Chapter 9: Aftermath

The fleet settled down to wait, expecting that the first freighters with higher value components would be arriving within three to four hours. The wait seemed interminable. The first freighter appeared nearly six hours later. Dogs and Marine AIs rapidly took control of the freighter, and diverted it to the fleet. It was only defended by a small number of soldiers.

The crew was taken prisoner and separated from the taskmaster group. Again, the Jumo crew appeared happy with the situation, and jeered at The Mob group. Over the next thirty-six hours, all the rest of the freighters were captured. Skeleton crews were placed onboard the freighters to return them and their looted content to their planet of origin, then the freighters were to go to Porquenta for the use of the planet.

Porquenta

“How are you, young one?” Porquenta asked.

“We have arrived at the Core Mob worlds. We have removed the planetary defenses. We have captured most of what has been stolen, and are preparing for the next stage,” said Jason. “I have sent a lot of resources to you for your use. I will have some more of The Mob leadership for you soon. How are the Combat AIs working out for you?”

“Jason, for a young lad you are doing very well. We are ‘going gangbusters’ here, as one of the young priests said. It is a good word though confusing.

“I’m returning twenty ships to you. Most are cruisers or better, and have been refurbished by me. They have the next generation of weapons. I have a least another hundred generations of weapons after that,” said Porquenta and laughed uproariously. “I don’t want to go to the hundredth or more until we see what we are fighting against. These weapons and shields will frighten even the ghouls. It will take one cruiser to take out one ghoul battleship. A cruiser will do it comfortably, maybe even a pair of destroyers.

“Jason, you have the vision of your ancestors, soon you will have the firepower you need at the level you need it. I have sent the specifications of what I’m sending to those wonderful women of yours. I have a new version of gunship and tank aboard the ships and a freighter with extras. Your fighting ships have new power-plants and engines and will cut down the travel time of your fleet by ninety-percent.

“We can do better but not until my electronic capacity expands to the level I need, and I have educated those who will build it. The shields are also of a new generation and are an order of magnitude better than what you presently have. By the time your fleet returns, I hope I can do a lot better with the refits. The bugs are of great help with the electronics side and weapons research. I’m not happy with the weapons they are using, though. They are excellent, but the mollusk weapons will penetrate the Collective shields and damage the ships easily. They are a little stubborn and believe they know best.

“I’m looking for a big asteroid of suitable composition to orbit me which I will hollow out for a manufacturing and ship building facility much like the one you have captured, but twice the size. There are three good prospects. I may use them all, in time. I want to build some very big ultra-battleships. I have some weapons that need a very large platform. I’m putting some new weapons into some frigates to test. They are able to severely damage a ship the size of an asteroid or a small moon. One hit will go right through a carrier and then a battleship after that,” Porquenta laughed.

“I will see you soon, I hope? I will speak to The One again about a good time for your next visit. He told me he was pleased to help you, and would do so again. I’m sure he was. He said you would have managed easily on your own, but he has a very senior admiral for interrogation, which is what he wanted,” Porquenta said and disappeared from Jason’s mind.

The Insurrection Leadership

Following intelligence that security had increased around strategic areas, and in the suburbs, the decision was made to follow through with a ground visit to the Jumo leadership.

The intelligence group left the ship in a cloaked gunship, and landed unobserved in a peaceful neighborhood park, after dark. Those on the ship could follow them as they all carried cameras they sent holo-transmissions back to the ship.

The group that Janus led, put on a persuasive act of appearing to be an innocuous group of people visiting a home in the evening. They were laughing and chattering amongst themselves as they made their way to the house.

Around them at varying distances were cloaked surveillance drones and the intelligence officers were all armed to the teeth although very little would be found on them unless a thorough search was undertaken. In the end, Janus had decided to leave all but his deputy, Linus, on the battleship until contact had been made. He felt that the two Jumo were able to readily represent the issues. Those in the house had not been told how Janus had been transported. They were aware that Janus was bringing people to commence negotiations with the Empire.

Those on the ground had been exposed to propaganda about the great victories but not the subsequent defeats. The bombardment that was visible was described as a failed attack driven off by the valiant defenders.

Janus and his colleagues were not aware that an entire fleet was within a short flight from Yimza, and had already neutralized the fleet, the orbital defenses and captured the fleeing ships. There is no doubt that at some stage he would discover this, but there was no particular value in giving all of this away until the negotiation had been concluded with the fleet, or with the Empire if they preferred.

As this was a very important event from the point of view of General Karen DuPree she had sent Major Constance Ross from the ship, a very experienced intelligence operative of more than five hundred years’ experience, as well as Major Joan Fitzharding from her own team. The two of them had been working closely together for some time and had become good friends. It made for an easy working relationship. Both of them had learnt the language of Yimza from the earliest encounters with the first captives.

Both had an easy facility with languages. They had both worked with Janus and were quite impressed with his intellect and his apparent integrity. They had spent some time with him looking at the politics and the possible hidden agendas that they would likely face.

Jason sat in Command central to watch what was going on. Those on the ground carried cameras that sent a signal that was almost impossible to trace or track. Jason could clearly see the city with its homes and parks, in the hologram, and could hear every word spoken. He very much liked the appearance of Parzoon, the Yimza capitol, and the friendliness of the neighborhood they were visiting. He had imagined bleak cities with a repressive atmosphere. Janus had explained that Yimza had not experienced political activism for some years. Even though there was a very active secret police, there was little intrusion of Mob control, nor any clear repressive activity in the city of Parzoon. On a day-to-day basis people went on with their lives with little overt interference.

The house was set in a pleasant garden with a low wall that separated it from the sidewalk. There were flowers in beds along the wall on both the sidewalk and the house side. The flowers were multicolored and looked subtly different from flowers with which he was familiar. The stems looked blue green and the plants looked squarer and were close to hip height. Nevertheless, there was a pleasant fragrance floating in the air as transmitted by the hologram.

The sidewalk itself was covered in green foliage that looked soft and spongy to walk upon. The paved drive had gray-green paving stones that looked as though they had been made of some kind of plastic, but were made to resemble stone and were quite appropriate to the house and it surrounds. The sounds under their shoes sounded more plastic-like than stone or concrete as they walked up the drive chatting like old friends. The house itself had round windows with blinds that showed very little light penetrating around them. The windows were at least twenty feet in diameter. The roof was either flat or had a very small rise as nothing of the roof could be seen. The style was reminiscent of Mediterranean architecture but with odd windows, and walls painted in a very attractive orange to brown color that reminded Jason of pictures of houses he had seen in Mexico. The houses nearby were painted in different shades and colors that made the area cheerful and welcoming.

The group that had sat in the ship’s conference room, was quite impressed with what they had seen of the city. They were waiting with anticipation to observe the progress of the meeting.

The doorbell chimed automatically as they neared the front door, alerting the occupants to their presence. The door opened and they were warmly welcomed. They found themselves in a small atrium with tapestries on the walls and a solitary abstract statue in the middle of the room. There were hooks down one side for clothing to be hung and shoe racks underneath close to the ground.

The shoes looked like hiking boots and some of them still had traces of mud on their sides and soles. The floor of the room looked as though it was a smooth stone not dissimilar to marble. It was a pale stone color somewhere between beige and white with a complexity of pattern that made it very attractive. The walls were of a somewhat rough looking plaster with a reddish tint that gave a warm tone to the room with gentle hidden lighting that filled the room with a yellowish cast.

They were led through a heavy wooden door into a dining room with a square table that could easily seat at least twelve people but had only five chairs with the rest of the chairs pushed back against the walls. The table top was of a thick transparent substance supported by a heavy metal frame with a very rich coppery color.

Beneath the table was a thick knitted carpet, with brightly colored patterns that extended out at least five feet beyond the chairs and enlivened the room. Jason was amazed at how little had changed over so many years of civilization. Seated at the table were two elderly men and three women of indeterminate age. They were dressed in robes that were close to burgundy and looked thick, plush, and comfortable. They wore sandals that tied near the knee. The robes appeared to be hooded, but the hoods were pushed back off their heads.

Their host suggested that they seat themselves and as they did so they could see a fire in an extended alcove recessed along the back wall. The light could be seen flickering attractively along the ceiling. Janus introduced the intelligence team of Constance and Joan to Horus.

Horus in turn, introduced Constance and Joan to Cephas, Boris, Perdita and Congressionella. Horus offered them refreshment which they accepted. Each drink and piece of food was analyzed by a portable food analyzer, to ensure compatibility with their possibly differing metabolism. It, of course, also assessed risk from other toxic substances and medications.

This, Jason later learned, was such a routine activity in multi-species societies that it wasn’t even noticed. Apparently in most restaurants in some of the bigger cities they had menu items that were species-specific.

It was clear to see that the Jumo were very charming people with a gracious manner. Clearly Constance and Joan were thoroughly enjoying the meeting with the convivial company.

“I would very much like to welcome you all to my home,” said Cephas in a booming voice, “and to enjoy spending time with you visiting.” He pointed at the ceiling and put his hand to his ear indicating they were under surveillance. “We do understand from Janus that he has been speaking to you of matters of considerable import to us about the food industry to the Jumo, on this planet. Perhaps we should visit your house where we could taste some samples?”

“We are now feeding them garbage, so you can speak more frankly. We have been under the beady eye of the Mob for centuries. We only speak once we feed them prerecorded holo’s. Even so, I suggest we walk into the garden and look at the flowers.” Cephas said as they chatted and moved into the garden.

Constance handed them a pad with text that said. They passed it around.

We will take you to our ship for formal discussions. Say nothing of value as they are listening. You can talk on the shuttle and decide your position and strategy. Let’s waffle a bit more and then I will lead you to the shuttle. We can discuss the issues in detail on the ship. You can meet all the parties who can make the necessary decisions.

Ten minutes later the cloaked shuttle slowly began to leave the surface, accelerated, and then rapidly jumped to the battleship. Thirty minutes later they were in a conference room in discussion with Karen DuPree, Linda, Andrea, and Jason, who had joined the original group. They were introduced to each other, and shared an evening meal together. All of their physiologies were highly compatible indicating the likelihood of a a close common origin for them all. They were able to eat the same food and very much enjoyed Jason’s Japanese meal. Andrea and Linda had tried Japanese food and loved every meal they had tried. The Jumo had never seen a grain like rice and all appeared to thoroughly enjoy the food.

Jason explained where he had come from and his invitation to help his great grandfather in another galaxy. His guests insisted on hearing the full story, noting that they had nowhere else to be and would not be missed. They felt that it was of vital importance that they got the feel for the people that they were dealing with, before they committed themselves to a partnership. Once more Jason explained about the trip, his attempts to learn the language and the culture, and of his battle to undertake trans-dimensional programming without the crystals. They laughed at his slit glasses solution.

They were particularly interested in the dogs who were invited to meet them and the dogs obligingly transformed at their request. They appeared to take to the dogs and the dogs seemed to like them, which was a very good sign in Jason’s opinion. It was also clear that they had communicated with the dogs telepathically but were very well shielded. They adjourned to overnight quarters but accepted an invitation to meet in the gym in the morning and then enjoy breakfast together.

The Jumo were led to the gym by their assigned Marines and proved to be highly competent. All of them were extremely fit and very strong. Secondly Cephas and Perdita who turned out to be father and daughter were both masters of an ancient martial art of the Jumo. Boris and Congressionella were not slouches as they were very competent in fighting at a very high level against the Marines, but they were not in the league of Cephas and Perdita.

Staff Sergeant Lucia Pablo was irrepressibly excited as she was a fanatical collector of martial arts techniques. For her to discover a second, entirely new set of martial arts techniques, within such a short period of time, was a matter of grave importance to her, and a hugely exciting! She lived for unarmed combat! To have discovered both Jason’s techniques, and another set that was significantly diverse - as it was from a different planet - truly excited her. She watched both Perdita and Cephas spar with two of her best Marines and after they had a few minutes’ respite asked if she could spar with them individually. She and Cephas were very closely matched despite his apparent advanced age. Neither managed to achieve significant advantage over the other before they were both winded. She suggested then that Jason spar with Perdita.

They cautiously circled each other before Perdita launched an attack of multiple kicks and punches which Jason was very hard pressed to combat as she was extremely fast and very strong. Jason defended another series of attacks as he got the feel of her technique. They then simultaneously attacked each other with Jason throwing Perdita, but found his left shoulder completely paralyzed. He then decided to play with her and picked her up telekinetically. She laughed hysterically, and then he found himself telekinetically knocked back onto his bottom. He lost his concentration and she fell gently to the ground tumbling into a fall.

They were both exhausted. His arm was returning to function. Jason pulled himself up to find Perdita moving into giving him a hug. Jason enjoyed returning the hug from her and they both stood smiling at each other for a moment. They enjoyed a pleasant intimate conversation completely naked in the sauna as their aches disappeared showing that the Jumo were not shy. They moved on to the refresher and dressers before breakfast.

Jason treated everyone to bacon, eggs and tomatoes, from what he thought was his dwindling supply, only to find that the animal husbandry group had been rearing pork and Marie was making her own ham and bacon. Jason also discovered that there were nearly fifty-thousand chickens busy on the ship, and that the number was growing daily. As the farming group on the ship grew more confident they had taken a number of animals out of stasis and were rearing them.

Jason found it easy to chat with the people of Yimza. After breakfast they wanted to hear more of his tale. Jason continued his tale and the rest of the story took the remainder of the day. They refused to talk about anything else until Jason had completed his story up to the present time. It took quite a while, as they asked a many questions along the way, including queries about his family and previous life. They especially wanted to know about how he was bought up and the standards and values of his family. They speculated about what was happening in the Duchy and wondered how it would all play out.

Jason was careful in the telling of the story, so as to not provide information in any detail that would give a clue as to the size of the fleet and the number of clones that had been grown on both planets. He was sure that they had the impression that the dogs made up for a considerable deficit in Armed Forces. As all the marines wore visors they didn’t notice the Marine AIs. They said that they were amazed at his telekinetic powers and had never seen anyone with such powers, despite Perdita being no slouch in that area.