Chapter 19: Windup

Jason welcomed Yoyo, Korin his wife, and senior admirals and generals and partners to his estate and he and Yoyo made the introductions. Jason took Yoyo’s group to meet the leaders who remained on the estate. Smith had repaired the damage. The estate looked pristine and as it was when he arrived.

“Jason you look healthier and younger,” said Korin, “Can you remember when you were emperor?”

“I don’t recall anything. I like the same people and I behave as I did, but I have lost my past,” said Jason and sighed.

“We were best of friends and spent a lot of time together. You are the same, but the memory thing is so weird,” said Korin. Yoyo was friendly with Chuck and Chloe as well, all of you used to sit and comment on simulations and try different strategies and tactics. You cackled and laughed like old men, sitting, eating and drinking. Lauren your daughter is so much like Jyotsana-Orsolla. They could be sisters. She and her mother were like that, they looked the same,” said Korin.

“Dear, are you sure you want to go there?” Yoyo asked his wife.

“What is that about?” Jason asked.

“Jyotsana’s mother disappeared,” said Yoyo, “Everyone believed Ekara was murdered. She was your childhood friend and you often saw her bruised and in pain after Wotan beat her. You raged about him but she was not prepared to leave him despite her fear of him. Wotan accused you of stealing her. The police investigated her disappearance but no body was found. Jyotsana spent as much time as she could at the palace. We all puzzled why she was not as upset as she should be about her mother.”

“Korin, you have a theory?” Jason asked.

“I knew you and your scheming really well, Jason...”

“No Korin, this is not fair on Jason or on Jyotsana, stop this immediately!”

“Let me make it easier on both of you,” said Jason, “let us assume I hid Ekara and took her with me, then she descended and is Lauren. At some time in the future they would meet. You think we should do it sooner rather than later. The reaction of Jyotsana would prove your hypothesis one way or another.”

“No Korin, you are to go no further,” said Yoyo.

“Don’t worry dear, this is Jason not some fragile flower,” said Korin firmly.

“Then we must ask her to have a test to find out if we are father and daughter?” Jason asked.

“See dear, this is Jason, he is four steps ahead of everyone else,” said Korin raisin her eyebrows and looking at Yoyo, “I will go and chat with Lauren and I will prepare her for the meeting with Jyotsana. I will try and organize dinner for all of us tomorrow night. Jyotsana deserves to be recognized if she is your daughter. She has had a miserable life, other than when she was with you at the palace. She was alone with her awful father when you left.”

“Was my life always this complicated?” Jason asked.

“Much more so Jason, you had lots of Empresses, many more than now and they formed factions, you had feuding associations and Manulux, there was the big ongoing war and the palace was full of children. You also spent time on mathematics, taught at the university, you met friends and did as much exercise as you could. You looked as unwell as many of us felt. There was probably much more that I can’t recall or didn’t know,” said Korin.

“This is too heavy for me, I am going to talk to Chuck and Chloe,” said Yoyo.

Korin laughed. “Yoyo has the courage to go into battle to face terrifying enemies, but when it comes to emotions and relationships he goes to talk to the children!”

“You are complimentary to each other, you are armed to fight different battles,” said Jason laughing, “You are two different admirals in the same house, neither more formidable than the other.”

“Yoyo, did you find the Oojokhi?” Jason asked when they met in the morning.

“Yes, we did, the battle was short and they are no more,” said Yoyo.

“Any regrets?”

“No, Jason I have no regrets, I have been on Oojokhi ships, I have seen the living dead of our people being fed on by the young Oojokhi. The Oojokhi were a pestilence that needed to be removed.”

“You look down and miserable, my not remembered, but once again becoming very good friend, tell me what ails you.” Jason asked.

“Bertha spoke to me this morning. We killed four and a half billion Destroyers two and a half days ago. Many of them were the brightest of their young people. I suspect ninety percent of them were fine people like your wonderful Destroyer women. Our infiltrated intelligence group monitored how the information was dealt with by the leaders. The leaders prepared a presentation which made out we made an unprovoked attack on Destroyer bases and a new planet in Bekta Delta.

“Our intelligence people were able to disseminate media analyses that showed where the asteroid bases were and to who they belonged to. They published details of how the Destroyer poisoned their own brethren, the Uzliumbax, and the foul deeds of Osman and showed who he was and what had been done by him to subvert the ‘family’ of the Destroyers and how the Destroyers supported criminal organizations. Then they showed the Destroyer attack on Emdar Grept with all the damage to the planet and vaults. The plan to put the people into stasis and kill them and steal our Empire was explained.

“The Grork plot to introduce a new religion to the Destroyers was described and discussed along with the men using it to appear to cleanse the unclean, but to create a pseudo-legitimate way to steal from others.

“They interviewed happy Destroyer women, and showed them standing next to their fetuses in baby pods.

“The AIs had prepared for an opportunity like this for a long time, to convert a potential disaster into a public relations coup. Since we came out of stasis the intelligence teams joined the AIs. Together they crafted a very clever plan. Zafa contributed some of her team to help as well as did the allies. It came out all day yesterday in the Destroyer media and continues this morning as holo-vids that look like the official media. Written supportive media looking like the regular media were disseminated widely. The regular media were supplied with information packs supporting the reports. We did the same for our own Uzliumbax media. I will send you the content.

“We can deflect the damage done, from us to the Destroyer men, but at the end of the day we killed our brethren, many of whom would have happily joined our side. That saddens me. I know the Destroyers attacked us with impunity and without conscience and will do so again. It is the waste of life that is part of war that I feel after battle,” said Yoyo.

“I saw and read our own media reports today. I could see the hand of our intelligence and public relations people in it,” said Jason, “I am pleased to see the reversion to the old rules is slowly moderating the wild behavior of the media. I suspect less journalist imagination is in play. I am pleased to see some change.”

Yoyo nodded sadly.

“Yoyo, I felt like you do after I came down from my high after most battles. I hope we never lose our empathy and compassion for people injured and killed and even our enemies,” said Jason. “War is a miserable business, but like sewage disposal or garbage collection it must be done and someone has to do it,” said Jason.

“One further matter, Jason, our intelligence people tell us the Destroyer women’s networks are deeply unhappy and the recent events compounded the problems from their viewpoint. They now see the men are exposing them and their children to danger and they are second grade citizens. Plans are afoot for them to leave the Destroyers and join us. I have alerted our allies to the possibility. They are thinking of a big first wave and they believe the men will try and prevent them leaving after the first group have gone,” said Yoyo.

“Have a great lunch with the women today Jason, rather you than me,” said Yoyo wiping his brow, then he put his arm around Jason’s shoulder. “You have forgotten so much Jason. Korin has always wanted to organize your life, my life, the life of all my staff and their partners and families. She is an inveterate meddler and matchmaker. The worst part about it is, she is good at it!”

“It has been a long time since we have had a family breakfast. I am so pleased you came to visit Craig, how are you going?” Jason asked. “This is the first time we have had a chance to chat for a long time.”

“Dad, before we talk about that I hear we have a new cousin! I met her last night and she is lovely. She is such a beautiful woman, I was overwhelmed,” said Craig. “Jyotsana and I had a long chat.”

“My sweet brother, you haven’t heard the rest of it yet, I am Jyotsana’s genetic mother!” Lauren announced. “How weird is that?”

“Who is her father?” Chloe asked.

“Everyone thought it was me,” said Jason, “ but it isn’t. Jyotsana’s father is one of my original family, as close as brother or first cousin, according to the doctor who did the analysis. Craig, we saw you in vids at the palace, but I don’t know what role you played or who you were, yet, it could even be you!” Jason remarked and laughed. “Jyotsana didn’t want us to chase down her father, she wants time to digest what she has discovered. She is thinking about our meeting and what the impact will be on her. I reassured her we will treat her as a family member from now on. She asked me if I wanted to merge our associations. She told me it is unusual for family members to be in different associations.

“I did suggest it was something she should discuss with her parents!” Said Jason smiling broadly at Lauren.

“The poor girl was overwhelmed. I think she was also thrown off balance meeting me,” said Lauren, “as I do look exactly as her mother did. She did say she always thought Jason was her real father and she was shocked to find out he was not. She thinks her mother was protecting her from Ekara’s husband Wotan by using Jason as her shield. She believed her mother had been killed by Wotan, not hidden to go with Jason’s expedition.”

Jason turned towards Craig. “Let’s get back to you Craig?”

“Hey wait a second,” said Chloe, “does that mean I have an older sister?”

“This is so weird,” said Chuck. “How can this be?”

“Kids, we’ll talk about it this evening. Grandpa was asking after Craig,” said Lauren.

Craig grinned. “Descent clearly produces some really complicated issues. I definitely want to find out if Jyotsana is a cousin or my daughter. I also want to find who I am in this whole complicated scenario.

“To answer Dad’s question! I realized I need to catch up educationally. I am past being able to do it all myself. I learned the Cassius Empire stuff then half of the Collective stuff I needed to know and then the war began. Earth is moving ahead quickly and I could study there but I have decided I want to go back to University and learn in the most evolved society. That would be the Dinnion, it is also safer than it would be on Uzliumbax planets,” Craig explained.

“Craig, I am delighted you are going that way. It is an excellent idea. How are the family doing?” asked Jason.

The boys are doing well and they love the Collective. They want to complete undergraduate studies there and review their options. We all realize, wherever we go, there are going to be new educational developments, but there is considerable value in exposing ourselves to other civilizations, cultures and galaxies. I had a wonderful evening last night. I have been such a fool hanging around on Earth and missing out on all this richness of experience.

“Last night I learned Schlogg, Dinnion, and even Azloc and the day before Uzliumbax. Valsam gave me the entire Azloc undergraduate IT education and supporting mathematics and sciences over half an hour after the dinner. My brain feels like it is bursting,” said Craig. “I woke full of energy and I was bursting with ideas.”

“Do you have a crystal?” Jason asked.

“Yup, I do. I have the latest Uzliumbax one with the entire educational package which updates from my new octagon and the new communications one as well. I am officially half AI,” said Craig laughing.

“Do you need any help getting to Dinnio prime or getting organized to study there?” Jason asked.

“No, I applied when I got here but the Dinnion I met here last night will take us with them to Dinnio prime and offered to accommodate us in the palace. They will facilitate everything,” said Craig.

“Where is Jeanette?” Jason asked.

“As you know she hates new things, but over time she hated the way we are going more and more and decided to leave me last week and join a community in Oregon somewhere. We were arguing a lot and she absolutely refused to leave Earth. She was never optimized nor was she prepared to use a pod. When the boys visited from the Collective, she said the whole idea of living with alien insects freaked her out. When they changed form, she collapsed and said they were possessed by aliens. It is sad, but I will have a few million years to get over her. Maybe I will follow you and acquire a few wives, or if I continue to feel as I am feeling I will never have another relationship. Jeanette is a good woman and we had a great marriage for a long time. Had nothing changed on Earth we would still be together,” said Craig. “Jeanette will not accept things are going to be different. I don’t think going off to Oregon is going to work, but she’s no longer my problem.”

“Craig, if you need any help let me know.” Jason told him.

“Dad, Philippa has given me an allowance for ages. I can’t spend what I have even if I spend wildly for the rest of my life. Money is not my prime motivation. I do promise I will keep in contact more and visit you guys,” said Craig.

“Chloe how are you guys? I see Harry and Anita over in the corner with Bird and Hazel. How was the tournament?” asked Jason.

“Grandpa, we’ll tell you in a sec. Yoyo came to talk to us after your early meeting. He asked if he could buy the long-term rights to use our methods,” said Chuck excitedly.

“Harry and Anita are over the moon when Yoyo told us you suggested the Uzliumbax intelligence use a fake King and Queen and used the method they used on the pirate ships,” said Chloe. “Yoyo told us Harry also was a great Admiral, Anita was his wife and a General. Also, Bird was a general and his wife was Hazel, a famous Admiral as well. Yuck that is not a good thought,” said Chloe putting her finger into her mouth and retching theatrically. She turned to Chuck. “Dill-brain you can’t license strategies and tactics. All of the admirals and generals steal each other’s ideas. He was joking with you. Anyhow you will have more money than you will ever need,” said Chloe derisively.

“Chloe, Chuck knows it was a joke,” said Lauren, “and young lady your insult will cost you a dollar. I warned you.”

“Mum that is a lot of money. It has always been twenty cents. Inflation is less than two percent on Earth, it’s not fair,” said Chloe.

“It is a registered insult and if you look at the contract you signed with me and Dad, you will see aggravated damages applies in this case because you demeaned him in front of the whole family,” said Lauren seriously. Dan, Jason’s son in law, a lawyer was struggling not to laugh as he held Lauren’s hand. Fortunately, Chloe was looking down, chastened.

“Chuck tell Grandpa about the tournament,” Lauren suggested.

“Grandpa, when Yoyo said he wanted to license our stuff, I was excited because he is the Yoyo. I would have licensed it for nothing for him and our people. It was a ginormous compliment.”

Chuck looked down so Jason wouldn’t see the tear that dripped down Chuck’s cheek. He sniffed and rubbed the back of his wrist on his nose.

“You know Grandpa, we were not best of the best on Mars. We were talking to Berit and she felt we might need more oomph. She sent us one of the new war AIs in an AI body. It’s too heavy to carry around. She said a battle AI was for colonels and junior generals. We were fighting the best and need the best tools to do the job.

“Anyhow, Bird and me worked with Myrtle the Turtle which we named her in this tournament and we knocked the knickerbockers off everyone else.”

Chuck turned to Lauren, “Mum what is a knickerbocker? We read this book in class and they talked of them.”

Lauren explained.

Chuck blushed, then soldiered on.

“Anyhow, Chloe and Hazel used their old AI but now also want to change. Myrtle is great. We talk to her in machine language. It’s a drag and such a boring language. We had an idea and talked to Valsam. Yesterday we got her modified to talk Azloc and added a chemical interface. Using chemical language is lightning fast. We are going to cream the opposition. Myrtle loves the Azloc network and is working on some of the Azloc simulations. We will save a sh ... load of time and work faster than the others. Chloe was second and Harry and Anita came up to sixth place. Chloe and Hazel asked Valsam if she could give them one of the Azloc war AIs. She agreed and offered one to Harry and Anita who were standing there. We got the new communications and server crystals as well. We don’t know how we will use the server stuff yet but we will find a way. We can talk to Valsam from Earth and we have started to learn lots of Azloc stuff, but it is slower on the network than chemical direct. She said it is faster for her to dump everything into our servers then let our server deliver it in bits. She will show us how to do it later today. She said it is a big lesson. She is doing it for all us children. We would then be like Azloc Kings and Queens. Grandpa can we also be Azlocs?” Chuck asked. “One of the guards showed me this awesome jump and they have some great poison.”

“Of course you can get the conversion. Ask Valsam when you see her.

“Well done, both of you. I will be interested to find out how much difference the Azloc mods make and how Chloe and Hazel perform with a new AI. I am pleased to hear Harry and Anita are getting all the good stuff. You must ask your father to check out your legal status with the Azloc and find out if you are entitled to become Kings and Queens at your age or if you would have to be designated princes and princesses. Chuck, if you have server it makes you a queen. We don’t want to confuse everyone about your status,” said Jason and winked at Dan when he saw Chloe and Chuck were looking at each other. “How are you going with Anita, Chuck?” Jason asked.

Chuck blushed a deep red, looked down at the table for a few moments. He looked up excitedly and became animated.

“Anita and I along with Chloe and Harry are going to work on some intelligence simulations from our Empire. We met this woman from Ethora who is a police intelligence lady, she told us she is Eckbertina and she is awesome,” said Chuck and turned to Chloe and waved his hand. “She told us to call her Ecky. She is super cool.”

“Grandpa, as Chuck said she is a mega-brain police investigation specialist in criminal intelligence. Ecky wanted us to work with her AIs to make some great simulations. She said hers were not great. She gave us one of them last night. Grandpa, we know why she needed help. It was not great. So, we talked to Myrtle and Berit and did you know, we can talk to Porquenta as well, again,” said Chloe, then gulped a few breaths. “Patton is also back from the dead.

“Well, we were up most of the night talking about how to improve it to a good standard. We sent it back to Ecky after the AIs did what we talked about. Berit said it took Patton less than a peta-second or some such. That seemed a bit long for the size of the job and I told her so.

“We only slept a couple of hours. It was hard to get up. Berit told us quickly before breakfast they got onto the intelligence AI and Porquenta found it was sabotaged. They did get the AI sorted, absorbed all the intelligence stuff and sent Ecky a few hundred big simulations that covers the whole thing. We are waiting to hear from her. Berit told us Thomas is investigating. Some of the other AIs are slower than they should be is all we know so far,” said Chloe, who gulped a few more breaths and grinned.

“That is impressive work by any standards,” said Craig. “You are an impressive niece and nephew and I am bursting with pride,” said Craig.

Dan, Lauren, Chuck and Chloe looked thrilled.

“I agree with Craig,” said Jason, “You have made several major contributions to the Empire, which is even more admirable at your tender ages. Your performance at tournaments never ceases to amaze me.

“Speak of the devil here comes Eckbertina striding towards us at high speed,” said Jason smiling as he stood.

“Eckbertina please join us, I am breakfasting with my family who I believe you have already met.”

“Jason, I will not keep you long, I don’t want to interrupt your breakfast but I will help myself to one of these delicious pastries and a cup of your black beverage. I enjoyed it at the conference, but I do prefer it with a bit of that white liquid. It wakes me up.

“Please excuse me for disturbing you. I was up very early this morning woken by Thomas. Thank you very much for that Chloe and Chuck,” she said sternly.

They quailed under her fierce gaze which softened and she smiled.

“I have not had time to look at the simulations, I have been so busy sorting out our AIs. By the time I got to work, there were hordes of AI technicians and AI specialists everywhere,” said Eckbertina.

“I thought all your AIs were replaced?” Jason asked.

“Yes, they were,” said Eckbertina. “The Destroyer hid a new generation of malicious instruction sets that intermittently slowed our AIs and interfered with many tasks. They interfered with the level of consciousness of the AI. It was not obvious to us. They also sent information to the Destroyers.”

“If that happened why did the Destroyers not know about the investigations?” Chloe asked.