Chapter 568

The Prison Planet

As they all stepped outside, Morales made sure there were no large carnivores nearby before calling the wolves back to him. He and Jasmine had discussed leaving the wolves behind, but they had become ... well, partners with first Morales and now Jasmine. The girls had soon lost their fear of the huge wolves, but they were still tense when the animals grinned at them.

Morales took his wife’s hand as they leaned forward to put their faces on a level with Lobo and Lila, “All of us are going to eat breakfast on Ship up there,” he said pointing above. “I know that you two understand, at ... least to some extent, that Ship takes people from one place to another, but she has invited us to eat with her this morning. Jeff has told us that Ship expects the two of you to come with us, and he says she has some nice steaks waiting for you both. Please be calm when she puts you inside that hatch you see standing open above us. Okay?”

“You need to be on your best behavior,” Jasmine told them. “This will be new and very different from anything you have ever seen before. Remember to be calm and trust Ship and us. She will not hurt you, nor allow anything to hurt you, but everything will seem strange to you.”

Jasmine and Morales had tried to picture breakfast on Ship as they talked to their friends.

Both wolves licked the humans’ faces.

As Morales and Jasmine stood, both hoping that the wolves had understood enough, Jeff glanced around himself, “Ready, everyone?”

Starting with Jeff and Diana and ending with the wolves, Ship put everyone aboard with her inertialess tractor beam. It was not instantaneous, but it was fast enough that it almost seemed to be. The wolves’ quick eyes caught the blur of movement, but before they could worry too much, they were aboard and standing behind Morales, Jasmine, Ashley and Christine.

Jasmine turned to put a hand on each wolf for a moment as she tried to project calm. Both were tense, but not overly so.

“Could you please introduce me?” Ship said in her melodious voice that seemed to come from all around them.

“Ship, please meet Lila and Lobo,” Jasmine said as she put her hand on first one wolf, then the other.

“I am pleased to meet you,” Ship sent to them mentally while also allowing the others to hear.

The wolves’ demeanor changed, and they immediately sat. Jeff realized that Ship had continued her conversation with the wolves, but now she wasn’t allowing him to hear.

Lobo and Lila got up, briefly touched their muzzles to first Jasmine, then Morales, before trotting off down the corridor, now seemingly unfazed by the alienness of their surroundings.

I gave them permission to explore. Why did you not bring them aboard sooner, My Prime? Ship asked in Jeff’s mind.

You can communicate with them?

Certainly. Their language is rudimentary and they are weak projectors, but they, as all true telepaths do, send and receive in concepts, and what you would refer to as pictures instead of a word language as you humans insist on doing while I try to teach you to be telepaths.

Then they are natural telepaths? Jeff asked.

As I said, their communication is rudimentary, but the enhancement is allowing their telepathic abilities to begin to expand. With more exposure, they should become much stronger, at least between themselves.

The conversation with Ship, since it was telepathic, only took an instant. When the wolves trotted down the passageway, Morales looked concerned as he turned to Jeff, who responded with, “Ship can converse with them, and she has permitted them to explore. She will take care of them.”

“Well, crap. Jas and I have tried our best to talk to them, and I suppose we do get our point across, then Ship...”

“She’s a true telepath, and she says that the enhancement is allowing their telepathic abilities to expand, at least among themselves. Don’t worry. Ship will watch over them as they explore.”

“There is nothing that they can get into that is dangerous to them. They will come to no harm, and allowing them to fulfill their natural desire to explore will calm them in less time than anything else that I could think of,” Ship said, addressing herself aloud to Morales and Jasmine. “I will transport them back when it is time to eat.”

Just as the group finished hanging up their cold-weather gear, “This way,” Ship’s melodious voice advised from farther down the wide corridor.

As they neared what the family expected to be the usual lounge, they realized that Ship had gone all out for her breakfast visitors.

You didn’t have to go to all this trouble for us, Jeff sent to her as even he was amazed at the beautiful room that Ship had changed the lounge into.

When we first met, I knew nothing of the human race, but over time, I have learned much, Ship said in his mind. Some of those things, I will admit, are appalling, but then again, there are many more things about your race that I find very ... pleasant. The race that built my brain would probably have thought it was a waste of time to have such luxurious surroundings when they dined. Your race, however, sometimes goes to great lengths to have a pleasant venue while they partake of their food, and even on occasion, use those luxurious surroundings as part of your courtship rituals.

And yes, I am aware that the morning meal is not usually enhanced to any significant degree, but surely a beautiful surrounding should add to that meal as well. Then aloud to everyone, “Please enter and be seated. I have assumed that you would rather all eat together, so I have provided a large round table and sufficient room for seating to accomplish that.”

The elegance of the room was beyond description, but the furnishings, though beautiful as well as tasteful, were dwarfed by the vista of a river and the very-much muted roar of the falls.

Nat turned to her husband. “Is it real?” she asked Jeff with awe in her voice.

With what Jeff knew about Ship’s ability to bring a whole pocket planet with her via the dimensions, he wasn’t sure if what they were seeing was real or an illusion. “I ... don’t know,” he managed. (See chapter 245 where Jeff tested his TK abilities with the steel balls in a deserted area of a pocket planet while in another dimension.)

“Well, don’t ask,” Arlene quickly inserted. “If it’s an illusion, it’s too beautiful to spoil with logic.”

“Come with me, Arlene,” Selina pleaded as she grabbed Arlene’s hand to try to pull her out onto the terrace.

“In case it is real, be careful,” Jeff admonished the two even as everyone followed at a more leisurely pace.

“There’s a railing, Daddy,” his daughter called over her shoulder as she and Selina hurried out onto the terrace ahead of everyone else, only to freeze as they stepped through whatever muted the sound. Suddenly, they were inundated by the crashing roar of the majestic falls, the sound so loud that conversation was almost impossible. As the others followed, the two carefully stepped across the wide, mist-slickened terrace to stop at the railing. The view had everyone’s attention, and no one had even thought about seating themselves yet. In awe, they all stared at the thunderous power of the massive falls.

Arlene yelled something to her mother, who had stopped beside her; however, the roar of the water as the river smashed across giant boulders to fall and eventually crash into whatever was at the bottom of the abyss far below, negated anything as weak as a mere human voice. Even the terrace, massive as it was, vibrated with the almost living power of the river as it seemed to strive to annihilate whatever lay beneath the swirling mists.

Selina pulled Jeff down and motioned for him to put her on his shoulders so that she could better see over the railing and into the mists below. After a moment, he felt her shiver, whether from fear or awe, he didn’t know, and not wanting to embarrass her, he didn’t ask.

For minutes, the group stood unconsciously gripping the railing lest they succumb to the seeming living power of the river.

Eventually, they all passed back through the barrier that muffled the sound to a distant roar, before they all stood in silence for a moment while staring back at the river. Jeff didn’t know what the others thought, but he felt almost insignificant while he stood on that terrace, seeing and feeling the raw power of nature.

“Where are we?” his daughter asked.

Before Ship responded, Jeff sent her a mental message to hold off for a while.

“For now, let’s just enjoy it,” he told Arlene. “If we want, we can ask for details later.”

“We must have Ship do this for all my sister-wives,” Diana quietly said as they returned to the table that was set for the group.

“For certain,” Jeff agreed.

The Prime seated Selina first, then the rest of his family. Morales was only a heartbeat behind him as he did the same for his women.

Looking confused, the wolves popped into existence near the table a second later, and so did large plates laden with massive steaks in addition to bowls of water.

As soon as the humans sat, menus appeared in front of them, seemingly real, but Selina giggled as she poked a finger through the holo.

Ship’s voice took on a businesslike manner as she started with Diana, who quickly gave her order. When the women and Selina had ordered, Ship then took Morales’ and her Prime’s orders.

A couple of moments later, the food suddenly appeared in front of everyone. The coffee was hot, the various juices were cold, and the food was superb. It should have been, because it was part of the food that Diana and her sister-wives, in addition to the other women at the retreat, had cooked or made, and Ship had scanned into her memory. Also included in Ship’s menu was every dish from Martha’s Restaurant.

“I haven’t had time to put your hotcakes on Ship’s menu just yet, but I will shortly,” Diana told Tosha, who blushed.

Jeff had been anxious to return to work on the wiring, but he knew that it would be a travesty to do so with everyone enjoying themselves so much.

Diana, assuming that Jeff had instigated the meal, said, “Oh, Hon, this is perfect. I griped about us not being able to go out and eat other than to Martha’s Restaurant, beautiful as it is, but this is beyond anything I could ever imagine.”

“Di, I...”

She does not have to know that you did not instigate this, Ship interrupted Jeff.

“Uh, I’m glad you like it,” he finished before he told Ship, Thank you. I owe you one.