QBLH

by

Lazarus Cain

Episode Eighty-Four

They Believe in Dragons, Don't They

Jim returned to the Dutchman acquiring his bodily form once again. Meaning to try his skills with the wind, he had Genie transform the boat into a fine sailing vessel of the day. A turbocharged asssist would always be available. He chose the same form as they used when they had sailed across the Atlantic.

It was not long before he was spotted by another vessel, which Idiot identified as a Cretan shipof war. It was making headway for him, and he wondered if it was the same vessel indeed. Being not in the mood for conversation, but being in the mood to sail , Jim resolved to flee from the pirates, or so he considered them as such. Why the pursuit if they weren't pirates; certainly they were making waves to demand some form of tribute rather than saying hello. Northward he sailed, straight towards Mt Thera once again, and into the volcanic mist that surrounded the island. The pursuing craft opted not to pursue though the smoke. Apparently, the crew were shy of the vicinity of the island.

Jim did not plan on sailing all the way to Colchis to meet Medea alone, even though he was capable. He resolved instead to sail to Greece and find some friends. Even though Jim enjoyed to sail, he did not wish to give it second by second attention. Once north of the volcano and clear of the mists, he resolved to place the ship on automatic, and then went below to consult with Genie.

"I suggest the solution is quite simple, Jim. When you arrive in Greece, get a crew of men to sail you to Colchis. We have plenty of time, and my calculations suggest there are still a few more Amazon tribes that we need to locate and identify."

"Very simple, Idiot. Get a crew of men, is that all? "

"It is bound to work out, Jim. As soon as you land and prove yourself invincible, you will certainly find a group of loyal men. Our mission here is a little ambitious so we may have to liberally exercise some of our abilities. In front of the men you will be admired as a Hercules, but for the ladies we can slip you in perhaps playing the roles of Theseus and Paris, although our actual course may deviate somewhat from the official myths. Legends will have it that Jason rescued Medea, but we shall have you perform this feat, and then abandon the Argonauts to their own destiny and allow Jason to write the history proclaiming himself as the hero. As shocking as your strength shall seem to these men, your death would have even greater and irrevocable consequences. Rest assured, I shall prevent any such death to you."

"Sounds interesting. Invulnerable am I then?"

"I didn't say that. You can die just as easily now as in your time, but your death here and now would have some very unpredictable results."

"Well, I think I can avoid dying on you for the time being. So what avenue is open to me so that we can retrieve the girls.?"

"Do you specifically mean Antiope and Helen?"

"Of course."

"We shall have to find an allly. "

"And that must be our Jason."

"Apparently so, Jim."

"I am sure that the legends will exaggerate our deeds somewhat."

"Indeed they will. We are using myths concerning events that happened 800 years before Homer. It would also be best to remind you that we do not want to deliberately guide our actions by these myths either, that is what we consider as knowledge the information that we have retrieved from Earth's twenty-first century."

"But is it necessary to retrieve Medea, before I can be with Antiope.?"

"Don't let your passions rule what we must do, Jim. I am programmed to remind you of this fact."

"Yes I remember. It just seems like I have such a great deal to accomplish in this time."

"We can time jump to make the time go by faster, Jim. The fact that you don't age will require you to assume multiple characters. Simply tell your associates that you must go away to perform some task which would be too dangerous for them to even witness. Any line will do, unless you wish to tell them the truth, which even they wouldn't be able to believe. They believe in dragons and other such oddities that they have never seen, but presume to exist."

"Did you not reveal to me that Xiang visited, Greece with his sister, before we interrupted them. "

"Yes, they were sent by their mother to set up a base at Delphi."

"She certainly has extended her influence, hasn't she?"

"Yes, much more than we can even imagine correcting during this visit. We are simply interrupting history at the present, and removing the instigators."

Jim and Idiot continued their discussion throughout the journey, until the green shores of what would be Greece loomed on the horizon. Rather than make landfall right away, Jim resolved to use the shadow of the night so that Genie could change the form of the Dutchman. That evening Genie folded the Flying Dutchman, and then wrapped itself around Jim's waist, and then he swam to the mainland. In the process, he lost one of his sandals. With his belt, Jim would be able to provide gold pieces in exchange for bartered goods, Chicago style. It would be only natural for him to walk into the local cities and enquire the local kings concerning their desires and fears.

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