Chapter 7
Kaista, 14 Oraa, 4400 Orthodox Calendar
Wednesday, 24 December 2013, Terran Standard Calendar
Kaista, 14 Oraa, year 1326 of the 97th Generation, Karinne Historical Reference Calendar
Foxwood East, Karsa, Karis
Jason woke up feeling a little better, but still quite battered because of the last couple of days.
The clock showed him that it was only 0400, two hours until sunrise, and the house was quiet. Ayama wasn't up yet, and the guards were all outside, clearing out of the house during the night to watch the strip as was their habit. He slipped out of bed and went to the window, where the light of the full moon, reflecting from Kosigi high above, painted the ocean in steels and dark grays, a ribbon of molten light playing across its broken surface. The window was open, letting the salt smell of the sea flow into the room. He stood with his hands on the sill and looked down onto the grayish beach, a beach that looked to be made of glowing light as the white-lavender moonlight painted the white sand of the beach.
What a beautiful morning. It soothed him somewhat, helped him calm his jumbled thoughts and look at last night rationally. Last night had not been entirely good. The conversation between him and Dahnai continued after dinner, but no matter how what he said or how hard he tried, Dahnai would not budge. He didn't want to be angry with her, but her stubborn refusal to listen to him got him honestly angry. She simply did not want to listen to any viable argument he made. She'd made up her mind, and damn anyone or anything that tried to talk her out of it.
God, Zaa was such a blessing. When Jason couldn't make her see reason, Zaa stepped in and rather harshly forced her to make several concessions, throwing Imperial law at her like a wrecking ball. When Dahnai flatly stated that the child would be raised in Imperial tradition, with a foster family, Zaa trapped her with her nearly encyclopedic knowledge of Imperial law, custom, and tradition. Zaa deftly worked her like a lawyer, forcing to admit a truth, then attacking her based on that truth. When Dahnai admitted that the child would be fostered by a family of Merrane's choosing, Zaa jumped on that and made her admit that it would be a family of Dahnai's choosing. When Dahnai sniffed out her intent, she quickly made it clear that the child had to be raised in the palace. Zaa continued on her attack path, forcing Dahnai to concede that any family that lived in the palace could foster the child. When Dahnai had to admit to that, Zaa pounced, forcing Dahnai to pick a foster family Jason would find acceptable. When Dahnai retaliated by stating that the child had to learn Merrane traditions and receive Imperial education, Zaa countered with a tack that confused Dahnai at first, but baited her right into the trap. When Zaa made note that it only took one to teach, and Dahnai agreed, Zaa slammed her with the simple fact that the foster family could consist of one Merrane and one Karinne, both of which would instruct Raisha in the respective things she needed to know. When Dahnai rather weakly pointed out that the two had to be married, Zaa almost snorted in contempt and countered that marriage was a piece of paper.
What came next was a brilliant bit of haggling. Zaa and Dahnai fought each other like wolverines as they hashed out just how exactly such a family would be formed. They debated, wrangled, even threatened for over an hour, the main sticking point being just exactly which house would supply the female foster parent. They were both adamant that the other house would supply the male parent, until Jason got tired of it and made them flip a coin. Both of them looked utterly scandalized by the very thought of it.
"It's the fairest way," he said wearily. "Because neither of you are going to give up. So let random chance decide."
And so they did. Jason supplied an old quarter out of his coin collection, and Dahnai called heads while Zaa flipped it.
It came up tails.
Dahnai was furious, but Zaa didn't give her a chance. After that, they fought over the training regimen that Raisha would undertake. Dahnai started getting a bit pissy after they fought over that, so she made a big stink over something as simple as a visitation schedule so Jason could see his daughter, which infuriated Zaa, that she would deny Jason his daughter just because she was pecky over losing an argument.
After about five hours, they finally broke up, and they broke up with an agreement neither side entirely liked, but both sides could live with. Raisha would be fostered in the palace, and both Miyai and Raisha would be fostered by a Karinne mother and a Merrane father, keeping the daughters together, but the Karinne mother would change her name and go by the Merrane name. The parents would be married within the takir and have nine months or so to settle in at the palace and get to know each other, so they could provide a stable home for Raisha and Miyai. The Karinne mother would teach Raisha about her Karinne heritage, and the Merrane father would instruct her in Imperial tradition. The Karinne mother would also be there to protect Raisha from tampering from the Siann, and act as a powerful defender of her person.
The Karinne mother would be a Generation.
Jason did not like that, but Zaa dismissed him. "I know exactly who to approach for this task," she had told him simply. "Saelle Karinne. She is single, young, powerful, and was an Imperial Marine, so she is extensively trained for combat and can protect the children. She is also of the proper temperament for the task. I will also ensure she has two Kimdori with her to protect her," she told him assuringly. "Saelle would enjoy this task. It was her hope to be a teacher after her conscription. Well, she will mold an Imperial Princess. That will appeal to her greatly."
He knew Saelle personally, as he knew every other Generation personally. She was exactly as Zaa described. She was 31 years old, and had yet to have any of her required four children by different fathers so she could focus on her military career and education, intending to have her children after she became a teacher. She was young, pretty, and was one of the most powerful Generations in raw talent. She had been an Imperial Marine, only just finishing her conscription when she was brought to Karis, and had served in the KMS for the last five years. She was a Lieutenant, a Gladiator rigger who commanded a squad of Gladiators that was stationed at Karsa, and Zaa was right in that she wanted to be a teacher. She was taking satellite classes at the Academy in youth education, and intended to resign from the KMS and become a primary school teacher when she graduated. Saelle was a very adventurous young lady, and she probably would find the idea of raising a pair of Imperial Princesses to be an intriguing proposition. He just wasn't sure how she'd react to having to marry a Merrane man she didn't know and take the name Merrane for the next 11 years.
He would find out. Saelle was going to meet him today, where he would offer her the position.
Jason wasn't sure he liked this idea. It put two Generations on Draconis. The idea that two Kimdori would be there to defend Saelle and his daughter did hearten him, especially when Zaa forwarded that the two would go in the guise of giruzi, masquerading as Saelle's personal pets. The Kimdori would always be there to defend Saelle and Raisha, and Dahnai would never know.
So, the Raisha situation was, for the moment, settled. Jason didn't like it, Dahnai didn't like it, but they'd live with it. It was a compromise in the truest sense of the word. And, thank God, once the compromise was put in place, much of the hostility between them had bled away… so much so that it was Dahnai asleep in the bed, not Jyslin, staying over with him just so they could get over their fight with a little intimacy. Jyslin was over at Dahnai's house, entertaining Kellin.
The house. Well, at least in that regard, Dahnai hadn't been a bitch. She really liked the house Jason had built for her, found it well furnished and well appointed, even with her own secure communications room, which she was glad to have. The guards had moved in to inspect it, and after only twenty minutes, they came back and admitted that the house was more than adequate for her Imperial Majesty. They didn't like the idea that it was against the fence, much preferring a house in the center of the defense perimeter, but that was life. There was no one on Karis that would hurt Dahnai. The guards tightened their patrols of the street on the other side of the strip, annoying Erinn quite a bit since it was his house on the other side of the fence. Dahnai and Kellin had… christened the house almost as soon as they got here, and after spending their first night in the house, she was spending her second night with him, mainly as an apology for being a bitch.
Poor Kellin. Symone and Jyslin had stalked that poor boy from the moment he put his feet on Karis soil. They let him and Dahnai have their fun the afternoon and night they arrived, but he was a hunted man the moment the sun rose the next morning. Symone trapped him in his house the next morning, when Jason and Dahnai and Zaa were having their discussion. Almost before Symone was done with him, Jyslin took possession of him. After they were finished with him, he tried to go out to the beach and relax a while, but Symone came after him again, getting chastised for going so far as to perform oral sex on him in broad daylight on the beach, something that wasn't illegal on Karis, but also wasn't often done on the strip as a matter of custom and consideration… though he and Jyslin had violated that custom quite a few times, he had to admit. After that, Kellin started hiding, but Jyslin and Symone were determined huntresses, chasing him down and just about wearing him to exhaustion.
When Jason asked what the hell they thought they were doing yesterday afternoon, Jyslin just gave him a smile and said "this is between him and us. The little punk made a snarky little comment to us back on Draconis about how he'd make us beg for mercy, and we're making him pay for it."
"So, all this chasing Kellin is just for revenge?"
"Well, it's fun too," she'd admitted with a slight, evil little smile. "We won't give him a moment's rest until he admits defeat."
That was about what they did to him. By last night, Kellin was exhausted, and when they both trapped him by his pool after dinner and threatened to drag him into the house, he finally admitted defeat.
Jyslin had shown mercy on him last night and just went to keep him company, but from what he was feeling coming from Jyslin at the moment, he clearly didn't need long to recover.
That was one reason why Dahnai loved him. He had stamina.
So, it was an uneasy peace that had descended on the strip, between Jason and Dahnai. It was another issue put behind them, albeit grudgingly, and left him ready to tackle the next major project, which was the return to Exile. That would take place in two days, so they could celebrate Christmas. And, naturally, Aya had put her foot down and refused to allow him to go. He would be permitted to go after the interdictor was at full power, after the system was fully protected from Consortium invasion. The interdictor would be completed today, nearly a day ahead of schedule because Myleena had put all resources on completing it, and it would be immediately moved out of the dock and a new interdictor would be started in its place.
They already had everything planned out. First, 5 Kimdori ECM ships, ships designed to mask activity in an area, would go in and mask the planet from sensors and surveillance. Once they gave the all clear, the interdictor would be brought in with a task force of 79 ships, and once it was turned on, Aegis and a task force of 37 Karinne and Kimdori ships would jump the Stargate to the edge of the interdictor field and then bring it in under normal engines, which would take 6 hours if they did things right, if they timed it correctly. The Stargate would be turned on and linked to the Stargate here at Karis, and then they would watch and wait as the Kimdori worked to conceal the rest of the system behind jammers and false echo transponders, making it appear completely normal and uninhabited by an advanced race, just as they had hidden Karis for over a thousand years. The Consortium had already come to Exile, inspected it, and left, so they felt it was safe to set up, since the Consortium most likely thought that the Karinnes had abandoned the planet, taking absolutely everything with them but the houses, even scooping up the crops and fruit trees. Zaa and Jason agreed that odds were very high that the Consortium would never return to the system, would have no reason to do so. The planet's gravity was too high for the insectoids to survive, and there was nothing there for them unless they wanted a farming planet… and if they did need one, why did they never return and claim the planet when they had the chance? So, they felt that the Consortium had written off Exile, and that allowed them to simply go back and claim the planet for themselves. The Exiled would be allowed to return home, and Jason would then go and negotiate with the Gruug for the right to farm on their planet, and offer to trade with them… but treat them fairly. Jason would not do to the Gruug what the Trillanes did to his people, or the Americans did to the American Indians. He would not take anything from them.
A perfect night. He breathed in the salty air of his beachside home and found a moment of peace and contentment. Today and tomorrow there would be no stellar politics, no wrangling, no brooding, nothing but friends and family and the impending holiday they would celebrate in the morning. Today and tomorrow were days off, damn it all. He'd already told everyone that unless the Karis sun was about to explode, handle it yourself. After the crushing letdown of the summit and the intense fighting with Dahnai over Raisha, he just wanted two days of peace and quiet to recover before going back to the real world.
He could never tire of that view. Despite being raised in a cold state, he could admit that he loved his home, he loved living on the beach more than anything else, where all he had to do was look out the window and see to the horizon, see endless possibilities. And it never failed to calm him.
He heard Dahnai shift behind him, then sensed more than heard her stalk up behind him. She put her hand on his shoulder and came up beside him, looking out the large window with him for a long moment in silence. Jason, are you alright? I know Raisha—
No. No more talk of Raisha, he cut her off. That matter is settled, Dahnai. Let's just move on.
She sighed, then leaned against his shoulder. He put his arm around her and they enjoyed the view for a moment. I'm sorry if you thought I'm being a bitch, she sent sincerely.
That's alright. You're an Empress, you're supposed to be a bitch. Isn't it in the job description?
She giggled, almost girlishly, and slid her hand up and down his back fondly. So, explain this Christmas holiday. Why give gifts now instead of on New Year's Day?
It's based on a Terran religion, so excuse me if I don't explain it to you in detail. To maintain peace in the house, me and Jyslin celebrate it and Easter in a secular manner, just as we celebrate the flower festival and New Year's Day in a secular fashion. Neither of us wanted to give up our favorite religious holidays, so we compromised.
You mean Jys hasn't converted you to the true faith? she asked with mock surprise.
Like you're religious.
When being Empress demands it, she admitted immediately.
Well, Jys is a tad more serious than you are. She's not devout, but she believes in your gods. I believe in mine. So, religion is not discussed in this house.
What about Rann?
Rann's a touchy subject, he answered honestly. We decided that we wouldn't use him as some kind of trophy. We'll let him make up his own mind what he wants to believe, so we never discuss religion with him or around him. When he asks, we simply tell him that his mother and father have different beliefs, so we never talk about it. I suspect there's quite a bit of cheating going on, though, he noted. Jyslin doesn't talk about it, but fuckin' Maya will. Any time Rann asks about religion, Maya will give him the whole conversion speech. But that's okay, I have my lead blocker back from Terra, he said with a smirk.
Huh?
Temika is a devout Baptist, and she'll be happy to cheat for me as much as Maya cheats for Jyslin.
Dahnai laughed lightly. I never realized living here was so exciting, she sent with amusement. So many dramas going on simultaneously.
It's not boring, he sent dryly. If we don't have a holy war going on, Kumi and the twins are at each other's throats, or one of the girls is playing a prank on someone, or one of the kids blows something up, or Zora is crashing my Novas, or something.
Well, at least you're having fun, she sent lightly, patting him on the lower waist. So is your wife, with Kellin, she added wickedly.
Yes, I know, he nodded. I'm surprised Kellin has any energy left after what they did to him yesterday.
I gave them permission, she sent with a naughty tilt in her thoughts. Kellin was talking some trash, so I gave them permission to teach him what happens when he runs his mouth. I was a bit shocked to see Symone giving him a blowjob on the beach, though. Kellin shares my aversion to sex in public. I'm amazed he let Symone go down on him.
Symone can be very persuasive, he sent dryly. And it's hard for a man to say or do much of anything when a woman has a very firm grip on his balls.
Dahnai laughed. That's why Trelle made it a man's control handle, she teased. So we can make you do what we want.
"Pshaw," he snorted, which made her laugh harder. Be careful what trash you talk, woman. You have a couple of very convenient control handles yourself.
Okay, okay, that's true, she admitted with a giggle. Why don't you come back to bed? she invited. I think we can make love this time without looking like we want to strangle each other. Besides, Kellin is getting to me a little.
You did look a little angry, he chuckled as he turned them back towards the bed.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to kiss you or punch you in the nose, she admitted. I'd never had angry sex before. I don't see what some see in it, she mused clinically. It's much better when it's fun.
If you didn't feel like it, why the hell did you say yes?
I thought you wanted it.
I thought you wanted it.
She laughed ruefully. Well, then I say we forget it ever happened. Now, let's make it hard for Kel and Jys to fall asleep when they're done, she sent purringly, pulling him down into bed with her.
I can go for that, he agreed, giving her a hungry kiss.
He wasn't sure if they made it hard for Jyslin and Kellin to fall asleep, but Rann certainly made it hard for them. He and Shya burst into the room before it was even sunrise; Shya was sleeping in Rann's room while staying with her mother during the day, while Maer and Sirri were staying in the house with Dahnai. Jason was shaken awake by Rann's small hands, and he heard Dahnai groaning beside him. "Shya, unless you're about to die, I'm going to kill you," Dahnai protested.
"Isn't it Christmas yet?" Rann asked excitedly.
"No, it's not Christmas yet," Jason growled at them. "Now go back to your room and let us sleep!"
"I told you that this wasn't a good idea," Shya pouted as they filed from the room under the withering stares of their parents.
"Little twerps," Dahnai grated, then she laughed ruefully as she grabbed hold of him. "Is it Christmas yet? Is it? Is it?" she said.
"Don't make me send you to your room," he threatened.
"How is that a threat? Kellin is there," she purred.
"Then go see if you can get him up," he said grumpily.
"Why, when I can get you up," she said with a naughty grin.
"Shut up and go back to sleep."
She laughed, then snuggled in against him. "I think I can do that," she agreed.
It seemed he was shaken awake again only a second later. "Rann!" he growled.
"I've been accused of being a boy," Symone's voice called teasingly.
He opened his eyes to see Symone standing over him, leaning down with her hands on his shoulder.
She was naked.
Symone, go back to bed, I'm tired, he complained, closing his eyes.
Oh like that's ever stopped me before, she sent impishly as she pulled the covers off them. Tim got called into work, she told them as she flopped into bed with them.
Called into work? Why? he asked.
The Moridon asked him and Miaari to go to Kosigi. He didn't really tell me.
I should—
You'll do nothing. Two days, no work unless the sun's about to explode, remember? she sent pointedly. Now make room, she commanded, squirming in between Jason and Dahnai, then pulling the covers back up. Now we can go to sleep, she told them with a satisfied current, putting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.
And he adhered to that. Though the temptation was great to call in and find out what was going on with Tim, he did not. He spent the morning herding about ten kids through a shopping plaza in Karsa so Dahnai could buy gifts for tomorrow's Christmas, and he enjoyed every minute of it. He had his own five children with him, Danelle, Jora, Myri's daughter Kiita, and all three of Dahnai's children. Aya and a contingent of 16 guards went with them, of course, most of them sent by Dahnai's field captain Trabi, commanding the Imperial Guard who had come with the Empress, but Jason didn't mind. They kept the kids from scattering. After a wonderful lunch prepared by Ayama and Surin, Jason, Tim, and Temika used their expertise to help Dahnai put up a Christmas tree in her guest house, to "get into the mood of this Terran holiday," she said, then Jason enjoyed a very un-Christmas strip tradition and spent most of the afternoon just vegging out in his favorite lounge chair on the beach, eyes closed as he cheated just a little bit and read the daily status reports loaded to his gestalt, which were favorable. Zaa's extra workers had arrived, and Myleena had quickly gotten them into the production line. There were now 27 bays being used to build interdictors, 16 of which were being converted to interdictor production even as they were built, and the first of them was slated to come off the line in 9 days. The building would go slow at first, as production equipment needed to build the interdictors was itself built and the new Kimdori workers got fully settled into the production method, but it would accelerate drastically once that equipment was brought to bear. Kosigi was now fully mobilized to interdictor production.
Cybi was also generating the production plans for the fighter prototype she had had in her memory since the Third Civil War. Cybi was the ultimate engineer in that she had an utterly vast base of knowledge from which to draw, as she was the repository of all scientific knowledge gathered by the Karinnes during their entire history. That gave her the ability to snap-design equipment, generate production plans, and even come up with ideas of her own. Cybi had taken the original Wolf fighter and redesigned it using her data to make it much more compatible with modern technology, and it would, quite simply, blow the doors off a Raptor. And Raptors were such good fighters that the KMS had retrofitted them for use. Cybi had even already started building the prototype, using an automated construction bay in Kosigi that she controlled. The automated bay was mainly used for building smaller self-contained devices like engines, but it had the capability of building a Wolf fighter from scratch. Automation produced the vast majority of their smaller devices, robotic factories that cranked out usable goods by the house, weaponry, PPGs, Crusader armor, and the components of the Gladiator which were assembled in a production plant near the Shimmer Dome. But when it came to large-scale devices, actual living workers had been found superior to automated construction. That was why the ships were built by workers rather than by robots. Robots certainly helped in that construction, but they were controlled by workers. The usual method about it was that robots built the small pieces that the workers then put together to build the ships, using robots and other devices to assist in that construction.
I wouldn't do that, Rann, he sent without opening his eyes.
Rann, who had been about to dump a bucketful of sand over Maer's head, jumped and quickly knelt down by the older boy, his smile all sunshine.
Too bad for Rann that Jason could access Cybi's cameras from his gestalt.
He sighed and put his hands behind his head, pondering what was coming. First, he had to talk to Sk'Vrae… personally. He was of a mind to invite her to Karis while Dahnai was still here, so the three of them could sit down and have a little talk. Sk'Vrae was the Imperium's only ally against the Consortium, and there needed to be some discourse, as well as to try to find some way to end the Urumi feud against Merrane. The Urumi feud against Trillane could go right on ahead, as far as he was concerned, but there had to be trust between Dahnai and Sk'Vrae if any alliance was to hold between them. He knew that Zaa would flood the Skaa and the Alliance with agents now, keep an eye on what they were up to, of which he was grateful, but it was the smaller empires that interested him more at the moment. The main one they had to lure to their side was the Nine Colonies, which was on the back side of the Collective from the Imperium. That was connected territory to the allied powers, and it would be both easy for them to defend and would increase the volume of interdicted space.
And that was the hope, to create an entire interdicted space, not pockets of interdicted space in a volume. It would take thousands and thousands of interdictors, but Jason was already looking at the possibility of building a sphere of interdictors set at 1 light year intervals around the Imperium and the Collective, forming a barrier through which they could not jump, in addition to the interdictors in place at every system. That would force them to undertake a yearlong journey just to get in, and then have to endure another year just to reach the system.
That idea was already being planned for Karis. The interdictor at Karis would not be the only one. As soon as the Imperium and the Collective were covered, they'd start setting interdictors out in deep space to increase the effective interdicted space around the planet. The number of interdictors it would take to do this would increase exponentially with every shell, so they were aiming at only three layers, which would require 43 interdictors laid out in a specific pattern to create a total barrier of three light years in any direction from the edge of interdicted space to Karis. If he wanted four light years, that number skyrocketed to 253. The interdictors couldn't totally stop all travel in the space, since one could sync the engines to the "tailwind" side of the interdiction and jump to the edge of the next interdictor's effect. But it still created extended barriers that made it take longer and longer to get to Karis.
A shadow covered the sun, and Jason opened his eyes. He looked up and saw a rather pretty young Faey woman with smoky gray hair, not quite black but not quite gray, like a charcoal color, which was long and straight, held back from her face by a headband, and penetrating rose-colored eyes much like Myleena's. She was wearing a KMS duty uniform. "Your Grace," she said with a smile. "You wanted to see me?"
"Saelle," he said, sitting up. "Uh, sorry, they didn't tell me you'd get here so quick. Please, sit down." She smiled and seated herself quite sedately on the lounge chair next to him. "Sorry about the, ah, informal conditions," he said, motioning down at his unclad body.
She laughed. "Well, never let it be said I dressed up for the occasion, your Grace," she said, and she started unbuttoning her jacket. "I'll be happy to conduct the meeting on your terms. Besides, this is a gorgeous beach," she said with a distant smile, looking out over the water.
Jason chuckled. "Well, I guess if you don't mind, help yourself."
She shed her uniform and laid out on the chair next to him, and they were quiet a moment. "The Denmother Zaa approached me about this personally, your Grace, early this morning," she began. "She explained what was going on, and how your daughter Raisha is going to need me to teach her what it means to be a Karinne." [What is means to be a Generation,] she added by communing.
"What do you think about it?" he asked.
"I think it'll be fun," she said with a bright smile. "I'm a faithful Karinne, your Grace. I can see what the house needs, and I'm happy to help. Besides, I'll get a chance to see the inner workings of the palace and Dracora, and I'll get a chance to educate a High Princess. Teaching children is what I want to do, your Grace. I can continue my studies by correspondence while on Draconis and earn my degree, then I can master my teaching skills tutoring Raisha."
"And Miyai," he noted. "You'll be fostering both twins, Saelle. Does that bother you? Does raising two girls not yours and then having to give them up when they reach the age of ten bother you? Think about that. You'll be their mother, and you won't be allowed to keep them."
"I can love them and still let them go, your Grace," she told him simply. "Because if they truly love me, they can love me without me being there, just as I can love them without them being with me. I fully understand that I'll be asked to take Raisha and raise her like my own daughter, and then give her away. But I'm sure I can handle that."
"There's more to it, Saelle. You'll have to marry a Merrane noble and take the name Merrane."
"Pshaw," she snorted. "As long as he puts out, that's just a bonus in my book."
Jason laughed. "You don't get to pick him, Saelle. Dahnai will. So it's just pot luck what kind of man you get. He might be someone you can call a friend, he might be someone you can't stand. Either way, you'll be stuck with him for the next eleven years."
"I completely understand that, your Grace. And like I said, as long as he gives it up in bed, I can live with it. If I'm gonna be married, I want the perk that comes with it. Man on demand!" she said forcefully, which made Jason laugh again.
"So, you can live with it?"
[I'll be performing a critical service for the house, I'll get to enjoy a unique experience, and I get to do what I love. I can more than live with it, your Grace. I'm looking forward to it!]
[I have to ask, Saelle. Do you feel you're up to the task of defending Raisha if needed?]
[Your grace, I'm the third most powerful Generation on Karis,] she answered simply. [Only Myleena and Jezzi are stronger than me. I can lift nearly six hundred konn with my TK and my gestalt, and I was an Imperial Marine. I can protect Raisha, and myself, if it comes down to it. Denmother Zaa made it clear that half the reason I was chosen was because I'm military, and I'll know what to do to protect the children if I have to.]
[Good. You won't go alone, though, and you'll go with some extra protection. I want you to rate on a Gladiator before you leave, and I'm going to have a very special suit of Crusader armor built for you that includes what we're calling a tactical gestalt, a much stronger version of this,] he told her, looking over at her and pointing to his gestalt. [It'll be built into your Crusader armor, and as long as you keep the tactical activated, you can tap its power even if you're not wearing it. You'll also be going with two… pets,] he told her. [Two Kimdori are going to provide additional protection, and they'll go with you in the guise of giruzi. So remember that you'll have plenty of help.]
[I'm going to live with two Kimdori?]
[Does that bother you?]
[On the contrary, I think it'll be very interesting!] she communed with a bright smile. [I've always been curious about them, since I could sense them, you know. But they'd always kept their distance from me. So, this is my chance to grill the Kimdori with me, really get to know them.]
[Always a good idea,] he agreed.
Once he was sure she was amenable to the idea of it, they talked. He wanted to get to know this woman that would shape and mold his unborn daughter, so he wanted to get full measure of her, get to know how she thought, get to know what she believed, so he would know how she would treat Raisha. What he found of her, he liked. She was a very intelligent, well educated, highly curious, upbeat young lady that would be an outstanding teacher and a good mother, because she loved children. The way she just seemed to light up when Rann and Shya came over to meet her told him more than her words did, for her smile was gentle and sincere, and her manner towards the kids seemed very maternal, even though they weren't her children.
And that was why Zaa chose her, he saw. She was more than capable of giving unconditional love to children not her own. The fact that she was military and she was powerful and she was a teacher were just bonuses. Seeing her interact with Rann, how Rann just warmed up to her instantly, which wasn't normally like him, told him everything he needed to know.
Jys! Come to the beach and meet someone! Jason boomed across the strip. "Congratulations, Saelle Merrane," he told her.
She gave him a beaming smile.
"Merrane? You're in my house, miss Saelle?" Shya asked curiously.
"I will be," she winked. "I'm going to be the foster mother of your new sisters. I have to be a Merrane to do that, don't I?"
"I guess so," she said with a noncommital shrug. "Come help us make the sand castle!"
"Sure," she said with a bright smile.
Jyslin, Dahnai, and Kellin wandered down to the beach a few minutes later, as Jason watched Saelle interact with the kids and felt more and more confident Zaa had made a good choice. Even Maer and Sirri seemed immediately taken with the charcoal-haired woman, who had something he had never seen before on her back. It was like a reverse tattoo, lines of stark white skin that took the shape of a mei that bloomed across her shoulder blades and shoulders, and the stem ran down her spine to end at the top of the cleft of her buttocks, with pointed leaves that grew from the stem and spread out across her lower back. "Wow!" Shya gasped when she saw Saelle's back. "What is that?"
"It's called a jaingi tattoo," she answered, looking over her shoulder. "Isn't it pretty?"
"Where did you get it?"
"When I was in the Marines, poppin," she answered. "The Parri make them. You see, they take this paste that's filled with tiny little bugs and put it on your skin. The bugs get into your skin and they eat away all the color and make your hair fall out, and it leaves behind these white marks. Since Parri have fur, it also makes their fur fall out, so they get these bare lines, but for us, we get these white marks that they can paint on us, like my mei. Isn't it lovely?" she asked.
Jason recalled that the Parri shaman here on Karis did have those markings on her, in addition to areas of dyed fur, that formed mystical patterns.
"It's cool!" Maer said brightly.
"Don't even think about it, boy," Dahnai warned.
Saelle stood up and came over to them, and she recognized the Empress and bowed quickly. "Your Majesty," she said quickly.
"Jyslin, Dahnai, Kellin, this is Baroness Saelle Karinne. She will be Raisha and Miyai's foster mother," Jason introduced. "Saelle, you know Jyslin, but this is the Empress Dahnai Merrane and her husband, Prince Consort Kellin Merrane."
"It's an honor to meet you, your Majesty, your Highness, Duchess," Saelle said with another little bob to each of them, which looked a little silly since she was trying to be formal while standing there naked as a jaybird.
"So, you're who Jason dug up. Why did he choose you?" Dahnai asked bluntly.
"Because I'm training to be a primary school teacher," she answered. "And I was an Imperial Marine. I can instruct Raisha, and Miyai, in quite a few things, and I can protect them from harm much more effectively than another woman."
"So, you're a Generation?" Dahnai asked.
Saelle looked a little startled, but she nodded. "I am," she affirmed.
"Saelle is both a nurturer and a warrior, Dahnai," Jason told her from his chair. "She's the perfect woman for the job."
"Uh, your Majesty. This Merrane I'm supposed to marry. This won't be a marriage on paper, will it?"
"What do you mean?"
"It'll be a marriage, right? Us living together? No just being together as long as the kids are awake?"
She looked a little confused.
"She wants to know if her Merrane husband will put out," Jason said indelicately.
Dahnai laughed. "Oh! Yes, you'll have full rights as a married couple," she said with a smile. "How can you be foster parents to our daughters if you're not a family?"
Saelle smiled eagerly. "Then I'm the woman for the job," she declared.
To prove it, Jason had Dahnai and Jyslin stay at the beach and watch Saelle interact with their children. They too shed their clothes, pulled up lounge chairs, and enjoyed a little sunbathing as they did so, and it certainly didn't take long for Dahnai to come to the same conclusion, as Saelle helped them build a sand castle, gently and rather skillfully changing it into a lesson in geometry, teaching them even as they had fun. Dahnai saw how quickly her own children took to Saelle, who radiated such a presence of motherness that any child responded to it. Just as Symone had an undeniable charisma and charm that made everyone love her, Saelle had a charisma that attracted children to her, made children like her. She would be one hell of a teacher, because she could make children listen to her.
It was almost criminal that Saelle had no children of her own yet, that she had delayed having children of her own to pursue her education. But he could say without a doubt that her children would never want for love from their mother.
After a couple of hours, when it was time for the kids to go wash up for dinner, Dahnai lingered as Saelle helped Kellin and Jyslin herd the kids to his house. Alright, I'm impressed, she admitted. I have absolutely no objection to Saelle.
Good. I demand you pony up, love.
Huh?
I'm giving you one of my best to be Raisha's foster mother. I expect nothing less than a man just as wonderful as Saelle to be the father. Someone that will not make Saelle's eleven years in your palace a living hell. Do we understand each other?
She gave him a cursory look, then nodded in understanding. I'll find someone just as good as her to be the foster father. Someone that will be suitably enamored of Saelle, so their eleven years are good ones. I want her from here out, she said. I know just who I want, and I want to bring him here tomorrow, so they can meet each other and we can explain some things to him. You know, he's going to have to know some of the truth, or there's no way Saelle can teach Raisha what she needs to know.
I reserve the right to inspect him to make sure he's trustworthy. That means Myleena.
I have no objection, she agreed.
Then go track down Aya and explain what you want. She'll make it happen.
She handles things like this?
She handles all matter of security here in the strip, he answered. If we're bringing this Merrane to the strip, she has to approve it. She'll relay the relevant orders to my ships, who will pick up this man.
Ah. Alright, I'll go arrange it. She stood up and gathered up her clothes, then padded towards his house, sending for Aya, leaving him alone. He didn't much feel like being alone, so he got up, collected his towel, put his shorts back on, then hurried up after Dahnai.
Even on Karis, there was something special about Christmas morning.
It was a very private affair for the family of the Grand Duke, but private in that it only included his family… which was about half the strip. The mothers of his five children, his children, Vell, Maya's two daughters, Myleena and Danelle, Dahnai and her family, Tim, and Symone all crowded into his house for Christmas morning, and they brought all their presents from their own houses so they could all open them there in his living room, with Ayama, Surin, and now Saelle, whom Dahnai had appropriated since they met last night, attending them. Jason enjoyed it because of the feeling of family it invoked in him, and he loved seeing the looks on the faces of the children as they opened their presents. There was a brightness in the eyes of a child on Christmas morning that just wasn't there any other time of the year.
Children made greed look so cute.
After the presents were all opened, the kids all started playing with their new toys, the mothers were inspecting new tools, clothes, or knickknacks, and Jason was just happy that everyone was happy. Dahnai, thankfully, didn't go overboard with the presents, buying one present for every child except her own, for which she bought about fifteen each, just so they didn't feel left out.
Jason was quite happy to see how quickly Maer and Sirri had integrated into the social structure of the strip kids. Maer wasn't the oldest, Yuri actually was; Yuri was 11, would be 12 next month, and Sami, Maya's younger daughter, had just turned 9 last week. But Maer didn't seem to try to exert any "Imperial" clout despite the age difference, deferring to Yuri, who was more or less used to ruling all the younger children. Yuri did encounter some resistance from Sirri, who thought herself the leader because she was the Crown Princess… but Sirri learned nearly as fast as Dahnai did that her Imperial pedigree meant very little on Karis. After those two got that out of their system, they actually got along very well with each other. Sirri seemed quite friendly with Sami, a girl nearly her own age, and the large number of four and five year olds hovered around the four older children, as they always did.
Jason watched on with fatherly concern, and also fatherly happiness at seeing his kids so happy, playing with their new toys, harassing Ayama over what they were having for Christmas dinner, and just being kids.
They didn't have long to meet Dahnai's answer to Saelle. Evin Merrane was a slender, bookish-looking Faey that was rather handsome, about half a head shorter than Saelle, and had a head full of coal black hair, which would make him very exotic to Faey women. His eyes were also dark, a dark brown, giving him a very exotic appearance compared to the usually light-eyed Faey. He looked to be older than Saelle, but not much, and his expression was one of wild curiosity, not fear, as members of the KMS and his guard brought him to his house. Dahnai introduced him to Jason and Jyslin rather casually. "Guys, this is Evin Merrane, Associate Professor of Mathematics at the Dracora Academy. Evin, this is Grand Duke and Duchess Jason and Jyslin Karinne."
"Your Grace, my Lady," he said with graceful bows. "I appreciate this rare honor to visit Karis, your Majesty, but might I ask why I'm here?"
"You haven't even told him?" Jason asked in surprise.
"I figured we'd get to it," she shrugged with a smile. "Are you a loyal member of the house, Evin?"
"Of course I am, your Majesty."
"Even to the point where you'd perform a long and arduous task?"
"Of course."
"Saelle!" Dahnai shouted. Jason had to suppress a grin; if this was how Dahnai wanted to do it, far be it for him to object. When the charcoal-haired woman hurried up and bowed, Dahnai motioned to her. "Meet your new wife, Evin," she said simply.
"Wife?" he asked in surprise as Saelle gave him a sudden appraising look.
"I'm sure you heard I'm pregnant," she said, and he nodded. "I've chosen you and Saelle here to act as the foster parents for my twins. So, for the next eleven years, you'll be a married man."
He looked startled, but recovered quickly. "I'd be honored to serve as a foster for you, your Majesty," he said with a bow. "You will, I trust, ensure I don't lose my tenure?"
"Certainly," she nodded.
"Come on, let's talk," Saelle said with a smile, offering her hand to the shorter man. He took it, and they padded off together.
"Why'd you pick him?" Jason asked.
"Because he's already a candidate to foster," she answered. "He's a professor, so he can teach my daughters. He passed all the psych evaluations we put potential fosters through, which is the biggest part of it. He'll be a stable and loving foster father to my daughters."
"He's handsome too," Jyslin noted.
"A bit short for me, but he is cute," Dahnai smiled in agreement. "I doubt Saelle will complain about that part. We'll let them get to know each other, and if they like each other, we'll go with them. If not, there's about sixteen other men on the foster list we can try. I just remembered him because I think he's handsome."
"Typical Faey," Jason accused chuckled, "thinking with what's between your legs."
"Just like human men," she teased in reply.
There were too many people to eat in the dining room, so the guards put out tables on the deck out back, and they ate their dinner in a warm, beautiful afternoon, with the blue sun of Karis shining down on them. Ayama and Surin had worked hard on the dinner, cooking it since early yesterday afternoon, and they did not disappoint anyone. They had the Christmas traditional turkey with all the trimmings, and outside of oye juice for the kids, there was not a single non-Terran dish laid out on the table. It was a human holiday celebrated in the human way and with human food.
After dinner, Jason just enjoyed an evening of peace and quiet, watching It's a Wonderful Life on viddy, which was a Fox family tradition, then enjoyed a glass of wine on the deck as Rann played with his brand new airbike, which was a simple flying bicycle that would go no faster than ten miles an hour and would go no higher than five feet off the ground in its current configuration. Jason could remove those safety protocols to where it would go any altitude and go as fast as 70 miles an hour, but that would be after Rann learned completely how to fly it and how to do it safely. Rann had shown no sincere interest in learning to fly yet, but as soon as he did, Jason would teach him. Jyslin was reclining on the outdoor couch with him, relaxing after the long day, her bare legs draped over his lap as she read from a handpanel, reading one of the technical readouts on the Consortium ship that Myleena had released to her staff. And Jyslin and Jason both were on her staff. It was the initial assessment of the power broadcasting system they used, and included a promising proposal and plan of adapting it to Karinne use. Her report also gave promise that they could jam the power broadcasting.
Leave it to Myleena to go straight from dinner right back to work… on a holiday.
Rann, be careful, Jyslin called as he zoomed over the rail and towards the beach. The huge deck and the hot tub built into it were between theirs and Tim and Symone's houses, opening to each house, serving as the main path they used between the houses. Behind the deck, away from the beach, was their pool, with the two two-room pool houses, one on each side of the large pool on the back side, one for each house. The houses had been built with this communal feel in mind, and said much of their relationship. Symone was literally a second wife, and Tim was literally a second husband to Jyslin. They had been part of the day, all day, but now they were enjoying a relaxing evening on their own, enjoying their last Christmas without children.
Tomorrow he'd be back at work. He had two main things to do tomorrow. First, he had to watch over the launch of the interdictor and the first steps of the claiming of Exile, then he had to convince Sk'Vrae to come to Karis and have a private summit with him and Dahnai. He would unveil the plan he and Zaa had hammered out to them, and no doubt hear all kinds of both protest and eagerness. Zaa was on her way back home now, having stayed until after dinner, and they'd seen her off with kisses and offers for her to return. She didn't want Sk'Vrae or Dahnai to know just how involved she was in Karinne matters, so she was leaving well before Jason introduced the plan to the two rulers.
Jason sighed and leaned back, sliding his hand up and down Jyslin's calf. Did you enjoy Christmas, love?
Oh yes, it was very nice. Thank you for the necklace again, love, it's beautiful!
I was hoping you'd like it, he answered modestly, almost shyly. I know you don't wear much jewelry, but I thought you'd think it was nice.
Yes, and I'm wearing it right now, she sent with a smile, fishing it out from under her half-shirt. The shirt ended just under her breasts, and her shorts began what couldn't be an inch above her pubic hair, leaving a vast expanse of her sleek stomach bare. The shirt and shorts both were presents, the shirt from Myleena and the shorts from Kumi. The necklace was a small, modest pendant of the crest of Karinne done in wire platinum, treated so it was soft and pliable, would bend easily, but always bounced back to its proper shape. She could wad it up in her hand like a ball, and it would spring back. The chain too would stretch before it broke, making it a very practical piece of jewelry for the mother of a five year old boy.
I think we need to talk to Kumi about those shorts, Jason noted, looking at the white cloth critically.
Jyslin laughed. I like them. They show off my legs and make me look sexy.
They do that, alright, he agreed, sliding his hand up past her knee, along her thigh. They look like they might be a little uncomfortable though. They look skin-tight.
They stretch, she sent with a wink, grabbing the waistband and pulling, showing that it was indeed elastic. They're man-catching pants, she teased.
I'm already caught, you don't have to keep fishing.
I have two women competing for your attention, I do have to keep fishing, she sent with a grin.
You have two other guys competing with me for yours, don't paint this like you're the noble sufferer, he countered cheekily, then frowned as he looked towards the beach. Rann was getting a little bit too far away, the telepathic sense of him was too distant…
She laughed, then glanced towards the beach. I'll get it. That's quite far enough, little man! she warned. Come back at once!
Okay, Mommy, he called.
What's on the agenda for you for tomorrow? he asked.
Back to Kosigi, she answered. We're still stripping down the Consortium ship, Myli's just been focusing on the broadcast unit. I've been on the team dismantling the engines to see how much different they are from ours. The other main team is working on the Torsion weapon, dismantling it so we can generate some design plans to build it. We have a smaller team taking apart the main communication node that looks to act as the center of the communication of those devices in the bugs' heads.
Don't we have a team on those?
Yeah. Songa's been working with a team on them, since she knows a hell of a lot more about the brains of the insectoids than we do. So we need her expertise.
Good, he nodded as Rann puttered back into view, sailing over the deck and towards the pool houses. I think it's about bathtime, little man, Jason called as he finished his wine. Put the airbike in the garage and head to the bathroom.
Okay, Daddy, he answered.
I'll go take care of it, he told Jyslin, moving her legs and standing up. See you upstairs, love.
Nah, I need a bath too, she told him. And it's much more fun when you look at me without the shorts, she added with a grin.
Jason and Jyslin took turns washing Rann's hair and soaping him down, then they all enjoyed some quality family time in the soaking tub, as the hot water seeped relaxation into Jason's muscles as Rann burbled on excitedly about the events of the day, playing with the tiny ship he'd gotten for Christmas, letting it go and watching it sail around the choppy surface like a tiny little Coast Guard cutter, the tiny engine in it moving it along randomly on the surface. The toy was programmed to avoid all barriers and obstacles so it didn't run into the edges or anyone in the tub. Jason listened to their son sending, and he was amazed at how fast Jyslin had taught him. He certainly barely even knew a fraction of what he had to know, but his sending was clear and lucid, and it was surprisingly fast for someone who had been expressed for only a few weeks. Rann was a strong telepath, but it also seemed that he was quite naturally inclined to his telepathy, had picked it up quickly, and in what was more or less normal for Faey children, he sent almost exclusively unless he had to speak aloud, going through his "honeymoon" phase where he abused the hell out of this newfound ability. Unless he was speaking to the unexpressed kids or Dahnai, he sent rather than spoke.
What do you want to bring to Kosigi tomorrow, little man? Jyslin asked him.
Ohh, can I bring my new airbike? Please?
Afraid that's not possible, sweetie. Why not bring your new panel so you can play games and talk to your brothers and sisters?
I can do that.
Good, she said, putting her hands under his arms and lifting him up out of the tub, over her head. I'm so proud of you, my sweetie, she smiled up at him. You send so good now!
You make me practice all the time, Mommy, he answered modestly.
I know, but you still deserve a little praise, sweetie, she told him. You still have a lot to learn, but I think you've learned your sending lessons very well. Soon I'll start teaching you all the little tricks that Kyri knows, she told him with a conspiratorial smile. And a whole bunch more she doesn't.
Don't start a war, Jason warned privately.
Yana's gotten lazy lording up Kyri's talent, I'm gonna train up Rann past her, she answered with a competitive look.
You forget, I train Kyri too, he told her with a slight smile. Yana teaches her power, I teach her subtlety.
Traitor.
Kyri's my daughter. I'm just making sure my daughter reaches her full potential, he sent lightly.
That just means when Rann can out-finesse Kyri, I can be smug to both of you, she challenged.
You know, eventually you're gonna realize that I'm proud of all my children, and not just the one I have with you, he winked.
I think I'm going to go sleep with Tim and Symone tonight, so I don't share my bed with a traitor, she teased.
Fine. I'll just issue an open call for any girl on the strip who's bored, he retorted.
That is so cheating! she accused with a laugh.
You set the rules of the game, woman, don't accuse me of cheating when I follow them.
She laughed even louder and threw her hands around his neck and kissed him playfully on the cheek. So you're a traitor and a scoundrel! she accused mischievously.
I have to be a scoundrel. I'm a Grand Duke. It's a job requirement.
Not to your own family!
Scoundrels are equal opportunity, he told her, kissing her while his hands went under the water and grabbed prodigious amounts of her breast and her butt.
"Mmmm, I love scoundrels," she purred, sliding up and straddling his lap, and giving him a passionate kiss.
Private time? Rann asked.
No, baby, not quite yet, Jyslin answered, then she gasped and laughed when Jason goosed her. Your father's just being playful, that's all. But he's making sure there's gonna be some private time tonight, she warned, leaning back and giving him a commanding look, to which he responded by brazenly grabbing her breasts and squeezing them. She laughed, but let him fondle her to his heart's desire, holding him by the shoulders.
I'm so afraid of a naked woman, he told her, pinching her nipples.
You will be, she winked in reply. It'll be just me and you tonight, buster. You have nowhere to run.
I have plenty of places to run. I'm sure Cybi will protect me from your evil charms.
Jyslin laughed lightly. My charms aren't evil, they're just demanding, she sent, giving him a playful kiss. Oh, and by the way, they're all yours for the next week, she added. I went and saw Songa yesterday, and she said I'm coming into my window in a couple of days, so we're gonna try for another baby. So keep that in mind if some girl puts her hand in your pants. I'll be expecting some performance from you when you come home. You can go play, but you'd better save something for me. If I can't get you up, I'm gonna beat you.
He gave her a loving, honest smile. It will be my honor and my pleasure, my love, he told her, pulling her into an embrace. Nothing would make me happier than giving you another baby.
Your what? Sixth? Seventh? Five hundredth? she teased.
That was your idea, he reminded her. I don't regret it an iota now, though. I love my children.
I love them too, Jayce, she agreed, kissing him on the nose. Even if Yana is a cold bitch that must die horribly.
Jason erupted into helpless laughter. Such total hate for Yana, he exclaimed. I should go give her a little support.
After you give me mine, she sent warningly, though she was smiling.
They had a late snack in the kitchen, and then they put Rann and Shya to bed around 2630. Dahnai and Kellin had come over for drinks and to help put Shya to bed, and they lingered in the living room afterward. Kellin's going to go over to Symone's tonight, she told him. He's availing himself of the vacation while he can, she sent teasingly, patting her husband on the knee. Not that I can blame him. So, want to make it a complete swap and come home with me tonight, and let Tim come here?
Can't do it, Jyslin answered for him. He's mine for the next week, Dahnai. We're trying for another baby now that we fixed what was keeping me from conceiving.
Ah, well, good luck, guys, she sent sincerely. I guess I'll just have to console my rejection with Tim, she sent with a mental purr.
Why split up, just come with us, love, Kellin offered. Symone won't care, and I'd like to try it.
She thought for a second. Hmm, I think that might be fun. It was certainly fun when we were all at my place, she mused, licking her lips absently. But since I have my children, how about we all go to our house? I don't want to leave them. I don't get to see them enough as it is, I won't leave them alone in the house. We can have our fun and still be near the children.
I won't mind.
Tim, Symone. Wanna come over to our place tonight? Dahnai called to the house across the deck.
Sure! Symone sent immediately.
There, that's that, Dahnai smiled.
Why are the women I love such tramps, Jason sent with a teasing smile.
You don't love us for being tramps, you love us because we're honest, she challenged. All those human morals, and under it all, you're just as quick to drop your pants as we are. And now you're honest about it too, she winked.
Oh yes, I need to meet this Aura and see why Jason gets so horny thinking about her, Dahnai noted.
She's sexy, just like you two and Symone, he explained simply. She's beautiful, she has a sexy body, and she's very… giving, he sent lightly.
Well, you invited us, where are you? Symone sent impatiently. Chop chop, the night only lasts eleven more hours, you know! Tim's gotta get his rocks off in both of us before he can go to bed, and he has to work tomorrow!
Well, it seems we're being ordered, Kellin laughed.
I'll humor her, if only because I'm horny, Dahnai told him. But I'll show her who's boss tonight and tomorrow, she grinned.
Good luck with that, Jason told her lightly. I've told you before, Dahnai, she's not afraid of you at all.
I don't have to make her afraid to show her who's boss, she said with an ominous smile. Little miss happy tongue's gonna be my pet all night and all day tomorrow. She'll do anything I want, and that makes me the boss.
Well, that's one way to do it, Jyslin giggled.
Evin and Saelle Merrane were married at sunset the next day in a private ceremony at the little temple to Trelle. The two of them had gotten to know each other the night before and all day, and after Myleena interrogated Evin and found him to be trustworthy enough to learn at least some of the truth, they were married in a quick and simple ceremony. Their marriage contract stipulated that it would last only until Raisha and Miyai were taken back into the Imperial house. Jason had never heard of a marriage like that before, a temporary one, but such was within the Empress' power to create. Evin and Saelle would be married by Imperium law until they fulfilled their duty, and then they would not be divorced or annulled, but instead concluded. If they wanted to stay together, they were more than capable of being married again any time during their contract marriage, but if they did not, their marriage would end when Dahnai took back her children on their tenth birthday.
Jyslin made good on her threat to Jason to be a possessive bitch. Much as she had demanded of him when he was with the other Marines, she was very insistent on multiple sexual encounters the next day. They made love in the morning, they made love after lunch, and then they made love again that night, and that set the pattern he knew would hold until after she felt she was no longer in her fertile period.
But, the day after Christmas was the return to reality. Jyslin went back to work at Kosigi, returning for lunch and to seduce him into bed afterward before going back, and Jason returned to his job of doing what he could do to make life better for his people today. And today, that was keeping his promise to the Exiled.
Jason watched from his study as the KMS executed Operation Oasis, as it was called by Myri. The Dreamer, Trelle's Gift, and a task force of 90 other ships jumped out before Jason woke up that morning, but he was watching when they arrived at Exile just before lunch. He saw them join the Kimdori ECM ships that were already picketed at the planet, and move quickly to insert the interdictor. Now, Jason knew, came the tricky part. The Aegis and the rest of the task force was sitting out in deep space, waiting for a go signal, where they would time their jump with the activation of the interdictor where they came in literally just as it started building power. They'd be looking at a 6-7 hour cruise to Exile under normal engines if they did it right, but the point of it was not to bring the Stargate into the system until they were sure the interdictor was operating. By towing in the Stargate under normal engines, they were absolutely ensuring that the Stargate could set up in total security, and it also slowed things down, giving the interdictor plenty of time to build up power before the Stargate was brought online. It would take 7 hours to get it to Exile and into orbit, then another 8 hours to link the Stargate to the one here at Karis. The actual linking only took about an hour, but it was always a matter of safety to give the link time to "settle" and test the link extensively for stability before allowing any traffic through it. Once the gate was stable and the interdictor was operating at full power, and the planet was fully concealed by Kimdori misdirection, then they'd be in business.
Jason watched with confidence, certain that everything would go smoothly, and he wasn't disappointed. They got the interdictor into orbit over the planet's north pole without any problems, and the interdictor was activated right on schedule. Jason watched its output on his screen and saw it was perfectly normal, and then the Aegis task force jumped. They arrived exactly on time and exactly where they needed to be, appearing in normal space literally right ahead of the rapidly expanding, invisible distortion field spreading through hyperspace, and the sailed under normal engines into interdicted space as that space increased behind them, settling into a nice half-light velocity cruise that would get them to Exile in exactly 7 hours.
Executed to perfection.
After a fun hour with Jyslin after lunch, Jason bent himself to the other task, and that was defense. He spent most of the day in conference with Dahnai, Miaari, and Sk'Vrae, who participated via remote using a vidscreen. Jason explained the plan, and then had to shout over both Dahnai and Sk'Vrae's objections to make them listen to the entire plan. Once he got the whole thing explained, the two of them thought about it for long moments. "With the Imperium supplying Stargates to the Collective systems, we interconnect all systems and will be able to deploy quickly to any threatened system," he explained. "Sk'Vrae will need to honor the Imperium's need to defend the Stargates by letting Dahnai deploy ships to guard the gates, and Dahnai reciprocates by charging the Collective very small fees to use them, basically just enough to pay for maintenance of the gates."
"But it puts my entire trade system at the mercy of the Imperium!" Sk'Vrae protested, speaking in Urumi. "I demand that Uruma Prime be the nexus for all Collective gates, with a gate leading from Uruma Prime to Draconis! That allows us to manage our own affairs without being at her whim!"
"Whim?" Dahnai said threateningly.
"How about we instead put the nexus for all Collective gates at Aurigae," Jason offered. "Since Aurigae is more or less a jointly held system between the Collective and the Imperium, sharing it, we can use it to share the Stargate network between the two empires."
Both Sk'Vrae and Dahnai gave him some hard looks, but Dahnai snorted and gave a short nod. "I'll agree to that, so long as I can deploy a fleet to Aurigae to defend my gates."
"They need to be there anyway, so they can respond quickly to any invasion of Collective space," Jason pointed out.
"I will accede to that condition," Sk'Vrae said, a touch frostily.
That set the tone for a tiring day of acting as a cushion between Dahnai and Sk'Vrae, as they hammered out fleet deployments and resource sharing agreements, as well as Imperial assistance to help the Urumi rebuild their fleet quickly with the new Consortium weapons already installed. Those parts went well enough, with Miaari and Jason only urging them to move along as they tried to swindle each other. By the end of the planning session, they had most of those agreements in place… until Jason brought up the more delicate issue. "Simply put, we need to put aside this issue you have with Dahnai and House Merrane, Sk'Vrae," he said. "Since we'll be depending on each other. I'm not sure the ships of Merrane will feel very safe operating with Collective ships because of it. So, what needs to happen to settle the matter of blood between Merrane and the Collective?"
"Are you out of your mind?" Dahnai asked hotly.
"Nothing," Sk'Vrae snapped. "If Empress Dahnai wants to settle the matter between Merrane and the Collective, she will seek forgiveness in the traditions of my people. She will apologize, and serve one day of penance for every day the injustice has continued. That, or she may surrender a number of her own flesh and blood equal to the number of Urumi killed by her ancestors as sacrifices to Kragzarr. A day for a day or a life for a life. There can be no other way."
"It wasn't her that did it, Sk'Vrae," Jason pointed out.
"No matter. She is guilty for the crimes of her ancestors," she stated. "She and her descendents must repay the debt."
"It is within your rights as Brood Queen to accept full responsibility for the debt and face Dahnai in ritual combat," Miaari told her. "As Dahnai can accept full responsibility for her debt and face you. Issue the personal challenge, and you may settle the matter between yourselves. Should you win, the matter of honor is settled once Empress Dahnai pays you fair value of the lives of the subjects lost to the descendents of the families of the slain. Should you lose, Empress Dahnai can absolve the debt as the victor."
"You know our laws, Kimdori, but surely you understand that the ritual combat you describe is to the death," Sk'Vrae pointed out.
"Only if the victor so wishes to take the life of the defeated," she answered calmly. "There is precedent of the victor sparing the defeated. If both of you agree that the battle will not be to the death, then it may commence."
"Wait a fucking minute here!" Dahnai said in outrage.
Sk'Vrae, however, looked intrigued. "And what condition would decide the victor?" she asked.
"Rendering the opponent unconscious or the surrender of one to the other on one's knees and bowing down?" Miaari offered.
"I would accept those conditions," Sk'Vrae said immediately. "I will make Merrane pay for their crimes on the body of their Empress!" she declared.
"Wait just a damn minute here, what the fuck are you talking about?" Dahnai asked hotly, glaring at Miaari.
"It is an old, old law among the Urumi, Majesty," she said simply. "When two clans were embroiled in a feud that would destroy them, the leaders of the clans could take full personal charge of the debts and face one another in ritual combat. The victor of the combat settled the war between the clans in the victor's favor. Sk'Vrae is offering you a chance to settle the long dispute between Urumi and Merrane, if you will face her in personal combat as you were formed, meaning no weapons, no armor, not even clothing. You face each other as nature made you, and Sk'Vrae offers that your battle not be fatal. She will accept your defeat in ritual combat and the compensation to the families of the slain as payment for the crimes of your ancestors, and the Urumi will re-open ties to the Imperium." She gave Dahnai a serious look. "This needs to be settled, Dahnai," she said forcefully. "Sk'Vrae faces possible backlash from her people by allying to the Imperium when there is a matter of blood between them and the Empress ruling the Imperium, though she has not mentioned it. The Urumi will ally with an enemy against a greater enemy, that is traditionally acceptable, but the bad blood will remain until you settle this."
"You want me to fight a seven hundred konn lizard with bone armor, claws, fangs, and can spit venom, with what? My bare hands?"
"As nature made you, your Majesty," Miaari said simply. "Your talent is part of you. To combat Brood Queen Sk'Vrae with your telepathic gifts would be permitted in this battle."
"Yes, she may use her powers, as I may use mine!" Sk'Vrae declared.
That seemed to sway Dahnai. She thought about it a long moment, then looked to Sk'Vrae. "Does this have to take place in public?"
"Nay, but it must be witnessed by a high priest of Kragzarr," she answered. "So that our god may be represented in a matter of blood."
"Then I'll accept, provided it takes place here on Karis, it is not to the death, and it takes place tomorrow at sunset local time. That's thirty-one standard hours from now."
"It is agreed," Sk'Vrae said immediately. "Send forth a ship for me and my witness, your Grace."
Jason nodded. "It will arrive in three standard hours, your Majesty."
"Our business is done," the Urumi said. "I must prepare for this challenge. Guard well, Faey, for I will make you suffer before I accept your surrender," Sk'Vrae hissed, and then her monitor blacked out.
"Jason, I'm gonna fucking kill you for this," Dahnai growled, then she laughed ruefully. "But, I can't deny this is a chance for me to finally get the Urumi off my ass. And I can take that bony bitch if I can use my talent," she purred. "I'll make her dance like a drunken hooker in front of her high priest before I force her to bow down before me and surrender. It's gonna be so fuckin' sweet," she said in a dreadfully eager voice.
"Empress," Miaari said mildly, "Brood Queen Sk'Vrae is telepathic."
Dahnai glared at her, then she laughed, flexing her fingers in an unwholesome manner. "Then we'll see just how good an Urumi telepath is," she said with a chilling smile.
The meeting ended shortly after that, and Dahnai stalked up behind him and smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow!" What was that for?
For suggesting I humiliate myself for the bony bitch's amusement! I am the Empress, you jerk!
But it's getting the problem between you and Sk'Vrae fixed.
Yeah, so for that much, thanks, she winked. But you're gonna pay for this, babes. Right now.
Oh really? And how am I going to pay for this?
Let's practice, she said. If I can't subdue the bony bitch with my talent, I need to know some moves to incapacitate an armored lizard that weighs three times as much as me.
He laughed. Alright, I can do that. But you'd better warn your guards what's coming, so they don't start a war between us and the Collective.
Jason was actually quite thrilled that the two of them were going to settle this little problem. It would also be interesting to see how Dahnai handled facing down the large, armored, dangerous Sk'Vrae. He donned his practice gi and practiced Aikido with her, reminding her that Sk'Vrae's tail and different build would give her a different center of gravity, and that her weight advantage would remove most throws from Dahnai's arsenal.
Brood Queen Sk'Vrae of the Urumi Collective was the first ever non-Kimdori visitor to Karis that was not of the Imperium.
She arrived with her personal retinue and her high priest early the next morning. Jason greeted her at the landing pad, and then immediately conducted her, her priest, and her ten honor guard to a luxury hotel penthouse where she could conduct rituals to prepare her for the ritual combat to come. She was very intense, very abrupt, and very impatient. She all but pushed Jason out before he could even ask what she might want for refreshment, but he didn't really mind. She was focused on her upcoming chance to beat Dahnai up, and Jason would give her that because afterward the three of them could sit down face to face and talk about things.
The funny part, though, was Dahnai and her guards. Her Imperial Guard had an absolute fit when Dahnai told them what she'd agreed to do, and they were quite adamant about trying to prevent it. Dahnai argued with them for nearly three hours, until she finally had to resort to using a direct command, on top of Jason swearing up and down that he'd make sure that Sk'Vrae abided by the rules of their confrontation and kept things non-lethal, since he would be the only witness to the match outside of the Urumi priest. Despite that, though, her guards vowed that if Dahnai were somehow killed, then Sk'Vrae would never leave Karis alive, and the Imperium would wipe the Collective from the face of the universe.
Jason had nothing else to do that day, since they were waiting for the interdictor at Exile to reach full power, so he coached Dahnai in Aikido the rest of the day, preparing her for dealing with a lizard three times her weight that had claws, teeth, fangs, and could spit venom nearly twenty feet. There were a few things she could do, mainly focusing on the arms holding those claws. Despite her size and her weight and her armor, her arms attached to her body the same way a Faey or human's did, and that meant that Dahnai could attack her in the regard. Sk'Vrae's own weight would be her enemy, for there were several ways that Dahnai could break the Brood Queen's arms using Aikido locks, where her size, strength, and armor would be no protection. Jason focused on those moves, focused on her practicing her arm locks, getting her ready for dealing with Sk'Vrae's claws, which would be her primary weapon if Dahnai could not defeat her with telepathy.
The ritual combat took place in a truly deserted area, a barren wasteland on the northeastern continent of Draega, on a flat expanse of sandy beach with barren hills in the background. Jason had flown the dropship bringing them out personally, and there were only four of them there; Jason, Dahnai, Sk'Vrae, and her small male priest, with Jason and Dahnai in the cockpit and the Urumi in the passenger hold, separated from each other and in absolute silence. There were about thirty guards with them, as well as Songa, but they were in other dropships and had landed over the hill and out of sight. In this combat, there would be no spectators except the priest and Jason, who would act as the witness for Dahnai. After they landed, they all disembarked, and Sk'Vrae chose their battleground, a flat expanse of beach near the sea. Her priest attended her, chanting sonorously in Urumi as he drew symbols on her bony crest. Jason helped Dahnai take off her simple robe, leaving her naked and ready for the trial where she could bring nothing but her own body and mind, and he saw her eager look. Be careful, Jason warned. Remember, her Majesty is a telepath, she will be a powerful opponent.
I'll be careful, she nodded, and he slapped her lightly on the rump as she walked towards the large gray-scaled Brood Queen, with her bony plates that were like armor and the large crest on her head that was now decorated with geometric patterns. The Brood Queen advanced on her, her tail lashing behind her, then she stopped about twenty feet from Dahnai as the priest came up behind them.
We stand today to perform an ancient rite, not practiced by our people for over two hundred years, the priest intoned sonorously, and he was sending. The priest was telepathic as well! As is ancient tradition of our people, two clan leaders accept the responsibility of their clans and battle alone to settle a matter of blood. Empress Dahnai, ruler of House Merrane, you stand accused by Brood Queen Sk'Vrae of the Collective of acts of treachery and murder. As you have assumed all potential debt for your clan, do you acknowledge this debt and are prepared to face your accuser in a trial by combat, where your guilt may be proven by your defeat at the hands of your accuser?
I am, Dahnai answered with a nod.
Brood Queen Sk'Vrae of the Collective, do you accept all potential debt for the Collective, and stand ready to try the accused in the traditions of our people, accepting that if you fail to defeat the accused, it absolves her and her clan of all debt?
I am, Sk'Vrae answered, proving that she did have talent. And she felt rather strong.
As has been agreed, this will not be a trial to the death. The rules of victory are thus: a combatant may surrender by kneeling and bowing to the victor and surrendering by spoken word or by clear sending. A combatant will be considered vanquished if rendered unconscious or submits in surrender under painful duress, after which she must kneel down and surrender to the victor. Do both combatants agree to these conditions?
Both replied in assent.
Then we shall proceed. On the clap of my hands, let the trial commence.
The priest stepped back, waited only a brief moment, then clapped his scaly hands, and Jason expected to see nothing immediately. And he was right. Both Dahnai and Sk'Vrae were absolutely motionless, glaring at each other, as Jason felt the fringes of what was clearly ferocious telepathic combat. Telepathic combat was an entirely different world, an entirely different realm, and Jason knew that they'd know who won that fight within seconds. The two monarchs kept their gazes locked, and to Jason's surprise, blood started seeping out of Dahnai's nose and ears, even as Sk'Vrae began to physically tremble, a bluish liquid oozing out of her nostrils.
Jason was impressed. Sk'Vrae had to be very strong to hold her own against Dahnai.
Not ten seconds after it began, as Dahnai hammered at Sk'Vrae's defenses without success, at least one phase of it was over. Sk'Vrae wasn't as strong a telepath as Dahnai, but it took less power to defend than it did to attack, and Sk'Vrae was very well trained, a master of telepathic combat, and thus able to turn aside Dahnai's assault. Sk'Vrae staggered back and hissed threateningly, and Dahnai seemed to wilt slightly, but her eyes remained locked on the Urumi. Sk'Vrae hissed again, reared back, and then spat a stream of venom at Dahnai, who had seen it coming. Moving with a speed and grace that surprised the Urumi, she evaded the venom, then spread her feet and prepared for the inevitable charge.
Sk'Vrae did not disappoint. She charged forward, her clawed hands leading, but Dahnai shocked the absolute hell out of her. She slipped sideways of the Urumi's charge, grabbed her wrist, and amazed Jason by twisting her arm as she charged by. Even the priest heard Sk'Vrae's arm snap as Dahnai torqued her arm enough to break her forearm. Dahnai didn't have all that muscle just to look good, she was a physically powerful Faey, and more than strong enough to break the larger Urumi's arm exactly as Jason had taught her. That armlock would have sent a smaller being flying onto his back, but Sk'Vrae was so huge she couldn't be taken off her feet, so the move instead snapped her arm like a twig. Sk'Vrae roared in pain and staggered away, holding her broken arm, but then she flinched when Dahnai threw a handful of sand into her face, partially blinding her.
Dahnai paid for thinking she had the upper hand. She slipped behind the Urumi, but she seemed to sense Dahnai's intent, whirled around, then unleashed not a stream, but a spray of venom in Dahnai's direction, capable of unleashing it like that because of Dahnai's proximity. Dahnai cried out and staggered back, wiping furiously at her eyes and face as the venom burned into her. Urumi venom was actually weak, unable to kill, it was meant more to irritate the eyes and nose and render prey incapable of fighting back. It was like tear gas when sprayed like that, where it could actually blind if a large amount got into the eyes. Dahnai staggered back, but not fast enough to avoid getting a quartet of bloody lines ripped into her shoulder and upper chest from Sk'Vrae's claws. She gasped and tried to turn, and got slashed again in her upper back, over left shoulderblade, and then shrieked in pain when Sk'Vrae ripped four bloody lines across her back, at her waist level, which bled immediately and copiously.
Dahnai retaliated the only way she knew how, by lunging around and putting her hands on Sk'Vrae. That tactile contact allowed Dahnai much more potent telepathic attacks, and the two of them seemed to freeze as Dahnai again assaulted Sk'Vrae with telepathic power, this time with the advantage of touch focusing her power. Sk'Vrae's nose began bleeding almost shockingly, with two blue streams erupting from her snout and pouring into the sand, and her earholes began to leak blue blood. Jason could feel the raw power being unleashed from both of them, as they put everything on the line in what he could tell was going to be the telling moment. Whoever won this exchange was going to win this fight, for the loser would either be overtaken or unconscious.
For long seconds, the outcome was uncertain. Dahnai's eyes were a furious blaze of absolute concentration, and Sk'Vrae's small eyes were closed and her expression a mask of complete focus, as Dahnai put everything she had into the attack, and Sk'Vrae put everything she had into the defense against it. Both of them were in intense physical pain, fighting through it… but that pain was the eventual downfall of the loser.
Dahnai managed to reach out and grab Sk'Vrae's broken arm, then twist it. Sk'Vrae howled in agony, and that second's lapse of concentration ended up being her undoing. She shuddered, and the collapsed to the sandy beach, out cold.
Dahnai dropped to her knees and put her hands down on Sk'Vrae's massive form not to attack, but just to support herself as both Jason and the priest hurried over. The priest checked Dahnai to see that she was conscious, then checked Sk'Vrae, then clapped his hands. Brood Queen Sk'Vrae is vanquished, he declared. Empress Dahnai of Merrane has proven her innocence, and the debt is absolved.
GET ME A DOCTOR! Dahnai's sending thundered across the beach, easily reaching the dropships just over the hill. Jason urged her away from Sk'Vrae, onto her knees, pulled off his own shirt and started wiping the venom from her face, a face that was already swelling slightly. After he got her face cleaned off of both venom and blood, he checked her claw wounds as the dropship hurried towards them. The ones on her lower back were very deep, well into the flesh, the one on her front was shallow, and the one on her shoulder blade was fairly deep.
How is her Majesty? Jason asked as the priest checked her.
Psychic shock, the priest answered. And a broken arm. You are formidable, your Majesty, he complemented Dahnai with a nod.
She's tougher than I thought, Dahnai admitted, then hissed in pain when Jason helped her to her feet. I never knew she was such a strong telepath.
The guards, both Dahnai's and Sk'Vrae's, raced from the dropships and took command of the situation. Dahnai was tended by Songa, who immediately went to work. She first gave Dahnai a shot of anti-venom which caused the swelling in her face to ease almost immediately, washed her face thoroughly with a neutralizing agent, then began to clean and treat her claw wounds, as two Urumi medics set Sk'Vrae's broken arm and used a bone fuser to mend it. Songa smeared bio-accelerant over Dahnai's wounds, then bandaged them. "These shouldn't scar at all, your Majesty," Songa assured her. "But I insist you go back home, eat a hearty meal, and then rest. You know what bio-accelerant does?"
She nodded. "I'll eat and drink twice as much as usual until I heal," she answered. She twisted slightly, testing the bandage, then nodded to Songa. "How long should it take to heal, Doctor?" she asked with surprising deference. Even Dahnai respected the Medical Service.
"About three days, your Majesty," she answered. "Just take it easy and don't stress the wounds, and you'll be fully healthy in three days. How is her Majesty?" she asked, looking to Sk'Vrae's still form. "Do you wish assistance from Karinne Medical Service?" she asked in broken, uncertain Urumi. "Our hospital is at your disposal."
"Brood Queen is—" the guard said in terrible Faey, then reverted to Urumi. "She will recover after rest. We will take her back to her room, by your leave, your Grace," the large male said, looking to Jason.
"Please, do whatever she needs to recover quickly. Her comfort is important to me."
And so, Jason took an exhausted yet slightly smug Dahnai home after their ritual combat. He was actually surprised in that he thought Dahnai would defeat Sk'Vrae quickly, but the Brood Queen was a stronger telepath that either of them expected. And the fact that she was a telepath was the only reason she had agreed to the ritual combat. Had she not been, she would have been utterly insane to agree to it, for telepathy was the Faey's most powerful weapon. Sk'Vrae acquitted herself with dignity, in Jason's eyes. Had she got more venom into Dahnai's face, Sk'Vrae probably would have beaten her.
And so, it was a much happier Jason that took them back to Karsa, for he felt that a very large stumbling block had been taken out of their path. By virtue of her defeat of Sk'Vrae in ritual combat, the feud between the Collective and House Merrane was officially no more. The Urumi could move forward into their alliance with the Imperium with only their issue with Trillane complicating things… and that complication Jason didn't mind at all.
Maeri Trillane had a hell of a lot more to pay before Jason forgave her for what she did to him, to his people, and to the Imperium.
It took Sk'Vrae nearly a full day to recover from her ordeal, and Jason allowed her her time, space, and privacy to do so, for he had other things to do.
Leaving his family to keep Dahnai company, who was recovering herself, Jason joined the Exiled that would return to Exile, joining after a six hour operation that loaded them and most of their equipment on the Aegis, with other ships carrying the rest of the equipment for the Exiled as well as the gear and equipment they meant to take back with them to help further defend the planet from surveillance and attack. Weapon platforms and defense satellites were going to be seeded into orbit, and they were already preparing to move a small temporary orbital station to Exile to serve as a temporary base for the Karinnes as they began to settle in on the planet.
This was why Jason needed to go. There was already a sentient race on the planet, the Gruug, and Jason wanted to be there personally to talk with them so he could get permission to farm, or fail to secure that permission and be on hand when they surveyed the planet to find arable zones that weren't inhabited. He'd been very much looking forward to this day because he was finally glad to be fulfilling his promise to the Exiled, and he would take them home, just as he promised.
He didn't stay with the Exiled, he instead went to a private cabin where he found himself with the twins and Aura, who was going back just to help her people settle in and conduct a small ceremony passing on her title of Chief to Zerann, one of the council that was going back. The Exiled didn't see a male leader as anything unusual, there had been many chiefs in the past as well as chieftesses. Zerann would lead the council of Exile and govern his people on their island, while Aura would return to Karis and act as liaison between her people and the Karinnes, at least until the Exiled were fully integrated into the house and they were Exiled no longer. When that happened, Aura would basically be out of a job.
With the Stargate up and in operation, this would be a much different trip than the first time. There would be no day-long hyperspace travel to the planet, there would be no sense of isolation and danger. The planet of Exile was now directly connected to Karis, was only minutes away at high speed in case of attack, and was now fully defensible and ready to be colonized by Karinne, colonized not to spread population, but to exploit arable land and grow food needed by both the Karinnes and the Merranes.
"How's the station coming?" Jason asked aloud to the hologram of Myri standing nearby.
"It should be in place by tomorrow," she answered. "We have the land surveys finished and ready for the colonization team so they know where to focus their attention, and Miaari's looked over them. They suggest the continent next to the island of the Exiled," she told him. "In the tropical belt. There's a huge grassland there that means we won't have to clear vast tracts of forest, and there's no indigenous population in that grassland. They seem to prefer the forests and jungles."
"Cover," Jason surmised, bringing up a hologram of the planet Exile next to Myri using his gestalt, and superimposing the survey onto the globe. The verdant belt of grassland was highlighted on the large continent, along the same latitude as the island of Exile. The report showed that the belt had favorable temperature and weather, much like Florida back home, an ideal climate for agriculture. The forests to the east and north and the jungles to the south were heavily populated with the Gruug. Jason would approach them and invite them to join house Karinne, but if they refused, they would colonize that verdant belt of grassland anyway and just erect simple and non-lethal defenses to keep the Gruug away. Jason would not take any land the Gruug themselves were currently occupying.
The Gruug themselves were, from the reports of them, about seven foot tall simioids, definitely of a simian species, hairy and with wide faces with large noses and a jutting jaw. The initial reports on them were that they were intelligent but violent, and highly superstitious and suspicious. The Gruug that had had contact with the Exiled considered them evil monsters that had to be destroyed, a direct threat to themselves. The Gruug had a tribal society that was primarily hunter-gatherer, where they fished, maintained small herds of food animals, and had begun learning how to farm in tending wild fruit trees and growing an indigenous wheat-like grain in clearings in their forests and jungles, a strain of grain that was prolific and invasive and very easy to grow. Those grasslands were covered with large swaths of that wild grain, which was fully edible by humans and Faey, and that grain was consumed by a large number of graze animals that roamed the grasslands. If not for the graze animals, the grain would take over the entire grassland.
The plan was to land more or less in the middle of that grassland and establish the initial settlement… which really wasn't a settlement so much as it was a farming outpost. Those tending it would not be living on Exile, they would be commuting from Karis every day in dropships. They would section off an annex of about 500 square miles and convert about half of the area to farming, being careful not to interfere too much with the local ecosystem by leaving plenty of openings through their farms to allow animals to move through. They also intended to plant orchards of bitterfruit trees and other fruit trees. They wouldn't expand until they had converted 75% of the initial annex to farmland, and just systematically expand away from Gruug populations, towards the west. The initial settlement would consist mainly of several large buildings that would be built by Makati contractors, a military barracks, a communications and transportation outpost, and leaving plenty of room to expand. That initial settlement would become the first colonial city of the Karinnes outside of Exile, where Karinnes would eventually move permanently and serve as the nexus for the farming effort in the grassland. But for now, all it would be would be a hastily built starport and military outpost.
"Did you get the rotations all ironed out?" he asked Myri.
"Yeah," she answered. "We got one combined division slated for the initial move, and we'll rotate personnel through the post in three takir intervals so nobody gets too angry with being stationed out in the middle of nowhere."
"What is this combined division?" Aura asked.
"A unit of five hundred infantry, fifty Gladiators, and fifty Raptor fighters," Myri answered. "We want that kind of strength on hand so we have plenty of people ready in case of some kind of disaster, but their main job will be ground-level exploration of the planet. All those troops won't just be sitting on their asses at the camp, they'll be out surveying, taking samples, and escorting scientific personnel as they conduct their research. And if the Gruug attack Exile, we'll have plenty of military force on hand to protect them.
"Ah. That is refreshing."
"Refreshing?"
"I think you mean reassuring," Jason told her.
"Yes. I am sorry, General. Your spoken words are still strange to me."
"That's fine, Aura. So, you still intend to make contact with the Gruug?" she asked.
Jason nodded. "I'll approach the ones that have settled the Exiled's island first, to get an idea of how they'll react."
"I hope you brought your armor."
Jason chuckled. "Of course I did, it's in my dropship. I hope they'll be amenable, but if they're not, we'll just work around them. I won't interfere with them in any way, but in return I don't want them to interfere with us."
"Well, invading their planet is interfering with them," Myri noted.
"That's why we're going to be discreet about it, Myri," he answered. "There aren't enough Gruug to need the whole planet. And maybe by the time there are that many, they'll be less aggressive and more willing to enter in an agreement with us. After all, by then we'll have cities on the planet. What are they going to do, throw rocks at us? We'll just trade with them. We'll show them that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being our friends. And if they don't want to be, well, as long as they leave us alone, then all is well."
"And if they push the matter and declare war on us?"
"Nothing a thousand kathra long fence can't handle," he shrugged. "We'll just wall ourselves off from them. We won't interfere with them, and they can just go around us."
After Myri finished her report and her hologram faded, Jason found himself sitting between the twins on a couch looking out a window of the bow, showing them where they were going, and the two of them were almost uncomfortably close. What? he asked.
So, after hiding from us ever since breaking your vow of celibacy, we have you right where we want you, Myri sent teasingly, grabbing his knee. Just you, us, and a witness proving how hard we owned you.
I wasn't hiding from you, you two were doing your job, he protested. Nothing stopped you from flying home at any time.
True, but there was too much to do. But now we find ourselves with an hour to kill, and a victim to murder, Meya teased, giving him a challenging smile.
An hour? That's it? I couldn't even get you two properly undressed in an hour.
I seem to recall you managed to undress me in an hour, your Grace, Aura sent, a bit tauntingly. And you did quite a few other things to me besides.
I was in a hurry, he answered blandly, which made the twins laugh.
I do believe that Jason owes us something, sister, Myri sent to Meya, but openly.
I seem to recall quite a few instances where he made all sorts of boasts and teased us with never being able to find out if he was lying, she agreed.
The only thing I owe you two is this, he retorted, then he took a hand to each side of himself, then holding up his middle finger in each of their faces, which made both of them explode in laughter.
He owes us, but he is right. An hour? We'd barely have any fun at all, Myri noted to her sister.
True. We can always wait until we get home. We'll convince Jyslin to go play with Symone and claim him for our own, and have an entire night to torture him. He can't hide from us now. As soon as we complete our mission with the Exiled, we'll make him pay for all his teasing.
I agree. So, Jason, Myri send, putting her hands on his shoulder and leaning her chin on them, as Meya performed the same action on the other side, then they sent in unison, don't make any plans when we get home. You're going to be… occupied.
Owned is more like it, Meya sent mischievously.
Totally.
Completely.
Thoroughly.
And who's making all sorts of promises now? Jason countered.
We can back them up, Myri sent challengingly. We'll utterly ruin you for any other woman.
Completely, Meya agreed with a light smile.
Dear friends, now even I think you've delved into the realm of impossibility, Aura sent coyly. For I have already ruined him for all other women. He's found sex with other women boring and unfulfilling since I took him to my bed and made him beg for mercy.
Oh, hush up, you, Myri tossed out flippantly.
Oh really? Whose bed was it, and who was the one begging? Jason shot back. I think that was you, woman! he proclaimed, pointing at her imperiously.
I think we need to settle this issue once and for all, Meya sent slyly. We'll clearly have to have a little… competition. Whoever can make Jason beg for mercy first wins.
Fine. I hereby officially beg all of you to shut the fuck up, Jason sent archly, which made all three of them explode into helpless laughter, but Jason was the one that broke into laughter when Meya and Myri kissed him, one on each cheek, just before they passed through the gate to Exile.
God, he loved those two women. No matter how busy he was or how serious things could be, they never failed to make him feel like a misbehaving kid.
Entering Exile's space focused them on the task at hand. The twins went with Aura to the other Exiled as Jason returned to his dropship, where Suri and Ryn helped him armor up. Aya, Shen, and Dera were busy today acting as extra protection at home, since Aya didn't feel comfortable with Sk'Vrae and her private entourage being on the planet, so she was staying much closer to Rann today. There was nothing really dangerous on Exile as long as they were wearing armor, so she'd sent only two guards with Jason. That was all he'd need. Ryn and Suri were the best choices for this, for they were the most diplomatic of his guards. Suri was trained to be an attendant, so she had exquisite manners, and Ryn's secondary area of expertise was that she spoke 17 languages, on top of being a woman of impeccable manners herself. Ryn was a linguist, she actively studied languages, and her expertise was going to be very, very handy in what they were going to do, for Ryn would be best suited to using her telepathy to absorb the Gruug language from them when they got down there.
When they achieved orbit, the great exodus back to Exile began. A swarm of heavy cargo dropships, Sticks carrying cargo pods, fighters, Gladiators with flight pods, and personnel dropships started flowing out of every landing bay on the command ship. Jason was first out, and he led the pack in an entry vector to the island of Exiled, but where they were going to the southern tip of the island and to the center of the grassland belt west of the island, Jason was going to the northwest island coast, where there was a settlement of about 60 Gruug. That was where Jason was going to land and make first contact with the simian species, though they wouldn't see him land; it was still night on that side of the planet. They'd land and approach their coastal village in the pre-dawn, which would give Ryn time to pick out a Gruug and lift their language from him. She would then teach it to Jason and Suri, and after that, Jason would parlay with the Gruug, but do so wearing full armor. Given that the most powerful weapon the Gruug had learned to make was a spear, and they had no psychic or supernatural abilities of which the Exiled knew, Jason was completely safe.
They would also be bringing gifts. After analysis of the primitive people, it was decided that the best things to bring them in the form of gifts to earn their favor would be tools. So, after studying Gruug physiology, they replicated several tools for them. They would bring 50 heavy spears suitable for large game and 50 smaller spears more useful for fishing and spearing smaller game. They would also bring 50 large, heavy daggers suitable for the males and 50 smaller knives that would be useful for the females in their domestic tasks. All the weapons would be made of crystallized Titanium, the hardest form of Titanium they could replicate, which would ensure that virtually nothing the Gruug could do to the weapons could damage or harm them. They would also bring a slightly larger, more ornamental spear and dagger for the chief as a personal gift, so his weapons were more grand than the weapons of the other men. The weapons would be put in a flying cargo pod, a large cargo pod with engines that was interface controlled, which would let it follow behind them without them having to carry it.
The plan was simple and effective. They landed about two miles from the village in the dark pre-dawn hours, then took the spears and knives out to the beach about a mile from the village and laid them out on the sand, with the idea that no matter what happened, the Gruug would find them and be able to use them. After that was done, they used their armor's engines to fly there, skimming out over the water so they could see the village when they reached it, instead of stumbling right into it while moving through the forest. The cargo pod was left in the dropship, but Jason was carrying the heavy spear and dagger they meant to present to the chief as gifts. When they reached it, they veered back to land and crept up on the village. Ryn pointed to a lone Gruug, who was about seven feet tall, hairy, and with a face like a cross between a human and a gorilla. These creatures were almost like the missing link, and Jason felt Gora's Law creeping back into the forefront of his mind; Earth had evolved similar intelligent life, in addition to similar species. The striders the Exiled had tamed couldn't be too much unlike emus or other giant land walking birds from home, though the striders were certainly much more handsome than emus and ostriches in addition to being significantly larger. The Gruug was pacing near the border between the forest and the village, holding a crude spear with an obsidian stone tip. He had to be some kind of sentry.
Him, Ryn told them, taking off her gauntlet. I have to touch him to do this, so let's separate him a little from the rest of the village. I don't want to have spears bouncing off my armor while I do this.
Let's lure him out, then, Suri sent in agreement.
Luring him out wasn't that hard. They retreated slightly and made a couple of faint noises, which were just unusual enough to attract the huge male's attention. He advanced to the treeline, gripping his crude stone-tipped spear in both hands, peering into the darkness. But, as he looked into the forest, Ryn descended from her hover about fifteen feet over him, and without her boots touching the ground, she reached out and lightly put her bare hand on the Gruug's shoulder. The big humanoid stiffened, but he made no movements and made no sound as Ryn effectively took control of him with her talent, which demonstrated very starkly to Jason just how powerful the Faey were, just how much of a weapon telepathy could be. Ryn could have attacked and subdued him without ever touching him, but she enjoyed the challenge of getting close enough to touch him.
It took her about five minutes. Her touch on him never shifted, and the Gruug remained stock stone still the entire time as Ryn effectively dredged his mind, absorbing his language and teaching it to herself telepathically, inserting it into her own mind. Such a trick was very, very difficult to do, and she would suffer the same detrimental effects as anyone else taught something via telepathy. It was certainly not something that the lay Faey would ever try to attempt, lest they accidentally erase their own memories. What she was doing was a highly, highly advanced use of telepathy, something that only a true master of telepathy would ever dare to attempt. That Ryn could perform this very difficult and very delicate telepathic trick showed just how well trained she was.
When she was done, she simply let go of him and rose back up out of sight. The Gruug stood motionless for nearly a minute, then blinked, looked around, and turned and ambled back to his village, unaware of what had just transpired.
Slick, Suri sent in appreciation.
Four years at the Xerian Academy wasn't wasted, Ryn sent impishly, which made Jason whistle under his helmet. The Xerian Academy? Wow. No wonder Ryn was so telepathically skilled. That was the upper-level school devoted to the study and training of telepathic skills. It was the Harvard or Oxford of the Imperium, the most elite and exclusive school there was, so elite that not even being a noble guaranteed entry. They admitted students based on ability, not rank.
How much did you get?
Language and customs, she answered. How do you want to do this, your Grace? Am I teaching, or are you lifting?
I'll lift, you can't send to my gestalt, he answered. That way we have a hard copy of what you learned we can filter down to the others.
Ah. True, she nodded as she came down and offered her hand to him.
Jason took off his own gauntlet and took her hand, and they began. Ryn lowered her outer defenses for him, and guided him to where she had placed the information while keeping the rest of her mind closed to him. When he was there, he took what one might call a picture of everything she had learned, and dumped it all into his gestalt. Language, customs, even some of their history and several names and titles, all of it was sorted by his gestalt and then stored, as well as uploaded to the Aegis in orbit above so they could archive the information. Instead of placing the information in his own mind, he put it in the gestalt instead, and the gestalt would serve as external memory for him, especially since he could "remember" things from his gestalt just as fast and effortlessly as he could remember them from his own memories. With the language loaded into his gestalt, he could speak the language of the Gruug fluently, since it was knowledge as opposed to a skill. He'd have to practice a bit if they had any exotic pronunciations, but outside of that, languages were very easy for a Generation to deal with.
Jason sifted through it after he finished lifting it from her, as Ryn taught Suri. They'd wait a little bit before going in, to give Ryn and Suri a little bit of time to recover from the ordeal of having a language inserted. The Gruug language was a primitive language that seemed to use the same grammatical syntax as Latin and Makati, with very simple rules and not a very expansive vocabulary. The language did, however, have a subtle intricacy in that their limited vocabulary could be more expansive when words were used together in a metaphorical manner. It was the birth of abstract thought, he saw, that their language was starting to evolve past simple roots and was just starting to take on a sophistication more akin to older languages. It showed that the Gruug were indeed intelligent, despite their brutish appearance, but were still primitive and had the violent tendencies of a primitive people.
After about twenty minutes, just as the yellow sun's edge crept over the sea and dawn spread across the eastern sky, Ryn and Suri felt recovered and ready, even as the village awakened to the new day, as Gruug males started filing out of their round leather-covered huts, and females started stirring up fires. The three of them had discussed how best to approach first contact, and they all agreed that there was no easy way to do it, that just walking towards the village was probably the best course of action. Jason had Ryn and Suri wait just behind the treeline, and he stood up, made sure he'd put his gauntlet back on, then padded out of the trees and towards the village.
His arrival was noticed not five seconds after he came out of the trees. Shouts and several cries rose up from the village, and within ten seconds several Gruug males charged towards him wielding stone clubs, axes, and spears. Jason stopped and put his hands out when they got close to him. "Hold!" he shouted in their language, which made them skid to a halt in surprise. "I come holding no spear or club, and there is no anger in my eyes towards you! I seek counsel with your chief, to speak of a matter of importance to the Gruug and also to my own tribe!"
"What matter of strange monster are you?" one of the larger males demanded. "That speaks our language, yet is clearly not one of us?"
"I am not much different from you," Jason told him, rapping his knuckles on his armor's chest. "This is clothing, like the loincloths you wear, but it is made out of a hard substance like stone. I am smaller than you and carry no club or spear, so I need protection from the dangers of the forest behind me. This stone clothing gives me that protection." He unlocked his gauntlet and took it off, showing them his hand. "See? This is not me, it is like the turtle's shell, the real me is inside it."
They were intelligent creatures, so they grasped the idea of what he was saying quickly. "Send for the chief," the largest of them ordered the smallest, then looked back to Jason as he put his gauntlet back on. "Stand where you are and await the chief's words."
"I will do as you command," he said with a nod, standing with his arms folded before him, but not in an aggressive manner.
The chief arrived not a minute later, flanked by fifteen warriors. The chief was the largest of all the males, and had a scar over his right eye that showed that he had deposed the last chief. He wore the skull of some creature on his head, and he carried a heavy spear whose tip was formed from what looked like the serrated tooth of some large animal. Jason bowed to the chief when he got about ten feet from Jason. "You cannot be any but the chief of this village," he said in a respectful manner. "Greetings."
"Who are you, strange creature, and how do you come to know our words?"
"My name is Jason Karinne," he said, speaking his name as it normally sounded. "I am chief of my own people."
"He wears stone as his own skin, my chief!" one of the warriors told him. "His strange black skin is like the turtle's shell!"
"Yes, this is a form of stone clothing that protects me from harm, for I carry no spear or club and I am small," Jason agreed mildly, again taking off his gauntlet and showing the chief. "I have learned from the wise turtle and have made this stone skin to protect myself from the dangers of the wild forests, even fashioning a part to place over my head. This black shiny stone here allows me to see through it," he added, pointing at his visor. "Inside this stone skin, I am a small person who does not look too different from you, though I am more or less hairless and would appear ugly to you. I have come to your village to bring you words from my people."
The chief gawked for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "Why do you approach our village? What words would you bring to me?"
"I have come to bring you words of peace and good will, mighty chief," Jason told him calmly. "My people have lived here on this land-in-water for many turns of the seasons, and we have decided to greet you in welcome to this land. But we live so far from you that only recently have we come to learn of your village, and as soon as we did so, I journeyed here to make you welcome."
The chief's eyes bored into him, and his brow seemed to work as he thought. "Your words are honeyed, Stoneskin," he said. "You have no reason to approach us unless you seek our females or want something from us."
"We only want peace, mighty chief," Jason told him. "To speak truthful words, it is a journey of many, many days to reach your village from my own. Our paths will probably never cross out in the forests, and we will live our lives without ever seeing each other. It is a very good chance that once I leave here, your people will not see one of my own again in your lifetime. But we wanted you to know of us, so that if, some day, your hunting party did happen across ours, there would be no throwing of spears. We seek no territory you claim, and seek not your females or your spears or your tools. We simply want you to know we are here. That is all. To prove our words, my people have brought to you gifts, mighty chief. Our workers with the stone I wear have fashioned a spear of great strength and sharpness for you, mighty chief, a spear that will never break, and whose edges will remain sharp and true for many years. It is a token of our desire for peace between our peoples, should you wish to accept it."
That made the chief's eyes take on a curious glint. "I would see this spear."
"I left it in the forest, mighty chief, so that I would come among you with empty hands. I will go get it and bring it back, by your leave."
"Do so."
Jason stood up and went back to the trees, and just out of view, Ryn handed the spear to him. He brought it back into the village, holding it in both hands across his body so it couldn't possibly be taken as a hostile grip, then offered it to the huge Gruug chief, holding it out to him with both hands. The spear was about eight feet long and weighed about fifteen pounds, the shaft and spearhead both made of crystallized Titanium, all one piece. The shaft was smooth, wrapped in fine leather, and there was a tassel of red cloth secured just under the spearhead. "The decoration and the bindings can be removed and replaced as you so wish, mighty chief," Jason told him. "You will find the head of the spear to be sharper than you have ever seen, and the tip will never bend, break, or dull, no matter what you do to it," Jason boasted.
The chief took the spear, his brutish face rapt with interest, hefting it in his large hairy hand. Jason noticed that his thumb was nearly half again as long as it would be on a human hand. He tested the edge of the spear, and promptly gave himself a fairly deep cut. He actually chortled as he shook his hand, drops of blood flying. "You speak true words, it is sharper than even my kirr¬¬-tooth spear."
"It is made of a special kind of stone called metal, and this kind of metal is known as Titanium, mighty chief," Jason told him. "You will find it harder than the hardest rock, yet also light and easy to carry for long journeys. This spear will not weigh on your arm after a long day of hunting, when the time comes to cast it at your prey. The edge of the spear will not need to be sharpened, it will remain sharp for many, many years. It will fly true when you throw it, and there is nothing you can do to bend or break the shaft or the tip."
The chief did try to bend or break the shaft, but the spear was unimpressed by the huge Gruug's bulging muscles as he tried. "It is a good gift," the chief said with a nod, grounding the butt of the spear. "Your peace gift is accepted, Stone-skin."
"I bring gifts also for your entire village, mighty chief," Jason told him. "I bring one hundred spears that are smaller for your warriors, half of them designed to use in the hunt in the forests and half designed to use against the fish in the sea, and many knives for both your warriors and your females, so they may more easily go about their daily tasks. These gifts we bring to prove our wish for peace and good will between the Gruug and my people, who are called the Karinnes."
The chief looked at Jason with a little honest greed in his eyes. "So many gifts?"
"Yes, mighty chief, because we wish the Gruug to prosper," he answered. "And what better way for the Gruug to prosper than share with you our Titanium spears and knives, so you may more easily hunt and fish?"
"Where are these gifts?"
"We left them some walk in that direction, on the beach," he said, pointing. "You can go get them and bring them back here."
"A strange thing to do."
"Whether you met me with peace or violence, we wished you to have these spears and knives, mighty chief," Jason said mildly. "This way, your hunters would have found them no matter what, even if I was driven from your village without even the chance to speak a single word."
The chief turned that over in his mind, then finally made a deep sound in his throat. "Your gifts are accepted, Stone-skin, with honor and pride. We will honor the peaceful intent of them. And if we encounter more Stone-skins in the forest, we will not cast spears at them."
"I doubt very seriously that you will ever see us again, mighty chief," Jason told him honestly. "For we live very far from your village. I just wanted to make sure there was peace between our peoples on the very slight chance that our peoples might meet each other on the land-in-water."
The chief was much more curious and amenable after the gifts were offered. They sat at a fire, the chief with his new spear across his lap, and they talked of simple things. Jason heard about how the Gruug hunted the striders, armored land walkers, and hump-backed grass eaters on the island, and fished the shallows with spears and nets. They grew grain in small clearings inland which they made into a flat bread by baking it on flat stones by their fires, stones that, after Jason looked at them, saw they were thick slabs of slate. They had also domesticated striders themselves, and used them as pack animals and beasts of burden, and they also tended a stand of bitterfruit trees and smokenut trees, having learned how to make the trees grow. Jason was impressed that the Gruug had mastered several basic skills of animal husbandry and agriculture, and weren't much different from the Exiled in those regards. The Exiled were much more sophisticated, but the Gruug had learned how to tend wild fields of grain enough to call it farming, had learned how to manage stands of fruit-bearing trees, had learned how to tame wild animals, and were accomplished hunters and fishers.
Jason reciprocated, at least up to a point. He told the chief that his people had learned how to shape the stone called metal, and used it to make tools to allow them to build dwellings out of wood and stone. But aside from that, he told them that they lived much the same way the Gruug did, hunting, fishing, and tending food plants. He did stress, though, that his people were a peaceful and gentle people, and revealed one aspect of them that started showing the Gruug that they were much different than mere appearance. "Communicating with those in canoes on the water is no problem for us, mighty chief," he said. "Our people have learned, well, what you might call a different way of talking. We can talk with one another without using our voices, in a way not heard by the ears. This other way of talking carries much further than a shouting voice, so we can easily call out to our hunters and our fishers and have them come home if they are needed."
"It sounds like evil magic!" the chief said quickly.
"No, not magic at all," Jason answered. "It's just the way we are. Just as you are tall and powerful people, we can speak in a way that can't be heard by the ears."
"It still sounds like magic."
"No. Here, look. Let us say that this means hello," he said, waving his hand before him. "Now, if I do this," he said, waving his hand, "did I not just speak to you without using spoken words?"
The chief gave him a curious look, then he laughed. "True, true!" he agreed.
"Not everything that has a strange or mysterious explanation is magic, mighty chief," Jason told him mildly. "Sometimes, it only means that the answer isn't easy to see, and it requires you to search for it."
"You are a wise chief, Stone-skin," the chief said with an honest smile. "I would wonder if I could hear these words that are not spoken."
"Well, I think you might be able to," Jason told him. "But it may not be possible. Would you like to try?"
"Yes, I would like to try," he said, settling himself by the fire. "Speak your words without sound."
Jason altered the texture of his sending so that those without talent would hear his thought. These are the words without sound, mighty chief, he sent. What color is the stone skin I wear?
"It is black," he said, then the chief's eyes widened. "Amazing! I heard your words without sound!"
"You did indeed, mighty chief," Jason said with a simple nod, since he couldn't see Jason's face behind his helmet. "It pleases me that you did so."
"So, if we hear these words that are not spoken, we will know your people are nearby, and be careful not to throw our spears unless we are sure of our prey," he surmised, standing up. "Walk with me to where you have placed the gifts, so we might see them."
"Certainly, mighty chief," Jason said, standing as well. Ryn, you and Suri shadow me, but take the chief's gift knife to the stockpile and place it before we get there. Remain hidden, he sent privately to her.
Yes, your Grace, she answered.
"Might you take from your head your stone skin so I might see you?" the chief asked.
"Yes, I would be glad to, but understand that my people will appear very ugly to you, mighty chief," Jason warned.
"I am prepared," he said simply.
Jason released the locks on his helmet and pulled it off, even as he heightened his gestalt and kept a careful watch around him. His vulnerable head might be a target, and he had to be ready to fend off a blow or spear thrust. Several of the Gruug grimaced or gasped, and the chief laughed. "You were honest, Stone-skin, your people are very ugly to us," he admitted. "You almost resemble the evil spirits from our legends, the Sea People."
"I will replace my stone face so you may be relieved from looking at me, mighty chief," Jason said, putting his helmet back on. "We too have encountered the Sea People, but we have learned that they are not evil spirits. They are like the words without sound, mighty chief, there is a mystery to them that has nothing to do with magic, and we sought to find the answer to that mystery. They are simply very different from you and me. Once we learned of these differences, we found that they were not evil at all. We simply did not understand them."
"And what answer did you find about them that convinced you they were not evil spirits?"
"It is almost as magic, mighty chief. They come from a far, far distant land, so far that none of my people nor the Gruug has set foot upon it. They were attacked and scattered by hideous creatures called Consortium, giant spider-like creatures as big as a Gruug, who had evil weapons and many giant canoes that allowed them to come to the lands of the Sea People and burn their villages and kill their females and children. The Sea People fled from the spider-people, and during their flight, they broke into small groups and scattered all over the world. One of their small groups came to our land-in-water, and we got to know them. The Sea People your people may have known may have been evil and cruel and deserving of your hate, mighty chief, but the Sea People we found here on the land-in-water were frightened and meek. Please, if you meet any Sea People here on our land-in-water, remember that they are not like the Sea People from your legends. The ones here mean you no harm, and will run and hide from you long before you see them. They are a very timid people."
"A curious tale," the chief said, shouldering his spear as they walked. "Our legends speak of a great war that was fought between our people and the Sea People, how they used evil magic against my people, and that we vanquished them into the fog of morning and sealed them up inside forever. But you still did not answer my question. Why do you not think they are evil spirits?"
"Ah, well, we found that what we thought was magic actually was not," he said. "They could make rocks explode and turn rocks to water, and it was they who learned how to shape this metal," he said, touching his armored chest. "At first we thought it was magic, but then they showed us how it was done. It is not magic at all! They have simply learned things that we did not know, and their knowledge made their miracles look like magic. Their making rocks explode, for example, well, we found out that all you had to do to do that was mix the smelly yellow powder near the volcano with dried and powdered bird droppings and black charcoal from a firepit in the right proportions, and if you set fire to it, it would make rocks explode. They shape this metal by making it very, very hot, so hot it glows with heat like embers in the fire, and when it is very, very hot, it becomes soft and easy to mold. They would use hammers and tools to work with the metal while it was hot, so it would not burn them. And when it cools off, well, here you are," he said, rapping his armor again. "They taught us these mysteries, and we found that it is not magic. The Sea People are just a very clever people who have learned things we have not, that is all."
This was the telling moment. This was where Jason would find out if the natural intelligence of the Gruug was stronger than their hostility, for Jason had just admitted that "evil spirits" had taught his people how to make metal objects, and that meant that the chief might construe him and his actions as evil magic as well. The chief was silent a long moment, then he hefted his spear. "So, this spear was made using magic you gained from the Sea People?"
"Mighty chief, it was not magic that formed that spear. The Sea People taught us the secret of metal, where to find it and how to form it into shapes, and now we can shape it to our desire. And if the Gruug wished to learn how to shape the metal, they could learn as well. It is not magic, mighty chief, it is knowledge, just as it is knowledge to know when the bitterfruits are ripe, and how best to shape an obsidian spearhead so it is both sharp and strong, and how to build a strong hut that will not collapse in the evening wind, and how to tame the striders to serve the village, and when the fish come close to shore and are easier to catch."
The huge chief was quiet a long moment, and Jason could almost hear his rational mind warring with his primitive fears. "I still think that it is magic, but you have given me something to think about."
When they reached the place where the spears and knives were laid out, the chief and his warriors gawked in amazement. "This is where my people left them, and they are already on their way home. I'll catch up with them later," he said. "These large spears are for hunting, and the slender spears are for fishing. These larger knives are for your warriors, and the smaller knives are for your females. And this knife is for you, mighty chief," he said, picking up a sixteen inch long double-edged dagger, which was really more like a short sword. "Mind that it is very sharp," Jason warned as he handed it to the chief, hilt first, and pulled off the leather sheath. The chief gazed at the Titanium knife with wide eyes, then grinned.
"I accept your gift, Stone-skin," he declared, allowing Jason to resheath the dagger for him, then he stuffed it into the strap of his loincloth.
"I will leave you here, mighty chief, so you may oversee the carrying of our gifts back to your village. I have to catch up to the rest of my people so we may make the many-day journey home. I am honored to have met you, and I will bring the happy words of peace back to my people. Be well, mighty chief," Jason said.
"We would offer you a lodge and a feast, Stone-skin."
"I would gladly accept if not for the fact that I have duty to my people, as you have duty to yours, mighty chief. I came to bring you our gifts and ensure that there will be no throwing of spears between our hunting parties. I will take word of our peace back home, so my people may rejoice. And since it takes many days, I must hurry before the rains begin," he said, to which the chief nodded.
"Then go well, and take back peace between the Gruug and the Stone-skins."
"Thank you, mighty chief. I hope our gifts serve you well."
Jason left him on the beach, and he felt quite relieved. The Gruug were a primitive people, but the chief showed that they were intelligent as well, intelligent enough to listen to him. And while he didn't do much today, what he did do was plant the seeds of the future. The Gruug chief would think about what Jason said, think about the idea that magic was just knowledge that looked miraculous, and think about the possibility that his people might learn the secret of shaping metal as well. It would make them more amenable the next time Jason came to visit them, and it also showed that if they were approached right, the Gruug could be rational people who would listen to diplomacy.
It was a good sign.
With their experience with the Gruug showing that things could be peaceful on Exile, Jason felt much better as he oversaw all the activity, and kept track of what was going on back in the Imperium and out in the universe, since he returned home every night to an amorous wife and plenty of briefings.
The return of the Exiled to the planet was a very orderly and joyous affair. They returned home like conquering heroes, and bent quickly to the task of cleaning up their houses that had stood empty as the Karinnes started setting up the city to make it a modern outpost of the Karinnes. With the interdictor and Stargate protecting the planet, Exile was going to be a Karinne planet. The very first thing they installed at Exile was a biogenic command computer, gravband and Teryon communications transceivers, and a sensor battery to scan the skies and the planet both to watch for any trouble. As the Exiled moved back into their houses, Makati and Faey engineers installed plumbing, power, and other amenities into their city, offering to install appliances and vidlinks to any Exiled that wanted them, so they could live in peace in their home city yet still have all the luxuries the Karinnes had introduced to them on Karis.
As the Exiled settled in, so did the Karinnes. A division of infantry and engineers landed in the middle of a sea of amber grass, and the Karinne flag was raised on what would become the city of New Karsa. As the military secured the area and established a perimeter, the engineers and farming specialists got to work, plotting out the first of the farms even as the Makati laid out the village that would hold the necessary support buildings needed for the farming. The first thing they'd put in would be a landing pad, since those who would be working here, at least for now, would be working here but going back to Karis every night. Karis was still in need of settlers and workers to restore the planet, so Jason wasn't too keen on letting anyone move to Exile anytime soon, but they eventually would. People would come here to work, find they liked it here, and then ask to move here, and Jason would allow it starting six months from today. The people on Karis would make the planet live again, while those who came here would help feed the house.
Aura helped get everything settled in over the first few days, but then she bade her goodbyes, boarded a dropship, and returned to Karis. Her time on Exile was complete, and a new life on Karis was waiting for her. She already had a house, about fifteen blocks from the strip in a small house, and she had already enrolled in a flight academy to learn how to fly dropships in addition to the assimilation classes she'd be taking to fully adapt to life on Karis.
Jason was ferrying back and forth to Exile as Dahnai and Sk'Vrae healed. Dahnai's wounds were fairly deep, but the bio-accelerant was doing its job, quickly mending her. She was irritable while her wounds were healing, and drove the strip crazy, but his friends did their best not to get too pissy with her. Sk'Vrae stayed in a coma for nearly ten hours after the battle, but when she finally woke up, she was already much recovered and a little pensive. She had fully expected to beat Dahnai, and her loss had shocked her, making her almost creepily somber. The day after Jason made contact with the Gruug, they had a meeting to discuss joint military defense, and Sk'Vrae was very quiet and withdrawn, much different from the arrogant Urumi with which Jason was used to dealing. Dahnai wasn't exactly the picture of arrogance either, for she was in pain from her wounds and testy, so the two of them didn't make it a very productive meeting. She was quiet during their next meeting the next morning, agreeing with the plan that Miaari had drawn up dealing with weapon sales to the smaller empires, and then gathered up her guards and priest and had Jason take her back to Uruma not an hour afterward. "I find myself weary and unwell to deal with small matters," she said. "I need time to rest and ponder my defeat."
"Well, if it's any consolation, your Majesty, I thought you were amazing," he told her. "I think you came just this close to winning. Luck favored Dahnai, and that was the only reason she won the combat."
"You are most kind, your Grace," she said with a simple nod.
And so, Brood Queen Sk'Vrae of the Urumi Collective was returned to her home, to heal wounds that were more than physical. Jason felt that she would be alright, and as soon as she got over her loss, she would be back to her arrogant, demanding self.
The day after Sk'Vrae left, the twins also returned home, and returned like conquering generals. Their long task dealing with the Exiled was now finished, and they wanted to take some time off before finding another challenge, since Jason had forbade them from continuing their search for more Karinnes for now. The Consortium threat was too big right now, and if the Scimitar was caught out in open space, they'd be an easy mark for Consortium ships. Until the Consortium was dealt with, the Karinnes would suspend searching for any long-lost descendants. The twins made the rounds of the strip, chatting away, but they didn't spend long tracking Jason down to make good on a few threats. They caught him on his personal landing pad after coming home from Exile, as Aya and Dera filed into the house, leaving him to his fate. Just the man we've been looking for, Myri sent with an eager little smile.
And just what would you want to find me for, hmm? he asked disarmingly.
I think we have a certain promise to keep, something about utterly ruining you for any other woman, Meya noted.
Well, it's going to have to wait, Jason told them calmly. I have to get home to Jyslin. If you didn't hear, she's trying to get pregnant. Afraid I belong to her right now.
Jys, you trying to get preggers? Myri called.
Yeah, so if you're fishing for Jayce, you can't have him. Yet.
Well, saved by your wife, Meya said with a little smile. But you're just making it worse for when we do finally get our claws in you, Jason, she winked.
No, you're just making sure I'm even more disappointed, he countered.
Oh really? Myri asked archly.
My wife and Symone will go down on each other when we threesome, Lyn and Bryn are twins too, if you don't recall, so you can't even claim exclusivity with your gimmick, and I've had three women at once. You think the idea of doing twins is all that exotic and erotic to me? he asked teasingly. You're already been there done that, he added, sauntering past them. Before we even got there!
Boy, you just earned yourself a Zoyanne Sisters Special, Meya called, pointing at him commandingly.
Someday I might even be afraid of that, he called, glancing back at them over his shoulder. By the way, Kumi made my knees weak when I fucked her, he tossed at them, knowing that was an especially deep dig. The rivalry between the twins and Kumi was almost legendary.
When he got inside, Symone and Jyslin were almost collapsed in laughter on the couch. Dear Trelle, love, you're digging your own grave! Jyslin told him, but she was laughing. They're probably mad enough to go set Kumi's house on fire!
It's been too quiet around here, I have to stir things up, he said with a sly smile. Provoking the twins is usually worth a laugh.
I don't think you'll be laughing when they finally corner you.
Eh, I'm building them up to it. I want it to be momentous when they do finally catch me.
Jyslin and Symone exploded into even louder laughter.
The other plan that was working was well in motion. The Kimdori were keeping things on schedule and kept Jason and Dahnai well informed. Semoya and Emae were right on schedule with their fake feud. A few harsh words had been exchanged between them at an opera, and there were rumors that they had started themselves that the two of them were getting very angry with each other. Tomorrow, Emae would slap Semoya in the face when they met at a concert, and that would start the military buildup. They'd have six days to get their fleets mobilized, and then Dahnai would roar back to Draconis and order them to stand down, even as she mobilized the Imperial Fleet. The house fleets of other houses would also mobilize out of self protection, and that would get the Imperium all ready to respond to any attack at a moment's notice without making it apparent that they were mobilizing in response to an outside threat.
Dahnai herself was right on schedule as well. Just as Songa predicted, after three days, her wounds were fully healed. She had no scars at all, and went around that afternoon topless, proudly showing off her smooth, unmarred skin, as well as her formidable breasts, which had the side effect of driving Symone crazy. Jason couldn't count the number of times he saw her with her hands all over Dahnai's breasts, or the number of times she bent down to kiss her nipples when she was fairly sure nobody was paying attention. She culminated her celebrations on the pool deck. Jason came out to start the grill for some steaks and found her and Symone in the hot tub, Dahnai sitting on the lip with her legs spread as Symone gave her some pretty aggressive oral sex. Having fun? Jason asked lightly as he started the grill.
Ohhh, yeahhh, Dahnai sent purringly, grabbing a healthy handful of Symone's platinum blond hair. Now that she knows what the hell she's doing, I'm starting to like spreading my legs for your amu dozei, baby. Why don't you come over here and stick your dick in my mouth?
Can't, Jys is trying to get pregnant, remember? I'm hers for the next couple of days. Besides, you'll ruin your dinner.
Dahnai snorted, then burst out laughing. For that matter, so did Symone.
The next day, Jason took Dahnai with him to Exile to show her the planet, now that she was fully healed. He showed her the farming belt they'd started, and also showed her where the Exiled had lived, even taking her down and walking around with her as the Exiled and their Karinne helpers continued to set up their home. The Makati had come and put their crops back, as well as about half of the trees; they would farm here and ship their excess to Karis, but the agricultural department had already cloned seeds from their grains and fruits and were busily mass producing it for their farming effort. The vegetables and grains the Exiled grew were both edible and delicious, and it was more than worth introducing as new staples to the Karinne and Merrane food supplies. Those produced seeds would be planted at the farms at New Karsa and accelerated to maturity using fertilizing techniques and optimal environmental control, creating an ideal growth environment for the fruits, grains, and vegetables. Besides, Exile's climate and soil was ideal for just about any plant they cared to grow there. While the Exiled seeds were being produced, crops of wheat, rye, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, rice, corn, and soybeans had already been planted, and the seedlings had already sprouted under the perfect conditions conducive to fast growth, after just one day. The fields had been laid out and plowed just yesterday morning, and already there were nearly 500 acres of seedlings of many types sprouted, perfect lines of green to the north and west of the New Karsa compound. Tomorrow, orchards of apples, cherries, plums, oranges, grapefruits, and olives would be planted to the south of New Karsa, leaving the vast eastern marches open for the Exiled plants. Other crops and orchards would be planted later, as the farming effort expanded and more environmental control equipment could be brought in and set up. Once everything was set up, about two thousand workers would supervise the raising of several hundred square miles of crops.
"Nice," Dahnai noted as they looked out from the dropship. Do you think the native population will be as agreeable as the ones on the island?
I hope so, Jason answered. The chief there seemed to be a rational fellow, and after I gave him the gifts, he was willing to listen to me.
All you gave him were spears and knives?
That seemed to be the best things to give him. They'll drastically increase their hunting ability, and their spears won't go through our armor. Besides, we set up the Exiled's sensors to detect those weapons. If they come anywhere near the city, we'll know.
Clever.
Thank you. I try, he sent dryly as he turned. They're going to plant the fruit tree orchards down there, starting tomorrow. Fuck, are those mega-plows effective. Look at that, he said, pointing to where a huge plower was tilling perfect rows, seeding the earth with the perfect balance of fertilizers the planned crops for that tract would need for fast growth as it pulverized the native grass to increase its future fertility, turned the earth, and planted the seeds, all in one smooth operation. The machine plowed nearly two hundred feet across, and there were six of them staggered in a line behind the first to plant massive amounts of seeds.
What are they planting there? Dahnai asked.
Jason accessed the computer in the lead tiller, and it responded that it was loaded with broccoli. Broccoli, he answered. Good, I like broccoli.
Dahnai watched for a minute. Your house is certainly fast, love, she complemented. Two days in, and you're already plowing.
We had plenty of time to get it all organized, he answered. And the Aegis is one hell of a transport.
It's a crime to use it like that, she laughed.
Well, not anymore. With the gate up, we're running everything in via Sticks or just flat-out towing. They towed the tillers in using tractor beams. Why put them in a transport when it won't hurt them to be exposed to the vacuum of space? All we had to do was rig them for vacuum and put a portable shield on them to protect them from turbulence, then put all the pressure-sensitive stuff back in them when we got them here. That's why I love gravometric engines, he chuckled. Being able to do controlled descents just rocks. Sync up with your destination and ease down into the atmosphere. No friction heating, very little turbulence.
Well, there can be if you don't know what you're doing, but I figure your computers can handle a controlled descent.
They can, but I do the descents when I fly. I like the challenge.
When can Merrane expect the first shipment of food?
Probably three weeks or so, he answered. It'll depend on the crop. Even accelerated, some crops slower than others. I think the wheat will come in first, then the rye. I'll have to talk to the agriculture department, they already have a full harvest schedule on the board.
Department?
Yeah, they handle all this stuff, he answered. They don't need my input, since I don't know anything about farming, so my department secretary has control of it. I trust my secretary, she knows more about farming then anyone on Karis.
Who's your secretary?
We call her Grik'zzk. She's a Kizzik.
You have a Kizzik in your command staff? she asked in surprise.
Sure, she's even smarter than I am, and she knows her shit when it comes to farming. When you want to organize and deploy large scale logistics, I've found that Makati and Kizzik beat the utter shit out of all of us. Their minds are just built for that kind of activity. I have two Kizzik secretaries and three Makati. The Makati handle the departments dealing with infrastructure and civilian broadcast management, produced and replicated resources, and energy generation and distribution, and the Kizzik head the departments of agriculture and transportation, which also contains the orderly movement of cargo. Jrz'kii keeps our cargo transport schedules running as smooth as a vulpar purrs, and Grik'zzk organizes and executes farming activity. She's the one that sends the planting schedules to Terra for them to follow, and you know how efficient and effective the Terran farms are. Add Jrz'kii to handle the smooth movement of transports and cargo shipping to move those crops, and you see why the Surrales make such a killer profit off Terra. And it's all because of two Kizzik.
Damn, you've just given me something to think about, Dahnai sent honestly, leaning back in her chair.
Your penchant to have Faey run everything overlooks using the natural advantages of other races of the Imperium to your advantage, hon. How many Makati do you have in your upper government? Two? Three?
Four, she answered, a bit defensively.
And how many Kizzik?
None, she admitted.
About a quarter of my government is run by the Makati and the Kizzik. Their organizational skills make my government run smoothly and efficiently.
Your government is much smaller than mine.
But the principle is the same, he defended. You should put a Makati or a Kizzik as the chief of your personal staff, and see how fast things shape up in the palace. A Makati or a Kizzik will get your palace running smooth as silk, and you'll have a chief that's all but unbribeable.
Quite a few have problems dealing with Kizzik because of the language barrier and the fact we can't send to them.
Well, my translators work very well, and they don't really contain any proprietary Karinne technology. I've offered to sell the slightly different design to the Great Hive and allow them to produce them for their nobles, and they're supposed to get back to me in the next couple of days.
How do they work?
They translate their scent language into Faey and vice versa, he answered. They use cartridges of a hundred sixty-seven different chemicals that the translator combines in various ways to complete the entire Kizzik vocabulary. A cartridge lasts my Kizzik about two months, since the Kizzik's sense of smell is so sensitive, and the device takes the chemicals the Kizzik gives off to speak, separates them, then stores them in the cartridge to be used later. It eventually runs out, but it does a very good job of recycling the chemicals to make it last as long as possible.
Hmm. And they even work as interfaces?
Yeah, and I can do that without even having to use any Karinne technology. Just stick a gravband communicator in there and rig your equipment with a gravband receiver and you're good to go. The Great Hive is very eager to get their hands on it.
Damn, how long did it take you to build that?
It took about two years, and they started the project three years ago, so we've had the fully functional translators for about a year now. I had fourteen Kizzik working with the engineering department and a small army of sign translators. It took over a year to chemically record every word in the Kizzik scent language and cross-reference it to the Faey word. After that, it was just trial and error until we had working models, because the Kizzik have no real grammatical syntax to their scent language, and the computer just couldn't deal with it. It had a lot of bugs in it at first, so it took a while to perfect… hell, it still has a few issues, but that's more to do with the fact that the computer sometimes mistranslates the intent of the Kizzik and vice versa. Just like any other translator, how the computer thinks can be different than the one using it. Once we got it working, though, the Kizzik were ecstatic about it. No more sign language, no more translators that had to follow them around all the time, and since the translator translates almost all sounds into scent language based on the Kizzik's preference, it's opened up entire new worlds for them. Now they can hear footsteps and background conversation and the engineers can hear equipment operating to find problems.
It works that well?
Yup, he nodded. It's like having text captioning for your entire life, and since the Kizzik are actually very fast with their scent language, they can keep up with the translators. Why do you think I have so many Kizzik here, hon? They flocked here when we got those translators working. The language barrier holds them back more than anything else, and together, the Kizzik and Karinne broke it for them. Developing new scent words for sounds took quite a while, but it's worked out very well. We needed words for sounds like a barking dog, dripping water, rain, horns, and so on, and ways to combine words to simulate unusual or garbled sounds. There's even a Kizzik word for the sound of a sneeze. It doubled the Kizzik vocabulary, but the Kizzik didn't mind at all. The ones using our translators spent four months memorizing the new words, and now it's almost like they can hear.
Holy fuck, that's absolutely brilliant! she sent.
Don't congratulate me. Jyslin was the one that headed the project for the Kizzik translators. That was her main project. Myleena felt that working on the translator project would be a very good learning experience for her, and she was right. Jyslin was the one that came up with the idea of creating the sound-concept Kizzik vocabulary, and she was the one that headed the hardware and software teams that designed the translator and programmed it, he declared proudly. It proved my wife is every bit the engineer that me and Myli are. Now that we've had plenty of time to fully shake out all the bugs and finalize a production design, we've offered it to the Kizzik to produce themselves.
I'm shocked they didn't take it immediately.
You know how they are, hon, they had to study the proposal. They'll take it as sure as they're satisfied it's everything we say it is, cause think about it, we're offering them something that almost seems too good to be true for them. But as soon as they realize the prototype we sent them isn't a fake, they'll beg for it.
Send me some of them. I'd like to have them handy for when I deal with the Kizzik in Dracora.
Sure, we have a few dozen gravband translators already built. You can take a few home with you. Just don't steal the design, he teased. We do own the patent for it. And it's already been filed.
Damn, she giggled.
[Jason!] Jyslin's voice came over his gestalt, for she was using a private communicator that linked to him. [Jason, where are you?]
[Showing Dahnai the farming zone of Exile, why?]
[Jason, love, I'm pregnant!] she declared in a giddy voice. [It's twins, Jayce, identical twin girls! We're having twins, baby! Come home and celebrate!]
[Congratulations, baby!] he communed with pure joy, then he gave an audible whoop of delight. "Dahnai, Jyslin's pregnant!" he said with glee.
"Really? Yes!" she shouted, clapping happily as Jason turned the dropship skyward and gunned it using his gestalt. "All three of your loves pregnant at the same time, Jayce!" she laughed. "Is it a girl or a boy?"
"It's two girls!" he grinned foolishly. "Identical twins!"
"She just had to copy me," Dahnai laughed. "Let's go back, I have to give her a big hug and congratulate her!"
Where do you think we're going, silly? he grinned as the dropship rose from the surface, rushing for the Stargate and for home.