Chapter 46

I looked at this since I was cast into the highlands. This was a great defensive weapon but I could not see how to use it. There were a lot of unknowns in this situation but the computer entities did not mind. It gave them something to do. One fact was made very evident, the mental powers had to be explored even more. This meant that sixth dimension and possibly others were behind all of these phenomena.

Erica was usually near to me and said verbally, "There are still some Wikki that would like to see us shackled to a factory floor so we could work for them."

"That is what I had to fight. Perhaps New Leaf will put a stop to that kind of thinking. The kids looked to be happy. I don't think they worried."

"Oh, they didn't. They liked the idea of going into the wild the way you did. They had to be taught how to survive and they even managed to go to some of their mother's villages to learn a bit more. This lasted a week then they came back and worked on making crystals once more. This did very good for your plans because a lot of youngsters want to come here to learn or possibly be with our kids."

"I heard that the Wikki stopped working on the ship during New Leaf's absence. I want to get them back to work."

"They probably will since New Leaf looks so happy. Are we going to be turned into mercenaries now?"

I said, "I want some of that experience the same as the Tomma and the Aristis love to get but I want to protect both of our worlds and assist the Wikki too. They need allies and we need them even more. Do you think the Tomma will object to fighting from ships?"

"I don't think so. Perhaps it has to be how they are approached. They may do much better with their own ships."

"I was thinking about that too. Tomma lead and crewed ships are our best option until we can get more humans into space."

"I am afraid of them getting a toehold in. Our children do very well only because of the computer monitoring and the fact that most of the rest are at least half Tomma blood."

"The ones on earth have few Tomma with them and perhaps we have to go back and show the flag so to speak. I hear that the humans are up to their old tricks again."

Erica said, "Can you blame them? Somebody shows up with all they need to know to gain the galaxy. They will try everything they can to get a piece of it."

"We can draw mercenaries from there too I think."

"You are going to have to watch them closely."

"Perhaps that is your job."

"Me?"

"You have a lot of responsibilities but I have many more. Betts can work with you too."

"I don't know if I can do that."

Two hours later the party got into gear. The wise men from all over had come and were now talking about what they knew of the All Mother's manifestation. The Wikki had been basically rendered unconscious apart from those that had been killed outright in the queen's chambers. Ships that came to the planet all used computers to control them. The All Mother took over the computers and sent the ships elsewhere.

The Wikki in the ships were justifiably upset and were going to go to war but there was nobody they could fight. Grotto had risen in stature by taking the All Mother's side. He had stuck his neck out a considerable amount and I was going to make sure he got something for it.

I was fully integrated once more with my computers and found that I had been subtly manipulated so that I avoided the Tomma villages. The villagers were told by the All Mother to avoid us too.

The Wikki came in mass now to the city. We provided natural food whenever possible. Chocolate was very plentiful. The Wikki were used to the synthetic variety but now we provided meat that would be eaten raw the way their queen ate it. Some was cooked over coals and this was appreciated by everybody.

New Leaf came down with twenty guards but they were told to keep their distance and let her mingle. She met my mates and my children and seemed to take pleasure in seeing them. The girls talked quickly to her and they seemed to be able to shut me out of their conversations.

New Leaf met many more Tomma, and the few humans then even met some of the Aristis including my mates and children. Vos and her sibs had grown a lot more in my absence and could now speak though they were like the children they actually were. Usually the Wikki young were not able to do this as soon as the ones I sponsored.

We all sampled food and met people. The wise men were being courted by the queen to find out what they knew. I did not think anybody was holding back but the wise men were basically simple folk that still saw the All Mother as a religious deity.

New Leaf was introduced to Wyatt later. She walked inside the structure but the crystals and substrate were hidden away behind the walls. New Leaf had a very good mind and an auxiliary computer in it. She asked a great many questions of Wyatt and he had no difficulty giving her an in-depth synopses of what she had asked.

The plans we had given the Wikki had been used to build. She saw the tools we made. It was her own people the had mainly done the tests. Our children had gone out of their way to supply the Wikki with material to test.

Grotto had a small ship that nestled inside his own ship. We had more time to work on the data the Wikki involuntarily gave us and found a way of making a faster ship that had much better shielding. We even found tweaks to make the inertial compensator work even better. It was the internal shields that made the ship so strong and light.

The compensator was actually broken up into many smaller units so that there was less turbulence. The same idea was going to be used on our ships when we built larger units.

The Wikki kids had to stay on their ship during our camping trip but the humans had found a way to talk to them and get them to make some of the components.

That night New Leaf went back to her ship with a lot of naturally derived supplies. We were going to work on a contract tomorrow before she found any opposition to our plans from her own people.

I thought that New Leaf and I were friends after our forced companionship but she bargained forcefully for everything. I figured that there were some things she knew she could not get but tried to use the position so she could gain more of what she could.

The previous agreements were ratified first with not too many problems. Our new agreements would have me counting my fingers after I finished. I guess New Leaf had to act this way if her decisions were going to be criticised by her superior.

Our gift of the information about the engines, shields and computers was just that, a gift. The missiles we made were nearly as good as our largest missiles. We traded our existing stock here and on earth to the Wikki and we would make more of the smaller and more deadly units to take their place. The Wikki would want all of these they could get.

New Leaf wanted a computer as good as Wesley or Wyatt and I amazed her by agreeing. Supplying us with enough hulls for ships was going to be hard on them. The Wikki needed all the ships they could get at the moment so all the agreements were based on how their enemies were dealt with.

The bargaining went on for five days even with the computers. Very prominent in the documents was the stipulation that New Leaf, and her alone, come to Cralto three times every standard year. She had fought this for the record but I think she was pleased.

The main contract was signed and sent off while we then went into other issues. Queen Bright Star was becoming more and more involved and I wanted some firm commitments before somebody new came on the scene. The side deals were more of the mundane agreements that made everything work.

We were going to get an influx of young Wikki. Our Star Fleet regs were altered just a bit to fit the Wikki better. Grotto and New Leaf assisted in this but without the usual intensive dickering.

Part of the Wikki fleet headed for earth to deliver some of the new missiles and pick up our old surplus ones. The humans in Star Fleet were already making the new variety. Larger missiles of the new variety were being designed. The new missiles already would have much more power and speed than any other weapon known. A way was found to make the retrofit the old missiles to bring them close to the current design. The Wikki liked all our missiles even those that had not been improved. Then again, they would throw rocks at their enemies if they had to.

The ships also took some of our children home but also fifty young Wikki. Those children of mine that had not had a chance to visit were now given their turn. At least Grotto now knew what to expect on such a trip.

New Leaf left to go back to her regional headquarters. As predicted, Queen Bright Star was not happy. New Leaf had grown up a lot in the last while and perhaps her new outlook would see her through her coming difficulties.

Two Wikki cruisers patrolled the area near Sol and another two stayed here. The major components for ships came in and they were shunted to Eito. There were lots of raw materials there and security could be much tougher. We put the first cruiser together in just two months. The Wikki were amazed at the improvements in it. The next ship would be even better again as we learned more.

Queen Bright Star reluctantly turned over to us all the information she had on her enemies. Wesley and Wyatt sent back strategies and samples of our newest weapons that made use of what the enemy had shown the Wikki when they used them. We were given all the raw data the Wikki had amassed since they started gathering scientific information. Most was old, poorly observed or incorrect for other reasons but there were a lot of weird things happening in the universe and we now wanted to find out why things happened. Wesley and Wyatt were very happy to be working on this data and only wanted more and more.

The Wikki went on the offensive with our weapons and we got the data back. The units were certainly better but not the magic bullet they were looking for. The ships we made were certainly better and the Wikki were clamouring for more.

Earth was given a contract to build ships too. This was to justify the two cruisers stationed there. They had far more humans and far fewer of my children but they did very well considering.

Doc, Irene, Gail or Haru Kazuyoshi talked to me. Usually only one of them did this at a time so we could keep our friendship going. We all had lots of work to do and not enough time to do it all. Craig and June did too but they were more involved with the fleet part of Star Fleet and I guess we could consider them married.

There was a lot of conflict on earth about us. They were voracious for information. We had brought the population partially into the ceramic age. They could make our hulls for us but they did not get the crystal information.

An orbital station was started and staffed with cadets and some other humans. We were the bus drivers and everybody landed at the academy so crystals and other pieces of equipment did not go missing. Humans were very inventive when it came to greed and they could find ways around many of our obstructions. We just had to stay ahead of them.

Four months after New Leaf left, she returned with some of the parts we needed and other supplies. Many low level techs arrived to learn and to work. The battleship was going to be built much quicker this way and the Wikki were making most of the vessel. They only brought the intricate components and the materials for making the fabricators necessary for making the large components.

New Leaf could not talk much because we both knew that the head queen would have her monitored now and when she got back.

New Leaf spent an hour trying to get me onto her ship and I followed Grotto's advice and stayed on the planet's surface. New Leaf may not like it but she may have been forced to do a lot of things she would rather not do.

She did come to the planet later. I showed her some of our missile batteries. I made a point of showing her that they were controlled by Wyatt and not the Tomma or Wikki. This let her queen know that I was not going to leave the planet alive or live for long after. One day this stipulation would be removed and I would be free to visit.

I asked when we were together, "Has your queen made any new demands other than the obvious ones?"

"She just wants more ships, more missiles and more computers."

"How is your war with the Procent going? There are reports that you have destroyed three more of their ships."

"There were seven in the last major battle. A Procent squadron came to find out what happened to some of their ships and left four more of their number. They fled with five heavily damaged ships. We are pursuing to finish the job."

"What did Bright Star think of my idea to get her enemies to fight each other instead of the Wikki?"

"Our people studied your proposal very carefully. They like the idea but do not believe they could pull this sort of operation off."

I knew that this was a method for the Wikki to get me to help so I said, "This means that she wants me to do this. I think it is important but I do not want to end up in a Wikki lab or a production facility."

"We would not do that, Wally."

"Until I am positive of that, I will just stay here. You are just going to have to try if you want to succeed."

"I felt you would say that."

The Tomma through my mates had learned of the Wikki double standard. The run-of-the-mill Wikki were simple and straightforward while the rulers were more like humans but nicer. I would not be really free unless the Tomma were very strong and able to come after me if I were taken. It was a given that the Wikki would try to do this when they have disposed of the majority of their enemies.

There were ways of relieving the Wikki of the urge to kidnap me. The Wikki could give us the specifications to any new equipment and we would make it. My method also allowed us to learn about my own abilities. I would stay here on the planet and undergo tests that were monitored by the Wikki, some of my mates and Wyatt. The Wikki did not like this because we were outside their main communication area. This meant that the head queen could not take over the testing if she chose. This left unsaid that the All Mother could still protect me.

Patricia and Liza had somehow became pregnant. Paul walked around very proudly. He had worked with the cadets from earth, here and the Wikki planets to construct our first corvette. It was the best ship we could build. This vessel had good teeth with the best missiles we could put in it. So far we had made small improvements as Wyatt or Wesley came up with them. The same missiles were given to the Wikki in trade.

The ship was crewed by cadets and a good portion of them were Wikki. There was still some difficulty in interfacing all facets of the crew but time would make it work or perhaps getting the Wikki crew members at a younger age.

New Leaf was shown the ship by her proud captain and crew. I saw a lot of good points about a crew like this. New Leaf saw this too but not as strongly. I was sure her queen would be noncommittal.

Betts came into my arms with a rush. "I missed you."

"I missed you more."

Erica and Maska hugged Betts too even though they had to pull her from my arms. More of my mates came into the room. Some had come on the battleship Betts had arrived in and some had come to see those that had gone on the trip

Betts said finally, "The kids are doing great. The academy has grown again. The space station is gigantic. The high-lift platforms put another segment into orbit."

We had left earth six years ago but I had never returned. My children and my mates were not as restricted as I was. After nearly five years, the Wikki still wanted me in their clutches.

The Wikki war was still doing badly but not nearly as it would have been without us. The Procent were looking to feed elsewhere or preparing for another invasion. The rest of our enemies were simply stepping up their own aggression to counter our improved weapons. We had made steady improvements but so had the opposition.

We settled down to talk about what had changed on earth and what had not. Soon we were onto the topic of our children and what they were doing. Earth was now well defended but that did not mean impregnable. The battleship had made the trip safely between worlds. It had been barely crewed but we had made up for it by making far more of it automated. Betts talked about relations with earth on the official level then on the woman or man on the street strata.

"China had been given another of our fabrication plants. Their population growth is being vigorously monitored by their government. India, Pakistan and the countries of the Mid East are not doing anywhere near what they could to restrict population growth. There is a lot of emigration going on but many countries are not accepting people in these numbers. Our health facilities are still swamped all the time. We have not let up on the stipulation that only the responsible country's citizens can seek this aid. We have had bombings and threats.

Corrma said, "We saw families lined up for kilometres trying to get into the health centres. I wanted to help but I knew that in the end nobody would try to hold their numbers down."

Erica said, "I saw that Canada is shifting to the right. I don't know how far they will go. Welfare is much harder to get. The current leaders are considering our proposal to provide them with the means to implant contraceptives in all newborn children. I do not like the thoughts of how eugenics is implemented but I know it has a lot of benefits."

I said, "I hope we are not going the same route as the Aristis. They must have sat around just as we are now sometime in their history." A social net was necessary. Most ideas that came around were abused by humans. Too many people relied on welfare when they should be looking for alternate means of employment.

Betts said, "We study history so perhaps we can avoid the curse."

Erica said, "Did they accept the law computers?"

"Not yet. Politicians are usually lawyers and they do not want to lose their comfortable positions."

Earth had changed a lot in the last few years. They now knew that they were far from being alone in the universe. This did not change them much. They were the same people with the same goals.

We gave out contracts for equipment to the countries that curbed the excesses that humans always brought about. This provided some employment for those that may have used welfare. We also gave assistance to those that assisted us. Some of this was in technology, medicine or emergency aid as in toxic spills or in natural disasters. There were always a lot of the latter. When one of our human allies got some of our technology the rest were usually jealous about it. The allies could use their newfound knowledge to gain a better position for themselves in relation to other countries. It did not take long for some of the richer countries to see how much they were losing and how much they would have to work to catch up.

Betts said, "Earth is building a lot of ships. In fact they are building more than we can provide crystals for. They are like children when they use the high lift platforms and the shuttles."

Corrma added, "They are still trying hard to find out what they can about our technology but they only get what we allow. So far it is just students that have not officially been accepted to Star Fleet yet. A lot of people in the military are still trying to get us to accept students that will send back whatever they can find out about us. They never learn."

I said, "They will never stop. What about the habitat on the moon?"

Corrma said, "It's progressing fine. The Academy built a huge high lift platform and flew ten million tonnes of sea water to the moon and put it into one of forty large underground tanks."

I was thinking now of our island and wondered why they were taking so much water. Ten million tonnes even times forty was still a drop when compared to what earth had. "Why so much?"

Corrma smiled as if she were waiting for this. "Earth gains a lot of water every year from meteors. They wanted to see how much they could lift for one but they wanted a safe place to live beneath the moon's surface. All that water though is just a cube about three quarters of a kilometre on a side. It helped lower the water level by a tiny bit, gave the kids a worthwhile project to do for school and they have fun building homes on your moon."

I could see them having fun and showing off because I would have loved to do that, especially when I was that young. I accessed Wyatt and said, "Hi Wyatt. Can you tell me how much water Cralto has gained in the last say thousand years?"

"I would have to make an estimate, Sir. I would say around seven point two billion tonnes."

That was a lot but not when it had to cover the entire planet. An old idea came to me so I asked, "What do you see would happen if we used high lift platforms to start taking a metre of water from the surface of Cralto and drop it on Eito?"

"Is your intention to make the world habitable?"

"Yes. We will have to extract oxygen from the soil of Eito and then crack silicon to make two atoms of nitrogen."

Wyatt said, "A preliminary estimate indicates that Cralto's climate will become slightly dryer. Rainfall will decrease six percent. Land mass will increase by seventeen percent. The storm activity will decrease somewhat. Portions of the native wildlife will suffer unless they are shifted while others will thrive.

"Eito's environment would match Cralto's in forty three standard years at a minimum if an atmosphere is generated within twelve and a half years."

More data flooded into my mind. Eito already had a partial atmosphere but most of it was water. This I figured was from meteors that it had captured. The projections showed that the planet would be habitable but it would be rocked by terrific storms. It would be between thirty and forty years later that the worst would be over.

The project would make a new home for us but the main beneficiary would be Cralto. The decrease in water levels would allow construction much like the Tomma had done when at their peak. The Tomma could then travel much easier on high roads or in the necessary canals that would have to be built.

"Wyatt, look more into the implications of shipping our water to Eito. I do not want to kill off the wildlife but I want to be able to build on firm land."

"I will do as you wish, Sir."

Betts said, "You want to terraform Eito? Or should I say make it like Cralto? I like the idea but it is going to be a lot of work. Building here on Cralto is going to be even more work. Why do you want to do this?"

"I want to get more humans off of earth. They will be given a higher level of technology. This will actually be a new carrot to induce the humans to play along. The projections about the survivability of earth was pushed back nearly four decades. This new project may give us double that time. By then we will have thought of something new."

The project was left in Wyatt's hands so to speak and we talked about other ways the humans were coming around. Our single battleship seemed to do wonders at gaining more recruits for the academy. We had tried to make it the least threatening possible and did this by giving tours.

The cadets on earth and Cralto were given the plans for a new lifting platform. The frame could be built as a massive undertaking but the rest of the structure would have to be designed as we went along.

I had many ulterior motives. The engines we would need would dwarf those of the largest battleship. The inertial compensator and the reactors would have to be much larger as well. The excess water on Earth could be sent to Mars so the planet could be colonised. A more important reason was that we would be able to make a much larger ship capable of moving humanity, the Tomma, the Aristis or even the Wikki to a place of safety. The galaxy was not a safe place. We could be destroyed quite easily. The Wikki could have used the antimatter to destroy our star or a nearby planet. We would die too though some may be able to escape.

The cadets naturally liked the idea of building this big. They could see how it was actually a large ship that was made to haul a large mass. It also meant that it would have to dwarf our battleship even though that was as large as the Aristis ever built.

The Wikki did not like this construction. We were a major supplier of missiles. If we shifted production then we would not be able to build as many missiles for them.

Grotto was the closest we had to an ambassador now and he said, "Friend Wally, the war is not going well. We need all the missiles we can get from your people."

I gave him a smile and said, "Friend Grotto, I have many cadets and many in the academy. Very few can make the crystals but everybody can make the hull of the ship. The production of missiles and the research behind them will not falter."

He was invited to interface with Wyatt for a few minutes and I saw the Wikki visibly relax. "I see now your methods and also your reasons for building a ship of this size. I also see how a large volume is allotted to my race. I thank you for that."

"The Wikki are important to me as we are to the Wikki. Weapons systems are being designed that will destroy any of our enemies. This may not last for long but this ship will assist all of our races."

"I will tell my queen this news. She was quite worried."

The excess manufacturing capacity was taxed as ceramic components were made for all of our construction needs. Major ships still had to be built as well as an ever increasing supply of missiles.

The missiles effectiveness had increased because some of my children as well as other cadets flew with the Wikki. There was a lot of resistance to this even though we proved ourselves time after time.

Our own ships flew with the Wikki and then went on our own missions. We were usually more effective than when the Wikki lead.

The insect like Procent were not as willing to fight now. We had destroyed many of their ships but not without losses of our own. We had also captured nearly a hundred and seventy living beings. The officers were all dead but we did have the common sailors. They were not very intelligent and we could not get them to cooperate with us. I may get them to do just that though if they were suitably approached.

The Procent ships we captured were rebuilt if possible and we now had a fleet of seventeen hulls. The computers though were altered to follow our commands. They were even more advanced than the Aristis machines and we learned a lot by working on them.

The Chlorins and the Khartts had stepped in and escalated their attacks. The Aristis had been beaten back and had actually left three minor worlds. It was now time to see if we could foment more fighting between our enemies.

We built nearly forty thousand missiles that were as close to the best that we had seen the Procent use.

The Khartts had a major outpost nearly ninety light years away. Captain Paul Jessop flew the flagship while Chuck and Jerry flew escorts that were all designed to look like what the Procent used.

The majority of my friends went on this mission along with fifteen of my wives. They would fly to the area of space that the Procent controlled then fly toward the Khartts' outpost. Just before the battle, the Procent bodies we had gathered would be dispersed among the ships. The computers would do the fighting and the living Procent would have the opportunity to fight the Khartts to the death.

Three hundred and twenty units after the fleet left I got word of what happened. I never felt so relieved in my life. Thirty time units later the ships came back along with a squadron of Wikki ships.

We had not suffered any deaths at all and in fact two of my wives had given birth while on this mission.

All the information was in the computers now but I listened to my friends and family describe what happened.

Wendy was the most excited and after greeting all of us, she said, "The mission did not go quite as planned. We encountered a small fleet of Procent ships."

When she paused, Betts said, "Come on, what happened then?"

"We destroyed five ships naturally then flew back along the path we had used to get there. We figured this would hide our trail. We had coasted into the corona of a star like what we planned so there would not be much to backtrack." She saw all of us waiting patiently and she said, "Chuck will tell what he did."

Chuck kissed his wife and said, "The Procent got one of our decoys but we got all of them. They were within Ultrawave range of at least one of their planets. I am sure they were as mad as hornets. We managed to drag our decoy to the nearest star to hid any evidence or at least most of it. Let Jerry tell some."