Chapter 38

The defense force had a long way to go. The ships were coming along nicely but we were desperately short on people. No matter how automated or how much the AI's handled, it still required people to occupy the stations and make decisions. A destroyer alone required a complement of over a hundred. We already had more ships than there was personnel to run them. Hel, dad and mom were running a friggin' battleship!

They were beautiful ships, though. Monika and Philip (George and Gail's twins) had come up with some pretty vicious weapons for them, too. The ion cannon, particle beam laser, and plasma torpedoes, and nukes seemed very effective.

The pictures of the palace hadn't done it justice. The place was huge! It had appeared to be a towering structure on the screen but that was only half of it. The construction material had come from below it and the thing went down as far as it did up.

The entire side facing the ocean was transparent and went well below the surface of the water. It was also practically empty. When fully staffed, all of the offices for the interplanetary government would be here. This included housing for every employee and representatives from member planets.

There were even quarters for the Ambassador of the Ronir. Even when staffed the place would still be only one third filled. A large percentage had been set aside for expansion. We were still exploring for other habitable planets.

I loved my office. My mom had created every piece of furniture in it. Grandpa would have been proud and from the hug I received when I told her, the thought must have meant a lot.

I was quickly bored beyond capacity before long. There was really nothing for me to do since every conceivable detail had already been attended to before I arrived. Finally, I convinced a few people to do some traveling to help out the exploration fleet.

All of my wives joined me along with several of our children and friends as we headed for M67. This is a large star cluster located in the constellation Cancer and had not been examined yet due to the sheer volume of space left unexplored.

There were several sun-like stars in this system and we probably wouldn't even make a dent in it on the first trip. We had only checked the first possibility and were barely over the disappointment when Brianna, who was at the navigator's station, exclaimed "holy shit, I think I found a ship... And it ain't one of ours!"

Brian was on comms and added "I've got a transmission here and the language isn't one of Earth's! AI is on it and estimates thirty minutes for translation." I had the small fleet hold position and we did the only thing we could think of. We sent a message of our own asking for identification and in turn, telling them who we were. We knew they wouldn't understand it but hoped they'd at least be reassured.

To our utter astonishment we received another message less than a minute later. Receiving it wasn't a surprise but the fact it was in English was.

A musical voice was put on speaker saying "Eridani ship Sussmann one this is Boreal vessel Lifeboat three. Please state your intent."

After the surprise died down I sent another message. "Boreal vessel Lifeboat three, this is Sussmann one. We are on a peaceful exploration mission in this system and intend no harm. Is this your home system?"

We could hear what sounded like excited chatter and argument in another language before the transmission was cut off. Their reply took several minutes to arrive but the voice sounded composed. "Sussmann one, we know of no life forms in the Eridani system. Why are you speaking a language from the Earth planet?"

We explained our origins and the voice sounded skeptical. "At last observation the Earth was not predicted capable of interstellar travel for approximately two hundred thirty of your years from this time. Please explain.

They seemed amused with the reply of "it seems we have been underestimated"

The return communication was lighter in tone. "It appears so. We have decided to take this chance as it is possible it may be our last. We are the only surviving members of our race and are on an exploration of our own. Our ship tells us that it is possible to conduct this exchange on screen. Is this acceptable?" It was. We were all curious as to their appearance.

The surprise was unanimous on both sides when the screen came to life. It seems our choice of uniforms were identical. Neither side was wearing anything.

The first thing that struck me was relief. I half expected to see short, gray beings with big eyes and heads like in all the close encounters stories. The second thing was how much like us they were in body structure.

They were varying heights and the shapes were pleasing to the eye, at least to me. They were obviously all female. The biggest difference appeared to be coloration. They were light blue, with only minor variations between individuals. If it hadn't have been for the hair colors red, yellow, green and orange I would have said they looked like blue Asians. The ones with black hair would have if it wasn't for the pointed ears.

The Boreal captain recovered first. "We would request a meeting but there may be a problem" she stated. "We must first be sure that neither of us carries anything harmful to the other. Our ship assures us that yours is as capable of determining this as it is. May we exchange biological information?"

This was done as we slowly moved closer together. Our AI reported no problems and theirs did also. Even the atmosphere on our respective ships was compatible. The only difference was the gravity we were used to. The Borealans were used to a slightly heavier world than us so it was decided their representative would come to our ship. The captain asked if we would lower our defensive shield so she might enter with two others.

We were optimistic but not stupid. We lowered the shield on our ship but the others kept theirs up. We could see their vessel now and weren't very concerned about attack. It looked more like a freighter than a warship.

We expected to see a shuttle depart from it but instead three forms appeared on the bridge. This was a bit surprising to say the least. They were still unarmed and unclothed but even more attractive in person. In addition, I swore I could smell something a lot like lilacs in the air.

Tina, Kathy, Jackie, and Beth joined us in my office to talk. The visiting trio introduced themselves as Keeli, Jhompor, and Aleea before we began. The information we learned from them was as depressing as it was informative.

The occupants of their ship were the last remnants of their civilization. One ship full (347) of females was all that were left. They escaped the destruction of their race in it. They had one planet and a plague had decimated the population. All males and the rest of the females perished.

This group had manned a medical research station and left in the only ship they had when supplies began to run low. The males of their race were few and subservient. Since they were rare, none was allowed in space. They were searching for a new home and resigned to being the last of their race.

Their planet was much like Vanir and much more advanced than Earth. The transporter was just one of the many innovations common to them. Their communications were much more advanced than ours as was their cloaking system, among other things.

They were as amazed as we were. Their last information on Earth was fifty years old and would have been accurate except for us. They finally began to trust us a bit more and told us some other interesting facts.

The first was that because all the males of their race had died they had believed they were the last of their kind. This was cast into doubt after their AI had analyzed our biological data. It had been unsure because of one item. We had submitted data from several individuals. Half were from "regular" crew members and the other was from our group.

Their ship AI had been confused because the data from the crew was incompatible while ours had been deemed very close. The captain asked why there were two distinctly different versions of genetic markers in our race. This was also news to us and required an investigation.

We queried our AI and found that the information was there but hadn't been imparted to us. Kip (the AI) explained that he had believed we already knew. It seems that every person who the Gods had touched was changed in this way, along with any offspring they had produced.

This didn't help the understanding of the Borealans, who didn't believe in any religion at all. They were happy enough about the difference to take us at our word though, and requested to be allowed permission to join us for further investigation.

We explained that it would require a consensus that included those not with us before a decision could be reached and would require returning to Vanir for consultation. This confused them and Keeli asked why we couldn't hold a conference from here.

When we explained the communications lag they understood and offered to share some knowledge. They had the capability to communicate instantaneously over great distances and would be happy to have our ships discuss the technology. Since Vanir would be unable to reply, we asked them to join us there.

That brought more difficulties. Their ship had developed a problem in what they described as their "star drive" and they could not reach even light speed without it. Parts were needed and they didn't have any spares. It was our turn to surprise them when Kathy asked why they couldn't replicate the parts. The reason was that they didn't have replicators. We quickly offered to help them and in a matter of hours the specs that had been sent from their ship had been converted into the needed items and their ship was being repaired.

The job was almost done when Brianna alerted us once more. "Another inbound, Matt. It's a big mother fucker, too!"

She put it on the screen as soon as it was in range. I heard Aleea gasp and say something in her native tongue and looked to Keeli. Her eyes were wide as she answered my unspoken query. "She said that it's the Kraal, and that we are dead. I am afraid that Aleea is quite correct."

A few questions revealed that the Kraal were vicious beings who enslaved anyone they found and destroyed anything they couldn't capture. The Borealan ship was almost totally defenseless but even the best weapons their race possessed had proven ineffective against the Kraal. It looked like ours would be tested soon. There was no way I would allow anyone to be captured and running was out of the question with the Borealan ship incapacitated.

The hail from the Kraal battle cruiser was passed from Keeli's ship to ours. Roughly translated, it simply said "surrender or die". I had her pass a reply but I'm not sure how "go piss up a rope" translated. Evidently it was well enough. It's a good thing the shields had already been fully charged. The first blast of whatever they were using sent a violent shudder through the cruiser.

The news wasn't good. Beth, who was manning the weapons console, reported that the shields were down to 70%. I immediately ordered "plasma ports one and two, fire! Notify the other ships, fire at will!"

It didn't even scratch the surface, so I followed with "jackhammer port three, fire! Target port seven and eight nukes on the impact point... fire!" I thought this might actually work. The jackhammer was a pulsed particle beam laser designed to punch through shields. If we could make a dent, two fifty kiloton nukes should get their attention.

I saw Tina nudge Brian off the comms console and begin typing furiously as their second salvo hit and heard "shields at ten percent!"

The scene on the viewer was not promising. At best, we had only made a dent in their defenses. The last thing I heard was Tina shouting "priority pulse message for Professor Hawking, eyes only, send!" before the last fatal blow from the Kraal ship hit.

Stop, Rewind, Stop, Play

The job was almost done when Brianna alerted us once more. "Another inbound, Matt. It's a big mother fucker, too!"

She put it on the screen as soon as it was in range. I heard Aleea gasp and say something in her native tongue and looked to Keeli. Her eyes were wide as she answered my unspoken query. "She said that it's the Kraal, and that we are dead. I am afraid that Aleea is quite correct."

A few questions revealed that the Kraal were vicious beings who enslaved anyone they found and destroyed anything they couldn't capture. The Borealan ship was almost totally defenseless but even the best weapons their race posessed had proven innefective against the Kraal. It looked like ours would be tested soon. There was no way I would allow anyone to be captured and running was out of the question with the Borealan ship incapacitated.

The hail from the Kraal battlecruiser was passed from Keeli's ship to ours. Roughly translated, it simply said "surrender or die". I had her pass a reply but I'm not sure how "go piss up a rope" translated. Evidently it was well enough. It's a good thing the shields had already been fully charged. The first blast of whatever they were using sent a violent shudder through the cruiser.

Things were looking grim, but then the situation changed drastically. The Kraal ship exploded! The energy release was so intense that the rest of the shields failed but at least we were still in one piece.

Comms were still up and Brian shouted "we're being hailed by Viper and Bloodhound! Monika, Philip, George, and Professor Hawking requesting our status and permission to come aboard!"

This was quickly granted, and after the introductions we found out what happened. Even though Tina had been the instigator, even she was confused.

It was a strange story. I seems that when Tina realized we were about to be destroyed (which was news to us!), she manage to get a message out to the Professor. Every available ship had been sent to our rescue, only to find a debris field. All of our three ship fleet had been destroyed. The prof immediately accellerated testing on his newest project.

Philip and Monika got busy also. The end result was that a black hole was employed to travel back four weeks. Two weapons, labelled "hyperpedoes" were fired as soon as the Kraal ship was in range. This was a weapon capable of hyperspace travel carrying plasma charges. With the co-ordinates of the center mass of the Kraal ship that Tina had sent, they reappeared in real space at that point and detonated, destroying the vessel. We were dead for a fucking month and didn't even know it!

I Hugged the rescuers and told the Professor I owed him one. He just laughed an said "are you kidding? You already saved me, after all. Besides, I'm having so much fun I'll owe you for as long as I live. Saving you with this discovery is just icing on the cake!"

I was shaken and barely managed to reply "you don't understand, Stephen. I'm not thanking you for saving me. I'm thanking you for saving my mates and my crew. Through my ineptitude and inability to defend them, I caused their deaths. This is something that I can never forgive myself for. I will owe you until the end of time. Whatever you need or want, name it and it it will be yours."

His reply did not improve my mood. When he said "being here, and having friends and colleagues like you is all the payment I require." I bolted for my quarters.

When I arrived there I sealed the door and ordered it not to open unless I requested it. I began pacing, trying to sort out what had gone wrong. I didn't second-guess not running. There was no way I could have left over three hundred of the Borealans behind.

It was true that we had been dealing with an unknown enemy and had no idea of their capabilities. It was also true that we had been hopelessly outgunned and outclassed. Still, I had lost three ships (four, counting the Borealan) and killed my crew as a result. I should have been able to find a way out of the situation we had been in!

I couldn't have been in the room more than ten minutes when the door opened and my mates stormed in. It figured that they would find a way. They were all smarter than I was.

It seems they had been talking to our Borealan guests to gather ammunition because they let me have it. Connie took the lead. "What the fuck are you doing? I've never seen you moping around like some wimp who got sand kicked in his face before! Grow a fuckin' pair!"

Beth took over, and she wasn't any nicer. "You've had it too damn easy. Those stupid fuckin' terrorists were no competition, and the politicians weren't much tougher. You finally found something a little harder to deal with and you wanna tuck your poor widdle head under the covers! I thought we married a man!"

OK, that one hurt. I lost it. "You don't fuckin' get it, do you?", I snarled "I fuckin' killed all of you! Don't you get it? Because of me, you died! If it wasn't for Tina, the Professor, Monika, and Philip, you would have stayed dead! I fucked up!"

When Faith started, I thought it would be more of the same. Instead, she gasped "that's it? That's what set you off? What in the Hel do you think you could have done? You used every fucking weapon we had, and used them well! The Borealans told us that those Kraal fuckers have been running wild for over a hundred years without a serious challenge! The ship that was destroyed was probably the first one they've lost in all that time. They only leave their sector to get more slaves and steal more cargo. No one has been able to touch them. The question is, are you man enough to get off of your ass and deal with it?"

They say that behind every successful man is a good woman. I couldn't lose with eleven of the best. I promised to give it a shot, but first we had to get home.

We delayed our return for a couple of days because of more information the Borealans had. They had discovered a compatible planet a few days before stumbling upon us, but after finding no life forms there decided to keep looking.

We found the planet to be much like Earth, though a bit larger and with more land mass. It had two moons and unlike Vanir, there would be a night here. Vanir had only daylight and twilight due to our two suns. This one circled one sun and would also have more drastic seasonal changes instead of our basic summer/spring like weather.

Since our new friends had found it first we let them name it. They chose "Anaboreal", which meant "New Boreal in their language.

Tina finally got curious enough about that to ask what we had all been wondering. "How is it that all of you speak English?" After they quit doing what I think was laughing, Aleea explained that they checked on us every hundred years or so and had quite a bit of information in their database. When their AI had recognized the language it had given them the capability to speak and understand it. We would definitely have to find out how that was done!

We prepared for the trip home and gave their ship the co-ordinates before they returned to it. When we arrived there two days later we realized we had made a huge error in not finding out more about them. They were already there and more than a little frightened. They were surrounded by half of our navy, who had no idea who they were and wouldn't listen to them until finding out if we were OK. The situation was resolved quickly and we apologized profusely. They understood the caution though and accepted it.

Their ship could not land on a planet and they had no shuttles. They didn't really need them anyway and since their AI was perfectly capable of handling the ship, all of them transported to the palace. There were 348 of them now. One was an android who was in constant contact with their ship for real-time communication with the AI. Mom and dad were thrilled, especially dad. Not because we had discovered that other life really did exist out here but because he could throw a party!

The meeting was a mere formality and they were all accepted with open arms. The party was a rousing success and the guests were a big hit with everyone. So was the announcement of the new planet they had discovered.

Unfortunately, I had to ruin the mood by telling everyone what had happened. Time travel was a funny thing. The only people here who really knew everything that had occurred were the ones who had actually gone back. The mood was somber as I called a meeting of the defense staff for the morning. I acted as upbeat as possible and even gave a little "rah rah" speech. The mood seemed to change to one of enthusiasm once they accepted the challenge.

It was kind of entertaining just watching the Borealans sample all of the food. Much of it they had heard about but never expected to see, much less sample. Being women, it surprised none of the males when they went after the chocolate. It did seem odd that they went after green vegetables and fruit until Keeli, who had been by our side all evening, explained that they hadn't had fresh food for ten of our years. They had been wandering for that long.

Keeli was really fun to be around and I found myself strangely attracted to her. It wasn't just because of her hauntingly alien beauty, either. She had a great personality and all of my mates seemed to be crazy about her. It turned out to be even crazier than I thought because when the party was over they invited her to our suite for the evening. I guess I was still as ignorant about females as ever because I hadn't caught on to their plan yet.

Keeli loved the living quarters as much as we did. It was two stories tall and both below and above the oceans surface. Her favorite, like ours, was below. Our entire wall was the biggest aquarium in existence. She also enjoyed the taste of good bourbon but it didn't seem to affect her in the least.