Chapter 3

The chemical analysis of the atmosphere inside the pod was FLUORINE! Apparently, these people breathed fluorine, and that is why the living compartment was lined with polyethylene, one of the few plastics virtually unaffected by fluorine at a comfortable temperature.

The beings inside were dead. They had probably committed suicide when it became certain that they would be captured. The bodies were wrapped in polyethylene film and shipped to a morgue equipped to handle such exotic creatures. Examination of the bodies showed that they did, indeed, breathe fluorine. About the only thing of real interest was that two of the bodies appeared to be male and the third was female, but that was only an educated guess.

Meanwhile, there was a great mystery about the pod, because there was no way in or out that could be found. However, once the chamber was cleared of fluorine, there were a lot of potentially useful bits of technology in there. One item we guessed was an FTL radio. We could hardly wait for the answer on that, because, if it was, then we could have an FTL radar just around the corner. Such a device would make a quantum jump in our fighting capability. Not only that, FTL radio was a great boon.

The problem we had to worry about was that these beings had reported home on our successful attack, and that might bring more attackers after Truse. Jacob pointed that out to HO'gor and HO'lang. That same day, a crash construction campaign was started to build fighting quality spaceships. Replicators were used wherever possible and the Trusans soon had a fleet of spaceships very similar to the human's ships.

While this was going on, 'Michael' was repaired. All five of the Earth ships were equipped with fully programmed food replicators—they were even producing the first meat that the humans had eaten in several years, because there had never been any cattle, etc. on the moon.

There was a replicator in the torpedo room which could replicate the new style torpedoes and the cruise missiles. Each gun was equipped with a replicator in its magazine, so they never had to fear running out of ammunition as long as their nuclear reactor system was functioning.

Janet popped another bit of news to them one night: she was pregnant. At this stage, there was no way to know which of her husbands was the father, but neither one cared. Three people walked a little lighter for a while, even though no adjustment had been made to the internal gravity.

Another piece of good news was that Abner no longer was troubled by an ulcer he'd had for over seven years. Every doctor he had consulted told him that he was stuck with it, because it was too small to be treated surgically, and the drugs for ulcer treatment didn't work on his kind of ulcer. In fact, every one of them had some sort of minor ache or pain that had not bothered them since they had been on this adventure. They did not know what to give credit to, but all were happy with the results.

The humans stayed in the Truse system until the Trusans were confident that they could beat off any return by the fluorine breathers. During this time, it was found that one of the devices was, indeed, an FTL radio. It was replicated so that the humans could take one back to Earth. The Trusans were not familiar with radar, so the humans were probably going to solve the FTL radar problem first, but the Trusans were still working on it. They certainly had more manpower to put into the effort.

Jacob suggested that several of their electronics experts travel to Earth to join in the project there, since a lot of the test equipment and such was already in place. The invitation was declined because the Trusans had an aversion to traveling out of their system. Nobody knew the reason, but a Trusan just got very nauseated at the thought of leaving his home planet for more than a few hours, or a couple of days at the most.

They never expected to use FTL flight, but would use the new spaceship fleet to protect their system and planet. The humans bid their new friends goodbye and headed back to Earth.

Even though they knew, intellectually, that it would happen, they still were surprised when it took them no more time to get home from Truse, 28 light years away, than it did to fly to Alpha Centauri that first time. There was a big celebration when they got home, and an even bigger celebration when they told of defeating the alien spaceship. The replicator and FTL radio were icing on the cake, especially when the replicator turned out an acceptable hamburger the first time.

Janet was fully examined by a gynecologist and pronounced to be thoroughly pregnant. Two of the other women in the fleet were also pregnant, so they had their own party. The husbands were invited, of course.

Until the FTL radar was available, there was no way to know of another attack soon enough unless somebody was there to see the attackers and could give warning. The only practical solution that anybody could think of was to have patrolling spaceships out beyond the orbit of Pluto to give warning by FTL radio.

It was decided to use four of the spaceships for a continuous patrol, and the fifth spaceship would act as a reserve if danger was sighted. The duty would be rotated so that each ship was patrolling for four weeks and home on Earth for two weeks. This should space out what could become onerous duty. Janet and the other women were not so far along in their pregnancy that they could not still serve on their ships with their husbands. This saved a lot of bent feelings.

Time passed and Janet was finding that her pregnancy began to interfere with her duties aboard 'Michael, ' so she decided to stay home the next time 'Michael' was scheduled to go on patrol. Jacob and Bill, her other husband, were not happy at being separated from Janet, and sex had little to do with it. In this kind of duty, 'Michael' could function well enough without Janet, so there was no need to juggle crews. However, the situation could get a little bit tight when both men wanted to be present for Janet's delivery of their new son. People on the other ships agreed to adjust their schedules to accommodate the birth, especially when the crew of 'Michael' agreed to reciprocate the favor.

The baby was born with no complications after a 12-hour labor. Janet named the baby John, after her father. Neither husband objected and John was off to a flying start.

Bill was a little older than Jacob, and his hair had begun to show traces of gray. However, people began to notice that his hair was turning back to its original very dark brown. Bill was teased unmercifully about dying his hair, though there was nothing around for him to use. The reason for the color change was not found, and it was eventually ignored, which made Bill very happy.

Abner was much older than most of the men, and he had a few wrinkles. He was the only ex-Navy man left who had been an officer. However, he had never actually served aboard a ship so it hardly counted. The important point was that he had a few facial wrinkles, but they started to disappear. He already looked 20 years younger than he did before the aliens had originally attacked Earth. Now, that really attracted the attention of everyone, especially the women. Again, there was no explanation for the change. His wife also noticed that Abner's sex drive was significantly increasing. She didn't say anything, yet, but it would not be long before she mentioned it to her female friends.

On top of everything else, a few bald heads started sprouting a fuzz. This was something that could not possibly escape notice among the men. Everybody also noted the coincidence that these former baldies were all members of a spaceship crew. The evidence was mounting up, so everyone with an obvious outward change was asked to come in for a thorough physical exam. This would include a genetic check, since they had the equipment, and it was all automatic.

What in the Hell!?! Every person checked, male or female, showed the same kind of genetic change from their original chart taken when they joined the crew sent to Luna. These were all people who were members of the spaceship crews. Dammit, a crosscheck had to be made. Everybody else was asked to come in for a genetic check, and none of them showed the change exhibited by the first sampling. Not only that, they still had the minor aches and pains they'd had in the last few years, yet, the spaceship crews were literally in perfect health. The difference obviously had something to do with the spaceships, but what was it?