Book III
Way - Way Out
The Tufts Family, Safe At Home
An Adventure In The Swarm Universe Story
© Doc Tufferson
This is Book 3 in the adventure and the story won’t make sense unless you’ve read Books one and two. You’ll find them on SOL in the Swarm Universe or at the SOL Doc Tufferson Author site.
Edited by Mulligan
Chapter 1
“Tonto,” Rob asked, “are we ready on both ships?”
“We are, sir,” Tonto replied. The full complement aboard Behemoth Bounty is in place and has coordinated with the existing Navy crew. Everything appears to be fine there and we are also set here. May I suggest that as we pull apart we hold a two family conference just to give everyone aboard both ships a degree of comfort concerning our ability to stay united in spite of distance?”
Heads nodded all around the bridge of the Kedah as they looked out across the expanse of space with only the Behemoth near by. There was no sensation of movement or acceleration, as the Behemoth seemed to drift lower and to the port side of the bridge view screen and grow smaller.
Val, aboard the Behemoth said, “Rob, do I sound as if I am getting farther away?”
“No mom, you sound just as you always do even though I’ve just lost sight of your ship against the background stars. Is your entire family gathered on the bridge as we are on the Kedah?”
“No,” Val responded, “The old crew insists on having a watch on the bridge at all times – regular navy, you know. We are almost all here in our own staff meeting room and Tonto has swept it to make sure there are no bugs. There are many places where we can be observed or overheard on this ship so we will have to be careful until we get to Demeter and the old crew gets off. We are not all here right now, Charlie, Junie and Janie are trying hard to become pregnant and Tonto assures the twins that now is the time. You should have seen the grin on Charlie’s face when the girls gave him the news.”
“Rob, Val, family,” Tonto said, “the Kedah is now at three fourths power and has shifted course for Kon-at in the Kon System. We are eighteen light minutes from the Behemoth’s position and are on a 70 degree tangent to the line of Behemoth's flight, still within the plane of the galaxy. Do you remember the films of the first landing on the moon? There was a lag of 1.2 seconds from the time a message was sent until it was heard at the other end and the answer took another 1.2 seconds to get back, the wait for each complete exchange was aggravating and dangerous.
“Has anyone on either ship noticed a lag? As I said originally, we are in constant contact and know that we can maintain that for at least eight light years distance. We are better off than next door neighbors back on earth.”
Val asked Tonto, “What do you expect to find on Kon-at? Is there anything special that made you select that destination?”
Tonto replied, “Kon-at has a well developed government that strives to promote people from concubine to sponsor status and protects those who are concubines. Reports say it is working well and could be a model for our society. As we grow there will be problems that are beyond our collective experience and Kon-at might be a great learning opportunity. If they have any exportable personnel we would be wise to test them for inclusion in the family.”
Val picked up the conversation when Tonto grew silent. “Rob, I don’t think I have the mental capacity to follow all that you will learn at Kon-at while we are learning all about our really big ship and building families of those on board. What do you think of the idea of the two Tontos keeping track of both locations constantly while we simple humans concentrate on our local situation? We can chat at the end of shift break periods about the small stuff and if there is a real need we can all gather as a single unit instantly to solve whichever problem is most pressing.”
“We are all nodding in agreement mom,” Rob replied. I was already in trouble trying to think about Kon-at while trying to picture how the families are going to shake out on the Behemoth Bounty. That old tale about humans multi-tasking is so much stuff. Just try writing one paragraph while reading another. It can’t be done by mere mortals, nor is true human multi-tasking possible. So, we agree, let’s keep out lives simple by concentrating on just one major task at a time.
“Are we all still agreed that we won’t add any new families to our Tontos for at least thirty days to allow a familiarization period?” Rob concluded.
A chorus of yes responses from the Behemoth Bounty family was clearly understood by everyone on the Kedah and confirmation went the other way too. There would be just two Tonto families for the next thirty days and each would concentrate on their own self-assigned tasks.
“An in-person family meeting would be helpful at this time,” Tonto said by sub-vocalization to the entire inner family. “Can we meet on the bridge or would you prefer the veterinary units Doctor?”
“I would prefer in the veterinary surgery if you don’t mind,” the newly rejuvenated vet replied. “I’ve got a very pregnant nanny goat with problems. A more practical farm doctor would suggest that shish kebob is the answer. However, this is a family pet for young Darmahn Hicksman’s earth family and they have had their share of family stress. A little good news about love conquering all would have healing power far beyond this old goat.”
Katie piped up, “We’ll come your way Horace. You are so correct about that family. When we transported them into the base hospital it took all we could do to convince them that they were free of the tyrannical brothers who controlled them for years. We had to show them video of the two monsters locked up in the brig before they even began to relax. They need all the help healing that we can give. Can’t you just put the nanny goat in a med-tube and let the nanites do the work?”
They could hear the thump as the doctor whacked himself in the forehead. “Why didn’t I think of something that simple?” he asked. “Tonto, will it work?”
There were a few seconds of silence and Ellie was the first to comment, “He must be digging deep into several data bases to come up with an answer. A few hundred thousand queries per second is child’s play for Tonto.”
“I’ll have you know that within my on-board data storage I am capable of several hundred million queries per second,” Tonto snorted. “We already know that animals other than humans are fine in the tubes. Young Darcy Vaughn refused to go into the med-tube without her dog, Red Rover. It was done and the dog seems to be fine, even looking a bit younger and in better health. In fact, even when she goes into the learning tubes Red Rover still goes in with her, she won’t do the tubes without her most trusted companion.
“Just now I was ordering the ships replicators to produce two med-tubes in the pod next to the doctor’s surgery especially for animals. Doctor, you’ll have to let me know before you use the tubes on other animals so I can verify the programming of the nanites for each species. We don’t know what would happen if we used human programming on some other species. In time we will have a full data bank for all your various charges.
“Now, the goat is going to be just fine if she can hold out for another three minutes until her med-tube is ready for her. Can we begin our meeting?”
By the time all the inner family members had gathered around veterinarian Horace he was strapping the med-tube around the nervous nanny goat. Tonto suggested that he place a mat under the goat saying, “That nanny is going to be a momma before she gets out of that med-tube.”
Tonto addressed the gathered family, “While we are waiting for nature and nanites to take their course, we need to talk about the situation on Kon-at. I’ve downloaded the entire content of their computer network and there is trouble in River City. So much trouble that I had to contact and download the ships records from the Confederacy Pod Transport Vessel Nothing Gained which is running several hours behind her sister ship, Nothing Ventured.”
Ellie ruffled her throat feathers to indicate ‘intrigue’ and said, “Curiouser and curiouser,” in her best Alice-In-Wonderland voice. Her breast down rippled to show silly delight.
Tonto replied, “Just as the nanny goat is more than a pet to the Hicksman family, the situation on Kon-at is more than a mystery ala Lewis Carroll or Sherlock Holmes. The Captain of the Nothing Gained took the easy way out of a problem on his ship. Following an extraction he had several thousand colonists on board for a seven-month trip to an unsettled world. Eight of the male sponsors developed a god complex with their new powers and really ran amok. They were recycling concubines just for the sadistic pleasure of watching the other women’s terror. The ships AI kept hands off and the Captain knew that his reputation in the Navy was headed down the drain. Rather than dealing with the men as a strong leader should, he simply stopped at the nearest planet and transported the men to the surface, just outside of the major city.
“He didn’t bother to notify the planet government and his only act of humanity was to keep the men’s remaining concubines onboard, hoping that they would be assimilated into other families. As soon as the men were on Kon-at he ordered full throttle toward his original destination. He thinks he has pulled a fast one. However, his ships AI, with some prodding, has filed a detailed report with the Fleet Admiral and the AI has requested reprogramming at the nearest refit station. The failure of AI leadership was so great it is more likely that the unit will be decommissioned, as will the Captain.”
Katie and Rob looked at each other to determine who would voice their joint concern. “Tonto,” Katie said, “that has to be very bad news for Kon-at. From your initial report the planet is much more geared to civilian enterprises and doesn’t have a permanent military strike force. They are a production planet, not a group of warriors. How has the ‘invasion’ gone down?”
“That is the crux of the problem,” Tonto replied. The bad guys knew just enough science to trash the city-wide computer network, taking out the planet’s AI in the process. By arming themselves they have taken control without resistance. The planet’s leaders are trapped in a small enclave. They can’t get out or communicate with anyone and the only good news is that the bad guys haven’t gotten into the enclave to kill them yet. When they do there will be a massacre and there will be no leadership at all. These guys have visions of being sadistic kings.”
Rob thought about the situation for a moment with an engineer's mind, looking for technical solutions. “Tonto,” he said, “can you patch me into the leader's enclave for a two way conversation without letting the bad guys know?”
“Yes, Sir. I most certainly can,” Tonto replied. "I’ve done enough software patching to activate most of the network that was not physically damaged. There isn’t anything I can do about those repairs until we have a hands-on situation. For the record, the Planetary Governor is Mike Farris and the moving force behind the Governor is one Sarah Miller who is the Civil Service Officer on the planet and one smart cookie. Confidential computer files that the bad guys have yet to uncover indicate that the password ‘Waltzing Melissa’ will not only get the leaders attention but will also gain you great creditability. Should I open a channel now or would you like to discuss your plans first?”
“Go ahead and open a frequency now, I’ll wing it depending upon the response from Farris and Miller.”
Weapons Specialist Carla Pemberton and the rest of the core family were all in the same room with Rob. It wasn’t necessary as Tonto could link them instantly and constantly from anywhere, but human nature called them into close proximity. Carla was of special importance as her education and work backgrounds were in explosive weapons development. She could provide the tactical knowledge that the civilian leaders of Kon-at lacked.
Tonto sub-vocalized to the family that the channel was ready.
Rob spoke with confidence but just a bit above a whisper since he didn’t want to risk being overheard. “Governor Farris, this is Rob Tufts of the Confederacy ship Kedah. We understand that you have some serious problems. Can we be of assistance?”
The response was instant from Mike Farris, “Please say again and identify your ship and location, we have no knowledge of a Confederacy ship called the Kedah.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Rob responded. “My name is Rob Tufts and our extended family is the human contingent of a special envoy to the Darjee. We have been provided with a new class of ship. For our human population it is one-of-a-kind and only became operational very recently. We are inbound to Kon-at and are about 50 hours out from your location. This ship has some extraordinary capabilities. Our AI has linked to your computer network, that is, to the portion that is left operational after the outlaw raiders attacked. We also linked to the computer network of the ship that dropped those bandits on Kon-at to learn who and what they are. If you are interested we believe we can assist you in retaking control of your planet long before we will be able to arrive in person. Are you interested in our assistance?”
There was muffled conversation between a half dozen or so voices that lasted for some moments before the Governor responded. “Mr. Tufts, we want to trust you as we believe our position will fall shortly. Once those bastards get in here we will all be dead, their brutality is unbelievable. Still, the bandits are slick, how do we know that you are what you say you are.”
Rob replied with just two words, “Waltzing Melissa.”
Sarah and the Governor spoke at the same time, “How could you…” then Sarah continue to speak for them, “How could you know about her and what she means to us here on Kon-at. There are only a handfull of people here that know who Waltzing Melissa is and how much she means to us.”
“Our Doc Tufferson talked to her recently and she gave him permission,” Katie responded. “I’m Rob’s wife, our entire family is here and would like to help.”
“Thank Melissa for great favors,” Governor Farris said. “What now? We are delighted that you care.”
“OK then,” Rob replied, “let’s get coordinated. It appears from here that the computer terminals in your secure area are not functioning and we need to fix that.”
“That’s right,” the Governor said, “all three computer terminals are down.”
Rob said, “I want to add my son, Jason, to this conversation. He is our computer wizard.”
Jason looked up in surprise at Rob’s comment. He pointed to his own chest and sub-vocalized, “Me?”
Tonto responded, also sub-vocally, “We don’t want to give away the knowledge of our Tonto relationship so you will have to play parts while we are talking to humans. I’ll provide the information, you just do the voice.”
“Hello Governor Farris, my name is Jason Tufts and I’m going to try to talk you through this.”
“Please drop the titles, folks. My name is Mike Farris and my right hand person here is Sarah Miller. Our first names will do just fine.”
Jason came back with, “I have a wonderful concubine/wife also named Sara Miller with no ‘H’ in Sara. Well, she is now Sara Tufts as she wanted to take the family name and we were all thrilled with her decision.”
Tonto began feeding Jason computer information and the young man relayed the instructions. “Mike, on the back of the central terminal in your room are four separate cables, not counting the power connection. Three of them can be unplugged and the fourth is hard wired. It is the hard wire connection that is causing the problem, it is a direct connection to the master system that those idiots destroyed. First you need to disconnect the power line and once that is done you need to cut the hardwire. Do you have something to cut with?”
“I have,” the feminine voice of Sara Miller said. “I still have an old Leatherman tool that belonged to my grandfather. It is my last connection to my original family. Mike has pulled the plug, it’ll take me a moment to cut this line, it seems to be shielded with a braided stainless steel sheath. Mike, I have the tool but not the muscle, can you cut this line?”
There was a pause of several minutes before, “OK Jason, that line has been severed, what’s next?” Governor Farris asked.
Jason answered, “Plug the power back in and reboot the system. Only your central terminal’s monitor will work, the video output was linked through that same cable. As soon as it comes on line our AI will begin mapping your options on the screen while we talk you through the best choices that we can see from here.”
Again there was a pause, “Great, the boot procedure is just now completing,” Sarah said. “OK, now we’ve got a picture, it’s a map of the facility. We can see the location of six of the bad guys, did you say there were eight?”
“Yes”, Jason answered, “ the six you can see on the screen are working to break down the access door to your location and it appears they will succeed with in a few minutes. You need to move through the door at the narrow end of your location into the back hallway. We’ve just forced the computer to unlock that door. At the end of the hallway there is a hatchway in the floor. It opens to the armory where you can pick up all the fire power you need. When you get to the hatch we will release that lock, it wouldn’t do to have the bad guys get there first.
“The two bandits you do not see on your screen are in a small room just off the hallway you must take. They are armed but they are also busy raping a young girl. You may have to fight if they see you going by. We can’t help you with that as there is no lock on that door according to the computer records.”
Mike Farris asked if they would be able to overpower the two men in the room so they could stop the rape. “I can’t stand to see those scum wreaking such terror on our people, they must be stopped!”
Tonto clued in Rob who spoke, “ Governor, if you try it is certain that at least one of the two will reach his weapon then it will be all over. He will kill everyone he sees, man, woman, or child. Your only chance of saving your people is to reach that cache of weapons and even then you will have a fight on your hands. These guys think that have the power of god and they won’t give up just because you come out armed. I repeat, Governor, we can’t help you beyond providing information and forcing the computer to do that which is possible, you are going to have to wage war. Some of your people will die before all of the bad guys are overpowered. We’ve opened they way, you are going to have to win this battle or die trying.”
Both Governor Mike Farris and Sarah Miller spoke at the same time. The Governor’s one word reply was, “Shit!” Sarah simply said, “let’s go and keep low!”
Tonto and family monitored the sensors that kept track as they moved down the hall. Most of the crew were nearing the hatch when gunshots were heard coming from the room down the hall. When Sarah placed her hand on the hatchway Tonto released the latch and activated the lift hydraulics. At the same time he activated the video and audio feeds inside the armory. The well lit area was covered by security cameras from all angles. When the hatchway opened a steep ships ladder dropped from the ceiling of the armory giving precarious access to the floor about 30 feet below.
The first person through the hatch was not one of the governor’s team. There was the sound of sucking breaths aboard the Kedah as the family tensed. However the man wasn’t climbing down the ladder, he was tumbling head first. He landed hard on his back and before he had the opportunity to even raise his hands Sarah Miller landed in the middle of his chest, feet first. The weight of her body from thirty feet up crushed his chest, blood and bile spewed from his mouth. Sarah tumbled and rolled to her right. It was clear that her left leg was broken in her 30 leap. Her leg folded out at an odd angle and the pink and white of a shattered bone pushed through her skin and pants leg.
Mike Farris and four others were down the ladder right behind Sarah. He grabbed the rifle that had fallen down with the bastard and used the butt to cave in his forehead. As brains and blood spurted across the floor from the violence of the blow the governor was already giving orders. “Side arms and ammo are on shelf 16-A. Electronic stunners are on 4-B, sleepy gas canisters are marked with a green and blue stripe and are near the north door on shelf 1-C. Each of you grab one of each right now and throw me two canisters of the gas.”
Carrying the confiscated rifle and the canisters of gas, Mike scampered back up the ladder. Just before his head reached the hatchway he paused long enough to activate and pitch both canisters through a narrow opening of the hatch into the hallway. Then he slid back down the ladder closing the hatch. As he hit the bottom he could see one of his sponsors tending to Sarah, three others ran to him, giving him a gas mask and a stun gun. Mike took just long enough to grab a fully automatic rifle and a bandolier of explosive head ammo. “OK, I’m up first with Charlie right behind me. We’re going to take care of the other bastard that is still upstairs. You other two exit the armory through the front door, be sure you lock it behind you. We know the rest of attackers are trying to get into the control center. Come around behind them via the stairs, don’t use the lift as it will give your position away. The minute you see them, start shooting. No stunners for these guys, use the A-28-16s like I have with the explosive anti-personnel ammo and take them out. Do not hold your fire if they have some of us hostage, if they get reorganized or capture one of our weapons we are in trouble. If they get into the control center it gives them access to this armory then it is all over.”
The family looked on via video in stunned silence as Mike and a person they only knew as “Charlie” disappeared up the ladder and through the hatch. The other two exited at the far end of the armory. Now they could only follow the sensors and hold their breath. Tonto wasn’t as shocked as his human family. He asked the woman tending to Sarah Miller her name.
The woman looked around for the source of the voice then shrugged her shoulders. “I’m Susie Strumson,” she said. “I’m a member of Sarah’s management team. I was on duty with Sarah with all this stuff broke out.”
Ellie’s feathers ruffled up her back and her throat fanned in great excitement. “That’s Molly’s mother. She was in an extraction and was unable to take Molly with her.”
Tonto anticipated the desires of the group and alerted his counterpart on the Behemoth Bounty. Junie and Janie Strumson, now Blackmun, were members of the core family and fully capable of instant communications with the Tontos. Their cousin, Molly Strumson was not yet a family member so had to go through the members or use the ships FLT radios.
Ellie squealed, “Junie, Janie, Molly’s mother is on Kon-at and is in the middle of a fight to oust some bad guys who are trying to take over. She is trying to help a badly injured Sarah Miller who broke her leg in the battle. We will be arriving at the planet in 50 hours or so. Do you think Molly would like to talk to her mother?”
“Oh god yes!” Junie replied while calling out to her sister, “Janie, find Molly and get her up to the bridge so we can make contact. Ellie, I’ll let you know the minute she gets to a secure location.”
While the rest of the family was following the battle on Kon-at on the sensors Ellie asked Tonto for some background. “Tonto, Molly told me the story of her mother’s extraction but I’ve forgotten. Do you have that information?
There was a sound that any human would have understood as a disgusted grunt indicating dismay that Tonto’s memory might be questioned. Ellie caught Tonto’s meaning and smiled, the sometimes coldly logical organic intelligence was becoming more human in his characteristics every day.
Tonto replied, “Molly Strumson’s mother, Susie Strumson was extracted several months prior to our lift off. Susie, her husband and 14 year old daughter were in a shopping mall when her opportunity came. She qualified as a sponsor who was entitled to two concubines. Without pause she selected her husband and daughter. Molly wasn’t with them and even if she had been she would have put the sponsor over the limit, Molly was already 15 years old.
“Susie is exceptionally loyal to her family and almost refused to go since Molly couldn’t go with them. In a brief phone conversation Molly convinced the rest of the family to go, telling them that she would stay with her cousins and aunt Donna, Susie’s sister. The mother and her concubines was transported to Kon-at where Susie quickly became an aide to Sarah Miller in charge of family relationships. It is her job to assure that rejected or widowed concubines find a good home. Further, she acts as an arbitrator when things go wrong within a family. Due to her work there hasn’t been a single concubine recycled or even harshly disciplined since she arrived on planet.
“On the Behemoth Bounty Molly is next in line to join the core family after the 30 day settling in period is complete for the existing family members. Do you think she might want us to try to recruit her mother to join us. She seems to have talents we could use.”
Ellie, Jason and Rob all replied, each voicing part of the answer, “No question… Molly really misses her family… Susie will be a great addition.”
The entire family on the Kedah turned their attention back to the screens as the battle raging in the governor’s offices again entered an area covered by cameras. Governor Mike Farris let a group of nine heavily armed men and women who were just coming into sight in the entry tunnel to a small amphitheater. Shots had been fired from this location just moments before so they knew that at least some of the bad guys were inside. The problem was there were about 150 high backed theater seats set on a steep rise of tiers. Below them there was a small stage with several stands in the back, two curtained wings and a central dais. There were more places to hide in the theater than any skilled soldier would want to face and Mike’s forces would have to enter in clear sight of every seat in the house. He wisely paused his people while still in deep shadows. Next to him there was a small speaker used to cue entertainers who were waiting to make an entrance.
Rob’s voice was broadcast softly through the speaker. “Mike, hold where you are. We have good camera coverage of the entire room but need a bit of time to determine where your opponents are hiding. Stay low… no, it would be better if you quietly backed up to just behind the double doors about 20 feet behind you. There are two side hallways, split your force with half in each hall. You’ll be safe from any stray rifle fire and if they have gas grenades the doors can be shut quickly to provide protection long enough for you to put on your masks. We will scan the entire auditorium to pinpoint the exact location of everyone inside. We can also lock the other three exits to keep them contained. There are no speakers back there, do you have a hand held radio of any type?”
Chapter 2
Mike responded, “Thanks Rob, we are starting to move back now and will close the doors when we are clear. There is a glass port so we can still watch to see if they start coming this way. We don’t have a radio right now but I can grab a couple from the storage unit at the end of the north hallway.”
Rob shot back, “If there is any chance that the outlaws have radios try to get a unit with a secure band to keep them from listening to our conversation. When you get it just click the send button three times without saying anything. That will be enough to allow us to pick up your frequency and make contact. The first thing I will send to you will be some nonsense information to try to determine if they have the capability to listen in. Do not respond until I give you an all clear. We won’t broadcast to you until we have them all spotted.”
While the tension was building on the Kedah, Ellie use her sub-vocal voice to reach Junie aboard the Behemoth Bounty, asking if Molly had made it to the bridge yet. “Let her know that we have made contact with her mother. Fill Molly in so she will know what’s going on and why she has to wait.”
Several minutes went by and just as Molly Strumson announced her presence on the bridge of the Behemoth Bounty there were three clicks picked up at a very high frequency. Tonto said, “I’ve got it, Rob, and you are patched in.”
During that contact the rest of the family were busy spotting the six remaining rogue sponsors in the amphitheater. When all were accounted for Rob’s voice broadcast his line of dis-information, “We’ve opened a port at the peak of the amphitheater ceiling and are ready to flood the structure with R-7-apx gas, they’ll all be dead in a few seconds.”
After the broadcast they waited for a few seconds to see if there would be a burst of fire toward the top of the theater or if any of the men made a mad dash for the doors. There was no movement of any kind.
“Mike,” Rob said, “we are sure that those mad men are not monitoring this frequency or they would have reacted to the first broadcast. We’ve also locked all of the exits except your pathway in. All six are inside. There is one in the wings to the right of the stage. He has no protection and is hidden only by the stage curtains, we guess that he doesn’t think you’ll be coming after them or if anyone does come in they will be unarmed. He is packing an automatic rifle and a pistol. There is another on the lighting catwalk above the stage, it appears that he only has a single sidearm. Two men are together at the very top of the seats directly above the entrance you’ll have to use to get inside. They are working together and are heavily armed with several automatic rifles, at least three pistols and something that looks like the long range flame throwers that are so effective against the Sa’arm. We can’t be sure because we only can see what seems to be the nozzle. If it is a flamethrower the tank must out of sight between the rows of seats. Our guess is that one of those two is the ringleader. One has a walkie-talkie and has been trying to raise the other two guys that you’ve taken out. He is cursing at them each time he calls. I would guess that he believes they are goofing off and it hasn’t yet occurred to him that they might be unable to respond.
“The final two are below your position. One is sitting on the toilet in the small bathroom off the left side of the auditorium floor and the other is laying on the floor between the first and second rows of seats. He hasn’t moved and we can’t tell if he is hiding, is asleep, knocked out or dead. Even without him they have your entry point well covered. If you try to rush the stage the guys above you will hit you and wipe you out. If you try to make an attack on the two at the top of the arena you’ll be completely exposed to the folks on the stage. Do you know any more about this facility than we can tell from the computer layouts and what we see on the cameras?”
Governor Farris answered, “Yes, I think we may have a solution. We were scheduled to have a special show in this building day after tomorrow and we needed some tri-video coverage that wasn’t available in the original design. Last week we added two camera positions above the very top row of seats. That information must not have made it into the plans on the computer. Each is just a port in the wall, four feet by three feet to accommodate the big lenses. Access is from the storage area on the third floor. One port is above the stairway on the left and the other is above the stairway on the right. The rogues must be about equidistant between the two tri-vid ports.
“It’s going to take a few minutes for some of us to back out of here and get into position at the ports. If you have access to the right computers you could cause a distraction that will keep them on edge. The stage is motorized and can rotate 360 degrees to allow scenes to be rapidly changed. Can you set that in motion?”
Rob looked to Tonto for guidance and quickly received a reply. Using Rob’s voice Tonto said, “Yes, I’ve logged into the computer system, which allows us complete control of the stage, lighting, curtains and sound system.”
Rob spoke directly to Mike, “Get your troops moving toward the tri-video ports, we’ll handle the distractions.”
Rob and Jason conferred briefly with Tonto then music broke out in the auditorium. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture filled the theater, strong and blustery. The two men at the top of the seating area ducked behind the seats and began peeking around the edges looking for the source of the sound. In perfect time with the music the stage began jerking erratically back and forth but making slow headway to the clockwise. Three shots rang out from the smaller of the two men in the top row before his buddy backhanded him hard. The slugs went harmlessly into the stage.
Slowly the stage rotation began to pick up speed but the motion was still intentionally jerking in time with the music. With every muscle tense amongst the raiders, the distraction was working perfectly. Before any of the men had a chance to settle down the bathroom door flew open and the sixth man jumped out with his pants still around his knees. Before he took a single halting step he was cut down by gunfire from the wings and the top of the seats. His head and chest both disintegrated as he was blasted by multiple rounds of exploding ammunition.
“Stop the fucking shooting!” was the screamed demand from the leader in the top row. You assholes have just wiped out Harry. He wasn’t much good since he always had the shits but we might need his shooting. Now cool off before you do anything else stupid.” He didn’t seem to care about Harry’s death, he was just mad about the lost firepower. His voice was tense and harsh.
Tonto took that as his cue and he caused the curtains on the right side of the stage to jerk slightly forward before rushing into the wide open position, exposing the man who had been hiding there. The startled man squeezed off a burst of automatic rifle fire into the air and it came much too close to the leaders position at the top of the room and splattered them with debris from the ceiling as the acoustical material exploded. In a knee jerk reaction the big man tightened his grip on the throttle of the flame thrower and a burst of burning napalm arched across the open room, engulfing the shooter in a flaming mass of jellied fuel that wouldn’t go out until his body was consumed.
Looking at what he had done to his own man in horror the leader raised the tip of the weapon in a futile gesture that was way too late. The flaming jelly arched up the curtains and into the wiring above the stage. The cameras and stage lights went out in an electrical flash, leaving Tonto and his people in the dark. All contact with the computer and video systems on Kon-at had been lost.
“Damn!” Katie expressed. “The dumb turds have wiped out at least a third of their own people and probably set the entire building on fire.”
“They’ve also burned out our connections,” Tonto added. “Unless I can make a new contact with some other part of the system we will have to wait until we get there to see how it all came out.”
Changing subject and roles so smoothly some were bewildered for just a second until they figured out what Tonto was saying. “Molly, I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to speak to your mom,” Tonto relayed through Junie on the Behemoth Bounty. “We can tell you that there is little chance that the rogue sponsors will ever get out of that auditorium. If they haven’t already cooked themselves with their flamethrower the governor and his people are in position to pick them off with few, if any, losses of their own. We think it will be all over in just minutes and no doubt the fire suppression system in the amphitheater has already kicked in. Your mother was in a different building, some distance from the current fighting and she was safe while helping her boss get medical attention. She wasn’t hurt.”
Molly wasn’t yet part of the core family, wasn’t part of Tonto’s mental structure so her understanding of Tonto was limited by her restricted viewpoint. Still she did know that Tonto was some sort of artificial intelligence that she could talk to by just using her voice. “Tonto?” She said and all could hear the question mark in her use of the name, “are you sure my Momma is OK? Will I be able to talk to her soon? What about Daddy and my little sister, Karen?”
Tonto replied, “It’s too early to tell, when we lost contact the fighting was still underway. Here is what we do know. Eight rogue sponsors were dropped off on the planet where they tried to take over by force; and they almost succeeded. Kon-at is not a military planet and is very peaceful. The folks there weren’t prepared to fight. They are learning the errors in their thinking and we will learn from their situation too. When we last had contact with your mother she was OK and in a safe place. We have no information on your father or sister. It appears that I will be able to reestablish contact with other computer systems soon and will let you know about your family as soon as possible. In the meantime please be as patient as possible.”
Junie Blackmun spoke up, “Molly, come with us to our pod. I promise to monitor everything that Tonto is doing and will tell you as soon as he knows something. Janie, Charlie and I want you to cuddle with us while we wait. No! Don’t make those kind of eyes Charlie, at least not right now. You’re going to make hot chocolate for us, not hot chocolate babies in us.”
Charlie could be heard to mumble, “You mean that I’m not enough hot chocolate for the three of you? I don’t need any help, you know.”
“Charlie, not now.” Both Janie and Junie said at the same time.
Chapter 3
Tonto began relaying directly to all of the core family on both ships as soon as contact was restored with the computer system on Kon-at.
“Rob, can you hear me?” It was the voice of Mike Farris and it sounded strained as he if was breathing hard. “Are you there?”
“Yes, Mike. We can hear you now. What’s happening? Are you OK? Is the situation under control? We lost all contact when the flamethrower fried some sort of circuit or control panel.”
Mike continued to breathe hard as he panted, “All of the rogue sponsors are dead but the situation is not under control. The guy who was above the stage on the catwalk had just opened a crawlway door when the napalm doused him and every thing in the room he was entering. That was our main communication center and computer facility. The whole room is still burning and power is out all over this quadrant of the planet. If the fire suppression system doesn’t take care of the fire we are going to end up back in the stone age in the next few hours. The fire is spreading in the theater and control complexes and we have begun evacuating the adjacent buildings. It’s a real mess.”
Rob asked, “How are you talking to us? What computer system is working?”
Before Mike could answer Tonto let everyone know that the Kon-at Hospital AI and computer system is independent of the other systems and would continue to operate on generator power even if the rest of the city was destroyed.
Mike said, “I’m in the hospital, they are sealing up a small burn on my arm but I’ve got to get back out there to direct our efforts to limit the damage and help anyone who is injured or in danger. Can you offer us any help?”
Tonto used Jason’s voice to answer, “Mike, we need direct contact with the hospital AI. It is housed in a shielded unit with layers of protection. If it will cooperate with us we may be able to help even before we arrive. Who is your authorized co-agent?”
“How do you know about co-agents?” Mike asked.
“Remember, we know Waltzing Melissa and she authorized our contact,” Jason said.
After a very short pause the Governor responded, “Sarah Miller is my co-agent. She and I have to make simultaneous contact with the hospital AI and authorize additional connections. Do your really think it will work?”
“Right now it seems to be the only option,” Jason said. “Is Sarah capable of giving approval with her broken leg?”
Mike Farris responded, “She is in a med-tube and will be there for another hour or so according to the hospital AI. It was a serious fracture with lots of tissue damage and great loss of blood. She won’t be conscious for some time.”
“Mike,” Jason said. “Give the AI your authorization and ask it to probe Sarah’s mind for co-agent approval. She may seem to be unconscious in the med-tube but the AI has great access to her mental processes.”
Mike responded, “Well, according to my information that won’t work but I’m willing to give it a try. AI, interlink contact with the AI and computer systems on the Darjee vessel Kedah is herewith authorized with access to all functions except project AQ-niner-four. Please confirm with co-agent Sarah Miller in med-tube H-17 and, with her approval, please enact.”
Instantly Tonto indicated to the entire family that he was in.
Using Junie’s voice Tonto contacted the Behemoth Bounty, “Molly, two days ago we were able to tell you that your family was OK. We are about to land and we are giving your contact with them the highest priority. They have all gathered in one spot and are waiting for you to contact them. We will use a radio link after we land. The folks on Kon-at do not know of our family inter-link so we will send down a ‘special radio’ with the contact party. They have also been told that you are on another ship, not the Kedah. We will stabilize orbit around the planet in three minutes and begin beaming staff and supplies down at once.” While Tonto was giving that information through Junie he was also organizing the core family on the Kedah into a contact party and a separate supplies party. While individual humans are not capable of true multi-tasking, Tonto could handle as many major tasks as the number of humans in his family plus the extended Tonto families.
Jason, Rob and Katie were in the contact group. Ellie had gone into isolation during the stay to protect her secret Darjee appearance.
“Governor Farris, I’m Rob Tufts and this my wife, Katie and our son, Jason. I take it this beautiful lady at your side is Sarah Miller?”
Mike Farris responded, “No need to be formal, Rob. We’ve been chatting for a couple of days now and with all the assistance you’ve supplied I feel not only that I know all of you but that we are deeply in your debt. Sarah is actually co-governor in every thing except name.”
Sara spoke up, “We all want to thank you. I don’t believe any of us would have survived as well as we did without your help. I’m almost certain that the entire planet would have been under the dictatorship of those bastards. What can we do to repay you?”
Jason took Sarah’s hand to shake and said, “I too feel as if I know you as well. One of my wives is Sara Tufts, nee Miller, an unusual coincidence. She is a gorgeous human being who has been through much, just as you have, and you are every bit as beautiful.”
“Enough,” Rob said. “We’ve work to do. A party with the emergency supplies you requested is beaming down to your armory while we are chit-chatting. I’ve brought a special radio that I would like to present to your Strumson family. Their daughter, Molly, is aboard our Heavy Carrier Ship, the Behemoth Bounty, and she has been climbing the walls to make contact with her mom, dad and little sister, Karen.”
Sarah pointed out a short woman, who looked to be far older than the average regenerated sponsor and said, “That is Susie Strumson and the young man who looks to be her son is her husband, Arnold.” She went on to explain, “Susie is the sponsor and chose to have her husband trimmed down to 18 years old. However, she said she wasn’t going to change her appearance until she had the opportunity to go over the changes with her daughter, Molly. She wanted to be sure that Molly would recognize her when they next met.”
Jason carried the radio to Mrs. Strumson and said, “Use it like a cell phone, Molly is eager and already on line.”
Tonto urged Jason to join Rob and the others to get the work done. He used his sub-vocal voice to remind the entire family that the jaunt to and war at Kon-at had eaten up so much time that they wouldn’t be able to make any other side trips. He also pointed out that they needed to get underway to Demeter and then the Darjee jump off point if they were going to keep to schedule.
Mrs. Strumson asked permission to speak to ‘Captain Tufts’ and none of the family was quite sure who that would be. She was speaking to Katie at the time so there was an instant family conference. Tonto took the lead, “since there has never been a need for that type of designation before it seems logical that some one of you should assume the title at least while dealing with those who are not part of our complement. Katie, Rob, Jason – do any of you have a preference or desire?”
Before Rob or Jason had time to answer, Katie responded to Susie Strumson, “I’m Captain Tufts, my husband Rob is the Communications Officer and our son Jason is Chief Science Officer. What can I do for you?”
While Katie continue to talk with her visitor Jason lightly dug his elbow into his dad’s ribs and cracking a lopsided smile he whispered, “The early bird gets the worm, doesn’t she?”
“Yes,” Rob replied, “and the earliest bird is still aboard the Kedah. We may have begun something bigger than the two of us combined.” Then turning to his wife said, “Captain, may I be of assistance?”
“Excuse us a moment if you would Susie,” Katie said. “I may be Captain but we make decisions as a family. We’ll get back to you in just a moment.”
Stepping into the hallway Rob asked, “What’s up?”
Katie said, “Mrs. Strumson has asked if she, her husband Arnold, and their daughter Karen can join our family and be reunited with Molly. Before this mess broke out they were trying to find a way to return to earth just so the family could be complete again. While we talked she said that leaving earth without Molly was the biggest mistake of her life and they were willing to give up their status within the Confederacy to reunite the family.”
“Wow!” Rob said, “I understand where she’s coming from, if we couldn’t have all gone together I wouldn’t go either. However, she holds a very responsible position here on Kon-at and they have a huge task ahead of them in the rebuilding process. Will they be willing to let her go?”
Katie said, “I’m sure Molly feels the same way as her mother and would ask to leave our ship’s company to be with her parents.”
Rob and Kate put their heads together and began to figure out all of the possible ramifications and how to make the request. In the mean time Jason had a very short conversation with Tonto and Molly through Junie, bringing her up to the moment.
As Rob turned to ask Jason his opinion on one of the questions he was surprised to see him talking to the Strumson Family along with Governor Farris and Sarah Miller. Jason used a bob of his head to indicate him mom and dad in their own little huddle and the entire group broke into laughter. Katie and Rob were startled and Rob’s jaw tightened slightly. Jason and the entire party walked over to join Rob and Katie.
Jason asked Susie for the special radio, thumbed the switch and said in a loud, clear voice, “Molly, are you still on line?”
“Yes, of course I am. What going on?” she answered.
Jason replied, “Your mom has an announcement,” and handed the phone back.
“Molly sweetheart, we are joining you and your new family. The Governor just gave us permission to immigrate. Jason said we would go with them and the Kedah (Is that the right way to pronounce the ship’s name?) and would meet you when the two ships get back together.”
There was a loud scream of joy from the speaker and after a few seconds Molly got her emotions under control and said. “Junie and Janie are here with me along with their husband, Charlie Blackmun. Charlie has asked me to marry the three of them too but he is going to have to wait until we get together so daddy can give me away in a big, fancy wedding. Oh Mama, I’m so happy, now the family really is complete.”
Molly’s mother blushed just a bit as she said to her daughter in a softer voice, “I hope the wedding is the only thing you make him wait for. It would be very nice if our daughter’s wedding dress was a maternity gown. If Junie and Janie have married him then I approve completely. Charlie,” she said addressing her future son-in-law, “we already love you. Take good care of my baby girl and we hope to see you soon.”
Rob looked at Jason and began to say, “What made you…?”
“Relax dad, while you and mom were trying to figure out how the Governor and his staff would respond, Tonto told me that it was already a done deal. Mrs. Strumson had asked Mike’s permission before she came to us and her request had been granted without hesitation.”
Rob wanted to feel insulted and huffy but his wife’s smile told him it was a lost cause. “Well, you could have told me.”
The Kedah broke orbit and Tonto engaged the “go fast” button with a direct heading to Demeter. They had spent another 21 days helping out at Kon-at plus having made a quick two day trip to rendezvous in open space with a Confederation supply convoy where they filled the hold with most of the critical items that they returned to secure Kon-at. A full supply ship would arrive in about 45 days.
To make sure that they wouldn’t fall prey to another take over attempt, Governor Farris also arranged to acquire two companies of Confed Marines who were being transferred in with their entire families. Their original destination would be just a little short of fighting manpower but the Fleet Admiral gave his personal approval. Governor Farris had gone to college with the Lieutenant Commander in charge of the transferring unit and the LC volunteered to come with his troops too. Kon-at would no longer be defenseless.
Chapter 4
The Kedah would not get to visit as many planets as originally planned and they would arrive at Demeter just a couple of days ahead of the Behemoth Bounty where the Bounty’s original crew would release full control and possession of the ship to the Tufts family. After a brief stay both ships would then head for the transition point Kayteetee’. The travel time for the Bounty on the leg to KTT would be almost 11 months while the Kedah could make it in just under two. There would be some shifting of family members between ships while they were together at Demeter. It was agreed that during the long trip additional people would be processed into the inner families. They still had to decide how many Tonto groups would be optimal so they planned up to a week of face to face meetings with everybody present while in orbit around Demeter.
The original Confederation intent was to have families multiply as fast as possible, breeding like rabbits to produce human canon fodder for the war against the Sa’arm. Both ships were large but with a year in transit they could approach breeding themselves out of living space. They had much to think about and then take action to make the plans work to fruition. About the only worry they didn’t have was a Confederacy AI sticking its imaginary nose in the family’s business.
A couple of the personnel moves were dictated by the decision they had already made that the Kedah would not wait at KTT for the Behemoth. Kedah would transit on to the new home planet and get things going before the bulk of the family arrived with the Naval Air Station. Medical technician Charlie Blackmun with Junie, Janie and Molly would come aboard the Kedah so their combined skills would be available to the advanced team. The medical needs aboard the Bounty would be directed by Val and Tonto, utilizing the Med-tube technology. Val would have to fill in as the ships veterinarian too as Horace and his surgeon/emergency room MD daughter, Sandra Hamilton-Tufts would travel with the Kedah too. The advanced team needed all the human skills they could muster.
The planning for being self-sufficient was crucial. Neither of the Tontos knew if their constant contact would hold once the Kedah had been transported. The Kedah’s logs and manuals told them that KTT had the ability to shift them up to 30,000 light years distant or about one third of the way across the Milky Way Galaxy. It seemed reasonable to assume that contact would be lost for the nine months it would take the Behemoth Bounty to join the Kedah at the new home world. No one aboard knew where or what that new world might be.
As the two ships drew closer and closer to Demeter the Tonto-augmented communication increased. The distance wasn’t a factor; they had instant communication at all times. However, as they drew closer they thought of each other more often and so talked a lot more. Most of it was chatter about who would be going where and with whom and doing what was anyone’s guess as to the nature of their new home world. Some of the talk was strictly family:
“Hi, Grandpa Dan,” Ellie thought to her only grandfather. “Where is that big old slow barge you guys are herding along now?”
“Hi sweetheart, I’m so glad you thought of me. I feel better now that we can talk. We’re really in the middle of nowhere. After our last course adjustment there is nothing between us and Demeter except more space travel.”
“Grandpa, I really want to sit on your lap like I use to. I’m so sick of these feathers. They itch and Tonto says I’m going into a molt. He says there is a real possibility that we may meet with more Darjee when we arrive at KTT and again when we get to our new home so I can’t just shed them. I miss you.”
“I miss you too, my love. Go take a naked shower with Jason and see if he’ll scratch your itch.”
“Oh grandpa, I never knew you could be so nasty. I love you and would never disobey, so I’m off to the shower with my brother. Good night.”
“Good night, baby girl.”
Demeter loomed large for the Behemoth Bounty as the ship seemed to fill much of the sky in the transport orbit. Kedah was off all but the best radar screens as it coasted outside Lagrangian point three. The last of the original Navy crew for the Behemoth had transported down with their possessions. Both Tontos combined with their human partners to sweep the ship clean of sensors, cameras, recorders, transponders and tracking devices that might be used to report to the official or unofficial navies in space.
It wasn’t just the Confederation Navy that concerned the crew. The Darjee most certainly would have some sort of tracking device aboard and it was possible that something that the Sa’arm might be able to connect to was aboard. It did not matter who the outside influences might be, the Tuft's family needed privacy to be themselves, which included two Tontos and soon to be even more.
In the first joint face-to-face session of all family members, resolution A-69 was adopted without dissent. Of course, no one except the inner family knew what that resolution was all about, it had been forged in interstellar space via Tonto communication. Up to six new Tonto families would be created with a maximum of three additional on each ship. To assure that as many of the souls aboard as wished could join the inner family there would be no limits on the maximum number of humans that could be in a single Tonto. They had also decided that the minimum Tonto family size would now be ten. Having three more minds to help power the organic intelligence provided a greater margin of safety and, as there were more than enough people to make up eight total families, there was no pressing need to transfer folks elsewhere.
There was no rush as the Kedah had almost two months before reaching KTT and the Behemoth Bounty had a full eleven months to prepare for that transition. There was some tension between going slowly enough to assure that every challenge was met and fast enough to satisfy the desire of those who had not yet had the chance to become part of an instantly communicating family.
The nimble human fingers did the work but it was the scanning and detecting ability of the Tontos that uncovered more than 400 spy devices throughout the Behemoth Bounty and another 22 on the Kedah. For the time being all would be kept active in approximately their original locations. Once underway they would all be transferred to an empty cargo hold where the pulses of the ships could be read but no real information garnered. When they neared the limits of the human Navy to track them, the entire bunch would be ejected into an orbit that would rapidly decay forcing the devices to fall into an active star. The best navy minds would assume that the ships malfunctioned and were swallowed up. Those who weren’t so highly educated but had lived longer would have little trouble figuring out that they had been had.
Unlike Kon-at, Demeter was a very busy space-faring location. There was some tension as the huge Behemoth Bounty was so big that it was readily visible to the naked eye of anyone on the planet that looked up. That made some folks nervous. It’s size also meant that it was overusing and infringing upon the port facilities. The planet would be able to handle seven more war or transport ships as soon at the monster left orbit. Those whose job was to move traffic began using the initials BB to indicate Big Bastard and they constantly harassed the crew. However, the Fleet Admiral aboard his wartime command ship was also in orbit and was looking down on the BB. He ordered his ship’s Captain to maneuver to a matching orbit so he could keep her under constant observation.
While the Behemoth Bounty was huge and ungainly and the 460-acre encapsulated Naval Air Station was slung between her gantry arms making her look clumsy, the Fleet Admiral thought she was beautiful. He was determined to find some way to confiscate this ship, dump the Naval Air Station and use the Big Bastard to hall munitions to his battle sites. With the firepower she could transport she could decimate the entire surface of a planet to the depth of the Sa’arm tunnels without fragmenting the planet. He could picture this very fast freighter shuttling victory over the three legged dick heads and he wanted her. Without the speed of the Kedah she would be hard to defend so he wanted the Little Darjee speedster too.
Fleet Admiral Richard M. Cheney had been rebuffed by every official approach but he wasn’t about to let this prize slip away. Looking over his head he ordered the ships AI, “I want a boarding party on the bridge of the Behemoth Bounty no later the 13:00 hours today. They are to take cont…”
The AI’s voice suddenly sounded like Charlie Gibson and responded, “Admiral, your order is outside of your authority. You are hereby relieved of command and confined to quarters.”
The Admiral heard the doors locking and the security bolts engaging. He went red in the face and began to bluster and stammer when a sweet scent filled the air and he crumpled to the floor in a deep sleep.
Kedah broke orbit and slid toward the planet. Shields were up. The planetary AI announced to all space traffic in the region that they were to hold position and make way for the Kedah and Behemoth Bounty as they departed for deep space.
Kedah took up a position about 9,000 yards above and ahead of the Bounty and both began a gentle thrust and lift out of Demeter’s gravity well. They moved gently under the speed of light as transfers between the two ships of both people and equipment were underway. They would travel in tandem at sub-light speeds for a dozen hours before they were clear to transit to FTL.
Just before they began the jump, the crew watched a news vid from the Naval Space Station Flight Deck. Fleet Admiral R. M. Cheney, dressed in civilian garb was flanked by two armed Marine officers. The newscaster said that the Admiral had suddenly resigned and had asked to be transferred back to earth. Several reporters were trying to shout questions as he boarded a transit ship. All he could be heard to say was, “You won’t have me to kick around anymore!”
As the screen went blank Tonto said to the entire assembly, using Rob’s voice, “OK folks, we’ve got two months before we get to KTT and we’ve got lots to do. Let’s have the first 15 people who are joining the core family head for the med-tubes. It is our hope that by the time we reach KTT every person on this ship will be an intimate part of a Tonto Family.
Chapter 5
“Hi Grandpa,” Ellie thought aloud to her Grandfather Dan aboard the Behemoth Bounty. “Well, we’re here at KTT and it doesn’t look like much.”
“Tell me what you see, baby girl,” her Grandfather said.
“Like I said, not much. Tonto says there are a series of directional beacons broadcasting in a spectrum well beyond the visual range. He said they form a pathway for us to follow into a very shallow bowl. I asked him if we would be able to see the bowl but he said it was a flat, dull black thing that he referred to as a ‘depression in space-time’. He said from the right angle we might notice that some stars are occluded by the bowl but mostly we will just pilot the Kedah into the center on instruments and when we are locked in there will be a conference with the local Darjee operators. I guess he was right when he told me to keep my feathers in good shape. I haven’t let Jason touch me for almost two weeks to keep his odor off my plumage.”
Dan asked his granddaughter, “Do you think it is going to be big enough to hold this monstrous ship Grandma Val and I are on?”
“I can’t tell by looking but Tonto said it was big enough and about the right shape to hold Earth’s moon in the depression. Your ship is big but it ain’t that big.”
“No, not by a long shot! Can I talk to you about something else?” Dan asked.
“Sure, Gramps. Tonto says after you finally took your turn in the rejuvenation process you now look like a younger version of Jason. Do you really only look to be 15 or 16 years old?”
“Ellie, your old grandpa took a long time to think about the body he wanted to have. I really searched my mind and even went through a couple of private sessions with Tonto to accurately refresh my memory. I was physically the strongest and most vibrant when I was just your age, 16 years old. So Val and I talked about it long and hard. We considered our new responsibilities to an ever expanding family and the work we will have to do on our new home planet. Both your Grandma Val and I have recaptured very youthful bodies. Mine is a very strong 16-year-old lanky young man who is just a touch over six feet tall. Val is only three inches shorter than I am and she too opted for the lanky body style but she went for a couple more years to reach her peak. Val now appears to be 21 or 22 years old. We’ve been doing the belly bump more than once day since we recovered from the procedure. However, Val is getting well along in her pregnancy and the twins are starting to kick and wiggle so it might slow us down.”
“Ewee, Grandpa,” Ellie said. “That is way, way too much information. I don’t care what you look like but you are still the old man who held me on his knee. I can’t even think of you without your clothes on, let alone doing what young people do. Eweee!”
Captain Katie Tufts voice echoed throughout the ship, “If I may be so bold, Darjee Citizen Princess Eloise Valantrina Katherine Tufts, this is the Captain speaking. The AI who represents the Darjee staff of this transfer station has contacted our AI. They have inquired if it would be possible for you to meet with them in the feather. They have a full report on your first meeting with the Darjee and are eager to make the acquaintance of a princess. Will you care enough for them to reply?”
Sub-vocalizing via Tonto, Ellie said, “Mother, you are such a goof. What’s with all the flowery talk. Oh, and wait just a sec please.”
“Grandpa, it looks as if duty calls and I have to go. Take care of yourself and Grandma Val. It will seem strange Grandma and I having babies about the same time.”
“I love you Baby Girl Bird,” Dan said. “Be good and make us lots of friends.”
Ellie again sub-vocalized to her mother, “OK, I take it that they were monitoring your announcement. Do you and Tonto have a suggestion of how I should respond.”
Tonto said, “Ellie, we’ve already made them wait too long. May I use your voice to respond?”
“Sure, big guy. Go for it.”
“Captain Tufts,” Tonto responded in Ellie’s youthful voice. “I’m sorry that I made you and our hosts wait so long. I was in a conversation with my Senior Humanology Mentor, Grandpa Dan, and propriety required that I use the formal modes of respect prior to terminating the conversation. I would be most delighted to meet with my Darjee winglings. May I assume that they would prefer the same transfer protocol as before? I would be comforted if you would accompany me as far as the waiting room outside the Darjee location. I am certain that they care enough for us to make you comfortable while you wait.”
There was a brief pause as the AI and Tonto confirmed their link and the Darjee were consulted. “Yes,” Captain Tufts said, “That arrangement would meet the needs of all parties and they await the time that is most convenient to the Princess.”
Tonto urged Ellie to be careful. Her normal response would have been to defer to the Darjee’s needs and decision but that would be very bad form and considered to be an insult, as if pandering to someone of lower status. “Remember,” Tonto said, “they do not think like humans and their society is very, very old and the display of caring for one another is quite regimented. Tell them that you will have to consult your schedule and will respond to them within twelve hours.”
Ellie found her own voice and in the trilling Darjee language relayed exactly that message. There were three elongated notes in response from the three Darjee voices, again in perfect unison and undulating harmony to indicate that her statement was appreciated and considered to be most gracious.
Tonto took control and said, “time is short. While we have twelve hours to respond to them, the quicker after that time is up that we can hold the meeting the more respect we show the Darjee. I suggest that at the end of 11 hours you tell them that we would like to meet in a hour and forty five minutes. That is less than an hour after the time limit which shows great courtesy and that you value them greatly. That you give them notice a full hour in advance lets them know that you do not hold yourself above them in rank, that too is a gesture of respect. Sweet cheeks, you need to hit the showers with Jason and Katie to help you prepare but from this moment on no human hands may touch any part of Ellie’s body, you’ll have to wear latex gloves to keep your scent off her feathers. As soon as she is clean it will take a full ten hours to get her primped and looking like royalty. While you’re getting ready I’ll try to learn what this meeting is all about.”
“Tonto,” Jason asked, “do you perceive any danger to Ellie from this group? Do we need to take special precautions?”
“No Jason,” Tonto replied. “Every Darjee would lay down their lives before they would allow the least harm to come to visiting royalty. However, we could gain greatly if, like the first ambassadors, these folks are charmed by Ellie. I’ve been unable to uncover any information on the planet and solar system they are sending us toward. This location for KTT was chosen because of the binary suns but also because within 30,000 light years there are tens of thousands of habitable worlds. They have lots of leeway as they decide where our new home will be. We hope they will give us a planet that they feel is fit for a queen.”
In the cloistered waiting room it was Katie this time who gently folded back the hood that covered Ellie’s perfectly groomed head and once again gentle fingers traced along the sides of Ellie’s nose as it took on the appearance of a regal beak. The twins who she carried in her womb were now clearly showing through her abdominal feathers and that swelling gave her body a shape much closer to the usual Darjee form whose bodies were some what pigeon-like even though they were as large as the average human. The family had discussed it and hoped that her new shape would enhance her value in the Darjee ambassador’s eyes.
Ellie, with Tonto riding invisibly within her, entered the transport chamber and the pair were whisked aboard the Kayteetee’s control platform. As Ellie entered the room she dropped her robe and appeared fully feathered before the three ambassadors. However, this room was much larger and there were at least 30 of the Darjee roosting behind the three leaders.
Tonto warned Ellie that she must not acknowledge the others. Her total attention was to be focused upon the three ambassadors. Tonto added, “If your wing feather’s feel odd simply relax and ignore it. I’m going to try a little Darjee subtlety to win us a few extra points.”
“You honor us with your presence, your eminence,” the three ambassadors trilled in unison. “Your beauty is all that the leaders told us to expect. We now understand why they were so eager to gift your younglings-to-be with such special educational toys.”
The three, again moving in unison, indicated with a wing tip two large and ornate containers. Speaking again, the ambassadors began to explain the nature of the special toys that had been delivered for her unborn nestlings. As they made their formal presentation Ellie felt her left wing flight feathers extend slightly and as she listened to the ambassadors with all due attention she also asked Tonto what he was up to.
Tonto sub-vocalized, “There are five younglings and three teens in the audience. The rules of conduct are different for them and I’m trying to signal that your care for them is very large in the special way that is allowed for those who are young.” Having said it, he gave her a flash insight into the game.
Ellie subbed to Tonto, “You’re too clumsy, let me do it.” She continued to nod and make the short but expected replies of appreciation as the three men droned on about the wonders contained in the boxes. She heard something about projecting an image up to 50 light minutes away then hiding treats inside for the space faring children to find - like a loaded piñata. Her neck feathers laced one over the other and her right wing drooped slightly to show her pleasure.
At the same time the outermost three flight feathers on her left wing flicked and twisted. The children in the audience smiled and the adult Darjee pretended not to notice. Again the three feathers flicked and twisted which was followed by an almost imperceptible ripple of just the very tips up and down the flight feathers on that wing. They youngest two children giggled aloud and the ambassadors stiffened their backs. Ellie cooled it for a moment and she made all the appropriate responses to the presentation of the gifts.
The beautiful voices of the ambassadors continued on for more than 15 minutes, far longer than her entire first meeting with the Darjee. Every few moments Ellie would return to the feather game with the kids and the tiniest hint of a smile flicked at the corners of her beak-like mouth.
Finally the ambassadors concluded their presentation and Ellie bowed deeply with a beautiful feather display of thanks. To show their complete trust and care all three ambassadors turned their back on her, as did all of the adults in the audience. The nestlings and teens however broke ranks and came running to gather around Ellie and stroke her wings with the tips of their immature feathers. Instinctively Ellie knew to wrap her wings about all of them, just as she would have enfolded human children in her arms.
The nestlings and teens were ecstatic, as they had just been loved in a most personal way by a beautiful and royal lady. She chirped and twittered for a moment then one by one rubbed beaks with each of them. The oldest of the teen males swooped up her robe and offered to wrap in around her shoulders, Ellie accepted and the other nestlings began moving the ornate gift boxes to the transporter.
Throughout all the adult Darjee remained silent and unobserving with their backs turned. Not one indicated in any way that they knew what was going on behind their backs. Of course, the video recording of the meeting would be played by each family present over and over again. Ellie was a royal hit. Not only at this isolated transport station but all throughout the Darjee empire.
The door closed behind the thrilled girl and once again she and her unborn children’s loot were in the waiting area with Katie. As they prepared to transport back to the Kedah a vid-stick appeared on the side table. Katie scooped it up, hoping that it was the same recording that all the Darjee in the universe were watching. It was, plus a few moments of the excited reaction of all of the adults, nestlings and teens in the meeting room after she had departed. Ellie was a far bigger hit than she knew.
In Darjee culture caring for one another was crucial to the civilization. Amongst adults there was a very formal protocol to be observed in public; enforcing the protocol kept oversized egos in check and violence unthinkable. However, when it came to nestlings and teens, caring was expressed with exuberant joy – a language all children everywhere understand.
Chapter 6
“Captain Tufts,” the KTT AI announced, “you have four hours to cradle your ship in the heart of the transport nest. Once you are in place and we have verified your positioning, we will give you a thirty-minute countdown to shift. Your destination documents have now been transferred to your shipboard AI and you are cleared to begin the process. This transport will be exactly 27,341 light years and will place you near the Hilaris system. It is the most livable of all the solar systems within our range. Hilaris 3 and Hilaris 4 are both in the habitable zone of a type G star, very similar to your home Sol. Both planets are M class and are acceptable for your use. No doubt you will take time to examine both but you will find that H-3 is a little close to Hilaris-Prime while H-4 is much more suitable. H-3 is quite arid and the temperatures will approach the maximum of your comfort range. It would take very little industrialization and pollution of the atmosphere to tip the planet over to being uninhabitable.
“We believe that H-4 will be much more to your liking. The land and ocean mass balance is very similar to earth, about 75 percent water to 25 percent land. Even so the configuration of the continents and ocean systems will be very unfamiliar. Temperature ranges in the polar area are a bit more severe than earth due to its extra tilt on the rotation axis. The orbit around Hilaris is more circular and stable than Earth’s orbit around Sol. The Hilaris configuration tends to moderate long-range weather cycles. H-4 has a single moon which is about 20 percent larger than your Luna and the distance is just under 200,000 miles. That is only 84 percent of the current Earth to Luna distance. The major effect you will notice is that ocean tides are much stronger than on earth and the orbital period of the moon is shorter so tide changes are more frequent. The high, fast tides will form some challenges but also offer great opportunity too.
“We have established a remote transfer station a little over a light hour from Hilaris which is where you will enter that system. You may also use it as a communication port. Right now there is no communication capability but we will ask you to take a beacon with you to place on the transfer station. That will give you instant communications with us here at Kayteetee’. We will gladly relay your messages to either the Darjee or the Confederacy as you wish.
“We are tracking your freight ship, the Behemoth Bounty, and will keep you informed. If possible it would be good if some of your staff might come here to meet that crew and help them prepare for the transport. We wish you an effortless migration and fervently hope that your ship lives up to her name.
Rob stepped into the conversation, “Excuse me, but just what does that mean that you hope the Kedah lives up to her name?”
“Kedah is an ancient Darjee word that means ‘Abode of Peace’. Back on Earth it is the name of the oldest province in Malaysia, an experiment we tried long ago which didn’t work out as we had hoped. We pray you are able to live up to the name of your ship.
“Please advise your people that you will be in transit for almost an hour. The program automatically monitors the strain on the Kedah’s hull and life support systems and will transport the Kedah at the maximum speed possible. It is strongly suggested that all of you strap into a resting station and that youngsters and gravid women be sedated, as the sensation can be quite disconcerting. It isn’t dangerous to us Darjee but you are the first humans to ever make such a trip and we aren’t certain of the effect that this will have on your physiology or psyches. The transport systems are all fully automated and there is nothing you can do to modify the ship or its path through hyper-space. Have a good trip.”
Under Tonto’s direction the crew began sorting themselves into compartments and ‘rest stations’ as the Darjee had called the beds. Ellie and Jason stripped and climbed into one bed together. All the others of their immediate family were in the same or an adjoining compartment where they could stay in visual communication as well as being linked by Tonto. Throughout the Kedah other groups were making similar arrangements.
Rob and Katie joined in a single temporary bed located in the bridge area. They knew there was nothing for them to do on the bridge as the ship would either make it or it wouldn’t. They were powerless and trusted completely in Tonto and the Darjee technology, still it just felt right for the Captain and her First Mate to be on the bridge. Some customs may not make much sense but they brought comfort to all involved.
At some sub-atomic level the ship seemed to tremble then winked out of existence at KTT. The combined power of the binary stars was propelling them so much faster than light speed that human language had yet to develop a name for the process other than “transport.”
Disaster struck the entire human family aboard the Kedah the instant transport began. Some might think it a wonderful gift but an hour of the most intense orgasm imaginable would more than fry the central nervous system of every man, woman and child aboard; it would have been an agonizing death.
Tonto was overwhelmed by the intense flow of emotion and came very close to winking out of existence but a small thread of comprehension from Ellie was enough to hold his being together. Perhaps it was the feathers or even the Darjee persona she had embraced, or perhaps some portion of Darjee DNA had found its way into her body - Ellie was the least effected and her composure was the key. Within a few seconds of the onset of the entire ships compliment going into orgasm Tonto punched the alarms of the life support system.
The Darjee automated system at KTT noted and instantly responded by reducing power to Kedah and the highly concentrated feeling of orgasm began to subside. As it did, Tonto regained his full facilities. Utilizing the life support system’s series of alarms to communicate the need to KTT, the dance to maintain maximum transport speed and the sanity of the occupants played out in milliseconds. Balance was achieved. At Darjee speeds the 27,000 plus light year trip would have taken just under an hour. Allowing for human tolerances it would now take just over three hours with everyone in a highly pre-orgasmic state of cuddle and arousal.
Most of the people didn’t want the trip to end but if arousal isn’t transient it’s an extended pain in the ass. However, another human custom came into play aboard the Kedah; no one was in bed alone when they arrived at the Hilaris transport terminal.
Although the Kedah was perched on the edge of their new solar system and had the huge adventure of colonizing their choice of worlds it still took about 20 minutes for the people to come down from the transport induced high. It took another hour for all to take showers, get dressed and return to a slightly embarrassed state of normalcy. Then the new excitement before them begin to raise spirits once again.
Tonto, in fact all three Tontos aboard, addressed their human participants. “We must do much study, not only of what lays ahead but what we’ve just experienced. Had we arrived in a combat situation we would have been so much hamburger, totally unable to think, let along defend ourselves. Our next scheduled trip in Darjee Hyper Space is in eight months when some of us go back to escort the Behemoth Bounty through from KTT. We need to assign a work crew to analyze what just happened and how we can prepare for (or prevent) such an occurrence from leaving us effectively disabled in the future. Right now we need to activate the EVA team to install the Darjee transmitter here at the Hilaris Transport Terminal and we need the sensor teams to report to the bridge to begin confirming what we’ve been told about this Hilaris system and learning all that we haven’t been told.”
Jason rapidly joined Rob and Katie on the bridge and Rob spoke to Tonto on the group's behalf. “Tonto, are you still in touch with our guys on the Behemoth Bounty?”
“No, and we need to make this news available to the entire family,” Tonto said as he began broadcasting to everyone. “The three Tontos have combined our communication powers and we are unable to make contact with the Tontos aboard the Behemoth Bounty. We don’t think that is cause for alarm, in fact many of you speculated that we would be out of contact range. We lost contact the moment the KTT transport was activated so there is something about that process that blocks communication and we are confident that it is now only distance that keeps us from reaching the rest of our family since we are free of the transport field.”
Rob used Tonto to talk to the entire family, “There is no need for concern or fear. The Behemoth Bounty is the most capable ship in all of Confederation Space with their original Tonto and they have added their full allotment of three more Tonto families during the two months we’ve been separated. I didn’t count the Kedah in that assessment as we are no longer inside Confederation space. They will be just fine.”
Katie added, “Be assured that all is well. We remember when the newly formed Tonto was so weak he had to simulate a computer screen and type one word at a time to communicate. Even then he was the only organic created intelligence and his powers now far outstrip anything available to friends and foes alike.”
Tonto spoke up, “Well, more powerful than any artificial intelligence and more powerful than any others that we know about but there are far more mysteries among the stars than we have ever dreamed. Let us move ahead with both caution and confidence.”
“Mr. Tonto,” Darcy Vaughn said, “can I talk to you now?”
Darcy had finished her many hours in the med tubes repairing the brain damage she suffered at birth, always with her dog, Red Rover at her side. She had also spent many hundreds of hours in public and med-sleep education to bring her to a level of competency to make her a productive part of the community. Again, Red Rover had been with her on every session. Along with her sister, Martha Oldham, (who had been her caretaker for 36 years) they had been in the last batch to fully join with the family and Tonto. As part of that process they had given her the body of a 16-year-old girl, which meant her appearance matched her mental age.
“Certainly, Darcy,” Tonto said as he reduced the family link to just the core Tufts family. Since her joining, Tonto had found a special fondness for the young woman with such a trusting soul, “What can I do for you?”
“First,” Darcy began, “I have never thanked you for allowing Red Rover to go into the med-tube with me when my brain was fixed. I was much too frightened to go by myself and I understand now why my sister couldn’t go with me. Other than my sister, Martha, my dog is my closest and bestest friend. He was old and gray when we went in together but now he is young again just like me. So, thank you.
“Second, I wonder if I could have permission to go back to KTT when to help rescue the Behemoth Bounty when they get there?” Darcy asked.
Tonto replied, “Darcy, it’s more to help them, not to rescue them and I see no reason you should not go but can you tell me why you want to go?”
Darcy blushed almost scarlet on her very pale skin, “I... I never felt anything like that when we came through and if it’s OK I would like to feel it again,” she said with eyes averted. Then she added, “and I wanted to ask Ben and Charlotte Stoddard if they might consider letting me join their family. Ben is the best looking and kindest man I ever met. He is so hunky I would love to be with him when he comes through the transport.”
Katie whispered to Ellie, “Darcy’s in love, I wonder if Ben knows?”
Ellie replied, “I wouldn’t be surprised, Darcy hung around him like a school girl with a huge crush whenever possible. Ben was her favorite teacher and it was clear that he really liked her. I hope this isn’t going to be a heart breaker.”
Katie added with a grimace, “Sometimes love like that can hurt.”
“Darcy,” Katie concluded aloud. “We will work to find you a spot for the round trip and when the time comes there will be a special someone that will teach you how wonderful those feelings can be without waiting for a turn through the transporter. Men and women are meant to make each other feel that way. And, thank you for remembering to thank Tonto for the very special way he treated you and Red Rover, you are growing into a very nice sweet young lady.”
Rob sub-vocalized to Tonto, “What’s this with ‘Red Rover’ and who or what is Red Rover?”
Tonto replied with a hint of a chuckle in his voice, “Rob, we are talking about Darcy’s big Golden Retriever that came with her. Martha used to read the comic strips to Darcy, like a picture book. Darcy’s favorite was the strip, Red & Rover, referring to the young red headed boy charter and his golden dog, Rover. Darcy didn’t understand and thought the dog’s name was Red Rover and that is what she named her puppy when she got him about 12 years ago. I was surprised when they emerged and the dog appeared to have been significantly rejuvenated. We hadn’t given the organic linking nanites specific instructions about him and it appears they just went in and fixed anything they thought wrong, or perhaps they applied the instructions concerning Darcy to Red Rover as well. I’m not certain but it does appear that the dog understands more than one would expect.”
Rob answered with a bemused “thanks,” then turned to address the entire ship's complement. “Folks, we’ve a lot of work to do between now and first planet contact and there isn’t a lot of time. Let’s all get with the program.
Chapter 7
“Alright,” Tonto said. “The final report of our planetary investigation teams indicates that it has been agreed that we will send three sensor probes to take a detailed orbital look at H-3 while we concentrate our family efforts on H-4. We will wait until we are just outside of the H-4 moon’s orbit before launching the probes and we will set up a relay station at the northern pole of the moon.”
Jason asked his grandmother’s question, “Enough of this H-3, H-4, and H-4 moon business. We need names for these various bodies that are clean and easy to use. And for Grandma’s sake lets not copy anything from the Earth’s solar system lest we confuse the old girl.”
“Don’t talk about my grandmother that way,” Ellie demanded. “She’s not only older than you, smarter than you and better looking than you but she will box your ears for disrespect when she arrives.”
Jason looked at his wife and out of habit began to argue just as he had when she was his little sister. But before he got a single word out he saw his dad shake his head slightly and silently mouth the words, “She’s also my mother and your mother’s mother too, cool it!”
Jason shut up and Katie came to the rescue. “Tonto,” she said, “There is a point to Mr. Big Mouth’s comment, we do need names. How about if we have all three Tontos huddle with their respective human families and try to come up with the best possible names. I think each name needs to be short, to the point and clearly understandable. Does that sound like a good idea, a little friendly competition with no eavesdropping by the Tontos outside their own humans?”
Tonto replied, “Are you not concerned that such competition might lead to a harsher rivalry and perhaps hard feelings, even anger. I would not wish to start a war over something so trivial and human history is rife with bloody massacres fought over less.”
“It’s time for another lesson in humanity, Tonto,” Katie said. Brothers have killed brothers over whose gift was better received. Women have caused their entire family to be slaughtered in the desire for power. Kings have beheaded wives because they were tired of them and wanted greater sport. In every case it was because the perpetrator valued themselves above everyone around them. Their drive to succeed was warped by their lack of love for others. Our families are based on love, not greed or self-gain. Every member of every family has been carefully chosen to assure that more than anything else, they want joy for the entirety. As long as we guard and defend that concept we will succeed together and when any other attitude creeps in we must rely on the rest of us to treat it as a disease that has infected a beloved member of the family.
“There will be many that are not capable of living in love, we simply shall not invite them into the family. There will be others who may stray under pressure of one sort or another; those we must help find a cure with love and patience.
“We will compete because we are competitive by nature and at the end we will have the best possible names and they will be our names. Not the winner's name but names that all of us will embrace. We shall not dine on sour grapes.”
“Whoa, that’s a big speech sweetheart,” Rob said taking his wife in his arms. “But I love you for saying it and I think we should engrave it in something like a family coat of arms.”
“We are approaching Fam,” Tonto said as the Kedah prepared to enter orbit abound the moon. Fam was the winning entry submitted by the Tonto Three family for the moon. “We will be dispatching the three probes toward the third planet which has the temporary name of Toohot, at least until more is know about our nearest planetary neighbor. Once we enter a stable orbit around the planet in conjunction with Fam, we will launch the communication station to be placed at the north pole of the moon and its sister station that will be in stationary orbit above the north pole. The three probes at Toohot will remain there indefinitely. Are all launch crews in place?”
That last question was for the benefit of the human family members as the Tontos knew exactly where every member of their family was at all times. With the question answered, the people knew too. Within two hours the probes were well on their eight-day trip to Toohot and both Fam’s north pole station and the one in stationary orbit were operating at full power and function.
The Kedah’s bow swung around so the primary thrusters would push them toward their new home. The competition had been particularly fierce as various families jockeyed to have their favorite name for the home planet accepted. The one common theme was the Darjee designation for the entire system as Hilaris. All knew that Hilaris as Latin for joyful, gay, cheerful, a place of happiness. All three families wanted that in the planet’s name. The compromise was not to change the name of the planet but to change the name of the system. They now officially recognized the central star by the name of Hilaris Sol, the name of the entire system as Hilarity and the name of their home planet as Hilaris. No single family submitted the change, it just was worked out as part of resolving the competition. Tonto not only logged the names and transmitted them by to the Darjee at KTT; but also understood something more of the nature of humans who often use competition to come up with better solutions.
“Captain Tufts,” Tonto addressed Katie, “We are now in a high survey orbit around Hilaris and your various sensor crews may set about the job you outlined earlier. Do your have any other requests at this time?”
“Yes, Tonto, I do,’ Katie said. Would you please use the transmitter to KTT to relay a message to the crews aboard Behemoth Bounty that we have arrived on station, have begun our studies to find a base and are very pleased with the preliminary view.”
“As you wish, Captain. Your message has been sent.”
“And will you stop with that Captain nonsense Tonto!” What’s come over you?”
“Katie, as I reviewed human history I noted that momentous occasions seem to always have been noted by formal language such as ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ I thought I should note what I believe to be a very momentous occasion with my finest First Officer language.”
“Good for you Tonto,” Katie replied. “I’m sure you recorded every detail of your speech and the response, now cut that crap out and get to work with the rest of us. What is the outstanding thing you’ve noticed about this planet other than the tens of thousands of low lying islands that are over-washed by the tides every few hours?”
Tonto dropped the official announcer's voice and said, “It pretty clear that there are a number of signs of civilization on the largest northern latitude continent. There appears to be a rather extensive network of roads and along the eastern range of mountains there appears to be some sort of fortifications. The Darjee didn’t say anything about an intelligent population.”
“Wait a minute!” a half dozen voices said in unison. Rob picked up the line of thought. “I’m not seeing any roads or anything else that would indicate an advanced, reasoning population. Should we query the Darjee?”
“Not at this time,” Tonto said. “I think we should learn all that we can first before informing the Darjee. I don’t think they would have sent us here if they knew there was an intelligent indigenous population.
“Instead of looking for signs of paved highways, zoom in tighter and look for a network of unpaved trails. They seem to follow river courses and fairly level routes between locations. There are also a series of rather dense flora pockets that are associated with the trails. It is possible that those might be something akin to villages for a group who are dependant upon dense forest for their home sites. I’ve studied maps of the trail network in Eastern Europe during the 15th century and the United States west of the Appalachians between 1550 and the coming of the railroads. These trails very much look like that period in Earth history.”
Jason asked, “Can we drop a couple of low orbit recon units to map the trails and give us detailed photographs of the most heavily utilized areas?”
Ellie asked, “Are we sure that this isn’t some sort of natural phenomenon peculiar to this world. Perhaps something due to tectonic faulting or perhaps a unique plant system?”
Tonto answered, “There are many possibilities but I think civilization tops the list and Jason is correct. Before we try to get close or to set up camp anywhere we need a better look and much more information. Remember, when the Behemoth Bounty gets here we will be looking for a very large area to set down our purloined Naval Air Station and build our headquarters. The last thing we need is to start a conflict or epidemic such as when Europeans first entered the Americas.
Again Ellie took the floor, “I guess that means that there will most likely be additional contact with the Darjee. Can we assume that it will be at least 7 months and that I can get out of these feathers at least long enough to have my babies and let them know what their momma really looks like?”
Tonto mentally nudged Rob, Katie and Jason for their thoughts then said, “Katie, why don’t you head for the med-tubes right now. Jason is just as eager as you are to have you out of those feathers.”
Jason grinned and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Chapter 8
Tonto told the entire family gathered in the mess hall, “I’ve several reports to share with you and since we’ve all been working so hard thought that this would be a good time for some good news and a relaxing break from the daily grind. The kitchen is open, order up food or beverages as you wish.
“First, the Darjee at KTT have relayed a message from the Behemoth Bounty. All is well aboard the ship and they are making slightly better time now that they don’t have the Confederacy crew looking over their shoulder all the time. Some of the earlier regulations were from an over abundance of caution and are being tested and modified one at a time. They have improved over all flight speed by almost 10 percent so have cut about 31 days from their arrival date.
“Even better news is that every one on board is now a member of the inner family. They have four active Tonto families and there are no outsiders left, everyone has joined the core family. They have also found a way to partially incorporate the children but they added no details. Since the message was going through the Darjee only so much could be disclosed. With the time we’ve spent studying our new home system we only have another four months before our retrieval crew will head back to KTT to lead the Behemoth Bounty through. We will plan another party on the ground according to the information from our studies.
“Two of the three sensor probes from Toohot are being recalled. The work there is done and we can use the equipment here. The third probe has the most sensors aboard and will continue to monitor and study the planet. With some special provisions the planet is habitable but it has indeed lived up to its temporary name. It is too hot to support our colony without requiring many of our resources that we can use to better advantage here.
“Now for the news you’ve all been waiting for. Yes, the planet Hilaris is populated by an intelligent species. The dominant species is a social animal that appears to have evolved from a canine-like predecessor. Their civilization is on a par with homo sapiens as they began emerging from a hunter-gatherer culture to one with developed farming and rather extensive trade routes. They still travel on four paws but the front paws are unique. The four toes appear to be upside down with heavy pads on what we would think of as the knuckles. What we refer to as dewclaws in dogs has moved around to the front of the ‘wrist’ and works as an opposable thumb.
“They are quite sociable and have large and extended families. There is little evidence of conflict, however the trails over the eastern mountain range have been barricaded and there is no evidence of commerce or communication between the two areas. There is some evidence that they have explored the major island to the south and the southern continent has a few trails but no where near the level of activity in the north.
“We have some major challenges.” Tonto continued, “Do we send a survey party, do we make contact, how do we assure compatibility and how do we assure that there will be no transmission of diseases between them and us? Suggestions, anyone?”
Katie took the floor in her official position as Captain of the Kedah. “We are not going to solve all those problems nor answer all those question tonight. Let’s spend the evening enjoying each other and the success of our many study teams. Tomorrow will be soon enough to form a working network to identify all of the questions and all reasonable solutions so we can take an orderly approach to decision making. If this were a science fiction novel the rocket man would just take surprise action and in no time all the problems are solved. However, this is our real life, not a fiction created in some goofball’s mind. We are family and we work together for the best possible outcome. Tonight let’s have fun and make love, tomorrow we can go back to work.”
A very pregnant Ellie sat with her husband, Jason, and the rest of their extended family. Once again she looked like a very cute sixteen-year-old human without a sign of a feather anywhere on her body, unless she removed her panties. She wanted to hang on to at least part of her enforced Darjee heritage. Ellie hadn’t been assigned to any of the survey teams as her huge tummy, swelling with twins, made it quite impossible to get close enough to many of the instruments required. Her unending back ache meant she couldn’t spend too much time standing up either, however she was still able to walk over a mile on the treadmill. Her treadmill jogging had ended a month ago. To keep herself occupied and useful she spent quite a bit of time becoming familiar with the second box of toys the Darjee had given her at KTT. If her soon to be born babies were ever going to be able to use the educational toys she had better know how they worked.
“Jason,” Ellie said, “I think we need to get dad’s engineering skills and your technical know-how together to study the possibilities in some of these toys. The Darjee play by a different set of rules with their nestlings. Where we use a plain old cloth to blindfold children before letting them swing away at a piñata, they play the same game very differently. If I understand what Tonto helped me translate, they project an image into deep space; an image that is filled with goodies. I think the limit is 50 light minutes but I’m not sure how Darjee mathematical nomenclature works so it might be 50 light seconds or maybe it isn’t 50 at all but some other value.
“Anyhow, first they project an image, it’s like a mirage and is not a solid body. Then the nestlings, each in their individual ‘Hide-and-Seek” type spacecraft head out to find the image. When the lucky winner finds and approaches the image, a pile of loot is projected into the image – except I don’t think it is an image of loot but the real thing actually materializing inside the image. It must be some sort of transporter magic. The nestling who finds the image first reaps all the prizes and calls everyone to return to the starting point. When gathered, the winner has the honor of giving all the goodies to the other players; and I do mean all, as the winner doesn’t keep a single item. Still they think it is a great honor to win the race. That is taking childhood sharing to a new level.
“The instructions don’t say how old a nestling must be before they are allowed to wander all over space by themselves and I think that when they first start playing they are teamed up with an older nestling in a two person craft. However, this game is labeled as a nestling toy, not a teen game. If enough power could be pumped into the projector it might be able to be used to confuse the Sa’arm into thinking we have many more space ships in any given area and perhaps trick them into attacking an image. That would leave our mother ship free to fight or flee as the situation requires.”
“Let me see, honey,” Jason said. “Wow, how can you read any of this. It just looks like chicken scratches to me. You or Tonto will have to help me figure this thing out. Maybe you’ve got a good idea but right now I think we should retire to the bedroom and let me rub more of that soothing cream you’ve got into your tummy.”
“That sounds heavenly,” Ellie said. “Goodnight mom, goodnight dad. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Before the entire assembled crew, every member of every family, the Tontos lead off “OK, the assignments go like this. First take note that Ellie is due to deliver her babies this afternoon so her husband, Jason, mother Katie, and Doctor Sandra are excused from the first contact teams. Rob, I know you are concerned about your daughter and soon to be delivered grand babies, but we need you to lead the Prime Team. It’s a shame that we have been unable to make any headway at translating Canine communication. We have hundreds of hours of recordings and have put our best minds on it, but it all sounds just like this.”
There were a series of clearly canine sounds but none of it seemed like language. As the recording continued most members were reminded of the sounds common to earth side dog pounds. To one side, in the original Tufts family group, Red Rover let out a yelp and Darcy began laughing out loud.
Rob turned to the newest member of his family, still thinking of her as having the damaged brain she was born with. “Darcy, what’s so funny?”
“Oh,” Darcy said, “I didn’t mean to interrupt but the female voice on the recording just told an old joke about two priests going into a bar…”
Tonto interrupted, “Darcy, you understand their language?”
“Sure Tonto, it’s the same language that Red Rover and I use to talk to each other. It’s easy to understand, I’ve known it since the first time in the med-tubes with Red when they fixed my brain. Don’t you understand it?”
“Time out everyone,” Tonto said. Let’s all go back to our regular duties while Darcy translates for us. We will make up new team assignments then get back together again.
Chapter 9
Rob led the meeting along with Tonto. “We’ve all reluctantly agreed that the prime contact team is simply Darcy and Red Rover. Just before sunrise they will settle into the large meadow that we now know is called “First Contact Meadow”. Somehow they know that we are coming and where we will show up, the only question they have is when. They’ve been looking for us for almost two thousand years now but their faith is still strong.
“Darcy, you will have to be nude, or ‘without your furs’ as their legend tells it. As soon as you are on the ground we will ignite the required fire in a control pan as their legend also says you are coming to bring them both the gift of fire and Red Rover. It’s a bit nippy down there so we will keep a low intensity heat beacon working for you. You won’t be there long before they come to meet you. We’ll be ready to transport you out of there at the first sign of trouble.”
Darcy, already nude, stamped her foot and shouted, “DON’T YOU DARE!” I am not the helpless, mindless person you rescued from earth at my sister’s insistence. I have a full earth and Confederate education and have spent more hours in the education tubes than any other member of this family. What’s more, Red Rover and I are in perfect sync and completely able to handle any situation that may arise. You’ve read my translations of their oral histories. They think the control of fire is the greatest promise that will allow them to rise above their current status and they know that Red Rover carries the genes that will transform all future generations, bringing them on par with you and me. You will not pull us out, you will allow us to do this work that we, and only we, are trained to do. Gees, give me a break.”
With that outburst Darcy and Red Rover walked into the transport chamber saying, “lets get this show on the road. It’s time right now.”
Darcy shivered slightly as she set the fire pan filled with charcoal in the middle of the small clearing that the beam had created just moments ago. Red Rover stood back as the heat beacon trained on Darcy shifted slightly and intensified significantly, the coals burst into live fire and the duo waited. “Red Rover,” Darcy growled, “did you ever think it would come to this between you and I.
Red Rover replied in similar tones, “I have loved you from the moment I first saw you and I have always known that you were so very special. No, I didn’t know it would turn out this way but since we began talking in the med-tube that first time nothing has surprised me.
Sub-vocally Tonto announced that two females and a sub-adult male were on the trail from Village 16 and would be entering the meadow in the next few moments. Darcy lifted her eyes just enough to see the area where the trail came in. Just as sunlight topped the trees and flooded Red Rover and her with its morning glow the canine trio trotted into view.
The smaller of the two females let out a slight cough and the young male immediately lay down in the grass with his head on his front paws. The older female turned toward the village and let out a long, undulating howl.
Darcy exclaimed to Tonto, “She just warned the village that the humans have come at last, that we are in the sacred meadow and that have brought the gift of controlled fire.”
Within a few moments more and more of the Canines trotted into the meadow. The males and the pups all stayed out at the edges of the clearing but they were spreading out in both directions as if they wanted a better view. Darcy and Red Rover did not feel as if they were being surrounded in a hostile way. As soon at they found a clear spot the dogs sat quietly with the sub-adult males all assuming the same posture, laying down with their chin on their forepaws. The females trotted within about fifteen feet of the duo then each took a deep bow before they sat quietly. They left a pathway open to the trail from Village 16.
Just then a very large female trotting at a leisurely pace came into the meadow. She stopped at the very spot where the trail contacted the clearing and bowed deeply, holding the pose for 15 or 20 seconds. Then she slowly rose and walked gently toward Darcy and Red Rover with her head lowered. Her ears were back and her tail held low in a submissive posture. Flanking her on each side were two almost identical females who were almost her size, they too bowed and came forward with heads lowered but with the same regal pace as their leader.
When the three Canines reached the line drawn by the other sitting females the two flanking companions came just two body lengths into the inner circle then they too stopped, but they remained standing with their heads slightly lowered. Their queen (if she wasn’t a queen all human observers would have been shocked) once again bowed slightly then came forward until she was just a few feet away then stopped again. She was examining both Red Rover and Darcy in a very respectful but open manner.
Red Rover softly told Darcy, “Keep your head lowered about the same amount as the queen. You may look at her but do not stare or lock eyes lest that be thought of as a challenge. Let her take the lead.”
The queen bowed again the pulled herself to her full stature and said, “You are Red Rover and this is your human?”
Red Rover replied, “I am Red Rover and this is Darcy, my queen.”
A loud howl went up from the assemble pack, all but the queen and her two aides raised their hackles and bared their teeth. The loud complaint could be heard, “None is queen except our queen and no human shall ever be a queen over the majestic Red Rover. This dog is a fraud!”
The dog queen snapped and let out a loud howl. “We will hear these two out!”
Red Rover wrapped his long, golden body around Darcy’s legs and bared his impressive fangs. “I am Red Rover, I carry in my loins the enhanced future of all coming generations. This is Darcy, she speaks our language better than most of you and she carries in her med-tube science the future of all in this current generation. She also brings the gift of controlled fire but not one of you will be able to use it until you have been educated and enhanced in the med-tubes nor will future generations be able to carry on with the use of fire unless they are of my seed.
“Choose now, respect my queen as I respect your queen or your future will be snatched from you in the winking of an eye. Choose now, which will it be.”
The sleek canine queen stood tall, then slowly and completely bowed before Red Rover and Darcy. Tense moments passed then all began to emulate their queen. One sub-adult male began to show his teeth but his large mother grabbed him by the ruff of his neck and gave him a mighty shake. He yelped loudly, lay flat and with a slight growl from his mother rolled over on his back in complete submission. The confrontation was over.
The canine queen went on to ask, “You are not the same human who brought us to the planet two thousand years ago and taught us to speak, read and write?” It was both a statement and a question. “Our legends also say that before the humans saved us we had four feet all the same and could not grasp things with our hands, we had no opposable thumbs. Could any of this be true? If it is not so why would you arrive exactly as the legends say? We were told you would be arriving in this sacred meadow exactly at first rays of sun break upon the dew and that you would bring the gift of fire. There is much to be learned here.”
“Yes, there is much to be learned,” Darcy said. We desire to be your friends and with your permission we will stay as long as you wish. Humans may have brought you to this planet but it is now yours and we wish to honor your ways. If it is appropriate we could share names, your and ours; and if your customs allow we can meet with whomever you choose to have long discussions. Is it appropriate to share names?
“Yes, of course,” the queen said. “Like all Alpha Females my family name is Rex. You may call me by my given name, Leanna. And if it means anything to you, my title as the leader of this region is Rrrr.”
“So your full name and title is Rrrr Leanna Rex?” Darcy asked.
“In our world I am known at Rex Leanna Rrrr. I can see that our customs are similar but not exactly the same. May I know your name? The sharing of names is a sign of friendship”
“Yes, of course Leanna. My name is Darcy Tufts…”
Before Darcy could continue the entire population let out a short, sharp howl. They all placed their chin between their front paw/hands and raised their hindquarters into a half crouch. It was a pose typical of an earth dog begging in joy toward the master, a pose that invited play and showed eagerness.
Softly Red Rover urged Darcy to raise her voice. At once Darcy raised her head and ushered a long, singing howl, perhaps 45 seconds before breaking into three sharp yips. The Canines had returned to a sitting position and Leanna remained standing.
Leanna said, “In our legends we are taught that when Red Rover returns to our planet we will be joined permanently by humans and that both societies will be complete as we were meant to be by the great creator. We are moved to awe.”
Darcy said nothing but sub-vocalized to Tonto, Red Rover can’t return, he hasn’t been here before
Tonto sub-vocalized, “You haven’t been here before - yet! It begins to look as if at some future date we will time travel, go back 2,000 years prior to this date to rescue these Canines and set up this world to be waiting for us now. They are very open and pleased with you and this turn of events, let’s be careful not to screw it up.
Rex Leanna Rrrr said, “Legend tells us that you have artificial pelts that you can put on or take off,” Leanna said. “But it also tells us that you would come to us naked to show that you have nothing to hide. Is that why you have not put on your furs?”
“Yes,” Darcy spoke again. “We wanted to you to know that we come as friends, companions who have nothing to fear from us. However, I grow cold in the morning air and if you have no objection we would like to get dressed.”
“Of course you may put on your furs, we want you to be comfortable. But you have nothing with you except the gift of fire. Where will you get your… did you call it a dress?”
“You are wonderful, sweet Rrrr,” Darcy said. We will have many words to exchange. While we came to you without our dress we have a house up in the sky. See the small house floating above us,” she said while pointing to the hover shuttle 37-T. As soon as Darcy pointed them out the extraction crew uncloaked their ship. “When I ask they will bring me my furs. Will it bother you or your people if they draw close?”
“Let me tell them what is happening,” Leanna said. Then she let out a series of barks that ended with a yodeling cry. Darcy sub-vocalized and Tonto directed the hover shuttle to slowly and silently move toward the campfire.
Leanna and the entire Canine population watched closely as Darcy put on her ‘furs’ or ‘dress’ in the language of the native species. They were fascinated by everything the human did. As Darcy bent over to tie her boots a small pup ran between Rrrr Leanna’s legs and attacked the shoe strings with a yip and a growl.
“No!” Leanna yelped, “No scoot, it is not a snake to harm her. Stop!”
Scoot was having no part of it and was determined to kill the offending shoestrings. With out thinking Darcy scooped the young pup into her
arms and held him close to her chest. There was a combined gasp from the entire Canine population present, a sound of shock as if the pup were in great danger. Darcy tipped forward, rubbed foreheads with the little tyke then kissed him on the nose. Scoot acted like almost every puppy on earth when loved by a human, he licked the girl on the nose before trying to take a little nip just to see what it was. Darcy stroked the pup's fur, scratched his ears and gently set him down before Leanna. “He is a beautiful little boy, is he yours?”
The pup rubbed against Darcy’s leg for a moment, rubbed against Leanna’s leg, then ran back to one of the two large females that had accompanied Leanna into the inner circle.
“No,” Leanna said, “He is my grandson, the son of my daughter Rex Lonayia here on my right. You seemed to enjoy holding the boy, did you like him?”
“Yes,” Darcy replied, “I like all animals, especially the canines on our ship.
“Are there others like us?” Leanna asked.
“Yes, we have over a dozen of your species who travel with us although they do not have the opposable thumb that you have. They have the original configuration of fore and hind paws.” Darcy said.
Chapter 10
Aboard the Kedah Katie was in grandma heaven, just as her mother, Val, had been many years ago. Ellie had her twin babies just 3 minutes apart. There was no pain or discomfort, just a good deal of effort. The babies, a boy and a girl were healthy and normal except that there were fine feather-like markings all over their skin. These babies had developed with the assistance of fully activated organic linking nanites and as Doctor Scout had promised Val early in her pregnancy, there would be no defects and the children would be special. No feathers were present and none were expected, since the nanites had grown Ellie’s feathers for show for the Darjee and those had been molted a few months ago. However, the skin on both the boy and the girl had the appearance as if very small and fine feathers might have left a permanent imprint. Perhaps, Ellie thought, the impressions are an indicator of future feathers.
Tonto noted a slight oddity in the DNA of both babies but he was unable to cross-reference the minor differences to any match. The hair on both babies head was like fine down. Katie knew that acquired changes, such as scars or amputated fingers did not change the DNA and could not be inherited. However, this was different; the nanites HAD modified Ellie’s DNA to produce her feathers and she was already pregnant at the time. Perhaps the babies' DNA had also been modified to some degree.
Ellie lay back and cradled her newborn infants one in each arm and both feasted hungrily at her breasts. She said, “Mom, is that how it was for you when Jason and I were born, a piece of cake?
“NO!” Katie responded. You were both great big wiggling, kicking beasts who fought being born every inch of the way. Remember, while I had a half set of nanites they hadn’t yet been activated. Watching you with these beautiful sweethearts makes me eager to see what my own are going to look like.”
“Grandma Val said she and Grandpa Dan were considering having several more too,” Ellie said. “The last time I talked to Grandpa Dan while we were at KTT he said that he and Grandma have been rejuvenated back to Jason’s and my ages. The way he described their bedroom antics grossed me out but he did mention their responsibility to an ever-expanding family. Wouldn’t it be something if you, Grandma Val and I all had babies about the same time once again? Grandma Val should be delivering her twins any day now and you are as big as a barn with your four.
Katie looked shocked, “You’ve just delivered twins and are now feeding them their first meal and you’re already talking about having more? Was it really that easy?”
“Yes, Mom. It was that easy,” Ellie said. “It was a lot of work but my body is young and healthy and I am stronger than I’ve ever been. The work was easy when I consider the rewards of having these two little gluttons feeding from my body. Your delivery will be twice as much work since you’re having twice as many babies, but I don’t think you’ll have any more problems than I did.”
Ellie continued, “Do you see the faint feather imprints on their skin. Look here, it shows most clearly on the back of their arms and on their little necks. Tonto is trying to do some research on their DNA but says he hasn’t found anything to compare the patterns to. Do you think when the nanites transformed me into a Darjee princess they did something lasting to my DNA as well as their DNA?”
“Are you concerned?” Katie asked. “I just had those very same thoughts.
“No, not concerned, just intrigued. They are just too precious to have anything wrong with them.
Rob’s thoughts wandered. It’s just been 90 days since Darcy took over the relationship building on the planet below and both worlds have changed completely. The Kedah is crawling with babies, well not literally since none of them are old enough to crawl yet but Ellie’s twins are on hands and knees and rocking back and forth at three months so the crawling will begin soon. Who knew they would be so precocious, most babies can’t even hold their heads up and steady at three months.
Even without mobility there are babies everywhere. Ellie has two, Katie has four, Sandra has triplets, Carla Pemberton Tufts has Jason’s twins and aboard ship there are three more sets of twins and four singles. That’s twentyone babies all at the same time. Clearly that which was the prime directive of the Confederation was not the wisest move for the Tufts family. With all those babies the women were taken out of the picture for planning and working toward the family future.” He mentally vowed not to encourage so many births in such a short period ever again. He also wanted to get the entire family together to determine the best way to raise the children and still keep the women active in planning and working toward the future.”
Tonto called out to Rob, “Rob, I have the report you requested. Red Rover’s first batch of pups is now almost four weeks old and he has been one very busy dog. He has 56 litters on the ground and has several hundred more Canis ladies pregnant. They are all so eager to mate with the revered Red Rover and to have his pups. He has had time to do little else. Darcy understands the need for so many puppies in a hurry and between us we are looking out for his health. The puppies show remarkable talents. It is clear that his time in the med-tubes made substantial changes in his DNA and he is passing on those characteristics. He seems to be propagating the best of human and canine characteristics. Their lore foretold this event and if he survives breeding four to five times every day there will be over fifteen hundred of his offspring working within the population within a year. The most outstanding characteristic noted so far is that the pups have a vocal-cord system capable of full human speech. Like the human babies aboard Kedah, the pups are also precocious. At four weeks they have the growth and talents expected of a pup of more than twice that age and they are making human-like sounds. It is good.
“The Canis have dedicated a very large island just south of the main continent that is not now occupied to serve as a preliminary human settlement. We will build several bridges across the narrow strait that separates the two bodies as soon as we get the Naval Air Station situated. Full integration between the species in both locations will start as soon as we are settled.
“Finally, it is time to consider getting Ellie back into her feathers if she is going to accompany the crew to meet the Behemoth Bounty. I don’t think it is necessary or wise as she is not expected by the Darjee but I agree that a family meeting should be called to discuss the matter.”
Darcy was in the loop with the conversation that Tonto has just shared with Rob and asked to speak. “Of course you may speak Darcy,” Tonto replied.
“Rob and Tonto, just after we arrived I asked to be part of the crew going back to meet the Behemoth Bounty; but my work here is far too important to interrupt right now and I no longer feel the urgency to meet Ben again. Oh, I still want to talk to him about joining his family, but it doesn’t have to be the first item on the agenda. I’m progressing well at learning the nuances of the Canis society and have been able to link that knowledge to Tonto’s database. We won’t have future problems with language translation; soon all of the family will master it with just an hour or two in the learning-tubes. Is it alright with the two of you if I bow out on the return trip?”
Rob and Tonto shared an instantaneous agreement then Rob spoke for both of them. “Sure Darcy, we want you to do what you think best and we agree that your work on Canis Hilaris as our ambassador and language specialist is vital. We’ll let you know when Ben and the Behemoth Bounty arrive and arrange for some shipside time for you to renew your acquaintance. We appreciate your maturity and dedication to both the Canis People and your family here.”
Darcy beamed at the compliments and felt even more gratified in her work. It was sometimes hard to be separated from all the other humans for such an extended period. Oh, there were many short visits by various technical staff dealing with one problem or another but she missed her sister and the other family members. Particularly since Red Rover was spending so much time with the ladies who were all but lined up at their door.
Tonto again addressed Rob but included all of the extended families and Tontos at the same time. “We need to select a crew to return to KTT to accompany the Behemoth Bounty, which is due in a few days. I believe that the team studying the ways to counteract the orgasmic overload should be part of the party. We’ve also had a team converting three of the emergency vessels into a single FTL ship so we can keep the Kedah on station here. That team has indicated that they want to try out their creation. Will we need more or will the 15 members of the combined teams be enough? The new craft can comfortably house 27 people so there are up to 12 more slots available.
“The first decision concerning extras to be made is if Ellie is going to re-feather and go back. I’ve already made my position clear that it is not expected by the Darjee and I feel it would be unwise.”
Ellie spoke to everyone. “That settles the issue. I will resume my plumage if it really is necessary and serves the family, and in the future I’m sure it will be necessary; but I would just as soon remain the human version of myself while my twins are young so I’ll not be going on this trip.”
There was some general murmuring among the entire family but it was quickly decided that just the necessary 15 family members would return to KTT to accompany and advise the Behemoth Bounty on its transit. However, only one Tonto would make the trip to KTT and the fifteen crewpersons were divided between three different Tonto families. Contact with the home family and Tontos would be lost as soon as the transport was activated. No time like the present to test the theory that family members could easily switch from Tonto to Tonto without causing a problem. There was a bit of discussion between the humans trying to assure that no Tonto would fall below the critical level of member humans necessary to maintain full functionability.
Samantha Cooper was the team leader of the vessel conversion team and would be ship’s captain. As the overall person in charge it was her call as to when to try the conversion. “Tonto,” she asked, “do you see any risk to either the Tonto entities or the human members in trying the transfers of humans between Tontos?”
“No, Samantha,” Tonto replied, “we see no possibility for difficulties. Do you feel anything different?”
“Why? Should I?” she asked.
“Certainly not, I only asked because we made all of the transfers as soon as the team acknowledged that it was necessary. It’s all over now. Remember, all of us Tontos are identical and in complete communication at all times to maintain that identical nature, so the only question is which humans provide our brainpower. We made all the switches in less than a nano-second and none of your brains or minds registered the difference, as there truly wasn’t any difference.
“Some differences will grow while we are out of contact and certainly there will be many differences between the Tontos here and those on the Behemoth Bounty as there have been months of separation. However, once we are all in contact, the Tontos will share their complete databases and the identical nature will be restored. Again, the time to do that is measured in nano-seconds.
Rob continued the general discussion, “The work on the planet is going well and we will be ready to occupy the southern island that the canine population has granted us. When Behemoth Bounty arrives we will settle the Naval Air Station there and be better equipped to advance both of our populations. In the interim I would like to assemble a weapons development team to work on an idea that Ellie had when she first began exploring the ‘toys’ the Darjee supplied to our children.
“Carla, if your twins will allow you to go back to work your explosive ordinance experience will be crucial. Who else do we have with weapons, rocketry and engineering backgrounds?”
A four-member development team including Rob, Carla, Jason and Katie was quickly assembled. Rob again addressed the entire family, “Ellie, who has gained some tremendous experience dealing with species other than human, has volunteered to be the shipboard coordinator for Darcy’s work with the Canis population. Darcy has indicated that she soon will need help. As the pups grow there will be a real demand for teachers who can work with the existing population and with the pups who have such an advanced language capability. Horace is going to work with her in an effort to see if med-tubes can be replicated that will infuse the existing Canis with the same nanites that the puppies have and modify their vocal cords so they too can make all the sounds we humans make. Anyone interested in helping with those two projects should call on Ellie and Horace.
“OK everybody, let’s get to it! The Behemoth Bounty will arrive in less than two days, our crew compliment will triple and our work load will quadruple, we have no time to waste.”
Edited by Mulligan