VENETIA: Pyramids and the Sphinx

Chapter forty-one

Isis changed her mind about not using the Pegasus to make time jumps. Even
though the Pegasus was not ready for maximum power operations, and they were very far
from any black hole to give them an extreme acceleration boost, she would still be able to
take short excursions at very high speeds to allow the "past" to go by more quickly. After
ensuring each of her colonies was well established and prospering, she had John prepare
the vehicle for high speed operations. John was curious himself so he naturally agreed.
Isis being aware that she could possibly be gone for a few months had her Amazons
prepare for a ceremony in each colony to honor her departure and eventual return. The
Pegasus would make an aerial display above each of the colonies with intentions to
impress the natives. Each colony had a high priestess, who prepared eighty four males for
sacrifice. Isis would descend from the Pegasus to culminate each ceremony. The primary
function of this display was to impress the natives so much, that they would not dare to
revolt against their Amazon mistresses. The Amazons would also make public executions
if the natives got out of line. There were not very many executions once the humans
learned the consequences of disobedience.

John used his Box now and then to assist Isis in her projects, and she started to
respect John's autonomy. The children were developing quite well and showed an
amazing aptitude. After four years, John managed to repair the gravitational field control
unit and the stasis field generator. John had to make extensive use of the Box to make this
repair.

On their first trip, the Pegasus performed perfectly. Isis asked John if he could
manage a short jump forward in time. John stated that it would have to be the old-
fashioned relativistic shift, and those on earth would be aging more rapidly than she. Isis
wanted a twelve year shift so that she could see how her cross-breeding experiments were
going. John mentioned that this would require a few days of experienced space travel.
John still was having a problem with the decision about the children, but Isis herself sensed
that she had blundered and something indeed was very wrong. "John there is something
that disturbs me about these children. They do look very much like myself and Jim. I am
having very bad feelings."

John encouraged Isis to say more. "Something disturbs me too about your own
history. Antiope and Helen told me that I brought you children to the palace from an
undisclosed location, and I don't remember ever doing that. These are the only twins that
I have ever fathered, and they are by you my only daughter."

Isis shrieked. She realized the implications immediately. "Why that's impossible!
It can't be! No, no...my babies... It can't be; it just can't be!"

Isis became uncontrollable and her own hysteria overwhelmed her. John held her
very tightly as he shared her shame and sorrow. What had they done, but it had happened.
How could they ever even had thought such possible?

Isis cried uncontrollably for many hours while John held and comforted her. The
hours turned into days as Isis fell deep into sorrow. Finally she asked John, if he had any
comments.

"What precisely is bothering you, Isis?" He asked.

"Don't call me insane John, but I have the terrible feeling that these children are
myself and Jim. Is that possible?"

John looked at Isis, but expressed no surprise at the thought. "Can you give up
your children?"

Isis understood. "What do you mean?"

"I'm here to return them to the future where they belong."

"You've known all along?"

"Not really. The knowledge crept up on me. I had absolutely no idea until
Antiope and Helen told me when I first met Jim. Then I didn't fully understand."

"John, can you promise to come back to me, if I ask you to take my children to
Artemis. You know full well, when. Will you promise?"

"Yes, I shall promise you this wish, my dearest; but I can't be your consort for
future births. Perhaps you and Jim can make peace."

"Well that is sort of difficult at the present. Maybe you can think of a workable
solution."

"The solution may take thousands of years."

"You have the Box, Jim, and time takes on new meaning with that in mind."

"Yes, it seems that it does."

"My children, John. You must take them now. I can't bear to live with the pain
knowing that they must go. Give them to my mother, and don't let her know. Please
don't let her ever know."

With that she called for her children. She cried as she remembered herself leaving
her mother. Her memories never distinguished the difference between Aphrodite and
herself. The royal line had been broken because Aphrodite never had a son by John, and
now she was returning to Aphrodite a son to continue the bloodline, and herself as a child
so that destiny could be fulfilled. She listened in unbelief as John told her that the paradox
would be satisfied if he could time the drop off correctly. Isis mentioned that if his Box
was anything like Jim's Genie, that it should have no problem of landing in the right place
at the right time. John resolved to make the journey after he landed the Pegasus back on
earth. He really didn't trust Isis with the Pegasus, but the children were more important at
the moment, and he would have to deal with the rest of the problem at a later time in his
own event space.

At .999999C, the Pegasus traveled a little less than four days while earth aged
twelve years. Upon landing, Isis reviewed the results of the cross-breeding and was happy
with the progress of the Amazon-human females. They were indeed fair and almost
indistinguishable from their human sisters.

Before the twins were to leave, she showed them off to her people and told the
Amazons that John had agreed to take the children home to Artemis. A great celebration
was ordered and feasts and sacrifices were prepared. Isis may have been sorry for her
time travel blunder, but she was not going to change her nature. John had to bear with
weeks of festivities and celebrations and thousands of sacrifices before he was scheduled
to be sent away. For his departure, Isis requested that he leave from the great pyramids
that were under construction and return in the same chamber that he had left from.

She would have her human workers carve the story in stone for generations to be
aware of. John resolved not to argue with her, but just allowed history to play itself out as
he tried to minimize any interference. He was intrigued at the way things were
proceeding. Isis didn't know earth's history, but she was making it. Yet there were other
things about earth's history and he didn't intend to cause any more paradoxical events.
John knew too much and he couldn't live any more in the past without disrupting it. Yet,
he promised her that he would be back. One step at a time he thought, as his mind raced
trying to deal with each crisis on a case by case basis. Yet he was comforted by his
memories of Idiot, how he recalled that it had known, and the two Boxes seemed to know
how to give just the precise stimulus needed for the moment. The purpose of his mission
remained inviolate. With the knowing, came the responsibility to make the proper
decision.

Isis was not quite ready to give up her children without making one more jump in
time. She wanted to complete the great monuments to mark this event in time. She had
her high priestess take the Pegasus for another jump while she and John stayed on earth
and prepared for the departure of the children.

Isis already had a colony established where John was having his Sphinx
constructed. She made a comment that this monument would be dedicated to her son the
greatest of all the Amazon hunters and his magic belt. Three pyramids were constructed
to symbolize three stars of his belt. Isis closely supervised John as she had him construct
the monuments. John cooperated only because he would use the opportunity to teach
man the principles of finer building construction. He used the same techniques to make
the stone monuments that he had used in the Andes.

In the meanwhile, Admiral Andromeda was given the command of the Pegasus as
she was instructed to do a ship shakedown. Andromeda hand picked a crew and prepared
the navigational plans for the next jump. Isis wanted Mars and Venus surveyed, and had
the children taken along to enjoy the benefits of another time jump while the humans built
her monuments. John had the responsibility for installing the sculptured stones once they
had passed the scrutinizing inspection of the Venetian mistresses. The greatest of the
stone masons were privileged with honor by the Amazons for a full year before they were
eventually sacrificed. The Amazons had their reason for selecting these individuals. They
reasoned that these would produce the more intelligent offspring.

The natives were informed that the son of Isis was to be a great king and he had to
go back to his place in the stars to claim his throne. Being from the stars herself, as were
all the Amazons, she did not have a very difficult time convincing her humans to believe
whatever she said. Isis would forbid the women to be involved in the menial construction
labor. It was her intent that they stay at home and receive nourishment from the labor of
their mates. There she would be able to provide shelter for her children.

Eventually the structures were completed, and as scheduled the Pegasus returned.
The ceremony for the departure required the presence of every Amazon on the face of the
earth. Second and third generation Amazons were present. A few lesser males were also
present. One of these son's had also been conceived in earth's future. He was the child of
Helen's double and Jim.

Once the Pegasus landed, John and Isis took a shuttle to get the children. John
had the Box with him. Over three hundred thousand humans were present on the plateau
that day. All were eager to obtain a glimpse of these children that did not age. Legend
had it that these children left as babes fifty years in the past. Almost two generations had
passed, yet the Amazons did not age as quickly as the humans. The Amazon-humans aged
a little slower than their human counterpart, but they didn't have the half the life
expectancy of an Amazon.

Isis had managed to stall John from returning the children twice, each time
complaining that the monument wasn't ready. John read into the hidden meaning and
redoubled his ingenuity in compounding the intricacies of the pyramids in time for the next
return of the Pegasus. As much as he felt that the pyramids really had no real function
other than to impress, he wasn't much concerned with the design or the time taken to build
these structures. However, his increased effort gave him the reward of her approval. He
was glad that Idiot had fed his Box the plans for these structures.

Lazarus Cain

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