Chapter 4

I was confused when I woke up. The last thing I remembered was being shoved aside by one of my androids and the pains on my chest. I was lying down on a soft surface but couldn’t open my eyes. “Hrrmlo?” I tried to ask, only to learn that my mouth wasn’t functioning any better than my eyes.

“Marc?” Tiyya cried out from beside me, quickly taking my hand in hers. I squeezed it to let her know I was awake; the effort took a lot more energy than it should have.

“Get the doctor!” she shouted, “He’s waking up!”

Several minutes later, someone that I assumed was the doctor began asking me questions. I squeezed Tiyya’s hand once for yes, and twice for no. After more questions than the reporters had asked two nights ago, assuming this was still the day I sold all of the timber, he removed something from the back of my neck, and I could see again. I quickly shut my eyes because the light was so bright.

“Better?” he asked a few seconds later. Even with my eyes shut, I had noticed the light dimming.

“Thmk yuh,” I replied, finding that my mouth still wasn’t quite up to speed yet.

“You were shot by someone who was upset that you sicced the news media on their clandestine plot to seize control of the government. The two shots were meant for you and the governor, but you were hit by both since you pushed him aside,” the doctor explained.

“Is Zalika okay?” I asked as my mouth continued to move slowly. I was concerned that she had been shoved into the path of one of the shots.

“She’s fine. The android that shoved you pushed her the opposite way at the same time. There were only two shots and you managed to catch both of them.

“We still have no idea how you survived. One shot is enough to kill any of us. In addition to the physical harm, they neutralize our nanites so the body has to heal itself for twenty-four hours. The residual electrical charge stored in the destroyed nanites will damage any nanites injected within twenty-four hours. After twenty-four hours, the charge dissipates so we injected you with more nanites to help with the healing. Fortunately, your androids told us that you had your own blood in stasis aboard your ship since we don’t have a Terran blood substitute available, an oversight I assure you that we will correct,” he said.

“I have the substitute, too,” I replied, happy that my mouth was finally working properly. “Have one of my androids bring enough for you to study,” I said. I felt like my jaw was moving in slow motion and chewing chunks of rubber while I was trying to talk.

“How long has it been?” I asked.

“A day and a half,” Tiyya said from beside me. Her eyes were red and swollen when I managed to turn my head far enough to look.

“Did they catch the guy?” I asked.

“Oh, definitely. Your military androids were all over him before he had time to shoot at Dad a second time. They refused to turn him over to the authorities, which is your right. He tried to kill you, and your androids captured him, so he’s yours to do with as you will,” Tiyya explained.

“They did let the authorities question him, and your Gorokian military androids used very painful techniques to convince him to answer each of their questions truthfully and completely. When he heard that you survived, he suddenly became quite talkative. It appears that he hopes to convince you to tell the androids not to kill him,” she chuckled.

“Fat chance of that,” I growled.

“How much longer will I need to stay here?” I asked. I knew my androids could handle things in my absence, but I hated being cooped up in a hospital, even if I’d been unconscious up to now. Why I am fine for four years cooped up in a spaceship but can’t handle a hospital room for a few hours is beyond me.

It took a lot of effort and a lot of support, but I managed to get permission to escape the hospital room. Once we reached the lobby, I was almost sorry that I had. The press corps was waiting there en masse, and all started shouting questions at me. Once again, my shrill whistle silenced the room.

“Until a short time ago, I’ve been unconscious since I was shot. I have almost no idea what happened except I suggested that you investigate the isolationists, and your investigations disrupted the plans of a group hoping to seize control of the government. Evidently, they were upset enough to shoot me. Anything else will have to wait a couple of days until I understand what has happened, and have had a chance to regain my strength,” I said, motioning for the android guiding the anti-gravity chair-like contraption I was riding to start moving.

I was surprised when we exited the hospital. My military androids were all heavily armed and wearing some sort of armor. “Normally, only top government officials get armed escorts,” Jnilo explained. “In your case, considering what you have done for us, they decreed that you could keep contingents of your armed androids to protect you, your family, and your property, especially since we’re only allowed to keep five hundred troops on the planet.

“Your android Ramina purchased and armed six hundred military androids and made twelve platoons of fifty. One platoon is guarding each of your ships, another is guarding each of your shuttles, one is guarding the marketplace, and one is here with you. She also appointed one platoon each to guard my wife, Tiyya, Nafisa, our son Keon, and me. She appointed two of the Gorokian military androids to command each platoon.

“She also bought two heavily armed corvettes to provide cover for you and your ships. Since the government was planning to scrap them, she got an exceptional deal on the corvettes, complete with all-android crews, two platoons of marine androids, and two fighters each. Evidently, she completed a transaction you discussed previously with someone at the Kai’ka shipyard, and they want to keep you alive, too,” he laughed.

I started breathing again with his comment about the deal with Yuka. Before that, I was imagining my account balance being low enough that I couldn’t afford fuel to get home, much less a cargo. I knew I could afford the military androids, but the two corvettes had to have been expensive, even if they were being sold as scrap.

Once we were back aboard the Cornucopia, everyone watched while I went through my coffee ritual. Tiyya had seen it before and agreed that she didn’t like the taste of coffee. I doubled my usual count of coffee beans and ground 326, and then brewed twice my normal 1.5 cups of coffee. I warned Tiyya’s parents that they wouldn’t like it, but they tried the tiny cupful that I gave them anyway.

“How can you drink this?” Jnilo asked, shuddering after his first taste.

“It’s an acquired taste. I had the same reaction to my first cup,” I admitted. Despite the reaction of her parents, Nafisa insisted that she would like some coffee. She loved the way it smelled. She actually pouted when I only gave her a tiny bit to try but spit it back into the cup almost as soon as it hit her tongue. It took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to laugh at her. She was trying so hard to act like an adult, and I didn’t want to belittle her for that. I’d seen enough of my nieces and nephews going through that stage that I understood what she was doing.

We talked and watched the news for nearly an hour with Jnilo adding comments and information as I tried to catch up with the happenings of the last two days. Ramina had a spreadsheet and several reports ready for me to review and despite her spending spree, I was stunned with how much money I currently had, much more than enough money to remodel the Phaunos, to refuel both ships, and to purchase a full load of the high-tech goods Terrans paid so well for.

The sweeps to arrest those involved in the plot to overthrow the government were nearing completion. My Gorokian military androids had led all the raids on Toolondo, using a platoon of my Karkallian military androids. While most of the platoons had guard duty, the twelfth platoon performed many of the raids, occasionally joined by the platoons from the two shuttles. The Gorokian androids ensured that no Gorokians had their toes stepped on during the raids, pleasing both the Gorokian and Karkallian governments. That the troops were private, owned by a Terran helped ease tensions between the two governments even more.

The extra money I found in my accounts came from the estates of the people my androids had arrested. The attack had been against me. I wasn’t a government official, and my androids carried out the raids. Therefore, everything belonging to those who were involved and captured became my property.

Aside from a healthy bank account, I now owned ten large estates and five homes on Toolondo, one manufacturing facility on a nearby airless planet, full, or part ownership of eleven mines on Toolondo, and full or part ownership of six offworld mines on moons or planetoids. We had forty-one prisoners, people who were involved in the plot and their immediate families. They were currently being held in cargo containers aboard the Cornucopia. The interrogators were determining which family members knew about or were involved in the plot. Those guilty of involvement would face either death or would spend the rest of their life as a slave, probably in a mining colony. Of course, that sentence was just a slow death sentence.

Jnilo decided that the Cornucopia was as safe as anywhere to spend the night, especially with two heavily armed corvettes overhead and hundreds of android troops guarding us.

Ramina let me know that Yuka was rushing to complete the new shield generators and jump drives for the two corvettes. He already sent additional AIs and rail guns for them, the two shuttles, and the Phaunos. Now that we were all in one location, while the rest remained on guard, four platoons of the military androids were installing the rail guns and combining and then installing AIs under the supervision of the androids that already knew how to do the work.

Ramina let Nundoro and his family know that I was okay. Nundoro had asked one of my androids to keep him informed. Ramina also let me know that the last of the chocolate and the individual produce items should be sold out by noon tomorrow. I finally wound down enough to sleep, and Tiyya joined me, even though we only slept.

Yet again, I was up well before dawn the next morning, my internal clock letting me know it was time to face another day filled with potential. I was watching the news, reviewing Ramina’s final listing of people and property seized during the raids on Toolondo, and enjoying my 163-bean cup of coffee when Jnilo joined me.

While I sipped at my coffee, he enjoyed his torpa as he pored over his own reports and made his own calls. “It seems that the government has captured everyone they were looking for. Many of the people listed I would never have suspected. They are already exceedingly wealthy. What would possess them to gamble their freedom and lives to seek even more wealth?” he asked rhetorically.

“They weren’t after more wealth, they were after power,” I explained.

He started to respond, and then stopped, mouth open, and a stunned look on his face. “Absolute craziness,” he sighed. “Even my own lieutenant governor was one of them,” he added.

“Do you want to be my new lieutenant governor?” he asked hopefully. “You could easily gain citizenship.”

“Not if I was the last person on the planet,” I replied, “although I wouldn’t mind citizenship. That press conference was as close as I ever want to get to politics. I don’t have the patience for it. You saw how I dealt with the reporters, no tact, and no patience for pushy people. Politicians can’t act like that,” I explained.

“I have to admit, I’ve wanted to do that myself a time or two,” he chuckled. “Know anyone who might be interested?” he asked.

“The only person I really know outside of your family is Nundoro, the fast-food seller at the marketplace. I don’t know about his political affiliation, but he’s a shrewd businessman, and I trusted him with a lot of my money,” I explained.

“Yes, Nundoro would be perfect. He and his wife have helped with my campaigns, and he worked his way up to where he is now. Excellent idea,” he said excitedly. His shuttle was waiting for him in one of our empty cargo bays, so he must have called for it at some point after I fell asleep last night.

When I tried to go to the marketplace, Ramina stopped me. She fitted me with a device that was slightly smaller than my hand. It clipped to the back of my belt, hidden by the new vest Tiyya had the tailor make for me since my old one had a hole in one of the lapels. “This conducts current through your skin. You may feel an occasional tingle when you contact another shield of any kind, but that’s all. It generates a shield a micron away from your skin that will stop an attack from any handheld weapon used on this planet, ballistic or energy.

“We have learned that old Terran ballistic weapons will penetrate any of the personal military shields currently in use by the three races here. We will need to locate tools, equipment, materials, and sources of the chemicals we need, but the platoons are already making parts for ancient revolvers. They seem less prone to mechanical failure than pistols,” she advised.

Tiyya was also fitted with one of the devices, as were her mother, brother, and sister. Zalika took one of them for her husband. After a brief stop to see Nundoro and to eat the breakfast Nundoro insisted on providing, Tiyya and I headed for the Gorokian marketplace with Jozza, another of my original female androids. Jozza was along to help locate everything we would need. I could have carried a list, but Jozza could do a faster and better job of keeping track of and finding everything.

The Gorokian merchants were far more cordial this time, eager to sell me their wares. When I found him, Nardu explained that everyone knew I stopped the plot, one that might have led to war between Karkalla and the Goroke Empire. They also knew my Gorokian androids made sure no Gorokian citizens were bothered last night.

Tiyya, her brother, and her sister left in time to get to school accompanied by their platoons of android guards. I ended up filling my shuttle four times with goods from the Gorokian marketplace, and three more from the Karkallian marketplace, sending them to the Cornucopia to unload. When I finally got back, I was surprised to find Yuka waiting for me.

He and I reviewed the details of the agreement Ramina had authorized while I was in the hospital. The government was excited about both the new shielding and the new jump drives. I explained how I added the Terran/Karkallian blended shielding as a second shield outside of the primary shield in case someone used the special loads I had just bought ten thousand of because I now needed to arm my second cargo ship, two shuttles, two corvettes, and four fighters.

I needed to make the same changes to the eight cargo shuttles that my androids confiscated in the raids. The rest of the shuttles were small private craft that were too small to do me much good. We were both in a good mood when he left to return to Kai’ka, towing the Phaunos. As he was boarding his ship, he warned me that he left six filled cargo containers aboard the Cornucopia with things Ramina had ordered.

When I went inside the cargo area, I felt as if I’d walked into a factory. Two hundred new androids were busy. Some were making the explosive gelatin or the primer for the revolver cartridges. Others were working at a small foundry inside a cargo container, making high-tech alloy casings in three different sizes. Still more were making the composite-jacketed bullets for the three different sizes of cartridges.

They used another empty cargo container for a second small foundry, combining exotic metals into the alloy they would use to make the revolvers and parts for the revolvers so they would be exceptionally light. A snub-nose .38 would be made for the women to carry. A .45 caliber with a seven-inch barrel would be for me and for Jnilo if he wanted one. The androids would be packing .50 caliber revolvers with twelve-inch barrels. Between the lightweight alloy and the androids’ superior strength, they would have no problem with the recoil of the .50 caliber.

The only high-tech part of the revolvers, aside from the alloys being used and the modern explosive, was the laser sight. The computerized laser automatically took into consideration range, wind, elevation drop, humidity, air pressure, and even air temperature to determine where a round would hit. If the laser painted your target, you were assured of hitting it unless you jerked the gun as you fired.

Other androids were reworking the special rail gun loads I bought earlier today. The loads were about five inches wide and two feet long. Others were installing the rail guns I bought in the Gorokian marketplace today, as well as the ones Ramina bought from Yuka. Each rail gun was capable of firing up to five separate rounds simultaneously or one at a time and reloaded automatically when each round or rounds were fired. I was surprised to see everything we would need to upgrade the new (to us) shuttles and the fighters. Ramina had contacted Yuka before he left to meet us and ordered everything we needed.

Androids are sure nice. They can think of everything faster than I can wrap my brain around one thing. In addition, they can connect with the ship’s AIs and the other androids for more computing power, to get additional information, to access the electronic library aboard the Cornucopia, and to know what they need for a project right down to the last screw by asking another android who’s right there looking at the hardware.

When Tiyya got out of school, she wouldn’t let me out of her sight, not that I minded. I rather liked the sight of her, too. I fell asleep snuggled against her while she did her homework. When I woke up, Nafisa was snuggled against my other side doing her homework, too. “Comfortable?” I teased Nafisa.

“Very,” she almost purred. “I hope to get even more comfortable on my next birthday,” she said suggestively.

“Then you need to be nice to your sister. That will be her decision.”

I also noticed their brother, Keon, working diligently on his schoolwork. Tiyya whispered that she had my shuttles pick up her siblings and their contingent of guards from school, too. People already knew that their father was the governor. Now, though, they had the extra prestige of having their own contingent of armed troops, as well as being friends of mine.

Jnilo and Zalika showed up just before dinner, along with Nundoro, his wife Coora, and their daughters Penola and Darriya in tow. Nundoro shook my hand energetically. “Thank you for recommending me,” he exclaimed excitedly. “Jnilo asked me to be his lieutenant governor and I agreed. The only other candidate runs in every election and only gets a few votes. That means we’re almost guaranteed to win. I’ll have to sell my businesses, but I’ll make just as much as lieutenant governor,” he explained.

When he finished thanking me, his wife, Coora, and Penola both thanked me with a kiss that made me wonder if I was going to survive the night. Darriya gave me a look and a kiss letting me know that she intended to be included in the sex as soon as she was legal. At dinner, Jnilo reviewed the news of the day.

The government had finished interviewing and interrogating my prisoners. Technically, they finished listening as my androids interrogated my prisoners. Of the forty-nine prisoners, twenty-two were determined to have no prior knowledge of the plot. Since at least the husband was involved in every family, all of the property remained mine. Jnilo asked if I would consider setting up one or two of the estates where the remaining twenty-two people could live because they would have nothing. Since their poverty was due to a crime, they would receive no help from the government.

The final people we captured had increased my holdings to eleven estates and six homes.

“Once Tiyya picks an estate for us, the families can decide what they need,” I said. Tiyya’s chair went flying as she jumped up, squealing excitedly. She almost dumped me over backwards as she hugged me, much to the amusement of everyone else.

After dinner, I demonstrated one of the revolvers. There were already five of the .45 caliber revolvers, and ten of the .38 revolvers finished. Several of the androids demonstrated their monstrous .50 caliber revolvers. Each android would carry two of the gigantic revolvers. One would be loaded with jacketed anti-personnel rounds to penetrate normal battle armor that human troops wear. The other rounds would be jacketed armor-piercing rounds, designed to penetrate an android’s armor as well as the android, exploding inside the android to destroy it.

Jnilo was stunned to learn that, while their advanced battle armor withstood all known handheld energy weapons, such an archaic weapon could easily defeat it.

Knowing that I was still recovering, Tiyya and Penola were gentle with me, but both insisted on my attention before we went to sleep. I was surprised that I felt as good as I did after pushing myself all day and had both the energy and the interest to scratch their itches.

I awoke to a surprise in the morning. The surprise wasn’t the red hair on each shoulder and the naked female snuggled against each side. The problem was that one of the heads of red hair belonged to Nafisa. I woke Tiyya with gentle kisses on her face. She smiled when her eyes opened. “We have an interloper,” I whispered, motioning towards Nafisa with my head.

“She didn’t do anything, did she?” Tiyya asked.

“If she did, I slept through it,” I chuckled quietly.

“She’s loud enough that you would wake up,” Tiyya giggled.

With a final kiss, I crawled out of bed, eliciting a sleepy grumbled protest from Nafisa before her eyes shot open. “I didn’t do anything,” she quickly told Tiyya.

“I know, you would have awakened everyone,” Tiyya teased.

“I just wanted to see what it felt like to sleep against him,” she explained.

“And?” Tiyya prodded.

“It felt sooooo good,” Nafisa purred contentedly.

“Why are you up so early?” Nafisa asked me.

“He always wakes up this early. That’s why I’ve been going to sleep earlier,” Tiyya answered before I could.

Tiyya and Penola even let Nafisa join us in the shower, although she was relegated to just watching while Tiyya got her wake-up quickie in the shower.

Jnilo and I were reviewing our morning reports over a cup of our morning beverage of choice when the three girls exited my cabin. Jnilo’s eyebrows rose, especially since all three girls had wet hair. “I wondered why there was so much room in our bed this morning,” he teased. Evidently, Nafisa was a frequent visitor in her parents’ bed, enjoying the comfort of sleeping cuddled against someone else.