After spending some time with Perri’s family it was time to leave and return to Alkarr. As we were landing I noticed Minty and Emily on a platform next to our cargo freighter. Working together they were painting on the new Albion Princess.
As we exited the shuttle they waved at us, “I just shouted be careful you two that is quite high where you are.’’ They both indicated they had safety harness on, which made me feel more confident.
Perri along with our daughters and I returned to our residence. I was about to find out what Alenna wanted. First I went to see Lumi and the twins. Finding half the adults with her I decided to go and sit in the garden for a while. Being alone in the garden made me feel slightly uneasy. For some unknown reason or other I was having strange scenarios of being hijacked running through my head. It was probably down to that chance encounter with Emily. I heard a voice behind me which made me jump at first. I turned round quickly. What a relief it was only Alenna; she had come for that conversation with me.
Alenna giggling said, “Did I startle you Jake? You should have seen your face, you looked scared out of your wits.”
“Thanks Alenna, for sneaking up on me like that. I thought I was about to be hijacked,” I replied alarmingly.
Alenna now smirking replied, “Well you should know better by now why it is so important and the reason you are chaperoned. You just do not know who may be visiting our residence while we are her. Anyway I am here now so you’re safe. I wanted to talk to you about our old cargo ship and what we should do with it. I have come up with the only two option;, one we could lease it and two we can sell it. What are your thoughts on this?”
“That’s simple, let’s lease it,” I replied in a flash.
Alenna a little surprised said, “Oh I thought I would have to convince you to do either. I expected some humming and hawing from you. Why do you wish to lease it rather than sell it?”
I answered, “Look at it this way Alenna. If we sell the ship it will be gone forever. If we lease it that is different story. What if other family members decide to go into the cargo transport business, there is the opportunity for them to obtain the use of a cargo ship without that large outlay of purchasing one. The only thing you should consider in making a contract, is to make them reasonably short so we can take stock of our old ship if needed. Another important thing, don’t get into the situation of another wife coming to the family. We don’t need any more.”
Alenna replied looking straight at me in a satisfied way, “Makes sense; you are good at business ideas. Just don’t try doing business by yourself with any planet other than Earth.”
At this point I handed her the details about the plasma cannon that Lidier had obtained, telling her about what I had said about price.
Alenna now looking stern commented, “See what I mean, you almost go too far, but I understand as Lidier is relative, you may find you do not know your limits in how far to negotiate with her. If you’re not sure ask me first!”
Now looking stern myself I replied, “Alenna, I don’t believe I went too far. I needed to find out the price and as Lidier had no idea of what the going rate was when dealing with Earth I felt it was my duty to inform her so she could get a fair deal over the transaction.”
Alenna acknowledged I had done right saying, “Ok, fair point.’’
I needed to do a final check of our old cargo ship. There were many small lockers and storage rooms in obscure places. I asked Perri and Luka to accompany me during this search. We found boxes of forgotten items children’s toys etc. in various places along with those two scrubbers we had obtained that time from Alto. Lara never did find out what we should do with them. Anyway I had stored them in a space in a service corridor under the living quarters and had simply forgotten about them. I would transfer them to the new cargo freighter, you just don’t know if they will ever be required again in the future.
Emily and Jenna’s mothers were both navigators. Emily like Jenna had been given navigator training from her mother so now we had two fully trained navigators and one trainee in the guise of my daughter Jett. Jenna up to now had the full responsibly of getting us to our destinations so she was now relieved that she could now share this duty with Emily. Perri, Luka and I loaded up a hover lift with all the items we had found and after one last reccy of our old ship we were ready to say a final goodbye to the Alkarren Princess as it was very unlikely that we will be personally using that cargo ship again. The ship held a lot of memories of good times and those not so and I had a tear in my eye as we left. I think all the family were in some way sad to say goodbye to the Alkarren Princess; it had been our home for many years. We made our way over to the Albion Princess. Emily and Minty were just putting their final touches to the new mural on the ship.
I shouted up to them, “Great job you two, I love what you have both done. You’re great artists the pair of you.”
Minty shouted back, “Thank you, Emily and I just loved doing the mural of the Albion Princess.” Minty looked around to make sure that there was no other crew from other house listening to us before softly shouting down to us, “Sorry we did not give her a tail as well… it may have been considered pornographic by other Alkarrens. We just could not take the risk.’’ After loading the items we had recovered onto the new ship we returned to our Residence. While watching the news it was announced that the alliance had made a successful contact with Tazanter, the people of this world had not been that shocked at all by the alliance making contact with them. It turned out that they had ancient text inscribed on some ancient monument dating back eons that talked about others of their kind spread around our galaxy and a map that gave some indication to where they were. Also scribed on the monument were details of the six tribes each belonging to a different caste of an alien race known as the Owick who had used these tribes as a semi slave workforce in building their empire. One day the Owick just left. No-one knows why or where they went, only they have never returned.
“Wow!’’ I said excitedly, “three more planets out there somewhere with beings similar to us. I wonder how far away they are? I hope that all three are still populated with human like inhabitants.’’
Alenna commented, “Fine, if they are like ours, but not so good if they have turned into a war like-race or resemble the worst of Earth.’’
There were only two things that seemed to shock the Tazsak when told. The first was that when they were first informed about other races that make up the alliance and how different they were. Although they knew of the Owick, as to what they had looked like had disappeared over time. They were even more shocked when they were informed about Earth. They just could not comprehend that the birth of males was just as common as females. As for being told about the fact that human males from Earth tended to be more dominant than the females, they were in total disbelief. In fact there was a sense of denial among their people that this could be true in anyway. The Tazsak had agreed to join the alliance and trade negations were ongoing. We would be continuing with our final deliveries of the defence frigates in the morning. I spent the afternoon filling in a form giving details about the plasma cannon. Although the cannon could be concluded as scrap it was still to be considered as military hardware, so permission still needed to be sorted to purchase these for Earth. This time I had decided to send the application to Earth’s ambassador Erika for presentation to the alliance council for approval. I could see no reason why this would not be approved but I would have to wait and see anyway. Later in the day the family were making the most of their last evening on Alkarr. Most had gone to see their mothers and family. I spent the evening with Perri and Luka along with our daughters, Isabell, Honey, Melanie and Amy as their mothers and grandparents lived too far away for them to visit for just an evening, and Yarkeli was alone so we also invited her to accompany us. We went to the local café where we di
ned along with being entertained by musicians and singers. The next morning dawned and Lara left early to go to her office in the city. The rest of us had an early breakfast before Perri, Luka and Emily were sent ahead with provisions for our journey. We planned to leave around mid-morning. It was almost time to leave. All the children accompanied by Minty, Sabrina, Rachael, Yarkeli and not forgetting Lumi and the twins had just departed our residence to make their way towards the port. Just Alenna, Jenna and I were left behind to do a final check of our residence before leaving, when we had a call from Lara.
Lara saying to Alenna, “Oh I am glad I have caught you before you left, I have just been given the responsibly of arranging a trade delegation to go to Earth. I wondered if you were interested in arranging things at the Earth end and to transport the party there and back. The fee for doing this is thirty thousand credits, are you interested?’’
Alenna reply’s to her, “When and how long for?”
Lara gives Alenna the details, “They wish to go to Earth within the next two months. The plan is for a three day exhibition and they also only need three days’ notice of when they should be ready to leave Alkarr. You will need to advertise the venue on Earth for a few weeks in advance. The party consists of fifteen Alkarrens, three Lusianians and two Dregg and they are willing to share cabins. The only problem is that a number of the Alkarrens are unmarried so arrangements must be in place so they are not left alone with human males. Subject to this condition they are willing to discuss trade and business with human males.
Alenna thought for a moment before replying to Lara, “I will be able to fit them in as we will be going to Earth at least a further three times within the next two months, to transport cargo. Ok, you can send me the full details. I will then arrange everything at the Earth end and let you know on our next return to Alkarr in approximately three weeks’ time.”
Lara sent the details before saying, “I almost forgot to inform you, all the Lusianians and the Dregg can speak Zeln but all will require a translator to converse in English. Anyway have a safe journey, bye.” Lara ends the communication.
Alenna, Jenna and I left the residence and on our way to the port Alenna remarked to me, “Polish up on your Zeln Jake as you will need to assist the two Dregg in translation to English.”
Not comfortable with that situation I said to Alenna, “Thanks a lot for that. I get to translate for the Dregg! I find it hard enough to converse in Zeln but giving me the Dregg as well. You know how difficult it is to understand the way they pronounce their words. Could I not help out with the Lusianians instead?’’
Alenna thought for a moment, then replied to me, “I will be giving Yarkeli that assignment, but on the other hand you can assist her. You are right about the way they pronounce their words, it is best I give that assignment to Jenna.”
I replied to Alenna in a cheerful manner, “Thanks, Yarkeli may have had a problem converting Lusianian to English and remember, I can speak only limited Lusianian. Though we can both speak good Alkarren so if there is a problem Yarkeli could translate from Lusianian to Alkarren and I could translate Alkarren to English or vice versa and bypass the Zeln. As neither of us are that confident speaking Zeln.”
When we reached the port, I pointed out and remarked to Alenna and Jenna at how good Emily and Minty had painted the mural of the Albion Princess, they stood and admired it for a few moments before agreeing that they had both done a splendid job indeed. Time to board the ship. All the family were awaiting our arrival so we could get underway. The ship being so large it had become essential that you could locate any child’s whereabouts if necessary. All the children from age four have an arm communicator. From the bridge we had the option of scanning to locate where each lifeform on board is located. Up to now that did not say who was at a particular location. I had a talk with Alenna and it was considered essential now that every communicator could be tracked by its individual owner. As communicators are personal, all the adults were present as I programmed theirs. I had to give each its unique individual occupant’s signature so now I could for instance detect where for example, Minty was located. More importantly where any of the children were. Those below four were the responsibility of whoever was on nursery duty. We arrived at Lusiana and picked up two more frigates. While we were on Lusiana Yarkeli checked to see if any messages had been left by Pooky. There was. Pooky had started doing a diary of her daily life. When Pooky got the chance she would send what she had written to the personal information grid. Yarkeli had received two weeks of information of what her daughter had been doing, Yarkeli was over the moon with Pooky for doing this for her. Yarkeli at once decided to do the same for Pooky. Yarkeli started her own daily diary. I do miss Pooky a lot and after all she is considered family. We left Lusiana and were soon on our way to Earth. One day I was in the galley with all the family with the exception of Lumi who now had to resume her duties and was on bridge duty. I was in the corner of the galley with each of the twins, I had one in each arm. I had managed to rock both to sleep. Up to now they had been crying. The wives were looking at me and talking between themselves.
Minty said to me, “I been married to you for more than a thirteen years and you still surprise me. I still cannot get over how you are so different from Alkarren men. How do you do it?”
“Do what?” I replied.
Minty now said, “Do what is expected from an Alkarren mother, not a father!”
I looked up to reply to Minty, “I don’t know what you mean? If it’s the way I interact with my children, why shouldn’t I comfort any of my children, I always have. Why do you mention this now?”
“Sorry,’’ replied Minty, “it is probably because you have twins and boys at that, anyway I can’t remember my father ever rocking Tyrone the same way.’’
“Minty,’’ I replied, “you do need to read more about human behaviour. Human men are well… let’s say, programmed in their DNA to protect their family. Don’t take this wrong but having sons is something almost every man wishes for. I love my daughters just as much. It is impossible for me to love any one of my children more than another so don’t ask if I prefer to have sons because I don’t think that way.’’ All the wives were not missing this opportunity to take snap shots of me holding the twins. They would without doubt be sending them to their mothers later and did I care? No of course not.
The cargo deliveries were now let’s say, less tedious. I managed to get the opportunity of altering the setting on the hologram room. A number of adults along with myself went for a two hour hike on Mazer. It was so life-like. We followed a path which twisted and turned. You would see the odd bird or mammal and the scent from flowers was amazing. It had not been that obvious before on the beach setting, though come to think of it, you could smell the sea. The Relnorians had thought of almost everything in programming various different planets. We had arrived at Earth. At once we unloaded the frigates and had soon concluded delivery. I now had a lot of arrangements to organise. First I contacted the Prime Minister and informed him about both the plasma cannon and the trade delegation. I had to get five countries to each purchase one cannon apiece; not only that they needed to be spread out on the planet. Five were not going to be enough. There will be holes in coverage and they could not hope to offer full coverage of Earth with just five cannon. I explained to the Prime Minister that although they are more advanced than any weapon Earth possessed ,they were old and had not been used for many a year. I then informed him about the catch, that I was awaiting permission to be given the go-ahead to sell these to Earth. They were complete with the main cannon and the plasma generator along with the transfer coil conduits. It would have to be up to the purchaser to assemble them. I also gave details of what nations should be given a chance to own one. The UK, USA, Russia, China and Australia. I also recommended where they should be positioned for best coverage. I finall
y mentioned to him that I could get hold of a military hardware brochure that listed the most advance new equipment available, but I doubted if I would receive permission to supply Earth with anything shown in it, not yet anyway. As for the conditions of the alliance membership, this included trade delegation so I did not have to get approval to set up a trade fair. I just needed to book a venue. I also had to work out when we were going to be at this new civilian cargo port. Right, I would arrange it for the first delivery from the Alkarren moon to Earth of those public transport shuttles. This was due to take place after we delivered the final two frigates. Five days to return to Lusiana then another five days for the last trip to Earth from Lusiana and then from Earth back to Alkarr. That would be another six days. We had to give three days’ notice on arrival back at Alkarr. During this period we can have some time off. I would of course be taking Perri to the moon, while I was there, I would take that opportunity to pick up as many as possible of those public transport shuttles to save time. Then there were a further six days to travel back to Earth again. I would allow two extra days in case we were delayed at any time. So the venue needed to be booked for the three days, twenty seven days from now. Rachael was left to find a place in London and soon she confirmed that she had found a place. The venue operators were thrilled at the prospect of hosting this prestigious occasion, the first alien trade fair to be held on Earth. Alenna advertised this trade fair on our website at the same time letting the press know the details. As it was Earth and it was also the first ever alien trade delegation to be held there, I needed to book some security. We were not too sure who might be attending and it would be prudent to be able to keep peace and order just in case, though I suspected that there would be a police presence anyway. We would have a chance to answer any questions when we returned with those last frigates in around ten days’ time.
The last delivery of the frigates went without a hitch. There were considerable enquires about the venue. I was not sure if the venue was going to be big enough to hold those that indicated that they wished to attend over the three day period. We had to find an event organiser to take bookings. We knew how many could be accommodated each day, so that was a help. Rachael spent some time on a phone and at last found a company that was experienced at organising such events. We could now relax in the knowledge that the bookings could be professionally organised. All enquires were now directed towards this company from our web site. Alenna’s first call of action on return to Alkarr was to notify the trade delegation that they had three days to get ready. Now that Alenna had her final consignment of gold she still intended to give half of the total that we had earnt from selling those frigates to Earth to the House of Tartan. This gold or the credits it will have been converted to, is intended to be compensation for the time our rescued Alkarren friends had spent during their captivity on Earth. When we finally arrived at Alkarr Alenna made arrangements to visit the House of Tartan. She would be going to see the prime of this house later in the day. All the other wives had as usual made their way with the children to see their mothers and family. I on the other hand had to do my usual trip to the moon, only this time I took the cargo freighter. I had the pleasure of the company of Yarkeli as well as Perri and the daughters which I was thankful for. Anyway I do not like to see Yarkeli left on her own now that Pooky has joined the defence league. As I was only going to the moon I did not need a navigator. Actually I could fly the ship by myself. It would be very lonely though, but in reality of course I could not be left alone to do so. Perri and Yarkeli were a great help in loading the public transport shuttles and after we had finished loading it was time to spend the day with Perri’s family. Perri never lets me out of her sight, which is comforting as she has unmarried sisters. It was quite late when we left to return to Alkarr and finally arrived home during the night. So as to not wake any of the other children we crept silently in.
Chronicles of Jake 2: The Invasion Begins Page 13
