Chapter 88

Back on the Lazarus station we worked on the logistics of transporting the remainder of the children to Earth. I didn't want to abandon the station; it had already shown its worth by warning me of the Hossin and the Fassoot. It could take on the duties of a forward military base to inform me of further incursions.

The base would need a better defence; our shield would not be adequate even if brought up to what the Hossin had. I spent most of my time altering missiles so that they could penetrate a Hossin warship and hopefully a Fassoot one as well. The energy lance made a good tool that was superior to our weapons. The lance also showed me that there was much more to learn from the crystals. Various races had studied them for, what I guessed to be ten million years and still didn't know everything about them.

The family of AIs worked on some of the theory behind what we had found and I did the experimentation. Crystals were shipped to me and I made some that were two metres across from smaller sections. Even in the maze though the mental energy to fuse and purify them was proportional to their mass.

Horus and Isis were on their way and I used the maze to do the portions of the experiments that needed to be done in five dimensional space. This proved difficult because of our speed and the great length of clear open space needed for the experiment. Gamma radiation was very intense, but would not be a problem with our shielding. The shielding had to be used on the receiving crystal or it too would be subtly damaged. To make use of the volume of space in the ship, I restricted myself to very small crystals and experimented to see what I could get them to do.

I soon found that I could subtly manipulate the crystals to give a wide range of characteristics, proportion of with size, shape and internal structure. Many postulates had been recorded and some had been proven to the satisfaction of the scientists of the day. The list of proven laws was accordingly long but the list of things they had observed but not adequately understood was many times longer.

The two ships carrying data from the old empire had been meticulously searched. We did find the information about all the stellar systems that could produce the crystals. There was more information there on crystal properties but this was all without any understanding of their internal workings. There was no record of anyone that could do what I did with my mind and this, in a way, rendered all the other researchers blind.

Soon enough I had to abandon the tests because we had arrived at the Tandra matter transmitter. Horus had sealed the ends of the ship and just tried to make as much room as possible for the passengers. This would not be too much of a problem because all of them would be in stasis.

Mom, Terra's Pride and her escorts were two days behind. In the meantime, the station personnel began fabrication of areas to adequately house the children. They had just finished when the remainder of our ships arrived.

Terra's Pride had already started the same procedures while in route.

Captain Shingle felt very solemn when he set foot on the station. All his education had pointed to this area of space and he felt very humble to be there. The remainder of the ship's personnel felt just about the same way. The Tandra that had actually been in stasis on the station for the last two and a half million years were similar to humans and just felt homesick.

Amney never asked to see me and I let her be. It sometimes took a long time to grow up. Paul told me that she still had a long way to go before becoming a crew member never mind an officer.

There were only twelve thousand Tandra left when the loading of children was finished. The majority of the children had gone into Horus. He was a very fast ship, surpassed in speed only by the relative class or Mom in her tug. The station itself was stocked with the best of our technology in weapons. Two of the cruisers would remain and be joined with some of the many ships last taken from the Samutz.

Mom had only some Human or Tandra attributes. She longed to travel but the area of her home world did not excite her as much as I thought it would. She did go through the large number of message pods and recorded both their messages and their point of departure. Many had already been collected but Mom continued processing the remainder. Eventually she found three sent from Sofas III centuries after the collapse. I had to change my mind a bit when she took one into her hold. It appeared she did have some feeling of nostalgia.

We sent patrols out but found no ships other than the Tandra hulls crewed by the dead. We reshuffled some crews when the time came to leave. More of the original Tandra crew on the station, were transferred to the ships going back to Earth. Their training and knowledge was in very short supply. Humans now would partly crew the station that was on the far side of the galaxy from our home. Here their education would not be forgotten for the remainder of the original Tandra would begin teaching them immediately.

Mom and I ventured forth one more time to see what we could discover about the Fassoot or any other race that could give us trouble.

Matthew sighed as he watched the video of the Emperor leaving the Tandra station. He, like all the rest, had analysed the Hossin and tried to determine the capabilities of the Fassoot. "If only I could be there with Henry," he thought.

Matthew was presently sitting in the captain's chair aboard the 'Gorrsenz'. The name had come from a T'aut term for 'Spirit'. It was not exact, but as close as a Tandra or a Human could come to the T'aut language. The 93 metre ship was complete after getting the crystal the Emperor had personally prepared. It had glowed brighter than any crystal anybody had ever seen or at least that was what the records stated. The ship had really come alive when it had been given to the computer for placement.

Marcus had gone through the ship's systems and said it was safe enough to test. Jerome and Jeremy were both upset because they had to stay within thirty light minutes of home base. Compared to what they had been doing, 5.4 billion kilometres was nothing and they felt cheated in a way. Even Pluto was further out but they would get a chance to see it because they were half way already.

Everybody was at their stations monitoring the instruments. The entire school had seen the thirteen ships leave for the first time. Some crews had to wait but others had to scramble to make it in time. Matthew was a little angry with himself for being the last ship certified for the trip. He had checked every fact so many times that he was beginning to miss things. The ship itself was slightly different from the other designs as he had made it stronger and safer. The other ships were standard designs with very few alterations.

The crew had not really been angry but they certainly didn't like being last. They knew how much Matthew worried about each of them. The testing lasted 150 hours and in that time they could have made it to the Oort Cloud and back. They stopped at cometary bodies and practised setting sensors. They even found some pieces of wreckage from the last Samutz incursion and took some for souvenirs.

Other natural debris was captured and was used to fabricate some of the sensors that had to be placed in the Oort ring. They only did this for practice as calibration required proper equipment found only in an established base.

Everybody but the captain got the chance to leave the ship to gather material or simulate the placing of sensors. Matthew liked open space but knew that the rules had to be followed.

Monique and Justine had sent their own congratulations a few hours after they left. Each said how proud they were of the two men. Matthew knew he was too young to deserve the term but knew that his duties more than adequately fit into the classification. Jonathan and Jerome were also congratulated at the ceremony by Mike Tuck and Moses Carver and then again part way through the tests.

Their instructors had been very proud of them and they tried to fill the myriad expectations.

Jerome was now piloting the ship back to the moon. They had drawn lots and he had won. Trixie had been the pilot when they first left. Everyone was now tired because they put so much effort into the simulations. Matthew was quite satisfied with the amount of hard work put out and he knew his team was very good. He knew that the other teams were a bit older and some had rejuvees that really pushed the performance levels. They were all like Tuck or Carver and it took a lot of effort to stay even with them.

Their ship was the last one back but Matthew tried to think that their position was the result of all the additional work they had done. They would not find out until everyone was together at the academy.

When their ship landed they wearily stood up but upon reaching the hatch they stood straight and hid their condition. Friends greeted them with jocularity and good humour as they walked down the ramp. The standings were listed after a short ceremony. Matthew was disappointed that they had only been sixth place.

"Marcus, what did the other groups do to get higher ratings?" Matthew asked.

"They simply worked harder Matthew. They may look fresh now but they are really very fatigued. You and your team did well and there is actually very little between the first and last place teams. In one case it was just the way their gear was stowed. I am very happy with all of your team and think that your team will make good if not great officers one day."

The crew did smile at this. Jeremy said, "You heard Marcus. We only have to do a bit more and we can be in first place."

Marcus replied, "I told you before Jeremy, this is not a race. It is simply an assessment of your abilities. If anything, you are comparing what you did against what you might have done."

"I remember but it is still a race if the other teams want it that way."

"That is true but only four other teams even think similarly."

"Who are they?"

Right after the discussions of the performance of the various ships, they all left for their quarters and just curled up and went to sleep.

Five hours later they were awake and at another meeting with all the other teams. Marcus told everyone present, "You are cadets and this makes you very special. When you go to Earth you will be the representatives of the Academy. Have fun and mix with the general population. It is our hope that they see you as approachable and sympathetic to what they have to say. Remember at all times that there are many people that will do anything to gain even the smallest portion of our technology."

Individual orders came to the teams and they hurried to the transporters. Once they reached one of the many large hangars they quickly took their seats while Matthew flew them out through the shield and on the very short trip to Earth.

Matthew contacted the flight controller at Tampa International Airport, "Lunar flight 348 requesting landing clearance."

Matthew could feel the human contingent of the crew smile when the reply arrived. The Tandra were only a little apprehensive while the two T'aut and the two Softay were much more keyed up. They knew that this was necessary to improve relations with the very backward Humans on the planet so they put up a good front.

The landing was well planned and they settled down without even disturbing the dust in a parking lot close to the main entrance of the airport. The police immediately roped off the area. Film crews were present mainly for the local colour. The Gorrsenz had no sooner settled than a ramp extended and Jonathan boldly stepped out from behind the shield. Mayaz was only a step behind and took a few quick steps to his side. Jonathan smiled at the people around him then at the Tandra girl beside him. He reached for her hand and they walked down the ramp.

Behind the pair came Jerome and Lyrra. The girl was not quite as brave but stayed close to her man. Inside the ship Matthew encouraged the two pair in front of the line and soon the Softay couple left. Mui and Dolk were not quite as quick as the preceding couples but tried to act very brave. The flashes of light bothered them much more than live rounds in their training.

Trixie and her mate Maout went next. They took some solace in knowing that they were some of the very first T'aut to visit this planet.

Jeremy had a big smile holding both Possa and Conda to him as he strutted down the ramp. Toosm and Matthew were the only ones left. The Tandra male was very unsure of himself. Matthew reached out to hold his hand and together they walked forward.

Matthew saw that there were two television cameras and close to a dozen people from the press. The mayor and two men from city council were in attendance as well as what looked like the chief of police. On closer inspection he found that his assumptions were correct. There were close to two hundred visitors looking on. Some of the visitors had been acquaintances of the two native boys and were waving at them.

One person Jerome and Jonathan didn't want to see was their father. He now stood with the mayor as if he belonged in the group.

Matthew smiled as he was supposed to while listening to the hypocrisy that was buried only a short distance from the surface. They were all welcomed to the city especially Jerome and Jonathan. The two boys now looked like they were having problems because this was not as good as what they hoped it would be.

After seven minutes Matthew took the microphone. He tried to not act the same way as the mayor but found it impossible. He introduced each of the crew members and described what each had contributed towards the construction of the Gorrsenz. 'Goosey' could have talked for herself but the small AI followed orders and remained silent.

The reason for the construction of the ship was listed. Then a simplistic explanation of the sensor run was been given. There were questions from the reporters when this was done but the answers given coincided with the information already given out. The term 'Privileged information, only for Alliance personnel, ' was used quite a few times.

Other crew members were also asked questions. Both the Softay and T'aut answered in Tandra because they did not know English well yet. As part of their studies they had learned different Earth languages instead.

Jonathan gave a translation and asked, "Would you rather she spoke Chinese or German? We all studied other languages but it is not likely we will meet the people that speak them on Earth."

Jonathan was asked what Earth languages he spoke and he replied, "Urdu, Swahili and Swedish because of my ancestry." He got a good chuckle when he smiled about this.

Later, the elected officials were allowed to see the interior of the ship and soon the press was allowed the same privilege. Nothing small was left loose and Goosey watched everything very closely.

Soon the general public was allowed in but only in small numbers at a time. Jonathan and Jerome this time managed to start talking with people they knew before. It took only seconds to see how shallow they were. Usually they wondered what they had ever seen in the children. Jonathan was that way too and he was even five years younger than some.

Jonathan's father didn't make any speeches but came up to the crew and put his arms around his boys and found how much they had really grown in the short time they had been away.

After some preliminary greetings the father asked, "Are you boys going to give up this foolishness soon and come back and help me?"

The father rebuilt cars and sold them. The boys had helped to keep a roof over their heads, especially after their mother had died. Their father was stern when he was not drunk. He didn't usually follow his own rules about conduct and the boys naturally learned from that.

Jerome said, "We fix spaceships now and we are working to save our race. I was happy to come back to Earth this time but I can't really see the use of it. The people are crazy here. I have many more ties with the friends I met on the moon. They are now my family."

"I am your father Jerome." the man said angrily.

"Yes you are. You worked hard to raise us but we are now more fully grown that almost anybody on this planet. We don't need the slaps or the harsh words. We also don't need the way you acted towards us when you thought us children. It is hard in a large city when there are so many bad influences but you didn't work very hard to keep us away from them."

"Is that the type of respect you are going to give me now? I should take back my agreement to let you and your brother leave to fight with those aliens."

"Father, you are getting the respect you taught us to give and also the respect you deserve. As for the agreement you will find it will be in force until we reach our majority. If Jonathan did have to come back he would have to go to his court appearance. At that time you would be brought in because you did very little to raise him correctly."

The man got very angry and thought of striking his older son. Jerome just stood there without even using body language to show that he was ready. The blow never came and the man angrily turned and walked away.

Jonathan said, "Thanks brother." In mindspeech he said, "He was put up to this but I don't think it was meant to succeed. It was more of a way to harass us."

When the old group saw the man leave they turned. Jermaine, the tallest of the visiting group, asked, "Shoes, how'd you get to go to the academy anyway?"

Jonathan could see the ridicule behind the words and answered, "The Emperor himself came to Earth one day and went looking for recruits. He found Jerome and by reading his mind. He saw that I was something special. Later when the recruits were being asked to join, we were both taken to the Academy."

The young man laughed but stopped when he saw that the brothers were serious. He did continue with, "Tell me about these fine ladies."

Jonathan continued, "They are our friends and part of our crew. A crew is much stronger than a family or even a gang. I know for a fact how they feel about us and they know how we feel about them. There is no lying and I would sooner cut my arm off than hurt Mayaz."

Jermaine didn't know whether he was being put on or not. He thought about what the brothers were like now. The brothers seemed to feel very strongly about this, so it must be true at least for them.

Renay had been one of Jerome's previous girlfriends. She had introduced Jonathan to sex. She asked the younger boy, "The TV is always saying you can read our deepest thoughts. Is that true Shoes?"

Jonathan looked at the girl and read her uncertainty. "Mind reading takes a long time to get very good. Some people like the Emperor can do it very well, even better than our Tandra friends. Most of us can do some but it is a lifelong pursuit to learn that ability as well as all the other things we have to learn."

Renay seemed to think that her mind was relatively safe unless she came up against a Tandra. She forgot that there were five of them in the group facing her. "Are you really going to live for centuries?"

"Yes that is true Renay. We fulfil our commitment to the alliance and in four or five hundred years we get to set up a permanent home someplace in the galaxy. We get to settle down and start a family."

"Five hundred years is a long time to work for the Tandra."

"We are working for the Alliance. The Alliance is for every race there is if they want to accept the rules. Five hundred years is not a long time either. We are all slated to be officers and through the years we should work our way up to a carrier, a battleship or a dreadnaught like the one that Mom was showing on television. Some of us may be administrators on some planet. There is simply so much to learn that we are never going to get really bored."

Renay was now worried and said, "I just can't see the boy I once knew as a captain of a battleship. They are just so powerful that you could do anything with them."

"A captain leads the crew but there are many others working toward the same goals. Mind reading at that level is good. The captain becomes more like the voice of the crew that lets everybody know what needs to be done. There are many checks and balances in place or the Tandra empire would not have lasted for the millions of years it did. It would never have expanded to cover the majority of the galaxy."

"Shoes, you really talk different now. You use big words and you sound much smarter."

"When you learn so much more, your mind works better because it has so much more information to pick from. All of our crew are more intelligent after going through even the preliminary training. Some of the other crews we are going to be working with in this demonstration are very competent. We were making a game of it and we only came in sixth out of thirteen teams."

Renay and the remainder of the crowd were still not fully at ease but felt much better since the crew had countered some of the propaganda spread by Earth authorities.

The people left the ship when the time limit for the 'open house' was over. The reporters had a very difficult time believing that the present crew had made the ship from rock and debris on the moon's surface. The crew were not taken in by the incredulity shown. Everyone wanted to learn more about the specifics, but the crew just kept to their story.

The crew, their old friends and a few reporters boarded a chartered bus when it came to the airport. The ship appeared no different as they left, but the crew knew with certainty that no one would make it past the shield covering the entire vessel.

Busch Gardens was their destination because of the number of people that would be there. A half hour later they got off the bus at the entrance and a special doorway was opened just for them. They walked through followed by their friends, reporters, politicians and now park officials. They were given welcome to the park in a speech designed to look impromptu. None of the regular visitors waiting in the admissions line objected; they just stared at the crew and their now growing entourage.

They were lead off to the various attractions. Jerome and Jonathan had been here many times but the rest found the park new. They went on many rides. Matthew sat with Possa and discovered that the girl and the rest of the crew found the roller coaster much more exciting when the people in the same group of cars were screaming. They were only subjected to a bit over two gravities at the most. They were used to eight gravities in most cases, close to double that during violent manoeuvres. Unaugmented humans would die very quickly in that situation. Matthew found it quite interesting that he, along with the rest of the crew, started to respond much more like the Human children around them.