Chapter 7

The girls stayed aboard the Cornucopia this morning to finish the homework that had been forgotten when they joined yesterday’s afternoon orgy. While there was still a steady stream of customers, there wasn’t much happening today anyway, at least compared to yesterday. Nundoro saw me, waved me over enthusiastically, and insisted on feeding me breakfast.

I was explaining about setting up a dairy farm on Tabjawara when one of the androids commed me to let me know that Minister Paki of the Goroke Empire was approaching me. He was the one my android gave the chocolate bar to yesterday. When I told Nundoro, he made himself scarce figuring this was a semi-official visit.

“Minister Paki, it is good to meet you,” I said when he approached. Even though I’m not Gorokian, I stood and made a small deferential bow similar to what Gorokian citizens were expected to make. I could tell that he was pleased that I spoke his language, recognized him, and knew to bow.

“Captain Parker, it is good to meet you, also. Your name has come to the attention of my Emperor several times lately,” he said cordially.

“Nothing bad, I hope,” I joked.

“No, everything is good. The Emperor heard how you used Gorokian military androids to lead the raids against those who sought to overthrow the Karkallian government. Doing that protected the rights of all Gorokian citizens. He was impressed that the Karkallian government trusted you enough to let you conduct the raids. Had they brought in more troops to conduct the raids, it could have upset the Emperor. He is interested in the huge trees you sold this time and hopes to contract for five hundred of them,” he explained.

His face fell when I warned that it would be twenty-five to thirty days before I returned. “Is it important to have them sooner?” I asked.

He looked around conspiratorially, and then leaned in closer. “The Emperor can be impatient at times,” he whispered.

I nodded understandingly and bit my tongue. I noticed that several of my Gorokian androids had moved much closer to us and were diverting people from right around us. Obviously, one of them was transmitting our conversation because Ramina was on my com unit telling me the earliest date that we could be back. She also let me know what it would cost to make the trip for just the timber.

“I should be able to be back in twelve days if I only stop to load timber,” I said. “That takes into account that I can’t leave before tomorrow morning. I have several business deals pending that I have to complete before leaving,” I warned.

“Thank you,” he exclaimed, exhaling with relief as if he’d been holding his breath for a couple of minutes. He told me how to reach his com unit, and thanked me for the chocolate yesterday. Unfortunately, it did nothing for the Gorokian women.

Waving goodbye to Nundoro, I shuttled back to the Cornucopia. Riif was up by now and gave me a monstrous hug and kiss. “Tiyya says I’m invited to join your family,” she purred.

“If Tiyya told you that, then she just invited you if you’re interested,” I replied.

“What if I want to continue working?” she asked apprehensively.

“I don’t have a problem with you working. Is there some Karkallian social rule that married women can’t work?” I asked.

“No, but most Karkallian men want their wife to stay at home and take care of their home,” she explained.

“I intend to have plenty of androids to do the work around the estate, and with five wives, I’m sure at least one of them will want to stay home. I do need to warn you that I don’t share my women with other men. I know most Karkallian men don’t mind, but I’m possessive of the women who claim me.

“If Tiyya didn’t almost demand that I have sex with other women, I wouldn’t. I don’t feel that it’s fair when I expect them to not have sex with other men,” I explained.

“Even though you were asleep when I got here last night, the others took care of me. I can live with just one man,” she agreed, then hugged and kissed me again.

“Terran men give their intended a ring. Is there any custom like that here?” I asked.

“No, but we could start it,” Tiyya said. She was the one purring now.

“Let me think about it. I have to return to Iota tomorrow to get a load of the big trees for the Gorokian Emperor,” I told the girls. My pronouncement was met with shocked faces, gaping mouths, and stunned silence.

“The Emperor?” Riif finally asked.

“That’s what Minister Paki said.”

“They rarely even trade with us,” Tiyya commented.

I just shrugged since I didn’t know what else to say. “This probably shouldn’t be reported,” I warned Riif. “I get the feeling that their Emperor has been keeping an eye on me and is testing me to see how I deal with his people. Three Gorokians bought things from me last time. This time, there were dozens, including one of their ministers. I’d hate to short-circuit an attempt on their part to reach out and do more business with Terrans and Karkallians.”

“Good point,” Riif commented thoughtfully.

After the requisite hugs and kisses, I shooed the girls off to school, and Riif headed home to get ready for another day of work. I commed my real estate agent and asked about the deal on the farms. He said it only needed my final approval and I gave it. I could start using them immediately.

Half an hour later, we landed at my new dairy farm. Two hours after that, everything had been unloaded from the ship and the androids were busy combining the dairy buildings and milking parlors to make two large buildings. Others were already installing fencing to separate pastures, or planting alfalfa in hopes that it would grow here. Even if it didn’t, we’d already learned that the cows could eat the local version of grass. I left Meera to coordinate everything and to make any necessary purchases of supplies and building materials.

When I got to the shipyard, Yuka was happy to see me and reported on the progress of installing the new shielding and other improvements for their navy. They were now working on the second set of ten navy ships, and the navy was ecstatic with the shields and jump drives, as well as the speed with which the upgrades were completed.

While Yuka had everything I requested loaded aboard the Phaunos, I took him aside and told him about the Emperor’s request, explaining that I’d be gone for twelve days. He warned me that their Emperor acted odd. No Gorokian would come right out and say it, but they hinted that he might be a bit unstable at times.

Pointing to the large items the androids were loading right then, he explained, “Those are hybrid cloaking generators. You only have Terran cloaking on the Cornucopia, and none on this ship. You should install the cloaking before you leave. Other ships may try to follow you to find out where you get everything,” he warned.

“How can they follow me when I jump?” I asked.

Yuka looked around conspiratorially and then leaned in closer to me. “I’ve heard rumors that there are scanners available that are able to follow a ship when it jumps, but the second ship has to be right behind it to know the speed and attitude of the ship when it jumps. They can’t do that if you’re cloaked so they can’t see you,” he advised.

“Shit!” I gasped, “I didn’t know that.”

“I’ve never seen one of the units, but I heard about it from a reliable source. Only androids are allowed to install and operate the units and only a handful of top naval officers even know they are aboard,” he explained.

“I definitely want the new blended cloaking, then,” I replied. “Do you have any leads yet on an old hull that’s bigger than the Phaunos?” I asked.

“I still have people looking, but nothing so far,” he answered.

I told him my idea--a monstrous ore-refining platform able to mine asteroids with a high metal content. They wouldn’t have to tow the asteroids to a nearby planet and set up a smelter there. Terran firms have used something similar, but smaller, for centuries. I didn’t tell him that I intended to mine asteroid belts that were in unclaimed territory.

He knew how to put a ship like that together if I found a hull. Otherwise, it would take more than two years to build a new ship that big and would cost a lot more than I wanted to spend, even though I could afford to spend that much.

Pointing to the public version of my star charts, the version that only showed known explored territory, I pointed at a system and asked if he knew anything about it. It showed up on their star charts as being part of the Duban Kingdom.

“They’re pretty closed mouthed about that system, so it’s probably where the royal family lives, or a secret military base, or something like that,” he replied. That made sense. If Dubanian charts listed it as Karkallian space, their civilians would stay out of the system.

With all the goodies Ramina had ordered now aboard, as well as the ones Yuka had thought to add, I thanked him for everything and left a bag of oranges, his favorite of the fruits I sold. With the Demeter uncoupled from the Phaunos and safely docked in a repair bay, I headed back to Toolondo. First, I stopped by my factory and loaded all of the mining pods they had completed. There were forty-seven pods ready, and they had even finished four of the specialized pods for mining diamonds since I commed and ordered them as soon as we exited the jump back here from Terra.

When I got back to Toolondo, I dropped off the three cargo containers of obsidian at the estate, along with the tools to cut it for the floors and the equipment to temper it. I got back to the Cornucopia minutes before the girls returned from school.

We had all the families over for dinner again, enjoying each other’s company. Jnilo was stunned when he heard that the Emperor had sent a minister to ask me to bring more of the tall trees. “The fact that he sent one of his ministers instead of having someone local ask you means it’s a huge deal to him,” he explained. “Even sending their governor to ask you would have been significant.”

While we ate, androids continued blending and installing the cloaking generators on the Phaunos and the Cornucopia. I planned to take the Cornucopia nested inside the Phaunos. Once I arrived at Iota, I would hit the other planets in the Cornucopia while androids filled the Phaunos with timber. I should have time to pick up any ingots, diamonds, marble, and obsidian that was ready to go, filling the Cornucopia.

The Gorokian minister commed me right after dinner, asking me to deliver the trees to Keewong, their capital planet. He gave me coordinates of a safe zone to end my jump. I warned that the extra distance would add another day to my timetable.

Now, I was nervous. “I need to warn you that my ship is as heavily armed as many naval ships, and I exit jumps with my weapons energized and ready to fire,” I explained apprehensively.

“Very prudent,” he agreed. “We will probably have several of our naval ships there to escort you. There have been several bold pirate attacks lately, and the Emperor wants you safe,” he said.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed once I was sure the coms were off. Everyone looked at me inquisitively.

“They want me to take my ship to their capital planet. What if it’s a setup to get their hands on everything free?” I asked.

“I don’t think they’d do that,” Jnilo commented. “If they planned something like that, they would have contacted you using one of the intelligence agents they have here, not a minister.”

“They have spies here?” I asked. Jnilo laughed.

“Of course, but they’re not really spies. All they do is keep an ear to the ground and report what they’re hearing. They were probably the first to inform their government about you. You probably know at least one or two, and just don’t realize it.”

“Nardu,” I said, more from thinking aloud than to tell anyone.

“You know one of them?” Jnilo asked.

“Now that I think about it, I know someone I think is one. He seems to be well informed about everything that’s happening and sells me Gorokian military equipment nobody else is able to offer for sale.”

After dinner, the girls led me to bed and extracted their due from me, knowing it had to last twelve or thirteen nights. Even Riif woke me up for a goodbye quickie when she came in from work.

Each girl got an emotional kiss goodbye in the morning, and then boarded the shuttle I left for them to use; Riif had her own. I reminded them about the obsidian for the floors of the estate if they wanted to use it. I intended to bring back marble this trip if they preferred that. The three girls who went with me last time knew what colors were available, or an android could display the available colors and patterns of the rock on a screen for them to look at.

The cloaking generator had been installed and was working. They had tried it last night, flying the Cornucopia away from the ship and seeing if it was visible. With our advanced sensors, it was barely visible. When they flew one of the fighters out away from the ship, the Phaunos was invisible.

Since I had never cloaked before, we left Toolondo the same way, headed for one of the two jump spots I liked. Ten minutes out, Jaya announced that a ship was following us, matching our speed and course, but making no effort to close on us.

The ship was still following us as we neared the jump point. “Jaya, when we reach the jump point, cloak the ship, change course, and make the jump as soon as you can re-calculate everything,” I instructed.

“Yes, sir, thirty seconds to cloaking,” she announced. “Ten, five, four, three, two, one, cloaking and changing course,” she announced. “The trailing ship has turned back, they’re not following,” she announced right before making the jump.

I fretted and paced the entire first day, worrying about going into Gorokian territory. What if they wanted me to meet the Emperor and I had to leave the ship? Off the ship, I could be captured. What if the Emperor heard about our new jump drives and shields, and wanted information about them? Would they torture me to get the information?

“I wish I could take a transmitter inside so you would know what’s happening,” I sighed to Ramina.

Ramina cocked her head to the side for several seconds. “You can,” she announced confidently.

“I’m sure they would detect any type of transmitter,” I replied.

“True, but they wouldn’t do anything if they were expecting the transmissions,” she replied.

Seeing the confused look on my face, she continued. “You have several Dubanian androids aboard. The Dubanians have known for more than a century how to put implants into a person’s brain so they are able to communicate silently with androids and AIs. However, most people can’t handle instant access to that much information, much like your ability to remember everything. With your ability to recall everything you’ve read, you should have no problem with it. If you do, we can always remove it,” she offered.

“This has been tested before?” I asked warily.

“Tested and perfected. Like I said, the inability of people to access so much information without becoming overwhelmed is the only reason it hasn’t been used beyond testing.”

“How long will it take to heal afterwards?” I asked.

“Even though it’s brain surgery, it’s minimally invasive. The nanites should have you completely healed within twenty-four hours,” she replied.

“Let’s try it,” I agreed. “If I wake up and seem overwhelmed, knock me out and remove it,” I instructed.

It took them two hours to create everything we needed, and half an hour to prep me for the surgery.

“Captain?” Ramina asked as I was coming out of the surgical fog.

“Hmmmmm?” I replied, still more unconscious than conscious.

“It works. I’m communicating with you over an android frequency,” she said.

That got my attention. “Any problems?” I directed the thought to Ramina.

“Everything went even better than we expected. The nanites have you almost completely healed. You should still take it easy for a couple of days, though,” she advised.

I slept for three more hours before trying to get up. When I got up, I was surprised that I felt fine--no wooziness, no headache, and no tiredness. Rather than subject me to everything on the android frequency, they tuned mine to an unused sub-frequency that Ramina or one of the other androids would monitor.

“This should be cool,” I commented excitedly two hours later. I spent the rest of the trip getting used to the mental connection. My androids took it easy on me this trip, giving me the time off from martial arts training. They did insist, however, that I do my forms each day to center myself.

When we completed the jump, I immediately began monitoring the probes I’d left in the area to make sure nobody followed us. Nobody followed, although I didn’t relax until an hour later. By then, we were approaching Iota. As soon as the ship was in orbit and ready to be loaded, I took off in the Cornucopia, dropping off mining pods, androids, tools, and shuttles at locations with heavy concentrations of the minerals highest on the buyers’ list.

I finished dropping off all the mining pods, and picking up all of the ingots that were ready, and then made Nu my next-to-last stop. The quantity of mined diamonds was much higher than last time, more than triple. I was stunned at one diamond they found. It was a blue diamond as big as both of my fists together. Unfortunately, probably half of it would be lost when they cut the diamond. There were plenty of red diamonds so I could have a necklace and engagement ring made for Riif. I wondered if I should have extras made, and laughed at myself and the situation I found myself in--not that I was complaining.

-----.-----

“Jump ends in thirty seconds,” Ramina announced mentally. I double-checked that rail guns and torpedo tubes were charged, all of the shields were at full power, and our cloaking was on.

A burst of data from Jaya that would have overwhelmed me just a few days ago told me there were eight nearby Gorokian naval vessels. The eight vessels consisted of a battleship, a destroyer, two cruisers, and four corvettes. All eight were fully cloaked and shielded, and their weapons were ready to fire.