Chapter 8: Pre-University

Harry, Jason’s great-grandfather was a rejuvenated man. He felt he was better than he had ever been.

Jason invited him to spend some time with him in his house when his rehabilitation was completed. They visited with Cassius daily, starting with gym at the palace in the morning, he worked out with them on the machines, and he learned to fight as a bug. Harry decided he needed a vacation from his estate and decided to spend his time in Laomedeia, and would support Jason while he settled in with his university studies. He was looking forward to meeting his great-grandchildren and visiting the Jumo Empire, and then Earth, to meet Lauren.

Harry planned to return to Lutetia the center of the Duchy after that. Jason would spend the weekend with him before returning to his house. Jason insisted he supply five hundred Marine AI’s to Harry who refused to be known as anything with a grampa in it. Jason and Harry got on famously and established a close friendship. Gamma and Harry also became very close friends. Jason thought that he could not think of a more incongruous pair of friends. Harry did get on well with everyone but was particularly fond of Philippa.

“How are things going with the Jumo?” Gamma asked.

“Gamma, I am really sorry, I completely forgot to tell you about the conversation we had. The difficulty that Felix has, and he is quite frank about it, is that he ran a kingdom with six billion people. He said that over the years he built up an outstanding administration, but it was for a planet only. He said that now all of them are battling with an Empire. They are all struggling with the scope of what they’re trying to find what to do. He asked if I could help. He said that I wasn’t to give him that old story that I couldn’t run anything and I hadn’t even run my own house.

“I said to him that I have a new story. I told him that I know some people who will be able to help him out and then I continued that I would speak to them and get back to him. I called Philippa to talk to Felix and I must say I was very impressed,” Jason said as he winked at Philippa who blushed. “She blew my socks off. She is unbelievably capable, if not the most scary person after Alana. Alana is more scary but does not have the experience of Philippa,” Jason said smiling at Philippa and then kissing her gently.

“Philippa said she could spare a pair of excellent administrators and she had an AI that on its own would be able to do all the work for both Cassius and for Felix and have capacity to spare. She then conferenced in Cassius and Ouma Chatzke. They are working out a team that will be able to organize for war while training the Jumo to run themselves and structure the Jumo Empire appropriately. The consulting team will begin to phase themselves out over a three to five year period.

~~~\

“What would you like to do today, Harry?” Jason asked.

“I used to know my way around Laomedeia and would very much like to explore the city again. I’m sure all of you will enjoy it,” Harry said.

Shuttles traveled through the city flying at predetermined heights to deliver cargo. Most transport was by AI operated public shuttles. Transportation was quick and efficient. Harry simply told the shuttle the destination and it calculated the optimal way of getting there taking into consideration everyone else’s destination. Teleporters, like those available on the ship were slowly being introduced in some of the buildings and replaced elevators in the newer buildings. Jason was surprised at how much was the same and how little seem to be different from cities on earth.

The biggest difference from Earth cities was that no vehicles of any type were to be found at ground level. People walked there. Most of the city was below ground. Many strange species could be seen walking along, and then descending to go shopping. Men were more colorfully dressed than women. Many carried a small bag or backpack for their pad and other items. Trees and flowers were seen everywhere. Many AI’s and drones were seen, repairing, cleaning, or tending the plants. Jason saw groups of tourists that looked like a bird species, lizards, furry tall bears, some in environmental armor, with odd yellow faces, and many more odd creatures.

Clothing was still available to be felt and looked at in shops. Some materials needed special fashion dressers, but in general, patterns for the dresser were purchased, as was raw material. People wanted to feel and touch the finished products before they purchased patterns and source product for dressers.

There were lovely open spaces tastefully landscaped making a walk in the city a joy and a pleasure. The air was clean and the temperature balmy.

Food emporia as they called themselves were everywhere. In the affluent areas where Harry took them shopping, Jason noticed that the men usually looked healthy. Harry told them that one of the saving graces for the affluent was the ability to buy fresh food and most noble and affluent families would not use replicators for the food they ate. He said that unfortunately replicator and prepared food was very much less expensive and was extensively used by the less affluent and the indolent. Jason saw few children in the afternoon expeditions.

They thoroughly enjoyed the many restaurants and Jason saw several more species that he had never seen previously.

“Jason most of us will never meet some of the species in the Empire. Cassius has encouraged diversity and has placed much emphasis on communicators for those who cannot form words or make appropriate sounds or communicate telepathically. All do military service together and diversity allows for some remarkable units that can do more than we humans can do,” Harry said.

Many large restaurants advertised that they were able to deal with foods for different species with different metabolic needs. It was simply necessary to put one’s hand on a pad or indicate on a menu the metabolic type and the menu would readjust. Jason recognized the opportunities for genetic screening to occur in these venues to flag cockroaches.

Jason was constantly thinking of simple ways to achieve their identification, even though the technicalities were way above his pay grade.

The foods were many and varied, but he considered the taste more bland than he had experienced on earth. He did think there were many opportunities to introduce earth foods to the Empire.

Jason’s security was not happy they used public transport and insisted on a shuttle after the first expedition. Jason was very pleased to have his security entourage carry goods and to have a shuttle with unlimited rights of passage throughout the center of the city.

Harry told the group that public transport was so efficient that there was little incentive for anyone to own or even make use of their own transport even if they could own a shuttle.

Jason saw many cargo shuttles moving between and unloading at elevated columns that extended into the air and even saw an occasional police and army vehicle.

Jason and Harry had ample opportunity to discuss a variety of topics and get to know each other. Harry got to know Jason’s entourage much better.

Harry explained that the Kargo family was one of the three most powerful and wealthy major families in the Empire. Harry had been one of the four Kings serving the Emperor until he had become mysteriously unwell. His doctors had been unable to diagnose his condition and he felt he was forced to abdicate his role as a king and return to Lutetia. He retained the role of archduke but no longer was responsible for multi-planet administration. As he became progressively more ill he could not deal with the responsibilities of the Duchy. His nephew Boris Hesketh took over the responsibility moderately competently, but the emperor refused to promote him to be a king. Boris died in a shuttle accident traveling to one of the estates. Ingmar Hesketh took over and began to make his life a hell. He was no longer able to have visitors and was confined to a basement cell. He believed that his staff in the Duchy were unable to deal with Hesketh who was ruthless and would readily do them harm. Norwald was always in the background and progressively assumed greater powers. Norwald and Ingmar behaved as a fine pair of psychopaths together running the Duchy ruthlessly. Harry explained that the family owned many multi-planet manufacturing companies, IT companies and were heavily into mining and shipbuilding. They were well diversified across many company types and were responsible for one-third of all of the food production of the Empire.

Harry was born in the compound on Lutetia. His parents decided that as he was the first child to move to Laomedeia when he was four to commence his education together with his cousins and children of the other prominent families from throughout the Empire. It was a long-standing tradition amongst the royalty that their children were brought up together and had each other as long-term contacts.

Harry said he found it an excellent system. He and Cassius were the greatest friends and he and Cassius established many friends that continued through school, his higher education at the University and subsequently during his service in the Navy. He said this is one of the reasons that Cassius and Alana were so keen for Jason to attend the University together with his cohorts. Cassius wanted Jason to be firmly engaged within the Empire and develop powerful and influential friends and colleagues.

Alana was very interested to see how Jason would handle the University in view of his very superior bug education, but she felt that Jason would provide her with useful information as to how he thought the University could move forward.

Neither Cassius nor Harry was in a hurry for Jason to be involved with the Duchy and in the political arena. They wanted him to have as normal and as happy a carefree life as was possible. They wanted him to fully integrate into the Empire and supported Ouma Chatzke in her wish that Jason do the same in the Collective. Both Harry and Cassius did realize that there were some real threats that Jason might face, but believed that between the assets within the Empire and with the assistance of Ouma Chatzke and her people that most issues could be satisfactorily handled allowing Jason to relax and enjoy the stimulating environment at the University and the wonderful people he would meet.

Harry told Jason of his most recent discussion with Cassius.

“I asked Cassius what he was going to do after he dealt with the Cockroaches. I was impressed with his answer,” said Harry.

“He said, ‘Harry it’s not over. I was shaken to my core by the events that followed the duel. I knew I needed help. I spoke to Ouma Chatzke and we have a plan

‘I will develop a facility to construct bug level shipbuilding and industrial AI’s. We can do this on a big scale so I will not impose on Ouma Chatzke’s industrial output and will rebuild and expand my fleet and at the same time build a new generation of factories. We will fully participate in the research efforts on Porquenta as diverse weapons mean a harder defense for the enemy.

‘I will speak to Jason about getting the Una and Warriors of the Apocalypse involved. Alana believes mobilizing for an imminent war will save the day, and her instincts are impeccable. We need to do the best we can to elevate ourselves.

‘I want to send our best to Charassa for training as Jason has done with his people and then set up the same training here. Ouma Chatzke is also gearing up but has a significant amount of resources available to catapult us ahead in education at universities and training for the military. I want our corporations to start to reeducate their staff and prepare for the war to come. I have people in mind to work on transforming our society quickly to face these forthcoming challenges.

‘I will be following the suggestions of Porquenta, and will place asteroids around our planets and make them into defensive machines and ship manufacturing facilities. The bugs are almost ready to find the new cockroaches and then we will be off and running as hard as we can.

‘I will plan for the worst and that is Porquenta’s scenario of the cockroaches joining with the mollusks,’ said Cassius.”

“That Jason is pretty much word for word what he said. I agreed with him. One cannot behave as if there is ample time and conveniently our enemies will fight each other and it’s all going to be easy while we clean them up. It has never been easy and convenient in my life and I have no such expectations now.

“The other interesting snippet is that Alana has had herself transformed and is in training after she saw your presentation before the ball. She has been given her own educational cube and is learning all she can. Alana and Philippa spend time together plotting and she and Ouma Chatzke are becoming great friends. Alana has been influential in Ouma Chatzke speeding up her preparations.

“Ouma Chatzke has a profound belief in Jason’s premonitions and was impressed that Alana predicted the post duel events and prevented the assassination of Cassius. Alana has also formed a friendship with Porquenta and she is also pushing him to go faster. That is hard to do as he is doing as much as he can. She pushed Cassius to send thousands of scientists to Porquenta. He and Alana are of one mind about the risks in the future.

“I tend to agree with Cassius. Calling her Alana is not enough. She is definitely ‘The Alana,’ formidable Empress in her own right. Now my favorite conversation to relate, and an Alana story. I have many ‘Alana’ stories particularly ones when she scares the hell out of someone.

“She came to visit me on the ship. We chatted about this and that for a while. She then hit me with a broadside.

“‘Harry’, she said, ‘Jason is an amazing young man. Do you have any idea what he is worth?’

“‘No, I don’t I can’t imagine much in Empire terms as he came with nothing from Earth,” I said.

“‘I have had him investigated,’ she said, “He is unbelievably wealthy. His Earth assets are huge. His daughter there is a dynamo and is building their own food empire and is in partnership with Robert and now the bugs. Lauren’s mother was from my side of the family and Lauren herself, looks so much like my mother. She has our family tenacity as well. The children are a delight.

“‘Jason has only a vague idea about his financial interests. He owns two planets and Nirvana as a protectorate. Porquenta and Mars with ancient AI’s may be priceless on their own without adding the value of the planets that are lovely fertile prime garden planets.

“‘Jason, was paid a fortune for fighting against the Mob, and has a frighteningly big fleet that he captured. The biggie is he owns a ten percent share of the entire Jumo Empire.

“‘Philippa herself is worth a fortune. She said it is much more than Jason’s, but she cannot be sure how to compare it. She said she based it loosely on how many planets she owns as a rough estimate.

“‘The bottom line for you Harry is you may have to join the house of Jason rather than vice versa. What he can bring to the Empire in trade alone will be life changing.

“‘I am going to talk to Philippa. Jason needs to relax at University. I will suggest that she takes overall management of his assets. I am sure she will do whatever is needed

“‘You, Harry, also need to relax more and maybe you help her and mentor her into the ways of the Empire and merge the two houses quietly and reasonably soon. You have had a shocking ordeal, let others do the hard work. Visit us often and spend time with Jason.

“‘The Empire needs shipbuilding and weapons manufacture but the next generation of it, and sooner rather than later, Philippa can do that soon and do it capably,’” Alana told me in no uncertain terms.

“I have thought about it. I was upset in the beginning as Alana was so direct. After some consideration I realized, I have no particular wish to get back into running the duchy. Think about it and once you have talked to Alana and Philippa let’s get the merger done. Let Philippa decide how we manage it. We both have more money than we can use and neither of us has money as our priority,” said Harry. “ We have a war coming and that is going need work done. I am happy to look at new weapons. I had many ideas that I did not implement. I did not have the technology. I can then spend time with Porquenta plot and plan, and then lend a hand in the factories doing what I do best.

“Speak to Norbert for me please. I would like a complete re-education while we send some of my best people to Charassa. In fact I wouldn’t mind going along for two or three months. Yes, that is a better idea. Cassius came back a new man. I need a change and I will come back here rejuvenated,” Harry said firmly.

“My aunt is cunning politically, and an administratively brilliant woman. I do not think I will ever be a great administrator and I am delighted to be able to relax and go to University,” Jason said.

“Harry, I am happy to spend time with you. I appreciate you staying here to support me, but I will be flat out at university soon, but I have a full staff. By all means go and spend time on Charassa and see a new and different world. Let us spend our time together before university and then enjoy the visit to the Jumo before we get stuck into new things.”

“It is a pleasure to spend time with you my boy. How did you like my Mechs and Marine AI’s?” Harry asked.

“I love your Marine AI’s and the Mechs. I agree you would do well to spend time on Charassa and with Porquenta. It will help you have a break and start your new life, I will talk to Philippa to set it all up.”

The week on Laomedeia was pretty much the same as on earth. It was a seven-day week. The days were twenty-five hours long in winter and nearly twenty-seven hours in summer. The climate was Mediterranean with summers that infrequently passed 100°F. Winters required warm clothing and went down to 25°F. There was snow for a month to six weeks a year.

Jason had four weeks prior to the start of the academic term. The academic year began towards the end of summer. He asked Harry walk with him on the campus. They strolled around to give Jason an opportunity to get the feeling of the university. Clothing in summer consisted of very light, colored shirts close to T-shirts in style with long shorts for both men and women that went down to the knee or occasionally mid-calf. Both men and women wore colorful hats and sandals.

Jason discovered that air-conditioned clothing was available for summer and winter and had been available for tens of thousands of years, but most people preferred at least in summer to wear clothing that covered little of the body. Jason saw outdoor workers and maintenance people used the air conditioned clothing more often. Even so most outside work was done by AI managed construction or maintenance droids. They moved discreetly, but relentlessly around the city and the campus relentlessly doing the necessary work twenty-five hours a day.

“Philippa I would like to talk to you for a few moments about some serious matters,” said Jason. “Harry had a conversation with Alana who made a series of suggestions with which we both concur. She suggested that we amalgamate my holdings and my grandfathers and we establish one common administration.

“That is a perfectly rational suggestion and it makes good sense. Harry has been excellent at weapons development and wants to concentrate on modernizing the factories, spending some time with Porquenta and on Charassa and then get on with weapons conceptualization and manufacture.

“Cassius told me how good Harry was at producing ideas for unique weapons, but Harry has said that he had difficulty with some of his best concepts as he simply did not have enough technology. Harry would also like to spend three months or longer on Charassa, but would like to have a learning cube now to get ahead while we still have the opportunity of spending some time together.

“The problem is, neither of us sees administration as our forte. Neither of us has any idea about how to go ahead to do the amalgamation and then run the reconstituted super duchy. I wanted to come to you first for your advice and if possible your help,” Jason said looking suitably woebegone.

“That’s fine, Jason leave it to me. I will suggest to Harry that we go one step further and amalgamate the Duchy with my holdings. Then we will only have one administration and very substantial intergalactic businesses. What do you think of that my darling? Oh, darling and while you are at it, don’t forget to think about your percentage in the Jumo Empire,” said Philippa smugly. “That adds a pleasant little chunk to your income. That will need to be managed and developed to maximize its potential. I want to clear out the cockroaches from all of your companies, remove the toxic priests, and get everything fully developed. There is money to be made out of a war particularly a long and bloody one,” Philippa said with relish.

“I would not have expected you to commit your assets. Please make sure that your interests are protected. No matter what happens in the future, I don’t want you to ever to feel yourself disadvantaged by this arrangement. Also, before you go ahead, I want you to talk to your mother. I will only go ahead if she is absolutely and completely supportive of what you are proposing, darling,” said Jason.

“She is fully supportive of the idea, we spoke about the concept a week or two ago. Both the Empire and the Collective are familiar with the concept and have very similar contracts. Tripartite and bigger family mergers are not unknown. I like Harry and I am very comfortable working with him and with the style of company that he runs.

“My mother feels that it is essential that you can relax and experience university life. The concept of forming an important peer group is as vital in the Collective as it is in the Empire. Alana has also checked out the idea of a house that spans galaxies, with Cassius. He thinks it’s a great idea.

“Incidentally, Jason, on an entirely different topic; I think that Cassius and my mother had a fling while he was on Charassa and it was with Alana’s permission. She strongly believes in intergalactic cooperation. Methinks she has an idea of an even bigger merger in the future, but don’t quote me on that.

“My mother thinks there is also a good idea for you to spend some time at University on Charassa to form a similar network. I think she did talk to you about it when you were there,” said Philippa.

“She’s a very wise woman, Jason. Whenever I was impatient or wanted to do something which she thought was ahead of its time, she used to do remind me that we live for millions of years. She said that it was vital to establish your most important friends while you are at University. She always said that they were the people with whom you had the most in common for much of your life. She then always used to talk about the importance of family who she said were of paramount importance,” Philippa said.

“Yes, I know, she said the same when I was on Charassa, and I understand at a logical level, but I struggle to get past my previous thinking, where I was a geriatric, running close to empty and with one foot in the grave. I can’t even imagine living five hundred years never mind a million years. It will be a great relief for me to relax and enjoy University, but I have my serious doubts that that is how things will pan out. The cockroaches know that time is running out for them. They are dirty players and very determined and cunning from everything I’ve seen and heard about them. The chances of a smooth run at University are minimal,” Jason said sadly.

“Jason you have been running at an unsustainable pace ever since your wife’s death and need to wind down. Harry and Cassius are also trying to take the pressure off you and make you realize that the future is not entirely dependent on you alone solving all their problems. There are many people working hard in two galaxies to resolve the issues,” said Philippa reassuringly.

“In this part of my life I am like a black hole that is getting bigger and bigger,” said Jason smiling as Philippa looked at him puzzled. “The difference is, I’m not a gravitational black hole; I am a trouble black hole. I have now got to the size where I am attracting trouble from at least three perhaps four galaxies. I will quickly attract whatever trouble exists on campus,” said Jason sighing, then he grinned leaned over and kissed Philippa. “But we have each other with the Empire and the Collective behind us.

“At least my life is not boring. In my previous life I was underutilized, and involved in small company activities and a constrained life. I was happy in my blissful ignorance. I don’t think I ever felt more than a minor fear except during my army years. I had nothing to fear day to day after the army. Life was safe. In this life I have never been bored, I’m in constant danger and there are many times that I have been scared to death, and strangely enough I enjoy it in some perverse way. I have had overwhelming emotional contentment and joy from the nature of intimacy that I’ve had with you, Linda and Andrea. Most people never feel that they have a single soulmate in a lifetime. I feel like I have three wonderful but different soulmates. However you, Philippa, are very much the center of my life and my being.”

Philippa, Alana, and Jason met with Harry to discuss the merger of the Duchy with Jason’s growing House and with Philippa’s Kingdom. It remained House Kargo despite both Harry and Jason saying they wanted a name that included Philippa. Eventually Jason and Harry insisted that the house be called Chatzke-Kargo.

“Alana I am happy to do this,” Philippa said, “though I shall have to reorganize our affairs on Charassa to ensure we operate effectively across galaxies. I will need to bring some of my staff here as we will have so much extra to manage. Alana I will need to talk to you about where to house them.”

“Only with pleasure. Cassius and I can certainly be of assistance,” said Alana helpfully.

“Chloe will be back in ten days, why don’t we go back to Charassa. I would like to meet your sisters and see something of the planet. You could do the planning face to face. Will a day be enough time for you to spend with Alana to sort out where you put your people?” asked Jason. He saw Philippa looked excited and was pleased that he had suggested the idea.

“It will be a good opportunity to take the captives back for further interrogation and those of our people who want to have an opportunity for a trip. I will ask Cassius and Alana if anyone else would like to come along. Let’s leave tomorrow night. I will call my sisters to meet us on the estate on Nobatia,” Philippa said excitedly.

“Nobatia is the industrial capital of Charassa. My family has a big estate on Nobatia. I will show you some of our factories there; I am sure you will be both interested and stimulated by what you see. You have been to Sennar where my mother lives. Sennar is the seat of the government and the cultural and medical capitol of the Collective.

“I’m going to speak to my sisters. Give Celia and Felicia a call, and they can stay with us overnight. I’m sure they will be happy to hear of the trip,” Philippa said excitedly.

Charassa and the estate in the city of Nobatia

Charassa was interesting from the air for Jason as it was so different but intriguing. The landmasses looked bleak and red, the oceans an odd looking gray. Jason could see active volcanoes spewing smoke into the atmosphere. As they got closer he could see lava pouring from a very large volcano. He could see dirty brown patches on the land. Jason could see the distant sun shining hazily through the smoke. The smoke made the sun look very red.

“Charassa is a very active volcanic planet and is rich in metals of all kinds. The planet is larger than any in the Empire and the gravity is higher. The intense radiation, much of it from the center of the universe, provides energy for a variety of plant life that lives in the oceans and very interesting vegetable life that lives both on and under the ground. The outer portions of the plants store energy by a process of radio-synthesis and in some plants photosynthesis and in some a combination. It is highly efficient. Most of the plant is protected below the surface in nearly all our vegetation. What you see is a small proportion of what is part of nearly all life on the planet.

“Similarly all our cities are largely below the surface. We evolved underground and spent most of our time beneath the surface. We suspect that plants learned how to use radiation as there was so much of it and it penetrates the frequent volcanic dust and smoke from burning vegetation more reliably than sunlight. The surface can be very smoky or dusty at different times of the day and the atmosphere much less pleasant. There is still farming based on the surface for a lot of vegetation that the herbivores amongst us consume. Much of our non-sentient insect food is grown underground, but some insects are well adapted to live on the surface.

“The surface is very windy at night and it would be intolerable for most. The wind sweeps much of the volcanic material from the high atmosphere to the ground. The ground is constantly renewed and is very fertile. The planet has frequent earthquakes. Many of the planets that insects evolved on in this galaxy are similar. You can see both moons from here and some of the asteroids that are part of Porquenta’s plan.