Chapter 85

Moses Carver stepped out of the shower and felt the tingle that removed the water from his body. It felt good. It was like he could breathe easier through his skin.

New fatigues appeared and he paused to look at the name and rank on the soft material. Though written in Tandran, he was proud to see his new Corporal First Class patch. Promotions had come quickly. He was ahead of most of the recruits and his studies and dedication to duty ensured that he would stay that way. He dressed quickly, walked briskly to the matter transmitter closest to his quarters, and a split second later he was in one of the smaller boat bays on Terra's Pride.

He found his boys clustered around a scrap engine from a single seat fighter. The boys sensed him as he walked up. They raised their heads or turned around to greet him. Jonathan had a big smile on his face.

Jonathan had changed much since joining the academy. He was four centimetres taller and had gained at least seven kilos of muscle. His brother Jerome stood nearby and had grown just as much. The haunted looks the boys once carried were gone. Their black faces showed only determination and joy at doing what was asked of them.

"Hello Moses. Tell us what you learned about this engine," Jonathan asked.

Moses looked the engine over for a few moments, then began to explain how it was tweaked and cajoled to put out more thrust when the craft exceeded light speed. His explanation was detailed and he brought up displays to illustrate his talk. He started with the crystalline structure of the material and progressed to how it converted energy to thrust. Moses picked up the engine and moved the ninety kilogram mass about easily in the ship's gravity. At the moment it was at set to ten percent more than Earth gravity, to acclimatise the students and recruits to function in different weight environments.

"This depression transubstantiates to give the greatest alignment with the course desired. These crystals actually bend in the upper dimensions to accomplish this."

A tall boy from Pakistan asked, "How come the larger engines do it differently?"

"At one time the larger ships had multiples of this engine, which worked fine, but the arrangement was not as efficient as the larger engines when they were finally developed. The crystals cannot move and develop the same efficiency."

The class progressed to other topics related to ships, weapons and sensors. They moved to a smaller room with tutors strapped to their heads to learn more eccentricities of multi-dimensional mathematics. Later in the study period Mike Tuck arrived and took half the class. He had been doing his own studying and now helped others who needed mentoring.

He recalled many years ago he studied mathematics and didn't like it much. Fifty years later he realized that math was needed to stay alive. With this understanding, he pushed himself to learn as much as he could. Like Moses, he quickly got his corporal's glyph through long hours devoted to absorbing everything he could. Now the boys in this room were far above earth standards for genius level. A rough comparison would show that the least of them had an IQ of about 400. Granted, their education was geared to staying alive in a high-tech society engaged in a deadly war.

The next class was considered fun. Moses and Mike did not lead this class, but observed. Officers were drawn from the boys themselves, in rotation. They donned environment suits and took up whatever weapons their officers assigned. They boarded a small ship and flew to the moon's terminator where they disembarked and scattered, taking up positions to defend a predetermined site.

Mike sent out probes to cover a hundred kilometre area, while Moses rechecked every boy's suit and weapons. The cadet officer was doing the same. When all were deployed where their officer wanted them, they masked their minds from the enemy. Cadets had enhanced minds. They could multi-task their mental processing. One mind compartment worked to locate an enemy sent to take their position; another area processed school assignments.

After two hours Corporal Tuck detected a stray thought and knew that fighting would start soon. He warned Moses but not the cadets. It was up to them to learn from experience.

Fifteen seconds later the cadet officer directed some cadets to shift their positions, and he alerted the rest. A nearby outcropping exploded soundlessly and rock fragments rattled against their shielding. Their suit AIs kicked in to detect and compute the enemy positions.

The boys remained still, not returning fire even when an enemy exposed himself while sprinting to a large rock. He was invisible to the eye but could be seen with the suit's sensors. Seconds later another outcropping erupted into dust and fragments, with no retribution.

When the enemy finally charged in force, the defenders popped up and raked them with a deadly accuracy beyond normal Human abilities. Some attackers were hit repeatedly and were tagged 'dead'.

The young officer barked a command and twenty-three boys moved out, covering each other while they took down two enemies who contested their advance.

Jonathan flew within a few centimetres of the lunar surface, his suit AI searching for targets. Four buddies were down. Slowing near a large rock, he slid around it for cover. Halfway around, the rock was blasted and splintered fragments rattled off his shield. His suit weapons fired in return, hitting the enemy position an instant after his attacker pulled back. He slipped forward a few metres, then another, and his suit was hammered by weapon fire. The shot was so accurate that the suit computer tagged him as "killed" and went dormant.

"Shit, shit! Why did it have to happen just as we were ready to sweep the enemy up?" he thought. As his suit closed down he glimpsed his opponent, buried in the lunar dust with just the tip of his weapon visible.

The dust had not begun to settle when two of his buddies slipped around the rock and hammered the area where the sniper lay hidden. They fired repeatedly at the far location where he had taken incoming fire, to pin the enemy down. He was about to thank his teammates but the rules demanded that he remain quiet until the exercise was over. He had to be content to lay back and focus on physics theories that explained how a communicator signal could pass through a shield screen and be attenuated by only half.

A moment later the "dead" sniper moved a hand. Jonathan remained still until the enemy found an unused communicator channel and said aloud, "Hi. I guess the plan did not work as well as it should have. You were supposed to die and my team would hit your teammates when they came to flush me out."

Jonathan answered aloud through his communicator, "It worked pretty well. Instead of looking for your weapon, I was worried about being hit by your team."

"My name is Jeremy. What is yours?"

"Jonathan, from 56,20."

"I am from 56,23. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. Who are your mentors?"

"Moya and Konstantin." Jonathan found the voice young but mature. "Are you a rejuvee or young?"

"I am eleven now. How about you?"

"I am 13 for the first time."

Jeremy sensed something in the boy and wanted to know more. "No wonder you got so far. Your Argentinean and Russian teammates are pretty good."

Jeremy asked, "Who are your mentors?"

"Moses Carver and Mike Tuck."

"They are one of the top teams. My brother is leading our group and he is getting sneaky. He took the usual fight tactics and put in another level. He has a two-man team moving up on the right flank to take out your command."

Jonathan was only a little worried. Moses had warned them this might happen and the possibility had to be taken seriously. They could feel the ground shaking under them as more and more rocks were pounded to dust and fragments. An hour later the contest was over; the "all clear" signal went out to all contestants and their AIs. The "killed" suits would now work so both boys got up, smiled at each other and shook hands. They had started a friendship that each hoped would grow.

Two days later in one of the cafeteria, Jeremy came up to Jonathan. "Hi Jonathan. How are you doing?"

"Great, except I lost some points for not targeting as well as I should. How are you?"

"Fine, come sit with us and we can talk?"

Jonathan tapped his brother Jerome in front of him and said, "Sure, and my brother Jerome will come with us. He's older than me but I have to look after him." He jumped back as a backhand slap narrowly missed him.

The boys got their meals and sat down. Jerome seemed to be the odd man because of his size but he didn't let that bother him. They discussed the exercise of two days before and how it might have gone differently. It had been thrashed through earlier among the participants, and Marcus had shown them some of their more glaring mistakes.

Jonathan judged that Matthew was well suited to be an officer even at his young age. He seemed to have an excellent grasp of strategy and the tactical properties of all the weapons at hand.

Jeremy, a bit older, seemed to easily master those weapons that were difficult for Jonathan. Jonathan's strength was in tuning the engines to work their best. Jerome could fix just about anything, and could cobble together ingenious devices that confounded his mentors.

Jeremy suggested, "I can help you with targeting, if you can help me with propulsion."

Jonathan thought it a worthwhile idea. "Sure. When can we work together?" A chart appeared to both boys at Jeremy's bidding, showing their scheduled free time. Most entries were coloured red, meaning compulsory classes, but some were blue, indicating elective, optional courses. The green "free" area for both boys was small. Jeremy moved some of his discretionary activities till their green areas overlapped. Jonathan did a bit of shuffling to make a larger green area.

"Where are you doing your community service?" Jonathan asked. "Our friends and teammates like the nursery. We usually go to 12F."

"I was teaching the older kids a few of our old games, but more people are helping now. Maybe we can do our time together in nursery, and talk?"

"I like it."

Corporal Moses Carver approached the table and the boys sat to attention. Jonathan smiled broadly as Carver stood beside him. Jeremy saw there was nothing sexual there, just great love and respect for the large man. He sensed that Jonathan's real father might not measure up to Moses Carver.

"There you are." Moses smiled down at the four boys and saw friendships forming. The white boys were two of the Emperor's many children. He knew about their meeting up with the boss, but he did not know the details. It was best to let it rest. "I came to tell Jerome and Jonathan that there is a new competition starting in a few hours."

"What about?" Jonathan asked.

"The older cadets are invited to build and crew a small ship. Their mission is to fly to the Oort Cloud to repair 144 sensor orbs, and to install 144 new ones. There is some small print but basically the competition is open to everybody. All of the participating crews will go to Earth to meet with high-ranking leaders. And they will tour schools to encourage Earth children to try harder."

Jerome said, "I remember reading they did that during the wars to get the people behind the effort."

Moses chuckled, "It is called a 'dog and pony show'. You are right about its purpose. Recruitment is no problem but many of the people on Earth do not see us as fully Human. This is a way to show them that you are only boys, even if you are unusually smart and strong boys."

The group broke up soon afterward and each went to their respective marshalling areas. Jeremy walked up behind his teammates, Conda and Toosm, the female and male Tandra members. He put his arms around the pair and pulled them gently to him. "I missed you guys at lunch. What happened?"

"We had some time together. You Humans are too rowdy to be around all the time," Conda teased. They actually spent most of their free time together. Sometimes it was for sex but mostly it was like they were family and needed to be close. None had yet entered puberty but they enjoyed expressing their feelings through sex.

Matthew was much more of a diplomat. He greeted Mui, the Softay female and Trixie the female T'aut. "Trixie" was the closest a Human tongue could pronounce her name. The language was difficult but her name was especially frustrating. The two females had more or less banded together and were adjusting to the Tandra. The Humans were more difficult, more aggressive by nature, but not threatening. It was reassuring that the Humans wanted only the best for the team members.

Matthew liked and admired these girls. They were smart and dedicated. They, too, thought of the team as a family. If a member needed extra help, they would give it. The Softay did not have the mental communication abilities of the others, but made up for it in her ability to diagnose problems in the machinery. Mui was quite reserved and spoke slowly, even in mind-speak, but she knew much about the ship's systems.

"We just heard that there is an open competition," Matthew said. "A ship is to be fabricated from scratch. The crew will fly it to the Oort Cloud, complete a repair mission, and fly back. All the contestants will go to Earth to meet the people, tour some schools, and meet children who are the way we once were."

"Why would we want to go there?" Mui asked. "It is dirty and dangerous. The natives are insane and aggressive, and none of my race or Trixie's has ever met with the Human public."

"That might be the reason to open the competition. It doesn't take a genius to know that it will be televised. My family missed the hysteria when our... the Emperor came and rescued us. This is just a way of bringing the level of mania down to a manageable amount."

"Building a ship takes a lot of time and help. What are the rules?"

They asked Marcus for the particulars. Basically it would require twelve cadets for each team. They could get advice and mentoring, but no physical assistance would be allowed.

"A new friend is coming over tonight to share our community service. We can discuss it then and see if this idea will work for all of us."

Jeremy waited that night outside 12F nursery. He had begun to wonder if Jonathan would show up, but then he felt Jonathan's thoughts as he approached. They greeted each other with a hug, which was the Tandra custom. Going inside, they were each handed a year old Tandra child by a matronly Human woman. A Tandra child this age was newborn size among Human babies. The boys joined the rest of Jeremy's team and sat on soft blankets in the weak lunar gravity.

After introducing Jonathan to the others, the cadets talked while they tended the babies. Their minds, now able to maintain several activities at once, were able to focus a full share of nurturing thoughts to the infants.

Jonathan explained, "My brother and I put our name in for the competition. This is too good to pass up. We are looking for some help. I need to go back to my old neighbourhood; I want show the people there that I am making good."

"We have not discussed the competition yet. Marcus gave us the basics and it sounds possible. We need at least twelve and no more than fifteen team members. We will use lunar regolith for raw material to make a frame and hull. Part of our group will fabricate small crystals for a processor unit. We will be given the rest of the computer. The only other assembly we must make ourselves is the inertial compensator."

"I heard that we may have to make the sensors too. I do not know if I can work on such a fine detail."

"Mui or I could make the sensors." Jeremy thought. He continued, "Less than half of each crew is to be Human." Turning to Mui and Trixie he said, "Would the two of you consider joining us?"

Trixie concentrated on the T'aut child in her arms and said, "The competition will be good for us. We will learn our school lessons faster and we can be useful. I will work with you until we see the feasibility of this endeavour. Then I will decide."

Mui was much more hesitant but she knew Jeremy wanted this. Matthew had remained silent the entire time, weighing the commitment each team member would make. "I think it is necessary that we enter this competition," he said. "Marcus has given us a summary of what has happened on Earth, and I have done my own investigation. There is a distinct possibility that something bad could happen down there. The majority of Earth's people are xenophobic and that trend will only worsen unless something is done to reverse it."

"We must go among the people and let them see that we are not much different than they are. The alternative is to eventually withdraw and let the people of Earth carry on, isolated as before."

Jonathan was impressed with the mature analysis that 10-year-old Matthew applied to the problem. He was both diplomatic and assertive in persuading the group to see his view of the matter.

By the time the babies were changed and fed, the team had solidified behind Matthew. He had adapted to Tandra education quite easily and his mind had developed impressively because of it. Without pushing his views he could coalesce the group's thinking. Now the group carefully handed back their babies to the matron and even Jonathan felt compelled to give the child a soft kiss on the cheek as they parted.

When news of the competition spread, more cadets wanted to join. Few interested groups were large enough to make a team on their own, so Matthew in his spare moments scouted the uncommitted people. He found three Tandra females seeking to join a compatible team. He sent his group as it now stood to meet them. He suspected the three, like Conda earlier, might suffer psychological isolation from the destruction of their home world, damage which could impede their full and open teamwork. He hoped Conda could help them overcome the problem and pull the team together.

Another long-term goal was to find suitable mates for Trixie and Mui. They did not complain but Matthew had studied their cultures and he knew that mates would be far more than comforting to the Softay and T'aut females. Apparently it was the custom for one's family to choose a life mate and one was usually content with the choice.

Matthew used his free moments to consider the competition's probable benefits to his group, and its aim to improve relations between the Alliance and the Earth population. The other races had recently begun to refer to the lunar Humans as "Terrans," a term now widely accepted and most Humans did not seem to mind. As for Matthew, the Emperor had saved him so being called "Terran" was a small adjustment to make in this new existence.

He worked closely with Marcus, more so than others of his age or experience. He searched the public records to evaluate the more promising cadets looking for a place on a team. Some could make great contributions but he rejected most as possibly disruptive to their team. He decided the three Tandra girls would be the best choice, even if they might be a little unsettling to the others.

Small single-seat fighters had been refitted with new crystals provided by the Emperor. These ships were much more intelligent than most and were perfect for combat training. Their powerful weapons were locked down to a harmless power setting, safe for student missions.

Matthew flew with the blue team, led by Jeremy. Their flight of twelve fighters was assigned a mission to one of Jupiter's moons. They expected to be attacked during the mission by an equal number of fighters piloted by the green team.

Trixie's fighter was suffering engine problems. Jeremy ordered four teammates to lock their tractors on to her ship to keep her with them, an unusual flight solution that required intense teamwork. The problem had probably been generated as a practical test.

They arrived at an orbiting debris field, a likely place for an ambush. The blue team spread into a defensive array that protected their crippled ship to the centre rear. Four green team ships materialised, feinted with a full-out diversionary missile spread that hit and "killed" three blue ships and veered the other blue team fighters into a minefield where another two blue fighters "exploded" and were tagged dead in space. The green attackers immediately broke away and plunged moonward, sliding off into a backside blind where the other green team ships waited.

Regrouped, the green team ships flipped around, doubled back and accelerated to flank speed, hoping to surprise the surviving blue team fighters they assumed were following in angry pursuit. Instead, they ran headlong into a blue team minefield. Jeremy had sensed the trap and ordered his surviving blue team pilots to spread out, lay a mined ambush of their own, and to fall well away with six ships waiting in a flanking spread. Trixie, in her crippled fighter, sat centred downrange as bait, noisily attempting to restart her engine. When eight surviving green ships emerged from the minefield and started toward Trixie, they were swarmed from all sides by flights of missiles streaking in as shields for the attacking blue fighters. Both teams furiously wheeled around like wounded gladiators and lashed out at each other with laser weapons. The final dogfight lasted thirty-six seconds and ended with three blue team and four green team ships surviving the final engagement. Damage to the surviving green team fighters was greater so the outcome was called a draw.

When both teams arrived back at the moon they had already debriefed themselves, agreeing on those things that worked and other things they could have done better. There was even enough time to run through another mathematics lesson relating to the structural integrity of a combat-hardened spacecraft.

The two boys were hungry and waiting to eat when they were called out of line. Their stepmother Justine and her companion Monique were waiting to visit. Jeremy and Matthew ran to the women for hugs and kisses.

Justine held Jeremy's shoulders and smiled. "You have grown so much! It's hard to recognize you. How are your classes going?"

"We're doing well. My baby brother may be one of the brightest in our group, but it was all my doing," Jeremy teased.

Matthew gave him an elbow jab and said, "He keeps getting us killed just so he can look good. Have you eaten? We're hungry."

They sat around a small table in a quiet area and talked of many things. Sofia was with the Emperor's family and having lots of fun. The ships were linked with audio/video communications and Monique and Justine could talk anytime to Sofia and the two brothers. This was one of the happiest times of the women's lives. The brothers felt the same. They all missed Sofia but it was good to see that she was being raised well. Masis was such a nice planet and much safer now that many more Alliance personnel were hunting down the Samutz.

Monique had requested temporary lunar quarters to be with her family and was assigned a suite. Jeremy and Matthew usually slept with their team but sometimes stayed with their family or the Emperor. Matthew asked for family time and it was easily granted.

The Emperor had dramatically expanded the lunar base and brought many Earth vices with him. Entertainment simulators were installed that featured theme park rides. A roller coaster ride with artificial gravity made the simulator experience identical to reality. A motor speedway featured Formula One cars hitting speeds of three hundred fifty kilometres per hour.

The food synthesizers featured Earth meals and did a steady business. It helped that everything was free; nothing had to be paid for. An authentic British pub dispensed drinks but no patrons got drunk or unruly. Dart boards and a cozy fire drew people to relax and talk in a comfortable environment. Sports events from Earth were widely broadcast. Favourite teams were still followed, even though the lunar fans could easily outperform Earth's professional players.

Lunar sports were widely broadcast too, but not to Earth. Their enhanced strength, stamina, and mental prowess made the lunar athletes far superior to any Terran team; this could cause a wider rift in relations if it were widely publicized.

The boys brought the girls to an Earth-type theatre featuring Terran movies. Marcus had taken each tape or DVD and restructured them into virtual reality projections. The audience could believe they were living in the scenes and feeling the same environment whether warm, hot, wet, or thirsty. This film featured Bogie in "The African Queen". Tactile sensations were completely appropriate. Even their chairs were as hard as the wooden benches in the boat.

Jeremy held Justine and Matthew held Monique. They could feel the tropical heat and the wet spray when it rained or when they were shipwrecked. The audience gasped for breath during the storm when waves washed over them. Marcus' films let the Humans remember what life was like on Earth.

After the film, the couples grabbed a meal from an automated pizza parlour and a few minutes later they were settled down in their temporary quarters.

They sat around, eating and talking. This was more like a circle of adults, although two were quite young. The boys avoided talking about their earlier, painful life with their father. They called Masis but were told that Sofia was asleep so they waited to call later when she was awake.

The girls talked about their training. Justine and Monique were trying for communications tech positions. They had not graduated, but most of their training would be learned on the job using tutors on whatever ship they would be assigned. The women regarded themselves as a couple now and the military would treat them as a family unit and not split them apart.

Jeremy discussed his courses and his team members. The public archives were called up with pictures of the other members. "Are you having fun with the two Tandra?" Justine asked.

"Yes. Conda and Toosm are a lot of fun. Conda wanted always to be on her knees, but now she has changed. She likes all of us but I think she likes Matthew better. Toosm is from the moon population and works hard to keep up with us. He's bright but not as driven as the rest of us. Matthew and I made a deal with him; he works hard and one of us makes him feel good afterward.

"The Tandra seem to make us horny. It is fun now but when we enter puberty it should be a lot better," Matthew added.

"What job are you trying for?" Monique asked.

"The best. I want to be captain. Perhaps I will not have a battleship or a carrier but I hope someday to get a cruiser or destroyer. If Jeremy stays with me, it will have to be a troop carrier though," Matthew answered.

"Why?" Justine asked.

Jeremy hung his head and Matthew said, "He wants to be in the infantry and fight face to face. He doesn't think the ship is a hands-on way to kill Samutz."

"Jeremy, you can be a marine assigned to any large ship. They do most of the fighting when the time comes." Justine looked at her stepson.

"Yes, but I would have to wait too long. I want to go out and kill Samutz now. We have videos of the mercs who went with the Emperor, and other mercs came here to the academy to tell us about close-quarters combat."

Justine was troubled. The boy sounded a bit like his father Yuri, but this lust for violence was not necessarily from his troubled past. She loved Jeremy. The alternative was to remember the abusive man they had lived with. He was sadistic. He beat every member of the family. He used each for sex.

It was getting late so Jeremy rose and held out his hand to his stepmother. She happily got up. His arms went around this woman who had protected him so many times. He wished only to repay some of the debt he owed her.

Matthew enjoyed Monique's company also. She was not much older than he, but she had taken an adult's responsibility to protect the younger ones.

Matthew removed his clothes. Monique was not far behind. Each could read how eager the other was. She guided him to the antigravity bed and lay on her back. Monique enjoyed Justine's tongue, but when Matthew began to lick her, she stopped him. "Matt, climb up and give me what I've been missing!"

Matthew looked at her and saw that she had changed. Her baby fat was gone, replaced by strong muscles. Her mind was clear and he could see exactly what she wanted and needed. He pulled her legs up, placed them on his shoulders, and slid snugly into her.

He was larger than before. The AIs wanted Human males to be welcomed by the Tandra females so they added some generous sexual organ enhancement. Although adolescent, his penis was nearly adult size and could perform as one. The boy also learned that all women loved kindness and consideration in bed.

His body seemed to be made for this joyful task; he tried his best to please her. One part of his mind pictured them making love and how they both enjoyed their coupling. Another part saw how his thoughts affected her. Monique was a visual person and the erotic images of his young body using hers stimulated her erogenous responses.