Chapter 30

"Unit 4BVFG392KASUY76M3PSD433 reporting for duty."

Roger and I were both startled. The voice was definitely masculine. I did not even think that the Tandra made computer AIs that way. The voice was even familiar in some way."

"Check ship integrity, and all systems," I said. That should take a while, and allow me to gather my wits.

Almost instantaneously the reply came, and a written synopsis came to my screen. There was a breach in the lower hold, that could not be repaired with the materials onboard. There were many small system failures, and they were being repaired now.

I asked, "What happened to Carlton?"

"There was severe damage to his personality, and the usable portion was incorporated with the Master Unit, to rebuild the intelligence."

"What Master Unit?"

"You are the Master Unit."

No wonder I was rendered unconscious. The computer had sucked my brain dry, for its template. "Do you have all of my memories?"

"Yes, Sir."

Well there was an improvement already. "How long till we are able to start." I would not have to be so specific now. The computer could follow my thinking already.

"Some tractors in the hold have failed. If we travel at a very cautious rate, we can start in about seventy minutes."

"Do you have full access to our recent action?"

"No sir. The modules and their backups have partially failed. I have your perceptions and a message from the computer aboard Mom."

"Tell me about it."

"The trajectory of the crash will be outside the range of combatant's weapons. The hull was seriously breached in five places. All of the defences are down and inoperable. Energy supplies are still good. There is an eighty three percent probability of recovery, if the crash is not too severe. The main computer also reports that the AI processor has been seriously damaged in the attack."

I felt shock at the news. The beautiful ship and personality were gone. All this waste, to get enough fuel to find a home, that may not exist now. We could have got the modules fixed the slow way and bought enough lithium.

Roger patted my face and gave me a kiss. The other side was that I would never have met Roger and he would be dead by now. I just held the boy tight, and cried that I had lost my mother again.

The ship shook as the stern and starboard raised us to an even keel, I knew that my mourning would have to wait till we were safe.

"The ship is ready sir."

"Send out some drones to plot the best route, to get out of range of any weapons. Employ all available cover to the course you choose."

"Acknowledged sir."

I saw through the eyes of many drones. The maze of rough terrain would help us immensely. I remembered the last voyage and added, "If you see a high probability threat, and consider that I would be unable to assess in time, you have my permission to engage."

"Acknowledged sir."

It took us almost thirty hours to get beyond the range of the weapons. Another three brought us behind an old crater. During the voyage I came to the conclusion that the AI should continue as Carlton, mostly in memory of the last entity to call this hull home. At least now, the name fit the obvious gender.

Looking through the optics on the ship I saw the Earth. A large storm was over the Pacific Ocean, and thin cloud cover hung over my home. Time to tell them that we are alive I thought.

"Carlton open communication with the main Earth base."

The old screen displayed all of the girls. They were shocked, amazed, happy, and stunned. "Hello, girls. I am sorry I am late, but we had problems and it took time to get them straightened out."

Susan recovered first, "Most of us thought that you were dead. Nova has a picture from a probe of Mom's. She crashed into a crater wall. Oh, I am so happy, that you are alive."

The others cut in and said about the same thing. Secric was happy for my safety, but I knew she would miss Mom an awful lot. She and Mom had been to all intents one person, with Secric able to interface with the sensual side.

I told them about the damage to the ship and Blue pointed out two important points. The ship would be visible if it tried to come close to Earth, and definitely if it came home. The second, was that the lithium would react with the oxygen in the atmosphere of Earth.

We discussed the possibility of coming up with a small ship, and transfering the cargo. None of the ships had a military screen.

"Carlton does this ship have the ability to become invisible to light and absorb radar waves, that the Earth people employ?"

"This hull has the ability, but many projectors are damaged and need replacements. Shall I order them?"

"No. Do you have an idea where we can get or manufacture the projectors?"

"No Sir."

Pausing to think, I now knew where some are. "Carlton plot a safe course to where Mom crashed. Perhaps she has some." We gained altitude, and within an hour, we settled beside Mom. Walking to Mom's hatch, I said with a cracked voice, "Mom, we are here. Will you let us in, please?"

There was no reply, but the entrance opened. If it didn't, there was no problem, for a ragged hole almost six by twelve metres gaped beside it.

I walked to the centre of the ship, and opened the hatch to Mom. Lights flashed over most of the walls. I stepped in and found the anti gravity off. My steps were very careful, as I went to Mom. The crystal was dark, and I closed my eyes with a sob. I came forward, and just looked as I had done with my parents, before they were finally laid to rest.

There were only a few active memory units, and for some reason, I took them, and Mom's burnt our processor. The only pieces I would ever have of her.

The computer was moderately functional. I had a few parts that it could use. I found where the spare projectors were stored. There were more than enough to complete Carlton's hull. Mom even had some tractor projectors, that could be used to keep my cargo from shifting.

With a tight beam disintegrator, I took a ragged piece of Mom's hull and fused it over the gaping wound, in the hold of the pinnace. The projectors took less than two hours to install and test.

I installed the modules into Mom's computer, and did what little I could for the computer, before directing it to protect the ship, and await a repair team. I would not like to see humans, who knew nothing of what they were doing, pawing through the corpse of a beautiful lady.

We slowly gained altitude, and the acceleration substituted for our gravity. Roger was very worried about his welcome, and wanted to insure his position. He crawled into my lap for comfort, and lowered his small face and started to suck the head of my cock. He had gotten the information from my subconscious mind, and knew how my body differed from his.

I knew that he desperately wanted to do this. The only love he knew of was male only love, and I hoped desperately that my wives would accept him as I did.

"You don't have to do this. I will love you regardless."

"I neeb to."

I was of two minds, in this matter. My Earth ethics warred against the need to help a wounded Tandra boy. Logic told me, that the best course, if not the only course, was to let the boy continue.

He read my assent, and he climbed higher up and slowly let the saliva soaked head sink into his depths. All the small hard nubs gave Roger great pleasure. He controlled the pace, and again started to orgasm. He was able to continue after only a short time to recover, and do it all again. When the time came, we both orgasmed and he fell asleep. My cock was expelled and his anus hoarded its prize.

The girls had been busy on various projects, and when Cloud and Moth came on the screen, they saw Roger quietly sleeping on my chest.

Even from here, I could see some of the bias seeping into their minds, about an inferior person. They had almost completely accepted Chris, but a new one, would take time. The girls told me about all the work they did to get the base going, and how the older ones were fooling around, with other things. They even began to sound like siblings.

Roger woke up in time to see the girls and a close view of Earth, as we approached the outer range of its atmosphere. The rest of the girls came online, as we started our approach. Chris had a nice meal ready for us. The older ones had a surprise, that I could not get out of them. The rest were ready to give themselves, because it had been a long time.

The invisible pinnace stopped beside the mountain, and was immediately transferred inside. Carlton set down in Mom's old berth.

The girls all ran to me, but slowed when they felt Rogers fear. I gave each a kiss, and made introductions, with him in one arm. Roger had never learned manners, and his deprived environment meant that his mental development would take a long time, before it caught up to his age.

I caught sight of Secric as she hung back. I could see that she was terrified. A large portion of her mind, had stopped working, when Mom died. This was much worse than a parent or sister dying, for Mom was the only one in her life till recently, and still filtered lots of the external data into her.

I walked to her, and held her tight, as she let go again, and cried on my shoulder. "Secric, you know that I love you, just like everybody else here. I just want you to know that the pain will lessen, but never leave us. In time, the pain will become bearable."

We sat, and had a very nice meal. Roger would only sit on my lap, and eat from my hand. There was a bit of jealousy starting to rear its head. I explained how this was only temporary to the rest, besides the gravity of Earth was six times stronger, than his home planet. In some ways, the meal was a sombre affair, now that Mom was gone.

Later we walked back to the ship, and I introduced Carlton to my family. The matter transmitter put all the lithium into storage, and I placed the other metals before Susan. We had seven thousand kilograms of gold, twelve of platinum, eight of iridium and six each of rhodium and palladium.

Susan knew about gold, and I had to tell her the ratio of the cost of the others, some I had no idea of their relative value. She smiled thinking how rich we were now.

"There is a communication for Henry Buchanan, from Carl."

"Transmit it, please." The call would be transferred to the computer, and my voice would take the place of my thoughts, and be sent, just as the girl's thoughts had been sent to me on the moon.

"Hello, Carl. How are you?"

"Fine, fine. I need to talk to you. Is it all right if I come over for a few minutes?"

"Sure, come right over."

"I wonder what he wants? He is not usually abrupt. It must be something bad I think."

Susan said, "You told him that you could not discuss the situation. I think you should have a deeper look, to see what is driving him. We are eventually going to have to have allies, and I can think of nobody that would keep our secret better. The way he was talking, I think he will be up here soon."

"Yes you are right. Why don't you get on your shield, and we can go over to the house. Dog could use a run, outside for a change," I said as I patted his warm head.

"I think I will try this trip, without any clothes."

I looked at her and found a barrier up against me finding out, this way. "It will be a chilly walk. I saw almost a foot of snow on the ground. The guys monitoring the satellite might get a thrill out of this, if they are looking the right way."

"Roger, I have to meet a person. This is one of those times when I have to leave you." I looked at Chris for some help. "Chris will look out for you, while I am gone." There was no way to reason with him, for his mind went back the way he lived, in the other base. He cried and thrashed around, in my grip and even more, when he was in Chris's caring arms. I felt very bad, leaving him, much harder than it should be for any other person. Was this what the bonding did to both of us?

Susan brought me over to the side with Dog, and said, "House," and we were in the lower level of my house. I looked around in amazement, and noticed nothing different.

"This is fantastic. I see that you girls have been very busy when I was away on business." Susan could see that I was bothered by Roger's continued crying, and the link was actually giving me some pain. Dog went to the door, and Susan let him out. My head hurt and my heart did to.

I sat in a chair trying to cope, and she got each of us a change of clothes. I was so used to the generator, that I wanted to leave it on. After sitting back down, Susan sat on the table and slid over in front of me. She pulled my head down and rested it on her thigh. Her hands delicately stroked my hair, and rubbed my shoulder and back.

It felt so good, to be loved by Susan. Her soothing thoughts helped take away some of the pain, and anguish I felt.

When I found that she was sore from the uncomfortable position, I got up and wrapped my arms around her, and let all my feelings of love flow through to her. I could feel that she had erected a barrier to protect me, from Roger's uncontrolled emotions.

We made coffee, trying to make it coincide with Carl's arrival. The computer told us of his ETA, and I wondered how it did this without Mom at the controls.

"Mom did quite a few things before she left. I think she knew that she might never make it back."

"I miss her so much. Not like a wife, but like her name says. She always had time to help and guide me."

"We can get her back somehow. We have her memories and the processor."

"What good are the crystals, when her body is resting in pieces on the moon. I do not know of any way to get her back here, and the repairs will be a horrendous job, without an AI's assistance. She may as well be dead."

"Can't you fix her in the base there?"

"The weapons are still active, and I have no way of knowing how to deactivate them. Next, I have to move almost four hundred thousand tonnes, across the moon's rough surface. I don't even have all the modules she needs."

"You are forgetting that you also got the modules for manufacturing other modules. The parts you need, could be made. It is possible, that you could even improve the old lady."

I saw the wreck in my mind. The gaping holes in her sides. And the wounded and burnt out sections in her brain. The last words I said to the computer was to protect herself, and a repair party would come.

"That's it." I said as I ran to her.

"What is?"

"I will erect a shield over and under her. We can take all the parts to her, and get her fixed. Then I can put the modules back, and she will be able to start some of her own work on herself. If I have to go to the lunar base for parts, I can just fly around any of the weapons."

"That is wonderful darling. When can we start?"

This brought me down fast. We did not have enough trained people to get her repaired, when we had all the other things to do. If we concentrated just on the base, we would have a very good manufacturing centre, to support our efforts.

"We need more people awakened, and this means more food. We have too many important things to do, without shopping and handling the sanitation facilities. Do you think we can start some gardens to grow our own food? This will supplement the purchases we will have to make?"

"I can do that, but I should ask my mother. She knows the most, of anybody I know."

"It would be good to just bring her in on the secret, and let her do this the way she wants, but I know her back and arthritis is too much for her to manage, even when sitting some days."

Susan jumped up this time. "Why don't we ask her? The medical facilities here could cure all the medical problems. They are sympathetic to disadvantaged people, and they still feel deeply grateful for everything you have done for them. They will never forget the way you saved them from getting killed."

"What if we are wrong?"

"We can look and see first. Mom and dad would soon want to retire. Their health is going downhill, and the store is getting to be too much for them to handle. In our old country, the parents live with the children, when they marry. You just happen to be getting their favourite daughter. They will watch our children, and try to do what they can, to help us succeed."

"That all hinges on them accepting the Tandra, and wanting to stay here, because this will be a full time job. Most of all, I am worried that they will not get so mad. that they leave, when they find I have so many wives. Some that are so young, that it will look like a crime. Then there is the fact that Roger would be my wife, to all intents and purposes, till he begins to understand that he can still be a kid. Chris and he, would not be my choice of people to greet your parents."

Susan did some heavy thinking of her own, and countered with, "When they get to understand the Tandra, I know that they will accept them. There are lots of jobs to do, that could keep Chris and Roger away for a while. The younger girls can be looked on as children. Don't forget, that there are very few Tandra here, and they would stick together."

"Speaking of Roger, I know you were shielding me, but I hardly feel his emotions now." We both looked into the base, and found Chris licking his clits, and something being gently pushed into his bowels. He was happy with all the orgasms he was having.

"What was it, that Chris was using on Roger?"

"Ah, oh... One of my toys."

I kissed her for being so thoughtful, and it really paid off this time.

The computer said, "Carl will be here in four point five minutes."

I looked at Susan and said, "Carl is in the same boat as your parents. Let's look in his head, and see if it would be safe for him to know. We need somebody to buy food and other supplies."

Susan straightened her clothes, and looked in a mirror to fix her face. "I think the man is trustworthy. Let's see if that is the case." I composed myself trying to dampen the glow or aura, that others instinctively saw in me. Carl came to the door, and kicked snow away from the threshold before knocking.

I opened the door, and welcomed him in. "I am sorry Carl, for being such a poor host. I did not clean the walk or plough the driveway. The only think I can say in my defence, is that I have been very busy."

He was a little put out, because his truck could get stuck in the snow, but he would refuse to say anything about it. "It is ok. I came here to talk about another thing."

"What is that Carl?" I asked as I offered him a seat.

"What do you know about all the fighting on the moon?"

"How did you know that?" I asked quickly. He could see, that I was very concerned now.

"It has been on all the news broadcasts, night and day since the nuclear explosions were seen there. Hell, people even saw it in bright daylight. The military and government don't know what to do, so they are running around giving conflicting orders. Where the hell have you been?"

"As I said, I was busy. I did not read the papers, or watched TV. I haven't even looked at my e-mail, in a long time."

"Besides the squabble on the moon, what is bothering you?"

"I will lay my cards on the table. I have always thought of you as a friend, if not, my best friend. I don't want Earth to be invaded by your friends, and I want you to stop helping them."

I laughed out loud, more than I had in years. Susan was more of a diplomat, and hid her smile, behind her hands. Carl was getting madder by the moment, and I had to pull myself together. "I am sorry for laughing at your statement. It is just too incredulous, to even consider." I looked at Susan and got her nod of approval for Carl.

"What is so funny about it? Those explosions were not thrown at humans yet, but they could be."

I composed myself a little more. "That is where you are wrong, Carl. They were shooting at me, and I was shooting back."

He just looked at me with his mouth open. Nothing was clear in his brain. It seemed I had dropped a chaos bomb. I got up, and poured three cups of coffee, and got the sugar for Carl. This would give him time to overcome his addled wits.

"You got me there, asshole. I took it hook, line, and sinker. Where were you then?"

"I was helping some friends, get some of their supplies, and an automatic defence mechanism, started to fire on me. I was shot down, and a dear friend took much of the fire, to save me. She is still up there, waiting for me to come back, to rescue her." I sipped the hot coffee, while he went into his chaotic state again.

"That can't be. You are human."

"I am human. It is just that they need some Human assistance. Look, Carl, if your ass was hanging out to dry, would you rather have me come after you, or someone in our government?"

"What were you doing there?" He came back with.

"Actually it was three things. The first was, to get enough fuel so we could take a trip, to find out what happened to their planet, after all these years. The second, was to shut down a rogue artificial intelligence, that had been shooting down all the message pods, and lastly, to pick up some badly needed parts, for the base here."

"There is a base; on Earth? Are we getting invaded?"

"Three hundred thousand years ago the first homo sapiens sapiens walked this planet. More than two million years before that, the Tandra had settled in, to made some machines, and move on. At that time, they altered the apes inhabiting this planet, by giving them some of their DNA. Anyway, the hybrid race helped build the machines. And after all that time, some of them were able to sit at a kitchen table, sip good coffee, and discuss history, because they forgot everything that they knew, at that time."

Carl went back into his incredulous state.

I got up, and turned the TV on. The announcer was pointing at a slow moving vehicle winding its tortuous path over some broken ground.

Susan spoke for the first time. "Carlton doesn't move too fast from here. Do you think we should introduce the two?"

"That is an idea. I saw that he was charging up before we left. Would the two of you like to go for a spin in my model 'T' I want to rebuild?"

"Model 'T' what are you talking about?"

"Carlton is over four million years old, and I think his previous owner dumped him."

"Sure, why not, I can take a joke," he said partly from nervousness.

"Carlton." I said, and thought, "would you be so good as to come over to my house, in a cloaked state. I have two guests, that would like to go for a short trip?"

I was given the affirmative, but only Susan and I heard. We stepped outside with our winter coats and saw nothing, till a window of light materialized about two metres in front and above us. He must be within millimetres of the house and railing. Susan stood calmly, as she was levitated into the opening, and then I went. As I turned, I saw Carl with his mouth open even wider, alight right beside me.

"Carlton, were you able to get the compensator working yet?"

"No, sir. Blue is trying to find a replacement part in the control circuit."

"Carlton would you be so kind as to speak in audio, so our guest could hear what is happening."

"Yes sir," came loudly, and he corrected the volume. "No, sir. Blue is trying to find a replacement part in the control circuit."

"Does the anti-gravity still work?"

"Yes, sir."

"Accelerate vertically at the maximum, that the anti-gravity can counter."

"Understood sir."

I could tell from my navigation system, that we had already begun. "Let me show you the ship. This is the command chair, but any will do. The covering and padding are gone, but I can get it recovered. Carlton would you take my coat, and place it in the control room?"