Ttttutmosen (pronounced Tuuut MO sen) felt the moment that Ngozi returned to Ardjiani space. He felt everything that occurred and everyone that moved within the godworld, so deeply was his mind immersed in it, so powerful was his own ka. He had tried to instill in both his sons especially, but in all of his children, the knowledge that power is everything to Ardjia. For a time it appeared that his First Son Hhhamanhotep understood, but then he became addicted to women and drink. His Second Son had a politician's grasp of power, but he was too addicted to approval, first from his mother and grandmother and now from the Sunset Highland sheep who supplied him blood ka.

It hardly mattered that neither were ambitious for the Throne, Ttttutmosen had no plans to give it up, ever.

There appeared his Second Wife's Brother, shining like a small blood red beacon on a dark night, far away but approaching quickly, the ka of his general and his warriors. He combed ka fingers through their many minds.

What? Ttttutmosen ranted inwardly. They dare attack us? They lied! Treason and treachery! The cool deep ocean of his mind began to quake and foam with turmoil. A thousand sheut voices echoed his words. Treason! Treachery! Death!The shadows of dead emperors and their families, servants, and slaves beaten into submission and forced to agreement by the strength of his ka, were so unlike the kings of Cloudbank who even now sailed seagoing ships across the Blue Ocean toward Sparidae, Fleetfish, and Ray. This three pronged attack left their own homefront unprotected but Ttttutmosen had to protect his entire northern coast to prevent them from striking inland and meeting at his Throne in River Mouth.

Providence had sent Ngozi back in time, but where the ka was General Mumuya? Ttttutmosen froze in shock once he learned the fate of Ardjia Miner One.

That thrice ka damned Doss slave told the truth! The Syndicate possesses weapons superior to Ardjia's ka warriors. How can this be? An entire ship and Mumuya and his personal guard just gone? And the ruthlessness to use it to destroy their own valuable space mining resource... but the whole treaty thing had been a ruse... they intended this from the start in order to use it as a pretext to seize control of Ardjia space from me!

Ttttutmosen tossed the drained body of his latest blood slave to the floor and strode out of his study and down long hallways to his Imperial Guard communication center. The red clad men snapped to attention or bowed down low as their rank and current duty dictated.

“Call to General Ngozi,” he ordered. “He has just come through the Door to Heaven.”

The guard on duty at the extra-Ardjia monitoring station snapped to with consternation and then with trepidation reported, “Uh, he is out of this machine's poor communication range, my God Emperor. But he will be close enough soon.”

“Hmmm,” Ttttutmosen added the datum to his many thoughts. “Where shall I sit so that we can see each other when you contact him?”

“This way God Emperor!” an enthusiastic guard waved him into the adjoining parlor.

He refused further service and considered new plans for dealing with Cloudbank, adding Ngozi and the many ships he brought into his calculations. After he stopped the three main attacks, he could push back and attack Cloudbank itself.

Shall we simply take their heart in Lonom or attack them in three places? Lonom, Shagach, and Ganjagoleh gives us their heart, stomach, and mysteries which we very much desire. But the dragons will fight tooth and nail for their homeland and many of our warriors will go to the planet of golden streets.

We yet are confounded by their dragon ka though we have learned to utilize our own king cobra ka. Ngozi is good, the best, yet he is as a child against an eight hundred year old were dragon. And what of the Identics? Do they race here even now to bomb us with their horrid killing weapons? After we take Cloudbank we can hold them off and continue to take the minds of their commanders.

Ttttutmosen sighed. He could see no way to coerce the strong were dragon rulers of Cloudbank to join with him, to give him their allegiance as they should. With their might, he need not think of the Identics at all. He could send out the dragons to conquer them at Parare and beyond. If only they would obey his command!

Finally the call came through and he faced his long time friend and most powerful general. The man's determination to see his daughter gave him pause however and he was reminded of the man's sullenness after he took the Throne. He had no idea the general was so attached to his mother. She was Empress and thus a fair target for anyone with power. It was an open secret that Ngozi's mother had killed his father to take the Throne, why it bothered him to help Ttttutmosen do the same, he could not fathom.

So. He let the man see to his daughter, but flew to Sunset Highland himself to evaluate his Second Son as well as to ensure Ngozi's full focus on the battles ahead.

The Were King Cobra felt most comfortable at the Pyramid of Hell in his Second Son's little capital. While he waited for Ngozi's presence, Ttttutmosen again opened his mind to the vastness of the godworld around Ardjia. The Cloudbank warships came nearer to the coast. Now that Ngozi was here with fast agile spaceships would their strategy of a pre-dawn attack change? He, like everyone not born a Midlander had trouble seeing the true import in a Cloudbanker's thoughts, even when they shared them willingly. Of course right now, those thoughts were tightly closed to him.

The three coastal cities evacuated as he had ordered, he perceived. The warriors he had deployed raced back to both the Seaside Home and River Mouth air ports, ready to board the landing spaceships. On board a fast ship of the air, they had much better maneuverability what to speak of the Identic weapons that Ttttutmosen was so eager to try out for himself!

“Welcome back to Ardjia,” Ttttutmosen said once Ngozi touched his head to the floor in the grand hall of the Temple of Hell, Pyramid of Earth He spoke softly, unsuccessfully suppressing his usual menacing tone. His eyes burned with purpose.

“Thank you my God Emperor. And thank you for letting me see my daughter. She is well and sends you greetings.” Ngozi spoke softly too, out of pure weariness. He had been awake for too long, unaware that open conflict and not rest awaited him here at his home world. His eyes burned with fatigue and caution.

“Your ships are well armed with nasty killing weapons,” Ttttutmosen purred, unaware that he hissed.

“Your ships, my God Emperor!” Ngozi said. His consternation that Ttttutmosen had already evaluated the armaments was not lost on the God Emperor.

“I will fly back to River Mouth on your Lymik. We can fly over Sparidae then Fleetfish. Have your men oversee the action at Ray.”

Ngozi obeyed and they flew over the Plentiful Ocean in the dark of night. He felt happiness in peering out a portal and seeing the familiar stars of Ardjia. Even the big red moon which they told him was a star comforted him though not long ago it had been so very much smaller.

“I want to save the bigger ships to defend Ardjia!” Ttttutmosen announced with impatience once he fully understood the PPI glowing on the Lymik's bridge and realized that Ngozi intended to hurl his strongest ships nose first into the fierce angry might of the Were Dragon Kings of Cloudbank Midland. “Did I not just explain to you that I defeated all eight of their kings?” Ttttutmosen growled. “They will fight to the death and we will give it to them!”

The multicolored carets began moving within the PPI. Orbital One and Two began a descent toward Sparidae.

“But no, my God Emperor! You send ships in to battle that have no weaponry!” Ngozi cried. This was madness! How did one explain proper strategy to one who had no inkling of three dimensional battle? Ttttutmosen refused to let the ka blind captains contribute to the planning session during their journey from the Highland, even though Ngozi pointed out that these men had been on these ships as long as Ngozi had been taking slaves for the Throne. Ttttutmosen dismissed the suggestion because ka blind aliens knew nothing of Ardjia and the ka stratagems of godworld fighting. No one knew the might and minds of the Were Dragon Kings.

“But...” Ngozi trailed off in disbelief, watching the entire order of battle disintegrate within the PPI. He was helpless to stop Ttttutmosen's control of the Identic ships in the godworld and helpless to reason with a ruler who constantly conspired but never led from the front of an army.

The larger ships that he had sent toward the three coastal cities, pulled back toward the Lymik and gained altitude while the civilian class yachts dispersed to the cities in their stead. Solar Thunder to Fleetfish, Star Rise to Ray. The explorer, Bloody Skull also flew toward Ray. Then the three ships that remained of Task Force Ringmaster were sent to the three cities, the very ships his ka warriors had defeated.

True, he, the God Emperor, and their warriors were now protecting these ships, but, he could not hold his tongue.

“They are not true warships like this one, the frigate, and the corvettes!”

“Have faith!” Ttttutmosen cried at his General.

The sun rose in the east, the direction of Sunrise Lowland and battle began with fire. Despite their defensive ka shells of protection nested around the ships, Orbital Two exploded. The Midland warriors had found some chink, some way through, either to blow up the engine themselves or to coerce a ka blind crewmember into it.

Surprised, Ttttutmosen sat back and watched as the caret turned black.

“I implore you, my God Emperor! Let us use this ship's weapons of fire in retaliation!” Ngozi pleaded his eyes red with distress and anger that the little ship and the good people aboard it were lost so uselessly, so recklessly.

“Hmph!” Ttttutmosen grunted. Staring at the PPI, he opened his godmind to view the battle field. The Midlanders were still bunched in the three cities. No further plan had been revealed yet.

Orbital Miner One began a dive toward Sparidae. As meaning clarified the hairs on Ngozi's arms stood on end. “Please!” he shouted, praying he was wrong in his understanding. “Use the mining weapon! It is a ray of such power to slice through rock!”

The green dots near Fleetfish and Ray began to descend much too fast toward the spreading red on the ground.

Like a child smashing an insect with a hammer, Ttttutmosen hurled his ships down onto the ground where the terrific force of impact as well as secondary fuel explosions tore through Midlander bodies and leveled the Mainland cities. He aimed for the center of each mass of moving Midland Warriors and missed a few who had landed first and traveled fastest.

“Have I not fought every battle for you?” Ngozi cried as the Ringmaster ships began to descend, along with the Bloody Skull. All the gifted ships wiped out in minutes.

“You have, my General. But watch and learn what real power can do!” God Emperor Ttttutmosen retorted.

Silence and fear whirled around the Lymik's bridge. The destruction of the cities which a column of monitor screens showed from telephoto images appalled Ngozi. Is this what Ttttutmosen intended for all of Ardjia? That it burn and become lifeless in his greed for absolute power?

“That ought to keep them from our shores now!” Ttttutmosen said cheerfully.

Now that there is no shore to come to, Ngozi allowed himself the thought in his most private mind.