Morgan took all that Jennifer had just told him about the Empire. It was several minutes before he spoke again, “That kind of thing happens here too. We have people that shouldn’t gain ultimate power over the people with their consent. That is a sad fact of life.” He looked at Jennifer, “Hashem must have chosen you to come here for a reason. Given time, we will figure out why. But I think you can save us.“

Jason blinked, “Me, you think I was chosen by God to save your people?”

Morgan nodded, “Yes, there must be a reason you were sent here. You will find the answers soon. Hashem will show you the way.”

“I wish that I had the faith that you do Morgan, “ Jennifer laughed light heartedly. “But its hard with the Empress ruling. I only told you half of the story. The Empress, Hatshepsut, She has some kind of power. It's almost godlike. She can’t be killed, she can anticipate the future with a power her kind calls, foreseeing. Her followers can kill you with a gesture from their hands without touching you. Being in their presents is terrifying. “

Morgan regarded Jennifer thoughtfully then he said, “This woman sounds like some kind of prophet, or a dark prophet. What do you mean about her followers?”

“She is the leader of some weird religion. It is an ancient religion, thousands of years old. But she has many followers in key positions in the new government keeping an eye on things to help her maintain control. They all have powers like her, only not nearly as powerful as the Empress. I was engaged to a member of her family. The woman I was to marry was a key member of her religious order. But now that cant happen because the Empress forbade the marriage.“

Morgan suddenly stood up and went over to his book shelf and took out a book, “My new friend Jennifer, I am going to teach you about hope. Take this book, I will help you read it. It is called the Tanakh. Open it to the first page. I will read it for you.”

She looked at the page. She could understand it as she had learned Hebrew.

He started reading, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

They had covered the basics of his faith withing a few hours. They had covered the prophets, the Torah and writings of various prophets. Jennifer was amazed at this. Then he started explaining the difference of his faith and the Catholic faith of the Papacy that ruled.

Suddenly Jessica asked Morgan, “I need to know about this place. Can you tell me about how this world works, what is the United Papal States? “

Morgan took a deep breath and sighed. “This all started during the depression in the 1930s. At that time, over a fourth of the population of what was then called the United States was poor and homeless. Times back then were very desperate. There was a group of people that thought it was Gods Judgment on America. The depression dragged on and they got restless. In 1935, they attacked. America fell into an other Civil War. The Catholic Army attacked a weakened Federal Army and they overran Washington. They declared victory and declared the American Papal States. They exported all Jews and other sects of Christians they considered heretics. When Japan attacked, they declared war against Japan but refused to get drawn into a war against Germany, whom they considered fellow Christians. Hitler declared victory over Europe and the British Empire. Russia and Germany have been at war for over 80 years. Europe is dominated by Germania. Berlin is the capital of all of Europe. Japan was defeated by America during the war and now they're America's ally along with Germania. Germania and America are about to conclude an alliance against the Soviet Union in order to end the war. In America, for someone not Catholic, it’s like a living nightmare. In order to survive, I have to pretend in public to believe in the Catholic faith and the catechism of the church. In Germania, there are whispers about horrible things that happened during the big war in the 1940s. Nothing can be verified because of tight controls over the press by the Ministry of Information in Germania. No one dares asks awkward questions, even here. “

Jennifer listened to the nightmare that happened on this planet and how it became such a horrible place. It was hard to understand exactly how everything happened that way but as everywhere, bad things can happen. She felt sad, it was about to become so much worse. How ever bad it is with this Papacy controlling America, it would be a lot worse with the Empress controlling the world.

She spoke up finely, “I think that I can help but theres no help here, Morgan. Lets go to my ship. I think that I know who can help. Lets get dressed, and lets go swimming. “

Morgan looked up, “Swimming, what are you talking about?”

“We need to leave,” Jennifer said. “My ship is under water so we must swim to it. Then we can get off the planet. I know someone that can help your people. So lets get dressed and ready to swim.”

He packed a swimming suit and she got her surf board and they went out. This time, he noticed the police carefully watching the homes as they went down the streets and turned to head down to the beach.
They both went into the dressing rooms at the beach front and went in. Jennifer took off her dress clothes and put the pink bikini back on and went out. Morgan was already waiting. He couldn’t stop looking at her chest and it made her uncomfortable.

The dry stand burnt her feet as she walked down the beach, she whispered at him, “There will be a small pod ready to take us down. It’s big enough for one but two of us can squeeze in. it will be a tight fit."

Morgan saw Jessica take out a electronic device and press a button down while aiming it at the ocean. She waited for a minute and then looked at him when she heard a beeping sound. “It is here now. We must wade down the water and swim under it when its over our heads. The pod is in twelve feet of water so no one can see it. lets go. “

She started down into the water of the pacific ocean and started swimming down over the waves. Then she dove down and he reluctantly followed her into the ocean as it got deeper and deeper. Under the ocean, she started looking around and looking at the device till she was touching a metal tube laying on the bottom, under twelve to fifteen feet of water. She pressed a device on the tube and a slot opened up suddenly letting the water in. she motioned for him to get into it. he did and she squeezed in with him and it shut them into it. then it sucked the water out as he was about to panic.

Then, he just had to deal with being pressed in very close to a very beautiful woman and feeling her breasts against his body. They felt the tube they were in turn around and started shooting down the ocean very fast. He felt panic rising in him again as they were obviously going deeper and deeper into the ocean. He hoped it wouldn’t crush under the weight but it seemed to have no problem at all dealing with it.

Then, it settled into something and the slot they were in opened up. They were in some compartment. She exited it and he followed and a door opened up letting them though. From there, he saw lights and a lot of devices on the wall. She manipulated it with ease. “This is the nav computer there that charts our direction and the electronic warfare. I’m setting our course for Dyspere Penal colony. I know a person there that, ironically, I just put away but he is a brilliant rebel Admiral. I hope I can free him from there. “

She set the course in and then opened another door and he saw what appeared to be a regular cockpit with two seats and lots of levers and buttons. She settled into one of the seats and motioned for him to sit in beside her. There was a large window but at a mile deep in the ocean, he couldn’t see anything. He was kind of afraid at there being a glass window but she saw his fear and said, “Don’t worry, that is a transparent metal alloy that can withstand a direct turbo laser strike and not break. And if anything does, there’s a automatic deflection field that will come on in its place. Buckle in.”

Jennifer manipulated a series of levers and the craft they were in shuddered to life and started rising though the ocean. It was going faster and faster every second till he saw faint light in front of them. It got lighter till the craft blasted though the water and rocketed up to the sky. Then, he saw the blue sky clear and turn to black as they exited earths atmosphere.

When they were clear, she manipulated a series of levers again and the craft leaped forward with impossible speed. It appeared as though all of space closed in around them, and turned into a swirling vortex hole they were speeding though as an ungodly rate.

He started shaking when Jennifer said soothingly, “Don’t worry. That is hyper speed. We entered another dimension of space. We are traveling many thousands of times the speed of light. The colony we are headed is around a hundred light years away. We should be there in twenty-five minutes. “

It was about that much time when she pulled the lever back and they slowed back. What he saw then was hell. It was a airless asteroid with a prison on it. There were brutal steel towers, armed guards and a small landing port. It looked like a forced labor camp.

She looked knowingly at him, “Its time to rescue Abu.” She headed toward the prison and got ready to land.