted at us to get the hell out of the way. I reached down to Gloria Wesling,

circled her waist with an arm and jumped back a few feet as the horsemen passed. The apparent

leader of the group pulled back on the reins and his horse pulled his front legs up and wheeled

around to stop while facing us. “We need food and drink woman.” He said climbing off his horse

and removing his helmet. “And we want it now. Get it. Now!”

It was obvious the man was used to command. I heard whispers all around us. “Its Lord

Churmin.” And from another throat, “It’s his lordship himself, here in Knowburry.”

There were mutterings and mental protestations but everyone, including Gloria, radiated

fear. These men were used to having their orders obeyed, and immediately. I was intrigued by

them. Rough, uncouth, dirty, and with my fine tuned senses, as smelly as anything I had ever had

the misfortune to be in the presence of. Gloria returned with a pitcher of water and a loaf of

bread. Churmin grabbed the pitcher and tilted it into his mouth. As much water ran down his chin

as down his throat and when he finished he threw the pitcher away, took a heroic bite out of the

loaf throwing it to one of his men who ripped off a chunk and passed it along. With a belch, a

wave of his hand and a thunder of hoof beats Churmin was back on his horse and on his way

again.

Gloria looked at me and said. “You were lucky sir.”

“Lucky?” I answered.

“You didn’t kneel. Lord Churmin could have had your head on a pike for that. I can’t

imagine him not punishing you. It appeared that he didn’t even notice you were there.”

I watched as the horses galloped off into the night. Reaching out I feathered into the mind

of Churmin. He was focused on returning to his home which he thought of as a castle. A little

prodding and I discovered he was lord of the area. A Baron who had received his title from King

John after he had signed the great paper. Reaching deeper into a mind like a muck filled swamp I

suddenly realized the universe Narja had thrust me into was not of my time. I was in an alternate

dimension, in England of the thirteenth century. I delved deeper to discover more about the great

paper and came upon the Latin words Magna Carta. I could see there was much work for me to

do here before I could find my way back. It was certainly not a time where I would find a

computer. Unless I could figure out the sequence of the last fourteen numbers of pi I would be

stuck here forever and without the help of a computer, even I, Zyclotone Ryketoo, would be hard

put to gain any of the numbers of the pi permutation.

But first things first. I had to figure out a way to operate in the brightness of the day. My

eyes simply could not adjust to the bright sunlight of this reality. And after nightfall most of the

world simply went off to sleep. Only the aristocracy with their candles and oil lamps would be

active through part of the night. And so my first task was to become an aristocrat.

King John had lost much of his power to his Barons after the signing of the great paper. I

felt here was my opportunity. Not that I needed an excuse. With my knowledge and power I

could usurp any king, or emperor with the flick of a thought. But where was the challenge in that?

No I would pass for an ordinary citizen and see if I could catch a few adventures along the way to

keep me occupied. My only goal at that point was to hang around until technology caught up with

society. I still needed to get back to Clanzith, and to do that, either a computer or a mathematical

savant was necessary. I would just have to wait.

“Gloria, I asked if there was an inn I could stay at here in town.”

She looked at me and for the first time I saw the face of an angel. Strange that I hadn’t

noticed. Blue eyes, high cheekbones, full lips with a perfectly triangular face that in my world

would have caused traffic to come to a halt, and a velvet skin almost as light as mine. I could not

see her figure as she seemed to be wearing a tent. I later discovered that most people of

Knowburry wore all the clothes they owned at all times. But a few I soon discovered, like Gloria,

did wear nightclothes.

“Lord sir, we don’t have anything like that here. Strangers just sleep under a tree or

outside the church wall.”

I tickled her mind for a moment before asking, “May I stay with your family?”

She paused before answering; I sensed a negative response and hosed a secure feeling

about myself into her mind. She quickly changed and said, “But there are fourteen of us. Not

much room unless we put out the pigs and goat. I guess you’re welcome though so long as my

mother doesn’t care.”

“There is one thing Gloria that you should know. I have a unique eye disease. I am blind

during the daytime. Can’t see a thing. But I promise not to be a burden to your family. I will find

a way to repay you I promise.”

“But sir,” she asked, “if you can’t see during the daytime, how do you get about. Do you

have a boy to guide you?”

“Not at present. My guide left me when I arrived in Knowburry. But you can be my guide

if you will.”

A bit of a twirl into her mind and my immediate problems were solved. I soon found

myself inside a one room hovel with a dirt floor, no windows, a hole in the ceiling at one corner

to let out the smoke, and a smell that all but strangled me when I first entered the room. To my

eyes the room was bright as day but I could see that Gloria could not see much outside the range

of the small fire burning at the corner of the room where her mother and siblings crouched around

it. I counted twelve people in all with a large pig being suckled by a gang of piglets outside the

group along with two chickens roosting on top of a banked row of sticks for the fire. Not exactly

the sort of accommodations I was hoping for. Gloria had peeled off her outer garment and

knowing it was so dark where we stood I could not possibly see what she was doing she took off

a shift as well and was soon naked covered only by a thin layer of dust, dirt, and sweat. She

walked to an empty corner, squatted, and urinated on the floor adding to the acidic aroma of the

room. Still feeling comfortable in the darkness she groped about and came up with a dirty

homespun nightgown. Slipping it over her head and wiggling to set it in place she came groping

to my side. I made no mention of the fact I had witnessed it all.

“You can sleep by the fire.” She said somewhat coyly. But I had no intention of sleeping

there or anywhere else. I thanked her and backed away not waiting for introductions to the brood.

Still adjusting to the differences of gravity and the length of the days and nights I slipped out of

the hut and wandered. My senses told me that virtually everyone was either asleep or fornicating.

Not much else to do when there is nothing about to distract you. I wondered how people on

Clanzith would act without a holoroom, computer, or the ability to read and write. Probably get a

religion that would satisfy them like these people.

While moving about the village I tried out my extra dimensional senses. I felt I could use

a bit more energy but there wasn’t a cloud in sight so a lightning bolt was out of the question.

Throwing my clothes into a pile I moved to a large tree and merged with it. There was a minute

charge but I would have had to be inside the tree for a year to note any reviving of energy. I

allowed myself to slide down into the roots and beyond. The deeper I went the more comfortable

I grew. I could feel the electromagnetic field of the earth affecting me. I willed myself to stop a

hundred feet down and with arms still raised over my head I soaked in the currents of the earth. It

was wonderful.

After a while I sensed daylight above and decided to spend more time within mother

earth. In a wonderful limbo of mind and body, time passed and then darkness flooded in and I

slowly rose out of the earth. Totally refreshed I put my clothes back on and contemplated my next

move. It was obvious to me that I was stuck in this reality. I would make the best of it. But how?

What should I do? I would have to go slowly for it would be hundreds of years before there

would be any technology worth considering on the plane of existence I found myself.

I decided to be with Gloria Wesling, the only person on the planet I was remotely aware

of. She didn’t know it, but she was about to become the luckiest woman on earth.

The next morning clouds hung low over the village. Thick, billowy, dark grey clouds.

The air was thick with fog as well. Just the kind of a day to sooth my eyes. Actually it was about

as bright as a cloudless summer day on Clanzith. I felt wonderful. Now if only there was

lightning about I could almost forget where I was. But there wasn’t. And so back to the hut I

went. When I reached the cottage, children were playing around it and their dogs were barking

excitedly. Gloria was nowhere to be seen. Her mother however was inside, sitting by the fire, an

infant at her breast, in the same position I had seen her the evening before. She looked up at my

entrance and then her eyes went back to stare at the fire. She was a picture of defeat. “Excuse me

mam, could you tell me where I can find Gloria?”

Motioning out the door with her free hand she said, “Lord Churmin sent his man to pick

her up. She’s probably at the castle.”

I nodded a thanks and turned out the door sending my mind searching. I located Churmin

at the same time I noted a bolt of lightning off in the distance. It lit up the landscape and almost

seared my eyes. I held up my arms and sent a beam of negative energy out. After a short while

there was a flash nearby. I straightened up and lifted my arms acting as an antenna. I was not

disappointed. There was a great flash and the bolt sizzled through my system strengthening me

immensely. I could feel the new power as the lightning surged through my body. I was invincible.

Leaping through the forest I soon found the castle on a nearby hill. A perfect setting. It was

almost impregnable.

As I approached I noted guards standing tall at the gate. Seemingly unbothered by the

rain now slashing down. Two of the guards, rain drops splattering on their armor, blocked my

way; big mistake. I was still experimenting with my new reality and with the stimulation of the

lightning strike my voltage was at a screaming high level. I balled energy in my hand and threw it

at the fifteen foot high solid gate. The gate flew apart with an explosion and the guards threw

away their pikes and madly dashed off like a pair of jackrabbits.

Churmin’s household guard had come running to see what had caused the sound. I

strolled right through them knocking them about like ten pins, which we play in my reality as

well. A troop of horsemen had planted themselves in front of the keep and when they saw me

breeze through the guard I was confronted by a row of pikes pointed at my chest. A woman

screamed and the riders looked at one another and smiled. I feathered an information thought into

the bailey following the scream and found it was Gloria. Looking through her eyes there was

Lord Churmin, with greaves on both legs, but naked as the day he was born from the knees up.

Gloria was sprawled on the floor, her dress torn half off, her hair askew, and one cheek

reddening.

Without a seconds thought I rammed my way past the guards, blasted the oak door and

stood in front of Churmin who looked at me incredulously. “Who in Hades lake are you? And

what in hell are you doing here? Guards,” he yelled, “Guards, come now.” The guards had seen

what I was capable of and wisely, none of them answered his master’s call.

“I’m here to take Gloria back home.” I said in my most humble manner.

A few seconds passed and Churmin reached for a sheathed sword leaning on a nearby

table. Drawing the blade he came at me. Gloria gave me a plaintive look and her eyes filled as she

quietly began to cry in helpless despair. Churmin, a wicked grin on his face walked towards me,

his dong swinging from side to side, his armored legs creaking and groaning. He extended his

arm and the point of the sword touched the very center of my neck. “You Gloria’s husband or

what?” The sword pushed forward, I could feel it just breaking the skin. ”Well I don’t give a rat’s

ass if you are. I’m just going to collect a little rent from her. But first…”

I must say, modest as I am, that the swordsman amused me. Even though he had a sword

to my neck. He was standing right in front of me, with his sword outstretched, and his dong

sticking out as well, (Apparently the thought of him about to kill was exciting.) I looked at his

sword and then his dick and started to laugh. I laughed so hard I almost blacked myself out. I do

have lungs but they are very small. The air we take in is not for breathing but for stimulating the

vocal cords, otherwise we could not speak. Laughing depletes the lungs quickly.

The sword pulled away from my neck as Churmin said. “Laugh huh, Well get ready for a

good one. Laugh this one off.” And he got ready to plunge it through. But he got the surprise of

his life. I shot 5,000 volts through the sword and he flew back as though shot out of a cannon. His

skin fairly sizzled. I didn’t mean to kill him though; I was going to use him. But the voltage alas,

was too much. Lord Churmin was no more.

I felt new hope come from Gloria, and then, fear, great fear. This was a superstitious time

and what she had seen she would have to perceive as the work of the devil. I just smiled and

helped her to gather the scraps of material that she called a dress together. “Who… what… are

you?” she finally asked.

“One moment my dear,” I responded as my mind swept through the castle. I soon found

out what I wanted to know. Churmin was unmarried but with a dozen mistresses who were more

like slaves. Gloria was to be his latest conquest. His men followed him simply because he was a

leader and they were all followers. And he kept them with an endless supply of women. Nothing

more complicated than that. People will generally choose the path of least resistance and Gloria

would have been no different but for my appearance.

I took her by the arm and said, “Follow me my dear. You are safe now; I will not harm

you in any way.”

We walked out the keep where guards were waiting. “Your master is dead.” I said.

“Everyone stay at your posts, there is a new Baron here, a new lord. You will see him in one

hour.”

There was a stirring, after a moments thought they realized they had no choice but to

obey. We soon found ourselves in Churmin’s quarters. I called for heated water and soon the

room was filled with activity. There was a large tub in a corner and I pointed to Gloria and told

the servants to bathe her. Gloria protested; it was her first bath. People of her class only took two

baths. The first, if they were lucky, when they were born, and the second when they died. But that

was about it.

I sent for the castle seamstress and told her to bring bolts of her best material. Soon

Gloria was being fitted. She was confused and disoriented. I had not told her a thing as yet. She

had seemingly gone from the lowest of pits to the top of the mountain. Realizing the cause of her

rise she tilted her head and looked at me. I smiled and said, “Soon. Soon all your questions will

be answered. For now just go along with me.”

And then seven soldiers came in with drawn swords. The entire village was confused,

upset, and terrified. The master was dead. Word spread through the castle in moments. The words

were on all lips. Lord Churmin has been assassinated—by a stranger who had gained entrance to

his quarters by stealth and stabbed him in the back; by one of his mistresses who he’d mistreated;

by an angel who slew him with fire and flung his body into the forest; by wild wolves, and on and

on went the rumors. The only thing everyone was certain of was that the lord was dead.

My own plans at that moment were tenuous at best. There is a saying on this world, ‘In

the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man is king.’ There I was, for all intents the only sighted

person in a kingdom blinded by ignorance, superstition, and obeisance to authority. It wasn’t

difficult to come to hasty conclusions. First of all I had to instill fear of me. The quickest way was

to play on their superstitions.

I was quickly surrounded by the seven in the center of the room, Gloria in a corner, was

cowering along with two seamstresses who had been measuring her with knotted cords. One of

the swordsmen, a man almost as tall as myself, with a wicked looking scar that ran from his

forehead to his chin, giving him the appearance of having two faces stepped forward with an evil

grin on that split face. Nothing in this reality could possibly strike fear into my heart but Edgar

Twoface did come close. Not only did he terrorize all who came into contact with him but he was

the chief of all of Churmin’s guards and thought no more of taking a life then he did of swatting a

fly. His bulky body looked as though it would burst through his armor and to emphasize his great

strength he struck at the long solid oak table with the flat of his sword and it flew apart with a

crash. There was a scream from the seamstress and the grins on the other swordsmen broadened.

Edgar Twoface, large pointed pyramid shaped metal buttons fixed to his armor was

aiming his outstretched sword at me. He swung it in a tight circle as though he was outlining my

face. Noting my calm look and demeanor he stopped smiling and drew his eyebrows together.

There I stood, with no weapon, facing him down, unafraid; something was amiss. “I’m going to

take the head off your shoulders you excrement of a pig.” He said.

I just smiled. I was going to need subordinates and there in front of me could very well be

the nucleus of my own army. I would make myself Baron but until all in the vicinity knew my

name the barony would have no meaning. I decided not to kill any of the seven. But first, to instill

fear.

Edgar was aiming his sword at me expecting a pleading for my life at the very least. I

hosed a few hundred volts into the tip of the sword heating it, then I upped the voltage until the

tip grew white hot. The heat quickly moved to the hilt and with a cry of dismay Edgar Twoface

dropped the sword. I hadn’t said a word, just stared at him calmly. My gaze moved to the other

soldiers and six more swords clattered to the floor.

Edgar made eye contact and I stared at him for a long moment. Finally, he fell to one

knee and tipped his head in obedience saying, “Lord…”

“Marlin.” I said.

“Lord Marlin. We are your servants Lord.”

Well, I thought, that was easy. But I would have to take better control over my powers.

Where is the fun in taking candy from a baby? I would have centuries at least before I could get

back home. I would have to watch myself carefully lest I settle into a state of boredom.

With a wave of my hand I said, “Leave me for now. I will announce myself at days end.”

The seven men left, bumping into one another at the door in their haste to remove

themselves from my presence. The seamstresses busied themselves once again and I settled at a

table to construct some sort of a plan. I had been here a few days without a clue as to what I

wanted for myself.

The rain was sheeting down and drumming on the castle walls. A sheen of moisture filled

the room. There were no windows on the openings, nothing to keep out the rain save the

thickness of the sills. I decided to play once more with the superstitions of the populace. I went

into the square and stood with arms outstretched to attract a bolt of lightning. I did not then need

any enhancements though a bolt was always welcome. On Clanzith I often stood during an

electrical storm and enjoyed the smash of a bolt into my body again and again. Once, during a

severe storm I received forty six strikes. My energy level was so high after that I was as nervous

as a coulllwy for a week. No, this time it was not for pleasure, or energy, but as a demonstration.

I pushed my mind into the clouds to attract a gathering and soon a bolt of lightning crashed into

my body, followed by a crack of thunder that seemed to the people in the square to portend the

end of times. Still standing I attracted another and still another. After three lightning strikes my

point was made. Everyone in the square was on their knees, staring at me open mouthed, crossing

themselves again and again.

I stood on a nearby pavilion and shouted over the patter of drops. “I am Marlin. I am your

new lord, the baron of this land. Henceforth you will forget about Churmin, he no longer exists. I

am Lord Marlin, Baron of Shropshire and your master.”

With that I retired within the keep to gather my wits and consider my goals for the next

few years at the least. I could feel the confusion of the populace. Not wishing to deal with an

uprising that would surely cost the lives of many I sprayed them all with a feeling of well being

towards me and with that went back into the keep to deal with Gloria Wesling, my chosen

consort, albeit unbeknownst to her at the time.

There was a great change in her appearance. Bathed, hair cut and softly arranged, pinched

cheeks to bring out the color and bedecked in a simple gown she was ravishing even to my alien

eyes. In my Clanzith reality a life partner was exactly that. We chose one another not so much for

a physical appearance as one of a mental and electrical nature. Did our minds meld into one

another? If they did not, we could not blend. And if our minds were as one and our memories

mingled and commingled, then our electrical circuits were meshed as well. We blended negatives

and positives until we were perfectly balanced and after that, we were considered as Blended.

Man and Woman. Male and Female. Married. I had never gone through a blending as I had never

found one who I could memory share with. I had no clue whatever if I could memory share with

an alien such as Gloria. She certainly had the appearance. To my eyes she was a creature beyond

beauty. On Clanzith she would have stood out in a multitude. I’d only known one other woman

who was that beautiful, a student of mine, my best student.

To all outward appearances a human, and a Clanzithan were the same. We had a lighter

skin, and larger pupils but other than that there was no difference. And Gloria’s complexion was

not much darker than my own. My hair was a light blonde as was hers and extremities were the

same as well. My teeth however were unusual in that I had none. No Clanzithan did. We did not

eat and therefore required no teeth. My gums however were hard and much larger than yours in

that they filled the gap where the missing teeth would have been. This enabled us to speak just as

coherently as those races with teeth. My gums were a pure white and unless one carefully

examined them looked like a row of perfect teeth. I drew a series of lines with indigo root to more

resemble teeth and after that could pass for normal anywhere on the planet.

Dismissing the hand maidens and the seamstress I sat besides the totally confused Gloria

Wesling. “I suppose you would like to know what has happened, and what is going on?”

Head bowed, eyes lowered, she nodded.

Taking her hands in mine I said gently. “I’m going to tell you things you won’t

understand my dear, but you are going to have to trust me.” She looked up at me for a moment

and her eyelids fluttered; saying nothing she nodded acquiescence.

Before continuing I had to find out if what I had in mind were possible. She was, after all,

alien to me in so many ways. But ignorance is not incurable and I felt she did have a measure of

intelligence. There simply had been no means of expressing it. An Einstein in a prehistoric

society might figure a way to articulate the numbers 15 or 20 but being ignorant of the concepts

of greater mathematics’ it is doubtful he could get much beyond that. By prehistoric standards

anyone who figured out a way to count beyond the ten fingers would have been considered a

genius. It is highly doubtful that you could get a prehistoric Einstein to understand prime numbers

and even less of pi. However, if the prehistoric Einstein had a Zyclo as a mentor…

Gloria had her Zyclo. I soothed her mind feathering it lightly and dipped deep into the

ravine. There was little there of note. Her mind was a mostly empty cavern. I created a picture of

a beautiful garden. A garden that was already in a corner of her mind. I simply enhanced it. I

multiplied the flowers a thousand fold and placed her in the middle of it.

She looked up with a start. “Easy now my dear. The garden that you see in your mind

was placed there by me.”

“But how…?

I placed a finger at her mouth. “And now a snowstorm.” I created a great fall of snow in

Knowburry and her mind filled with the sight of it.

“And now a powerful ocean.” And the ocean that lay a scant five miles from Knowburry

came to her mind. She pulled her hands back and the look of fear returned to her.

“How are you doing that?” she fairly shouted.

“Be calm Gloria. I am doing that to show you something of what I am capable of doing

because there is a chance that you and I will be together for more than a short while.”

Her brows came together quizzically. “You and I?” she asked.

I nodded.

She tilted her head up and a thousand new thoughts flooded in. I pulled out of her mind

not wanting to intrude at that time.

“Are you in my mind now?” She asked.

“No.” I said as a great feeling of relief overcame me. I knew. The very fact that she was

capable of asking that question, of believing that I was able to create those diverse images means

there is a soaring intelligence there.

“Would you like to try something different, but very pleasant with me?” I asked.

She leaned back on her chair, her legs parted slightly and stretched out to their fullest

extension. A broad smile on her lips. Her tongue slipped out to wet her lips and she smiled.

“No, no, no, no.” I quickly said. “I don’t mean that at all. Ah me. Gloria I see we have a

long way to go. I’m going to implant another picture in your mind. So just relax and close your

eyes, this one will feel strange because there will be images in your mind you will not be able to

relate to. I will take you along slowly.”

“All right.” She said, waiting.

I created an image of a coach being pulled by a horse. Then a picture of a coach moving

without a horse, then an automobile, then an airplane. I played the sequence in her mind over and

over again.

I worked with her in this manner for three days. We were a mystery to the castle. I only

showed up once each day exactly one hour after sundown. But in three days Gloria was a changed

woman. For one thing, she now had the knowledge to enable her to ask the right questions. She

would indeed make an admirable consort.

And then, one evening, with a bright quarter moon lighting the castle, I called all the

people together and made the announcement that Lord and Lady Marlin would be receiving

visitors for a feast on the next evening. All were invited with nobles and their wives at the table

and peasants on the floor with plenty to eat and to drink for all.

Edgar Twoface was my chief guard and sat to my immediate left while on my right was

Lady Gloria Marlin, my companion and wife. Gloria was intimate with most of the information I

could transfer to her and the changes were obvious. She carried herself with confidence and

strength.

Intimacy was not yet one of our privileges, I still had my doubts whether a mating of two

aliens could produce any issue and was reluctant to try. On Clanzith there was no such thing as

casual, or recreational sex. The sexual act was always undertaken with the conception of a child

as the outcome and for no other reason. That is not to say there was no enjoyment of the act as the

climax of the fertilization procedure closed an electrical circuit that carried the recipients into a

paradisial orb of pleasure lasting forty minutes. When both parties were fully charged as after a

lightning enhancement, the orb of pleasure often lasted for an hour or even two. And during

Yeegal, matings were constant for two weeks as a rule. I still was not certain as to how humans

mated. I knew the physical aspects of the act, but not the timing. If I were to mate with Gloria I

would have to be very careful as to the length of time I pleasured her as I was not sure whether

two or three hours of uninterrupted and repeated mating would be enough.

Dinner that evening went as planned. I sipped at a goblet of water and nodded at the

nobles as though I had been their lord and baron for years. Their acceptance was due in no small

part to my feathering each with a feeling of security towards me. The times necessitated a strong

and fearless leader and all of them had either seen or heard of the manner in which I took care of

the former lord and those who had seen the lightning strike me three times with no apparent

negative result spoke in awe to those who had not been witness to it. And, as will happen, each

time the tale was told it took on greater and greater proportions until all believed that I was seen

dropping down from the sky in a chariot of fire with my lady consort in attendance.

Naturally a tale such as this would soon reach other parts of the country and eventually it

would come to the ears of King John. I had to make a decision as to how high I wanted to go in

this primitive society. I was tempted to simply blend into the earth and rest for a few centuries

and wait for some sort of technological advancements. My main goal was still that of a return to

Clanzith. However, as long as I was here, I decided to have a bit of fun. I would start with my

consort Lady Marlin.

At the banquet Gloria was all smiles. Entertainment had been arranged and there were

jugglers, dancing bears, a contortionist, a magician and a strong man who broke bricks over his

head while leaping over a flaming fire pit. Gloria enjoyed the show immensely while I delved

into each mind to learn more of this strange world.

All the minds were quite simple and should I have a desire to I could easily manipulate

them all with a hynpnopiercing but the more I thought about that the less inclined I was to

influence any more than I already had. I didn’t want an army of robots at my bidding, or a

household of obedient slaves. I pulled my mind back and decided then and there not to use any

mental powers for at least a few days if nothing else to add surprise to my existence. Knowing

exactly what someone was going to do and when he was going to do it would get boring after a

short while. I could now see why the Great Directive on Clanzith of never going into another’s

mind unless invited was so very important. Here the temptation was great and I was considering

bringing back the Great Directive even though I would be the only one on the planet to be

affected by it. There were just too many temptations. I was even tempted to use hypnopiercing

even though that was one of our most serious crimes. The only one where the sentence was life

reduction.

I felt a hand on my thigh under the table. Gloria looked at me and wrinkled her nose. It

had been days since our vows and she was wondering when I would consummate the marriage.

She leaned over to whisper in my ear but I saw the picture in her mind of us in bed, naked and

entangled with each other before I heard her words. “Maybe tonight my love?” she questioned.

I had not a jot of desire for her. To make it even worse she broke off a leg from a roasted

chicken and started to munch it. Indeed the sight of a roasted haunch of meat and dozens of raw

and cooked vegetables sickened me. Why had I been thrust into a world so foreign to my kind? I

was not even aware there were worlds of oxygen breathers populated by people who derived their

energy from the dead energies of other species. It just wasn’t natural. Gloria took her eyes away

from mine and her teeth ripped a chunk of meat from the roasted leg of a sheep. When she started

chewing I made the mistake of peeking into her mind for a moment. She had just swallowed. The

feeling of that meat chewed, mixed with her saliva gland excretions and swallowed caused me to

jump up from my chair and in a moment I was in my quarters lying alongside my bed practically

swooning with disgust. Clearly this would not do. I would either have to get rid of Gloria or be a

true and loyal husband. We had after all, blended to a small degree, and I did a bit of memory

sharing with her. I could not in good conscience destroy her, she was my true and lawful mate—

alien or not, and I had better get to working on that phase of my life here on the planet earth.

I had to make some quick decisions but first, before I put my plan into effect, that of

following my world’s Great Directive and blocking myself from other minds I would whip

through the area with a blanket of peace. I had no wish to be swept into a war, regional or local. I

lay on my back staring at the ceiling. My eyes started a slow rolling, my awareness followed the

lead of my eyes, and circling the castle I became aware of all the minds. The pictures integrated

and blended into a quiet roar of images. Further and further my mind net swept out of Knowburry

into Shropshire, and still circling I widened the scope of my feathering further and further. I had

no way of knowing the limitations of my power on this planet. On Clanzith I would have been cut

off long before now. Further and further I went. My sweeping mind was now hundreds of miles

in circumference and still I found the same placid minds. My mind was swinging around now like

a hundred mile long net of mental energy, sweeping up all minds.

I lay there, eyes closed now, totally concentrative. Fixed on the sweeping of the mind, at

ease and peaceful—when suddenly—there was a jerking stop. The sweeping ended. I hit an

obstruction. I had entered a mind that was different, stronger, not like any I’d encountered here. I

concentrated on peeking into this phenomenon. I feathered in, but it was like trying to feather into

a stone. Blank. But that’s impossible. I have the power. I can do anything in this reality; I can get

into and affect any mind in this reality. What had I come against?

The door swung open and Gloria breezed in followed by an entourage of ladies in

waiting. I had made her a virtual queen and she was getting used to the idea very quickly.

I determined the mind blockage was in the vicinity of London. This would take some

very heavy concentration. But for now I had to do something about my alien bride.

I had the ladies in waiting and the rest of the entourage leave and shortly was alone in my

quarters with Gloria, Lady of Castle Marlin. Heavy tapestries hung on every wall. There were

three blazing fireplaces with their flickering light casting shadows that played merrily on the

ceiling. Large candles lit every corner and the smell of wax permeated the room. A large bed,

with down filled coverings awaited us. I lifted my lady and gently placed her in the center of it.

She looked up at me and smiled. Her mind receptive to my inclination as was her body now

sopping with lust. She waited to see what my preferences were. I reached into her mind to calm

her a bit. Suddenly she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me to her bosom. I let her. My

curiosity overcame my reticence at bedding an alien. I was stuck in this reality and this was one

of my major concerns. Could I function under the conditions I found myself? Could I produce an

heir? What kind of a hybrid would come out of this mating if indeed there could be any issue

from an alien breeding?

“Husband,” she whispered in my ear, “don’t you want me?”

I lay beside her fully clothed, considering my choices. Fully aware of my ignorance in

these matters I feathered into her mind for some indication of what was expected but

unfortunately Gloria knew less about the subject than I did. Her only knowledge came from

watching animals rutting and groaning. But I did not want to have to control her. I was

determined that at least one person in this reality would be beyond my control. Gloria would be

that person.

And so, by degrees, I would make her mine without mental interference. I helped remove

her clothing and soon, engulfed in the down comforters, we consummated our marriage. I was

gentle, loving, and energetic. I took her to highs of ecstasy she could never imagine. As for

myself, there was a measure of enjoyment, but without the electrical bond my species required for

a full consummation my peak did not even come close to the pinnacle. My best moment was

when, after an hour of pleasure, with a great moan and a writhing of her body against mine she

swooned into my arms. For a moment I was frightened and stole a glimpse into her mind to see if

she was all right. I encountered a sweet relaxation. The aftermath for Gloria was a gratification

beyond all her expectations. I let her rest for a bit and then pleasured her again wondering if the

swoon was part of the human ritual. Sure enough she once again swooned after a great cry, this

time after only forty minutes or so of my ministrations. And from that moment, she was mine in

every way possible.

She slept in my arms. The only sound was the crackling of the fire and the occasional

barking of a dog disturbed by some sound in the night. Holding her lightly I wondered if I should

awaken her and pleasure her again. I decided to let her sleep while I let my mind search more

thoroughly. This time I sent a tentacle of thought to the London area, searching. I feathered

through numerous minds always encountering the same bland ignorance of a primitive society

until, after hours of probing it happened again. A blocking. I had encountered a mind that was not

only guarded, but so strong, so tightly wound around itself, I could not enter. But this could not

be an alien mind. I did not want to force the issue. Thus far whoever that mind belonged to would

not, could not have known of my probe. But should I strengthen my exploration he would surely

know for this barrier was not a human mind screen, it was a Clanzithan mind.

When I realized that I fairly leapt out of bed and Gloria awoke with a cry. “My love,

what’s wrong?” she asked. I was agitated beyond anything she had ever seen in me. I calmed

myself. It was still hours till dawn. A Clanzithan, here, in this reality, how was that possible?

Gloria, face puffy with sleep, gathered her robes around her and sat up. I bade her to lay

back down and she was soon fast asleep once again.

I pondered the situation and finally came to one inescapable conclusion. Nelso Narja. He

was the one to have discovered the final pi extension. He had solved the enigma. If indeed it

proved to be a doorway to other universes, parallel to each other, and infinite—and he had the

process to link to other worlds, other dimensions, other universes, then he certainly had the

knowledge to follow me here. I had to find him. To speak with him. To reason with him. But first,

to open a line of communication. Only one way to do that here, no holophones on earth. Not for

millenniums.

I once again reached out to London. I feathered into his mind but he would not allow me

in. I sent a strong message but it was no use, his mind was clamped. He knew someone was trying

to tap his mind and he must have known there was only one other person on this plane who could

do that. He knew I wanted to contact him but he would not open to me. Why then, I thought, did

he follow me here? Here to this primitive planet, to this primitive time, to this alien place? He had

tricked me into coming to this reality. What more could he possibly want of me?

I had to find out. I feathered back into his mind. It was sealed as tightly as though he

were expecting me. Certainly not sealed against any mind on this planet. But there was a way

around the Great Directive, I could always use a piercing, that would get me through for a

moment. Piercing a mind on Clanzith was tantamount to murder. It was unheard of. No one had

bypassed the Great Directive with a piercing in my memory. But we weren’t on Clanzith. There

were no punishers here. I decided to pierce.

I drove into his mind with a fierceness I hadn’t known I possessed, but I was desperate. It

would be the only way for me to get home. I used all my strength. And then, I had gotten through.

I was in a mind as strong and as knowledgeable as my own. But my circuits fizzed and snapped

after I pierced the mind of… who? It was not Nelso Narja. I was mistaken. But who? I thought.

How could this be? Before I was driven out of the mind I had discovered two things of great

interest. The first was that it was indeed a Clanzithan I had pierced, and the other was that it was

not Narja, it was a Clanzithan woman.

I backed out of the mind to gather my thoughts. How could a Clanzithan get to this

universe in the first place? The odds against coincidence were so high as to preclude coincidence.

No, if there was a Clanzithan woman here she was here by design. But whose design? Deciding

to ask permission as set down by the Great Directive I feathered onto the outskirts of the her mind

with my name broadcast nine times as required by the statute. After nine repetitions I was silent,

waiting for an opening to communicate.

An hour went by, then two and then—a shock. I let my mindlid down to receive a

communication and it came in so strong it almost knocked me over. “Who the hell are you?” she

said. It was such a tremendous relief to communicate with one of my own kind again that I almost

cried.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome.” I sent. “I am Zyclotone Ryketoo and I have been here

for eight sleep periods.”

“Professor Ryketoo?” she asked.

Now then, that did give me pause. Apparently she knew me. “Yes, who are you, and how

long have you been here?”

“My God Professor, I’m one of your students.”

“Reality or Holo?” I asked. If she were a holostudent she was one of the forty thousand

and I surely would not know who she was.

“Professor, it’s Maklyyl. Loreosa Maklyyl.”

“Loreosa, oh lord, lord, lord.” I was absolutely beside myself with joy. One of my

own—and a woman. A woman I knew. She was my very top student—my choice for the Kapala

String. She was the best of the best. But what in the world was she doing here?

“Loreosa, what are you doing in London? For that matter what are you doing in this

universe, how did you get here? I’ve a million questions. How long have you been here?

“Professor, I can’t answer all the questions. I don’t know how I got here, no idea, one

minute I was talking to Nelso Narja about your disappearance and the next thing I knew I was

here, in an alien universe, alone. Professor I was frightened, I am frightened. Thank God you’re

here. Where are you? How far away are you?

Nelso Narja again. I felt an anger I had never allowed to surface come out. I was furious.

Nelso Narja. He had sent Loreosa here. But why would he do this, what possible motive could he

have? One thing for certain, I had underestimated him again. First I had to bring Loreosa to me,

and to do that, I would have to go to London. And to do that, I would have to form an armed

guard of some sort. An escort of fifty should be appropriate for the Baron of Shropshire.

Loreosa kept her mind open for me. I memory shared all that had happened since Narja

went through the pi sequence. Included in those memories were my meeting, marriage and

consummation with Gloria. “Why did he do this?” was her only comment. I was beginning to

sense Loreosa’s feeling of being foolish and not wanting to intrude on an emotion I was

obviously not meant to share I pulled back. “Wait.” She said.

“I’m not leaving you. I’ll be there tomorrow night. Where can we meet?” I asked.

“I have a very pleasant dwelling across from the river Thames. Anyone can tell you

where it is.

“Well, you work fast. Only here for a day and you have a pleasant home already.”

“It was easy.” She said. “These people have no mental abilities at all. They are so

amenable it is truly like taking candy from a baby. Actually I’m in the palace built for the King of

Scotland when he visits London. It’s on a street called Scotland Yard. King John very graciously

offered it to me not ten minutes after I walked into the castle. But I’ll tell you all about it when I

see you. Tomorrow evening then?”

I must say I chuckled at that. I could just imagine Loreosa thrusting into one of those

empty minds to implant whatever ideas she wanted the mind to have. The palace of the Scottish

king no less. I wonder why she didn’t go for the Queens boudoir as long as she had the inclination

for something opulent? Thinking about her brought memories forth. Loreosa was something. Just

the opposite of that thing I call Nelso Narja. Loreosa was everything Narja was not.

At one end of London was the Tower where the King lived and at the other end was

Scotland Yard where the visiting King of Scotland resided. Loreosa had settled into the Scotland

Yard palace wanting to get the lay of the land so to speak before committing herself to anything

like a more permanent setting. I guess that says something for the pair of us, I wound up in a

hovel and then a broken down castle and Loreosa finds herself in a palace right off the git go.

At that time there were 20 thousand people living in London. A large number by their

standards but as I come from a world of Twelve Billion, London hardly seemed like a city at all.

More like a spread out ramshackle village as indeed it was at that time. A hodgepodge maze of

twisting streets, lanes, and mews. Most of the houses had straw roofs. Slate for roofs was coming

into vogue but it was so much easier to tie on a straw roof. Cheaper too. The threat of fire was

there always and although virtually every householder had a pail of water and a bucket of sand

nearby fires would spread so rapidly with the dry wood frames and ceilings of flammable straw

that at the first sign of fire people would dash away like the devil himself was after them.

I determined to start off for London town the next evening but as excited as I was about

seeing Loreosa I wondered if there was any way I could travel by day. A thought came to me. I

might be able to wrap a few layers of gauze around my eyes, that would block out much of the

brightness of this world; if that worked it would solve one of my major problems. My species did

not require sleep as the human knows it. Once our charges were fully energized we could get

about without rest for days. Once a year or thereabouts we would go to ground for a few days and

that restored our bodies until the next grounding. In between groundings a bolt of lightning or a

holocharge would be a pickup. Here on earth I had been to ground for a day and so had plenty of

energy and some to spare.

I could have gone to ground and shot through the earth at a speed that would have taken

me to London in a few minutes but I wanted to mix more with the people. Besides, I found I was

rather enjoying myself and I didn’t want to have to look for clothes when I got there.

It was still an hour till dawn. The seamstresses, seemingly building enough clothing for

Gloria’s needs for a month, had left piles of material in the room. Picking through it all I found a

square of fine gauze like linen. I wrapped it around my eyes two or three times but could not see

at all. After a few experiments I found that one turn around the head would do it. It let in just

enough light for me to see but not enough to blind me. It would look strange to my men, not to

mention Lady Marlin, me looking like a blind beggar but I could always block that thought and

change it to one of acceptance in them all. The decision was made.

When the castle heard we were going to London to see the King there was much

scurrying around with my castle guard being the most excited. London was, for them, the most

thrilling place on the planet and none of them had seen it although it was always talked about on

cold evenings around a warming fire. Our entourage was soon ready and off we went, carts,

wagons, and a coach for me and my lady with the open windows of the coach covered with thick

velvet to keep out the light due to my ‘eye problem.’

Gloria had, by now, accepted her role as Lady of the Lord. One would have never taken

her for anything but a noble. She was getting into her new role with a passion and was, if

anything, a bit too much into it. She treated her ladies in waiting as though they had been born to

serve her and when I asked her why she was so cruel to those she considered now beneath her she

looked at me as though I was the one who had been wronged.

She had gone from never bathing to having two baths a day. One in morning after an

ample breakfast of oat bread, cheese, beer, and boiled eggs, and one prior to dinner which usually

consisted of a haunch of beef, a leg of lamb, roast chicken and tubs of a variety of gravies. All

this meant nothing to me as I was ignorant as to the amount of food a human consumed.

After much peeking into the minds of my subjects, I came to the conclusion that I had

been thrust into a world that was totally lacking in empathy. It was an evil world to be sure for

without the emotion of empathy one has zero understanding and therefore no compassion

whatever for other people. I asked my lady if she would like her mother and siblings to live at the

palace and she asked me why. “Because she is your mother.” I answered. But she just looked at

me in confusion. And so her mother still resided in the one room smoky shack with her brothers

and sisters. But empathy worked two ways, her mother could not relate to Gloria’s good fortune

and dismissed her from her mind as well.

She was very much looking forward to meeting the king and I sent a page forward on a

swift horse to announce the arrival of Baron and Lady Marlin of Shropshire.

In the late afternoon of what was to later be known as Marlin’s trek, Arthur Onebean, my

heavy knight of arms, who was at the point of the column was stopped by a tree that had been cut

and dragged into the center of the road blocking our passage. He came riding to me, it was still

daylight. My eyes were wrapped with linen but my sight was keen. He dropped to his knees

alongside the coach and said, “It appears to be a trap lord.”

By then I realized that although the Knowburry township had accepted me as their lord

and master none of the surrounding countryside thought of me as anything but a usurper and

killer of nobility. I had to spread fear amongst all the populace. Getting out of the coach I

adjusted the bindings around my forehead and eyes. It appeared to all that I could not see, either

by design or accident. Occasionally an exceptional warrior would bind one eye to handicap

himself and fight with the knowledge that he was invincible, even with one eye. But never had

anyone, knight or soldier fought with two bound eyes. Suddenly from a distance ahead there

appeared men at arms—about a hundred of them. There were ten fully armored warriors on huge

war horses. My men drew together in a knot, fear binding them. Two threw down their swords

and ran.

The horsemen were magnificent. Resplendent in their metal armor they almost looked

artificial. Not a scrap of their skin was to be seen. My first impression was that of giant chess

pieces coming at me. Their feet were hanging loose. They were without the leverage necessary to

shock with their lances. I was afoot and easy pickings. But they were in for a surprise when they

attempted to pierce my flesh.

One of the things I noticed in this reality was that things appeared to happen in slow

motion. It was difficult to adjust to that and I was still having a bit of trouble with it. It would

stand me in good stead during swordplay however. Between that and my great strength on this

planet I was unbeatable. A sword would come at me as though the swordsman was fighting under

water. It was simple to dispatch a dozen men who were fighting at a quarter speed. I did not feel

that this time I should use any electrical bolts. I only had so many five thousand volt discharges I

could dispense. Besides which a sword would command more respect, and that was what I

wanted.

I reached out my hand and Onebean put a sword into it. “Another.” I said with authority.

Onebean pulled a sword from the sheath of a nearby guard and handed that to me. “Stand and

protect Lady Marlin.” I said. Then I stepped over the log took a few steps and waited. The ten

mounted men broke into a gallop intending to cut me down and loot the train. But I had a point to

make. When the horses reached me I swooped a lance aside with an arm and leaped five feet into

the air. My sword whooshed around and sliced the head off the closest horseman. Still swinging

around I struck another horseman who died in a similar fashion. The eight remaining reined up

and surrounded me. Once again I leapt up and with a right and left slash two more died. The six

left charged me but that only hastened their demise. Their armor was no match for my strength

and a sharpened sword. A few seconds later there were ten dead warriors and ten riderless

horses. I do hate to harm animals.

The pack of infantrymen paused for a moment as they witnessed the carnage. I had been

ferocious as I did want my reputation to spread. I raced towards them, right for their center. As I

ran I sprayed fear, piercing each one of them. By the time I had reached the mob they broke and

ran. Their leader, standing alone on a nearby hill had witnessed the entire fiasco.

My men as well saw it. They were yelling encouragement with Onebean the loudest of

them all. They had never seen anything like it. And me with my eyes bound. That was the

beginning of the Marlin legend. There would be no more ambushes on the London road. There

was one other thing that boosted the legend, the log lying on the road. It was a large tree that had

been felled and the weight of it was too much for the six men that were trying to heave it off the

road. I heard one of them say, “Get the horses, we’ll drag it away with them pulling.”

“No,” I said loudly, “no horses, it might be a strain for them.” And with that I strolled

over to the log, threw the bloody swords down to the ground, and with a grunt, (it was pretty

much all I could do to lift it) I tossed it back off and away from the road. After that I received a

lot of fearful sideways looks, but my legend began that afternoon. The talk was how a blind man

had dispatched ten mounted soldiers, put an entire army to route, and pulled an oak tree out of the

ground. The word was rapidly spreading about Lord Marlin, Baron of Shropshire.

It was just about that time that I discovered something about myself.

I was having a wonderful time. All my adult years I had been a sedentary mathematician,

the only exercise I got was my exerciser and here I was with adventures galore. My attitude

towards events changed at that point. There was no holoroom, no computers, no electrical bolts

on demand, but there was—adventure, and I was loving it.

Evening finally darkened the sky enough so that I removed the gauze from around my

eyes and took down the darkening curtains from the windows. We were on a better road now

which told me we were approaching London town. My guardsmen were in high spirits singing

and dancing about and my Lady Marlin was as fidgety as I’ve ever seen her.

In the coach with us was Katherine Meadows. At one time she had been a lady in waiting

for Princess Margaret and knew much about London. She mentioned the Strand, where a friend of

hers was housed and Fleet Street. I said that we were heading for Scotland Yard and the kings

palace there. She well knew the way and directed the coachman during the last part of our trip.

My people were dusty, dirty, and in need of refreshment and once again I thought how

inconvenient it must be to have to shove food down your throat three times a day to exist. As we

clattered into the courtyard I sent out a message, gently tapping on the mind of Loreosa Maklyyl

to announce we had arrived. That was simple Clanzithan courtesy for it was certain that the racket

we made with our entrance would have informed every one in the castle a large group had

arrived.

A major domo opened the coach door for me and asked if I was Lord Marlin. Soon Gloria

and I were being escorted into the palace to meet Elizabeth, Duchess of York. Gloria grew more

excited by the moment, she whispered to me, “I didn’t know we were going to be staying with a

Duchess. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“My dear, the Duchess is an old and very dear friend. I thought I would surprise you. You

will find her very pleasant.”

Now this was funny. Loreosa had been in this universe for 2 days and already had her

own palace, was a duchess, and had a staff of over a hundred who satisfied her every desire. She

definitely was paying no attention whatever to the Great Directive.

Loreosa was resplendent. She fair glittered with a brilliant air. Even on Clanzith she was

dazzling but here, amongst these eaters of animal flesh with their dirt laden bodies she stood out

as would a diamond among muddy pebbles. As she approached a broad smile grew on my face.

Gloria, Lady of Shropshire, dipped into a deep and prolonged curtsey. Finally Loreosa, or I

should refer to her as Elizabeth, Duchess of York, with a wave of her hand dismissed the

majordomo and smiled with pleasure at seeing us. I bade Gloria take care of the accommodations

for our group and sent her off with the majordomo. The Duchess took my arm and led me to her

private chambers and soon the pair of us were alone and chatting like two magpies. I had been in

this reality for two weeks of earth time, Loreosa two days. I filled her in on everything I had done

and when she asked how she wound up here at all I told her about Nelso Narja solving the pi

enigma and that it was a doorway to other universes.

“Think for a moment Loreosa, did Narja have you expend a few thousand volts of

energy, perhaps into a device of some sort?”

Her brow wrinkled as she grew thoughtful. “Why yes, come to think about it. He said he

wanted to make sure I had enough reserve and could I send five thousand volts into a new

measuring device he had come up with that automatically calculates voltage.

“Then he muttered some numbers and the next thing I knew I was here on planet earth.”

“Think hard Loreosa. Do you recall any of the numbers he recited? Any of them at all?”

“Well I recall they were all simple primes. I believe the first group was 1317 1311 7131

17.”

Hearing that I grew excited, if only she could remember the second group of numbers we

could return home. I asked casually, not wanted to place too much importance on it. I didn’t want

the numbers to be blocked. “And the second group. The group he called out after you expended

the five thousand volt discharge?”

She grew thoughtful. “Let me think. It began with 73, I do remember that. Let me think.

7317 was the first four, of that I’m sure. The rest of the number is a bit hazy. Why? Is it important

professor?”

I nodded. Yes it was important. Well we’re getting closer. Just ten numbers to go to open

the gate. Still an impossible task but better than fourteen. If only I could get her to recall six more

of the sequence I’m sure that I could work around the permutations of the four remaining

numbers. But for now, we both had a lot of catching up to do. There was a pleasant fire burning

in a large corner fireplace. We sat close to the flames and I told Gloria about Nelso Narja, and

how he sent us both to a parallel universe, in an alternate reality. She didn’t understand anything I

said but constructed my words to fit her reality. A parallel universe became two cities separated

by a river and the numbers I had come up with had no meaning for her at all. But she did think

that Nelso belonged in one of the dungeon hospitals for madmen.

“I can almost understand his hatred of me;” I said to Loreosa, I called him a crack pot,

and gave him a failing grade. He was one of three students who didn’t pass out of quite a few

thousand. I can see how that would anger him, but this—this is beyond me.

“What his motive is for sending you off as he did makes even less sense. Tell me again,

exactly what happened? Try to remember his demeanor and his attitude as well.”

Loreosa stared into space for long moments before speaking. As she spoke she was

recalling every detail.

“We were in the library of the university. In your section, where many of the works of

Professor Zyclotone Ryketoo are stored. I had one of your books in my hands. It was the

Mathematical Enjoining of Reality and Infinity. Narja took the book out of my hands and spit on

it and then he threw it as far as he could. I was stunned. I could not imagine any one treating any

book that shabbily, and most especially one of your books. I turned to walk away from him when

he grabbed me by the shoulder and asked if I thought you knew what you were writing about. I

told him I thought you were the most brilliant mind at the university. And then he said that he had

solved the pi conundrum that you said would take many more years to unravel.

“I thought that was nonsense and told him so. He grew furious. Shouting and

gesticulating wildly. He practically screamed at me yelling that he would show me, he would

show them all and that I was just another flogger screwing up the system. Well when he called

me a flogger I had to get out of there but he grabbed me and started spouting numbers at me.

Yelling them out. And then he said shoot five thousand volts at that thing over there and I’ll let

you go. I told him he had better let me go anyway but to calm him down I saw the thing he was

pointing at, it looked like a metal vase lying on its side. I showered voltage for a few seconds and

then he screamed out that second set of numbers and I turned to get away from him. But I was a

little disoriented for a moment and the next thing I knew I was in a forest, just outside of London.

It was the brightest day you can imagine, my eyes could not bare it. I immediately went to

ground. I lifted my arms, left my clothes on the ground, closed my eyes and sunk down into the

earth to get away from the bright and to recharge.

“When I sensed evening had fallen I rose through the earth, refreshed and anxious to

know just what happened. After dressing, I found myself in another world. This world. As luck

would have it I rose just in front of three coaches with armed guards on their way back from a

visit with the King of the country I was in. I heard foreign words and pierced a mind to get the

language. They were calling me things like goblin, and witch, and necromancer and a few other

words I took to be epithets and dipped into a few minds to gather a bit of intelligence. Imagine

my surprise when I found that great emptiness that you yourself must have discovered.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Searching the minds of those in the wagon I found a noblewoman who was the

proprietress of a great city and segment of the country. Her name was Elizabeth and she was a

Duchess which I found was very high in their society. I destroyed her and took her place in the

coach. I then implanted thoughts of myself over all thoughts of the Duchess in every mind within

a fifty mile radius of where we were. The coach brought me to this very palace we are in now,

and I simply assumed the identity of Elizabeth, Duchess of York. I’ve been here for two days

now.”

“So,” I said, “Everyone believes that you have always been the Duchess of York now.”

“Yes. With the exception of a cousin, Countess Isabelle Valois who resides in Paris. She

was too far away for me to reach. She will see me as an imposter but it is unlikely she will ever

get to see me as she is married and considers herself a member of the French nobility.”

“Well you did better than I. But I have placed restrictions on myself not wanting to have

everyone at my bidding without regard to any reality at all.”

“But why?” she said. “What’s the difference? Make yourself King, it might be fun.”

“No, my dear. Take it from me it would be quite boring.”

“How do you mean boring Professor? I think it would be quite stimulating.”

I peeked into Loreosa’s mind for a moment but was locked out by her protective screen.

“Ah, ah, ah, Professor. No fair piercing.”

I was embarrassed; away from Clanzith for a week and I’m breaking the Great Directive

once again. “Sorry Loreosa. But can’t you see? How would it be if I got around your defenses and

turned you into my abject slave? You would be like a robot. As a matter of fact every one you

influence turns into your robot. For myself, I wouldn’t want to live on a planet of robots. You

have to leave them with some free will or nothing will make sense.”

She smiled and said, “What about you uprooting trees and setting an entire army to route.

Don’t tell me you did that without piercing a mind or two. I also heard you killed a dozen

swordsmen on horses without breaking a sweat. Any truth to that?”

“It was only ten. And I only moved a big log off the road. I must admit that I did spray

fear over the rest of the army, but there were over a hundred of them. I had to use the mindspray.

But I do it as little as possible. The baron that I got rid of…”

“Please Professor,” she interjected. “No euphemisms. You mean the baron that you

killed.”

“All right, the baron that I killed. But he was trying to kill me as well.”

“Was there any chance at all that he would beat you?”

“Not in a phyllotts age, no way he could even touch me. He was moving in slow motion.

No way could I lose.”

“Well, there’s my case in point. You knew you couldn’t lose. You didn’t need the

mindspray, or any piercing or even feathering. You will never lose a contest of any kind to

anyone on this planet, so why not make it easy on yourself? Have you thought about it at all? I

started thinking about that as soon as I realized that I was on a primitive, alien world. You want

adventure, I want security, and love. If I can plant a few suggestions in a pierced mind then I’m

going to get that love. Why fight for something that you can have with the wiggle of your little

finger?”

I had been thinking about that. We were aliens in a strange, unfamiliar, primitive society.

Everything about them was different. We could manipulate these four dimensional people to any

degree we wished. But the more I thought about that the more certain I was that it would not do.

A lifetime here under those conditions would be intolerable for me. After a moments forethought

I answered her. “It just doesn’t seem right to have it all, just like that. It would be boring. You

forget Loreosa there are no computers here, no holorooms, why, for lord’s sake woman, they

defecate into holes in the ground.

“If you mindspray everyone you are going to wind up with an army of robots. An

entourage of dolls who all think as you do, act on your every wish and want and need, and whose

only desire is to please you. Is that what you want?”

Loreosa chuckled. “Sounds good to me. That’s exactly what I want.”

“I fear,” I replied, “you will find that is the wrong choice. I am tempted to go to ground

for a year or two and coming out see what you have brought about for yourself and for this

world.”

“Professor, what is wrong with being on top. On top of the top if you will. Let me

demonstrate.”

With that Loreosa clapped her hands together twice and immediately there appeared five

ladies, with long flowing tresses, tightly bound waists, and billowing stark white gowns. All five

were quite beautiful and all were very young. They stopped in front of us and Loreosa, or I should

say, Elizabeth Duchess of York snapped a command. “Draw me a bath, and be certain the

temperature is warmer than the skin.”

The five, without a word filed out to do their mistresses bidding. I turned to Loreosa with

a smile, “Robots.”

“Well, I prefer to think of them as obedient servants.” She replied. “What do you suggest

we do Professor? For in my mind there is this idea of going as far as I can. And if that means

ruling this world so be it. I do have to admit I had higher aspirations in the university. Ruling this

world would be like ruling an ant hill. These people, these humans as they think themselves are

so alien to us in both body and mind I really don’t know how or what I will think about them in a

years time. But have at it if you will, go to ground, I won’t stop you. But please, don’t stay

grounded for two years. One will more than suffice.

“Come to think of it Professor, as I consider it maybe it will be for the best at that. And if,

after a year, it has turned out as you said and you return to find me bored out of my mind, then I

will let you be the director of the rest of our stay here.”

“And you will do as I say?”

“I will. If after one year, on your return, I am dissatisfied with my life, and with the way

things are going. I will allow you to choose the next path.”

I thought about that deeply. My mind flicked into Gloria’s for a moment. I saw a great

satisfaction, gratitude towards me, and love. She was the only one I had the slightest affection, or

for that matter concern for. The rest of it was as nothing. Like it never happened. Yes, a year in

the ground would do me a world of good. Not only to fully energize my voltages but to

concentrate my thoughts. I would have to consider a way to get Loreosa back to Clanzith with

me. But we had plenty of time. We were both in the first millennium of our lives. Going to

ground was beginning to look better and better to me.

“Just one request do I have.” I said as the sudden thought came to me that I did have a

drip of affection for one human anyway, “I want you to take care of Gloria. Not as a robot. Leave

her mind alone. I’ve already adjusted it enough. Let her enjoy the next year.”

“All right Professor, I can do that. I’ll make her the most beloved Baroness in the land if

that is your wish. Does this mean you’re going to do it, you’re going to ground?”

I nodded. “See you in a year Duchess.” And off I went. I let Leorosa handle my good

byes. I walked into the courtyard where the guards were in various states of drunkenness the

Duchess of York having opened the cellars and allowing free access to all. Standing in the middle

of the great lawn I adjusted my circuits, threw my clothes into a pile, and slowly sank into the

ground. Stopping at one hundred feet, my favorite depth, I closed in my own field, relaxed my

mind, and felt the beginning’s of earth’s energy field begin to wash into my energy field like little

wavelets coming to me in an endless flow. It was wonderful—I was at peace.

CHAPTER TWO

It was akin to a very deep sleep. Every now and then I would come to a state of

awareness. My mind would reach out in all directions testing the electromagnetic flow around

me. It had been four months since going to ground and I was now fully charged; more so that I

had been since early childhood, but I was not ready to ease back up and end my sojourn in the

earth quite yet.

It was my thinking time, my quiet time, the time we on Clanzith call the great

satisfaction. I drifted in an ecstatic meditation for weeks. Then I thought about Loreosa. What had

she been up to? I was prepared to find just about anything when I finally gave up the ground.

My thoughts turned towards the spiritual. I was always trying to prove the existence of

spiritual beings and God through mathematics. When the great astronomer Cyllyyopff proved the

existence of four hundred billion galaxies with each holding billions of stars capable of having

planets he also proved the existence of God.

Then he showed us that in the Multiverse there were the same number of parallel

universes each one as diverse and wide spread as ours. This was called the Superverse. Once

again after a millennium of mathematical jiggering Cyllyyopff discovered with his Cylo Theory

that there were decillions of Superverses and on and on into a never ending complex of galaxies,

stars, planets, and people. A diverse populous indeed. The number of sentient beings is beyond

any number and mathematics stops at the door to infinity.

To think, the answer to the great paradox is in the conundrum of pi. Pi, that elusive

mathematical riddle that has confounded mathematicians for tens of thousands of years has the

answer locked in its pattern. Pi, the great enigma that Nelso Narja claims to have solved. And

apparently, solve it he did. I concentrated my mind on this for months; engulfed by the life

giving, circuit enriching earth. And then, after ten months of solitude and free from all mental

imposition, by going through every known permutation regarding Nelso Narja and mathematics

the answer came. It wasn’t so much that he was a genius as it was that he was working with

resources that were not in my nature. The inescapable conclusion I reached after mulling the

problem over in my mind a thousand times was that Nelso Narja was a seven dimensional being.

He could slip into my mind with ease; I would never even know he’d been there. Then he

could ride pi right to the end. With his seventh sense he could reach the final sequence of primes

in a few minutes. That was the simplest answer when all the facts were in and considered. It took

me ten months while being energized constantly and fully during my grounding to figure it out.

The rest was obvious, I could no more fight a seven dimensional creature then humans on planet

earth, with their measly four dimensions, could fight me.

No wonder he was so angry with me for failing to give him a passing grade. He was

correct all the time and my calling him a crack pot was adding insult to insult. It would be like a

first grade student telling a teacher that six and five were eleven and the teacher had been a two

dimension creature that could not for a kingdom count higher than ten. To that teacher any

student that could come up with a number beyond ten was ignorant of mathematics and should be

flunked. Now that I had figured out Nelso Narja it was obvious. But the knowledge didn’t help

my situation one bit. Perhaps with the help of Loreosa we could come up with an answer.

So, it suddenly made sense. But how does a six dimensional being fight a seven

dimensional being and come out ahead? Narja had gotten rid of me; and with a vengeance at that,

but why send Loreosa here? There was something else that I was not getting. Loreosa, my best

student. On the Dean’s list for a tenured university position. She was the best bet for solving the

pi dilemma. What did she have that could possibly be a threat to Narja?

There was only one reason to get rid of me, fear. But what could Narja be afraid of? How

could I possibly be a threat to him? Surely not flunking or disrespecting him with an epithet, even

one as light as crack pot. No I was missing something. What was I doing that could possibly be

seen as harmful to him? And what about Loreosa? What was the commonality there? The answer

had to be with something that Loreosa and I had in common that could be seen as a threat to

Nelso Narja.

The teacher and the student. But she was one of many. What did she know, or have, that

the rest of my students did not? She was smart, clever, good looking, assertive, creative and

ambitious. But then so were a great many other students. There must be something unique in her

make up, something I was missing.

I went back into the meditative state to allow my mind at rest to work on the problem. It

was two months before I had promised to end my time in the earth. Perhaps an answer would

come. I drifted off into the deep of resting mind, and the days passed without note.

There came a day when feeling a pull from above I slowly rose through the earth. I was

ready to leave my comfortable niche below the surface of the planet. My circuits were all at

maximum strength. I felt better than any time I could remember. As my head broke through the

surface I opened my eyes to find the courtyard had changed. It was deep in the evening. Not a

sound to be heard. I soon stood on the pavement without even a crack in the concrete to show I

had come through it. Pavement? Concrete? But there are neither in this world. Where did

concrete come from in this primitive world? Hmm, Loreosa has been busy. What else had she

done? I reached out to her and instantly made contact. Her mind was wide open to me. As soon as

I feathered lightly to the outskirts of her mind I heard, “Well, it’s about time. Hello stranger.”

I had to smile. It was so good to make contact again. “Greetings Duchess. It is still

duchess I trust, is it not?”

“It is not. You may now address me as Your Imperial Highness, Her Majesty Queen

Loreosa.”

I had to chuckle at that. Can’t say it was a surprise though. What had she done to this

world? I couldn’t wait to find out. “Well then your majesty, where are you?”

“I’m on the other side of the city. In the Tower Palace. Come quickly, I can’t wait to tell

you what I’ve been up to the past year.”

But first I had to find some clothes. I passed a men’s shop that catered, according to the

sign on the gate, to the Duke of Cornwall. I pushed through the door with little effort and was

soon dressed in the style of the day including a fine leather jacket with buttons of bone.

The streets were empty. There was no moon; London was dim even to my eyes. The

blackness of night kept all but a few hardy souls indoors. I strolled through the town taking in the

buildings and shops I had paid no attention to on my last peek at the town. Not a sound was heard

save the occasional bark of a dog, grunt of a pig or whinny of a horse. Other than that the only

sounds to be heard were my footsteps as I tramped the three miles to the Palace. About half way I

noticed three figures loitering in the alcove of a wine shop. There was a street candle burning a

short ways from them. They stood in the dim shadow of a doorway. I took them for miscreants

but strolled boldly by having no fear of any occupants of this world. As I approached one of the

men, a fearsome looking lout with a torn jacket and bare feet blocked my path. His smile revealed

a row of rotted teeth and a breath that hit my sensitive nostrils like a breeze from one of their

defecation holes. Out of curiosity, and the possibility of another adventure, I stopped. The other

two moved behind me. “Got a few bob for a fellow in need sir?” I was asked.

“Sorry,” I said, “I don’t have any money at all on me.”

The smile went away and he said, “Too bad, well now, maybe we can relieve you of that

fine jacket, and I would like to try on your boots. They look like they would be a nice fit.”

“Gentlemen, I realize you are all in need. But unfortunately I am not the one to supply

you with anything to fill that need. So if you will allow me to pass undisturbed, I would

appreciate it.”

“Undisturbed he says. Undisturbed. Did you hear that lads? The gentleman wants to

proceed undisturbed.”

“Haw,” came out of the throat of one of the men behind me. I felt a pair of hands pin my

arms to the side as the man in front lashed out with a foot to kick me in a place that would have

had a deleterious effect on my well being. I just moved a bit to one side and the tip of his foot

landed on the thigh of the man holding me.

“Ow,” the man holding me said, “watch what you’re doing there Frankie. You kicked

me.”

“Sorry,” Frankie the kicker said, picking up a thick wooden club. He raised it over his

head and swung it at my face. It seemed to come at me in slow motion, just as it was about to land

I pulled the man holding me around and the club bashed onto his head. His hands relaxed and he

fell to the ground unconscious.

“Looks like you missed again.” I said.

The fellow went crazy with anger. He came at me with the club and swung it once more

but I just side stepped the club and shoved him towards the third man who stood with mouth

agape. Alas, he fared even worse as the club mashed his nose and blood flushed out in a gushing

torrent. The man with the club turned again to me. I smiled at him. Thus far I hadn’t lifted a

finger in my defense. I calmly said, “If I were you fellow, I would just pick up my friends here

and seek another profession, or at the very least, an easier person to rob. As you may have noted,

I am not that person.”

The man fell into a crouch and pulled out a foot long knife from a sheath at his back.

“We’ll see about that toff. I’m going to slit you from belly to chin for what you made me do here.

If you know any prayers you had better say them now.” And with that he lunged at me.

Once again I stepped aside, grabbed him by his neck and the seat of his pants as he

passed by and heaved him up and away. He landed on the roof of a two storied house on the other

side of the street no doubt wondering how he got there. The man with the bloodied nose stared at

me as though I were a ghost. I smiled and touched my forehead in a salute. With wide open eyes

he nodded still holding a rag to his nose and I continued on my way thinking how lucky I was to

have all these little adventures.

“Where are you?” feathered into my open mind.

“I’ll be there soon; I’m just passing the London Bridge.”

“I’ll send a carriage for you.”

“Won’t be necessary, I’m almost there.”

“I’ll meet you at the moat. The gate alongside the zoo.”

“Zoo?” I responded.

“I had my guard scour the world for examples of the animals on this planet. It’s

interesting Professor; I guarantee you will be amazed and impressed at what I’ve accomplished

this past year.”

I was enjoying my walk along the river Thames. It was quiet with a few boats gliding by

pushed by oarsmen who apparently worked through the night. I had passed by a bustling fish

market that belied the idea of a quiet London town. There were torches everywhere. Enough to

cause me some discomfort. I looked about at all the dead fish being readied for consumption by

the populace. It was disgusting and I hurried away to the Tower, not far now.

Entering the gate I was greeted by an honor guard of brilliantly dressed sentinels. One of

the guard, resplendent in a golden outer robe inlaid with jewels stood apart and announced me.

“Hear all ye, hear all ye, the Baron of Shropshire has arrived at the special invitation of Queen

Loreosa, Empress of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Hear ye, hear ye.”

I was escorted to the Queens chamber and soon found myself alone with my former

student who had dismissed her retainers and now sat at ease on a throne covered with soft and

billowy sheep skins. A grin was on her face and I noticed she did not outline teeth on her gum

line.

I sat on a nearby chair and chuckled when Loreosa said in a light hearted way, “You dare

sit in the presence of your Queen.”

I laughed and said, “I thought you were the Empress.”

Then it was her turn to laugh. We jollied about for a while and then got serious. She was

the first to address the issue uppermost in both our minds. “When I haven’t been saving the world

here I’ve been doing a lot of thinking Professor. Most about what I knew, and what you told me

about Nelso Narja.

“But we’re here for now. And I agree with those thoughts of yours about Narja being a

seven dimensional creature. Professor, we are here for now. That’s what I’ve been thinking of

since I came. I have to assume, feeling that you are right and Narja is extra dimensional, that we

are here for a purpose. After all if Narja wanted to punish us he would have sent us to two

different realities. So for the past twelve months I’ve been going over every possible reason I

could think of. I believe I found the answer.”

I heard Loreosa’s words and wondered if she had come to the same conclusions that I

had. What I hadn’t considered was that she had attacked the problem from an entirely different

base. That we were there not for spite, not for revenge, not for a banishment, but for a good, valid

reason.

“For some reason I have not figured out yet,” Loreosa said, “we are here to change

something. What I don’t know. He didn’t send us here just so I could make myself queen or for

you to be whatever you choose. Narja knew the pair of us would be irresistible in this universe.

He has to be considering what impact if any we will make here.”

I nodded, “Could be something in that. So what conclusions have you come up with?”

“I believe that Nelso Narja had all this worked out. I’m certain he knew that one of us

would figure it out. Professor, he picked out the most brilliant thinker in our university, you, and

then he got the brilliant thinkers number one student, me, to go on that same trip. Professor that is

too much of a coincidence, Narja wasn’t angry with you; he just wanted you to think he was

angry. Everything he did was by design, even to getting you to flunk him. Although I do believe

the crackpot remark was your own little thought. Narja is beyond brilliance, he is the supreme

manipulator. He is manipulating us pretty much the same way I am manipulating my subjects.

And we can’t do a damn thing about it.

Loreosa walked over to me and standing behind me began to massage my shoulders. I

leaned back and relaxed, feeling her gentle hands manipulating my tightened neck muscles. I

could feel the soft voltage she was sending through. It was a steady stream of five hundred volts

the ideal energy for relaxation. It worked; I closed my eyes and was quiet as she spoke softly.

“Professor, I think it’s time I addressed you by your name don’t you think?”

I just muttered an affirmative.

“All right then, from now until forever Zyclo it is. You must tell me; does it bother you

that you mated with an alien?”

There was a sudden flash that lit the alcove near a window cut into the far wall and

protected by a screen of jewels and sea shells. It was immediately followed by a crash of thunder.

A storm, a lightning storm. I smiled and answered her. “A bit. I must admit it does bother me a

bit. At the time it seemed right and correct. There is a tradition in this society that requires the

consummation of a marriage with a mating.

“I mated with Gloria but it was only for that. Not that I would expect issue from the

mating as I would on Clanzith.”

“Now that you mentioned her let me ask you this. Why haven’t you asked me about

Gloria?”

“Gloria?”

“Yes, you do remember do you not, the Lady Marlin, Baroness of Shropshire?”

“I remember. How is she?”

“Better than you I would suspect. She resents nothing. She is quite the happiest woman in

the kingdom. And Zyclo, I have astounding news for you.”

Astounding news was it? Gloria was now a Duchess at the very least, but that wouldn’t

have astounded me nor even given me a pause. I just looked at her quizzically and waited for the

astounding news.

“Zyclo, this news I have. You had better prepare yourself.”

I had a sudden flash, Loreosa had solved the pi enigma. We could leave. I did get excited

then. “Loreosa, did you….” I looked at her with wildly growing anticipation. “Tell me!” I fairly

shouted. “Is it the pi enigma? Did you solve it? Did you figure out the remaining numbers? Tell

me, did you”

She shook her head, “No the news has nothing to do with pi, or Narja, or me for that

matter. Only you—and Gloria.”

“Gloria? The news affects Gloria?”

“Well Zyclo, you figure it out. Gloria, Princess Gloria, has had a child.”

I heard the words but they were a jumble. Princess? Gloria is a Princess? Of what?”

“Princess Gloria of the United Kingdom of course. As the wife of my brother Prince John

she is indeed entitled to the title.”

“Prince John? Who is Prince John, and when did Gloria meet him? Loreosa, will you

please tell me what is going on. I do not ever remember being quite this confused.”

The Queen chuckled, “You idiot. Prince John is you. Did you forget your name John

Marlin?”

“But if I’m John, how did I get to be a prince? And did you say that Gloria had a child?”

“Three months ago. A healthy, beautiful human child. With a lusty cry and an appetite—

for food.”

She didn’t say another word. Just looked at me staring. I felt a feathering in my mind. It

was Loreosa. She was standing right in front of me and she was feathering my mind. I let her in

and heard, “Your child Zyclo. He is your child. A healthy, normal, human child. His name is

Johnson. Johnson Marlin. Prince Johnson. Your child Zyclo. You’re a father.”

The message got through. Finally. I sunk back in the chair thoughts flying around in my

head like butterflies. A child. My child. I was a father. A father. Suddenly I jumped up and said,

“Where is he? Where is Gloria? I must see them. Now. I want to see them now.”

Loreosa, Queen Loreosa, clapped her hands twice and three ladies in waiting appeared.

She spoke with such authority I would never have recognized her voice. “Take Prince John to see

Prince Johnson.”

With a bowing of heads and a curtsy they led me out of the room, along a stone hallway

festooned with wall coverings of battles and saints and torches that brightened the hall. We came

to the end just as a large oaken door with the head of a lion carved into it was opening. There on

the other side was Gloria, a smile splitting her face, and in her arms a baby. A man child. A child

of Clanzith, and a child of Earth. The first such child in this reality. But I wasn’t thinking about

that. I was only thinking of my son. I reached for him and when he was cradled in my arms he

looked at me and I thought for a moment I saw a smile. My emotions were so deep that without

thinking I did what I would have done to a Clanzithan child, I sent a few hundred volts through

my arms into him. With that he smiled, this time a real smile. The charge didn’t harm him. He

liked it. Well. I drew Prince Johnson to my face and kissed each cheek. My child. He was

beautiful.

“My lord.” Gloria said.

I leaned over with the baby still cradled in my arms and kissed her on each cheek. “My

lady.”

Gloria was unaware of the fact I was an alien. She knew I was different, but in a gentle

feathering of her mind I had discovered that deep inside she thought I was some sort of a warlock.

That, for some reason gave her comfort. The wife of a warlock would have security and

protection from all the evil forces of the world. She could not understand why she had never seen

me eat and that caused her concern but I put a block around that notion and she paid no attention

to that fact, even during a feast when everyone was stuffing themselves and I was content with

plain water.

Johnson, my son, my alien son was a great and wonderful addition to my life. This, if for

nothing else, I would always be grateful to Nelso Narja for. Had he not sent me here, to this

parallel universe, four dimensional, primitive society, and as far from my cultural values as it

would be possible to be; had he not been the instrument for my being in this reality, I would not

have Johnson. I would still be a stodgy old professor in a dry and joyless classroom with many

thousands of students. Here there are no holowalls, no great society, no students hanging on my

every word, no lightning baths, no mind immersions. Indeed, here were none of the trappings of

my highly evolved society. And here there was cruelty, robberies, murderous villains at every

turn, drunkenness, sloth, and torments of others I would not have been able to even conceive of in

Clanzith.

But here too, there was love. A love I could never have been able to conceive of on

Clanzith. On Clanzith we do not even have a word for love. We do have sex. For us Clanzithans

when the female is ready, and she has a mate that is her blended partner, then there is a mating.

What would be called sex here on earth. A female is ready once every four years. The fertile

period we call Yeegal. The Yeegal period lasts for two weeks. During that two week period there

are many matings. A Clanzithan woman during Yeegal stops all duties. No matter how low, or

high in our society, when a woman reports Yeegal she from all responsibility. Her mate as well

is released from responsibility and for two weeks there is constant, repetitive mating. After one

week it is customary for the two to hold hands and go to ground for a day to replenish energies.

Then back to their abode for more matings until, after fourteen days have passed, the female

reports Lageey, and the matings cease. From this mating there is generally, a child. Sometimes

two, but that happens in only a few instances. A Clanzithan gestation period is four years which

seems a long time to carry a child, but the life span of a Clanzithan is twenty five hundred years.

By that measure four years is but the blink of an eye.

Gloria had an earth normal gestation period. Nine months and Johnson was born. I have

no idea what his life span will be. I would guess it would be much shorter than a Clanzithan but a

good deal longer than a human. It will be interesting to find out. And with the birth of Johnson, I

discovered, love. I have often heard the word but as there seemed to be so many subjective

interpretations I never really understood it before. The warm, syrupy protective feeling that

comes over one is an aspect of love but there is more, so much more.

I wouldn’t give up my son for the pi sequential. I thought that I would thank Nelso Narja

for sending me here because if he hadn’t, there would be no Johnson. And so, gradually, by

degrees, I started to find myself obligated to Narja. If we had it all to do again, and I could

transport myself back to that time when Narja sent me here. If I could go back to that time, I

would not stop it. I would thank him the instant I was thrust to this reality. I have thanked him

with my words. How strange this all is. Here I am in a primitive time, with primitive people, of an

alien race, with a culture that defies description, and I feel thankful I’m here because of a half

human infant who gurgles, smiles at me and tears the energies right out of my plexus.

I feel love. Now and only now do I know what love is. And it is frightening. I feel a

weakness come over me with all that love. Love may interfere with my powers here on earth; I

hope it will not as I fear terrible days coming.

Chapter Three

London was overflowing with places of worship. Churches and monasteries for the men

who were brothers and priests of Catholicism and nunneries for the women who were noviates

and nuns. The town reeked of spiritual beliefs with not one person in the city having any idea of

what they were espousing. The humans’ spiritual king Jesus, in one of his many parables, had

spoken of wheat and weeds and it was obvious to all the priests who sermonized on the Sabbath

that the wheat were the nobles and clergy and the weeds were the commoner. What bothered me

most about many of these sermonizers was their lack of empathy. I have taught my students that

evil was simply a matter of having no empathy. Those who cannot imagine themselves in the role

of the person with whom they are involved cannot feel the very thing their religion preaches as

their prime directive, love.

In this the largest city in Europe, if you did not see a church you were sure to see a

palace—palaces by the score. Every nobleman in England, and there were many to be sure, had a

palace built in London. These ‘nobles’ were beyond the law, beyond the reach of the commoner

and were indeed a law unto themselves fearing only the wrath of those above them in the

hierarchy of the time—the king above everyone with the exception of the pope who was above

the king, and the great mysteries of the holy ghost above the pope.

The common people dwelt in narrow courts around the cathedrals and palaces and the

people of London were never far from the sound of church bells. They faced each other on

opposite sides of the lanes. There were no facilities to dispose of the trash accumulated by

thousands who made their homes there and the damp streets reeked of sour musty odors. Rats by

the tens of thousands roamed the night. Nobles went about with armed guards accompanying

them at all times and the commoners preyed on one another with an abandon that was amazing.

The section sheriff would hang or garrote all who were caught stealing and as virtually everyone

stole no one was safe from the sheriff and his minions. Children especially were susceptible and

scores died weekly at the hand of the law.

Loreosa, Queen by her own hand, was confused by the hierarchies and laws of the land,

especially so with the guild of artisans who dominated the hierarchy at the lower levels. Masons

were in high demand with all the building of palaces and churches going on and the renaissance

of architecture was at its height.

Many of the Palace great halls were large enough to accommodate a thousand men and

the wealthier nobles did indeed have thousands in their private armies. With all those palaces,

churches, monasteries, and nunneries the people in London were very much aware that they

belonged to Mother Church, and to England.

Queen Loreosa occupied the Tower of London, a fortress on the south east corner of the

city and Gloria and I were not far away in Baynard’s Castle. We had the only fortresses in a city

that every king, prince, and warrior were jealous of. Not that we needed them. We were still two

people who, although of an age far beyond the life span of any on this world, were like children

with the world’s largest box of playthings. Here we were, two eminent mathematicians, in a place

where they only recently discovered the use of the zero.

Loreosa played with her toys in the Palace of the Tower of London paying little attention

to what went on in the city. She had a retinue of hundreds and was having gardens, fountains, and

a labyrinthine maze built in the immense courtyard of the Palace. She had a private zoo that she

opened on occasion for all to enjoy. She showed her artisans how to make concrete and had the

royal courtyard paved. For myself, I let her play the games that she was so enjoying while I

amused myself with my son. I spent every moment I could with him and he delighted in the many

things I was teaching him. Gloria, Princess Gloria had taken to her vastly upgraded life and in

seeing her one would never believe she came from a one room shack with poverty and hunger as

her lot.

Princess Gloria grew addicted to baths. I had a roman bath built for her. It was so large

that a hundred people could easily frolic in the scented water. I had herbs, and many scents

imported from the Far East. If ever I wanted to find the princess all I had to do was visit the Bath.

She was certain to be lolling around in the aromatic, heated water having her hair done, or her

neck massaged, or her fingernails polished with a blend of frankincense and the oil of a pear.

We were living a life that few in our home reality even dreamed of. Time passed easily.

Occasionally Loreosa would get together to speak of a mathematical problem, or one of the

subjects of Quantum mathematics. But we spoke less and less of Nelso Narja. The world we came

from was the one that seemed like a dream.

The thought came to me that we had been on earth for two years now and neither of us

mentioned Yeegal. Sometimes before another year had passed we must speak of it for as satisfied

as we seemed to be we could not escape the fact that we were the only two alien people in the

world. We had either each other, or nothing.

Two years had passed very quickly. I restored my energy every few months by going to

ground for a few days and I supposed that Loreosa did the same. With respect to my son, Prince

Johnson, I tried one day to take him to ground with me but being an oxygen breather it was

impossible. Holding him, I sunk into the ground but when his little feet touched the surface he

stayed there. He was truly a human, more so than Clanzithan and I was not sure whether it was a

relief or a concern.

He did enjoy my energizing him with a few hundred volts every now and again but could

not yet get into my mind as a pure Clanzithan child would at his age, I did feel, in comparing him

with others of his age that he was different. Loreosa, being the stronger of us with regards to

feathering into minds agreed with me that Johnson was unique.

Loreosa had no problem at all keeping all those nobles in London obedient to her wishes

and all thought her the perfect Queen. King John and most of the royal family were kept hidden

in the tower where they slept in a coma she had induced being unwilling to destroy them. We still

had hopes of returning to Clanzith one day and if we uncovered the secret of pi would restore the

King to his position as head of state but until then, we ruled.

It was early one evening when a strange event happened. I was playing with Johnson and

Gloria was sitting by the fire sewing a bucolic scene into a round frame. Our puppy Achilles was

sleeping at Gloria’s feet. We were by ourselves in our quarters. Johnson had just taken a few

steps and muttered something about doggy when Achilles jumped up and ran to my son licking

his face with a fierce abandon. Johnson giggled and turning his head away said “no.” The dog

stopped immediately and walked back to his spot at Gloria’s side, head drooping as though he

had been punished.

I didn’t think much of the incident until Johnson, growing tired of the game we were

playing looked at Achilles who once again jumped up and ran over to my son who hadn’t called

him.

“Johnson,” I asked. “How did you get Achilles to come to you?”

Johnson just shrugged. “I dunno, I just think at him.” He said, hugging the puppy.

“Can you get him to jump in my lap?” I asked.

Johnson squinted hard at the pup and suddenly Achilles turned and jumped into my lap.

Johnson had inherited at least some of my abilities. He could apparently feather into a mind. This

called for some heavy thinking on my part. I tuned into Loreosa and after announcing myself nine

times she opened her mind. “Johnson feathered into our dogs mind.”

“Can he get into yours?”

“Don’t know. I haven’t tried yet. I thought he was turning out pure human.”

“Hadn’t you better find out? If he has these abilities he must be trained to use them

properly. He will be a mighty force in the world if we direct him.”

“But what,” I asked, “if we ultimately get out of this place? Do we leave him, take him,

what?”

“Think about it Zyclo. On Clanzith he would be looked at as retarded or worse, here he

will be a powerful force and looked up to as one of the most brilliant, irrepressible people on

earth. You choice; brilliance, or moronic.”

“But Zyclo, come to the tower, we should really discuss this face to face. Also I want to

talk about more control over the army. I fear that there is a problem in Europe that may spill over

to our island here.”

I left Johnson with Gloria after asking if she wished to accompany me to the Queen’s

presence but she declined and so I called for a carriage and shortly found myself at the Tower of

London and Queen Loreosa’s palace.

We were soon chatting like two magpies about Johnson but it was obvious there was

something else that was weighing heavily on her mind. “What is it Loreosa? There is something

that is bothering you, and it’s not the mental gymnastics of my son’s abilities.”

She shook her head and looked at me rather sadly I thought. “It’s the Mongols.” She said

finally.

“What’s a Mongols?”

“The singular is Mongol. They are a race of people different than ours. They are from

thousands of miles from here and are fierce fighters. They have conquered much of the world and

are presently riding through Europe and ravaging towns and people everywhere they go. I fear

that England will soon be on their list.”

“Well we have nothing to concern ourselves with. A bit of mind piercing, perhaps I can

deliver a few five thousand volt bolts at them; they will soon get the message.”

She looked hard at me. “It’s not that easy. These people are different. It’s difficult to get

through their minds. They seem to have a natural blockage.”

“Do you mean to say you can’t force your way in?”

“Force, yes, that I can do. It isn’t easy but I have done it.”

“Well then, what’s the problem?”

“There are too many of them. They’re spread all over the planet. I think we are going to

have to do this one differently.”

“Differently? How?” I asked.

“You’re going to have to build up the army and get them ready to fight in case they get

across the water. They’re approaching France right now. I figure we have a month at most before

they start preparing to invade us.”

“OK,” I said, feeling excitement growing in me. Now I was going to be a general. Not

quite in any resume I might have written on Clanzith but still another adventure. I quite looked

forward to it.

With both Loreosa and me feathering and piercing when we could into the Mongol minds

we discovered many things, not the least of which was their method of using colored flags for

communication. And also, the structure of their armies. I called on Sir Henry Farthing, who had

proved himself to be worthy in many battles, to serve as supreme commander. Together we set up

the army mathematically. There were ten men to a squad, ten squads to a company, ten

companies to a cohort, and ten cohorts to an army. There was one headquarters company in

command of all. We set up Generals to command the ten armies, Colonels commanded the

cohorts, Captains were in command of the companies, and Lieutenants commanded the men in

the squads. There were some complaints at first but when they got used to the arrangement they

immediately noted the efficiency of the army and the deadliness. Finally we were ready and Sir

Henry ordered half the army to Whitechapel.

Chapter Four

My army was gathering in the field at Whitechapel to push the Mongols back into the

sea; the anticipated invasion. The Mongol’s were decimating the populations of Europe. It was

1241 and we were expecting them here in England at any time. I’d been Prince John, brother of

Queen Loreosa, Empress of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England, for two years. Since rising

from my respite in the ground I’d become familiar with the politics of the time. Europe was about

to be destroyed. Two men were the cause of the destruction; Ogodai Khan, the third son and heir

to the empire of the great Genghis Khan, and his unsurpassed general, Sabotai. Their Mongol

army swept through China destroying half the population and most of the cities of that great

country, the horde had reduced the civilizations of Persia and Syria to ruins. Russia went down,

as did Hungary. After that the horde, with Ogodai commanding from Mongolia, and Sabotai

leading the army, found themselves in Vienna at the doorway to Europe.

I had heard of this army of Mongols from a great many sources. What was the reason

they were the most successful army of the millennium? I found that battles in this universe, on

this planet, were generally confused encounters with hundreds, sometimes thousands of

individual combats taking place. Great generals were great because they could get the bulk of

their combatants to the battlefield while the hand to hand fighting was still going on. It was easy

for me on the battlefield because there was always so much confusion. A few featherings of the

minds of the captains and I could control the battle.

Mongol warfare however was different. The Mongol general Sabotai was a master of

logistics. In studying his methods I wondered how a man with his genius for war would have

flourished in a Clanzith type world. Would he have been a great engineer, a medical savant, a

great mathematician? But he was in a primitive world where killing was the norm and the greatest

men were the greatest killers of men. Sabotai was a great man. He would coordinate the

movement of thousands of cavalry, in snow or rain, in bright sunshine, or in black night. His

warriors would move like pieces on a chess board.

Ogodai had devised a system of colored flags, used as coded banners, to carry orders to

his cavalry. The Mongols fought from horseback. There were no long trains of camp followers,

no medical corps, no cook wagons, no infantry and no soldier was lost to the horde to guard

prisoners. There were no prisoners. If a town under attack surrendered, most were slaughtered,

spared were only those who bowed down to the Mongols and agreed to govern in the name of

Ogodai, the Great Khan. If the town under attack fought back, everyone was slaughtered. Sabotai

was the cause of millions of deaths. In many instances villages and cities were destroyed to a

man. No one survived the vicious onslaught of the Mongols.

Each man was a self contained army all unto himself. And every man would follow

orders strictly, efficiently, and instantly. Every man knew his place by looking at the coded

banners. He knew when to wheel, when to go left, right, or straight on to the center. There was no

banner to signify retreat. Each man had four horses so as to always have a fresh one available.

Each man could ride at a gallop, going from one horse to another at full run, and do so for days at

a time. No other army in history could travel so far so efficiently and then without a moments rest

go right into battle. The Mongol wore no armor to slow his movements, only a slight leather

jerkin to deflect all but direct arrow strikes. He wore silk underwear to keep lower body wounds

clean and with his double recurve bow could send an arrow further than any bowman in Europe

or Asia. With his state of the art bow he rarely closed with an enemy for hand to hand combat.

The Mongol warrior did most of his killing while seated on the back of his horse.

What enabled the Mongol to do this when few in Europe had the knack was a Mongol

development. That development was inspired. It was the stirrup. The stirrup enabled a Mongol to

stand while at full gallop, and have the use of both his hands to send out his deadly arrows. No

European horseman had stirrups and therefore they used a sword or lance when on a horses back.

European Bowman, were always on foot. In short the stirrup made the Mongols invincible. In

addition to his bow, every Mongol had a curved sword to finish off the civilian population. A

Mongol, in a captured town, on foot with sword, was a harbinger of death. In the evening, after a

rampage, around the camp fires, the men would boast of how red their skin was with the blood of

the victims. The Mongols, at war with the rest of the world, had only one goal in mind, one chore,

one desire, one wish; death to everyone who was not a Mongol.

Ogodai’s plan was to sweep through the low countries, destroying Hanover, Amsterdam,

Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges and Paris. After that, Germany and Austria. And then to Italy to destroy

Rome and the papacy. When all the cities that the Mongol’s hated were razed to the ground, then

they would put their horses on the great boats of the low countries and crush England and

Scotland.

Ogodai oversaw all this from his headquarters in Karakorum, Mongolia, thousands of

miles east of Europe. All this I discovered from the minds of captured Mongols that were brought

before me.

I truly believed at that time that there was some sort of a racial gene in the Mongol that

rendered the race both inspired, and a bit insane. They were by any accounts the greatest army

since Alexander rode and yet when they conquered, they destroyed. There is no logical sense in

that. It is a fact that the great Timogin, who became Genghis Khan, leveled towns and turned

them into fields of grass. Millions of Chinese lost their temples and homes so that he could plant

grass where the cities stood and thus have an abundance of fodder for his horses. This to me is

insane. And when I feather into a Mongol’s mind I find a resistance like in no others. I can still

get through, but not altogether. I don’t know if Loreosa could ever become Queen of the

Mongols, but then again? It would be interesting to at least discuss it. But first things first.

There was one way to stop them. That was to have Ogodai recall the entire army back to

Mongolia. Every last man of them. I could easily control one man, even a hundred and more. But

this army of Mongols, they were different. So driven to obey instantly, any order of their

immediate superior, they were immune from much of outside interference that my mindpiercing

could achieve. There was an easier way to save England and my ladies Gloria and Loreosa. If I

could do what I planned to do then Europe would be saved as well. I saw the solution after much

meditating on the subject. Ogodai Khan would never recall his men. There was only one other

way. Ogodai, the Great Khan, would have to die.

That would bring the entire army back to Mongolia for without a Khan there could be no

fighting. Kill the Khan and until a new Khan was decided on there could be no fighting. The

horde would be required to return to their headquarters in Karakorum. The answer was clear to

me. I would have to travel to Mongolia, and kill Ogodai Khan.

“It must be done Loreosa, you know it. With the Kahn gone the Mongol army will no

choice but to ride back to China and Mongolia to decide on the next Kahn. It is the way to save

Europe and also a great many of our English subjects. You know that with Ogodai setting the

targets and Sabotai leading the troops even we would have a bit of a fight on our hands. Not only

are these Mongols in fantastic physical shape but their minds are stronger than any other human

I’ve encountered. I’m not saying we can’t sway them but you know me Loreosa, I do not want to

pierce other minds if at all possible. I do not want to rule robots. Let me do it my way.”

Loreosa just shook her head sadly. “It would be so much easier my way. I’ll go with you

and between the two of us we could block their conquering nature and bring them into the empire.

What’s wrong with peace?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it but why turn a vibrant, exciting race into a…

She interrupted me to finish the sentence…”bunch of robots.”

I sighed, “No that’s not what I was going to say. At the very least when you change their

aggressive nature and pacify them you’ll turn them into a bunch of stuffed dolls. And that’s even

worse than robots.”

“I’m just trying to avoid a war, and also, to stop one. If I’m not mistaken they are riding

through France now,” she said.

“And burning everything they come in contact with to the ground. Every building, every

church, every house is destroyed. They do not take prisoners but they do kill everybody. Every

one except those they enslave for whatever reason. If they come here Queen Loreosa, they will

destroy our beautiful country. The land that I suspect you have grown to love, as I certainly do.

“Let me do it my way first. If, in one month’s time, I have not been the cause of the

Mongol armies retreat to Mongolia then I will back your way one hundred percent. We will

pierce and manipulate every Mongol mind, wherever they might be.”

“One month?” Loreosa asked.

“One month,” I answered. She nodded and asked how I intended to travel 3,000 miles to

Mongolia, and then 3,000 miles back to London in one month. “I’m going to do a ground

merger.” I answered. “That should get me there in a few hours.”

“But it’s dangerous. Have you ever done it?” She said, horrified at the idea of my

scooting through the earth like one of our Clanzith cloudships.

“I have, a few times. Even as recently as this morning. I have worked it out

mathematically many times and it should be doing on a horizontal plane, what I always do on a

vertical plane when I go to ground, and when I release myself from ground. It’s just a matter of

adjusting to the molecules of earth and receiving energy currents by accepting and forcibly

rejecting the earth’s field. To test it, this morning I went to ground, about a hundred feet down. I

could feel the electromagnetic field of the earth. I turned my body to the horizontal and used the

AAzzyl field to propel me. I let myself go for just five minutes. I wound up at the Scottish border.

At that rate of acceleration I can get to Mongolia in three hours. I’ll do the job, and we should

know in two weeks. It’ll take that long for a message to reach Sobotai. The Mongols will hear

that the Great Khan is dead and everything will stop. They are obligated to return immediately for

the chiefs to elect a new Khan. And that means five minutes after they receive the news. War’s

over. Europe is saved. England is saved. And we both have done our duty.”

“Well, when you put it like that I can hardly hold you back. I still would like to go with

you. You know, I like a bit of adventure myself.”

I had to laugh at that. “I would say, your Imperial Majesty, Empress of England,

Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, that you have already had more than your share of adventures.”

“No, really Zyclo. I mean it. I want to go. Please don’t fight me on this. I really want to

go.”

She was right of course. Her life had gotten a bit boring the past few months. I wasn’t

keen on leaving Gloria and Johnson for even a short while but this had to be done. If it weren’t,

and we did nothing, it could mean the and the entire world and if that happened it would mean

the end of civilization as it was and then we would have no choice but to intervene with a mind

piercing of every leader, in every country, every where.

“All right. We’ll go together. But I’m the alpha male here Loreosa. What I say goes. I

don’t want you interfering with what I have to do. No interference. You agree?”

“Yes master, I agree,” the Queen of England said humbly.

With that we set on a course to change the very nature of this world. We were going to

destroy Ogodai, the Great Khan, the most fearsome warrior the world had ever known with one

exception, his father, Genghis Khan.

That very evening, after a hasty goodbye to Princess Gloria Marlin I took my young son

in my arms once again and held him close. I could feel his chest bouncing into my body. I knew

what he wanted, hugging him closer I delivered five hundred volts into his body. He reacted with

a scream of delight followed by sweet laughter. It was a tonic better than a lightning bolt. I left

my wife’s quarters and with a wave of my hand was off.

Loreosa had a secret room built on the ground floor of the palace. It had a floor of dirt.

The room was a bare ten feet by ten feet but was ample as a starting point for groundings. We

placed our clothes in a neat pile, oriented ourselves to Mongolia, and Karakorum. Then slowly,

we drifted down into the earth, until at fifty feet, we stopped, slowly turned to the horizontal, and

focused both our minds on the AAzzyl field and we zipped through the earth towards Mongolia

using our fifth sense to disperse our bodies into its electrical components and our sixth sense to

send us in the perfect direction to the headquarters of Ogodai, the Great Khan.

Chapter Five

Karakorum lay in the center of Mongolia. To the south was China, the north, Russia. We

came up in a grassy plane not far from the Orkhon River. We timed to arrive after the sun had set.

The city was pretty much what we expected. Having seen how the Mongols lived after they

settled an area they had just destroyed we were not surprised by what we saw in front of us. We

noted a walled city with an uncompleted palace the highest building there. Outside and around the

wall were Yurts, hundreds of round tents each housing a Mongol family. Karakorum lay like a

plate on a lake, in the center of a vast, perfectly flat, treeless plane. I was to later learn that

Karakorum was the center of the silk trade. Everything that went from Russia to China had to go

through Karakorum. Everything that went from China to Russia had to go through Karakorum. It

was a bustling city, but it was a city of warriors, most of who lived in the Yurts surrounding the

city.

Beyond the Yurts was a wall perhaps the height of three men standing on each others

shoulders and beyond that the city which we could see from the thousands of flickering torches.

To the right, where the wall turned back and away from itself was a taller structure. It was the

Palace of Ogodai Khan.

The first thing we had to do was the most obvious thing. “Loreosa we have to get some

local clothing. We stand out like bees in a flytrap.”

She put her finger to her mouth to silence me and then, concentrating completely, she

bowed her head slightly and started to draw back. “Whew,” she said, “those were interesting

minds. I almost didn’t get through. Strange language but I’m pretty sure I got it all. Did you get

any Zyclo?”

“Got it all. It is amazing though isn’t it, these four dimensional creatures study for years

to achieve proficiency with a language? There are so many different languages on this planet.

We’re lucky they’re so easy to read. I believe I did mention to you that these Mongols have

unusual minds. They do what they’re supposed to do and nothing else, and so they do it with a

vengeance. I see you did get through to a few of them.”

A man and a woman, of about my size and Loreosa’s size came up to us. Without a word

they took off all their clothing—and just like that Loreosa and I fit into the Mongol society

perfectly. Of course when the couple finally came out of the mind trance that Loreosa placed

them in they will have a fine time explaining their lack of clothes.

I did chide her for that. “Loreosa, you used hypnopiercing on them. My God girl, you

could get your lifespan reduced five hundred years for that.”

Even more then the Great Directive, there was a mind piercing offence on Clanzith that

was considered so terrible it carried with it the most drastic punishment allowable. Life reduction.

That was hypnopiercing.

She looked at me and shook her head. “Zyclo, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re not in

Clanzith any more.”

Well that was a fact. I was reluctant to use hypnopiercing as it intruded on my belief that

we should use our ability to control these people as little as possible. Of course after stopping to

think about it, with hypnopiercing we could literally change this society to any we chose. Ogodai

did not have to die. He only had to be adjusted a bit with hypnosis and he would accept anything

we said. The more I thought about it the more I realized that this was definitely a technique we

had to use.

“I noticed,” I said in reply, “it’s just that I’ve been so indoctrinated about hypnopiercing

another Clanzithan…” I paused.

Loreosa replied with a grin, “Yes another Clanzithan!”

“How come I’m learning so much from my student?” I asked, although it has been years

since I thought of her as a student of anything. I looked at her and she looked back at me. And I

suddenly felt electrical. Hard to explain to oxygen based life, it would be like you were walking

with your head down in a driving rain and then, bang, the sun came out and you saw a beautiful

rainbow.

I knew we were the only two Clanzithans on the planet and we should be mated. But with

our species it doesn’t work that way. It has to do with electrical voltages and things your species

could never understand. You have a similar word in your culture, bonding, we also call it a

bonding. If two people do not bond, they could not blend, and if they did not blend there could be

no offspring, and therefore no marriage. I suddenly felt a bonding towards Loreosa and smiled.

She smiled back, started to say something, stopped, started to say something and then stopped, I

knew that she had felt the bonding as well. I opened my mind to let her in. She feathered into my

psyche and I swayed with the intensity of the touch. My body focused half closed eyes at her

while my mind bonded with a thousand touches of feathered energy. And just like that we had

taken the first step towards a formal blending.

After that our relationship changed. My human wife, Gloria, Princess Gloria, did not

even come into the equation. Gloria and I was something that had to be. We had to see if alien

mating would produce offspring, and if so, what kind of offspring. But after the bonding we

would never treat each other as we had again.

Loreosa and I wore similar robes. They were loosely fit, snug at the neck, and hung

straight down so that one could not tell a man from a woman by their dress. It was the head

coverings that made the difference. Men wore fur hats while women wore tall hats made of wood

bark and covered with silk. Only men were allowed to appear in public bareheaded which suited

our purpose.

We came to the first gate and Loreosa’s first hypnopiercing with me observing took

place. I rode along the thought and heard it in the Mongol language the same way the guard did:

“There are two people approaching, they are guests of the Great Khan, treat them with respect.”

She locked the thought in the guard’s mind and as we approached he entertained us with a deep

bow and a hand outstretched towards the palace in welcome.

“Loreosa, I think we had better go through this again before we do what we came here to

do. If we kill Ogodai it will bring back the horde but if we adjust him he can recall the troops just

as easily.”

She shook her head. “Never. We can convert him but Sabutai would never go for it. And

Sabutai is a man with the strongest human mind I’ve come in contact with. I’m not sure if he

would even be a candidate for a hypnopiercing. No, killing Ogodai is the only way. That way we

can be sure the Mongol invasion was at an end. Kill him and we save a million lives. That’s a

really good result.”

As we walked along the pathway to the palace we discussed the situation. I hardly

noticed the torch bright city. There was a bustling trade that took place after sundown with all

manner of delicacies and exclusive foods and clothing available. Acrobats seemed to be the main

entertainment as we bumped into troop after troop of them before we reached our destination.

“What do you say we get this over with quickly? I’ll get him alone, break his neck, lay

him out on his bed, and disappear? We can go home and no one will be the wiser. It’ll be over.

Quick and simple.”

“My oh my, Professor how you have changed. You’ll break his neck? Just like that. Get

into his presence and murder him. You act as though you have no moral responsibility at all.”

“Loreosa, I have thought this out for some time. It is one thing to kill a group of

horsemen who are trying to kill you, or go after a man with knife and sword swinging at your

head, and quite another to take the life of someone who is just going about their business. Even

though this person happens to be in the slaughter business. If he had killed one person, would that

justify my taking his life? What about two, or three. The figure is closer to two million but where

is the line drawn?”

Loreosa just shrugged. “These people, these humans, they just don’t deserve the gift of

life. I don’t know about drawing any lines. What I do know is that a million and more deaths far

exceeded any line drawn by anyone. I know Ogodai has to go. If our information is correct, and

you know it is. It was drawn from the very minds of the Mongol leaders so it has to be correct.

Their armies are going to retreat back to Mongolia en masse and the Mongol invasion will end.

That means not only saving more lives, it would mean the saving of Europe at the very least.

“This planet, this reality, is truly beyond my understanding, and I suspect yours as well.

These humans kill at the least provocation, for reasons that have nothing to do with the slaughter.

Their armies kill each other as though they were exterminating bugs. The slightest difference

between peoples and one wants to either enslave or slaughter the other.

“Let’s get on with it. If you don’t want to kill Ogodai, I will. Let’s get it done and get

back to London.”

I had to agree.

Gaining entrance to the Khan’s palace was easily accomplished as there were workmen

everywhere. Torches lit the courtyard and interior to a brightness approaching discomfort for us

both. In the great hall we were approached by a Mongol soldier. Peeking into his mind I

discovered his name was Tementai. As temen was the Mongol word for ten thousand, and the

pre-fix tai indicated ‘of the,’ I rightly assumed that Tementai was a Mongol general in command

of a regiment of Mongol Cavalry. I flashed a strong command into his mind hoping a singular

directive would get through better than string of words. “Sleep.” I thrust in with the

hypnopiercing.

Next thing we knew was that Tementai was lying on the Palace floor, asleep. But we

could put him to better use than that. I then implanted a strong suggestion. “Stand and take these

two to the Great Khan. He is awaiting them. Do it now!”

Soon we were in the presence of Ogodei, the Great Khan of Mongolia, and half the

civilized world as well. Tementai was backing slowly out of the room. Loreosa, with a simple

hypnopiercing told him to forget he had seen us and to go back to what he was doing prior to our

meeting. Ogodei was a tall, stately man. Thin moustache and a pointed chin beard four fingers

long. His eyes were strong and deep set with a typical oriental epicanthic fold that gave the

appearance of an extra lid. He exuded power and like many men of great authority expected

obedience to his slightest wish.

His surprise at two strangers in his private chambers was obvious. Before he could speak

Loreosa thrust a command into his mind but it was blocked much to her surprise. She looked at

me in confusion and I held up two fingers, she nodded in agreement. We both thrust into his mind

and this time succeeded, Ogodei, son of Genghis Khan, fell to the floor, his suddenly paralyzed

knees unable to keep him upright. I walked behind him and with a quick twist of his head the

deed was done. I picked him up and sat him on a nearby couch so that it looked as if he had been

stricken with some malady and had died.

Taking Loreosa’s hand we strolled out of the palace in much the same way that we had

entered. Soon we were standing on the barren plane, outside the perimeter of Yurts surrounding

the high wall that protected the city.

Sinking into the ground we once again were speeding through the earth, this time

however back to that place we considered home. The only evidence we had been there were two

long robes laying on the ground alongside two pairs of shoes, a fur cap, and a tall hat made of

wood bark and covered with silk.

CHAPTER SIX

Holding hands while still grounded gave me entrée into Loreosa’s mind. I didn’t even

bother knocking nine times but interjected a thought, the events of the last few days had taken

much out of me and I badly needed rest.

“Loreosa, when we reach the area of the palace I’m going to remain grounded for a few

days, I’m really tired. The only thing that will get me up to the surface is a lightning storm and

the surface I fear, is clear.”

“What makes you think I’m brimming with energy Zyclo? I’ll stay right here at your side.

Let’s make it a full week. Things should be all right for everyone in the kingdom. After all, we just

brought them peace.”

And so we stayed grounded, absorbing earth’s energy. People of this reality called their

planet ‘Mother’ earth. To Loreosa and me earth was truly a mother. We gained all of our

sustenance from her. I went into that state of mind where you are one with the earth. I was the

earth. I could sense the insects, the very molecules of earth sang to me while I floated in a kind of

ecstatic limbo.

I would occasionally squeeze the hand of Loreosa but would get no response. She was

deep as well. The week went by in a blink and I felt a squeeze of my hand. “Hello.” I sent her.

I received a salutation in return, albeit sounded like a sleepy one. “Want to stay grounded

a few more days?” I asked.

“No. We’ve had enough. I think we’re pretty much fully charged. Let’s head back up.”

We waited until that quiet time between midnight and dawn and then floated up and into

the room Loreosa had prepared for just the thing we were doing. We donned the clothes hanging

on the wall waiting for us and opened the door to the courtyard where we found—chaos.

It was a deep, dark night for humans but Loreosa and I could see perfectly well, and

clearly. The Keep was littered with bodies. Knights with bloodied armor and arms askew lay

among the castle guard. We ran out to the Bailey and found more of the same.

I looked up to the parapet and slung over the battlements were more bodies. The only

sound to be heard was the whining of a dog somewhere. I felt a sinking feeling as I looked at the

bewildered face of Loreosa.

“What? What has happened?” I simply shook my head. I had no idea.

“Margaret!” Loreosa screamed out, calling for one of her ladies in waiting. But there was

no answer. The palace seemed to be deserted.

I threw my mind out in every direction within the castle walls but encountered not a

single response. Suddenly I had a terrifying thought. Fear gripped me like a vise. I looked at

Loreosa and said, “Johnson! And Gloria. I must get to my palace, now.”

“Let’s go, I’m coming with you.” She answered forcefully. And off we went. It was just

moments late when we arrived. The outer courtyard was much the same with carnage filling

every doorway. It seemed that every window opening had a body hanging from it.

I ran into the great hall like a maniac and taking in a massive breath I screamed at the top

of my voice. “Gloria! Johnson. Gloria, where are you?”

To no avail. The castle was empty as well. I swept through the castle with a mindline. My

mind whipped around in a circle searching for something, anything. The circle widened and then,

suddenly, I felt something. A thought, a grain of a thought, a person in pain, in anguish. It was a

person hiding. I feathered into his mind and did a quick hypnopiercing. Wanting an abreaction I

introduced the thought that he was there at the scene, as an observer. “What do you sense? What

do you see?”

After a few moments I clearly heard a statement that brought me to my knees. The words

entered my mind slowly, one clear word at a time. Each one hammering on me. “I am warden of

the North Turret. It is a lonely post. I fall asleep. I am awakened by a commotion in the outer

courtyard. Everyone is shouting. I look down from the turret and see knights in armor. There is

the ringing of sword on sword. There are body parts and blood everywhere. Princess Gloria is

screaming, I see a knight with an infant under his arm…”

“Stop!” I yelled out loud. “Stop.” And in what was a bare whisper in the mind I thought

out. “I don’t want to hear any more.”

I had a strong connection with my son and reached my mind out in all directions but

received not even a thread in return. I did the same with Gloria and got a cloudy mass of pain and

fear, great fear; and great anguish as well. Gloria was alive. “Where are you?” I feathered out,

but she doesn’t know. All I receive in return is bleak despair, and blackness.

I looked at Loreosa, despondent and unwilling to discover what I must. She said quietly,

“Let me try.”

After a short time she said, “Gloria is in a dungeon. It’s in the palace of Geoffrey

Palmer.”

Lord Geoffrey, general of the fourth army and one of my trusted knights. But why?

Breaking all my well intentioned rules I first found Lord Geoffrey then feathered into his

mind and then without regard to any harm it might cause I slid into his mind with a thunderous

piercing. He would have a massive headache when I finished but that would be the least of his

problems. I wanted to be in his presence when I questioned him and so I simply asked, “Where

are you?”

“In my quarters at the Palace.” Was the thought I received. In a flash Loreosa and I sped

through the city to the private rooms of Lord Geoffrey Palmer. We strode through the front gate

and scattered knights and the private guard about without a thought as to injuring them.

Just short of the great room stood six knights, five abreast and one fully armored

swordsman standing with a wicked smile on his face in front of the five. Loreola was alongside

me. The knights expected us to stop, or at the very least slow down as we got closer but we

started to sprint towards them. We hit the swordsman in front at a full run. He flew backwards

over the heads of the five knights he was standing in front of. I heard a crackling and saw that

Loreosa had thrown a high voltage bolt at the two of the knights. I turned to the three remaining

knights who saw what happened to their companions. They screamed, threw their swords to the

ground and took off at a run, as fast as their armor would allow, one of them kept screaming for

his mother, which I found strange. But I was not in the mood for bestowing mercy. I threw ten

thousand volts at them and the three simply exploded. The knight that had first been struck now

had a look of horror on his face. He was so frightened at what he had witnessed he had wet

himself and he crawled on the floor with his hands clasped around the back of his head repeating

the word ‘mercy’ over and over again. I gave him the same mercy that I gave the others and we

turned back to the door.

Soon we were in the rooms of Lord Geoffrey Palmer. There was a woman, obviously

titled from her dress, who neither of us knew. Geoffrey was taken aback by our sudden

appearance. “How did you get past my guard?”

“Never mind that,” I said. “Where is Princess Gloria?”

He harrumphed, “Princess?”

Something was going on that I didn’t yet understand. “Who are you?” I asked nodding at

the woman standing next to him.”

“Allow me to present,” he said taking the woman by the arm who stepped forward with a

haughty look at me and a sneer that she directed at Loreosa, “Isabelle Valois, Countess Isabelle

Valois, and cousin to the rightful Queen, Eleanor the fair maid of Brittany.”

And so it became clear. I had neglected to pierce all the minds that had been linked to the

royal family of England. The Countess Isabelle, residing as she did in France had missed the

sweeping hypnopiercing that Loreosa as Queen had undertaken. And because of that blunder I

have lost the most important person in my life, Johnson, my son. I felt a great sadness as I looked

at the pair in front of me. It was a mistake that I would regret many times over the years—one

that could not be rectified. What I could do however was to at the very least rescue my lady

Gloria, who was still by my reckoning a princess of the realm.

“Where is Princess Gloria?” Loreosa asked.

“Princess?” Geoffrey repeated with a sneer.

I stared at him. I could feel an anger building in me that was storing voltage to shake the

rafters of the Palace were I to release it. Loreosa felt it as well and took my arm gently. She

replied first, “Sir Geoffrey.”

“Lord Palmer to you whoever you are.” He interjected.

“Very well, Lord Palmer.” Loreosa said. “There is much you do not know. And more that

you are totally unaware of. We had a mission. That mission was to save Europe, and England,

and the rest of the empire, from the Mongol invasion. That mission has been accomplished. Now

we only wish to leave you and go in peace. But before we do that we must speak with Princess

Gloria.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What mission? The Mongols weren’t going to

invade us. The word is they are heading for Rome. I think you’re both mad. As far as speaking

with Gloria or whatever her name is, you’ll speak to her all right.” And then, raising his voice he

shouted; “Guard!”

The door burst open and a pair of overlarge knights ran into the room and took both

Loreosa and myself by our arms and none too gently. Had we been of human descent the

roughness may well have caused damage. We allowed ourselves to be taken to a dungeon below

the castle keep. It was bright enough for us to see but the guards needed a candle as torches were

forbidden in the dungeons. The light from a torch might have given the prisoners a brief moment

of questionable pleasure in that they could suddenly see something of their surroundings.

An iron grated door was opened by a guard and we were thrown in. Gloria sat huddled in

a corner. The room was bare of furnishings. Just four stone walls musty with dripping sheets of

water. The floor was sodden with moisture and you could hear the squeaking of rats not far away.

I went to her directly and cradled my princess in my arms. Loreosa stood in a corner and it was

obvious to me she was examining all the minds within the Palace. My attention was given solely

to Gloria who had melted sobbing into my arms.

“They, they, kk killed him.” She sobbed. “They took him from me and they killed him.

Oh husband,” she cried, “a soldier stuck a sword into his little body. The last word he said was

daddy. He was calling for you, but you weren’t, you weren’t there. You weren’t there. Oh

husband, if only you had been there to protect us. He’s gone. My dear, sweet little angel is gone.”

My energies were stimulated by the anger I felt and modified by my sadness. But mixed

with compassion for my human wife I held back the thunder for fear of destroying the entire land.

I picked Gloria up and heard her gasp in pain, I nodded to Loreosa who, with a flick of

her hand, shot a five thousand volt charge at the barred door. It flew into a thousand pieces and

we walked up the circular stone stair case until another bolted door at the top of the stairs suffered

the same fate. The door opened into the inner ward, lit by hundreds of torches, where we found

numerous knights and guards. Some at full attention as though for an inspection and some at rest.

Lord Geoffrey was in front of the troops. When the door exploded he turned and drew his sword

yelling for his guards to follow him.

I handed Gloria over to Loreosa who took her without a word. Turning to the mob of

knights with Geoffrey at their front who were rushing towards me, I charged. My body was like a

ball of iron. I struck Geoffrey chest to chest and carried him back with momentum about fifty

feet. When I stopped to turn he simply sighed and slid to the ground unconscious, but alive.

Picking up the nearest soldier to me I threw him into the air and grabbed his ankles. Spinning him

around and around like a child’s merry-go-round I moved into the ranks of knights. Bodies flew

hither and yon like leaves in a strong wind. The soldier I had by the ankles was long past fear or

thoughts of escape. His head had knocked into the Keeper of the Guard and both were quickly

dispatched. I threw the unfortunate aside and started throwing high voltage bolts.

I threw bolts left and right and with every bolt knights of Sir Geoffrey’s employ

exploded. I shouted my anguish and noted a group of fifteen knights huddled in a corner. Walking

toward them I saw they had dropped all weapons and were huddled into a tight pack. I stopped

about twenty feet in front of them. I drew my right hand back and as I threw a twenty thousand

volt charge I yelled as loud as I could my son’s name, “John...son.” The charge was enhanced by

my anger, the bolt turned the whole group into a flaming torch that quickly fizzled into an ash.

My anger knew of no boundaries and when I was finished there were over a hundred men

lying dead on the floor of the ward.

Lord Geoffrey had come back to consciousness and was cowering in a dark corner. He

looked open mouthed at the carnage I had created. I was not appeased. Leaping over the bodies I

grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to me. He screamed in fear and his body shook with

terror. Ignoring his screams I leaned over and sliced his neck with my hardened gum. His exposed

jugular was pumping blood with every beat of his heart. I calmly watched the blood flow out. His

eyes were fluttering madly and his screams were settling into a quiet tranquility. Finally, the

blood came no more, his heart had stopped pumping. Lord Geoffrey Palmer was no longer in this

world.

There was a strong note of terror I was getting an impression of. I looked up to one of the

tower windows and saw the Countess Isabelle Valois standing on the other side of the stone sill,

horror stricken. She had witnessed it all.

She was the author of all this.

With a growl I leapt the two stories onto the window sill. The Countess moved

backwards so quickly she tripped over her train. Screaming she scrambled on all fours trying to

crawl away from me. It was like a worm trying to outrun a rabbit.

I was awash with anger and lunacy. In my madness I picked her up and threw her, with

all my considerable strength, out of the window. She flew through it with a piercing scream,

fairly flying to the other side of the ward and crashed into the battlement with a great thud, then to

fall to the ground a twisted, doll like figure, smashed to pieces. Finally, my anger subsided—I

walked slowly down the passage way, and with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes, stood once

again with Loreosa, my Queen, and Gloria, my princess.

Gloria lay there breath coming in jagged gasps. Many of her ribs had been broken and

she was in great pain. I stroked her beautiful hair and tried my best to make her comfortable but

the damage done by Geoffrey’s knights was too much. I lifted her as gently as I could, she looked

at me with a weak smile, closed her eyes, and expired.

I howled like a wolf in distress. What little comfort I had received in this reality was

gone. There was nothing left for me now but anger and pain. I was saved from myself by

Loreosa.

“Zyclo, please calm yourself. We have suffered a great loss. You more so than I. When

you love and they leave as they invariably do, there is a hole in your soul. Sometimes for a little

while and sometimes for a long while. How much more so for a loved wife, and how much more

so for a beloved son.

“Yes you’ll miss them, but ask yourself this Zyclo, after all the good times you gave

them would you rather never to have met Gloria at all? You elevated a poverty stricken farm girl

enslaved to the land and at the mercy of every villain to come her way; you raised her from that to

a royal princess. Would you rather have not ever met her? And what of the child? You created

him. If it weren’t for you he would never have seen any part of what he saw in his too short span

of life. But it was a life span. Would you rather he had never had any of that? Would you take

away the love you gave to him for almost 3 years? I think not. Grieve if you must, but then, let it

go.”

I listened to the words. I realized she was right but I was numbed by the events, I said to

her, “I must go to ground Loreosa. Join me or don’t join me but I must get away from these

people, this country, this reality. I swear if Nelso Narga were here now I would find a way to

destroy him. He caused all this by sending us here in the first place. One day I will find him, and

then he will pay; oh how he will pay.

“I’m going to ground for a century Loreosa, and in another country. Perhaps all this will

have changed by then.”

She nodded, there was nothing for her here either. “What country?” she asked.

I didn’t know. Narga sent us to England. I wanted to get as far from that country as

possible but I wasn’t familiar with the geography of the other side of the vast oceans on this

planet. Then I had a thought.

“Let’s go to ground and speed through the earth for twelve hours. We’ll come up to the

surface and wherever we find ourselves, that’s where we will stay. Let chance guide us.”

She nodded in agreement. We would do it. Little did we know at that time that the idea of

letting chance guide us didn’t come from me, but from our nemesis Nelso Narja.

Loreosa took my had as we settled into the earth, turned horizontal and sped off and away

from the island we had called home for three years. Where we would wind up neither of us could

know but after hours of inner earth traveling we finally came to a stop and turned vertical. I

wanted to rid myself of every vestige of our last sojourn and so we stayed that way, in the ground,

for two hundred years.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I felt it, Loreosa did as well. I sensed her hand at my side and grasped it gently with a soft

squeeze. The earth was as a thick fog to my senses and indeed when we moved through the earth

it truly was as though we moved through fog.

I feathered into her mind and said, “It’s time.”

Her answer came immediately, “Yes.”

And slowly we rose to the surface. What would we find after two hundred years and

where exactly would we be? Language was no problem as we both had the ability to flick through

a persons mind and in a minute we not only knew much about the person but we also knew the

language. We sensed that night had fallen on the surface. I would have to do something about the

sensitivity of our eyes. Some sort of smoked glass would do the trick. When my head broke

through the ground I looked about but saw nothing but forest. There was not even the hint of a

clue as to where we were.

Soon we were on the ground. First thing we required was clothing. We could move

through earth like a breeze in a fog but clothing couldn’t. That was always left behind and new

clothes had to be found at the new place. Neither of us was disturbed by the nakedness of the

other. On Clanzith there was not a jots worth of difference between one part of the body or

another. Clothing was worn for warmth, or for style, never for modesty. Of course bodies were

seen differently during Yeegal, both for the woman, and her chosen mate. Then every part of the

body was erotic and sensuous.

I searched the immediate area for signs of life but there were none. In the distance there

was brightness as if many torches were lit and many torches meant habitation. We stood facing

the direction of the city and we both feathered out until we touched other minds. It was a city with

many inhabitants. As we pierced a variety of minds we discovered the ruling class similar to what

we knew in England. There was royalty, and there was a king but these people were totally

different from the European in that the religion called for the taking of a pure organ from a living

body in sacrifice to an unknown god. Strange indeed are these humans. Well we were there,

wherever ‘there’ was, and neither of us wished to go back to the European way of life. And so,

we struck out towards the light to see how to integrate ourselves into this new society.

Approaching the city we noted tall pyramid like structures elaborately designed with

figures in tall feathered hats. Whipping through the group I noted vast numbers. Much larger than

London. There appeared to be hundreds of thousands of people in the city surrounding the

pyramids. Feathers were noted everywhere and we wondered if these people were bird

worshipers. There was the muted sound of chanting and getting closer we noted thousands of

people, many bare from waist to chin with only a strap like band crisscrossed over the chest. We

had come at a time when there was some traditional ritual going on. The women were more fully

clothed but here and there were what appeared to be youngsters in a trance like state. Indeed,

upon entering the mind of some of these teenagers I saw that they had indeed been placed in an

artificial trance state helped along by a strong drug. Hundreds were to be seen in a great column

moving up the pyramid structure all in that trance like state; all muttering a monotonous chanting.

Torches on every step of the pyramid made the area almost too bright for us. There were lines of

white robed females slowly climbing to the top where a cadre of what turned out to be priests of

the realm were waiting for them. Both Loreosa and I were puzzled by all this and even after

piercing a few minds we were still confused by what lay in front of us. The females climbed in

cadence to the monotonous chanting that sounded like ohma, ohma, ohma, repeated over and over

again.

It was obviously some sort of ritual. Curiosity got the better of us and we moved in to be

among the group. Before that however we had to avail ourselves of clothes. This time I didn’t

hesitate for a moment. My guilt feelings about using hypnopiercing had long been left behind. I

saw a young couple about the size of Loreosa and myself and soon we appeared as did everyone

else. Our light skin and almost white hair did cause us to stand out and so we pulled a cowl down

over our heads looking for all the world like white beaked eagles. No one paid any attention to us

though as all eyes were focused on the top of the pyramid.

There was a stone platform, waist high, in front of a man with a large multicolored

feather hat perched on his head. On the platform a female stripped to the hips lay. I looked at

Loreosa and whispered, “Some sort of sex ritual.”

She nodded but we were mistaken as the man, apparently a priest of some sort, raised a

stone dagger showing it to all at the bottom of the pyramid. Much to the shock and surprise of

Loreosa and I, he quickly made a deep slice at her ribs and pushing a gloved hand into the cut he

grabbed at an organ and with a sharp scream he yanked out the girl’s heart and held it up for all to

see. The female, deeply drugged, had not uttered a sound during this fantastic incident.

The chanting grew louder as the heart, thrown to the steps by the priest, bounced down

the pyramid and two men dragged the body of the woman to the back of the pyramid to be thrown

down the steps onto a pile of heartless, broken bodies. Another maiden took her place on the

stone platform and the scene was repeated. We watched aghast as the line of young women took

their places on the platform. Soon there was a pile of hearts, red with blood, at the bottom of the

pyramid and a crew of priests gathered them up and placing them in a sack they offered the hearts

up to one of their gods.

I whispered again to Loreosa, “I think we had better either go to ground again, or find

another country to settle in. I don’t believe I care for this society, wherever this is.

“I agree.” She answered. We turned away from the city and soon found ourselves back at

the spot we had come up from our grounding. I took Loreosa’s hand and as we were about to sink

into the earth there was a shattering of thunder and a deep voice penetrated my mind.

The sound of the voice in our minds was overwhelming. I could not block it. Loreosa

heard it as well. Her hand squeezed mine with a force I did not know she was capable of.

“You will not leave.” The voice said.

The intonation was vaguely familiar. I had heard that voice before, but not in my mind.

The memory tugged at me but it wouldn’t come.

“Who is this? Who are you?” I asked.

“Why professor Ryketoo, surely you recognize me. Let me help, does a broken vase give

you a hint? Or perhaps I should say a cracked pot. Does that help you to identify me?”

And with that a man stepped out from behind a thick tree and stood in front of us, a very

large grin on his face. It was Nelso Narja.

Without a seconds thought I flung myself at him, hands outstretched aiming at his throat.

But he side stepped me as easily as I would a human.

“Come come Professor. Surely you have figured out by now what I am.”

After two hundred years of absorbing earth’s energy I was more powerful than at any

other time in my life. I gathered my strength and threw twenty five thousand volts at him. Illegal

on Clanzith but we were on earth, and I was angry.

Loreosa, standing alongside of me had, almost in synchrony with my blast, thrown her

own bolt. Narja just flicked them aside with the turn of a hand and said dryly, “When you are

through playing I would like to speak with you.”

My anger and frustration were calming. It was obvious; he was too strong for us. I closed

my eyes and with all my power thrust a piercing into his mind that would have sent any

Clanzithan to his knees, or to a medical facility. But his mind was like a block of tutonium. My

thrust just bounced away leaving him staring at me. “Any other toys you would like to use?” he

asked.

I was beat. I just shook my head. Loreosa moved in to me and held my hand. We were

defeated. Standing with heads bowed for a moment I finally looked up and at him. His eyes

seemed to be all pupils. I had never noticed that before. His skin was shades darker than mine, I

had not noticed that either. Finally I again asked, “Who are you?”

“I am as you see your old pupil Nelso Narja. Perhaps a better question for you to ask is,

‘What are you?’.”

“All right then, what are you?”

Narja smiled and said, “As you might have suspected, I am not a Clazithan. And also as

you may have suspected, I am a seven dimensional being. I will not go into what that means as

the explanation would make not a jot of sense to you. Suffice it to say that I have abilities, skills,

and powers beyond your understanding as well.”

“What do you want from us? And why have you sent us to this universe, this planet, this

time? Is there a reason for this torment of Loreosa and myself?”

He nodded sagely, “There is a reason.”

We were in a clearing. Thick trees surrounded us. In the distance we could still hear a

dim chanting as the sacrifices of the maidens continued. A night bird screeched his displeasure at

being disturbed. Narja looked up at the sound. He then reached to the ground and picked up a

handful of dirt letting it stream through his fingers back to the ground. “This dirt, this land, this

place, is a pet project of mine. I come from a far part of the galaxy that mirrors the one that

Clanzith is a small part of. We too are electrical in body as are the pair of you. We too have the

ability to feather and pierce into minds, but we of Shalmira, my home planet have these abilities

to a greater degree than do you. So you see we are very much the same you and I.”

“We’re not the same. So you’re from Shalmira, another world. But that still tells us

nothing. You said you work with a seventh dimension. What is that?”

“That my friends is the very large difference between yourselves and I. You see, my kind

have the ability to not only travel instantly between universes. We also have the ability to control

time. But I should really explain that. I can’t control time as you would think it but only the time

extant on a particular universe.

“As you know from your involvement with infinite mathematics there is an infinity of

universes. This universe you find yourself in has a veritable hall of mirrors of duplicates. Some

are set before time began; some are tenth century, some twelfth century, and some thirty fifth

century. Whatever can be imagined in an infinite setting, is—somewhere. My race has the ability

to not only travel to any of those settings; we have the ability to send others there as well. I don’t

control time, but I can sense the time period a universe is going through. To put it simply, not that

you need simplicity, but I want you to be clear on this, there are a multitude of universes where

Ogodai did not die. And on those worlds the Mongols conquered all of Europe, killing the pope

and destroying the Christian religion. There are also universes where there was no Ogodai.

“Infinity.”

I still could not fathom my part in Nelso Narga’s scheme of things and said so. “What has

this got to do with Loreosa and me?”

“In my reality Professor, and of course I am addressing you as well Loreosa, we have

everything. I live in a perfect world. We have conquered the elements, dispensed with disease,

eliminated crime, we control our birth rate, have lengthened our life span, we manipulate the

weather, and all things in our reality are under our control. In short, we are bored and find

ourselves uninterested in anything. It has been that way for over five thousand years. You are

actually heading in that direction on Clanzith.

“It was fourteen hundred years ago that our great prophesier Jalo Malloofooroo created

the Great Competition. That discovery saved our civilization.”

“Competition?” I questioned. “What has that got to do with us?”

“Let me explain, although it is bending the rules somewhat, I believe you have earned it.

Once each millennium the Great Competition takes place on Shalmira. Our world is divided into

two continents. The East Continent and the West Continent. At the axis of the planet is the North

Island and the rulers of our world. They pick a planet in a universe that is at the mid point of their

cycle of growth. This time the planet chosen was Earth. The control planet Earth was in a parallel

section of the planet you are now on. That control planet was in the 22nd century of their time

reckoning.

“After the control Earth is selected, two identical planets, identical in every way except

for the time periods are selected. We call these the Changeling Earths. As there is infinite choice

this is no problem. We then send a group of people, sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes

more, in your case it was two, to Changeling Earth One, and another pair to Changeling Earth

Two. They make changes as directed and when the Changeling Planets reach their 22nd century

we note the cultures and the peoples of the planet. Whichever CPs, or Changeling Planets come

closest to the control Earth is the victor. Our lord judges decide who wins the competition, East or

West continent. I am from the East Continent, and I have the responsibility for Changeling Earth

One, where we are now. My counterpart, Finnara Swyyythnos is responsible for Changeling

Earth Two.”

I was beginning to understand but there had to be a bit more clarity.

“Let me get this straight Narja. There are three planets, in three different universes that

are identical in every way. Same size, same people, same weather, same everything. One of the

three is in the year 2,100 by their reckoning. The other two planets are in the year, what?”

“Whatever. In your case, Changeling Earth One, we started in the year 1,239.”

“How about in Changeling Earth Two?”

“They also began in the year 1,239. All competitions begin at the same time. It is up to

the directors to see to it that the years chosen are important enough to have historical significance

if changes are made.

“In your case a major historical change has already happened. When you killed Ogodai,

you stopped the Mongol invasion and the Vatican was spared. A significant change that will have

a dramatic effect in 2,100.”

I was beginning to understand but much escaped me still. “But how could you know I

would kill Ogodai? Or for that matter, why I would even care about the Mongols and their

conquests.”

“I didn’t know. I am your director but I could only see to it that you are in the way of it.

We have elaborate rules that must be followed; at this first stage I can only manipulate you so

much.”

“What do you mean first stage. Is there a hierarchy here?”

“There are two more stages. The next stage you get a specific assignment.”

“Why me? And why Loreosa?”

“Our board looks over all applicants very thoroughly. You two were chosen as ideal for

our side. You should be pleased, we examined ten thousand applicants from more than 50

universes before we decided on you.”

“I didn’t apply.”

“When you became a Professor of infinite mathematics the application was automatic.”

“But what about you becoming my student, and the pi sequential and all that business?”

Nelso Narja smiled at that. “It was only a means of giving you hope. If you believed there

was a way to get back to your home planet by simply spouting off a few numbers you would not

give up.”

“Then there is no pi sequential?”

“It’s nonsense Professor. I sent you here with a simple technique that anyone in my

reality can do. However, I promise you this. Do the best you can in a few more cultures and I will

see to it you are both back on Clanzith in your old professions. Or if you wish, as a reward, we

will allow you to choose any reality, in any of the infinite universes at any time period. That I

promise you, and that my friend is a really good reward.”

“Where are we now Narja? It seems very primitive. What kind of a people cut out organs

from living females? I shudder when I think of the sight we just witnessed.”

“That is the culture that you are here to destroy.”

“I suppose I could do that with a few hundred bolts of about a thousand volts each.”

“Sorry Professor, but you cannot do that?”

“Why not, destruction is destruction. No matter how you do it something winds up

destroyed and someone winds up dead.”

Narja shook his head and looked me right in the eyes. “The competition rules forbid

anything like you suggest except in the case of a life threatening situation. Do what you suggest

and the survivors will see you as a god and worship you. No Professor you will have to use your

powers in a less visible way.

“How?”

“I am going to put you in the way of a man. A conqueror. His name is Hernán Cortés. He

has an army of 800. The name of the man you are going to help him to defeat is Montezuma who

is the head of the Aztec nation, he has an army of 200,000. That is your next task. And I should

tell you, everyone on Shalmira will be watching your every move. We have developed the

holoplane to a vast degree. All Shalmirans have two of them, one for your reality, and another for

your competition.”

“Who is our competition?”

“It is not necessary for you to know. You are not competing with them in any case, you

two are just going to do the best you can. I believe in you Zyclo, if I may call you that. I’m sure I

made the right choice when I influenced the supreme director to use you and Loreosa.”

I nodded. The reality of the situation was just beginning to dawn on me. “One other

question Narja. Loreosa and I left England and sped through the earth randomly, when we

stopped traveling it was my idea to stay in the ground for two hundred years. How did you know

we would wind up here, and now?”

He chuckled. “What makes you think it was random? Also I might add, what makes you

think it was your idea?” And with that he just disappeared.

I looked at Loreosa and sighed. She just shrugged. Neither of us quite knew what to say.

In the distance there was the sound of muted chanting. Neither of us cared to visit the pyramid

area again.

After thinking about the conversation with Narja I just sunk into the ground and Loreosa

followed suit. Absorbing the conversation would take a week in the ground at the very least. A

full understanding however would be a long time in coming. And so once again we nested, it was

ten days before we felt a strong pull. We turned to the horizontal and whisked ourselves through

the earth for a short while then turned vertical and slowly we rose until we were once again on the

surface.

We came up at the southern end of the valley of Mexico. As would always be the case it

was deep into the night when we arrived. I vowed that this time I would find some means of

darkening a piece of glass and fashioning it into a pair of spectacles for myself and for Loreosa.

In the distance there was that familiar brightness lighting the sky that indicated a habitation of

some sort. While I was examining our surroundings, Loreosa was lashing out to feather the area

minds. I waited for her report, it being more polite than merging my mind into hers to get the

information first hand.

She was aware of that and would no doubt have been surprised had she felt any intrusion

by me. After a few moments she said, “How’s your Spanish?”

I laughed. She was picking up the habits of the planet. “Hang on one second.” I said and

feathered out until I touched the mind of one of the humans not far off. Piercing in I focused on

that part of the brain where memories were stored, there too I found vocabulary and language

skills. I simply sucked them in mentally and absorbed it. “As good as yours.” I said, in Spanish,

with a grin.

Learning a language for a Clanzithan was simply a matter of piercing the mind, focusing

on language skills and the information is automatically copied and transferred into our own

minds.

“What’s going on there?” I asked.

“Well Zyclo, there are a lot of soldiers; about three or four hundred I would guess, but

not many horses. These people are definitely not Mongols. I get the idea that they came in boats

and can’t wait to get back to their homes in Spain, and Cuba.”

“Where’s Cuba?” I asked.

“It’s an island a whole lot closer than Spain. Apparently these people colonized it and

claimed it for Spain. I didn’t get any impressions of English colonization but that doesn’t mean

there aren’t any English colonies.”

“Don’t feel too bad Loreosa, you’re not the Queen of England any longer.”

“I know, I know, but once, once there was a Queen Loreosa, if even for a moment or two

and I have to admit, it was nice, I kind of miss it a little. It’s not everyone who gets to be a Queen,

even if only for a moment of time.”

A far away look came into her eyes and she sighed and said, “OK Zyclo, that’s enough

nostalgia, let’s get our job done. I would suggest we just walk into the camp like we belong there

and see what happens. If I have to twist a few minds in the process I will. Let me take care of

that, knowing how you feel about hypnopiercing.”

We strolled towards that camp as though we were sent by King Charles himself but as we

approached the perimeter Loreosa whispered to me, “Zyclo, we don’t have any clothes on.”

Sure enough. After all that time nesting under a hundred feet of earth we felt perfectly

comfortable au natural. However, I wasn’t sure of how the Spaniards would greet us if we

suddenly showed up naked in their midst. Especially so with respect to Loreosa. I should explain

that to a human, even the plainest of Clanzithans would be a sensation. As we have no colonic

system or stomach, our bodies are what would be seen on planet earth as absolute perfection. But

Loreosa, whose body contours even on Clanzith would drop a lower jaw or two at first sight, here

on earth, no telling what kind of a response it would cause. In England, as Duchess, or Queen, no

one commented nor would they dare, but here in Mexico she would surely become a matter of

rapt attention.

Loreosa was close to two meters in height and held herself regally. As I once heard one

of her fellow students exclaim, ‘She looks like she’s scratching the sky with her head.’ Blemish

free skin as light as the moon at dusk and large eyes with pupils of watered blue outlined by

eyebrows and lashes of gold. I had shaped her gums with obsidian mixed with arrowroot to create

the impression of perfect teeth and along with her high cheek bones and light golden hair, it was

easy to see how she could pass for Aphrodite in this superstitious time. Add to that a tiny waist,

perfectly formed breasts, and a body any woman would trade ten years of her life to have and you

can imagine my consternation. We needed clothes immediately.

There was a rustling of grass and approaching us was a Spanish soldier dragging a native

girl roughly by the arm into the darkness of the trees. She was sobbing, he laughing. And there in

front of us was our clothing. Loreosa jabbed him so hard with a hypnopiercing he flew backwards

off his feet. Getting up he stripped and handed me each article of clothing in turn until I was the

soldier, and he the naked stranger. He then walked back into the encampment, no doubt to tell an

interesting tale to his friends as hypnopiercing does involve a good deal of memory loss. The

native girl watched all this, took a long look at the regal form of Loreosa and fell to her knees

with her head tapping on the ground. I quickly pierced her mind going straight to the language

circuit and felt Loreosa doing the same. It took only a few moments to get her language, she was

a Totonac. I asked in Nahuatl. “Who are you girl?”

After getting no response I gently feathered her mind but to no avail she was so terrified

at actually seeing gods, her mental processes were jumbled.

Loreosa picked her from the ground, tenderly as would a mother with a week old infant,

and with a hand under the girl’s chin said, “Do not be afraid. We have not come to harm you.

Now girl, answer the question. Who are you?”

With head bowed we heard, in the softest of tones, more in our minds than in actuality,

“Malitzin, lord. I am a servant to the metal gods.”, referring to the armor of the Spaniards.

“Very well Malitzin,” I said, “you are no longer a servant of the metal gods. You are now

our servants.”

She prostrated herself once again and with her forehead on the ground said, “Yes lord.”

I must admit, it is so much more satisfying when a follower is not tampered with.

Especially a follower such as we found in Malitzin. We purposely kept out of her mind and

except for going in that one time for the language we pretty much stayed away from feathering

her in any way.

“Malitzin,” Loreosa commanded, “you will find clothing to cover my entire body, and a

headpiece. The clothing must be from a female of high Totonac rank.”

With that Malitzin ran off like a gazelle. I smiled at Loreosa and sat down at the foot of a

tree. I was looking forward to helping this woman who was beginning to fit me like a fine glove.

Malitzin returned with an array of colorful clothing. I helped Loreosa and although it was

perfectly clear she was quite capable of doing it herself she allowed me to dress her. I must say I

enjoyed it more than a little. Soon we were finished, only a long scarf like wide orange band

remained. Malitzin wound it around the waist of Loreosa and slung the remaining portion over

her shoulder. Loreosa did indeed look regal in the outfit.

“Where did you get this?” Malitzin was asked.

“Princess Mayahuel had me repair it. I had not yet returned it to her. I will be punished

for giving it to you.”

Loreosa shook her head, “You will not be punished. Think now Malitzin, about Princess

Mayahuel. Think about her the last time you saw her.”

Malitzin did so and Loreosa rode the thought right into the mind of Princess Mayahuel.

She implanted a number of strong suggestions and Malitzin became the most important member

of the Princess’s staff. Before leaving the mind of Malitzin she wiped her memory of us away and

Malitzin turned from us and wandered back to her home.

It wasn’t long after that a surprised sentry saw a Totonac native, of the city of Cempoala,

with hair the color of the setting sun walking with a Spanish soldier the sentry did not quite

recognize. He was about to challenge them when suddenly he recognized Jeronimo Aguilar, one

of the confidants of Cortez. Elected Governor General by the town council of Villa Rica de la

Vera Cruz, the town that he had founded that year, Cortez was treated as a direct representative of

the King of Spain in spite of his youth, being twenty nine years of age at the time. His confidant,

the man he trusted above all others was Jeronimo Aguilar, me. I burrowed into the mind of

Cortez, and as much as I disliked doing it I implemented in the mind of Hernan Cortez, through

hypnopiercing, an association that only existed for him—thanks to the power of the fifth sense.

Soon we were in the presence of Cortez who greeted me like a long lost brother, though

he was seeing me for the very first time. I put my hands on his shoulders and we looked deep into

one another’s eyes.

“My brother.” He said. What news do you bring to me?

I felt a nudge from Loreosa and heard in my mind, “What’s he talking about?”

“Neglected to tell you my dear, he believes I’m his only confidante and trusts me

implicitly. He also believes I have great news for him. He believes the nation he wishes to

conquer has 200,000 troops. He has 450 soldiers and only a dozen horses. He thinks I have a

magic way for him to win.”

“Are you kidding Zyclo? He’s outnumbered four hundred to one? No way is he going to

prevail. Wait a minute, are you thinking of helping him?”

I nodded even though it was all feathering. “I am. After seeing that priest or whatever he

is slice up a living girl’s heart and do it again and again to hundreds more. Well, these Spanish

can’t be as bad as that. So I decided if we’re here, it’s for a reason, and that would have to be to

choose. I choose the Spaniards.”

Cortez repeated himself, “Any news?”

Loreosa asked, “What if I choose the Aztecs?”

“Well that would be interesting. But why, are you impatient to get away from me?”

“Professor, excuse me, Zyclo, I’m not impatient to get away from you but I thought we

had something more than just an adventure together.”

“More?”

“Oh never mind. For a Clanzithan with a brilliant mind you are really dense.”

“Jeronimo. Is there any news?” Cortez repeated with impatience in his tone.

“Sorry sir,” I answered. “Yes I have great and good news. I believe that I have found a

way to defeat Montezuma.”

Cortez held up a hand, “But first, tell me. Who is that ravishing creature on your arm?”

I looked at Loreosa and maybe it was the words of Cortez, or perhaps the way he said it

or the sudden gleam in his eye as he really just noticed her. Suddenly the news was the furthest

thing from his mind and so, perhaps it was a mistake, perhaps not, I wanted to see what he saw,

and feel what he was feeling, and so I feathered into his mind and immersed myself in his

thoughts. Suddenly I was looking at Loreosa as a human would. And my circuits went crazy. My

electrical circuits firing off all over the place stimulated the chemical one’s and I went into a

momentary daze.

“Er, this is ah,” and just like that, the name we had decided on escaped me. I looked at

Loreosa for help but only saw this beautiful goddess. I would never see her the same way again.

She took the hand of Hernan Cortez looked into his eyes and said “Melitzin, my name is Melitzin.

I am a Totonac princess.”

I almost choked when she said that. “Princess. Again?”

“Well Zyclo my dear you know the expression, in for a dik in for a dok.”

“Ha, ha.”

“Sorry Governor,” I said, “allow me to present the Princess Melitzin to you.” And then,

as long as we were playing around; two could play at that game. I pulled myself together and

said, “The Princess is joining us, as a matter of fact she is a major part of my plan. She is

something of a linguist and has agreed to act as your interpreter. She speaks Spanish, Mayan, and

Nahuil.

Loreosa looked at me and brought her lips together in a pout. I believe at that very

moment, and I am certain of this, it was that little pout that she directed at me that finalized it.

That, combined with what I had seen in the mind of Cortez, was the moment I knew I was in love

with this magnificent creature who had been my partner in some of the finest moments of my life.

I had never known what love was. But when I looked at Loreosa through the eyes of Cortez I

knew. I could feel Loreosa, and for the first time in just that way thanks to Governor General

Cortez. I realized what was possible for me, and only for me. I knew then that I would devote my

life, not to getting back to Clanzith, but to Loreosa Maklyyl.

Cortez brought me back to reality. “What’s the plan Jeronimo?”

An excellent question but first I needed more information. Lot’s of information. I looked

at Loreosa and winked and then I plunged once more into the mind of Hernan Cortez. He was a

cruel man but then there was not a single leader of any country on earth so far as we knew who

wasn’t. He was no better or worse than any other who has the power of life and death over their

peoples. I learned that his men were getting weary with being in one jungle after another and

fighting not only the natives but mosquitoes, gnats, heat, strange foods and the oppressive

humidity of a latitude close to the equator. It wasn’t something often undertaken but I got the

definite impression that the men were on the verge of mutiny. And the impression I received was

the one that Cortez had.

He had heard from many of his loyal guard that the men were grumbling among

themselves and wanted to get back to their homes. Some opted for Cuba and some for Spain but

virtually all of them wanted to leave Mexico. There was one sure way to keep the men in Vera

Cruz. It was really the only way.

“We must burn all the ships.” I said quickly.

He looked confused. “Burn the ships?”

“Yes. The men are getting ready to mutiny. They’re beside themselves with fear. They’re

scared of the heat, the overwhelming superiority of Montezuma, the mosquitoes, and most of all,

of you.”

“Me. Why are they afraid of me? I am their father. I give them all the things they need.”

“You give them poor food, no wages, dangerous places, and little hope. Of course they

are fearful of you. The only way out of this for them are those ships. That’s what they worship

now, not you, not the king, but those ships. Those ships are their hope. Take away the ships and

you take away hope. Then they will do whatever is asked of them. Burn the ships. Every one.”

The eyes of Cortez opened wide. “All eleven of them?”

“Every one.” I repeated.

“But how can we burn all the ships? As soon as the first one is blazing the men will row

out to protect the rest of the fleet. There’s no way to set them all afire at once.”

“Leave that to me. I will see to it.”

Cortez shook his head. “Jeronimo,” he said sadly, “it’s not possible. You have big dreams

and for that I salute you but what you propose is simply not practical.”

I left the room with a wave of my hand. “Leave it to me.” I repeated, and pointing added,

“Keep your eyes on the Southern horizon.”

I couldn’t trust any of the men to accompany me and I wanted Loreosa on land. She had

taken over Malitzin’s position in the tribe and with her golden hair and voluptuous body she

attracted much attention. Fortunately along with that beauty was an intelligence beyond any of

the natives, or the Spaniards if it were to come to that. Indeed it was all I could do to keep up with

her when we were philosophizing or intellectualizing. Keeping the bond open with Loreosa I

allowed her to feather into my minds eye so she could see everything I was seeing. This is a

dangerous procedure as the two involved become as one for a time and unless they are committed

to one another could very well damage the psyches of one or the other. But for us, it simply drew

us closer together as I suspected it would.

I took a rowboat out and declined any help from the crews. The night was black with low

lying clouds, filled with moisture, but not yet releasing any rain, they hung low over the fleet.

There was a quarter moon overhead but only strands of light filtered through. I could see

perfectly well but I knew that virtually everyone else outside of torchlight was blind.

As soon as I was sure no one could see me I pulled quickly on the oars and the small boat

skipped along as though rocket propelled. Soon I was in the center of the fleet which had

anchored in three rows, stern to the beach so as to be positioned for a change in wind or tide. The

ships were anchored fore and aft with armed guards along the beach keeping an eye on things. I

stopped rowing and positioned myself to be in bolt range of six ships of the fleet.

I stood up and threw a two thousand volt shot at the first boat. Hit it right at the center

line and a flame shot up from the deck to set all sails afire. The bolt had damaged the side and

deck of the boat severely and then with a groan the main mast fell over and into the water with a

crash. Two thousand volts were just enough, good, eleven boats; I could dispense 22,000 volts

without working up a sweat. I threw bolts at five more ships and fires raged. But now I had a

problem. The bay was as bright as day, and I was blind as a bat. With five ships to go I was

incapacitated. Nothing to do but lie down in the rowboat and put my forehead and eyes into the

crook of my arm until the fires burned down low enough so that I could see.

A voice rang out, “Ahoy, in the rowboat. Senor Jeronimo, are you all right?”

Spanish sailors frantic about the boats were all around me. “What has happened?” I

heard, and “Who did this thing?”

Then from another, “It is God’s lightning that has done this. He is telling us that half

must stay and half must go.”

And from all throats came the call, “Yes, yes, half must stay and half must go. A clear

message from God.”

We all rowed back, me being rowed this time as I was thought to be injured, the men kept

looking back, crossing themselves and muttering about half staying and half returning to Cuba,

then to Spain.

I lay in the boat, quietly listening to the arguments. I appeared to be unconscious and the

men were speaking freely. I heard José de Cardona, master of the boat speaking softly to his

friend, Diego de las Fuentes. “Diego, do you want to go back to Spain?”

There was a deep sigh, and then, “José, my father was a soldier, my grandfather was a

soldier, and I am a soldier. But we haven’t done much soldiering. We meet a band of Indios and

slaughter them like pigs. We come into contact with women and treat them like the lowest putas

of the world. I’m sick of it.

“Governor General Cortez ordered me personally to cut the right hand off an Indian girl

and I did it. I did it and I’m sick about it. I hear her screams every night in my dreams. I see her

bewildered face when she looked at the bleeding stump where her hand used to be. Do you know

what her crime was? Diego, do you know what crime she committed?”

“No how would I know? What did she do?”

“She ate a piece of chicken. She was serving our great leader a chicken stew. It turned out

she hadn’t eaten for two days and was hungry. After filling a plate for Cortez she took a small

piece of chicken and quickly popped it into her mouth, but not quick enough. Cortez saw it and

had her hand chopped off to teach the Indians you did not take food from the Governor General

without his permission.

“I tell you I do not want to fight for this man any longer. I do not even want to be one of

his conquistadors. He should rot in the same hell he sends his enemies to. As for me, I just want

to go home.”

Diego was thoughtfully silent. He too had witnessed much barbarity. When the heat of

battle, or the aftermath got his blood up he had participated in such cruelty against the mostly

hopeless natives the mental images would haunt him for many years to come.

But this time it was different, he had heard, as indeed every soldier had, that the Aztec

army was an army of a hundred thousand. And the Army of Cortez was an army of a few

hundred—with only twelve horses. And two of them sickly with the trip.

He would fight, but given the chance, he would prefer a trip to Cuba where he could have

his woman Isabella in his arms once again.

At the inlet where the fleet was anchored stood four hundred Spaniards and about the

same number of native Totonacs. It was a sight. Five ships of the small armada, the proud ships

of Spain, ablaze, crackling and sighing in the breeze that was fanning the fire to heights. The

ships were burning as though soaked in pitch.

All eyes were on the conflagration as I slowly wended my way to a dark shore and was

soon once again in the rowboat having to steer far out the bay to avoid being caught in the

brightness of the blazing ships. After a bit I came to the rest of the fleet. Six more of his majesties

ships of the line. One with twelve cannon. The ships had been a formidable weapon but as the

Aztecs did not fight on the sea and their cities were mostly inland the ships were useless save as

carriages to convey men and equipment from one place to another.

As a means of transport the ships had to go if Cortez were to have any chance at all.

Reaching my destination there were three ships to the right of me and three to the left. I started at

the far left, Two thousand volts and whump—the ship went up like a roman candle. Whump,

another two thousand volts, another roman candle. Whump, and another, whump, another,

whump still another, the night was getting too bright for me again, I put my fingers over my eyes

peeking through them to sight the last ship. I located it and squinting hard to keep out the

brightness of the fires I hurled the last bolt and wham—the eleventh ship exploded. Concussion

knocked me over. Wood and canvass rained down from the sky. It was the gunpowder ship. The

job was done. I headed back to shore and to Hernan Cortez.

Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, Vera Cruz as we all called it was more of a camp than a city

but it was a beginning. Tents were put up on the sand dunes. It was a large plain overlooking the

harbor and would some day become a major city of Mexico but when I was first there it was just

something that Cortez, along with the help of Totonac natives had built. There was still much

activity. Hundreds had been conscripted to cut down trees and build a more permanent settlement.

The Totonacs were a much conquered people most recently by the Aztecs for whom they

had no love. When the conquistadors of Cortez entered the Totonac capital city of Cempoala they

were greeted by garlands of flowers and many cheers. Here, the people thought, were their

saviors. The metal gods who would release them from the cruelty and the taxes imposed by the

Aztecs. They jumped at the chance to help build a settlement for the conquistadors who would

help them get out from under Montezuma.

Here was the way that five hundred Spanish soldiers let by Cortez could vanquish

hundreds of thousands of Aztecs led by Montezuma. The Totonacs were the key. They must be

made to fight with Cortez’s conquistadors.

The ships were gone, the men were grumbling but even the most timid among them

realized there was no choice left to them but to follow Hernan Cortez. It was either that, or the

jungle. Not a man chose to run off into that morass of damp ground, snakes, lizards, and Aztec

warriors with spears and knives ready and more than willing to take their living hearts out of their

bodies.

The ships were still smoldering in the early morning. I could get along outside as the rain

had started to patter down and the day had darkened. The fires were dampened by the shower and

the hissing of dying flames could be heard over the sound of the downpour. The mob of

conquistadors watched as the ships, one by one, were eaten away by the fires. Not a ship escaped.

Every now and again there was a deep sigh from one of the men. I was standing with Cortez. His

head bobbed up and down occasionally as he realized that now at last, he was fully in charge.

Dreams of glory in Spain when he was presented to King Charles after conquering all of Mexico

were with him always. He turned to me and said, “What now Jeronimo? What do you advise?”

It was my idea to get the Totonacs on our side. They already felt like partners of hate.

They knew we disliked the Aztecs for their cruelty and the habit of tearing out the hearts of young

maidens. At least that’s what they were told, not that we wanted their gold, their land, and their

destruction. Not that the Totonacs did not have their own depravities but we tend to overlook the

decadence of a people who are helping us achieve success over a much greater foe.

There were, at that time five Aztec tax collectors in Cempoala. They had gathered with

the rest of the onlookers to watch the burning of the ships. I whispered into the ear of Cortez and

he nodded in agreement. Here was a way to fully engage the Totonacs and start a war that we

would join. We had to help the Totonacs, rather than the other way around. To accomplish this

was easy.

Cortez called for the Totonac leaders to arrest the five Aztec tax collectors and that was

the initial spark that caused the conflagration that destroyed the Aztec nation. Ten hands were

chopped off and sent to Montezuma along with the head of the tax collector in charge. No going

back now, the Totonacs had no choice but to pray for the protection of their new sovereign, King

Charles of the far off kingdom of Spain and Cortez was only too willing to oblige. He was a man

with great ambitions. He would help the Totonacs defeat the Aztec nation if they would swear

allegiance to Spain.

“Jeronimo,” he confided in me at one time, “I will conquer this world here and with the

gold of the Indio I will be the wealthiest man in the world. Richer even than the king. Stay with

me and you will share in my greatness.”

Four hundred against a hundred thousand. What an ego, what confidence. But that was, I

discovered, due to a few whispers in his ear from his personal translator, Malitzin.

“Loreosa,” I feathered into her mind, “what dreams of glory have you been feeding

Cortez? He thinks the wealth of the ages lies in the cities of Montezuma and all he has to do is to

pick it up.”

She answered, “He seemed to have had second thoughts about the superiority of the

Aztecs, I just feathered in a bit more confidence and the pictures of streets paved in gold helped

as well.”

“I thought we agreed not to influence them with hypnopiercing.”

“It was only a light feathering Zyclo, that’s all.”

So, Loreosa was now committed to our undertaking. Now we had to enlist the services of

another of Montezuma’s enemies the Tlaxcalans who had been fighting the Aztecs for a century.

The small army of Conquistadors along with thousands of Totonac’s marched on Tlaxcala the

capital city of the Tlaxcalans.

Loreosa and myself stayed out of this battle as Cortez was beginning to count a wee bit

too much on our help. He put it down to the luck of the Madonna as I had supposedly been the

only survivor of a disastrous shipwreck when the conquistadors found me. And because Loreosa

spoke the language of the Spanish interlopers as well as the Aztecs and Totonac’s she was

deemed touched by God as well.

The Tlaxcalans were not to be quite that easy. Twenty Two thousand Tlaxcalans waited

for Cortez and his Totonac army; it was a series of battles that cost Cortez half his small army.

The conquistadors that weren’t killed outright were wounded but also wounded was the Tlaxcalan

army. General Mixcoatl, commander of the Tlaxcalans sent emissaries to Cortez to sue for peace.

One of the emissaries in questioning a Totonac group having breakfast around a fire was a little

too forward with his questions and thought to be a spy. Cortez had the emissaries sent back to

Mixcoatl after chopping off their hands, his favorite punishment. Mixcoatl surrendered and

suddenly Cortez found himself with an army of over a hundred thousand. The odds on the battle

for Mexico was swinging over to Governor General Hernan Cortez.

Another explorer, Panfilo de Narvaez, unleashed the final blow to the Aztec civilization.

It was no more than a pebble in a shoe, a fly in the soup. It was his slave Francisco Aquilar, an

insignificant nothing in the household of Narvaez. Aquilar walked into the presence of Panfilo de

Narvaez scratching his face.

That scratching was the reason for the demise of the Aztecs; one of the great civilizations

of the western world.

The slave appeared ill and Narvaez whipped him out of the compound and into the

jungle. Aquilar’s mental agony was such that it was picked up by Loreosa who was meditating in

a clearing at the time. Recognizing the European disease of smallpox and realizing that the germ

had never before reached the shores of Mexico, Loreosa against my wishes, hypnopierced the

poor soul and sent him to the Aztecs.

“How can you do that Loreosa? Sending a man with smallpox to the Aztecs could be a

two pronged sword. That disease is going to sweep through the jungles and the Spanish won’t be

spared either.”

She shook her head, “Haven’t you noticed that every other Spaniard has a marked up

face, full of pockmarks and indentations. Most of them have had it, they’re all immune.”

I didn’t like it but we were there for a reason and short of heaving bolts of heavy voltage,

or hypnopiercing the entire race smallpox would definitely do the job.

The disease spread through the Aztec nation like fire through a dry forest and soon over a

hundred thousand lives were lost. When the devastation was complete Cortez marched in to

capture Montezuma and take control of Mexico. There was still much for him to do but our job

was over. The Aztec empire, as it had existed, was no more. There would be new battles, but the

conquest was now a foregone conclusion.

After all that excitement we both felt the need of nesting. Back to our clearing we went

and standing there readying ourselves we spoke of the difference in the civilizations of Earth. It

was an interesting construction of cultures and societies. On Clanzith there was only one culture,

one language, one society. How different it was here. Where, we wondered would Nelso Narga

send us next?

Hopefully, it would be a place where we could fashion darkening spectacles so that we

could function in the daytime.

Loreosa looked at me quizzically. Our clothes were in a pile in front of us. We were in a

small clearing in the jungle outside of Vera Cruz. Holding hands we were about to go to ground

and nest. We hadn’t yet decided for how long. I couldn’t help but run my eyes over the length of

Loreosa. Strange, while she was a student in the university I never thought of her as anything but

a friend and colleague. Now in looking at her flawless skin, pinched in waist, golden neat triangle

of hair at the pudenda, high, full breasts with purplish nipples and a figure that could be a

metaphor for perfection I felt an unfamiliar stirring of electrical circuits in my body.

“See anything you like?” she asked with a smile.

My eyes kept roaming, “Everything.” I answered. Well that wasn’t the time and I knew it

and she knew it and I knew she knew it and she knew I knew it but my hormones were stimulated

as I could now see her as a human could. This would be a blessing for me to the end of my days;

it would also be a curse. Was I to be the only person on Clanzith to see a woman for what she

really was?

“I think we had better merge and go to nest.”

“How long do you think?”

Suddenly the thought was there, “Two hundred and fifty years?” I said.

“You sure?”

“I don’t know why, but I am sure. It’s probably Nelso at work. Let’s also merge and

travel full speed north east. That I know came from Nelso.”

And so we did. Arriving at our destination about two hours later we turned vertical,

squeezed each others hand, and went into a very pleasant energy absorbing state for two hundred

and fifty years.

When a Clanzithan is at ground nesting, as we were, the thought processes would be

difficult to describe to a human. I could say that it would be similar to a totally relaxed, uncaring,

unthinking state but that wouldn’t begin to describe it. A Clanzithan can nest for a thousand years

and be perfectly satisfied. Of course if he did his life span would be reduced by a quarter of that

or two hundred fifty years. I do not know of anyone who has nested for more than three hundred

years, nor would there be any conceivable reason to do so.

Two hundred and fifty years went by in a flash. There is no time sense while nesting. We

came to a full consciousness within moments of one another. I felt a squeeze to my hand and I

squeezed back. We waited until nightfall on the surface and in those hours between two and four

a.m., those really quiet hours, we surfaced.

We were in the rear of a neat, single level house built of stone with window trims and

doors painted a brilliant blue. There was a light showing through the windows with people talking

inside in spite of the early hour.

Loreosa brushed her hair back and feathered the minds of those in the house. “They’re all

awake.” She said.

I started to speak but she held up a hand to silence me. She was gathering the thoughts of

the people in the house.

“It seems there is a war going on.” She said.

“Where are we? Who’s fighting?”

“Well it’s different from the Mongols and the Aztecs. This time it seems to be the

English fighting the English. As near as I can figure we’re somewhere north of the lands of the

Aztec and still across an ocean from Europe.

I tilted my head in surprise, “Where did you get that from?”

“We seem to be in the American colonies of England. They have spread their empire

since we were there. There’s a man inside talking with other men about splitting away from the

crown. The crown they are talking about leaving is the English crown. Our old England,

remember? The country I was Queen of?”

Chuckling I answered, “I remember your majesty. I remember. That was an experience I

will never forget. But where are we, and who are the men inside the house?”

“I’m getting a few names Zyclo. One of them is Ezra Bootings, another is Karl Munsie,

and the third man is Benjamin Franklin. I believe that’s all the people in the house. The

impression I’m getting is that they have been meeting and talking for some time.”

I didn’t want to feather into their minds just yet. First thing we needed were clothes. As

we seemed to be in a small town with many houses, that shouldn’t present a problem. There were

lines of cord all over the place with clothing hanging in the air to dry. The houses had changed

since our days in England. Much neater, cleaner and more precise. Row upon row of them with

wide streets and each with a small corral and barn. We wandered into the yards of a few houses

and were soon clothed in the manner of whoever the people of the town were. No sign of

anything mechanical and the lighting was still primitive which suited us just fine, this time though

we must have some sort of spectacles with darkened glass made so that we could function in the

daytime.

We were both clothed in the manner of the place we were in but neither of us had any

shoes and that would not do. Rather than wait for people to come awake from their evenings

repose I decided to go back to the house where the three men were engaged in such a heated

conversation. This time I feathered into the minds of the three, first Ezra Bootings who favored

the revolt and split off from the crown to start a new nation. Karl Munsie was for staying loyal to

the monarchy but petitioning once again for lower taxes and more freedom of choice for the

people of the colonies. When I went into the mind of Benjamin Franklin I encountered an

intellect beyond either of the other pair. Franklin was American born but spent many years in

England. He had just returned from Great Britain after spending the better part of eleven years in

Europe.

Franklin seemed to be the most adamant about the decision to break away from the reach

of George the Third, the present King. Given the circumstances, both Loreosa and myself would

have to side with the crown, but we were obviously there for a reason and needed more

information before we could hope to make any kind of an informed decision. Were we there to

hinder or to help? Which side?

“Let’s break in on that group and speak to them.” Loreosa said just as I was about to say

the same thing. I smiled and nodded. Shoeless we were but we blocked away any thoughts on that

subject and walked in on the surprised three. I feathered their minds and placed a suggestion that

they were expecting us, but they did not know exactly why they expected us.

Bootings was the first to speak. “Are you Tories?”

Whipping through his mind to see just what a Tory was I realized that was exactly what

we were, two people loyal to the crown of England, but also with the thought was a feeling of

such revulsion attached to the word I hesitated in answering.

“And if we were. What would you say to that?”

Franklin spoke up. “My two, hopefully eager for knowledge, friends. What I would say to

that would be why? And how? How could any colonial; such as I trust the pair of you are, be

loyal to a king who has abdicated all government here by declaring us out of his protection and

waging war against us?”

Loreosa asked, “Is the King waging war on us?”

“Yes he is. He fired the first shot when he suspended our legislatures. In the recent past

he has plundered our seas, ravaged our coast when he bombarded Falmouth, burnt our towns, and

destroyed the lives of our people.”

“Perhaps,” Loreosa replied standing tall and affecting her most stately manner, “He is

simply protecting the crowns interests in his colonial empire. After all, the colonies are a part of

England, as are Ireland, Scotland and Wales.”

“Your example does not apply. The king is, right now, transporting armies of German

mercenaries to fight and to kill all colonists not loyal to the crown.

“How can we be loyal to a government that offers us death, desolation and tyranny, with

circumstances of cruelty and perfidy unparalleled in the most barbarous ages, and unworthy of

any head of a civilized nation? What we need is what we have; a revolt of the people, a separation

from the tyranny of England. A revolution.”

I looked at Loreosa after feathering into the mind of Franklin and finding he was sincere

and believed absolutely in what he was saying. Delving deeper I began to understand the need for

change. I sent her a thought. “Sounds as though we should be on the side of the colonists.”

Loreosa nodded and sent me her thoughts. “He seems to be sincere. Well Nelso isn’t

going to show up unless we make a wrong choice, he always seems to put us in the way of it and

hope we choose right. I’m all for going with the colonists.”

I looked deep into the eyes of Benjamin Franklin. He looked right back at me, unafraid

and determined. I asked him, “Mr. Franklin, if you could choose the one determining factor that

would lead to a victory in your revolution. What would that factor be?”

He laughed at that. And then he grew serious, “If it could be chosen from any number of

incidents, foreseeable outcomes, notable participants, and a thousand and one other events, I

would say there is a singular factor that would carry the most weight. There are many things that

would be on the list. For one thing, a sizable army. We do not have a sizable army. Then there is

a well trained militia, that would be helpful. Our militia is at present more of a rabble than

anything military. We could use an experienced, successful, indeed, a great, military commander.

We have George Washington, untested, untried, and who has thus far lost every battle with the

British armies he has met. We could very much use a navy of some strength, but that would be a

total impossibility, it takes time to build a strong navy. We need the colonists to act in accord, but

there is divisiveness there. We need armaments, food for our army, and money. After that, more

money, and more of everything stated. In short, we need just about everything.

“But even if we had all that, even with an army and a genuine leader with a military

background to train and to pull it all together; and even with a sound militia, and even with the

unification of the colonists, and even with armaments, food and money; even with all that we

would still fall short. No navy we could possibly put together could match the might of Britain. It

is her navy that makes her great. Taking all that into consideration, we need a miracle. But then

again, if a miracle were to take place and we put it all together, as we hope to do, we would still

need that one necessary ingredient that you so cleverly put forward as the single most necessary

factor.”

We waited for him to resume but instead he filled his pipe, put a match into the fireplace

to light it and then, putting the flame to the bowl calmly puffed it into life. He inhaled the smoke,

and let it curl slowly out of his mouth. He sat heavily, sighed and continued.

“The might of the French, Spanish, and Dutch navies combined would be more than a

match for the British. With them joining our cause we may well have a chance at independence,

providing all the other miracles come together, but without their entry on our side, it will be

difficult, very difficult indeed.

“So my fair haired friend with the beautiful companion, the answer to your question is to

have the three mighty seafaring nations of France, Spain, and the Netherlands join us in our

endeavor to separate from his majesty King George. France is the key. If France comes in with

us, Spain and the Netherlands will have to join in. They both have problems with King George.”

Heads nodded in appreciation of the summation that could create the miracle of

separation and the creation of a new nation. Well, that was truly a worthy objective. I could feel

Loreosa beside me growing excited with the idea of our being involved, and perhaps even the

cause, of the birth of this new nation of free people.

There was something about this elderly gentleman who had recently returned from a

decade in England and France. I seemed to have been attracted to him more so than any other

human. It wasn’t so much his appearance, nor was it his words as articulate as he may have been.

I had feathered into his mind, very gently, as I disliked intensely being too manipulative in this

reality, but there had been something there that gnawed at me. I decided to overcome my

objection and delve a bit deeper. I did and found a human with an understanding of my electrical

makeup far beyond any other on the planet could possibly have had.

The minds of the three had been blocked from any suspicions of Loreosa and myself and

felt secure with the pair of us but I wanted more out of Franklin. I asked him take a stroll with me

and he consented ‘with pleasure’ as he said.

It was hours till daylight and with Loreosa on one side of him and me on the other we

strolled along the street, dimly lit by a few stanchions with candles half consumed and tended by

a watchman of the night. We were on the outskirts of Philadelphia on Ridge Road in Roxborough

Township. Apparently this had great significance to Franklin but I was never to discover why.

There were rows of farmhouses all constructed of stone and in the distance a river with

plantations creating a pastoral scene of great beauty and pleasant to view. This was lost on

Franklin who could barely see beyond the corner of the street in the darkness that surrounded us.

As we strolled I spoke to Franklin about his spectacles which he wore on the bridge of his

nose while Loreosa delved deep into his mind thinking to share her findings with me at a later

time.

“The spectacles you have on sir, is there a way the glass can be darkened to block the sun

on a bright day?” I asked.

“Why yes,” he answered, “many ways that can be done. But why in the world would

anyone wish to block the rays of the all healing sun that the good Lord has provided us.”

I explained that I had an eye problem and would appreciate a pair of darkened spectacles.

Two pair would suffice. He agreed to produce them on the next afternoon at the latest.

On reaching the end of the lane I felt a feathering from Loreosa, “This is quite a man we

are walking with. He has been investigating electricity and the energy of a lightning bolt. Even to

the point of calling lightning to himself through a device of some sort, I couldn’t make out what it

was. Also he wrote, along with a few others a document declaring independence from England

and after signing it has come here to enlist the services of others to the cause. It would appear

Zyclo, the war has begun and at the moment is in the favor of the British army.”

“Mr. Franklin, I thank you in advance for your help. Incidentally, I have heard

somewhere that you have a fondness for electricity and lightning.”

“Why, so I do.” He replied. “I believe that the body is composed of electrical impulses

and if we can unlock the mystery of electricity we unlock the secret of life.”

“Perhaps,” I said, “I can help in that regard being a student of electrical forces and

lightning myself.”

“Indeed. I am gratified to hear that. Are there any others who share our interest?”

I nodded, “More than you can imagine. But let us talk on that another time. What you

said about France entering the war—is there any chance of that happening?”

Franklin shrugged. “I know young King Louie; he would come in with us not so much

that he desires a democratic state across the great sea but more that he would like to best King

George his arch rival. The two kings hate each other and if it were not for our little revolution

would be at each others throats in earnest.”

“How old is Louie?” I asked.

“Only twenty two but he does have a few wiser advisers.”

“Why doesn’t your congress send you to France to persuade Louie to come in on your

side? I’m sure the French navy would be a major impediment to the victory of the British fleet.”

“That it would, but there is neither desire nor funds for such a trip and I myself have

impoverished my coffers to implement my infant government’s treasury.”

“I believe I could help to get you to France sir. Would you be willing to go if I were to

provide the means?”

“Most assuredly sir. I would be on the very first available ship.”

“Loreosa, it seems as how we have discovered our assignment. France is to help the

colonies separate from Britain.”

“Well that’s going to be easy. Are we going to make it more interesting?”

“How do you mean?”

“How much do we influence the King of France?”

“Hmm, well you know how I feel about hypnopiercing but I suppose a bit of feathering

will be all right. But first, I want to get those spectacles.”

“Better have him make two more duplicate sets for us that he will carry to France with

him.”

“What for?”

Loreosa looked at me and I heard her message loud and clear. “How are we going to

France? Did you plan on taking a boat trip?”

“Never had a thought about it. They do have a saying on this planet that two heads are

better than one, but thanks for reminding me, we will definitely need dark spectacles in France.”

Getting back to Benjamin Franklin I said “Mr. Franklin, sorry for my inattention, I just

had a thought and I wanted to work it out before I spoke.”

I hosed a feeling of total trust in Franklin’s mind, not manipulatively for I honestly felt he

could put his total trust in me, I just wanted him to be certain of it.

The next evening, about an hour after dusk, we met with Benjamin Franklin and found

ourselves once again in the stone house on Ridge Road. And wonder of wonder, he had four pair

of dark grey spectacles with him. Franklin himself fashioned the frames so they fit perfectly and

asked why we wanted him to hold on to the two extra pair. I explained that we were more apt to

lose them as they were spares; which really made no sense but I feathered in a thought that my

reasoning was beyond reproach.

At the next Congressional Congress meeting Franklin made the suggestion that he sail to

France with a treaty that would bind France to the emerging nation and with the authority of the

congress to act in absentia and in its stead. It was as nothing for us to get a one hundred percent

vote of ‘aye’ although in truth there were three or four holdouts, at least until I brushed past their

skepticism and turned them around.

And then there were the spectacles. It was such an immense pleasure—beyond telling—

beyond explaining. That was the pleasure of being out of doors, in the daytime. The spectacles of

Franklin worked perfectly. Loreosa and I walked about the streets of Philadelphia, dark spectacles

firmly in place, and we were entranced. We were tourists in the daylight at last. Every store we

came to was a new adventure. A dress shop captivated Loreosa while I, attracted to a boot maker,

practically had to drag her away. We still were going about in our bare feet. Finally picking out a

pair of boots for me and a fashionable pair of shoes for Loreosa I made a horrible discovery. We

had no money.

Now then you must understand, I am not a thief. I have killed, yes, and I have influenced

those who would oppose me but all that had been honorable. Thievery is not. But I wanted those

shoes. We needed those shoes. Those shoes would assist us in our task of helping to establish the

new nation. Suddenly, it did not seem dishonorable at all. I dipped into the shopkeepers mind and

gave him a slight hypnopeeking, a few degrees down from a piercing. He smiled as we left

wishing us a good day and much happy walking in our new shoes and boots.

It wasn’t too long after we had been enjoying our shoes and new freedom in the daytime

that Benjamin Franklin, treaties in hand, was set to sail from Boston harbor, on a Dutch

brigantine bound for France. He had been appointed Ambassador to France and we were invited

to a small gathering at his son’s plantation that evening.

Loreosa and I had two weeks with not a thing to do until Franklin arrived in Paris. For the

first time in my life I had no plans, nor any idea of what I should be doing. We were at leisure. It

was an unfamiliar feeling. We hadn’t had much time to ourselves, Loreosa and I, and it did seem

strange. Of course we could have gone to ground but that would be like an opiate to dull the

senses and we were alive with the excitement that surrounded us. There was this air of

anticipation that everyone had. The smell of fear was about as well but freedom from the

oppression of King George overcame all other emotions and Loreosa and I felt it as well. We had

two weeks before we would speed over to France to help Franklin persuade the French advisors,

and the King himself, that it would be in their best interest to help the Americans in their

endeavors. And so we strolled through the town taking it all in, the shops, the people, the

scurrying about. We loved it.

Walking along Western Avenue there was a great shouting with cries of ‘Runaway!’

from throats up and down the avenue. Coming towards us, running at full tilt, was a horse pulling

a carriage with a lone woman inside being shaken from side to side, a look of terror on her face.

The horse’s eyes were wide with fear, ears flattened on the back of his head, nostrils flaring, as he

raced pell-mell down the street straight for Loreosa and me. I jumped to the side but Loreosa, a

determined look on her face, leapt on to the back of the horse and with a few strokes of his mane

and some calming words eased the animals panic. The horse slowed, then came to a stop and

Loreosa slid off, gathered up the reins and handed them to the young lady in the carriage. People

at the side of the road broke into applause at this and Loreosa smiled, bowed, and just as though

nothing untoward had happened, took my arm and we continued our stroll.

“Stop!” someone shouted. We looked around seeking the owner of the voice and saw the

young woman of the carriage climb down and walk quickly to Loreosa.

“I wish to thank you for your quick wit and acrobatic skills. Where did you learn to do

that?”

“Do what?” Loreosa replied.

“Jump on the back of a galloping horse. I have never heard of anyone doing that before.

It is quite the most remarkable thing I have ever seen.”

The young lady was rattling off words like the pattering of rain, non stop. “I must thank

you, please will you have dinner with my family tonight? Please, I will not take no for an answer.

After all, you did save my life. Do come please, I want to show you off to my grandfather. I never

get to meet any heroes.”

Loreosa demurred, mentioning the meeting with Franklin that evening. It would be

awkward sitting in front of a table full of food, when the sight of people eating disgusts you. But

the young lady was adamant.

“Well then, if you have another engagement… But hold, did you say your engagement

was with Franklin, you couldn’t mean Benjamin Franklin by any chance could you?”

“Yes, our engagement is with Benjamin Franklin. We are to meet him at his son’s

plantation. Do you know of it?”

The young woman stared at Loreosa for a long moment, and then suddenly broke into a

peal of laughter, turned and practically jumped into the carriage, whipping the horse she flew past

us with a smile and a wave of her hand. Almost out of earshot we heard the laugh again and the

name, “Benjamin Franklin.”

“Well,” I said to Loreosa. “What do you make of that?”

Loreosa just shrugged and asked. “Why don’t you dip into her mind and solve the

mystery?”

“If I did that, it wouldn’t be a mystery. You see Loreosa this is just what I mean. It would

serve no practical purpose other than satisfying your curiosity and once you use the power so

trivially you may as well use it for everything and then you may as well be in a society of robots.

Let’s just save it for the really important things.”

“You mean like what we’re going to do with Franklin.”

“Exactly like what we’re going to do with Franklin, and with the Continental Congress as

well. Benjamin Franklin has been appointed the American Ambassador to France. When he gets

there the Ambassador is going to overcome any of the possible objections of King Louis to

recognize the thirteen united states of America and then Loreosa, you know what that French

King is going to do?”

“No my dear. Haven’t a clue. What will that French King do?”

I laughed, God she got my circuits sparking. “Well I will tell you what he will do,” I said

smiling, but serious at the same time, “he will send his navy to help, and then he will call his

cousin the King of Spain, and he will get him to jump into the fray as well. And that my dear, is

as far from trivial, as this planet is from its moon.”

She laughed and said aloud attracting a few glances though no one had any idea as to

what she was referring. “Well, hooray for hypnopiercing. Or did you think you would do it with

your electric personality?”

It was amazing; she seemed to have taken on much of the humor of the planet. Perhaps it

is all those conversations we had with Franklin. It seemed as though he were filled with

aphorisms. I suppose many were witty if you could comprehend human humor. I remember one

of them. He was talking to a fellow congress member who was hiring a lawyer. It appeared as

how a neighbor had hired one and was suing him for land encroachment. The congressman

strolled away and Franklin turned to me and said: “A man between two lawyers is like a fish

between two cats.”

I will say this for Franklin’s humor it did build pictures in ones mind. I turned to my

fellow alien and said, “Let’s just enjoy ourselves tonight. Franklin is really quite a wit. I can’t

wait to get his opinion on the possibility of life on other planets.”

That evening at the Plantation, we arrived at our designated time and noted the place

ablaze with light. Many carriages lined the long, half moon shaped entry road. In a nearby field

corrals and tents had been set up by the drivers and footmen who awaited their masters and

mistresses. They had all come to congratulate him; not only on his appointment to ambassador

but also to wish Franklin well on his mission to King Louie.

On our entering there was a great cry from a young woman on the stairway who was

hanging on to a banister, “There she is.” She shouted so that all could hear. The conversations

stopped and the young lady pointed to Loreosa and said, “That’s the woman who saved my life.”

In a blink we were surrounded by well wishers, the young lady in the carriage had turned

out to be Emily Franklin, the granddaughter of none other than Benjamin Franklin. No wonder

she rode off with a laugh. She knew we were going to be there. Her father, Benjamin’s son,

William Franklin was the Royal Governor of New Jersey appointed by the King. Unfortunately

his political leanings were the opposite of his fathers, to his father’s great disappointment. Emily,

the young lady from the carriage was taken with the views of her grandfather who had, for many

years, the reputation of being the wisest head in the new government.

Loreosa disappeared into the group of her admirers and I noticed Franklin standing by the

fireplace speaking to an assemblage of men, I wandered over to join them as I wanted to hear

what the Ambassador had to say. Franklin was apparently answering someone, he was saying,

“All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor

feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and

frequently for the worse.”

“But what,” I asked, “if we could control the changes, and those changes that were made,

what if we did amend them, and even more frequently for the better?”

“But how could you control changes?” I was asked.

I replied, “Let’s take it hypothetically. Say a man from Mars comes to earth and he can

get into your mind and make you do anything he wants. He could control your mind and make

you do what he would want you to do. He could make you think anything he would want you to

think. In effect he would control a future outcome.”

“That is a ridiculous example.” Said Franklin.

“Even so.” I answered.

“Well then, if a man could control the mind of everyone he met he would soon hold

absolute power over his community and by extension over the entire world. He could turn

inconvenience into any outcome he wished. He could rule the world. For him there would be no

inconvenience. He would have absolute power over everything. He would be as a Caligula and

with nothing, or no one to oppose him, he would go mad, just as Caligula did. Eventually, his

excesses would lead to his demise. Either by his own hand, or those about him.”

I took a quick dip into Franklin’s mind to discover who Caligula was and found out about

the Caesar who was so cute as a child that he was given the pet name of ‘Caligula, little boots.’

Never having to answer to any authority during his formative years he became ruler of the known

world in his twenties and the power literally drove him mad. I shuddered when I thought of the

power that Loreosa and I shared. More than ever I was gratified about our decision to use that

power only when absolutely necessary.

I continued to press Franklin asking, “But Mr. Ambassador, what if our hypothetical man

should hold back his power. Not use it all. What if he were to limit its use so that he would not

hold sway over one and all?”

At the time we were in a corner of the room, awaiting a call to the table. Once again I

would have to use this power we were discussing to excuse myself from that disgusting mass of

food stuffs and continue the conversation later on over a decanter of Madeira which all in the

house were to make liberal use of.

“Not possible my fair haired friend. Absolute power, in any format, would be used

absolutely. Only God could put restraints on himself and I take it your ‘man from Mars’ is not a

god.”

I shook my head, “No, not a god, just a man.”

“But a man with the power of the absolute?”

I nodded, then perked up a bit, “Perhaps the man from Mars example was a poor one.

How about a monarch with that kind of power?”

“Ah,” my friend, “Now we are getting to it. No modern king has that power. Not since

the Magna Carta was signed. Although George the Third seems to believe he has it. But we are

proving him wrong are we not?”

All heads nodded as the tinkling of the dinner bell called everyone to table.

A few minutes later, I was strolling outside on the veranda admiring the scenery with the

river streaming gently by when a voice burrowed into my mind. “Zyclo, you have to help me I’ve

been abducted and they’ve got me sitting at the table with a pot of some kind of steaming liquid in

front of me. Help.”

I walked into the dining room and once again attested to my lack of hunger keeping me

from the table. I whisked through all the minds so that they would accept that without question

and immediately heard, “Now why the hell didn’t I think of that?”

Chuckling I looked at everyone slurping from hot bowls of a thick beef soup and Loreosa

staring at hers with aversion looking very unhappy. Emily Franklin, sitting next to her, was

chatting away paying no attention to the morose look of her dinner companion. I flipped her a few

words, “Come on Loreosa, cheer up. It’s a party. Besides the young lady next to you is doing her

best to amuse you. Get into it. Forget about the food.”

Just then the door to the dining room was flung open and William Franklin, Royal

Governor of New Jersey, and newly arrived from England where he made his home, burst in to

the room along with three men of his entourage. He looked around at the people seated, there

were twenty two at the table, and then his eyes moved to the head of the table where his father

sat, a napkin to his lips.

“So,” William said, “you’re really going.” Benjamin Franklin simply nodded. “And you

are going to enlist the French in this disastrous war you and your cronies have cooked up.” It was

an accusation, not a question. Franklin said nothing only looked sad and defeated by his son’s

attitude.

“Well I won’t have it! It’s bad enough you are fighting the King, must you enlist other

countries to help with your dirty work?”

The guests looked at the plates in front of them, Emily Franklin, very much aware of the

views of both her father and grandfather wanted to do something, but could not think what. She

obviously had love for her father, and so far as I could see, she adored her grandfather. Franklin

told me that she had spent many years in England and loved that country. But she loved the

country of her birth as well. With her father having been born in Philadelphia and grandfather’s

birthplace Boston, she was a child of the colonies, and although her feelings were mixed she

tended to lean more to the philosophy and politic of her grandfather. But she could not go against

her father and so taking the only course open to her she stood up, and walked out of the dining

room to her bedroom.

Loreosa looked at me. I was standing in a corner doorway that led to the veranda. I just

shrugged. Neither of us wanted to enter the infuriated son’s mind. We were learning.

Finally, one of the guests, Sam Boulting, in a neatly tailored army uniform, stood up and

said, “Sir, I realize that I am a guest here, but I am also a member of the Continental Army.

Forgive me sir, and I ask the other guests forgiveness as well, but you sir, are a traitor.”

William was infuriated, “I? I a traitor? You sir, you are the traitor. You who take up arms

against your lawful, yes I said lawful king. You sir, you are the traitor. And were this not a dinner

party honoring my father I would better know how to deal with you.”

Boulting stood so quickly the chair crashed behind him. He reached for his sword but had

placed it in the sword stand by the door. William looked at the stand and pulled out one of the

swords there saying, “Looking for this Major?”

Benjamin Franklin slapped the table sharply. “Stop it. Stop it right now. There will be no

fighting here. It is 1776 not the middle ages where every soldier takes a turn fighting at the dinner

table.”

Turning to William he said gently, “Please son, don’t do this. I am only doing what I

believe to be right. If that conflicts with your beliefs I am saddened, but right or wrong I must

hold to those thoughts that are dear to me and my dearest wish is for the birth of this nation, this

new nation, under God, managed not by a monarch, but by the people.”

William flung the sword back into the stand and stomped out of the room. I sidled up to

Franklin and without using any feathering or mind manipulations said, “Mr. Ambassador, I trust

that did not make you overly uncomfortable. We all realize these are difficult times, especially so

with those who have blood relatives on the other side.”

Franklin just waved me off excused himself from the table and left the room. Loreosa

was engaged with Emily and four other ladies who had taken to her with a good deal of

enthusiasm. I looked over at her but she just waved to indicate that she was fine.

Well that family row rather dampened the evening but I did enjoy myself immensely in

spite of it. There was no one else that I desired to engage in conversation and so I wandered out

of the room as the rest of the group broke off into clusters of three and four.

I was beginning to feel like an actor, which in all probability I was and am. I’m always

acting like I fit in. Since I’ve been here in this reality I’ve acted like a Baron, a Prince, a

Conquistador, and now I’m a—what? No one here knows me except Franklin and I have not

influenced anyone. Thoughts ran through my mind as to what role I would play during the two

weeks that Franklin was at sea. Suddenly the door once again burst open and my question was

answered.

A man rushed into the room shouting, “You can’t talk to a Royal Governor that way.

Revolution or no.”

And then he shouted even louder so that the entire household could hear. “Come back

here Mr. Franklin, I challenge you. And if you’re too old to take it up I’ll fight whomever you

appoint to be your champion. But this insult to the crown cannot be tolerated.”

All this from one of the fellows that had come in with William Franklin. Evidently a lad

bent on creating trouble or at the very least a scandal. The man did appear to be a swordsman;

burly, heavy set, thirty or so. At least he looked like a swordsman to all at the dinner table as he

held an unsheathed sword in his hand and he was waving the tip around just spoiling for a fight.

I scratched my head to jar out a few creative thoughts. This business of not feathering

into a mind, and not utilizing hypnopiercing was beginning to get tiresome. All I had to do was

spray a few thoughts into the fellow and it would be all over. I looked towards Loreosa who was

softly laughing. I had promised I would not use any power on anyone at the dinner. I felt a

feathering, “No cheating now.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Try diplomacy.”

“Diplomacy.” I feathered back.

I walked boldly to the man with the sword and asked, “What is your name fellow? And

what business of yours is this?”

The man bristled with indignation and replied, “I am Horace Montgomery, and I am a

member of the king’s guard protecting William Franklin, the lawful, and royal, governor of New

Jersey. Any business that threatens the peace of the governor is my business, and duty, to address.

“Well then Mr. Montgomery, it would seem to me that this is a family affair and has no

bearing on the politics of you or anyone here.”

“No bearing? Sir, I have just listened to a plot to enlist the services of a sovereign nation

to take arms against my king. It would appear to anyone of even a meager intelligence that the

plot’s author would be considered traitorous by any standard. Family or no.”

I sighed. It was obvious there was to be no backing down by Montgomery, and indeed,

from his point of view he was correct. We were on neutral ground however. There were many

dinners in Philadelphia during that period where Tories faithful to the crown of England would

feel their beliefs usurped by the revolutionists. Many an argument and many a duel. I had no wish

to fight with the man but Franklin would be sailing in the morning and this could upset his plans

if the man wasn’t stopped. Montgomery was determined to go ahead with his challenge.

I received a message from Loreosa that settled the thing. She said, “Zyclo, I’ve just

feathered the minds of the three men outside waiting for the outcome. It seems that William

Franklin is determined to stop his father from sailing. He sent Montgomery in to instigate a duel.

They feel that Montgomery will kill whoever Benjamin Franklin selects as his substitute and he

will call for an investigation thereby keeping Franklin in Philadelphia. Montgomery is a noted

swordsman, I’m getting that he has killed twelve men in duels and injured twice that many. I think

perhaps you had better end his career right now.”

I looked over to Loreosa and nodded. Turning to Montgomery I said, “Sir, I will act as

Mr. Franklin’s champion and advocate. I sir, will take up the challenge.”

I received a sneer from Montgomery. “Do you have any skill at fencing at all sir? I have

no desire to skewer a chicken on a pike.”

Well, another wit. Or perhaps those around Franklin catch it as though it were

contagious. I answered in kind. “Have not a scintilla of worry as to that my good man, as I have

every intention of taking that skewer of yours away from you and paddling your behind with it.

But on second thought just look to your life as I have every intention of taking that from you.”

I walked to the sword stand; there were five sheathed swords in it. I pulled one out,

unsheathed and whipped it through the air a few times. I just then received still another message

from Loreosa, “Just pulled an interesting thought from William Franklin. He is determined to

keep his father from sailing. If you kill Montgomery there will be an official inquiry and Benjamin

will be obligated to attend, it will keep him here for weeks. Of course they feel that you will be

killed and that also would generate an official inquiry. Just thought you ought to know. Don’t kill

him.”

I nodded to indicate I understood. I have been involved with a bit of sword play in the

past but I knew nothing about fencing. It didn’t matter. I was so very much faster than any human

could possibly be it would not be much of a contest. I would liken my sword play with a human,

to him fighting while submerged in water, and me with no such handicap.

We moved into the ballroom and suddenly the perimeter of the room was filled with

people. Everyone had taken a place to watch. Benjamin Franklin stayed in his room not realizing

that anything untoward was taking place.

The front door opened and William with two companions entered and stood with folded

arms watching. Montgomery, in the center of the room stood waiting, his sword at rest, the tip on

the floor. I strolled over casually and stood about six feet in front of him with my sword resting

on my shoulder. He snickered and shouted “En guard.” And thrust forward hoping to impale me

and end the bout quickly.

Not very sporting of him.

There was a gasp from the ladies but I just flicked his sword away. Nothing to it, from

my point of view he was fencing in slow motion, that’s what it looked like to me. I stood silent,

waiting for his next move. He seemed perplexed at his miss and that I didn’t counter his lunge.

He slowly started to circle me. We moved around each other for a bit and then he lunged again,

this time I simply turned a bit and his sword passed by a bare inch from my chest.

My sword was still on my shoulder; Montgomery said, “What kind of a fencer are you?

Man, defend yourself.”

I didn’t speak just continued to circle as he once again thrust the point of his sword

forward hoping to run me through. I fooled him again stepping aside while my sword came

whistling down knocking the tip of his to the floor. About this time he was getting the idea that

perhaps I was a better swordsman than he had thought. He took a step back and with his arm

outstretched advanced slowly seeking to feel me out. I felt I’d had enough and once more

knocked his sword down and quickly cut his right cheek. He backed up looking confused; he

hadn’t even seen my thrust. Once again I drove in, this time flicking a sword bite to his left cheek

and immediately after that a slice at his temple, and another at his chin. Blood streamed out of

each cut. His face looked as though he had sanded it with the thick bark of an oak tree.

Backing up I gave him a moment to collect himself. Then with a thrust to his left

shoulder pierced it through. I pulled the sword out quickly, so fast it was a blur to Montgomery; I

paused for a moment. Then I thrust through his right shoulder and he was incapacitated. But it

wasn’t quite over. I sliced at the hand that held the sword, the sword clattered to the floor along

with the thumb of Horace Montgomery and the fight was over. Montgomery was a mess. His face

was a mask of blood, his right arm and hand useless. William flung a look of hatred at me that I

returned with a smile and touching my sword to my forehead I said, “I believe your champion

requires attention sir.”

There was applause from the group; Franklin appeared suddenly, looked at his son and

the erstwhile champion bleeding all over the oak floor and just shook his head and once again left

the room. William also turned and with a very confused Horace Montgomery holding his right

hand with his left while shrugging off help, they left the scene.

I felt a light feathering in my mind and heard: “Bravo.”

That was the end of a quite interesting evening. The next morning we waved farewell to

Benjamin Franklin as the ship, unfurled sails popping out as they took the wind, sailed out of the

harbor and headed for the open sea to take their distinguished passenger to Calais and then to the

palace in Versailles as the American ambassador to the Court of the twenty two year old

monarch, Louis the XVI.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I never much enjoyed flitting through the earth to get from one place to another; I did it

because it was the quickest way to get from point A to point B, but rocketing through water, that

was different. I loved that. In the earth my body would gather the electromagnetic energies and in

mingling would absorb and be absorbed much like a cloud absorbs the air it floats through. The

cloud changes constantly with the breeze that it in turn absorbs. There are constantly changing

courses of absorption but the cloud remains a cloud and the breeze, which is inherently like the

energy that moves through the ocean to create the wave action, remains a movement as well. All

reciprocated by the motion of the planet spinning, and in turn spinning around the sun which is

also in constant and never ending motion.

A Clanzithan moves through water much as would a breeze move through air, or energy

wave through the sea. Difficult to describe exactly as there are no words, nor mental images, in

the human vocabulary to impart the movement. After a few hours the energy changed and I knew

we were traveling through earth once again.

It was, as expected, late into the evening. Paris. Even then the fashion capitol of the

world or at least that is what we thought as every lady in Philadelphia seemed to want a Paris

gown. It was an unexpected sight I must say, Loreosa was the first to comment. “My God Zyclo,

this place is filthier than London was five hundred years ago.”

I had to agree. Europe hadn’t changed much over the centuries. Not if you were to use

Paris as the criteria. But as usual we needed clothes. We were close to the center of the city and

there were closed shops all around. Breaking into a few of them we not only had clothing, but

wonder of wonders, shoes as well. Now if only we could find Franklin and get our dark glasses so

that we could function during the day we would be ecstatic.

The streets were narrow and crooked beyond belief but the worst part were the open

sewers running down the middle of every street. Beggars and entire families of homeless were

everywhere. The city looked like the human version of Hades. Starvation was endemic in Paris

and everywhere there was a hand outstretched hoping for a centime to buy a scrap of bread a sou

for a child’s life. Rags were common and few Parisians had shoes. At first we didn’t notice as the

feet were so black with dirt they resembled shoes.

Wherever we walked, even in the depths of night stepping over the hundreds, no

thousands who slept in the streets, there was a hand out begging for a crust. “What do you make

of all this Loreosa?” I asked.

“Incredible. I find it hard to believe. You would have thought the general populace would

have come a long way since our days in England. I wonder if London has fared the same after

these five hundred years since I was Queen.”

“Well I’m not a bit curious. I have very bad thoughts about that sojourn.”

“You also have some very good thoughts about it.”

I nodded and sighed. She was right. My son. My human wife. It was a sorrowful period

in a way; but I wouldn’t trade my memories, not for the world.

We had the name and number of the street where Franklin was residing whilst in Paris

and had come up fairly close. To get to his home however we had to wade through a river of

human flotsam. That a monarch could allow his people to get to this condition is deplorable;

absolutely monstrous. After a few hours of walking, and we do have a habit of walking quite fast,

we came to a new neighborhood. There was an obvious difference. Apparently the gentry lived

here and the contrast could not have been more extreme.

We had gone from a world of dark, to a world of light. I just knew I was going to bring

that up with Franklin. And as a matter of fact, the first words out of my mouth after meeting up

with him were, “How in the world can the King of this country allow such poverty, such

starvation, such despair as we have witnessed since coming here?”

We were in the home of Benjamin Franklin in Paris. There was a row of houses along

one side of the Boise de Boulogne where the gentle people of Paris resided. The area couldn’t be

more of a contrast to the ‘rats in a sewer’ way of the general population.

He answered my question. “The truth is that though there are in France, few people so

miserable as the poor there are also very few that in France can be called rich; it is rather a

general happy mediocrity that prevails.”

“What of the royals?” I asked.

“Oh the royals. You cannot compare a royal with any commoner. Royals of every

country, in every age act royally. They live beyond anyone’s means and only live to keep the

status quo going for their heirs and descendants. That is the class we will eliminate in America.

We won’t tolerate them nor will we allow that destructive class to germinate much less gestate in

our mist. Do remember my dear sir I am here not to perpetuate the hunger and want and

homelessness you see in this country, but rather to prevent such a thing from happening in

America. The solution here is simple. To get Louie and his advisors to sign a treaty whereby they

immediately send men, and ships, to defend our shores and to actively take a role in getting the

British army out of what we hope will soon be their former colonies. That is the only reason I am

here.”

“Can’t you get him to at least try to get his people fed?”

Franklin got up to light his pipe. After a few feeble puffs the bowl glowed. “Let me tell

you of my last meeting with young Louie. I told him that I saw a group of young people without

shoes and he said, ‘How I envy them, it is so much more comfortable to walk without shoes I

wish that I could do it without causing a scandal.’

“What I am saying is that the king is so out of touch with his people he cannot possibly

understand what is happening.”

“Why not get King Louie to take a walk along any street in mid Paris?”

“Because he will not do it. Nor will his advisors allow him to do it. He lives in a cocoon,

a private enclosed box that does not suffer any information except what his advisors allow. One

day he will pay dearly for that. So far as Louie is concerned there are only three classes in his

France, the royal family and their attendants, the rich, and the army. The rest of his people live

outside the box and are undeserving of sympathy or even notice. They cannot join the first two

groups but the army is open to them. His army is well fed, he feels if anyone is starving or

homeless, they can join his army.”

“How sir,” I asked, “does a woman, or a child join his army?”

Franklin looked away sadly, “I cannot allow myself to get out of his good graces. An

entire country of people are counting on me to persuade him to come to our rescue. I dare not

anger him by discussing this, you must see that. I have to think of my mission first and foremost.

The tyranny of King Louie’s France is as nothing in comparison with the tyranny of England.

Britain is a government that has, with the most wanton barbarity and cruelty, burnt our

defenseless towns in the midst of winter, excited the savages to massacre our farmers, and

directed our slaves to murder their masters. That government is even now bringing foreign

mercenaries to deluge our settlements with blood. These atrocious injuries have extinguished

every remaining spark of affection for that country we once held so dear. But were it possible for

us to forget and to forgive them, it is not possible for the British nation to forgive us, the people

they have so heavily injured.”

I motioned to Loreosa and we made our excuses to go for a walk. It was daylight but we

had retrieved the extra smoked spectacles and were comfortable. Loreosa spoke first, “Zyclo we

must do something.”

“Take back our pledges?”

“Yes. Let’s do a little hypnopiercing on the King and his cabinet and get out of here. It’s

getting too complicated. Our mission is simply to get the King to come into the war on the side of

the colonialists. Actually, when he does he will need a larger army and that will carry many of the

destitute out of the hunger and misery that afflicts such a large part of this country. Let’s do it and

get out of here.”

I nodded in agreement. Taking Loreosa by the hand I hosed my mind in the direction of

the King’s residence. Feathering throughout the palace I came to Louie and entered his thoughts.

Not surprisingly it was as though I was entering the kingdom of a spoiled child. Not a scintilla of

empathy could I find there. It was as impossible for him to imagine the lot of his people as it

would be for an elephant to imagine using a knife and fork. But my job was not to make life

easier for his people but to send in the thoughts that coming to the side of the emerging

government in America would be to the benefit of the coffers of France. Here was the way to not

only help his people, which he cared for not a whit, but also to take his neighbor across the

channel down a few degrees which would make him happy indeed.

With the hypnopiercing procedure completed, King Louis felt his entire kingdom

depended on his coming to the aid of the American colonies. Loreosa rode right into the King’s

mind with me and then left to induce a bit of empathy into the mind of his Austrian Queen, Marie

Antoinette but she found even less compassion and understanding there than she did in the mind

of the king.

It was the next day when Franklin summoned us to his home to tell us the news. “The

King has agreed to come in on our side. He’s going to sign the treaty today. It is a complete

surprise to me as I felt it would take weeks if not months or years to talk him into the fact that it

was in his best interest. I’m off to the palace now.”

We congratulated Franklin and with a great sigh of relief took off for the great park

nearby to find a place we could sink into the earth to nest for awhile. We were both tired of this

time and place where there was such a polarity of life.

Sinking into the earth I felt as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I

was so tired, so sleepy, so worn. I held Loreosa’s hand and noted she was the same. The

satisfaction she felt on reaching our nesting depth matched mine exactly. Not a word passed

between us as we absorbed the energies of the earth and time passed on the surface.

CHAPTER NINE

My mind was at rest, I had no idea as to the passing of time. A moment, an hour, a year

or decade; it was all the same. Occasionally I squeezed the hand of my companion but received

no pressure in return. Years passed. One day my body started to slowly turn to the horizontal. I

felt Loreosa do the same. Forward motion began and off we went. I sensed going through the

ocean once again then a short period in the depth of the earth and we stopped. Slowly we came to

the surface; as usual it was late in the evening. We were in a wooded area, a forest, there was the

heavy scent of sulfur about and other strange to our senses aromas.

Loreosa stretched her arms out in an effort to loosen her muscles as did I. I finished first.

I watched her. My circuits, fully charged after another long grounding, were firing off as though

we were in Yeegal. The blood streaming through my veins was heating rapidly. Finally she

shrugged her shoulders, took a breath, relaxed, looked my way, smiled, and said—“Hi.”

If I were an icicle I would have melted. As it was I simply returned the greeting. For

some reason I was very much aware of our nakedness. That had never bothered me before. But it

bothered me then. I replied, much gruffer than I really meant, “Hello, we have to get ourselves

clothed.”

“Any idea as to where or when we are?”

“Not a clue.” I responded. “Do you want to do it or shall I?

She again shrugged, “I don’t mind, I’ll do it.”

I relaxed, not moving much, only once to scratch my back on the bark of a thick tree. I

grew drowsy standing there, even though my energy source was fully restored. I glanced at

Loreosa, she was totally absorbed in her feathering and mindpiercing. Time went by, strange I

thought, she’s usually much quicker than I am and I didn’t ever remember taking that long to

feather a few minds. A bit more time went by and finally Loreosa came out of her trance.

“Wheew,” she said, “Zyclo my sweet, we have landed right smack dab in the middle of

another war. And you will never, ever, if I give you a thousand guesses, you will never guess who

is fighting.”

“Don’t keep me in suspense, who are the antagonists?”

“OK, on one side of the conflict are the former colonists, now known as the United

States.”

Oh good, I thought, so the country we went to France for made it. If they’re big enough

to fight another war they must have come a long way.

“New York is a modern city now, and Philadelphia is bustling with growth and money as

well. They’ve come a long way since 1776 Zyclo, a long way. They are free from Great Britain,

totally. Oh by the way they’re fighting the United States.”

“Who is fighting the United States?”

“The United States.”

“The United States, is fighting the United States?”

“Exactly.”

“Well it sounds like a riddle, you’ll have to explain.”

Explain it she did, but it was hard to conceive. After all that with Franklin and France and

the fighting to be independent of England, and now they want to be independent of each other.

I said, “I suppose that one of the factions wants America to be like Europe with a dozen

countries and a few languages.”

I felt a strange voice in my mind “And the other faction wants one country, from ocean to

ocean and from Canada to Mexico.”

Only one person could just tap into my mind and convey a message. I turned around and

sure enough, Nelso Narja was standing there, alongside a pile of clothes with hats, belts and

shoes. “Narja.” I said walking towards the clothes.

He waved a hand towards Loreosa and said aloud, “Like the legendary Adam and Eve of

this planet you are developing a self consciousness that is unseemly for a Clanzithan. How about

you Loreosa, self conscious about your nakedness?”

“Why, does it bother you?” She said coyly as she slowly turned around in a most

provocative manner. “Do I fluster your circuits?”

Narja harrumphed and said, “Don’t be childish. Just get dressed and I’ll tell you where

you are.”

“I know where we are, Chancellorsville in one of the southern states of America, and it’s

1863. I’ve just pierced about fourteen minds. It’s sickening, after all that business with Franklin

and it’s still not over. Still wars and fighting. These humans are terrible; if they can’t find an

enemy they make one out of a friend just so they can fight someone. I suppose that England and

France are having at it as well.”

“No, not so.” Said Narja, “Actually, France is at war with Mexico right now.”

“Mexico! Wait a minute Narja, is all this related? Didn’t we help to create Mexico when

we burned those ships for Cortez?”

“Yes.”

“And didn’t we stimulate French interests in America when we brought them into the

American Revolution?”

“Yes.”

When we caused the Mongols to leave France before they destroyed it—wasn’t that the

reason that France grew to be the power she became?”

“Yes.”

Loreosa popped in, “And now France is at war with Mexico. What’s going on? We

thought all these ‘tasks’ you gave us were isolated incidents and unrelated. Now we find it’s all

tied together. To what end?”

“Sorry; that I cannot say. But I promise all in good time, you will know. Thus far you

have done admirably, just one small, simple task this time. You are going to kill a man. One

single man.”

“Another bad guy?” I queried.

“Actually he is a very good guy. One of the best humans around. But he must die. He is a

general of the army. The army of the South, the rebels, the Confederacy of Southern States. His

name is Thomas Jackson and it is imperative that he die today. When you go about feathering to

locate him, use the name ‘Stonewall Jackson’ as he is best known by that sobriquet.”

“That’s it for this trip? Kill Stonewall Jackson? And then what, who do we kill next. I’m

beginning to feel like an assassin and I have to tell you Narja I do not like the feeling.”

Loreosa popped in as well saying, “I’m about through doing your bidding Narja, and this

competition that we seem to be in is over. No more. Not until you tell us what’s going on. Not

until you answer some questions.”

“Sorry,” Narja said, “I can’t. There is more at stake here then you realize. More than you

can imagine. It’s not just a world it’s more than a world, more than a system. You are involved

with setting up parameters for a Galactic mission of such magnitude it is beyond your sensing

faculties to comprehend.”

“So you say. But you have deceived us in the past, why should we take your word as to

the importance of what we’ve done now? Why should we believe you? And if it’s so all fired

important, why don’t you kill this Jackson fellow yourself?”

“For reasons I cannot disclose, I cannot. Please, you must trust me a little while longer.

Take care of this chore and then, after all things are considered, I will put you in the picture and

tell all. But first, you must eliminate Thomas Jackson. That is the only reason you are here.”

“I don’t understand, you pretty much gave us free rein in the past. I mean look at the first

assignment. We were just put in an area and had no idea that we were there to accomplish some

goal. And now you are specifying a specific goal, a target if you will. Why? What’s changed?

Why direct us like this? There must be a purpose behind your manipulations. And now that I’ve

thought about it, you can obviously manipulate me even easier than I can a human. Why don’t

you just bypass me and get to the human? You could probably kill Jackson with the flick of a

finger.”

We were standing in a clearing. In the distance there was the constant sound of booming

cannon fire. I was fully dressed in the uniform of a Confederate officer although I wasn’t aware

of this at the time. Loreosa was putting the finishing touches to a billowy skirt affair at the same

time doing her best to adjust her hat. She was, her act if you will, the epitome of a young southern

lady of coming out age. Only thing was that southern society at that time was disintegrating

rapidly. Not to mention of course, the fact that as Loreosa was seven hundred and fourteen years

of age, that would definitely take her out of the ‘young lady’ category. But she was a great

looking seven hundred and forty.

Narga was holding out dark spectacles for each of us. Well, nothing he could come up

with could have surprised me at that point. I took my pair and put them in a pocket. Narja was

stroking his chin, looking from me to Loreosa and back again to me. My mind was clamped shut

as I’m certain Loreosa’s was. I was straining so hard to hold the clamp I started to quiver. That

brought a laugh out of Nelso Narga and I heard a different kind of a boom. It was the voice of

Narja booming into my mind. “Do your really believe you can keep me out if I wanted to come

in?” My clamping was useless.

“OK I give up. What do you want us to do? And when can we get back to Clanzith?”

“You know what I want you to do. By the way Professor, it isn’t me who wants you to

do, it’s Woormthyll Spettleby and the Galactic Council.”

“Oh yes.” I said sarcastically, “Spettleby himself is directing me. The Head Miany Fortuu

himself knows what I’m doing. Come on Narga do you think I just fell off of a leission sak?”

Narja turned to the tree line and threw a bolt at three trees that just disintegrated. It

seemed as though all he did was flick the back of his fingers at them in turn and one at a time,

they each exploded. The trees crashed onto the forest floor the opposite side of where we stood.

The only thing that remained were stumps, three of them at a perfect height to serve as chairs. He

waved a hand at the stumps and said, “Let’s sit.”

We sat. “OK. First of all,” Narga said, “it’s so. Spettleby is involved with everything

you’ve done since arriving in this reality. I did not want to use his name before now as I did not

think you would believe me.”

“I’m not sure I believe you now Narja.” I turned to Loreosa, “How about it. Do you

believe him?”

She shrugged. “No, I don’t think I do. Why would Spettleby be interested in what we do

in this reality anyway? Last I heard the Galactic Council had the problems of one hundred star

systems to deal with. Why should the Council take an interest in this measly planet? And why

should they take an interest in the Mongols, or the Mexicans, or the United States, or of France.

Why should this Jackson character be of the slightest importance to Woormthyll Spettleby?”

Narja shifted off the stump and started pacing. He stopped, looked at us, and holding his

hands together at his lower back, he looked for all the world like a man hunched over while he

worked out a sticky problem—which of course he exactly was. None of us spoke. Loreosa and I

simply sat at ease, and Narja paced, and paced; he paced for two solid hours and not one word

either actual or feathered did any of us have for any of the other. We just waited. Finally he

stopped and faced us speaking forcefully, “All right, I’m going to bend a rule a bit; only a bit, to

show you just what is at stake here.”

He sat on the stump and told us the story of the Universal Translator that stops virtually

all wars and indeed family squabbles as well, and we realized we had to continue on, right to the

end, bitter or sweet, it had to be done. The Universal Translator had to come about, and Thomas

Stonewall Jackson had to die that night. And no one must have the slightest hint as to my powers.

Loreosa would have to sit this one out.

The story he told us was this.

“Professor, so that you will truly understand my sincerity I am going to feather this

information instead of speaking it.

“Gwedolyn Sims is generally regarded as the designer of the Universal Translator. You

cannot put the final product as the invention or creation of any one person but Sims is generally

acknowledged to be the most responsible for its creation. To the point of being awarded three

billion galactos for her part in that creation. There have been many translators built over the

years and fine ones as well. But then along came Gwedolyn Sims. She found a way to tap into

every active computer on the planet, then to her contiguous star systems and ultimately with every

computer in the Hundred World Confederation. She was awarded the Spettleby Prize for her

language program, she invented the program that not only automatically senses the mood of a

person but also can come to within a .002% factor of possible failure, tell when a person is

telling the truth and to what degree.

“This of course decimated all criminal justice systems as every one who is guilty pleads

guilty. There was no longer any point in lying as there was no way to lie. The marketing system

went the same way, speaking to a salesperson wearing a Universal Translator, even though the

same language, the person could say ‘the greatest’ to you and you will hear through the

translator, ‘it’s shit.’ And so the lie was pulled out of the marketing world, and stocks plummeted,

but when all the fallout had stopped, the world took note that with the Universal Translator there

could finally be truth, understanding and peace among nations. When the UT was used in the

swearing in ceremony of every public official in the Galaxy then indeed, Galactic peace was

assured. The Universal Translator is generally felt to be the most important technological

creation since creation itself.”

I shook my head and said kind of sadly, “Narja, what does any of that have to do with

Loreosa and me?”

“I will tell you if you allow me to finish.”

“OK but just do it talking. I don’t think this has anything to do with a Clanzithan anyway.

We don’t need a device like the UT. It’s impossible for a race that reads minds like humans read a

newspaper to lie anyway. So what’s the point?”

“The point my friend; is that of the hundred worlds in the confederation only two of those

races have the ability to enter minds. Only two of them have an anatomy that is electrical based

rather than oxygen based. Those two races are the Clanzithans, and the Shalmirans. Only those of

your world and mine have this ability, and even those with the ability there are some whose

clamping abilities are so strong they can stave off truth. Besides that a Clanzithan can not pierce a

Shalmiran to even the slightest degree. That means that ninety eight percent of the Confederation

needs the UT.”

“Mr. Narja,” I said as though I was losing patience which I was. “I ask again, what has

that to do with Loreosa and me. I cannot see any connection at all with any of that and killing a

man. You want me to kill, not a bad man, but a good man. A very good man you said. I see why

you showed up and want to direct this one. We would never kill this Jackson on our own. I’m

beginning to suspect we are not going to do it for you either. So let’s see Narja, see if you can

convince me.”

Narja asked, “Are you familiar with the formula 1 (x+xx) over 4=xy divided by 2^ and

multiplied by pi to the ninth?”

Of course I knew the formula and answered, “Yes that’s the Quadrilll Conundrum.

“If a thing can be explained then it can be interpreted and if it can be interpreted it is

more likely to favor the interpreter.”

Nelso Narja grew a bit agitated, that was not like him, he went so far as to pace furiously

before stopping in front of me and saying, “Before I go any further Professor I must have your

assurance that you will listen to this and not interpret. I promise that I will not explain. You will

understand at first telling and go on with your mission, or, to be blunt, I am screwed. And to

answer your question, the one you are thinking at the moment, I no longer have any power over

you at all. That was the Commissions decision and I will abide by it. No more manipulation, not

even in the slightest. I am also required to ask your permission before feathering although I trust

that when you get to know me better you will drop that requirement.

“As you know Professor there are an infinite number of universes in an infinite number

of dimensions. Imagine that the universes are like an infinite onion, and that we are in layer

number 157 although there can be no numbering system to an infinite number of layers as there

would be neither a starting point nor an end. So then this 157th universe is the one we are in. but

there are different creatures in universe 157. Some are oxygen breathers and some are electrical.

Some of these worlds are far advanced and some are still primitive. In the 157th universe there are

many many Galaxies. There are 177 million habitable planets in our Galaxy that we know of and

so there is no reason to look to other galaxies. We confine ourselves to the Milky Way Galaxy. Of

the 177 million planets only 100 have qualified for notification of the Galactic Confederation’s

existence and have been contacted.

“The existence of Clanzith and Shalmira is a secret shared only by the council of 100

planets. If the rest of the Confederation were aware of the power we of the six and seven

dimensional system worlds possess there would be a universal panic that could upset the natural

order of things. The knowledge would certainly generate a Galaxy wide war. War is an anomaly

the Galaxy has not known for more than a hundred millennium—with one exception, Earth. Earth

is the only planet in the Galaxy that is in a constant state of warfare. We of the council have been

seeking to know why. We are close to learning the reason.

“We also have reason to believe that a member of the council is getting ready to spread

the existence of Clanzith and Shalmira to the rest of the Galaxy. We have many people who are

working to stop this but on the off chance the knowledge does get out, we must be prepared. We

must know why wars happen and how to prevent the happening on a Galactic scale. Earth is the

key.

“On Shalmira, we have the first and only Angular Quantum Computer in the Galaxy. The

AQC as it is known, or Acuesee as it is called, has told us that with this leak of the existence of

six and seven dimensional worlds the Galaxy will be in turmoil and the planets of the

Confederation will revolt and there will be a war the likes of which have never been seen in this

universe. Acuesee has also given us the information that to stop this war before it begins we must

first learn how wars affect the structures of a planet. As there is only one planet where war exists

we of a necessity have to examine, in detail, that planets activities

“You and Loreosa have been sent to Earth for that purpose. We learned much from your

sojourn thus far. A war was stopped with the death of one person, Ogodai. Another was begun

with the burning of eleven ships, and then a war was directed to a desired ending with a simple

hypnopiercing of a monarch. And now, we are going to direct another ending by the killing of

one person. All of this was information relayed to us by Acuesee. Acuesee has informed us that

upon the death of this man Jackson the country of United States will remain intact and will grow

to become the eventual factor in stopping all wars on the planet earth.

“If Jackson lives, he will be instrumental in the success of a massive attack on his

opponent and Acuesee tells us that the opposing factors, known as the Yankee north, will sue for

peace and the United States of America will cease to exist as they are meant to be. With the

success of the Jackson attack the northern part of America will capitulate; North America will

eventually become seventeen separate countries; wars will continue for millenniums to come, and

we will have learned nothing from your time spent there.

“You ask why I do not kill Jackson myself. As a member of the council of one hundred I

am honor bound not to take a direct hand in any of our machinations. To do so would be cause for

immediate dismissal. This too was set by Acuesee. I can oversee a subordinate as I am with you

and Loreosa, but that is as far as I can go. What I am allowed to do, I have done. The fate of the

Galaxy is now in your hands. You must, if you have any conscience whatever, go along with this

and kill this man Thomas Jackson.

“According to Acuesee, by killing Thomas Jackson, you will be instrumental in saving

thirty two planets, and two hundred and seventy billion lives. Jackson is a cheap price to pay for

such a stunning result. This war between the states is the most important war of any that have

ever taken place on planet Earth and the result will have the most far reaching consequences of

any past conflict. Other wars will be fought on Earth but after one final battle between the two

most polarized factions peace on Earth will be attained and the Universe will finally settle into a

harmonious period.

”You two are now the most important people here on Changeling Earth One. Remember

that, remember the competition. We must match Control Earth of the 22nd Century. Thomas

Jackson must die.”

With that Nelso Narja began to shimmer in a foglike halo of energy. He looked from

Loreosa to me and held up a hand to wave farewell. The shimmering grew dim and gradually his

form dissipated as a cloud would in a slight breeze. Suddenly, he was gone.

I looked at Loreosa. She was standing, her billowing white dress held away from her

body by whalebone, a pink sash ribbon around her waist, and the same color ribbon at her throat.

Her hat was perfectly fitted to her head with the wide bill of it gently moving in the breeze. She

was softly biting her lower lip and staring at me. I stared back.

“Well,” she said finally, “that was some tale. Do you believe it?”

“I do,” was my reply. It was a bit far fetched, but I did believe that every word was true.

And so, I decided to do as he asked. I told Loreosa I would endeavor to do the deed. We both

stood and send out a feathering in all directions with the word Stonewall paramount. Directly east

of where we stood were many minds that fit the word. All of them associated Stonewall with

greatness. Jackson was just then in an unparalleled battle. He was destroying his enemy and there

were thousands of dead men in Chancellorsville that day.

I was wearing the uniform of a southern captain but Loreosa, in her billowy dress could

hardly explain what she was doing on a battlefield. She adjusted her dark glasses and headed for

the nearby town. A southern belle, lost in the aftermath of fighting. I headed for the area I knew

that Thomas Jackson would be.

I soon found myself in a small clearing close to the sound of the big guns. There were

voices all around; I heard a shout of “Let me hear the password friend.”

Not having even a clue as to what he was talking about I dove into his mind and there in

front of me was a word. “Iron.” I shouted.

“Pass friend.” And just like that I was with the 18th North Carolina Infantry Regiment

under Major John D. Barry who that day had tromped the northern soldiers severely. The date

was May 2, 1863 and why Jackson had to be stopped on that particular evening I do not know, to

this very day I do not know. But stopped he must be and so I infiltrated the group. Walking

boldly into the first officer’s tent I came to I discovered it was the tent of Major Barry. The

twenty three year old officer was over a basin of water, looking into a palm sized mirror, shaving

around the perimeter of his light beard. He didn’t look up when I walked in, just said, “Well old

Stonewall was right, the institute was definitely heard from today.”

Having no idea what he was talking about I just grunted. Finishing up, Major Barry

turned to me and asked, “Just been assigned to me Captain?”

“Yes sir.” I said, and as the Major was about to ask for my letter of assignment I

feathered in a bit of forgetfulness and he just looked at me blankly and said, “Uh, I, I was going

to ask you something but it seems to have slipped out of my mind. Well if I could forget it that

easily it couldn’t have been important. All right now let’s get on with it; where were you assigned

before this?”

Damn I couldn’t have been less prepared, I didn’t want to do to much manipulating yet

and as I had already feathered his mind once I was loath to do it again. I whipped through a few

minds of the soldiers around a campfire and came up with, “Forty sixth Georgia.”

“What made you leave?”

“I was the only officer left. They disbanded the forty sixth and sent us all to other

regiments. I hope I can be of some service to you Major. I have had plenty of rest so use me

however you will.”

“Those are most welcome words Captain. We’ll be out on patrol tonight, there’s a rumor

about that the Yankees may send some little force later on. We’re taking turns guarding the

flanks; you will be a most welcome addition to our group.”

“I’ll be happy to join you Major, but I do have one request. May I carry a rifle? I’ve

always been a dead shot with a rifle and would love to get me a bluebelly all to my own.

“That’s a hell of a request Captain. You are supposed to be an officer, not a man of the

ranks whose lot is to be killing the enemy. You and every other officer in this army are more

valuable inspiring courage and strength in your men. You’re leading them, not joining them. But

then again, if ever I would honor such a request it would be tonight when we are guarding in

clusters. OK Captain, bring a rifle. And good hunting. We go out in two hours.”

I nodded and joined a group of officers gathered around a fire. Evening had fallen and

men were resting, eating, examining their kits or cleaning their swords. Not wanting to interrupt

the conversation I sat quietly, a Lieutenant was talking excitedly,

“I got to the line just as it got dark. Could just barely see the outline of the enemy on the

hill below. It couldn’t been more than a minute or two later and you couldn’t see them at all.

They had just disappeared. By then we was directing our fire at the flash of the Yankee guns. We

kept that up till about an hour ago when they withdrew leaving us in full possession of the field.

Good thing too for my men were out of ammunition, but I had them supply themselves from the

dead and wounded of which there were way too many. I’m telling you boys, Chancellorsville will

go down in southern history for a thousand years.”

There was a nodding of heads and many yeas and you bets. “How do stranger.” One of

the men said and that was followed by a round of introductions. I told them I had just been

assigned to them and would be going out on patrol with Major Barry in a while.

“Well,” a Captain said, “it’s quiet now, but you never know. Them damn Yankees could

be creeping up on us right now.”

“Haw.” Came from a Lieutenant, “That would be like a pussy cat creeping up on a lion.”

That brought a new round of laughter and I was handed a cup of coffee which I took and

sipped for a bit, liquids being necessary to my metabolism. Someone poked at the fire with a

stick, set the end of the stick on fire, and brought it to his pipe, he puffed the tobacco to life and

leaned back on a tree. It was quiet for a while. I was curious and so gently feathered the minds of

a few of the men.

Most were thinking of home and whether or not they would ever see their loved ones

again. The war seemed to be unending. A battle won, a battle lost. Not a man there had not lost a

close friend and all of them knew more dead men then they did live ones. ‘A few more victories

like today and we’ll be down to using women to fight.’ The Lieutenant who had that thought

burst out with a question, “What do you fellows think about Davis calling up the Negroes? I hear

tell we will give every man who fights for the confederacy his freedom as soon as the war is

over?”

There was a lot of discussion about that one that was summed up by Major Barry himself

who suddenly appeared to take part in the last round of talk. “I tell you men. Personally, if a man

can shoulder a rifle and pull a trigger he can be on my side any day. I don’t have any slaves, nor

do I see myself in the future as having any. I don’t hold to slavery but that don’t make it wrong.

The big plantation owners, they are the ones who will suffer. Why who will bend over in the hot

sun all day long for no wages but a slave? Without slavery the cotton industry will come to an

end.”

Another man popped up, “Personally I don’t care if another ball of cotton is ever picked.

I’m not fighting this war for the plantation owners; you can blow them all to hell for all I care.

It’s that whole class that I object to and I will tell you what, if it weren’t cotton it would be wood,

or minerals or some other commodity that God has put into the ground. Why governments allow

a few lucky people to control God’s work is beyond me. But I’m fighting for my way of life, not

for the way of life of our upper class. No sir. Tell you the truth men; I’d as soon aim my cannon

at a plantation owner as a Yankee anyway.”

The argument was heating up and I had a chore to do. I got up and excused myself. The

men thought I was going into the woods to relieve myself as many of the men were doing.

Everyone was supposed to use the latrines that had been dug but the battle had been so intense it

was overlooked. The smell of dung was everywhere. I had to pick my way carefully though the

field. Finally I was alone. I sent my mind out seeking Thomas Jackson. I found him at prayer.

Sending a thought into his mind that he should reconnoiter west of their location as the enemy

army is strengthening their position there I built up the thought and soon he stopped praying and

called to his adjutant. “Major, saddle up some horses we’re going for a ride.”

Major Barry broke up the conversations just as I arrived back. “Captain Marlin,” he said

to me, “you had best load and prime your rifle, we are going Yankee hunting. I doubt if any of

them are brave enough or stupid enough to penetrate our lines but you never know. I want ten

enlisted men, Captain Marion, will you see to it?”

Soon our four officers and ten men from the ranks were footing it through the woods. I

walked with a private Harrison at the point. After a while we heard the soft sound of hoofs. There

was a group of horsemen approaching at a walk. We could also hear low voices. Major Barry

held up his hand and whispered, “Damn, these bluebellies think to sneak up on us, well we will

teach them a lesson tonight.”

I put the rifle to my cheek and sighted at the group of horsemen. It was bright as day to

my eyes and I found Jackson at the head of the column. He was looking around but could see

nothing. I was going to shoot but noted that Barry was about to give the order and so held off.

“Easy men.” he whispered, “the enemy is just behind the trees. Get a bead on one of them as best

you can and wait for my order. Steady. Steady.”

Then, with his sword pointed towards the small group of horsemen he shouted, “Fire.”

There was a rattling of gunfire. I aimed at Jackson’s neck, which would be a critical wound but he

moved as I pulled the trigger and instead hit him high on the shoulder. Another man also hit him a

bit lower on the shoulder and we both shattered bones. Jackson was done. He might not die, but

he was certainly out of the war.

There was a great shout from the group being fired on. “Hold your fire, you’re firing at

your own men, we’re Virginians.”

Then a return shout from Major Barry, “Liars! Lay it on boys, paste them good.”

Then from the horsemen who were all on the ground ducking. “For Gods sake stop firing.

There are general officers here. Stop firing. Stop firing. You are firing at Virginians. Stop. Stop.

You’re firing on your own men.”

There was a great shout from the group who were all clinging to the ground while their

horses were milling around confused. One of the horses was screaming in agony as a bullet had

passed through his side and his front legs no longer could hold him upright.

“Stop firing. You are shooting your own men. We are Virginians.” The cry came again

and again. “For God’s sake stop firing.”

Finally Barry gave the order to cease fire and sent one of the privates to identify the

fallen group. The private came back white-faced to report. It was indeed Virginians they were

firing on. When he heard the report, and further that one of the south’s generals had been hit,

Major Barry turned into the forest and we could hear him retching. The Major, had cost the South

their ultimate victory. And if any one thing could be attributed to the Confederates ultimate

defeat, it would be the order of Major Barry to fire on the supposed enemy patrol the evening of

their great victory at Chancellorsville.

Thomas Jackson’s left shoulder had been shattered. The bullets, as large as a thumb, had

struck the shoulder and splintered bone. There were no medical procedures of the time that could

save the arm and the men knew it instantly. Jackson was out of the battle. He was put on a hastily

constructed stretcher and carried away from the line of battle. A few days later Jackson

succumbed to the pneumonia that had set in after his left arm was amputated. My job was

finished.

CHAPTER TEN

We were together again, this time as a trio. Strange how Nelso went from a non entity, to

a bothersome student, to a kidnapper, to the most hated man in my existence, to a mentor, to an

almost likeable fellow, to even maybe a friend. But that’s what happened with Narja and me, and

I believe to a lesser degree Loreosa as well. He allowed me entry into his mind after the Jackson

event and I know for sure of his honesty, and sincerity. Much of what he put us through and much

of what he said to justify what he had put us through sounded, at first, as sheer nonsense. Now, I

know better.

It is so very clear to me, at least up to this point. Jackson had to die so that the United

States could live. The living United States depended on the joining in the fray of France, there

would have been no France if the Mongols had stayed the course, and there would have been no

United States if the Aztecs had spread throughout North America. What I didn’t yet know

however was why? Why did there have to be a United States of America? How was that

important in the broad, galactic scheme of things?

And also, what next? Narja was soon to tell us.

He said, “We have to give this planet a bit of stimulation. You’ve done well so far, now

we are going to have to take them along quickly. We must get them to the Universal Translator

stage and that will take a few hundred years. But first Zyclo you are going to introduce them to

using electricity. I am going to send you to where they are concentrating on individual generators

with each home and every business having their own generator. That will stultify them. It will put

a halt to any rapid technological growth. You must see to it that that idea is discarded. Central

Power systems have to be built, but the idea must seem as though it is the idea of a human.

Centralized power stations will begin a new era on earth and will be instrumental in the birth of a

technological revolution, an industrial revolution.

“There is a problem. I’ve had a message from Shalmira. We are ahead in the competition.

That means that our plan may well be accepted. If it is, you and Loreosa, will be the pair to align

the one hundred star systems. You Zyclo will be the best known person in the entire Universe.

That of course is not the problem. The problem is with my counterpart in the second competitive

staff on Changeling Earth Two, Finnara Swyyythnos, and I must emphatically say to you both

that Finnara is not a nice person.

“What do you mean by that? Can this be a threat to us in any way? Narga, we cannot

fight a seven dimensional creature; you know that.”

“Take it easy. Do you recall I told you that I couldn’t take Jackson out because of

Galactic restrictions?”

I nodded.

“Well,” he continued, “that holds true for Finnara as well. Finnara cannot feather your

mind in any way. But that doesn’t mean there is no danger. There are many things to endanger

our success that are not restricted.”

I shrugged, seems like I do lot of that with Nelso Narga, “Well then, we had better just do

the best that we can and if we detect any roadblocks we’ll get in touch with you. How do we do

that?”

Narga started a short laugh. “Zyclo, half the population of Shalmira is watching your

every move. You are the most popular holoshow in history. Don’t worry, if you need me, I’ll be

there.”

“Wait a minute, do you mean to say people on Shalmira are watching us right now?”

“Yes.”

“What about our private moments?”

“Now that you know, just hold up a card with the legend, (PRIVACY) and you will be

given four hours. Keep aware of the time as on the very second of the four hours ending, you will

be in the ether once again.

“Don’t use it too often however. People on Shalmira do tend to get a bit disturbed when

cut off from a holoshow that interests them.”

“Why is this Finnara fellow interested in us anyway?”

“First of all Finnara is a woman. Actually she’s not interested in you. She’s interested in

the competition. She had the same restrictions you had in a parallel universe with exactly the

same situations as on your Earth. Her plane of assignment was Changeling Earth Two. Finnara’s

people stopped the Mongol invasion, but she was unfortunate with her next assignment and the

burning of the ships. They only managed to set fire to six of them. The other five carried the bulk

of the mutineering conquistadors of Cortez back to Cuba and there was no Aztec conquest.

The two Clanzithans of Finnara’s went to ground and came up the same year you did in

1776. That assignment went as did yours and France came in on the side of Franklin’s

revolutionary congress and the United States was born. Finnara’s couple again went to ground

and came up in 1863 with an assignment to kill Jackson as a mirror image to your universe.

However when they failed to burn the ships of Cortez, the Aztec empire flourished. They

conquered the Totonacs and the rest of the country as well. The Aztecs had begun producing

cannon and muskets with the help of some of the Spaniards who stayed on after Cortez left for

Spain. The Aztec nation had spread to include Texas and California. Then the Aztecs won the

land mass of Louisiana from France, and much of America then was Aztec, speaking the

language of Nahuil.

There was an entirely different kind of war in 1863 with the Aztec nation fighting the

southern commonwealth of the United States. Thomas Jackson led the commonwealth army as

commander in chief but was overwhelmed and killed when Spain entered the conflict. England

joined the side of the northern states and when the war ended there were three countries. The

largest being the mid and far western nation of AZT, Aztecia. The other two countries the USA,

United States of America, and the CSS, Commonwealth of Southern States, dominated the

eastern region of America.

“To put it simply, Finnara not only lost the competition, but her people screwed up her

parallel so badly it will take a full millennium before the linear aspects of the parallel come close

together once again. Finnara, as Shalmira coordinator, is totally responsible, as I myself am in

this reality, she is now a renegade and for some reason she blames you and Loreosa in this

parallel for her problems. It is always the way of people who cannot stand losing, to place the

blame elsewhere. So then, watch yourselves, and unfortunately I cannot even say how. Just

continue to do the best you can. Finnara Swyyythnos is dangerously ambitious.

“And now Zyclo, and Loreosa, I will bid you farewell. Your assignment is one that may

well be the seed of success. We will be following with great interest, but for now—you’re on you

own.”

Before we could ask a question Nelso Narga had disappeared. We were indeed, on our

own. Loreosa looked so fetching in her white hoop skirt with the pink waist and neck ribbons that

I was hoping Yeegal was coming soon. Her metabolism and circuitry must be in a state of flux as

she was long overdue and I had been in anticipation for many months now. But it was not yet

meant to be, she came to me and said, “Ready to go Zyclo?”

“Where?” I responded.

“Let’s just do what we did before. We go to ground and wherever we happen to come up

that’s where we were meant to be.”

And so we did. Leaving my captain’s uniform and Loreosa’s beautiful white cotton dress

with a pink bow, we disappeared into the ground and nested once again.

Not long after that we re-animated in Brockton, Massachusetts, which we hoped to turn

out to be the keystone of the Industrial Revolution. So we had thus far been involved in a Mongol

insurrection, a conquistador conquering, a colonial revolution, a civil war, and now; we had to be

instrumental in the creation of an industrial revolution. I could hardly wait to see what was

coming next.

We came up, as usual, about three hours prior to dawn and got our clothes as usual, off a

myriad of backyard clotheslines. After we were clothed and comfortable we feathered into

virtually the entire town. One name was repeated again and again with respect and in some cases

a bit of awe. The name was Thomas Alva Edison and he was an inventor. When we investigated

him we found many of the principles of electricity in the information storage part of his mind, but

his information was limited, and very basic.

He was having trouble. To light a single bulb with the energy of electricity is a simple

matter once the basic knowledge of how to generate voltage is available. The vibrations of energy

when applied to a wire will instantly appear at the other end of the wire. Once humankind figured

that out; the next step was what to do with that energy, then machines could do the labor that in

some cases are impossible for a person. But to produce a revolution and not just a hobbyist

paradise, energy not only had to be generated, it had to be transmitted. And that no one had yet

figured out how to do on a grand scale.

The first time we met Edison he was hunched over a machine that was hooked up to a

small generator; a silent generator. His mechanic was fiddling with a few bolts and except for the

murmur of staff who were watching as well the room was quiet. Loreosa and I walked in and no

one realized there were strangers in the room until Edison looked up with a start, “Excuse me,” he

said, “but this is a private concern and we do not allow visitors.”

I smiled, and Loreosa flashed a smile that almost knocked down two of the engineers.

“We’re not visitors.” And walking over to the generator, I put a finger at the base of it and gave it

a thousand volt shot. I flipped the switch and it started turning with a loud, high pitched hum.

“How did you do that?” Edison asked.

“Let’s just say that I am an electrical savant. That’s all that I can tell you. I want nothing

from you professionally, I want no recognition, I want no money, I only want to help if I can.

“Electrical Savant heh? How can you help me?”

“Well for one thing,” I said, “feeder lines do not have to be thicker at the part of the wire

closest to the source of power and thinner at the user’s end of the wire as you have been doing.

That is your belief I have heard and that belief is keeping you from developing a grid strong

enough to transmit energy to an entire city.”

Edison looked at me with new respect. My starting the generator could have been a

coincidence, but knowledge, that’s different. “What else can you tell me?”

“Mr. Edison please allow me to show you a method of monitoring and controlling

voltage variability and calibrating the feeder resistance. I believe I can show you a method that

will enable you to increase your potential reach tenfold.

Edison looked me over carefully. “Who are you?”

“I’m the man who is going to help you to transmit economically viable electrical power.

Great quantities of it from a whole lot further than the two thousand feet from the generating

station you are getting now.”

“Three.” He said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Three thousand feet, not two.”

“Two, three, ten, a hundred. Never mind feet Mr. Edison, think miles. You are going to

light up Brockton, and then New York, and then—Paris and then; the world. We won’t be talking

about feet; we’ll be talking about cities. And we won’t be talking about a hodge podge of power

stations but a widening grid, like a web, a country wide web of power stations to light up the

country, and create power to turn machinery, and then a world wide web. It’s a wonderful world

you’re creating Mr. Thomas Edison.”

Edison held out his hand to me. I shook it and we wandered about talking. I enlightened

him on many things that were advanced for him, things that a Clanzithan child would know.

While I had been feathering about another name came up and I asked Edison about it.

“Are you familiar with a man, a scientist, his name is Tesla?”

“Ah yes I know of his theory. He says he can distribute electric power without using

wires. He says he can send power through the ground. Now this is impossible. Even the theory is

impossible. Yes I am familiar with his work.” Edison said.

Well that was interesting I missed that when I feathered the name. “Did you hear that

Loreosa? It would seem we should be helping this Tesla fellow instead of Edison, he seems to

have a better understanding of the fundamentals of electrical power.

“Good Lord.” I heard suddenly from Loreosa.

“What’s wrong.” I said.

“Oh no. No. Zyclo, I just feathered a small mindseek into Tesla and his mind was

blocked. Even stronger than a Clanzithan could do. Zyclo I’m afraid that this Finnara woman is

here. Unless Tesla is from Shalmira which I very much doubt, Finnara is in his mind. If that’s so

then Nelso and his holoprogram knows she’s here as well.”

“And if they know,” I added, “then they’re just letting it happen and they will not do

anything about it. So it’s up to us. Now why is she blocking Tesla? He couldn’t tell us anything.

Well all we can do is the best we can do and if we can’t get to Tesla lets work with our original

assignment and help Edison get the grid working.”

We helped as much as we could. There was no hypnopiercing only a hint every now and

again to get Edison and his crew pointed in the right direction. Soon enough, the day came,

Brockton was wired and ready to be lit. Stanchions for incandescent lighting had been

constructed up and down the main streets of Brockton.

Evening approached and there were fourteen of us on the second floor of the building

where the generator was housed. Sandwiches were in evidence but no one could eat. The men

were twitching with anticipation. Edison was to throw the switch at nine pm exactly. The street

outside the power station was filled with people. It was quiet. So quiet it was almost uncanny. I

believe they all knew that something historical was about to take place. The ticking of the clock

was the loudest thing in the room and when the second hand swung around to change the time

there was a gasp in the room.

Edison threw the switch with a bang and the streets flashed into light. Almost too bright

for me. There was a stillness in the air and then a cheer, and then pandemonium. Yelling Edison’s

name and cries of ‘speech,’ ‘speech,’ but Edison, not exactly a man known for his shyness did not

go near the window. I believe he realized what just had happened. He did more than light up the

first city in history to be so lit, he started the Industrial revolution—and he changed the world.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

It seemed as though everyone was excited about the electrification of Brockton except

Edison and his investors. With Brockton as the initial lighting of a city Edison would most

certainly be the most popular man in New England, but if New York was to be the first, Edison

would become the best known and most popular man in the world. And so, by design, the main

publicity would be withheld until the Edison central power station of New York City would light

a town for a second time—this time with the model worked out in Brockton. But he would always

say that “The first truly complete centralized power plant was in Brockton, Massachusetts, not

New York City.

Our assignment was complete but instead of going to ground once again we decided to

enjoy the time and the place we were in. We had spectacles darkened to our liking and strolled

around Brockton enjoying the people, the scenery and the smells. Every place has its own distinct

aroma but when a person lives in the same place for years the scent of the city disappears and

becomes commonplace. Not for us however, one of our enjoyments happens to be aromas. “Let’s

go to New York and see how its grown since the days of Franklin,” Loreosa suggested, and off

we went, but this time, we took a train. I was tired of seeking out new clothes and dark spectacles

every time we came up from ground. My spectacles finally, were a perfect fit and dark enough to

allow me out on the brightest day.

We soon found ourselves in Brooklyn, a section of New York. And from there we went

to the seashore for that marvelous sea air tang. We weren’t disappointed; the air was a tonic with

every breath. The world had come a long way since our first adventure in this reality and we

could finally see how technology will ultimately find its way here. This was brought home clearly

with Loreosa’s discovery. “Look.” She said walking over to a contraption that resembled a sprite

pekk on Clanzith. But I doubted whether anything so advanced as a peek into the spirit world

existed here on Earth. The device she asked me to observe had an opening to poke your eyes into

with the padded front piece resting on your forehead and cheeks while you observed a scene

behind the glass you were looking through. There was a handle to turn and a slot for a penny.

Loreosa was turning the handle and squeaking with delight.

Finished after a few moments she put in a penny and said laughing, “Take a look Zyclo.”

I peeked while she turned the handle and saw movement. It was a person riding a bicycle,

falling off, and getting back on. A simple scene but it was movement. We had witnessed the birth

of the holowall. It would take hundreds of years to gestate but this was definitely the seed that

would produce the mighty oaks to come. A very simple thing, a bunch of cardboard cards with

images drawn on each one; flipping over rapidly and destined to become the most popular

pastime on the planet.

We strolled over to the beach and walked along the hard, moist sand at the waters edge. It

was late afternoon and we both had a lot of personal questions. But first Loreosa asked what I had

on my mind. “What do you think Zyclo? Will we get another assignment soon? I don’t mind

playing the tourist but I’d as soon get back to Clanzith if we’re done.”

I felt our task was complete as well. And as there seemed to be no other assignments, and

no strong pull to nest, I decided to take the bull by the horns so to speak. I wrote a few lines on a

paper and held it out in front of me. It said: SEND US HOME TO CLANZITH.

If Shalmirians were auditing us then surely they would either assign us something to do,

or bring us home. What we didn’t know at the time was that there was a problem. We were not

being audited, the holoprojection of our existence was being blocked. Loreosa also had a paper

printed with the same message and both of us held out the communication and turned slowly

about so that it could not be missed by anyone watching.

We heard a laugh in our minds that made my skin crawl. A high pitched, almost insane

laugh—and then the words mimicking us. “Send us home. Send us home. You poor pathetic

creatures begging to go home.

“You are not going home, you are staying right here and now you will do my bidding.

Mine and mine alone.” And then that crazy laugh again.

It was Finnara Swyyythnos. She had abandoned the Prime Directives of both Shalmira

and the 100 United Stars. I looked at Loreosa, she had heard the same thing I had. She came up to

me and took my hand. It was late afternoon after a cold day and the beach was deserted.

There was a sound from a distant source. Not mental but as though coming from

everywhere. The sound turned into a voice. “You will do my bidding.” This time repeated

actually. And then mentally once again, “You will do my bidding.”

There was a shimmering of the air directly in front of us and with a bright, sudden flare, a

woman appeared. She was dressed like any successful woman of the period. Tight bodice, flaring

ankle length skirt, and high button shoes. Her hair was even lighter than Loreosa’s with a tinge of

gold. Her face was the face of an angel but no angel was she. There is a saying on planet Earth,

‘You can’t tell a book by its cover,’ that certainly held true with Finnara Swyyythnos for surely

that was who was standing in front of us. She drew a seven in the air as she waved a hand in our

direction and we sunk a foot down into the soil. I tried to pull out to no avail. Then I willed

myself to sink further down and ground myself, to no avail. Loreosa struggled as well, to no

avail.

Finnara approached cautiously. I don’t know what she was fearful of, nothing that we

could do certainly. She walked as though she was picking through a field of broken glass.

“Loreosa,” I started to say but then I realized—with horror. That Loreosa’s mind was clamped. It

was blocked as though made of stone. I had come across a security measure like that once before,

Finnara is preventing Loreosa from communicating with me.

About three feet away she stopped. She looked down into our eyes and smiled. It was a

smile such as I have seldom seen. It was the smile of triumph, the smile of a conqueror, the smile

of victory. My eyebrows knit together as I thought, (to myself I hoped), what in the world does

she have to smile about? Capturing the pair of us could not be high on her agenda. We were only

doing what Nelso Narja was directing us to do. There can’t be much satisfaction for a seven

dimensional being to overcome a six dimensional being. Kind of like a human fighting a turtle,

not much doubt as to the outcome. She couldn’t get much satisfaction out of that. And what about

Nelso, he intimated…no he said, that she had no power over us and there we were, stuck. Either

Nelso lied, or he didn’t know.

“He didn’t lie, and he did know.” Finnara said with a smile as her eyes went from mine to

Loreosa’s and back.

“Would you care to explain?” Loreosa asked.

“The competition is not over. I am not over. I have not lain down and surrendered. Nelso

knew that, he also knew that the strictures of the Prime Directive will stop me, a seven dimension

being, from using my power over a six. What he did not know however was that I don’t give a

clabbles daff about the prime directive. I do what I do what I do and be damned with the high

council, and with the prime directive.”

I asked her why, believing that there could not be any insanity on Shalmira. And if she

wasn’t mad, then why? “But what’s your motive? What do you hope to gain? Are you working

with an agenda? The entire galaxy will be against you. If the competition was set up by the 100

Stars you will be a fugitive everywhere.”

Her look turned smug. “Not everywhere.”

I did not know to where she was referring and when I reached out to feather her mind she

blasted me so hard she flipped me right out of the ground and burned a hole in my shirt beside.

“Don’t… ever do that again.” She said and with a shimmering of light, she disappeared from our

sight.

I couldn’t get past her security, but just for an instant, a millisecond, I was in, and flashed

on ‘war, war, war, that is the answer’. I felt her mind was in turmoil with what she had done and

what she was going to do and that war was a metaphor. But for what, we couldn’t know. I

wondered if it were possible for a Shalmirian to go insane. Nelso said she wasn’t a nice person

but that could mean just about anything.

I have to admit I had not a hint of a clue as to what to do next. I asked Loreosa, “What do

you think? What should we do? Just go to ground and wait? Use up more years. Should we move

about and get touristy and enjoy this world, this time, this place? What do you think?”

Loreosa heaved a big sigh as she slowly shook her head, “I don’t know. I’m tired of all

these adventures. My suggestion is that we go somewhere nice and take a vacation. Do nothing.

Just sit around and relax.”

“Sounds good but I wouldn’t know how.”

“No, nor do I. But I do have an idea of how to occupy our time.”

“I’m listening.”

Loreosa looked at the ground and said, I thought shyly which was not like her at all, “I

felt my conduits fluctuating this morning.”

I must have looked as bewildered as I felt, I had no idea what she was talking about. A

Clanzithan does not have fluctuating conduits until well into their second millennium and

Loreosa was a long way from that. The only other time was when a woman was coming into…

Oh lord! I looked at Loreosa my voltage suddenly warming my face.

She saw my hopeful, quizzical countenance and smiling, she nodded.

I couldn’t mouth the words. I dipped into her mind and found that it was no longer

blocked. “You mean?” I could barely finish the sentence, and so she finished it for me, still

smiling with upturned eyebrows, still nodding her head she said it aloud. The word I have been

waiting centuries to hear. “Yeegal.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

I went into Loreosa’s mind so easily that it was apparent there was no interference. Either

Finnara had released the block or? I thought about that for a long few moments. There was

something I had heard of, something at university, from a long time ago. It did involve not a

seventh dimensional creature but a highly trained Clanzithan savant. There was much

experimentation done and it was found that the savant could not get into the mind of a woman

when any elements of Yeegal had appeared. That being the case perhaps Finnara is being blocked

by the Yeegal energies, and it would affect me as well, I was certainly feeling the stirrings of

male Yeegal responsiveness.

It was usually about a week after the initial feeling of circuit fluctuation that the first

stage of Yeegal set in. We had a lot to do and to prepare for. Our surroundings would certainly

not be suitable for a mating on Clanzith but I was sure we could find something suitable. We

were after all, in 1884.

We soon found ourselves, with only the clothes on our backs, in the lobby of the newest

dwelling place we could sense, the just completed apartment complex so far from the center of

town it was known as the Dakota. Approaching the manager I sent forth a wave of energy to

lightly feather the mind of Leroy Higgins, the clerk on duty. He saw two of the most magnificent

specimens of humankind in existence. (Those were his thoughts not mine.) Of course he did not

realize he was not looking at two humans. He stared at Loreosa and I noted his legs weakening

under him. I thought his tongue would tie itself into a knot if he were to speak and so I thought I

would spare him the trouble. I glanced at Loreosa who feathered me “It seems I’ve made a

conquest. Allow me.”

I nodded. “But let me peek.” I replied. And she nodded.

We went into Leroy Higgins mind. Me as an observer, and Loreosa doing the

hypnopiercing. “The two people you see in front of you are the owners of the Dakota. You will

extend them every courtesy. You will not ask for identification or money. You will have them

installed in the very best apartment. And then you will allow them total privacy. Do you

understand all this?”

Leroy Higgins nodded and handed me a key. We rode up to the penthouse in a plush,

tapestry lined elevator and were soon ensconced in luxury almost as lavish as a holosuite on

Clanzith. We had arrived. For the next two weeks we were assured of complete mind security.

For the time being, our adventures had ceased. It was time to relax and enjoy the delights of

Yeegal.

The bellboy led us to our room, turned up the gaslights, as though we needed them,

plumped up the pillows, and stood staring at us. “What is he waiting for?” Loreosa asked. My

eyebrows lifted and I shrugged. I feathered into his mind and soon realized he was waiting for

payment, a tip, money; which we didn’t have. Well, it had to be done; I hypnopierced the young

man with the brimless round hat cinched with a strap around and under the chin. He danced for a

bit and shouted “Wow!” and took off at a run after thanking us profusely.

“What in the world did you do?” Loreosa asked.

“Not a whole lot. But that young man is going to be the happiest bellboy in New York

until he discovers that he misplaced his hundred dollar tip.”

I took Loreosa by the hand and faced her, her eyes were slightly lower than mine, there

was a look of demure expectation on her face. Although in truth, there was nothing for her to be

modest about. My circuits were firing off in every conceivable direction, to a small degree yes but

enough so that Loreosa could feel the effects standing as close as she was. It’s a good thing we

were holed up in private as my thought processes were grinding to a halt. Since our original

blending our circuits had bonded and what one felt after a certain degree of emotion, the other felt

as well and so I knew the currents that were flushing through my body were being felt by her, to a

slightly lesser degree, as well.

She came to me and I put my arms around her and we simply melted into one another. If

a human were to have walked in at that point they would not have believed what their eyes told

them. We adjusted our currents to amalgamate, something that only a pre-Yeegal could do, and

once cloudlike we merged with one another. We were one and we were one. Circling we floated

round and round in the PY dance. I had heard of the dance all my life, every Clanzithan has. It’s

one of the main topics of conversation among adolescent males. But no matter what they say, it is

impossible to convey the feeling to someone who has never been involved with Yeegal.

Our minds were one as were our bodies and we danced for hours—until dawn flooded the

room with a golden glow. Loreosa drew away from me with a soft sigh. I pulled down the shades

and tugged the draperies together to make it more comfortable for our eyes. Taking her hand I

drew her to me once again. How can it possibly be explained, this dance that only a Clanzithan

can comprehend? Loreosa stood in front of me, her golden eyes glistening with moisture, lips full

and promising, hands held out to me. My arms encircled her and once again I drew her closer.

Her breasts, heavy with desire, pressed against my chest as our circuits pulled us together in a

merger of bodies and once again we fused and blended. Once again we were one—saturated with

the promise of what was still to come. All her thoughts were my thoughts, her memories my

memories, her likes my likes, her bête-noirs my pet hates; we were one—one body, one mind,

one being until after a timeless moment, like a wave separating from the sea when it reaches the

shore, we parted; unsatisfied, wanting still more.

“Zyclotone.” She whispered, eyes fastened on my eyes. It was enough. My name rang

through the room as she repeated it once again. I did not answer; only looked deep into her mind.

The mind that had released all guards, all security, open in complete trust. I allowed my own

guard to come down and could feel Loreosa come in. Allowing her full entry she saw the fullness

of my love, the completeness that she had given to me. Soon we would mate and a sudden

thought came to my mind, it was Loreosa’s thought. The image was that of Gloria, my human

companion who was no more.

I thought of the crude mating of the human and saw the dilemma of their sexual

experience for what it was. Animal lust driving them to a peak of satisfaction that dissipates in a

blink only to precipitate, build and dissipate again. The human animal is always in a state of flux

wanting more, and again—more.

It is true that all things are cyclical, save mathematics. There are no rhythms to

mathematics. It is the one pure science. The same on Earth as it is on Clanzith, or Shalmira, or

any of the realities within the hundred stars. And I would suspect in any of the infinity of realities

that have existed. I had a thought…

“Loreosa,” I said, “we have been together for many years now. We have experienced

more than anyone on Clanzith that we know of. We have spoken of love, of hate, of war, of

technology, of reality, and a hundred and one other things; but we have never spoken of the spirit.

I have no idea what your beliefs are. Do you follow the Jrendollas, the Busquiats, the Catenders,

or the Urallyyz religion? I know that it is the height of bad manners to ask this until after Yeegal

but before we go through the final phase of gratification and conception, I thought we should at

least give it a nod. I personally lean toward the Burallyyzs myself.”

We were sitting on a comfortable, deep settee, her head rested on my shoulder. I felt a bit

of a stir when I said I was a Burallyyzs although she certainly had picked up the information

when we merged our memories. I felt no compulsion at all at entering her mind, nor was she

surprised by my entrance. We were beyond security measures with one another, this was the last

matter to resolve, if in fact a resolution was necessary. “Zyclo,” she paused for a long moment as

her eyes fluttered up to meet mine, “I’m a Catender.”

A Catender, of all the various religions that was the one that was closest to my own, but

still, it was a different one and although the Great Book of Burallyyzs spoke of tolerance to every

religion there was a question I had to ask. All religions have a line of degrees between the

fundamental extreme and the uncertain belief. I was a Burallyyzs at the one hundred degree mark

on the fundamental side, as virtually all Burallyyzs were. To understand the philosophy of

Burallyy is to accept it completely, but also, according to Burallyy, to understand it is to reject it

totally. Once that was understood, you could then consider yourself a Burallyyzs.

“Zyclo, we have to discuss this. How can you believe there are ten million gods?”

I shook my head. Ten million gods; a common belief about Burallyyzs. “First of all my

dear, dear Loreosa, I do not believe there are ten million gods. Like you, I believe in only one

God.”

She looked confused. “But I understood every Burallyyst believed in an infinity of worlds

with a god in each and of each.”

I shook my head, “A common misconception. I will not try to turn you into a proselyte,

but if you like, I will explain it to a degree.”

“You won’t try to convert me?”

“Furthest thing from my mind. I love you just the way you are. I wouldn’t think of

changing a hair of you, physically or spiritually. I will explain it only to show you what I believe,

and then, if you like you can do the same.”

I felt a feathering, “Why don’t you just allow me to get into the Burallyyst sector of your

mind?” She asked.

“Seeing a picture of a hammer and a nail is quite a different experience from pounding a

nail into a wall with a hammer although the thought of the two is the same. You’ll see the facts of

my belief but not the furtherance. We must talk about it rather than merge with it.

“First and foremost,” I continued, “we believe in infinity, and that God is infinite.”

Loreosa nodded, “Well I believe that as well.”

“Then let us talk for a moment about infinity. Imagine a universe, or better yet a

multitude of universes—a multiverse. Now imagine a multitude of multiverses, a superverse, a

superverse without bounds—going on forever. And now imagine if you can, a multitude of

superverses, within each Superverse are an unending line of multiverses, and within each

multiverse are endless universes, and with each universe an endless array of Galaxies, and within

each Galaxy an endless procession of stars. Can you grasp that?”

“I don’t know if I can grasp it, but I do believe it to be so.”

“Why?” I asked.

Loreosa answered as though she were weighing each word. “Because if God is infinite,

and we do believe God to be infinite, than he must live in an infinite universe. “

“Yes, that is so,” I said, “and if there is an infinite universe, then the rest must be true as

well. How could it be otherwise?”

“Zyclo, what exactly are you saying?”

“Let me put it this way, in an infinity of universes, would there be one where your name

is Zyclo, and mine Loreosa?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” She said dismissively.

“I’m not.” I answered. “If the universes are unending, then anything you could imagine

would be taking place in one of them. In an infinite universe, there would be one of them that

would be, anything you imagine it to be.”

“Well if that were the case then in one of them the 100 United Stars would consist of 98

six dimensional entities, and two of four.”

“Now you are getting the idea. In an infinity of universes, anything that can be

imagined—is. Anything.”

“Is that how you come up with ten million gods?” She asked.

“No, I told you the Burallyyzs belief was in just one and that one was, is, and will be

God. Just one. And to answer your next question before you ask it, it is because God is above all

of the laws of the Superverse. God is law, he is experience, he is personality, he is mathematics

and physics; God is science and discovery and creativity. You see Loreosa, God is all. One God,

just one. There are ten million ideas of God, but those ten million gods are not God but God is

them.”

“They’re not God but God is them? But why? Why create such a universe? And don’t tell

me a universe is part of a multiverse, if a universe is infinite, it is all that is. Infinity times two is

meaningless. If infinity is everything how can there be anything to add? There is no such thing as

infinity plus one. It is all there is, infinity is everything, and you cannot add a micron to

everything.”

I nodded, hoping she would understand. “Exactly; now you are on the road to

enlightenment. Let us discuss now, the nature of God.

“Clanzithans, the human races, and I would venture a guess most other races, both

electrical and oxygen breathers conceptualize God. They anthropomorphize God. They make

Him to some degree, in their own image.”

Loreosa asked, “You mean like that Michelangelo artist did on the church ceiling?”

“Exactly. The humans see God as a muscular old European with a long beard.”

“But in an infinite world, wouldn’t he be that?”

“Yes, for them. But remember what I said Loreosa, God, the one God, is above all

physical laws. As he is the maker of the law, he is above it.”

“Now then Loreosa, listen to this and think on it before you answer; you personally have

had a taste of it right here on Earth where you virtually have a god’s power over the creatures

here. What was the first thing that we did? Let me answer my own question. We limited

ourselves. We made a pact not to use hypnopiercing ‘as it took the fun out of it’ I believe is the

way that you put it at the time. But what you really meant was that if we could have anything we

wanted, and every one did our exact bidding, that after a while, we would be bored… bored silly.

And what could be worse than that to a person who could dictate anything? Life would have no

meaning.

“Well Loreosa we Burallyyists believe that as it is on this plane, so it is on the spiritual

plane. In other words my dear, we believe that God, would be bored, and to be infinitely bored is

infinitely worse than to be bored.”

“I don’t know where you’re going with this Zyclo.”

I wasn’t sure myself, I just was so overwhelmed by the effect the PY dance had on me I

had to change the subject completely so as to cool myself down. I almost fell into a full Yeegal

state with Loreosa and it could have been disastrous as she would not be fully ready to accept me

for another four days. I just could not bear the thought of my heated body feeling this longing for

four days. I changed the subject to the most serious of all. The matter of our respective religions.

That proved to be a better cure for the pre-Yeegal energy than a bucket of freezing cold water

over the head.

Loreosa happened to have peeked into my mind just then, we had been playing open

mind that whole day, and she saw the freezing bucket metaphor there. She laughed, “All right my

sweet man, I’ll play along with you, but only for two days, then you’re on your own. I will

however promise that you will not be unhappy with your choice of brides after next week. So tell

me, what does the Burallyyist god do when he gets bored?”

“Loreosa, the Burallyyzs god is God.”

“All right, all right, but please do answer me. What does He do when He gets bored?”

“He doesn’t get bored. That is the idea of infinite knowledge and experience. God has

infinite everything. He experiences everything that every creature in the infinite universe

experiences, at every time period, in every universe. He is, all that is. He is everything. He is the

head of every religion no matter what you call him. God has an infinite variety of names. Because

He has every name, He has no name. He is the Almighty, the Creator, the Supreme Essential, the

Ultimate Author and the Ultimate Actor.

“We Burallyyzs believe that God must experience everything and so he is every god. He

is the god that is the base for every religion, on every planet, everywhere. He is all knowing

because He is knowing. He experiences the changes in the creatures he has allowed free will. He

himself knows of no change. God is perfect. And perfection will not admit to any change. How

can something that is perfect, change? If it were to change in any degree, then it wasn’t perfect.

God doesn’t change through experience as He experiences everything. Everything. He doesn’t

change because he is.”

Loreosa was thoughtful. I was mindful of the Catender beliefs. Catenders worshipped the

Sage Catend. Catend who brought the sacred scrolls of the father Sualin, who was God, to

Clanzith. Catenders believed that the way to paradise could only be found through Sualin, and

Catend was the bridge to the Almighty.

If Loreosa could not live with my religious beliefs I could certainly live with hers. For

my belief was that it really didn’t matter, all religions were simply roads. And every one of them

led to the same place. If she wanted to call God Sualin, what difference could it make? God was

Sualin, he was also Loreosa.

“But is the creation the creator? You say the Creator is the creation, would not the

opposite be true?” she asked.

I was thoughtful for a fleeting moment before I answered, “I recently read a book written

by Charles Dickens. Very interesting story about Paris and London during the French revolution.

‘The Tale of Two Cities.’ Have you read it”

“I have,” Loreosa said, “and a few other Dickens novels besides.”

“Very well, Sidney Carton was the hero of the story. Tell me this Loreosa, is Sidney

Carton a creation of Dickens?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then you might say that Carton was Dickens.”

“Yes. Carton is a creation of Dickens.”

“But is Dickens, Carton?”

“Dickens is certainly not a creation of Carton. Even if Dickens had written in that Carton

knew of Dickens, Carton would have still been the created, not the creator.”

I smiled, “Signifying what?”

“That Dickens could control Carton, but not the other way around.”

I continued, “Then Dickens could make Carton do whatever he pleased.”

“I suppose. Yes, Dickens could do that. All he would have to do was to write it.”

“And what if Dickens gave Carton free will?”

“But that would not be possible, it’s already written.”

“Yes,” I replied, “it is already written. Isn’t that a Catender belief? All things are written,

pre-destined? That being the case, there would be no point in Carton considering anything other

than what was written. But Carton would not know that, he would simply do what he did thinking

what he did was his choice—not that in his reality, he had no choice. When you do not know that

choice is available to you, it’s the same as having no choice.

“But let me extend the analogy, say that Dickens had written a hundred different ‘Tale of

Two Cities.’ No, a thousand, ten thousand, a million. A million ‘Tale of Two Cities,’ with a

million different actions taking place. Each one with choices available and made. In one Carton

goes to England and Charles Darnay is beheaded by the citizens of Paris, in another there is no

revolution, in another there is no Carton, and on and on a million different ways. Then what?

With a million choices to choose from, with each choice written, but in another book, are there

still spontaneous choices? Or is it still ‘written’ but simply with an offering of a million choices.

And what if there were an infinite number of books, each a little different. With infinity, there

would be infinite choices, then, and only then would Carton have ‘free choice’ but only if he were

aware of the infinity of ‘Tale of Two Cities.’

“Now that you have a sense of it, imagine a being that had knowledge of every author,

every book, imagined or real, human or Clanzithan. A being who knew every language, every

emotion, every thing. Because he knows of all things he hears all things. He hears every prayer.

But in his compassion He always takes into consideration; Free Will. It isn’t that he doesn’t want

to respond to every prayer, of every one of his children, and make no mistake, we are His

children, He wants to respond but when He does He breaks one of His strongest laws: FREE

WILL. When He interferes then it’s His will, not yours, and there goes free will out the window.”

“Zyclo, are you saying that there is no merit in prayer? Because if you are then you and I

are going to have a lot to think about before we continue this relationship.”

“No, no, no, that is not what I am saying at all. I am simply explaining to you why every

single prayer is not answered.”

“You’re saying that answered prayers interfere with free will.”

“Yes.”

“And that’s a Burallyyist belief?”

“We have a deep belief in the one, almighty, single, supreme being. Our belief is that he

is eternal, and infinite. In that, most religions agree with us, including your own. The problem,

dear one, is in the understanding of eternal and infinite. You study Caten’s scripture as written by

the prophet Caten, the Jrendollists study the ancient scrolls of Jrendo with unknown authors, the

Busquiats worship idols and iconic representations of the great lord god Lahallaryy, the Urallyyzs

see a god in every tree and leaf and call it nature with the true god who has no name looking

down on us all.

She nodded; then asked, “And what does a Burallyyist study?”

“We study infinity mostly. It is a never ending struggle. It’s not for nothing I gained a

professorship in infinite mathematics. I started out as a cleric. Our holy book is filled with

mathematical metaphors.”

Loreosa laughed, “You, were a priest?” and stood there chuckling.

I hung my head. “It was only a step from there to a chair at the Clanzith Institute of

Mathematical Engineering. We studied infinity for hours, every day. That is one of the reasons I

was so upset with Narja. We were about to accept the fact that pi was an infinite number, what

kept us from that was that if it were it might possibly be a doorway to the spiritual kingdom.

Narja must have picked that out of my mind and he used it.

“But don’t hold it against me. I know enough about religion to realize it doesn’t matter.

We’re all alike. Can’t you see the commonality? We all believe in the one eternal immortal God.

I could be Catenist, a Jrendollist, or even a Busquiat. It wouldn’t change my belief one grain. Any

Burallyyist can. What I am saying my dear is that it may be easier for me to take on your religion

than for you to adopt mine.

“Basically, the difference is not whether or not we believe, but the manner in which we

worship. A Burallyyist lies on the floor in complete obeisance with arms stretched out ahead

whereas a Catenist lies with arms at the side and a Busquiat lies on his back with arms folded

over the chest while a Jrendollist worships in a sitting position with legs and arms crossed. But

we all set our minds to obedience and in reverence to a power we all accept as greater than our

own.”

Loreosa nodded, this wasn’t exactly the time to get into a spiritual discussion but we both

wanted to cool our circuits. It was going to be at least another two days before Yeegal set in.

She asked me a question that I too had wondered about. “What about Narja, and the rest

of the seven dimensionalists? I would like to know what they think about the spiritual dimension.

Narja did intimate he could tap into it. That would mean he would have information that was

denied to us. We will have to ask him the next time we see him. “

A sudden thought came to me. What kind of spiritual beliefs did Shalmirans have? I

knew of many religions in the Federation of One Hundred Stars but most were variations of the

Clanzith group. Oh there are extremes of course, even on Clanzith, and I trust on Shalmira as

well. But the Alpha and Omega of all religions was ultimately the One Universal Supreme Being.

That being the case, then all the religious roads, no matter how benign, no matter how

bizarre they appeared were really only roads that all led to the same place. So what difference did

it make? That was my belief. I wanted to return to Clanzith to pursue a few more mathematical

goals, and I wanted Loreosa at my side. If it took to professing Catenism to have her, then a

Catenist I will be. I flashed that thought into her mind without editing and looked at her as she

received it, staring at me intently—with what, I had hoped, was a look of love.

She gave a great sigh, and soon had her arms around my neck as mine pulled her in to me

and once again, we were cloud like, blended.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The moon lit the Southern sky with a brightness that reminded me of a perfect afternoon

on Clanzith. We were strolling through Central Park in New York City. The Dakota, one of the

few buildings that far north of the city, had a very pleasing view of the west side of the park from

our living room window. The hansom cabs were out in force and Loreosa practically squealed,

“Oh Zyclo, let’s ride in one of the carriages.”

Refusal was not in me, and shortly we were clip clopping along just like two lovers of the

human race. Loreosa’s head rested on my shoulder and my arm was around her. She was content,

I was content, but the hansom driver’s mind was like the confluence of two rivers of slime. I

hadn’t wanted to intrude but his brain seethed with ugliness and resentment. I couldn’t help it; I

took a peek and was instantly sorry that I did. Apparently he had a terrible argument with his wife

that morning and had taken out his resentment on the horse striking the poor creature with a strap

until the animal screamed in agony and protest. I thought the horse had a bit of a limp and now

knew for certain that he was still in pain. This could very well put a damper on our romantic

evening. “Excuse me sir,” I said, “but your horse seems to have a bit of a limp, is anything

wrong.”

The man’s vehemence surprised me as well as his words, “Fuck him!” he fairly shouted

bringing Loreosa up from my shoulder with a look of surprise and anger on her face. And with

that he smashed his whip down on the rump of the horse who shrieked and leapt forward as the

whip came slashing again and then once again. Loreosa looked at me, a blank expression on her

face. This cretin of a driver was ruining our mood. Plus both Loreosa and I were animal lovers. I

especially was fond of horses. I learned long ago that I could feather into most animals minds and

although there were no thoughts there I could manipulate, I could get in a few emotions and

instructions.

“Easy my friend. I am with you and I will help you.” I sent into the horses mind. He

snickered and threw his head up in surprise as I stroked his mind. Loreosa saw what I was doing

and threw a jab into the driver. I don’t know what she did but the next thing I saw he had jumped

off his perch and run on to the grass heaving his guts out. We kept going and were soon out of

sight. I hosed in a field of grass and happy companions and could see the horse straighten up and

start prancing along the road as though he were in a parade.

“Wonderful,” Loreosa said in a manner to indicate she meant just the opposite, “Why in

the great system of stars did I do that for? So now we’re responsible for a horse. What will we do

with him? We can’t just leave him here.”

Of course she was correct. I should not have interfered. We were deep into the park when

we finally stopped. Getting out of the cab we walked to the front of the horse and holding his

muzzle cupped in one hand I stroked behind his ear with the other. A soft snicker came from him

and I suddenly had the strong feeling that he had never known kindness of any kind. I floated a

field of grass with many horses running free into his mind while scratching his ears. Somehow

Jason, that was the name that Loreosa and I agreed on, was like a big puppy dog. I suppose it was

the mind piercing. I had never done that to an animal. Actually what kept me from doing it was

my son Johnson. He had often feathered into the minds of our dogs and other animals in the

palace. I felt somehow uncomfortable doing it myself. But I was completely at ease with Jason, as

was Loreosa.

I suppose the first time we do something, and this includes humans as well as

Clanzithans, we cherish the experience; first kiss, first job, first pet horse. I unhitched him and

spanked him on his way. But he didn’t move an inch. He turned his head on that great neck of his

and looked right into my eyes. I believe that at that moment I fell in love with him. Oh I know

how strange that sounds but you must remember that when I feather into a mind, be it man or

beast, there is a resulting affinity. This affinity turns into an exaggeration of feeling. If I tap into

the mind of an adversary who I dislike, the resulting affinity is a geometric progression of rage.

On the other hand, when I looked into Jason’s big brown eyes he seemed to me the most beautiful

animal on the planet. With that feeling I slunk into his mind and saw him in most positive of a

multitude of viewpoints. I saw him cropping a field of oats, him running along the ocean shore,

me on his back as we raced the wind on a country road, I curried him, stroked him and all this

multiplied by the power of combining the real with the dream of what one would like to be.

Jason was not immune to this either. His love for me was growing exponentially. This

was not a creature I was going to send off, and Jason knew it as well. At that first slap of my hand

on his rump he turned and with lowered head, slowly walked to me, his feet clopping on the hard

packed dirt of the park roadway. He put the top of his head gently on my chest, moving his

forehead back and forth ever so slowly, he waited for me to rub his ears again. I surrendered, as I

rubbed I thought, “What in the world am I going to do with a horse?”

The thought leaked out because I immediately heard “Don’t you mean ‘we’ my dear? Or

are you trading me in for a horse?”

I laughed; Loreosa enjoyed being around the horse almost as much as I did. “Let’s find a

livery. The best in the city.” I said.

A short while later I handed the reins to a startled Dakota doorman along with a ten dollar

bill that softened his confusion immediately. Back in our rooms we dressed as befitting a pair in

the pre-Yeegal stage. We must have looked a sight, Loreosa and I, when we strolled into

McCormicks Marvelous Livery stable. I looked as though I were attending an opera and Loreosa

just looking. She wore a gown that was not in vogue that year, even in Paris. It shimmered with

the light, and clung to her body like a skin. The color was light green with heavy undertones of

yellow. Put all that together with her cream complexion and light yellow hair and the result was

startling in its appeal. We didn’t normally dress that way but Yeegal will do strange things to

ones taste. Loreosa was dressing to stir my emotions; not that they needed stirring, but the effect

she had on those passing was predictable. Not a man who walked by didn’t crik up his neck

looking. Every woman, attracted by the dress and jealous of the fact that any human being should

look like that, stared at this quintessence of beauty. Of course what they didn’t know was that no

human being did.

Before long Loreosa had her horse as well. After McCormick himself decked us out with

the proper riding apparel and saddles and such we made arrangements to take the pair out later

that week. Soon Jason, my stallion, and Argola, Loreosa’s mare were happy stable mates, helped

along with a bit of feathering on our parts. We left them happily chewing, by a bucket of oats. It

would be a few days before they would see us again. It would give them time to get acquainted.

Later that evening, with the horses comfortably ensconced in their stalls, Loreosa and I

finally settled in. I had never felt quite like I did that day. My circuits were firing off crazily and I

felt as though in a light swoon. What you humans think of as an orgasm we think of as a glimpse

of heaven. Most of our religions on Clanzith do believe in something after this life.

Heaven has so many names, so many rewards, and this glimpse of those rewards make

the striving for the totality all the more meaningful. I was already beginning to glimpse a glimpse;

and dipping into Loreosa’s mind I found she was there as well. We tore off our clothes – not for

the prurient reasons a human might—a Clanzithan has more than the feel of flesh on flesh in

mind in this circumstance. Just as our clothes cannot accompany us when we go to ground, so

they cannot when we merge and so clothes, of any kind, will prevent a merging. With clothes

blocking the merger we would feel a great dissatisfaction to say the least.

Soon Loreosa and I were bare before one another. I closed my eyes and feathered into her

mind as we slowly stepped closer. My feathering met with her feathering. She was set for a

receptive mode. I flowed like syrup into her mind as our matching featherings merged and whirl

pooled around and around.

I drew closer to her body and when her breasts touched my chest I reached around and

drew her in. My chest was the first to merge entering her nipples, passing her breasts and

stopping when my chest reached her center. I positioned myself so that our circuits would merge

and then we were oscillating as one. Two beings with but one beat, and every tone of that beat

drove us further into the glimpse of heaven. We were as one and time did not exist.

Fully merged we twisted around so that we were standing as though I was inside her. My

head moved forward slowly, slower than would the second hand of a clock move. When our eyes,

and nose, and lips and ears fit I held still. We kissed. Oh not the kind of lip smacking spittle of

you humans, when we kissed it was with one body, one mind, one pair of lips. We were the

perfect balance, male and female, two becoming one. We stayed that way, lips merged, bodies

merged, dancing slowly about the room. This was Yeegal. Our bodies grew lighter as the

electrical emanations, bound together with negative and positive charges neutralized the gravity

force and we floated off the floor.

Like a tenuous cloud we floated around the room, deep in the ecstatic merger of Yeegal.

Time passed. Night turned into day and then into night again but the passing was unnoticed by us

both. Our minds had merged and we were one. Her experience and memories were mine; my

experience and memories were hers.

Every molecule of my body felt as though it were swelling and then the molecules burst

one by one but so close together were the unfolding bursts it was as though one only had taken

place. Each molecule was a sensation of ecstasy. Billions of molecules bursting into rapture

throughout the body were slowly bursting again and again as we floated together feeling each

others bliss.

Reaching the peak of the rapturous culmination we had to decide whether of not to create

a new life. Our minds were as one and we both concluded that we would wait until our situation

with Finnara and Nelso was resolved. There would be many other opportunities; we were both in

the very prime of life. After four days, a short Yeegal period by most standards, we floated no

longer. Back on the floor we separated and were two once again. The Great Experience. It was a

mystery no longer.

Loreosa looked at me with hooded eyes and a slight smile of satisfaction. “Well, that was

a bit more than I had expected. You know Zyclo, every girl I know, from puberty on, thinks about

what she is going to do and how she is going to feel before, during and after Yeegal. Whenever a

few friends are together the main topic of discussion is always Yeegal. But wow! Nothing I’ve

ever heard or read has even come close. It’s no wonder bound couples will not speak about it. No

one possibly can. When we get back to Clanzith; if we get back to Clanzith, I know my sister’s

first question won’t be where I was or how I feel. She’s going to ask if I was a Yeegalite.”

“I just realized how little I know of you my sweet one. This is the first time you

mentioned a sister.”

“Aliossa. That’s her name. She’s older by two centuries. She blended with her mate even

before I was a student. I don’t know why I never mentioned her. But then I don’t really know that

much about you either. Who are you Zyclo? I know that you were a cleric at one time and of

course I know about your tenure as a Professor of infinite mathematics, but I really know little

else about you. Don’t you think it’s time for us to open to one another?”

Of course Loreosa and I had meshed our minds. More than once, but as deep as I had

feathered into hers and as deep as she did into mine there are always things, generally family

items, that are blocked from view to everyone. At least every six dimensional creature, I wasn’t

certain of how far Nelso or Finnara could get should they want too. I knew all I wanted to know

about Loreosa and as far as family was concerned there would be plenty of time for that after we

returned to Clanzith. But if Loreosa wanted to discuss it now why then we would discuss it.

“Do you really want to talk about us now? Right now?” I asked. I was still in the modest

stage of emotional placidity but apparently Loreosa was not. I was learning about the aftermath of

Yeegal. I could see that Loreosa was still somewhat excited about experiencing the ‘glimpse of

heaven’ as was I, but in a more tranquil way.

She nodded and said so softly that I almost missed it. “I was raised by the state, Zyclo.

My mother abandoned me when I was born. She took her life. It was the only suicide in four

decades. You might have heard of it, her name was Maaziil, Katosa Maaziil. It happened in

Katosa.”

I did remember. It came back vividly, and it was no wonder that Loreosa kept that part of

her life hidden from my consensual piercing. Suicide is practically unknown on Clanzith; when

one happens it is the news of the century. It was quite a scandal. So Maaziil was Loreosa’s

mother. I didn’t know how to respond and so said the first thing that popped into my mind. “Your

mother was named after the town of Katosa?” I asked.

She shook her head, “No. The town was named after my mother. Do you know why she

took her own life?”

“No. I wasn’t interested in the details. I figured she must have been engulfed by a sea of

troubles. I know it was a big scandal at the time. It must have affected you deeply.”

Loreosa sat and wiggled herself into a comfortable position on the big overstuffed chair.

Her gaze turned slightly upward as she brought memories forward. After a moment her eyes

turned back to freeze into mine an she said, “I didn’t know anything about it until I was late into

my teens. I was raised by the university conclavists. I know more about you than I ever did about

my parents. I was kind of a lost soul in my pre adult years. I immersed myself in learning

everything I could about everything. You were the only person who had the best of me. I kept up

with the philosophies and the political sciences. Became a chemist and a psychologist but I was

never satisfied. Not until I heard you speak about the only constant in our universe being

mathematics and that infinite mathematics held the answer to the great question, ‘Why are we

here?’

“So tell me professor, in a nutshell. Why are we here?”

I took her hands in mine and tilted my head, “Professor?” I asked. Not exactly what a

person who is still in the aftermath of the great experience would want to hear himself called.

“Somehow my dear, sweet Zyclo, I think you should put on your professor’s cap before

you answer that one.”

I had to chuckle at that. We spoke most of that evening and for three more days after that.

As we spoke we occasionally merged and although it was not quite the strong glimpse we had

previously it was enough. I was beginning to live only for the merges with Loreosa and the

feelings she activated in me were just too pleasant to resist.

And then, one breezy overcast day, when noon was dim and dreary with low lying clouds

blocking out the sun, we decided to go riding. As we approached the stables I sent out the flicker

of a thought and immediately heard a scream of delight come from the corral area of

McCormicks. Neigh after neigh came from Jason’s stall and when I reached him he was

quivering with happiness. After a few hugs and pats I took a brush and curried him. Loreosa

busied herself doing the same to Argola.

We were soon saddled up and riding along one of the many pathways of Central Park. It

had been a long while since either of us rode, it was wonderful. Jason had his head up and

pranced like a pony. No one but me had ever been on his back before and so I feathered in a

feeling of security and love and he responded in the same manner. Occasionally he would toss his

head to the side to catch a glimpse of me in the saddle. Each time he neighed softly and snorted

with pleasure. Loreosa rode like the queen she once was. She had certainly got over the trauma of

her birth mother and we neither referred to it nor thought about it again.

We were walking the horses along the trail enjoying the aroma and view of the park when

seemingly from nowhere there was a clattering and a carriage pulled by a runaway came into

view. The man at the reins was frantically trying to stop his horse to no avail. I screamed aloud,

“Loreosa, watch out.”

The carriage careened around a bend in the road and flipped over knocking her horse

down with Argola’s back end landing on Loreosa. Loreosa was trapped under Argola. I leapt

from Jason’s back and ran to her side. Lifting the frightened horse to her feet I pulled Loreosa

from under the open carriage where she had fallen. The driver had fallen free and was dusting

himself off. He was a black man, dressed well, looking nervously at me as he adjusted his coat

and hat.

“Thank you.” He said uneasily. He looked at me in a strange way. He had seen me pick

up a horse to right her and he couldn’t help but notice that I lifted his carriage up with one hand

while I brought Loreosa out from under it with the other. But still he came to Loreosa and started

to examine her. When I objected to this he looked into my eyes and said simply, “I’m a doctor.”

Loreosa just shook the dust off her and said, “I’m fine doctor. No need to fuss.”

The doctor’s eyes drew together. He looked from me, to Loreosa, to the horse, to the

wagon, and then he settled his gaze on me. “How did you do that?” he asked.

“Do what?” I answered although I suspected it was the lifting of Argula that he couldn’t

quite get into his mind.

“You lifted that horse as though it were made of paper. And then you picked up the

carriage with one hand and no strain. Who are you?”

Loreosa stared at me. “Well, answer the man.” She said with amusement. She was

getting a kick out of this. I did a light feathering and found a good man in front of me. It must

have taken quite a bit of doing on his part for an African American to get a medical degree so

soon after the Civil War. I took to him right off. My thoughts ran through a dozen different stories

I could tell the man, but somehow, I thought that perhaps a bit of truth would be in order.

Besides, if it backfired I could always erase his memories of me. I delved a bit deeper and

discovered a personality I could trust. This man may just be the answer to a question that had

been disturbing me for some time. How to protect myself and Loreosa when Finnara would

suddenly appear. She had to know we were almost out of the Yageel energies. Smiling I

introduced myself.

I held out my hand and said, “John Marlin. And you are…?

Shaking my hand with a bit of apprehension he said, “Williams, Daniel Williams. Doctor

Daniel Williams.”

“Excuse me Doctor Williams, but I wasn’t aware there were any black men who were

doctors. Of course I haven’t been here long, my wife and I only recently arrived from Europe. I

had heard there were quite a lot of resentments here about the Negro race.”

He nodded, “That’s true. A few of us however have been lucky enough to have been

sponsored by those who see us as real people. But you still haven’t answered my question. How

did you lift that wagon up? And the horse?”

“We, my wife and I, are from a race you have not heard of. We are very strong, much

stronger than the average person. Also we come from a very cold and dreary land. We seldom get

to see much sunlight.”

Doctor Williams skepticism showed in his voice, a deep baritone, “And where, may I ask,

is this strange land?”

“North. North of the Ural mountains. Do you know the Urals doctor?” I asked, hoping he

was aware of it but not too familiar with the geography.

“I know approximately where they are located, but I’ve not heard of any people with the

strength you seem to have. Unless my eyes deceived me you lifted a thousand pound horse to its

feet and then you lifted a wagon off this young lady with one hand. A young lady who,

incidentally seems to be no worse for it. I do not even see a scratch on her skin. A skin the like of

which I have never before seen. She is the lightest complexioned person I have ever seen. You

seem to also be extremely light skinned. And your hair. At first I thought it was white but now I

see it is a shade of yellow blonde that also seems to be unique.”

I looked over at Loreosa. “What are we going to do about this?” I asked her.

“You handle it. The Yageel energies will soon leave us both and I have a feeling that

Finnara will be back as soon as she’s able. I’m going back to the Dakota. I’ll see you there.”

And with that she flipped me a pencil with an eraser on one end, winked at me, and left. The

meaning of the eraser would come to me shortly, but why the mystery, why not just tell me? And

the reason for that as well came to me.

Turning to the doctor I said, “Doctor Williams, you know that the further north you go

the more blondes and light skinned people you find. Why even yourself. You’re a Negro but your

features are also very light for your race.”

“Yes,” he replied, “I do have some bit of Caucasian blood in me, thanks to a few

slaveholders who contributed to my gene pool, there are many negroes who look like me, but I

have never seen anyone who resembles either of you two.”

The doctor’s horse was unhitched and peacefully cropping grass as were Jason and

Argola. “Let’s sit in the wagon doctor. I’ll weave you a story the likes of which you have never,

ever, in your wildest imaginings, could conceive.

Hours later, I was well on the way to bringing the good doctor to the present with my

tale. The afternoon soon turned into early evening and still we spoke. Loreosa and I had agreed it

was time to take a human into our confidence and this seemed like the opportune moment. It

wasn’t much of a risk as between us we could wipe out a memory or at the very least make it

seem as though it had been a dream. We wanted to see the reaction of someone when they heard

the entire story. Finally, about two in the morning, I had finished. Dr. Williams had sat quietly

asking but a few questions. Every now and then he would get up, agitated, only to sit back down

again to listen.

When I spoke of Odogai and the manner in which we traveled through the ground to get

to Mongolia he stared at me with knit brows. I felt that this was a time for a brief demonstration.

“Watch this doctor.” I removed my clothes and wrapped my jacket around my waist. I slowly

sunk into the ground as my molecules passed through the earth. The doctor saw me sink down

until the only thing that remained was the jacket that had been around my waist. Then I rose back

up through the ground and put my clothes back on. The good doctor said not a word. Just sat with

knitted brow. Finally, he tented his hands under his chin and sighed deeply.

“Until this moment, I thought your story was quite interesting. I was going to repeat it to

a friend of mine from Vienna who happens to be in New York on a lecture circuit. Frankly Mr.

Marlin I thought that everything you told me was a figment of a great imagination. When you just

sunk into the earth I thought it was a trick. But it wasn’t a trick, was it?”

I shook my head. “No. No trick. No magic. Science. At least for a being of my

dimension. One more demonstration. We have purposely stayed out of your mind. Now I am

going to produce pictures in your mind. First, a ship traveling on the ocean.”

I feathered into Dr. William’s mind and he saw the ocean with waves smashing onto the

side of a sailing ship and the wind blowing every sail taut. Then I filled his mind with a desert

scene, and then an elephant trumpeting a challenge. It was enough. He was almost convinced.

“And so Doctor Williams, you’re up to date. Loreosa and I are from another dimension,

another star system, another planet. We are of another race. We are extra dimensional in that we

operate above the vibrations of your reality.

At that point Doctor Williams asked in a voice filled with wonder, “Your anatomy is—

different?”

“Put an ear to my chest and listen for a heartbeat.” I said.

He put an ear to my chest, and then felt my wrist, and then my neck for a pulse. There

was no beat of a heart, nor was there a pulse.

Backing away in fear the doctor asked “Who—what are you?”

“As I’ve said. A man from another dimension. A six dimensional man, as is my wife

Loreosa.”

Shaking his head he said, “But this cannot be, it simply cannot be.”

“Doctor Williams; as I am here, and Loreosa is here, it can be, and is.”

“Do you mean to say that the story you have just told me was not a figment of a fertile

imagination; that it is true?”

I nodded.

“You killed the Khan of the Mongols.”

I nodded.

“You burned the ships of Cortez?”

I nodded.

“You’re wife was Queen of England?”

I nodded.

“You killed Stonewall Jackson?”

I nodded.

“You knew Benjamin Franklin?”

I nodded.

“You were alive a thousand years ago?”

I nodded.

There was a great sigh from Dr. Williams. He was thoughtful for a long while trying to

piece all the information together. Everything he knew as a scientist was being torn asunder and

he was confused.

Finally he straightened up and asked, “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Good question. The answer is we need someone who is not manipulated by us. Someone

whose mind is clear. Someone up to date and intelligent. Also we wanted a person who was

persistent, bold and creative. You fit the bill. It was just a coincidence we found you. We need

you if we are going to have the slightest chance of defeating Finnara.”

“Are you telling me that there is a creature from another dimension with the power to

control whomever she wishes?”

I felt that somehow, answers were within the human experience. If this man was not the

way out of our dilemma then perhaps he could lead us to someone who was. “She can do far more

than that. I can control anyone I wish and Finnara can control me. Watch, I’ll show you what I

mean. Do you see that man over there, walking his dog?”

“Yes.”

“Watch.” I said.

I feathered lightly into the man and then hypnopierced him. He laid down on the ground

and rolled over and over; then he got up brushed himself off and walked over to us. When he

reached us he laid down on the ground and rolled over and over again. Getting up he came up to

me and shook my hand. All the while this was going on the dog was sitting in the same spot and

howling at the sky. The man turned away from us and continued his walk with the dog as though

nothing unusual had happened.

Doctor Williams said, “I see it, don’t know yet if I believe it, but I did see it. Just a bit

more convincing. Make me do something.”

The next thing Doctor Williams knew he was removing his trousers and wrapping them

around his neck.

“I hope Doctor that this will convince you. Or is it your custom to wear a pair of trousers

for a necklace?”

Dr Williams sat down heavily after replacing his pants. “Why, why, I really felt that

taking off my pants and wrapping them around my neck was the polite thing to do. I thought no

more about it than I would straightening my tie. But if you can do that to anyone why you could

control the world, you could rule the world.”

“I have no wish to rule anything, besides, we’ve been there. Remember, Loreosa was the

Queen of England.”

“I thought that was a fabrication. I’m beginning to get the idea that everything you told

me was true.”

I nodded.

“One other thing…” he said.

I looked at him and waited.

“Could you throw one of those bolts you told about?”

I looked around to see if there was anyone within sight. Aside from the horses cropping

the grass there was no one. I sighted a sapling, looked about once again and threw a 3,000 volt

charge at the trunk. It exploded into sawdust. The calm look on the doctor’s face turned into one

of fear. I didn’t want to feather into his mind. I had another use for that. I calmed him, “I am no

threat to you doctor. I told you everything because I need your help.”

His look turned to puzzlement. “How in the world could I possibly be of help to you sir.

You who controls people and can throw lightning bolts from your fingertips. How can I do better

than that?”

“I told you about Finnara.” It was a statement not a question.

“You did, the seven dimensional being. That she could, she could, well she could rule the

world as well.”

“Yes doctor she could, easily, but that’s not what she wants. She wants to rule all right,

but not this piddly assed world, she wants the universe. She wants to be the Empress of the

United Hundred Stars.”

“The… United Hundred Stars? Other worlds?”

“Doctor, weren’t you listening to my story?”

“Well yes I was,” he replied, “but it somehow didn’t register. You’re talking about

people, different races, different beings, other planets, hundreds of planets. That’s an awfully lot

for me to digest Mr. Marlin. This kind of information, if released would change the world. It

would effect every government, every religion, every person. It could have a cataclysmic result.

Aliens, on Earth. Well!

”This information could be very harmful if it were believed.”

“That’s right doctor. That’s why we chose you to be our channel.”

“Your channel?”

“Yes, Finnara is coming. She will be controlling me. I cannot resist her; she is far too

strong for me. When she comes she will sap every memory from my mind. I do not want her to

do that. That is why I was so specific in my story to you. Every word of that story is imbedded in

your mind now. What I am going to do is to transfer those memories in their entirety, including

this conversation. I am going to transfer it and then delete it from my mind.”

“Delete it?”

“Yes, erase it. Erase it completely. And then at a later date I will retrieve the information

from the transfer point. Doctor Williams, that transfer point is you I want to put every bit of that

information into your brain, it won’t affect any part of your mind. You will not even know the

information is there. But when it comes time for me to retrieve it you will release it at my

command.”

The doctor thought about it for a moment. “But if this Finnara will get everything from

your mind she will know that you are going to retrieve the information from me.”

“No she won’t, because I won’t know.”

“I’m confused, If you won’t know, then how will you learn that I am storing your

memories if you have no memory that it’s stored?”

I smiled and said, “Because Doctor Williams, you yourself will tell me.”

There was a hesitation on the doctor’s part. He still, even with all the proofs I had laid

out, barely believed me. “Why did the young lady leave?”

“Finnara will surely tap her mind as well. She didn’t want to hear any of what I told you.

When she handed me the pencil, it was to tell me to do what I am suggesting we do.”

“The pencil told you what to do?”

“We generally, when thinking about a thing will polarize it. Look to the opposite for

other meanings.”

The doctor nodded, “And on the other end of a pencil is…”

“An eraser.” I answered.

The doctor pulled out a pocket watch but it was far too dark for him to read it. I took the

watch and said, “It’s two a.m.”

“How could you see… of course, you can probably see in the dark can’t you?”

“No, I can’t see in the dark. But for me it isn’t dark, I would guess that for me right now,

it is as light as it would be if it were two in the afternoon. Besides there are a few gas lights

lighting much of the park so it’s really not that dark.”

Right about then Jason came up to me and put his head on my chest so that I could rub

his ears. I started to scratch and there was a soft puff of air from his mouth and a low snicker.

Loreosa’s horse Argula wandered over as well. I stroked her head and let the doctor consider

what he had heard. I didn’t want to do any hypnopiercing or any management at all. It was

important that he came to a sensible conclusion to what must have been for him either the most

insane proposal he had ever heard, or the most important.

“Mr. Marlin,” he said finally, “I am so confused right now. You are asking me to do, to

accept something that is beyond everything I know, beyond even the beyonds. I realize that you

are—different. You’ve done things that I know to be impossible and so I have to believe much of

what you say but to accept it in totality is difficult. Now you tell me you want to implant all your

memories in my mind, but I won’t know they are there. And you want to do that so that you can

retrieve them at a later date.”

I interrupted him, “Not all. I will still have many memories I have not told you about. I

only want the memories that you heard me speak of in your mind. Actually, as you heard them,

they are already there, you just do not know it.”

“How is that possible?” he asked.

“Doctor Williams, you are a heart surgeon yes?”

“Yes.”

“What are you thinking about right now.”

“I’m thinking about our conversation, about your being an alien, about all the things you

told me.”

I nodded, “Where is the material about patients, and hospitals, and hearts and all that you

know about medicine. Where in your mind is all that information?”

“I suppose it’s somewhere in the back of my mind. It will come to me when it is

appropriate.”

“Yes it will. And that is how my getting the material I need back from you. It will all be

there, you just will not have access to it. Only as a memory will it be available to you. There’s no

magic involved, just science. My science. Your scientific community is a long way from mine.”

He sighed and nodded, “I can see that. All right. I suppose I will go along with what you

say. I’m in New York City on a bit of a sabbatical anyway, this will certainly turn it into

something more meaningful. At the very least it should be interesting. Go ahead, put the

information in.”

I smiled. My mind began a light feathering as we looked at one another. His eyes broke

from mine and his gaze wandered past my shoulder. He squinted as though he were looking at

something. I heard a piercing whistle and a gang of Bowery toughs suddenly appeared. Six of

them laughing and pointing to Dr. Williams and the two horses. Damn. I missed them so

concentrated was I. Loreosa was in our room. I had to get rid of them before implanting the

material and deleting it from my mind. But first these hoodlums had to be taken care of.

It was a motley group. The one in front, apparently the leader had an ear missing, the

loser in a scuffle no doubt, another was a chewer, tobacco stains ran down one side of his mouth

creating a brown line like a river of slime. Alongside of him was one of the fattest people I’ve

seen, he didn’t walk, he waddled and the other three stood back looking around, for police no

doubt.

“Lookee here guys,” said one ear, “a nigger and an albino. What you two been doing,

playing with each other? Haw!”

And from the chewer. “Cut the shit Mario lets get the loot and take the horses and get out

of here.” With that he spat a brown glob of spit in Jason’s direction.

I looked at Doctor Williams who whispered to me. “If what you told me was true you

should be able to handle this situation. Was it?”

I turned back to one ear without responding. “Gentlemen,” I said in my most curious

manner. “I believe you have mistaken my friend and I for someone else, we have nothing that

could be of interest to you.”

“Whoo, hoo. Did you hear that guys. He’s not a nigger, he’s a toff. But he’s got a nigger

friend. Anyone who has nigger friends is no better than a nigger hisself. What do you say mister

white hair, are you any better than a nigger?”

“Not better, different.”

“Hear that guys, he’s different. You sure are mister. Now cut out the bullshit and hand

over your money. Hey Calvin,” he called to one of his friends in back, “grab those horses.”

“I think not.” I said calmly.

“Oh yeah, well I don’t give a fuck what you think. Hey Fattie, get his wallet. And check

him out for any coins or watches.”

Doctor Williams’ eyes were like two saucers as Fattie lumbered over to me.

He looked to weigh about four hundred pounds and his clothes were sewn together poorly

with one side of a cotton sweater lower by far than the other. When he got within range to put his

hands on my breast pocket I reached out, grabbed him by the roll of fat at his sides, lifted him and

threw him back over my head. He flew twenty feet before a tree stopped him. He slid to the

ground and we heard no more from that quarter.

“Whaat the hell.” Mario, the one eared tough guy said as he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Suddenly a long club appeared in his hand, he ran over to me and with both hands swung the club

with all his might. I just ducked under it, straightened up and at that time, the club still swinging

around, his back was to me. I gave him a mighty kick that sent him over the heads of his friends.

He would no doubt have prostate problems from that but he did bring it on himself.

I looked at the four remaining toughs who were now at a loss as to what to do. I heard a

whinny and looked over to see Calvin pulling at the reins of two reluctant horses. Jason’s head

pulled back, his eyes were filled with fear and that kind of angered me. “Let go of those reins.”

Calvin apparently thought that what had happened had nothing to do with him. He

wanted the two horses. They meant money and no freak with a nigger friend was going to keep

him from it. He pulled out a revolver, a colt six shooter. I’d seen them before. He cocked it

aiming at my stomach. There was a bang but by the time he’d pulled the trigger I was on him

knocking the gun to the ground. I pulled the gun from his hand and tossed it into the woods. I

stood there grinning at him. I was enjoying it.

He ran at me with outstretched hands hoping to strangle me. I got inside his hands,

flipped them away and punched him on the side of his face. He went crazy with rage. Yelling at

the top of his voice he threw a punch at me. I grabbed his hand and squeezed. There was a crunch

as most of the bones shattered. He screamed holding his broken hand with the other. I leaned

back and powered my closed fist into the center of his face. Down he went. Saved from pain by

unconsciousness. I motioned to the two left, the third fellow was running as fast as his legs could

carry him thinking no doubt perhaps he should seek a different profession.

They came to me slowly, apprehensively. I said, “Take your three friends out of here. If I

ever see any of you in the park again, I will not take too kindly to it. Do you understand?”

They nodded and soon were gone. I gentled Jason. Doctor Williams just shook his head

and finally looked at me and grinned. I sort of chuckled myself.

“John Marlin, or whoever you are, just do whatever it is you do. But before you do, is

that your real name?”

“No. My name is Zyclotone Ryketoo, my friends call me Zyclo.”

“I would like that privilege Zyclo.”

“Of course, you have it. Now then doctor just sit back in the coach, close your eyes and

relax. It will only take a few minutes. But before we do I must ask a favor of you, I would like

you to take my horse Jason and keep him. See to it that he has as good a life as it is possible for a

horse in this area to have. He’s my friend and I love him as much as it is possible for a man to

love an animal. Will you do that?”

Doctor Williams nodded and replied. “I would love to take care of Jason for you. I

promise he will be well looked after. I have a friend who raises horses upstate. I’ll see to it that

Jason joins his herd and lives a life he will love.”

With that my concerns for Jason were gone and we began the transferrel.

Soon it was over. I left just enough of my memories to know who I was, and a few

adventures I did not delete. I also kept the Yageel information as Finnara would have known I’d

deleted material if that were gone. Looking at the black man relaxing in the wagon it suddenly

came to me I didn’t know where I was, or who I was with. “Excuse me,” I said, “but who are

you? And where are we?”

Before he could answer Loreosa showed up took my arm and introduced me to Doctor

Williams, Argula, and Jason. We exchanged addresses and Doctor Williams with a handshake

and a promise to keep in touch, left us. We rode around the park until dawn, saw the horses back

to the livery and went back to our rooms at the Dakota.

At that point my memories were pretty much of Loreosa and our mutual blending. Nelso

was clear as was Finnara. I had selected wisely although I knew nothing about what I had deleted

at the time. It would be a bit more difficult to find me but perhaps I had thought I was simply

trusting to a benevolence that did not exist. I had no way of knowing if I had any chance of

success with a seven dimensional being such as Finnara. My only hope was that Nelso would be

there for me when the time came. We decided to simply enjoy life Loreosa and I, and so we did.

We were in a primitive society and holorooms, communication devices, anti-gravity cloud planes,

infinite mathematics and matter duplicators seemed almost as though it were all a dream.

I was tired. After Yeegal we both needed energizing. We decided to go to ground for two

weeks. Finding a place in Central Park, a few steps away from the Dakota I took Loreosa’s hand

and we slowly sunk into the rich earth to relax and re-charge. If Finnara was waiting for us when

we emerged, so be it. I trusted that it would be Nelso Narja, but whoever would be there to meet

us at least we would be fully rested and energized. And so we went to ground, and with hands

clasped together, awaited what we hoped would turn out to be, deliverance.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It seemed like only a moment later when I felt myself rising. The hand I was holding was

squeezing gently. I heard an apprehensive, “Up we go my darling.”

“Are you frightened?” I asked.

“Scared spit less, I believe people say here on Earth when they feel as apprehensive as I

do.”

Before I could answer, my head broke through the surface of the park. We hadn’t moved.

I recognized Central Park immediately and looked around for our clothes. But I was soon to find

out that we had been nesting under the ground for two months; our clothing was long gone. It was

three a.m. and not a soul was to be seen. The park was deserted at that hour. I wondered if that

was the work of Nelso Narja. I hoped it was him, especially when the alternate was considered;

that it was the work of Finnara.

I was brought to the present by the feel of Loreosa’s body next to mine. Her skin was

radiating some of that stored up energy from the grounding. The heat of her warmed me. I put an

arm around her waist and drew her to me. Her head fit in the crook of my neck perfectly. I was

suddenly so comfortable with her in my arms I couldn’t speak. I would have to gently feather the

thoughts into her mind, gently for I knew her emotions matched my own. “My dear please don’t

worry about anything. Nelso must be stronger than Femmara. It was her after all who screwed up

the assignment she was given.”

The thought was returned immediately. “I’ll be all right, let’s find ourselves some

clothes.”

We were just steps away from the Dakota and quickly walked to our apartment. If anyone

had seen the pair of us, naked as the night, Loreosa’s golden hair shimmering in the moonlight;

and so light it was like looking at the early morning sun, they would surely have thought they’d

spotted an angel. Indeed the pair of us, so strangely light skinned and hair the color of, well, as

I’ve said; golden sunlight; for mine was just as light as was Loreosa’s. Our doorman was still

awake and alert even at that early hour but I sent out a light feathering and he immediately fell

into a comfortable sleep so that we could pass to our apartment without incident. Clothes we had

a plenty but we would have to get to our rooms to obtain them.

“Now what?” Loreosa asked after we had dressed. I just shrugged. Somehow I felt that

any attempt we made to leave would be blocked but I still didn’t have any idea as to what

direction the impasse would come from.

There was a knock on the door. We looked at each other. No one knew we were there.

Another knock. I answered wanting to break our rule of feathering as little as possible and

hypnopiercing only to save a situation. Opening the door I saw the messenger boy holding out an

envelope in a silver tray. After acknowledging my tip, the messenger left and I slit the envelope

with a finger and read.

‘Since you have somehow blocked much of the material I need I must use this primitive

method of communicating with you… ‘

As I read I could feel my mid circuits flaring, the feeling grew and by the time my face

reddened with the extra energy I was ready to leap over the Dakota. Although I must confess I

couldn’t possibly jump higher than thirty feet, and the Dakota was nine stories high. The words

angered me to no end. I continued to read.

‘This missive, this letter you force me to write is the last straw, Zyclotone Ryketoo I’ve

had it with you. Bring those memories back, bring them back or I will tear the rest of your

memories out as well. When I get through with you your brain and mind will be blank, deleted.

Bring those memories back or I will reformat your brain and turn you into a blank wall. You will

have trouble adding one and two Professor.

‘F’

We looked at one another Loreosa and I. The meaning of the letter, the letter itself told us

that she couldn’t reach us. My strategy worked, we had aced her out. Finnara couldn’t get

through to our minds. The fact that she had to write a physical letter and have it delivered meant

she couldn’t get through. That made her threats worthless. We both reached same conclusion.

“One thing that bothers me though.” I said.

“What’s that dear?” Loreosa was gently massaging my hand. I had thrown the letter

down and brushed away its energy. My hand ached for having held this paper that was last held

by Finnara. Loreosa’s ministrations were so pleasant I was losing my thought.

I drew my hand away and shaking my head said, “Finnara is a seven dimensional creature

who is stronger than us in every way. We seem to have gotten the better of her. How is that

possible?”

Loreosa thought on the matter for a bit before she answered. Looking directly into my

eyes she said, “It’s not possible. Well then what is the answer?”

Almost as though we’d practiced the name, and the moment to say the name, we both

said it together. “Narja.”

“Of course,” I said, “he’s been there all along protecting us. They’re both Shalmirans but

I suspect that Nelso Narja is the stronger of the pair. Just had a thought, I wonder if they’re still

watching us? Hand me that paper my sweet flowing circuit.

I printed a sign that said simply (NELSO, WE NEED YOU). Standing, I held the sign to

my chest and turned in a circle. After that, we waited. It was about an hour later that Nelso

appeared in the midst of a shower of black sparks and feathering colored lights. Nelso Narga was

obviously a frustrated showman. That entrance would have been a sensation at La Scala.

“That is a disgusting process you Clanzithan’s have.” Were the first words out of the man

who would get us out of this wheel we seemed to be on. Why is it the sex habits of others is

repulsive to another person? Once when Narja let me in his mind to see a line of his thoughts I

also saw their method of reproduction, now that was disgusting. A tube floats out of the center of

a Shalmiran males chest and floats into a cavity in the females genitals and stirs up a cloud of

pistils each with a different vibration of energy. Millions of pistils but only one to germinate. All

the pistils explode and direct the dissipating energy into the one largest pistil that develops the

energy to germinate. Apparently there is a burst of energy taking the Shalmiran couple into an

orbit of ecstasy when this happens. The bliss lasts for three months. Three months of bliss. And I

thought that nature was generous when she allowed us Clanzithans four hours of ecstasy.

When I learned that the human ecstasy, that they call orgasm grows, peaks, and

diminishes in less than a minute I could scarce believe it. It would hardly be worth the pursuit for

such a small reward. And yet there has been a trail of rapine in every civilization we encountered

here on Earth. Perhaps if we could possibly arrange for a four hour orgasm in a few humans we

could change their attitude toward others.

“Never mind that now Zyclo. We have work for you to do. And please do remember why

you are here. What you are involved with will not only change Earth, it will change this entire

section of the universe. Your success will insure peace among the one hundred planets for another

ten thousand years. That is quite a responsibility, but we are confident you will come through.”

I sighed, “What about Finnara?” I picked up the letter she’d sent and handed it to Narja.

He glanced at it and tossed it away.

“When you exposed your memories and loaded them into your surrogate you very

effectively blocked any inquisitive people peeking and controlling you. Along with the memory

you also transferred feelings of negative outcomes, regrets, the need to go back and change things

you have done, in short, you transferred not only material memories but fear, guilt, and a certain

amount of passion as well.

The doorway to your mind, for a Shalmiran, is not your bank of memories as you believe

but guilt. Any smidgen off guilt can be a key to Finnara, or myself for that matter, to open the

door and just ride in and take over. That key no longer exists, You must have known that when

you used Dr Williams as a surrogate.”

“But I have no feelings of guilt. There is nothing I feel any guilt about.”

“That is true now; the whole idea of the transfer was to delete the guilt, all your guilt’s

are waiting your call to be retrieved. But when you retrieve the material, you will also be

retrieving the guilt and the door will once again be available to Finnara. For the time being, leave

the material memories where they are. You may retrieve them after the contest has been settled.

So long as you feel no guilt about anything you’ve done your mind will be blocked to a

Shalmiran. Bring back all those memories and you bring back the guilt.”

“Are you sure about that.”

“I’m sure. Leave it alone I have a very interesting assignment for the pair of you.”

I was at a loss. Narga was talking about things that were not in my mind. What had I to

feel guilty about? He mentioned Dr. Williams but that name was not in my memory; my

surrogate was also deleted for the same reason. I looked at Loreosa but she just shrugged. I went

through my memories since arriving on Earth. When I realized the only thing I could recall was

meeting Loreosa somewhere in the past, falling in love with her and blending and then the

ultimate merging of Yageel. A cold feeling went through my body. It was as though all circuits

were suddenly cut off. I knew I had been here for six hundred years but all I could recall about

planet Earth was Loreosa.

The memory of Finnara was there, as was Nelso Narja. Why they were in my mind I

didn’t know. I did know that Finnara was a danger to us, and that Nelso was a help. “I have to

retrieve my memories. I have to know what was going on the past centuries.”

“No.” Narja said with an emphasis that allowed no debate. To retrieve your memories at

this point in time will cost not only you dearly, but it may well have an effect on the entire galaxy

and that we cannot permit. You will make no effort to contact your surrogate until the contest is

resolved.”

“Who is my surrogate?” I asked, knowing that was one of the memories I had deleted.

“And why is this guilt thing some kind of a door to let someone enter. I can get into a human

mind whether they have guilt feelings or not.”

“Hah,” Nelso grunted, “that’s because they all feel guilty about something. Let me

explain it a bit. The feeling of guilt comes about when a person feels they did something wrong in

the past. This is by degrees and the measure of it is on thinking back, could you have done the

thing differently with the maturity, and the attitude, and the viewpoint, and the resources of the

present. In virtually all instances there was something you could have done to improve the

outcome. This guilt feeling is an inward kind of sucking in of energy feeling. It’s like a hole in

your soul. A small guilt may make a hole the size of a needle, and a large guilt the size of a cloud

plane but the hole is there, a Clanzithan can easily enter a human, and a Shalmiran can easily

enter a Clanzithan.

“Outside of the infants on this planet, you Zyclo, are just about the only person on Earth

with absolutely no guilt, no holes in your soul so to speak. You figured it out all on your own, and

it was brilliant deleting all those memories. And that adds up to you going to go on an

assignment, you and Loreosa that is.”

At that point I had to ask Nelso a question. “Why doesn’t Finnara simply go into

Loreosa’s mind to get through to me. Loreosa shared much of what I deleted.”

“Yes that is so. However in this case there has to be a male female flow, a positive and a

negative. You were the perfect foil for Finnara, your powerful male influence balanced with her

powerful female circuitry. But Finnara and Loreosa would be of the same, female circuitry, no

way would she be able to get through without using your mind as a balance point. No way at all.

So, the situation is this, You have no memory but much power, Loreosa has the memory and her

own power resources. Loreosa is your key. Without her you would be starting from the beginning

all over again and with her at your side you are certain of victory.”

I looked piercingly at Nelso Narja, “Victory in what?”

Nelso backed away and the shimmering started again. “Ask Loreosa,” he said as he

slowly disappeared, “trust her judgment in all things.”

And he was gone.

I looked at Loreosa with curiosity. Shrugging I feathered a thought into her mind. “What

was Nelso referring to? Wherein lies the victory? Victory in what?”

I settled back on the couch, it was mid evening, the park across the pathway was clearly

visible with a quarter moon and clear sky. Loreosa wandered to the window and looked out, she

appeared to be assembling her words. I was beginning to become aware that she could not speak

about any of the things we had been involved with over the years. That might open a Pandora’s

box for me. But I had to be made aware of a few things if I was to be effective at whatever our

assignment turned out to be.

Finally she asked me, “What do you remember?”

I shook my head, “Not much. I don’t seem to recall much of my existence on Clanzith. I

remember early schooling, not anything about my parents, nothing about my adolescence or

profession. I know that Nelso sent me here, and I remember our period of Yageel.” My memory

of that was thankfully undisturbed.

“But what is this thing we are supposed to be victorious with? Why is it so important, and

what are we suppose to do?”

“It’s a long story Zyclo. Basically it’s all about a contest. A contest that affects the

Universe. At least that part of the Universe that holds the United Hundred Planets. Is that in your

memory?”

I shook my head. I knew of Clanzith, and I was also aware of Shalmira; and of course we

were on Earth but as to any more than that I was ignorant. It was part of the material I had

consciously deleted.

“First of all Zyclo dearest, let me tell you how we got here, why we are here, and also a

bit about our assignments. I cannot tell you anything about what we have accomplished thus far

as we cannot have that material in your memory banks, not for a while yet.

“Do you know who Nelso Narja is?”

“Yes, that’s strong in my memory. He is a seven dimensional man, electrical natured as

are we. He comes from Shalmira, and Finnara is the same with the exception of being female. I

know about the United Hundred Stars and that only Shalmirans and Clanzithans are electrical, all

other peoples are oxygen breathers. I know that none of the ninety eight star systems in the

confederation of stars are aware that Clanzithans and Shalmirans can get into their minds and

bend their wills. If they were aware of this they would ally and destroy both our cultures. We are

dangerous to them. I know there is some kind of contest involving three Earth planets in three

parallel universes. But there my knowledge seems to stop. What can you tell me Loreosa?”

“Good that you retain that much. First of all about the terms of the contest. There are as

you say, three Earths. Actually if you were to add the infinity of parallel universes there would be

an infinity of Earths. A million trillion of them would only be a start to the numbering. But we are

only dealing with three. One of these Earths, Control Earth, is now in their year of reckoning,

2037. The other two Earths are in their year of 1884 and are known as Earth One and Earth Two.

We are now on Earth One. Control Earth is our goal. We are given assignments through Nelso

Narja and those assignments point the way to achieving an Earth One as close to Control Earth as

is possible by the year 2037.

“In the year 1239 all three Earths were identical. Control Earth was allowed to evolve

with no outside interference. There were thousands of wars; the actual count was fourteen

thousand, three hundred and sixty two in just under a thousand years. There have been minor

skirmishes and major wars in which the entire world was involved. These wars shaped the planet,

its economies, languages, borders, and cultures. Control Earth has had its share of wars until the

Universal Translator came on the scene. When every member of the United Nations was required

to wear one, the world began to change significantly.

“What the UT did was to elicit truth. Truth in diplomacy for the first time. But that was

not all. The Translator also allowed the listener access to the innermost feelings of the speaker

and a degree of empathy came about. That empathetic feeling is what truly transformed the

world. In the Control Earth of 2037 every single person over the age of thirteen must wear a UT

necklace. For the first time on the planet there is one language.

“The council of the one hundred stars, along with the help of the thirty fifth Quantum

Computer, well, they came to the conclusion that it was time to bring planet Earth into the union

of one hundred stars. Earthlings have achieved physical space travel on Control Earth, and a

group of humans were sent to, and returned from their closest satellite. In this case satellite being

their moon. They have fulfilled the initial stages for inclusion. The first phase being space travel.

Next a select group of humans had to be informed of the existence of life outside their sphere.

There are other stages for admittance but rather then go over them at this time we must resolve

two things, language, and war.

“Final inclusion includes an international language. For admittance a world must have

adopted one language for all. Earth One is heading in that direction but something happened

recently that will change that requirement. Otherwise Earth would not have been admitted; it was

projected, for another millennium at the very least.

”The planet transforming change was the Universal Translator. With every human

wearing a UT their admittance would be assured. Except for the second thing, war, Earth could

conceivably be admitted no more than a year after the introduction of the Universal Translators.

The Shalmirans who have access to Control Earth know that the Translator is the key to stopping

war.

“And that’s where we come in, you and I Zyclo. We are going to accomplish great deeds

you and I. On assignment we will change the world. Actually we already have, my hundred

thousand volt lollipop. But I can’t tell you about any of it…sorry.”

Sometimes I feel like just eating her up; Loreosa I mean. I don’t even know what does it.

Sometimes the way she talks, she will say something totally innocuous but the words will burn

through me like a mini bolt of lightning. When she said “I can’t tell you about any of it—sorrrry.”

Well that sorrrry was one of those words. I must have looked like I drifted off because the

next thing I heard was, “Hey, are you listening?”

“I’m listening, I’m listening. I was just thinking about your voice.”

“My voice? Would you rather I feathered in to you. Is this more comfortable dear one?”

“No, no,” I answered. “Please Loreosa, continue; I’m taking in every word.”

“O.K. So the thing that the Confederation cannot take a chance on is bringing such a

warlike planet into the Union. It’s been centuries since any of the one hundred systems has had

anything resembling a war. Whatever it is that causes the humans to be so warlike, we do not

want to take a chance on allowing in. It might be something like a virus and could be contagious.

If the idea of war is ever adopted it could cost hundreds of billions of lives.

“So far Zyclo, what we have done is to steer the world towards a predicted outcome, that

outcome is Control Earth. If we reach that outcome Earth is admitted into the United Hundred

Stars.”

“Do you know what Control Earth looks like?”

“No I do not. Nelso says it will hamper our assignments were we to find out and that we

were not to ask about it just follow our assignments. He told me only what I’ve just told you.

“However, what I do know is this: Control Earth has resolved four of the main reasons

for war. Acquisition of more land, resources, ego, and religion.”

“Loreosa, I can understand a country fighting for more land, or for resources like

minerals or food, I can understand them fighting for religion, especially if they believe their god

is the true god. But Ego?”

“Yes ego. Every human has an opinion of themselves, that’s their ego. The higher the

opinion, the stronger the ego. But also Zyclo, every country on the planet has an opinion of itself;

that’s an ego, every religion has an opinion of itself, and that too is an ego. Those opinions

manifest as attitude to smooth the progress of actions. That’s the reason for most wars on Earth.

“Control Earth has resolved the conflicts with the help of the Universal Translator. You

see Zyclo, wearing the UT, when one reads the Earth Bible, Gita, or Koran, the words

are translated as the author originally intended so that if the author is writing in Aramaic the

English translation will be exactly as the author intended. With the Universal Translator there will

be none of that business of every religion interpreting the work to their advantage. Control Earth,

in 2037 is already well into converting all religions into one as well as all languages into one.

When Earth One develops a strong planetary ego, they will be admitted into the United Hundred

Stars.

“Our assignment is to get that happening. But right now I do not know what that

assignment is.”

“Well, I don’t know what our assignment will be either, but it sounds easy enough.”

Loreosa smiled, it seemed a bit rueful. “Easy for you to say. But then again, you seem to

be forgetting Finnara, our 7 dimensional antagonist.”

“What about her? What’s she got to gain by hindering us?” I asked.

“If Finnara could prevent the discovery and distribution of the Universal Translator she

could affect all of our work. According to Nelso, if Finnara succeeds in bringing Earth One into

the confederation as it is now, without the Translator, and still involved with wars, she could very

likely become Empress of the One Hundred Star systems.”

I must have deleted too much material. This was beginning to be beyond me. “How,” I

asked, “could Earth coming in early be the cause of her becoming Empress?”

“Finnara can control any human on the planet. It would be nothing for her to make

herself anything she would want. She could take over governments. She can control you and me

with an ease that would take your voltage away. And if she can control a Clanzithan, just imagine

her strength against a human. You are the only person on this planet she can’t control, and by

extension, me, and every other human on the planet. You are the only guilt free person who can

make a moral decision. You are the key to it all. You are keeping Finnara away, let’s keep it that

way.

“Zyclo we are about to receive an assignment. Don’t question it. Whatever the

assignment will turn out to be you can bet that it will lead us a little closer to our goal. At stake

are one hundred star systems. We can’t fail my dear, we just cannot fail. But whatever happens,

you must not do anything, or say anything that you will ever regret. You feel a smidgen of guilt

about anything and you will put us in the direst jeopardy. You must not allow the emotion of guilt

into your mind. You must regret nothing. Your attitude must be as strong as you are my dear.

Remember that, and we’ll get through this. Control Earth is our model, unfortunately we are

pretty much working in the dark. We must have total confidence in Nelso Narja to lead us in the

right direction.

“Now I believe it is time for us to go to ground once again and see where our assignment

will take us. One thing I know, it will be an interesting place, at least I hope it will be interesting.”

So I guess I would not be taking my memories back from the surrogate after all. Ah well,

as long as Loreosa is by my side what could go wrong?

And so we once again clasped hands and sunk deep into the ground to wind up where, I

did not know.

Historical Notes.

Ogodai Khan’s Mongol horde, did rage through Europe destroying as they passed.

Ogodai did die mysteriously and his Mongols did return to Mongolia never to return to Europe

thereby saving the Vatican and the Pope and allowing Christianity to flourish.

Cortez did indeed burn his 11 ships. His army of 400 men and 12 horses did indeed

conquer an army of 100,000. He did have help, as is stated accurately here, and authorities agree

that had the Aztec nation continued to grow, they would have expanded beyond the Rio Grande,

the entire Southwest would have been the country of Azteca and the United States would have

been a different nation.

And of course it is well known that Benjamin Franklin’s wit and diplomacy persuaded

Louie XVI of France to come in on the Continental Army’s behalf thus insuring the victory of

George Washington and initiating the birth of a nation.

Well known also is the fact that the death of Stonewall Jackson may well have been the

death knell of the south. Most authorities agree that his presence at Gettysburg would have turned

the Confederate defeat into a victory and Lincoln would have been forced to capitulate. Little is

known of the soldiers who killed their beloved and respected great leader with ‘friendly fire.’ It

happened as it is depicted in this book. Confederate Major John D. Barry in his early twenties,

took the blame for giving the order to shoot. Major Barry, although rising to the rank of General,

never forgave himself and died of heartbreak two years later at age twenty six. But for his order;

that single shout to his men, “Fire!” there would be no United States as we know it.

Although most people know of Thomas Edison as the inventor of electricity, (which he

was not) or the inventor of the light bulb, which he was, few recognize his major contribution.

That would be the central grid so that electricity could be generated, brought to, and sold to the

consumer. That is what started the industrial revolution and changed the world.

The first open heart surgery was performed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931) an

African American physician. Dr. Williams performed the first successful open heart surgery in

1893 and founded Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses (the first black-owned

hospital in America) in 1891. From 1893-1898, he was Surgeon-in-Chief, Freedmen’s Hospital,

Washington, DC. He also founded the National Medical Association in 1895 (African Americans

were barred from membership in the American Medical Association). In 1913 he was a charter

member of the American College of Surgeons (first and only African American member for many

years).

Many know all that. But isn’t it fun reading about it in this form? And what an easy way

to learn a bit more about history. If this inspires you to go to your library, or the internet to seek

out what actually happened, then I would consider this work a worthy enterprise.

Regarding the fictional Universal Translator, there are many scientists working on just

such a device as a medallion sized transmitter receiver that will translate languages instantly. As

of today, 2014, there are pocket sized, indeed, palm sized translators that will translate from many

languages. And there is software that will translate in any of twenty languages.

Just as the nickelodeon ultimately led to wide screen three dimensional movies, so will

this, the nickelodeon version of the Universal Translator that you can buy in any drugstore and

many markets. Who knows how close we will come to our version of a Universal Translator. It’s

closer than you might think.

Burt Goldman

Palm Desert, 2014