Chapter 84

"Yes, fun. Most things are worthwhile in the attaining, not just in the acquisition."

I looked at the beautiful woman before me. She had the knowledge of ruling an interstellar civilization over a period of a thousand years. But she was also a double-edged sword. "Do you think it is time for you to join me?"

She thought for a while. She had been smelling my scent and was within the range of my aura. As a woman, she wanted me badly. As an Empress, her commitment to the empire was holding her back. She had to decide whether I could be safely trusted to take care of her people.

I needed to show some trust. I had hurt no one while taking this station but this would not convince her. I blocked off in my mind those special secrets I had to keep, and the many ramifications of the crystalline structure. With Harriet watching out for my interests, I lowered the shield protecting my mind and let Taylar see what made me what I was.

She was very quick for a Tandra but she took her time. She looked deeply into my drives and goals. She was careful not to hurt me. It was common in some forms of combat for one to attempt harm to the other's mind. I thought of my family and all the commitments I had made since taking the Tandra cause to heart. I recalled how I treated the people and how I wished to be treated in return. But most importantly I showed her my plans for herself and her family. I could not falsify these thoughts, for they were all my current beliefs.

"You wish me to be one of your wives, and to bond to you! And you demand that I take a subservient position, too?"

"Yes I do. That is how I was raised, and it is perhaps the reason your males altered my ancestors. Your subservient position will be only to me, to the empire, and of course to the metsu of our family. I need your insight and knowledge to restore this empire. Surely you know of some inequalities that need to be addressed, that were not possible under the old regime?

"Your subservience is necessary to avoid the possibility of a civil war. You are an Empress to these people. You know there must be only one supreme leader."

I avoided discussing the act of bonding. It was a rare thing for an adult. Taylar would be changed irrevocably. She would look to me for guidance in some ways, and would always be concerned with my welfare. She would be much more attached than Roger was, for I would try to make her bonding very deep.

I stopped my mindspeech and let Taylar search. When she eventually pulled back I raised my shields. She needed twenty minutes to reach a decision. I remained silent so she would be sure that I had not influenced her decision. She raised her hand and a glass of cold fruit juice appeared in it; she took a few sips as she worked on her problem.

"I will do as you demand. I would normally demand my own assurances, but in a time of war I do not believe such promises could be guaranteed." She looked at me piteously, "Are you going to do it now?"

A Tandra smile came to my face and I said, "Only when you are ready." She smiled in return. I then suggested, "We could now begin to start a child."

In answer, she began to remove her clothes. To begin our new life together right, I stopped her, and did the honours myself. I kissed her exposed skin as each fold was opened. She did not like being seduced this way, for this was a job for a female, but when I got to one of her breasts she forgot the distinction and pulled my face tightly to her body.

I used the tractors to pull her hands back. When her body was raised I had more freedom to sample her flesh. She never had sex this way. I wanted her to see the benefits. She moaned and pleaded with me to go faster but I went more slowly, raising her perceptions; now every touch made her brain's pleasure centres throb. I mentally enhanced those same centres so even more stimulation was needed before she could cum.

When her clit came erect I sucked it into my mouth and laved it generously. Her body was frantic for an orgasm. She knew about lubricant. I used some on my fingers as I plumbed both her openings with a slow methodical approach, deliberately, to delay her orgasm. The small cusps around and inside of her openings were caressed in turn.

Taylar flexed her abdomen and cried for me to hurry. She was delirious while I continued what I was doing. Her family and guards entered the room to see if I was killing their Empress. I smiled and told them to gather around if they wished.

I moved Taylar's body so I could caress her breasts and manipulate her sex. Her knees were raised to her chest. She was open to the view of her guards and family. Her frantic gasps were heard by everyone. They could feel how she implored me to finish her.

Holding her at waist level I removed my controls and continued to suck her breasts. Her cries were so loud that I thought she would damage her larynx, yet I kept her conscious while she convulsed, and her abdomen painfully and uncontrollably contracted again and again.

When she finally collapsed, I held her in my arms, carried her to a bed and lowered her onto it.

While Taylar recovered I let the spectators know what we had discussed, and the decisions we had reached. The imperial family seemed to understand well those things that must be done to keep any empire stable. They were relieved that they would not be killed as was usual with their predecessors over the long history of the Tandra. They learned more of what the new alliance would be, and the parts I expected them to play in bringing it about.

I talked to each of the people present, even the bodyguards, of their future duties. When Taylar came back to me mentally, I asked, "Do you want to go on, or do you wish to rest first?" I read her confused mind, and lowered my face and kissed her breasts with the love and care a mother would give to her child. The controls went back on as I started to make love to her body. When she started to beg I slipped between her legs and slowly worked my way into her. I took my time, because in all her life she had never been opened this much. She groaned in want and urged me to be quicker. I had to restrain her many times, till I was seated all the way with her urethra buried in my pubic hair.

An orgasm broke through my controls, and I had a hard time holding her so neither of us would be hurt. When her conscious mind fled I sat on the bed with Taylar still impaled on me. She visibly shook from the effort she had put out, and I just pulled her tightly to me. Everybody was quiet as they waited for their mother, sister, and employer to awake. When she did, I started using the tractors to raise and lower her upon me. She whimpered, "oh, oh, oh," at each landing. I leaned back and caressed her small breasts and gently pinched her nipples. When the dam was going to break again, I released my hold instead.

The woman stayed unconscious for the next few hours and only came around to get more enjoyment and flee again, because she could not take the intense feelings coursing through her body. The last four times I unloaded myself into her and each time had to pinch an egg that she dropped. This was not her time to get pregnant.

Security and decorum had seriously suffered around the room. People were overcome with the profound feelings from Taylar's couplings. The imperial family had in the last hour settled hands and knees onto the floor to offer me their back ends. The feelings were so intense they could not resist and eventually they would turn on each other to relieve the stress. The bodyguards were better trained, but even they used their hands on each other and themselves.

I put the woman to bed, and sent the rest away to enjoy themselves. I climbed into bed beside my newest wife and knew this was something I was meant to do. I went to sleep with her spooned to me.

I woke three hours later with Taylar still curled in front of me. Her hand held my arm as if trying to keep me from leaving. She was still tired.

When Taylar had entered the matter transmitter station above the imperial planet, she knew very well that it might be the end of their planet. The Thonas were approaching in mass and the bulk of the Tandra population would likely perish.

Many years previously when the matter transmitter was rendered useless by interference, it seemed a useless object, but an enterprising group of Tandra had come up with a better way to hide the worthless matter transmitter as a refuge to protect many people. A lottery was held and the lucky ones got to board the station. It was flung into a realm where they hoped the Thonas could not follow.

The station now protected a diverse group. Many were important in various facets of Tandra life. Some were soldiers purposely put here to protect the refugees, when they eventually emerged from hiding. By far the largest group was the children who would need adult guidance.

"Computer."

"Yes my Emperor."

"The first thing I wish is to give you a name. You are Lazarus. Second, were other matter transmitter stations altered to hold refugees?"

"I do not know, my Emperor. My modifications were widely known, however."

"Thank you, Lazarus."

I was able to slip from Taylar's grip and get out of bed without her awakening. After a trip to the cleanser I put on new clothes and took the matter transmitter to Lazarus' hatch.Once back in the dimension maze, I looked at the area around the station and saw that it was no longer the odd gray shade it once was. I went up and down this area and happily found five more patches that looked similar. They could all harbour refugees. The regular matter transmitter stations, without benefit of the same shield that Lazarus had, could provide the same function but it was doubtful that they survived the stellar explosion. Many other Tandra system stars did survive but their planets were devastated.

My problem now was ethical. The Tandra, if any survived on the other stations, were safe where they were. They could be of immense help in getting the empire working and even if there were only a few million on each installation, they would certainly have a beneficial impact.

My quandary was whether or not, if released from the timeless dimensions, they would recognize Taylar as the legal and rightful representative of their race. It was touch-and-go taking even the imperial family now. It might have been much better if I had rescued the other five groups, and had left this one until the alliance was more secure. If I staged another rescue operation, it would be imperative to hold the imperial family very close to me.

I checked on the remainder of my new family. Amney, the youngest, was upset about her future and about me in particular. At the doorway to her room I asked, "Amney, may I come in?"

"I suppose you could. You have taken the empire from my mother. I don't know how you can do this to us. We were doing fine till you came."

I walked into the room and knelt close to the child.

"Amney, the empire was not doing fine. You and your family are here because the Thonas were able to get through all your defences and attack your capital system. This could not have happened if the Tandra were strong. To you, this appears to have happened yesterday, but it actually happened a very long time ago. Your people were angry at the Thonas and almost destroyed them, but they let some Thonas live. Now the Thonas have returned to haunt you. They are not as strong as they once were, but they are sufficiently strong to kill any opposition they find. We must band together and fight the Thonas. Humans are not strong enough, and neither are the other races. All we can do is join together, and this requires a strong leader."

"My mother can do that."

"To be very honest with you, your mother is strong. She could rule your empire when things were bad, but not now. I have killed more of our enemies already than your entire race has done. I did this without all the fleets and weapons your mother could draw upon."

The girl seemed to see what I was explaining. She bent over with her hands over her face to cry.

"Amney, I need you and your family to help me. There are too many enemies to disregard. You may be called on to command a warship, or to direct the struggle against our enemy from a planet. No matter what it is, you will be helping our Alliance and your race. Your mother and family will help. You will join a much bigger empire than you presently have here. You will find good positions that reflect your abilities. I cannot let anyone go to waste."

Amney continued to cry, but I peeked and saw that she would get over her problems. What concerned her most was the sudden loss of almost the entire Tandra empire. I left her and got up to look in on the others.

Gomma seemed to be taking the change in fortune the best, but inside he was probably more torn up. He never had a hope of ruling because of his gender. He was like Amney and found their family's fall from power and the loss of the empire as something he should have foreseen and acted against.

Gomma welcomed me into his room and offered refreshments. "No thanks, Gomma. I came to thank you again for what you and your race have done for mine."

"You are welcome, Henry Buchanan, or should I call you my Emperor?"

"Gomma, I must rule, and the people of every race need to see me as strong. But I am Henry to you, when with friends, and I am Emperor when we have need to impress others."

He knew this was a severe loosening of protocol. His sister and all his ancestors would never have allowed anyone hear their common names, outside immediate family. He brightened and said, "I like the sound of Henry."

"My mother and aunt liked it because it came down from our ancestors." I thought a moment, "Would you like to meet some of my family?"

We came upon Harriet in the large boat bay. For the first time in his life, Gomma was without his usual bodyguard and he felt a bit naked. "Harriet, this is Gomma. If you look into his qualifications you will see that he could be a captain, but he never got the opportunity because he was a male and a member of the imperial family."

Harriet said, "Hello, Gomma. I believe Henry is right. You are capable of that rank."

Gomma turned shy at the praise, but managed to say, "Thank you, Harriet. I have talked to many AIs before and some were in powerful computers, but I sense that you are much more intelligent."

"Yes, Gomma. Henry made me superior to any computer before, and recently he has upgraded many others. Some now are as capable as I and a few are beyond what the Tandra empire thought possible. The other machine intelligences think this advance is one result of your early Earth genetic project."

I voiced my own ideas. "Harriet, please accept Gomma as a captain. Then both of you can extend our security envelope and Gomma can become more familiar with you."

"I find that acceptable. Gomma, will you go on patrol for a while?"

His eyes almost glowed, "I certainly would. But first I must inform the Empress."

I interrupted, "Gomma, I am the Emperor. You are of age to make your own decisions. If you wish to go, then go. You cannot report higher than your Emperor."

"Thank you, my Emperor. With your leave, I will go now."

"Go safely, then. Your orders are to stay close, about a hundred light years. Be back here quickly if we need you."

He choked up about the distance. This represented almost seven hours of flight by the fastest ships made in his time. He then remembered what I said about how fast I could push the battleship and he smiled, thinking what he was about to discover for himself.

"As you command, my Emperor." I instructed Harriet that Gomma be taught to expand his horizons. He was an exceptional male and deserved a chance to prove himself.

Back in the imperial chambers I went through the roster of available adults. I wanted the station ships crewed in the best possible manner. I would soon leave and would take many refugees with me. Some of necessity would remain as a garrison to guard the remaining personnel until I could get more ships here to help. The imperial bodyguard was an elite unit. They could be reassigned to other units where their specialized training would benefit others.

The closest place to get some ships was in the monarchies. I had many ships sitting vacant there in need of good crews. The Thonas and Samutz in this region had not been dealt with. A few ships equipped with the new shield and weapons would resolve that matter. The refugees would see battles that we should win handily, bolstering their low morale.

Only forty percent of the refugees were adult. The great majority of them were in stasis. The station computer could handle them now that it had been improved.

Together with the battleship there were eighteen troop transports, six frigates, four heavy cruisers, and a few hundred smaller craft as an auxiliary fleet.

The station harboured another precious commodity. Two small ships held copies of all the information that the Tandra had accumulated over the ages. This was of untold value, containing all their scientific research and observations, and the imperial archives. I hoped these archives might reveal other crystal-producing areas, and I suspected also some Imperial dirty laundry that should not get out into the general population.

If the majority of the refugees remained in stasis, they could be evacuated much more efficiently. Before I left this station though, I wanted the adults to understand the change of leadership. Taylar would be slightly different soon and I wanted the announcement to be made before this happened.

I could feel her stirring. I was beside the bed when she awoke and looked at me with a wide smile, "I could see why you should be the head of the family. I have never experienced anything like that!"

"All part of the benefits of family life, Taylar. You may be surprised at our other family members, though. Human females are very passionate. They will surely draw out the animal passion that resides in all of us."

She shivered at the thought and looked at me seriously. "I am afraid I ovulated, perhaps more than once."

"You did, four times. I did not allow them to combine with my seed." Taylar wondered how I had done this. "I plan to have you as my wife. In time, you will have special children." I pictured what I had done with other wives, where the glowing egg had been selected which would grow into a superior child. No arbitrary egg would be good enough.

"How can you do this? Most of the things you have shown me are impossible. I see these things in your mind and I know them to be factual. You say you are the only Human able to do this, but what of our children?"

"I will groom our children for this and other abilities. With these abilities will come great responsibility to act on behalf of all sentient beings. All will be monitored, not by me, but as a task administered by our children as a group. They will even have authority over me."

Taylar was shocked at this admission. "But you will be the Emperor!"

"True, but we must have a responsible group ruling the empire, and guarding against aberrant behaviour of individuals within the group. I constantly watch for hints of megalomania in myself. Even the AIs assist me in this. Mom has her own problems, I think. This is good, perhaps, for it makes her fallible and less of a machine."

Taylar looked at me, wondering about my reasoning. She wanted computer intelligences to be simple machines, and her leader to be very sure of himself. A self-assured leader is much easier to follow.

Lazarus, at Mom's urging, awakened many adults out of stasis. This was far different from the other stasis installations. These people slept in a station that resided many ages in the timeless dimensional folds of space. For them, they awoke as if resting for only a few days in stasis.

Taylar was prepared by her servants for a meeting of the station population soon to be awoken. The AI and selected advisors assisted the speech writing. She was self-confident now, for she had addressed her people many times in the past. But this time her message would be something of an abdication.

Taylar transferred her command authority to me so I could work on the ship's computer and its systems. Taylar attended her duties, and I brought in Mom to help with mine. The ships were now mine. Missiles came from Mom, and we used Susan's old trick of a cord pulled from one computer to another where the tractors could not reach. We quickly moved all I needed.

The awakened Tandra went through an orientation session. Many were distraught to hear that their empire was almost extinct. The stronger ones assisted the less fortunate ones come to terms with reality.

I continued with the ships and it was easy to see that the adults would need more time before Taylar made her announcement. As a way of giving them hope, the dramatically improved ships were sent out to fight. This way at least the people would see some possibility of winning against the great odds against us.

Taylar began her speech eight hours after our first planned announcement. She explained what had changed in the empire. It was easy to feel how the adults were taking the news now that it came from their Empress' mouth. For a further half hour she talked about the current condition of the galaxy, as we knew it. She gave what statistics we knew about the probable strength and disposition of the hostile invaders. She painted a fairly bleak picture of our prospects.

She started to list the things I had done since meeting the Tandra such a short time ago. She distinctly said that she did not agree with all my methods. She did qualify it by admitting that I was not completely a Tandra, and thus subject to her laws at the time. She compared gains made versus losses until the enemy learned that somebody was actively opposing them. Again she stipulated that this war would not end soon and could well go against the Tandra.

"The only real hope we have is to join forces with these Humans and the new alliance, to present a united front against our enemies. The emperor of the alliance is here now. I with my advisors have concluded that even though his tactics are not ours, we should join with them to fight the Thonas and all their allies."

There were objections to this for many reasons but most of it boiled down to the fact that the Tandra supremacy had ended. They accessed the computer to get a clearer understanding, and eventually decided to think on the matter more. The word of the Empress was law but the people could still dissent. My only hope was that the people would eventually side with me once they saw how well the war could be handled with my methods.

After the general meeting, I was introduced to the bureaucrats and military personnel who ran the empire. I explained my position as eloquently as possible. Two hours later, after showing them our assets, they followed the computer's orders and formed crews for the available ships.

The ships were not quite ready and the Tandra caught a bit of excitement as they communicated with Gomma and Harriet. His speed and range were actively discussed, along with what he found. In the location where the far matter transmitter station should have been were literally millions of small communication drones that had somehow made it there since the empire's first collapse. A sampling asked for orders, while others asked for assistance. Harriet stored all the data and perhaps we could follow up on the drones' requests, even if we were a few million years late. Somewhere in that number would be a few sent from Sofas III.

Gomma had found a few ships that were damaged or empty. Some held the bodies of Tandra who had decided to stay rather than return to their colonies. I could make use of the ships but I did not like the idea of sweeping out the dust of long dead Tandra so that others could walk the corridors of the ships. The refugees themselves did not like this idea either.

With the Empress' orders the warships on the station now became mine. I needed little time to get them converted. They would gain all possible improvements except the highest speeds. This I held back, like the source of the centurion suits. One day the restriction on the ships would be removed after I gained more trust in their crews.

Mom had been working with my family to smooth the introduction of Taylar. Like my trips in the maze, Mom had fabricated a day to day existence that would allow me the freedom to do what was needed. We did not want the girls falling over themselves over an empress in their midst. I asked Taylar to remain incognito until a time came to reveal her former position.

The work load was heavy and the imperial family took lessons from the tutors to learn more about the warships and their systems. Taylar and I found a few moments for our selves. She went from being like a teenage girl discovering the great secret of sex, to a woman seriously worried that her body betrayed her at the least provocation. By the time we were ready to leave she was like a young wife happy to embark on a life's journey with a husband she loved. I could see, though, that the path we would take together might be very rocky.

Every able ship was re-checked and a crew dedicated to each. Many fighters and other small ships had been given danger predictor crystals and improved shields and missiles. They would remain with the garrison till the remaining youngest refugees were moved to a new and safer home.

We left with many children in stasis for this trip. Three quarters of a million refugees stayed behind on the station, waiting our return.

Gomma stayed with Harriet to provide advanced warning. The other small ships were not as fast but they were faster than anything the Tandra had ever seen. Our course would take us toward the monarchies I had visited not long ago. The large fleet of ships that had attacked us had to have come from many worlds. Some, I knew, were Thonas worlds.

Harriet could make 300 light years per hour by herself. The large ships under my command had been purposely limited to 100. This was seven times faster than the battleship could make, and could be sustained continuously. The crew that formerly worked to propel the ship now functioned as a navigation crew for we could punch through a star or a planet without harm to ourselves, but many innocent people would be killed in our negligence. The smaller ships giving us scout coverage got the best technology I had. They could go over 220 light years per hour, depending on their mass.

This trip was still much too long for me so I pushed the larger ships to match the speed of our escorts. Seven days later we arrived at the regions held by the Samutz and Thonas.

We were not an impressive fleet. The battleship was large but all the other ships were tiny in comparison. Months ago I had gathered sufficient information from the captured Thonas and Samutz ships to find their probable locations. A cluster of fourteen stars held six worlds that supported Thonas life. This group spanned less than ten light years.

"Why are you planning to attack the Samutz?" Taylar asked. "They have done nothing to us. The Samutz have committed a great many atrocities, but they need to be convinced not to attack us, not slaughtered the way you have been doing."

I looked at her in wonder. "How can you say that? You were committed to protecting all the citizens of the empire. The Samutz are much too numerous to be punished and sent on their way. Their numbers must be whittled down and the survivors placed where they cannot harm others. Your people did the same to the Thonas, but never went far enough. That is why more Tandra had to die, because of misplaced concern for a group of beings that cannot even think like you."

"The Thonas were quiet for thousands of years after a war. They caused no trouble during that time," she replied.

"During that time," I interrupted, "they gathered their strength and prepared for another war!"

Taylar was angry at my interjection, and at my disregard for her opinion. In fact, the Tandra had done very well for their selves until the last great war.

"You are going into a dangerous situation with many children and noncombatants. That tells me that you have little regard for their lives."

"You have been told about our weapons and about our defences. Your people suffered many defeats. The Thonas pushed into your home system and destroyed your star. This tells me that you have not fought the war wisely. Your military can fight well, but the politicians have been given command of tactics as if this were a huge board game. People have died needlessly, and I plan to keep as many of 'my' people alive as possible. If the Samutz and the Thonas must perish, so be it. I will not give the Thonas the same opportunities your people gave them all these years. I will exterminate every last one of them!"

Taylar was angry. She spun around and left. Now that she was no longer the person to direct a war, she felt helpless to the events that were happening.

Gomma and the lighter ships stayed in reserve as the six small frigates and a dozen fighters approached the first Thonas planet. The former elite imperial bodyguards captained each of these ships. We watched the action from the battleship. Twenty fortified satellites circled the planet in a defensive grid. Each outweighed our six frigates at least ten times. Four hostile battleships and a host of smaller ships were arrayed in defensive order. I could not guess the reason for this unusually strong defence, other than coincidence.