QBLH
by
Lazarus Cain
Episode Ninety-Five
Qblh
Before joining the Argonauts again, Jim needed Genie's assistance to determine how to resolve his problem if existing as both Hercules and Theseus. Legend had it that they were two separate individuals. The Argonauts would recognize him as Hercules, but his role as "Hercules" had ended, indeed, if he had ever played the role in the first place. Supposedly, according to some accounts of the legend, as in this case, Theseus was not on the voyage from Greece to Colchis.
It did not matter, Jim supposed. Thus far, he had not changed history and he never promoted his role as Hercules. Theseus would be historically remembered as an enemy to the Amazons. Apparently, there rested the solution. As Hercules, Jim would be friends to the Amazons as they were quite willing to support the efforts of the Qblh, of their lady Isis.
On the other hand, Theseus would be a force which would actively oppose and eliminate the Amazon's control in the region forever. After Theseus, there would no longer be Amazons. Jim needed the dual role to mask his own tactical maneuvers.
Jim's other problem was Medea. Medea recognized and knew Hercules to be her Qblh and she was in love with him. Perhaps a slight makeover and a little cooperation from the Argonauts would allow Jim to accomplish his impossible task of playing the roles of both Hercules and Theseus.
Some may question Jim's right to tamper with the religious beliefs of the people from that particular time period. These same few who would question the legitimacy of Jim's intentions would conveniently disregard the reason and the source of a certain amount of man's cultural religious beliefs. Jim was quite aware that his consort, Isis, had never truly given up on her efforts concerning earth domination. The battle about earth domination was not confined simply to the twenty-first century time period, but had extended itself into earth's past as each opposing force had gained access to the ability to cross the event horizon.
It would also be impractical for Jim to be remembered as Qblh only, or as Hercules, or as Theseus. He was all these individuals and no single name could be classified as an appropriate title for this master of time and space. Isis knew this and this could be the reason why she changed his name as often as she seemed to change her wardrobe. "Hey you", could have been just as appropriate a title. However, things could get confusing if there were more than two people present.
Who would win the conflict seemed to be pretty much in the air. There certainly was no telling with respect to how Isis would react to Jim's tactics. It always seemed that she was unpleased by his apparent victories, almost as if she knew she would "lose" and this didn't matter.
In this case, Jim would believe that he would have effectively destroyed goddess worship from Isis's point of view. She would simply see a 3500 year period during which her influence was at a low ebb. She had successfully controlled earth for the previous 7000 years, and still, was after all, responsible for establishing a working civilization of men, in spite of themselves. Jim was simply campaigning to gain independence for the planet; an effort which was supported by his father.
It seemed that Isis held all the cards and Jim would eventually confirm his actions to her wishes. This, though, was not the case. Jim had encountered a Force in the universe much greater than Isis and himself and it had been made quite clear to him that it would be quite foolish to consider Isis a goddess after Jim encountered this Field of Force and Will, known as Yaohushua.
Jim's predicament was that he had to deal with Isis and Yaohushua both, and that was by no means a simple task. The temporal concerns of men seemed to be petty compared to both these concerns; yet both forces seemed to be very much concerned the welfare of earth and its inhabitants. The stakes simply seemed to be the method by which men would be governed.
Jim was not hypocritical. He desired to live life independently and he wished to grant his subordinates the same privilege. As odd as it was, Jim was actively fighting a conflict so that he would not have to rule mankind as Isis wished. Yet, his efforts to avoid rule, seemed to do nothing more than consolidate his powers.
"Idiot, how difficult would it be for me to change my physical appearance so that the Argonauts will not recognize me?"
"Not difficult at all, Jim. If you so desire, it will not be difficult to construct a manifold so as to perform reversible plastic surgery."
"Very good, Idiot. I suppose it would only be appropriate to allow Antiope to choose my facial features and any other details which she feels appropriate."
"Would you like to implement a transport to her tent, Jim?"
Yes, Idiot, that will work well. Initiate!"
To the Colchis commoner, Jim appeared as nothing more than a beggar babbling into thin air. They did not understand his language, nor would they have been capable of understanding the fact that this beggar was talking to the interface unit after of a highly developed artificial intelligence unit. There was no one to observe Jim's dematerialization and subsequent rematerialization a moment later. Neither was there any witness able to notice his physical transformation. As usual, Idiot performed his task well. Antiope was only too willing to provide Jim with suggestions concerning his physical appearance of her Theseus, but she did not actually get to see Jim's makeover.
Rather, the transformation was performed in between Antiope's tent and the back streets of Colchis while Jim was being displace through of Idiot's space-time conduit manifolds.