Chapter 77

Off duty recruits would get sporting events organized with prizes being trips in the fighters or visits to the warships. This worked out fairly well. Some of the less strenuous sports for the older adults had similar prizes. Music, art, self-improvement courses were very popular. Mom decided on giving a minimum level of education to all people in the camp. This was not very high even by Human standards but did allow some of the older population to catch up to their grandchildren.

Depression and other mental ailments were common and the Alliance sent people through these groups to see what could be done. Sometimes it was only a shoulder to cry on and others it was a small temporary adjustment to the mind to allow the person to let the raw wounds heal. Old mental problems were looked at too and many ended up acting somewhat saner than before the attack.

The North American and the European food mountain were now more readily accessible as long as the food went to the Humans on Earth. The prices though had not fallen as they should in this instance. The money that Henry Susan and Carl had gotten went to buy all this food. Most of this produce went to areas that were trying to get back to some semblance of the way life once was. This was far outside the maintained settlement camps where the less displaced people tried to recover.

Tandra ships dredged the sea bottom and placed the sediment into the abysses that were once major cities. Machines then compacted the mass, while expelling seawater. Once this was filled to a height that was higher than the original cities, trenches were dug and ceramic pipes laid for water and sewers. Other trenches had large service tunnels made where utilities could be drawn as the need arose. In the centre of most cities a cenotaph was erected to tell of the millions that were killed in each location. The names would somehow have to be gathered by relatives and friends so that they could be inscribed at a later time.

It had not taken a longer time for the Humans to get over the losses than it did the Tandra. Their culture had been at war too many times and the people lived long enough to have become more hardened to this stark dose of reality.

All of Henry's family and even the extended family knew some of the people that had given up their lives so that others may live. The children that had died in combat had been taught by Kitten, Lam, and Duc. This made the forty deaths much harder to deal with. The three survivors had made a complete recovery but shunned the spotlight now and drove themselves very hard to become a trained military force.

Captain Hisako Kamata and all her newly acquired family had died when the missile broke through the shield and many layers of decking to explode close to the bridge. Her name along with the other 682 soldiers plus the additional 3 found their names on a plaque commemorating their gift.

Far below on Earth not far from what used to be Tokyo, Mom was dressed in black. Her dress blew in the wind as the name Captain Hisako Kamata was placed at the top of the list of people to give their life for their race and the Alliance.

Prime Minister Izumi said, "Mom will you come with us to have a meal?"

"I am sorry Hachigoro but I still have too many jobs to do. To only think of the dead no matter how important their gift may have been would jeopardize the living."

Mom looked weary and in an odd way she was. Though her body was made differently than biologicals she felt pain and loss as hard as the rest. At times like this she saw how her predecessor had found it necessary to pass on if that was possible. Things were once so peaceful even if she could not travel beyond the confines of the Earth's atmosphere. Her responsibility to the Tandra in the base was the only thing that didn't allow her to follow her predecessor in those long lonely years.

In almost the blink of an eye Henry had come along and did more than she could even have guessed when this all started. Now her daughter Secric and Henry were gone and these responsibilities along with all the new ones were hard to shoulder. The new AIs in the system and the one on the moon had helped if only to talk to. Work was always good though and she caused the projectors to fly into the ship carrying her image with them.

Kitten hardly ever left the Fooga or 'Flaming Heart' now. She only went to feed her children and was right back working as hard as she could to get the mighty ship fully operational. Presently she was working beside the orbital fort that would protect the side of the Earth away from the lunar base. The remnants of the attacking craft had been stationed here to form a permanent bastion. The engines of the damaged ships that had contributed their parts were mainly damaged as well. One that was not was given to the Corfa to replace her faulty one. In time the other engines would be repaired and the fort made more manoeuvrable.

Captain Hisako Kamata's cruiser was repaired quickly and sent out to protect the frontier again in a matter of weeks. This time though there was a different captain and bridge crew. Though this one was all Tandra they were just as determined to fight any enemy that threatened this system.

Now that the weather was turning warm Doris took the children to Earth. The Tandra children that were too young to do much with the tutors got a little more education with these visits to a different environment than the lunar one. They also would help Doris with some of her younger charges. Henry's home was a convenient place to get them used to the open spaces and to test out their muscles. The medical facilities on the moon had given each a much stronger physique to deal with the gravity that was six times as great.

She had her own small ship that could only carry a hundred or so for day trips within the system. Occasionally Lam and Duc would come too but today they had a lot of work to do. The low tech barrier around this large area was still in place. The people that lived within its confines were free to come and go as they wished. They were just not allowed to bring back visitors without permission. It was easy for the recruits manning posts around the area to find who was an agent and who was a relative or friend. Mom had constructed some tubes to channel traffic now that the old roads were blocked. The locals found to be a bit disconcerting to drive into the tube then turn their vehicles off while they were whisked to the far end.

After she had the holes in the floors repaired to protect the children she left the rest for Henry to see when and if he ever came home again. Dog was very happy to get back to his old haunts and the Human children were just as happy to run among the trees.

Today Doris took her ship and visited some of the people now on the inside of the barrier. Power phone mail and deliveries had been curtailed. Mom supplied all the electricity free as well as the phone. Here she just rerouted the lines to interface with Ma Bell whether the monopoly wanted it or not. Mail came to a large multi door mail box outside the barrier and Mom had the articles delivered as soon as they arrived.

The present inhabitants had been told quietly to continue with all their payments and taxes. When the area was declared Alliance territory in the future they would be forced to swear allegiance or have their property appropriated. This would also be true of all the other old Tandra bases still on the Earth. Most were in isolated areas, one was in Buenos Aires and this location would make it difficult to take back the base and displace a million or so people.

Doris got some additional help from the Earth base and three Humans came up from the basement to cook for the children. This was a type of camping in a million dollar home in a most beautiful setting. The meal was cooked on a propane gas stove to show the Tandra how their ancestors must have done it. The fireplace was lit and corn was popped above the hot coals. Part way through this Kitten came and fed her children. That night the children were restless because of the additional weight on their feet and the beds were not what they were used to. Doris and her assistants had to take all of them into the base to sleep for the night.

Kitten and Doris climbed into bed in the large room with all the children now comfortably sleeping around them. Doris said "It has been a while since I have been able to take a real starship captain into bed with me."

"Starship?"

"Oh just joking. The movies sometimes call the space ships, starships." After a moment to get comfortable she continued, "Have you gotten over your transmitter problem?"

Kitten was still thinking of her ship and this brought her back to this particular problem. "I am working on it. I made many more small crystals to make modules. I have taken over a large area in the new fort to manufacture the parts I need. The computer is still a bottleneck and the processor modules I make do not help as much as a single crystal. This just means that the progress is slow and I am worried that the Samutz will be coming back before we are ready."

Doris could see that Kitten was still tense so she moved over and held the woman to her and gave her a small kiss that turned warmer the longer it was held. As Kitten started to relax Doris began to use her hands to caress her lover's breasts but was careful of the nipples that fed the babies. Soon she was able to move her own lips to this area and draw some milk and savour the taste she had grown to love. Kitten held Doris' head in her strong grip and felt the sensations passing through her that the children would not bring.

It wasn't long before Doris was able to pull herself away and begin kissing her way closer to where Kitten really wanted her to kiss. The smell coming to Doris now seemed to heighten her own desires but she restrained herself with some difficulty and only teased Kitten with her small kisses and nibbles. The long urethra was only touched in passing. It quivered with Kitten's movements as if questing for a warm berth till the storm passed. Doris paused a moment and opened her lips a bit and blew on the sensitive head. The hands went back to her head to force her lips closer. A groan escaped Kitten's throat as she fought to get the stimulation she so desperately sought.

In the large room the children continued to sleep but Michelle and Clarice held each other tighter as their dreams changed a bit to have their mother join them.

Doris finally relented and sucked in the proud piece of flesh. Kitten tensed and quaked as a delicious orgasm passed many times through her body. Doris slowed down her attack to allow Kitten to recover. She then attacked again until Kitten groaned and moved violently about the large bed. After many moments Doris called for a toy. A vibrator appeared in her hand and with a little lubrication it was inserted in Kitten's vagina. The slow way it was inserted only made the thrashing more intense but as soon as it was all the way in. Doris started to move more quickly. The direction and angle were constantly altered so that the rows of small nerve clusters were constantly stroked as their turn came. Moments later Kitten screamed her joy and collapsed on the bed as her husband had caused her to do so many times before.

Doris knew that Kitten was out for the count so she just climbed beside her partner and slipped the vibrating device into her own vagina and soon had her own pleasure. Moments latter she was asleep with her arms around Kitten.

Paul Santo was visualizing the chart that was placed in his mind by Hans. It would not be too much longer before things would be back to normal. After the attack it was a priority to get the ships repaired and important structures fabricated. There was no telling when the Samutz would pay them another visit. The new recruits were not trained at all this time but simply put into stasis while the computers and AIs concentrated on getting the ships prepared for the next battle. The haste now was almost feverish.

His job was more demanding than the captain's. Charlie tried to not step on toes but took over a few more of Paul's jobs to give his lover more opportunity to do what was needed. As predicted they found that they had little time for themselves in the last few months and no hope for improvement in the foreseeable future. They were happy to be still alive to enjoy even a passing touch now and again. Some of their friends had died in the attack and Charlie especially wanted this never to happen again.

Lam had liked Duc's attention at first but his constant help because of her pregnant state was beginning to grate on her. Many times she had to get him to do things for their many children that would take him away for a while. The best one was for kia-berry and ice cream. The taste was very good and it gave Duc an outlet for his busy hands and mind. The troop of children following him meant that far fewer berries came back home. The destination though would be the same place.

General Givens was now in the Philippines or more accurately what was left of the islands. He was with a handpicked group of soldiers that had a very unsavoury mission. Moore had planned this out and there was no way of getting out of it without handing in his resignation in. In the last while it was almost something he would rather do but he had given his word. The people he had given his word to were now seen for what they really were. The government with such high ideals that had been pressed home so many times as he grew up had been corrupted to something the founding fathers would not like.

Businessmen controlled the government not the people. Newspapers, radio and television were the usual tools used to do this. If a person voiced a descending voice they were moved to a less vital spot and some were even forced into retirement. There was no place to discuss the faults of the government. Free speech even for the military was a thing to be cherished but watched so that it was not overly used. Now even that was not allowed. You were either all in favour of all the various strategies or an enemy that needed to be shunned or worse.

The present mission was very bad. Some former American citizens and now members of the Alliance were helping the remnants of the Philippine people to recover. It had been tried before to play on former allegiances but it had not worked. Now after finding out that the shields were not always in place, it was required that drugs, gas or other means be used to render the Alliance personnel unconscious. Terminating them to get a sample of the shields and other equipment would be used if required. Weapons were the main secondary targets but none had been seen so far. Explicit orders had been given that if the knockout gas was ineffective a nerve gas was to be used. Any amount of civilian casualties was acceptable as long as some of the units were recovered.

Maria Gonzalez was a very active fourteen year old girl that was accepted into the Alliance fold. She had been a paraplegic since she was a child but now after her rebirth she could not seem to be stationary for a moment. Presently she was in a large tent that had been erected by the Red Cross to house some of the very many groups of people that so desperately needed assistance. She spoke in Spanish and English to the children to get them to work at cleaning the dishes and pots that their mothers had used to make the last meal. She tried to make a game of it so the children would look forward to this event many more times.

The 'Defiance' was just a small ship cobbled from parts of others and put together by students at the academy. It was barely a hundred metres long and sported no weapons yet. It was made to shuttle personnel and equipment throughout the system and to various places on Earth. Presently it was taking a large tank of potable water weighing a little over a hundred tonnes to one location in the Philippines. Another four full units were slung under the craft to be dropped off at other locations with similar needs. Five hundred tonnes was not excessive in this case.

Maria mindspoke, "Put it closer to the far fence. We are going to put up some more tents." She got her reply and the large container about five metres cubed was lowered to the ground. Two oriental youngsters that could be any age came down by tractors and began to tune a matter transmitter to a similar unit by the communal washrooms and showers. A smaller load was brought into position and Maria had it put where she wanted it. This contained more food and some things to keep the people under her care occupied till they could regain part of their former lives. When they were done the empty tank was hoisted into position and with a final wave the ship accelerated away.

A brightly smiling young man that looked very much like one of the Latin television idols came to her. His mind only had the picture of a brightly coloured hibiscus which was unusual to say the least. When he got within arms length, she was about to ask what he wanted, when she started to feel weak. She fought it off as her body reacted to the effect and tried to tell her to be careful. She did not know why but drew a deep breath and looked at the handsome face before her. The mind behind the face continued to see the flower and a hand moved oddly. A pain came to the man's face and he began to fall. Maria stepped in quickly and then smelt something odd till she too felt the pain and then she could not hold the man any longer.

When the two people fell to the ground four men came running out dressed in thin plastic suits that completely enclosed them. A small cylinder of air allowed them to breathe. Gloved hands separated the two and frantic hands tried to get the small white box from Maria's waist. A small switch was going to be moved but the box came free before it could be activated. Maria was left sprawled on the ground. The body of the man that was with her was carried away. The tent behind her now held thirty four dead children, old people and a few mothers. Tents further downwind suffered similar fates till the breeze dispersed the nerve gas.

Fourteen hours later Mom first heard of the incident. Maria was in a med tank trying to rid her body of toxins that would kill a dozen healthy Humans. If it was not for her body's rejection of the poison she would be one of the dead. Seventy seven natives had been killed and if the images in Maria's mind could be believe one more man would be dead. The crystal in her body bore this probability out. Mom was sure that this was a very well laid trap to gain Tandra technology.

It took only seconds to come to this assumption and word had gone out immediately to the other people serving on Earth or who might be at danger. This did not help Akira Mizuno for he had been lured into a building on the pretense of assisting a child. He had been subjected to the same gas but here the assailants had more privacy and used tools to remove the garments. Akira had been gouged by something resembling a circular saw. Because the first two recruits from the ship had been found easily none of the body was to be taken with the suit and shield. The body though was cut up to get it out of the suit.

The small crystal in the shoulder was what led the searchers to the site four hours later.

Mom and Marcus had to drop some tasks to search for the people that had done this. The time lag was so great that they were not able to find a trace of anybody that could be responsible. Tandra equipment could be traced if it were close enough. Small drones went out to the surviving local airports and to any military ones too. The ports were checked along with the railways that had a very limited service. After six hours no trace could be found and some of the drones searched for where any foreigners might stay.

A month later there was still no trace and hope was dim of recovering the articles.

Henry came in very quickly avoiding much of the security in the system. Around Jupiter he dropped off the external load of crystals on the moon Io. Now within the Mardaf Limit he accelerated quickly. He flashed by the matter transmitter that was still hidden in a fold of space and then came to Earth. The moon was the only logical place to land. Harriet had no stealth capabilities and would surely be seen as she approached the Earth base. Interfacing with Harriet to a higher level he took both of them through the twisting dimensions and into the base itself.

As Harriet settled to a few centimetres off the floor Henry turned to Dola and held his hand. The young man was nervous. The Kadork though were not concerned at all and just enjoyed the small garden that was theirs. Interfacing with the computer he found that the AI he had prepared had been installed. When Henry gave his identity the alert that had gone out had suddenly stopped and the people were ordered back to their previous tasks.

After the hatch opened he stepped out almost dragging Dola behind him. Two cadets that happened to have duty here saw him immediately stood at attention and gave a salute. Others all around heard the mental cry of welcome and looked to find the source. Soon everybody was doing the same thing. It was throughout the moon base in less than two minutes. Dola was being pounded with the thoughts of others while Henry just turned his perceptions down to a more manageable level.

"Computer, what is your name?"

"It is Marcus. My Emperor."

Henry thought fast and knew that Dola must have inadvertently given this information away. A glance around told him that the cat was out of the bag now and there was no way of putting it back. "Marcus treat me publicly no better than an admiral. At least there I can deal with everybody."

"Yes, My Emperor."

"The term is admiral, Marcus," I said quickly.

"Yes Admiral Buchanan. There are many calls now for you. I have been suppressing them so that you can take them at your leisure."

"Thank you Marcus. Put me through to Mom and Kitten if you please." Immediately I was getting frantic calls from both of them.

Mom got through first and said, "What have you done Henry? It is death to take the throne."

"Hello Mom," then I saw Kitten in my mind. "Hello Kitten. I have missed both of you."

"Henry, what has happened? You are going to get killed for what you have done?"

"Relax, both of you. I have changed a lot. We are embroiled in a much larger conflict. I found a way to travel faster then ever before. I'm sorry to say that your home planet is no more. I took a trip and saw that the Thonas had destroyed all the major systems by making their star explode into a nova. The other planets of your people are all gone. Let's talk in our apartments. I also have somebody for you to meet as well as some very young new friends."

Marcus sent a grav sled when I asked. The flat of vegetation with the Kadork on it was placed on it. Dola pulled it to a large circle and we were instantly outside a large apartment. The door was open and Moesha came running to me crying "Daddy, Daddy," and tears falling from her eyes in joy. Within seconds more and more people came. Clarice came with some odd looking Tandra that I immediately knew as the people that we had saved eight months ago. I was surprised when all of them called me, "Daddy," and ran to me.

Poor Dola was pushed out of the way and took the sled with him to protect the occupants. Soon more children arrived and all called me the same thing. I interfaced with Marcus and saw that I had eighteen more children than I thought. Other children that I never laid eyes on before called me Uncle Henry.

The first child's name was Francine as she was called before. She was much different now in apparent age and body structure. Her old personality was hidden and most Tandra would not notice anything different about her. I held her to me and gave her a kiss.

"Daddy, you are always gone. We need you here too."

"I am sorry to leave you here but there was some very important work to do."

George, Joshua and Kevin came over as a group and I hugged each of them too. "Have you boys been getting into mischief?" They blushed in the Human way and admitted that they had. It was always a safe bet to ask if they got into trouble because that was built into all boys at birth.

Debby was last and when she saw that she had a clear area ran to me and hugged me very tightly. "I missed you Daddy."

I had a few tears in my eyes not just from her but from all the people here greeting me. "I missed you too. All I can say is I will try harder to stay with you but it will be difficult."

There were more children in the back and they were given a chance to come forward and greet their father. Little Moth, Cloud, Kitty and Topaz formed a group and came forward. They considered themselves my lawful wives and demanded some special attention. I remained on the floor and hugged each of the girls to me and told them how much I missed each of them. Dog came in later and ran so hard that he slipped sideways in his effort to get to me. I was given my own kiss and I had to hold him off.

Kitten was on a ship and came in close to the end of the mad rush. She ran toward me but had to wait her turn because of the vast throng around me. I had stooped and hugged each of the children as they came. When Kitten came she stopped and looked at me oddly then said, "Henry what happened to your eye?"

"I will talk about that later. Now come here and give me a kiss."

She did smile and pushed a few children gently aside as she threw herself into my arms. "Oh, I missed you so much. I was worried so many times that you had been hurt or killed."

When I finished giving her a kiss I pulled back and beckoned Dola to come forward. Then to everybody I said, "Everyone this is Dola. He is my funt." Roger pushed others aside even though he was small and wanted up. I picked him up and gave him another kiss. "Roger this is Dola. Please give him a kiss." Roger had to think for a while then reached out his four arms and Dola came and picked him up and gave him a hug that any mother would be pleased with.

I looked around and didn't see the rest of my family. Duc and Lam were staying back till I got to see my immediate family. Doris and Mom were the same way. I called to all of them and in a few seconds the others had arrived. Mom came too, dressed in the blue dress I liked so much the first time. I hugged and kissed Lam then did the same to Duc like it was done in his country. Doris was last and she got the same thing. Mom, I would love to have held and kissed too. I made do with visualizing the way I wanted to do this.

Eventually I got a chance to get everybody to sit down. "First of all, I am very happy to be back. There have been a few deaths since I left you. Among the deaths at Epsilon Eridani was Sadda. This information was sent back to you. Her daughter Nema died later at the hands of a Samutz as she tried to protect her sisters. The remainder of my wives are safe and working hard to keep what we have taken. Apart from Dola, I have one more new wife. She is the Empress of a system 83 light years from here."

Knowing that my words would be saved for posterity I did my best to say things both correctly and as a Human would. I went over the taking of Epsilon Eridani and the Claw. Later I mentioned the need to attack more Samutz planets because they would never leave us alone otherwise. The best way with so few people was to take them by surprise.

I went through the first group of planets that got dusted. The ships I eventually captured had been sent on their way to dust more planets. I eventually came to the time I travelled back to Mom and Secric. This was the time I found out about the imperial override and its purpose. In all the time I knew the Tandra, I figured the probability of the Tandra Empire still being functional was negligible.

"The Tandra Empire as it was; is no more. The old systems are destroyed, not just the planets. I took a gamble and claimed the Emperorship of the old Tandra Empire. This got me many ships without the need to risk Tandra or Human lives. The AIS on them were given orders that forced the Samutz in them into stasis or to be killed. This happened almost every time. The ship's AI took samples of our virus and continued to dust planets. I also gave them orders to give the imperial override to all other ships they found. These in turn followed my orders and took more ships."

"Presently I have many thousands of capital ships that follow my orders. I had the misfortune of running up against one of the Samutz aristocracy that was using a new type of ship that used Tandra slaves as a bonded crew. Here some of my girls were hurt. Nema, who was not my wife yet but would be, died. When she died, one of my children died with her." I had to pause for a moment as the visions came to me one more time.

I pulled myself together and said, "When all this happened the Samutz captain and king was killing a Tandra baby. The girls and I sort of went crazy and I reached far back into the strange ship and took a massive amount of power and brought it through the entire length of the ship and killed the Samutz that had done this."