Chapter 41

About a week later, and right on schedule, the tug version of Mom returned to the base. Almost fifty women disembarked. They looked tired but in good spirits. The only exception was Sadda. She appeared to want to do more, anything, to defeat the hated Samutz. This was a major turnaround for her and I was glad to see it. I would like to see one of her males try to throw her to the wolves next time they met.

It seemed a little odd to me to have two Moms at one time, but they worked together to avoid any confusion.

We had made plans, long ago, about Earth's defences. This conflicted with our needs for the Epsilon Eridani expedition. The thought of the Samutz coming before we were ready, made each of us worry, and work just a little harder.

Work had begun on large fabrication units on both the moon and Earth, to make some of the larger ship components. If we were given enough time, then a few ships of our own could be put into space, but the lack of crystals for the computers, would be a major stumbling block.

More men came in all the time now, and formed the second wave of recruits. The 'old hands' did their best to help out. There was quite a bit of show-offs that were able to do astonishing feats of strength and speed to the amazement of the newcomers.

The day finally arrived, and all was as ready as we could make it. The old light destroyer, though it had been stripped of usable parts to get Mom completed in the earliest possible time, was again a fighting ship. It would now fight on our side, by protecting the Sol system.

Her ribs were replaced or repaired, but all the hull plates could not be made in time, so a shield would adequately protect all within her in any case. She was fitted with many batteries of small galvanized ship killer missiles capable of sixty three percent, the speed of light. They had a small warhead, because they were able of actually penetrating the hull. She was not yet fitted with a processor module, so she wasn't self aware. When the fabrication units came online, she was slated for the first products to cover her naked sides.

Carl's sons Charlie and Paul were respectively, the captain and executive officer. Mom had tested both, and thought that at this time, Charlie should lead. Twenty three Tandra males crewed the ship, with twenty three Humans as mates. They were ready to take on any invader that might threaten Earth in our absence. The sensor suite was the best we could produce. The damaged engine could not be repaired in time, so the ship suffered because of its loss. Luckily, they did not work as rockets did, but only suffered a one third loss in speed and acceleration.

The mates on the ship were actually that. Men had formed personal alliances with individual Tandra males, and actually formed a family or bondue. The Tandra seemed to bow to the Human's more robust lives, and took the minor role of male wife or funt. This was, as they were made, for Tandra males usually formed families, and there was only one boss in each. The Earth man was the husband or sooda, and seemed to bring out all the warrior qualities in the Tandra male. It remained to be seen, how a couple on a ship could fight, in times of war.

The couples felt singled out, when told that they would not be going with us, but staying, to single-handedly, protect this system while we were gone. Even Charlie and Paul asked if they were being kept out of the fight because of their sexual preferences. I had to explain, that many of our own crew were 'married' now and the only reason they were staying, was because I had to entrust our entire race, into someone's hands, I could believe in.

They looked into my mind, and saw that I spoke the truth. They felt both humbled and honoured with the tasks, I set before them. Placing new missiles, refurbishing the old, training all the new recruits on the way to run a ship, and finding moments of time, to complete their own repairs, was only some of their jobs.

Through a lot of discussion, we decided to let the world finally know what was happening. Mom went on the air, overriding all television channels and some radio stations, in every country. She spoke in the appropriate language and used the correct mannerisms to make her look and sound almost Human. Her eyes and beautiful frame could not be seen, as anything but beautiful and exotic.

She spoke for almost three hours explaining about the ancient Tandra Empire, and their current presence here in this system. She told of all the old defences that kept this system free of invaders, for the last two and a half million years. That is, till just a little while ago. The alien's newfound ability to breach our defences, made it necessary to find out more about this race.

Our heritage was brought up as a source of pride, and defiance, against anyone with hostile intent coming to this system. She gave one example after another of how our ancestors had bettered all beings in the galaxy, through their minds and hands.

She told of the brave men, who were now risking their lives to keep the system safe. She gave such small numbers, that most people believed our quest was hopeless, at best. Two of our number were actually commanding, and many Tandra and Humans served on the ship over their heads in case the Samutz came, when the main group had left.

The images aboard the destroyer, as it was taken, was played for almost thirty minutes, and then more at the end of her talk. She explained that the Samutz would soon come to this system, unless they were stopped, and stopped in the strongest possible way.

As she was wrapping up her final statements she said, "If we are successful in our endeavours, we will need men and women of good character, to crew the ships we bring back." She explained about the inability of anyone or any group of governments being able to take over the power that the ships represented.

Then she dropped her bombshell. "The Tandra and Human allies are able to read minds, to make informed decisions, and communicate better in times of war. The new crewmembers will gain this ability." She had to soften this approach for fear that the Earth would be overrun with Tandra educated Humans. "The people joining us would gradually loose all of their skills, if they leave, before their full term of enlistment is up. Once they retire all of their wealth and knowledge will stay with them. Most will be given land on distant planets, to form a buffer to the area we are protecting."

It would be fun to see the governments scheming now to get some of the ships. Perhaps not right away, but in years to come, when they knew the how and why of each device and system.

Every space worthy ship left with us, either in Mom's hold, or pulled behind. Long lines of missile pods and defence batteries followed. This time there was no invisibility, for only Mom and Carlton could accomplish the task.

A few cadets worked tirelessly in the lunar base, trying to get one more ships repaired in time to help in the defence of all of our homes.

Many of the Tandra fought hard for berths, and I knew a much higher proportion of their race flew with me to fight the Samutz. Mom had vetoed some Tandra still in stasis, from being awoken to help, while some others were needed in the present emergency. One of those remaining was Kitten. She felt singled out, because she was the mother of three young children. She alone, was still able to feed her children breast milk, because Chris and Susan had been treated to stop their flow. I tried my best to tell her that it was her duty and obligation to watch out for all the children, along with Duc and Lam. Topaz, Kitty, Cloud, Moth, Roger, Bobby, and the Human girls would also be staying.

No matter what I said, she still felt hurt, at not being allowed to fight for her people.

Hours into our flight, the euphoria of our trip started to wear off. The men and their equipment were put in their place. Combat simulations continued non-stop for the men and the ship. The deck crew reclined in their padded chairs and tried with their minds to grasp the very fabric of reality, and pulled with power, from the ship's engines.

Blue caught on fairly quickly, then Nova. Chris was almost in tears complaining that she was changed to her present form, because she was not as good as the rest, when using her mind like this.

I held her tight, "I believe in you, and so does Mom. I can pick from all the Tandra and I picked you. Do you think I could be mistaken in a matter like this?" She tried harder, and Mom happily told her that she was getting it.

We were not at the Mardaf Limit yet, and all the training was just that, training. I did my best too, and found as I expected, that my accomplishments would be minor. Carl, though not part of the deck crew, did even better than me.

I said privately to Mom, "Would it be better, to have Carl captain this ship?"

"It certainly wouldn't. He is only able to do this because you are here to help him. Close your eyes and visualize the bonds between you and your extended family. They are strong and sure. Almost all of the strong ones lead back to you and you alone. Work with the others, and you will find that one learns the knack, and then they can share the knowledge with the rest. He also has other duties to keep him occupied. The men are becoming restless this far from home. This is not like getting on a ship, and just travelling around your small globe."

"I will try Mom." I said, not knowing if I could do any better.

As we came to the limits of our system, Mom cut away the defensive batteries, that might take out any attacker to make it in this far. Carl was called away to quell a fight, that had started because of nerves.

Once past the limit, our speed increased as we slipped into the higher dimensions. Mother projected a graph of our speed and it went up to almost two hundred times the speed of light. There were two dozen chairs for the deck crew. Only eleven were presently filled. Sandy and Star held hands the same way as Amy and Nema. Susan walked around trying to force her mind into the correct procedure to move the ship faster.

Mom here was at a disadvantage, for she could not function as well in these higher dimensions, and relied on our intellects to help move the ship forward.

Secric just held out her arms and hugged her best friend. "You will get it, I know you will."

Sadda and her daughter Nema, more or less had demanded places amongst my wives, as part of the deck crew.

We all reclined, and tried for real, this time to pull the ship along at a faster pace. I peeked, and saw that we were at a paltry five times Mom's max. For over an hour we tried, and rose very little, till we began to slack off at the strain it had on us.

I called a break and we went to our suite. Food, hot and plentiful, helped deaden our own self-reproach. "Don't worry; we will do better next time." I said. "Not everybody can even do as well as we just did." This was the truth, but all of us were shooting for Mom's goals.

The day was only partially over, and I felt sweaty from the mental strain, and decided to take a shower. Naturally everybody else joined me. We formed a loop, and did each others back. I massaged Sadda's back, as I soaped hers. She groaned at the pleasure, I was giving her. I guess she never heard of the massage previously. Before long all of us were doing the same.

Amy was behind me, and could not reach my shoulders, so she worked on my upper legs. Her hands took the path around my hips, but also came between my legs. My cock started to grow as her soapy hand did their work.

Amy's excitement and mine spread to the others, like wild fire, and back again to Amy. Her head came around, as I moved under the water and she sucked me into her tiny mouth. Soap even the Tandra variety, did not taste very good. All pretence at washing stopped. The trouble was that everyone wanted to do me, or start an instant orgy.

"Ladies," I exclaimed, "let's get washed quickly, and go to bed." They washed the fastest I had ever seen, being almost brutal in their endeavours of getting any foul odours removed. Even with the high efficiency of the cleansers, all were in the bedroom slightly damp.

Nova was the closest, and I chose her first. She, like the other Earth Tandra had adjusted to me, and wanted to lie on her back, to be mounted. Looking around the room, only Sadda and Nema were in the prone position.

I held Nova in my arms. I nibbled her ear, and that seemed to drive her crazy. I could feel all the others react to my simplest touch, as if nine copies of me did the same things to the others. My lips followed my hands to her breast. Here again I gently nibbled and sucked. Her back arched as she tried to push more of her into my mouth. Her hands came to the back of my head to hold me captive, at this spot. I nibbled some more and was able to move to her other breast, before I continued my delicate torture.

"More husband, more," she demanded.

When her back straightened, I took her hands in mine, and spread them to keep her from holding me. I kissed down her ribcage taking my time and worrying small portions of her delicate flesh. She struggled, trying to hold me in one place long enough for her to have an orgasm. I monitored her mind as best I could, and stopped just short of her completion every time. Again and again I did this, to drive her into a sexual frenzy. Around me I could hear the moaning of the women in heat. They held one another, as if this would bring their completion. My own excitement was getting so high, that I had to enter my mind and turn down my responses.

When I came to her mons, her pelvis was frantically thrusting for any stimulation that would push her over the last hurdle. Being careful of her response, I licked the inside of her thigh, close to her knee and slowly headed to her centre. Her smell entered my head, she smelt like no other Human, but close, and much more refined and heady.

Her legs had spread to the maximum, and she pulled her knees up to her chest. Nova's back was bent to best offer me herself. I slowed down, even more and even blew across her highly sensitive clit, as it stood proud almost eight centimetres outside of her open slit. The urge to suck on her was very strong, both from within me, and from all the psychic pressure, from the women without.

I brought my mouth close, and I could feel the expectation of their final release when I found the strength to resist, and only exhale around the quivering head. The penis like structure waved back and forth, trying to get some extra stimulation, as Nova tried to drive it into my mouth.

"Nova, reach out with your hands that Mom told you about and pull me into you. Reach out; further; further; pull; pull with all your might, so you will slide into me."

I used a compartment in my mind, to keep track of the ship's progress, and saw the multiple climb higher than we had done before.

"All of you pull me into you, more..." The multiple went over a hundred as I brought my lips to only a millimetre away.

"A little harder and you will have me; pull."

I knew this was working, as I gave the gentlest of touches with my tongue to the length of her clit. They were on a razors edge, desperately wanting to orgasm.

"Pull my wives. Make me proud."

The graph now went to over a hundred and thirty and I relented and sucked hard on Nova's distended clit. From all around I felt their release. Hands held the bed, and in an orgy of feelings, pulled even harder, making their orgasm even stronger. I held tight to Nova, and continued to suck. She thrashed with the sensations flowing through her body. Her hips tried to repeatedly thrust into me. Her hands came to my head, to make sure I remained at this most sensitive spot. After a minute they began to recover, and I eased off on my attack.

Nova relaxed and I crawled up to her other lips, and gently kissed her. "I love you Nova," I said. She looked at me and her eyes said that she knew and returned it.

I went around the room and sorted the girls into pairs, in a 69 position. I laid Blue on her back and positioned Sadda over her last. She was reluctant to let me see, that she enjoyed her time with other females.

"Make love to her, Sadda." I commanded.

Her face went down and she tasted her new lover. I got behind her and with the help of some of Mom's lubricant, and slowly entered her. Everybody stopped to feel the penetration. Sadda's daughter groaned the loudest, as she felt the equivalent of a phantom cock enter her.

Holding her hips for stability, I felt the head of my cock slide over the small bumps, within her vagina. I went excruciatingly slow, for I knew she would orgasm with any additional stimulation.

"Pull, all of you pull.

The ship surged ahead again as the girls worked together. I visualized a long swim uphill as a spermatozoon cell might have to travel to fertilize an egg. The girls represented the egg that was to meet me half way. They pulled hard, as I struggled to meet them.

As we got close, I pumped faster into Sadda. She was able somehow to hold off, knowing the release was coming very soon. As the girls in my mind met me, I ejaculated seven times into Sadda. She screamed in a paroxysm of emotions, as she and the rest came with me. I felt my image pulled even closer to them, and pushed into the large egg. The women flexed their pelvises trying to milk me of my discharge, as they groaned in sympathy.

I was squeezed out, and I found a clear space to lie down. Susan disengaged herself from Secric, and frantically sucked my member into her mouth, savouring the taste, while Secric continued licking Susan. I held her by the chin and looked into her loving eyes, as she did this for me.

Blue had flipped the stunned Sadda over on her back, and proceeded to lick any of the spend that had come out.

I was ready to move Susan into position to give her quaking body more of the same treatment when Mom said, "Captain, Carl is coming with a concern about the trip we are now making."

"Thanks Mom. I'll get dressed, and see him."

Carl was indeed concerned. Apparently the girls and I had overdone the drives, and the inertial compensators had not been able to keep up fully. This would be the next thing to improve on if possible. The amount of power we controlled was fantastic, but the amount we used to propel the craft came to almost all of it. There was little left for the compensator, and Mom had to actually cut back to allow more power to be diverted.

"What the fuck happened, Henry?" He exclaimed.

"Well Carl, Mom can only make the ship go so fast. This hull is made to pull very heavy loads and has the strongest engines for her size of any ship ever made. We have been able to drive her to the max and the power needed made the compensator flutter at the high load. There was no danger other than the sudden changes of up to a little over two gravities."

"How is that? When I tried, we got her speed multiplied by almost eight times."

"I was encouraging the girls, and we made it to over a light year per hour. We actually made it up to a hundred and fifty six, times Mom's two hundred times light speed for a moment or two."

"How the hell did you do that?"

"I told you before about natural bonding, well I bonded better with my wives, and we moved the hull along faster than expected. Now all we have to do is find a way to do it all the time instead of in spurts."

"I would appreciate that. We have two people getting treated now from an unexpected fall."

When Carl left to explain the matter to the men, Mom told me, "You and your wives are able to channel more raw power, than I have ever heard of before. Never has any group been able to perform as strongly so soon. You have momentarily reached the arbitrary maximum of one hundred and sixty, twice. Nobody has ever gone faster. It is a shame, that I can produce no additional power."

"What about the large war ships, they can theoretically go much faster?"

"They have a very large converter that takes the energy from a high energy universe and directs it to another that has a very low energy level. The device is very large and it takes a very large generator using lithium/anti-lithium reaction to open the portals. That amount of lithium reaction is very dangerous, because I am not able to stop all of the harmful radiation."

"I remember studying the larger warship propulsion principles. Why can't we use a small lithium reactor, to open a small portal in the converter, and use the power generated, to open the portal a little bigger. There must be enough energy to feed back into the system, to get it open it very wide and only have a controllable amount of radiation."

"I doubt if that was ever tried. The only problem I could see is the possibility of a runaway reaction, where the converter is allowed to take in too much energy, and self-destruct. I think the energy discharge would be the equivalent of a stellar nova. I will have to work on that, in my spare time."

The time to Epsilon Eridani in Carlton was about sixteen days but only two and a half subjectively. It was barely twelve hours, with the added impetus given by the ladies and myself.

Mom sent our small probes ahead of us. They were to warn us of any danger, and to come through the still intact ring of Tandra defence platforms with our clearance code. The Samutz had not even stripped out the dangerous missile platforms, but had simply used the same cleared corridor all the time.

Our passive scanners still showed the same three ships. The Continental class carrier must have had a training session going on, for the fighters were in a mock battle, with the Omicron class battleship. There were using low energy discharges, from both sides, and the struck fighters were pulled to one side by the carrier's tractor beams.

We hid in EE3's shadow, because of all the energy disturbances within the planet itself. A tight beam transmission brought Sandra to us. Mom scanned her as best she could, and I got the distinct impression she was a little jealous of Sandra's stealth abilities. A quiet exchange of cargo took place. This was all the production the tiny moon was capable of doing, in so short a time. Almost six hundred crystals had been produced, and many were very large.

Sandra had been getting updates whenever possible, from the hidden base in the city. Its sensors would already know that we were here, and send out the most current information.

Carl stood at my shoulder, and looked at the mass of warships before him. It was one thing to see a picture, but quite another to know that they were only a missile throw away. Men and Tandra alike stood all through the ship, mesmerized at the same sight. I got from many sources, the feeling of incredulity, at trying to take on these behemoths.

A drone from Masis came in. Mom read it and said, "The exercise was in preparation for the invasion of Sol and some other outlying areas. They know of its limited abilities but thought it prudent to keep cautious in this matter, and treat this as a training exercise, and to improve discipline. They think it probable that we have taken their light destroyer. The practice is scheduled to end in two hours. What are your orders Admiral?"

Earth was going to be attacked soon and this was the only force capable of putting up a resistance, and now the rank change. "Admiral! Just a few minutes ago, you called me Captain."

"Now you must decide what to do about this system, and your home planet, before you just commanded this ship."

I took Carl aside, and talked to him about the situation. With Mom, we discussed travel time, and the best method of deployment. The Samutz crews would be tired and less vigilant an hour or two, after the exercise was over. That would be the best time to begin our attack.

I stood beside Mom's holograph and addressed the soldiers going up against impossible odds, and said, "The exercise you just saw was in preparation for an attack on Earth. If we do not stop them now, then there is no hope that Earth will succeed. Many of you have heard Sadda's story, and you know what the Samutz will do to their fallen enemies. I will not let that happen to my family, friends, or neighbours."

Mom spoke of how proud she was of the Humans and the Tandra that would now fight for their respective races. Everybody knew her for a machine intelligence, but all seemed to love her almost as much as I did.

As per our original planning, missile pods were slowly propelled towards the three unsuspecting ships. They would fly safely through the field of defensive missile batteries, an area that the Samutz would consider safe and thus not be monitored as heavily.

Carlton and some of the other ships were removed from the hold, in preparation for their need to rescue and recover wounded, or to guide missiles to their target. Larger probes would travel down to the major city, on the surface, and release their cargo, the same time as the ones on the ships did.

The smaller probes were launched along the same course, as the missile pods. Mom had worked the virus down to just six hours now, one hour to get the probes into position and another to get them placed strategically aboard their targets. Mom's tractors threw the warriors toward their targets two hours later. Their voyage would bring them to the ships as the last of the Samutz were hopefully dying.

I could hear many mental conversations, between the men, and others with the Tandra. They tried to put on a big front, but all of us knew, that two hundred and ninety three soldiers clothed in combat suits, was no match for three such ships, and their nearly one hundred thousand crew members. Our paltry reserve, of only sixteen suits stood ready if needed.

Susan walked back and fourth not used to combat situations. Carl, who I had to order not to leave with the men, sat in a chair apparently at ease, but his eyes never left the display or his mind the conversations of the men. The other fifty one persons on board, I knew, had their own fears on what might happen. I felt proud, that none of them wanted to just shoot the ships down, for they knew that these same ships might be the only thing between their families, and a possible Samutz armada.

Two hours later Mom sent a tight beam signal to Souts the main city on Samutz occupied Masis. Moments later a confirming signal came back, indicating that the king was dead, long live the king. The main computer was usurped, and the hidden one under the base, was now secretly in command.

A further signal from Mom to Souts and rebroadcast strongly, but hidden in an innocuous message, told the probes to spread their contagion throughout the ships. Four hours should render the Samutz ineffective as a fighting force and two more hours would kill everyone exposed. Mom convinced me to allow the AIs another two hours till just before the first signs of the disease would be seen. This would allow the doomed fleet to function as usual, which meant that the Samutz would travel all over the ship, without shields and become infected, or infect others.

Four and a half hours before the boarding parties were to begin their house cleaning; the proverbial shit hit the fan.

It was not as we expected, someone that was alert, giving the warning but worse, far worse. The Theta class dreadnaught was tearing back into the system, the same way it did last time.

"Mom, are you getting any communications from that ship?"

"It is all encrypted."

"Use the tight beam and get the message from the new base AI in Souts, and try for the key that will do the decryption."

"Yes, Admiral."

The information came back, that the arriving admiral aboard 'The Iron Claw' was here to pick up some more fresh meat, for the wedding feast. Over twenty tonnes were required of prime Tandra. This would require a substantial portion of the population being butchered.

This Claw was almost five million tonnes and easily the largest in the system, or perhaps any system. Its presence at this time could easily spell disaster. Before we were only five hundred to one, now the figure climbed to almost double that.

Susan asked, "What are we going to do? It is possible to take the planet and the ships, but just possible. That monster has no virus, and even if it did, it will take six hours to even begin to take it over. I think we should just shoot it down."

"No virus... I have an idea. Mom, do you have enough data to get a small ship admitted to the dreadnaught with a distress message?"

"I am getting a steady stream of data now from Souts. I think I could manage it. What have you in mind?"

I want a small ship to go out of the system and return on the same course as the dreadnaught. It has to get admitted into its bay, complaining of intermittent engine problems. An image, of the average Samutz pilot, delivering a special message to Masis, the computer should mimic his actions and deliver the verbal dialogue, to get onboard. The outer hull will have the virus probes on it, and as soon as we get the ship in, the probes go to work. If I am lucky, our ship will have a minor explosion before the deception is uncovered. I want as little damage as possible, to the other ship. In all the confusion, the probes will do their work to the Samutz and the AI."