by Marcus Sloss
I found Lorie as I waltzed back to the center. She was nodding her head in approval. I got a notification of pings from the rest of the family that they picked this one too.
“Does this price include the whole ship? There are eight smaller living areas bubbled on the exterior of the ship. I was wanting to make one of those my home. Convert the rest into hotels, minus two for visiting nobility.” I asked V-vari who plugged at some numbers.
“Your inferior lancer indicated as much. This amount covers the entire ship. You save eight million by going foamcrete, but I would not. It will cheapen the appeal. This will be a great wonder of your Empire and a sought after destination for your people if you let us build it this way. You can only accommodate so many tourists too. That it will bring the allure up. This is a discounted price that our matriarch rarely does, but she felt it would be a nice gift for her daughter finding a home with the people she cares for and care for her. If you have the D-coins I would not let this offer pass you by and I am a cheap dragumi. We will need total access to the ship. We can finish your private estate first. It will take three days if I set the crews to work around the clock. I checked and we have the supplies on hand to get started right now all I need is your approval.”
“Let me talk with my fabulous lancer.” I stuck out my tongue and Lorie swatted my ass. That girl was happy and giddy right now. I saw her sexy eyes lock with mine and the blues flared with lust. It was almost as if she had dragumi eyes with her allure. A swing of my head broke our contact and I dialed up Mila.
“How are the accounts?”
“You are fine, it will leave us with forty million or so. It depends on many things because we have so many transactions in progress. We have enough that we can still stash clones, pay our bills, and get some income generating. Do not go cheap here Mack. The dragumi women are ill-tempered towards me, but they are amazing artists. This will also please the den matriarch and Bexso to no end. Accept the contract before you offend.”
I displayed the accounts. Found the one with the bounty money and jettisoned seventy six million in funds to Beeso.
“You overpaid human. Intelligence of two. It is okay, Bexso will keep you from walking into walls.” The dragumi were great at exaggerated gestures and eye rolls.
“It is a tip,” I said as I grew bored of the dragumi and their intelligence of four assholes. I slung Lorie over my shoulder who yelp in surprise. I swatted her booty and got her to huff while dangled in half. “See you back in three days.”
One of the younger less bitchy dragumi stepped forward. “Thank you, human Mack. May the creator watch over you and your family?” My feet screeched on the smooth floor at my sudden stop.
“May the creator bless you and yours dragumi. If you ever need a place of harbor… you will find friends here.” I said never turning back or putting my wife down. I did not know where the words came from or why but they had resonated with me as I spoke them. Bexso would know which one she was and I would have her added to a friend’s list for the ship.
Lorie finally convinced me to place her down. I got yanked into a side room for a quickie. The dirty talk got dirtier and echoed in what I guessed was a storage closet. I didn’t last long which got me a long kiss. She bragged about how she still had the magic touch. Her eyes sparkled with happiness. It was good to see her so exuberant.
I decided we would take tubes down to the Griffin. An outline in the wall defined a pod for personal transport. A swipe of my hand opened it up. I mentally closed it, then opened it back again with a thought. Awesome this new tech was fantastic.
I stepped into the pod and Lorie blew me a kiss goodbye. It sealed shut and gave me options on a display. I selected an exit close to the Griffin and went weightless in the cramped compartment. There was fresh air blown directly on my face and the display shifted to a local news segment. It was a very political hit piece on the Emperor. Media reviving up its strength in the arena of hearsay. Nothing new and I flipped to a dive competition. I only saw one jump when my pod opened. I stepped over to the doorway that transitioned into the Griffin and waited as Lorie caught up. When we entered I led us to the dining room for some lunch.
Astrid, Bexso, Mom, and Starla crowed around an old man in a fit of laughter. The old guy must have been at least a hundred and fifty years old. His treatments for age regeneration nearing an end. The group noticed me and all waved. Lorie and I chimed out some food and seated ourselves at the table.
“Hello my lord, I am Braxton the third. I was recently chairman of the Empire’s treasury. I had to retire due to health concerns. My expertise has been trading within the Empire for over a hundred and twenty years. An old friend of mine, Linus sent me to see you. Something about needing me to come out of retirement. I am wealthy and old, but rumor has it you are the one person in this universe who can help me.” A coughing fit interrupted the old man.
I went to Navigo to set a course for Lunish when I noticed we were already en route. Assigned last by Starla set the moment I was back on board. That bleeding heart wife of mine. It was the right call but I would have to talk to her later. It was possible we did not come to terms and were wasting a trip. I was probably wrong on that front, Braxton looked one wrong cough from death. He even dabbed his lower lip to remove blood.
“Braxton I desperately need a minister of treasury myself. Mila is overwhelmed, and while infinitely the smartest being I know. She can get flustered and overworked. I can help you, but it is costly. By costly I mean you will never be able to afford it with your current funds or time left. I will give you what I hope you consider a fair option.” I said with a pause and he coughed again. With a wince of fright, I reset our speed from (optimal) to (accelerated) and reduced the time to forty minutes. A series of buckles cascaded through the ship. When I was certain we would not explode in a fiery death I continued. “A hundred years of service with no options for early removal. You will serve me as my financial advisory and the in between for my business wishes. It is a steep ask but in return, I will always clone you if you die from an accident during those years.”
“Everything okay?” Starla asked in reference to the earlier ship shudder and the next coughing fit by Braxton.
“I accept. Nano inject me so I can make it. Wife too. She will help with children and cleaning. Need to lie down.” Braxton gave me his dying wish.
Astrid bolted out of the dining room to find a health booster. We laid Braxton down on his side while we waited. She returned quickly and injected him in the neck. His vitals stabilized and the coughing fit stopped. He snored lightly as we hovered over him in concern.
“Yikes. We need to get the wife later. You’re in charge of her Starla. I have been meaning to set family duties. Now is as good as a time as any. Lorie may be the fancy titled princess wife but she has a dreadnaught to manage. When in public, or at events, Lorie is the first wife. When at home or matters concerning the family Starla is the matriarch. Astrid is in charge of commerce and will play a combat role. Mila is well defined in managing ETG. Bexso you are the head of my military. It should help guide us down our lanes and keep from spilling over. Oh… that reminds me.
“Lorie got a fancy ship, Starla two nannies for helping… Thanks mom. What is it you want Astrid?” I said mimicking Arenus. Always trying to be fair.
“I trained with Bexso today. I learned good techniques and bad ones. It was all extremely basic stuff and I realized I have a love-hate relationship with this body. It is me, I know that and respect this goddess type form to no end. I know I am not fat but I am soft and plushy. It was part of my design from my parents. Anyway, enough self conscious talk here… I have designed two bodies for combat.”
I thought about this and realized it was true. I then immediately wanted to know what her ideal combat body would be.
“What did you design? Wait… It will not be a combat clone. We won’t have those until the Oralis gets its cloning business running. Oh… but swapping bodies sucks?” I asked Astrid with curiosity.
“Dear husband if I can fit your cock down my throat… Then I can deal with that snake plugging into my stomach,” Astrid said and a silence settled over our group.
Thankfully Braxton was still snoring lightly. I went to the table blushing red and sat. Astrid wondered what had me so flustered and my mom raised her hand pointed out she was here. We all returned to the table.
“Astrid you are stinking cute, and that was embarrassing. Well played. Now show me your design. I am very curious.”
An alert hit my eye and I opened the file. Eww… This was gross. Astrid was still a female but barely. She bulged with muscles and it was scary to me. I knew some men loved a well muscled woman. They probably only wanted butt sex too, it was not for me. This was overkill. To be honest I didn’t know we could slider this much bulk on our bodies. She should have picked a man instead. That got my hamster fired up in my brain and he ran like a lemming off a cliff.
Astrid cleared her throat to get my attention. “You okay my love, you look like you ate something sour.” She was giggling as was Bexso… Those two. They were both smarter than me by at least a few points. What were they up to?
“Alright what is the catch?” I asked.
Lorie scoffed. “Took you long enough.”
“Here is what I want. We got all the necessary approvals.” Astrid said.
A new file opened in my eye display. It was Astrid in a fire red dragumi-human body identical to what Bexso currently wore. Her stomach went human white to pink to fire red edges. She had her brown eyes, auburn hair, and the same facial features. That is where the similarities ended. Her plump tits were now tight against her body in a firm handful B-Cup. Her figure was curvy but nicely muscled. Nothing crazy… merely toned. I drooled over the image of my wife in this unique body. Her little tail danced and her wings flapped in the simulation. She could get off the ground but barely. There had to be a catch though. How was this allowed? I shrugged and paid for a clone, even if she couldn’t fight in it, I would savage her in bed with it.
“Damn it, Mack. You are such a hornball. I smelt the sex on you and Lorie when you walked in too. I already ordered one… guess we got two now.” Astrid said.
“Uh…” I started to apologize and simply shut up.
Bexso patted my head like a dog. “I got it approved by mother with certain limitations. She can never use it on dragumi planets or events. Astrid can only combat wear it in a competition that allows a species of six entry. Which our four member team royale allows. This body of loveliness was designed and altered by a hatchling friend of mine.” She paused when my eyebrows flew up in shock at hearing she came from an egg. “I will get to that in a second. I have a dear friend and she is a gifted geneticist. I used my life saving to pay for her and her team’s research. They created this new species, most shun me and my audacity to shift into a lower form at times. This body is not permanent nor is Astrid’s clone. Merely an in between for us to use when we desire. I will be going back to my full dragumi clone for the royale.
“There is no term for this new genetic hybrid. I am sure we will need one for clarification when Astrid competes. Hmm. Draguman works I suppose. I will make the title official… and done. Where were we? Right, the body is great on the stat sheet compared to humans. Astrid will have these stats in her new body.”
A profile with Astrid populated and revealed these stats assigned based on her mindmeld and the body's specifications.
Species – DragumanContestant – Astrid Raul
Class – Tool wielder/PredatorClass – Tool wielder/Predator
Intelligence – 3Intelligence – 5
Strength – 6Strength – 6
Dexterity – 3Dexterity – 3
Stamina – 4Stamina – 4
Lethality – 5Lethality – 5
“Oh come on… Damn it!” I huffed and controlled my breathing. Starla rotated behind me and placed my hands together in my lap and kissed my cheek. “Thanks, but I am not a baby. I am calm… and a tad jealous. Congrats on the stats Astrid it is impressive.”
“Thank you! I am excited. Lots of training to do. Speaking of which Bexso found a match for you tomorrow if you want to take it. Why don’t you finish telling the story of your egg raising and then go into the event.”
Bexso nodded and sent me a link that I clicked on it. I reviewed it as she talked about the competition first.
“You get a spear gun and a laser sidearm. So ranged weapons in this one. You can find more weapons inside the arena. You get paid one hundred thousand for entry. Then after the host recovers operating cost contestants and host split the reminder. You could lose twenty thousand if you die with low placing so don’t make any big mistakes. We already ordered a clone for it when we decided to haul Braxton out here. It is a straight battle royale with no points or environmental monsters to battle. Oh, with a cheaper intro also. You are knocked out and placed on the ground. A death wall will close the circle and last contestant standing wins. Survival is the key here. You will get a map on your display but that is it. You are interested in going correct?” I nodded quickly. Eager to feel the rush of combat again. “Great. We will go after we clone Braxton. His wife is in great health and should last a few days for us to get her and clone her too.”
I liked the idea and was getting excited about the event. I tapped the table in excitement.
“Dragumi mating is different. We females host eggs and it is the most sacred thing we can do. It is the one time our mates will not hit us and may even say nice things. In a sense, we lay only one egg inside our uterus. A female will couple knowing the egg is there and it becomes fertilized easily. Then four months later the little egg is pushed out for another two years of gestation. We end up in large nests when hatched. Our parents forget about us and we cycle through school. We are selected for a role in our society and then go on to have our own children. I was selected for birthing but my mother shifted me to combat. Nepotism at its finest.”
I listened intently and checked the time. Twenty minutes left until we arrived. I went over to the food machine and ordered two green apple slushies. I gave one to mom as I plopped back into my seat.
“This body and the new one Astrid is getting will form a one of a kind egg. It may become fertile from a male dragumi or a male human… Let that sink in when you ravish your wife in her new body. She may not be able to find a fertility clinic willing to accept an unknown hybrid to incubate. That means an abortion or to carry the child to term. Which could be years without swapping a body out. We received your sleep pods at least. They are already set up in your shared room. You have three children born and growing so you can turn your inhibitor back on.” Bexso said and looked over to Lorie. The two sets of eyes connected and Bexso delightfully giggled.
Lorie covered her mouth and screamed an “Oh shit!”
What was Lorie swearing about? Astrid slapped the table and started roaring laughter. Starla reached over and held Lorie who tucked her head in shock. My mom joined the group hug. I was the last dummy left out and still very confused.
“When you shot sperm into your wife in an empty storage room you took a risk. You took a few risks recently actually. You should pull out when you are both fertile or better yet use protection. She was amped up on Fertilitnex to get enough eggs ready for Oont. There was plenty of leftover eggs she failed to discard. Do not play the blame game and go comfort her Mack. Congrats again I guess. I wasn’t happy you were having three already. Oh, come on… It is twins! Even I will be adding a sleeping pod.” Mila said in private mind chat giving me the answer I sought. I went over and gave her a hug. Inhibitor in the sleep pod tonight for sure.
The girls cried, and I kissed Lorie. Twins ran in the family and she just nodded in shock. I left them to work it out and cradle carried Braxton to the Purr. I wanted to be ready to shuttle down to the cloning facility the moment we dropped out slipspace and into orbit. The old man snored softly. My request for direct landing at the facility was approved with a fee that would have
equated to the cost of parking and taking a shuttle taxi. Got to keep that economy going. It was worth it though to avoid the added time. The old man may die while holding him.
I spent an hour in the waiting room while Braxton struggled to stay alive while his brain was scanned out of his body. The first I did was ensure the Emperor only brought him and his two wives here for mindmelds. Didn’t need my tab being ran up. It was confirmed that only the three of them were ready for close. Bored I decided to studied the news about me and found it mostly negative. I was the big bad businessman strip mining planets. My proposals for new factories on Narshak would add fourteen percent pollution. No talk on the tens of thousands of jobs or that I could scrub the air after. It went on and on. The media was on a spree of anti Emperor and anti Mack reporting. Screw them. I knew I was doing the right thing. Perception from conspiracy slingers was irrelevant. It did still irk me though.
The mindmeld completed and the drugs pouring through his veins were pissed out. Moments later he died. Awe… He shat himself in death. The smell got to me and I took my leave. I paced the lobby anticipating the new Braxton to appear and did not have to wait long. The young man was chipper and all smiles. He was short only one hundred and thirty centimeters. I never saw him design his body, probably was his wife’s creation.
