Return to Earth: Mike Stedman: Book 3

by D. R. Rosier

  Then she deflected, “What about you Chrystal? Don’t you want his baby?”

  Chrystal looked shocked at the idea, for a moment.

  “Maybe? We could do what Ted and his A.I.s did, and create a virtual mind based on what his and my DNA would be if we had any that is, and mixed together.”

  Nadia tilted her head, “You could do that. But if you can design sperm, surely you could make an egg with all your attributes. Hell, you could do both.”

  Chrystal pondered that for a moment, “I don’t know if we could make an artificial womb. It’s never been done, at least not yet. Too many immunities passed on from the mother would be lost without a natural birth.”

  Nadia smiled, “I’d be honored to carry your baby, after I have mine. It’s a mature technology, and I love you very much.”

  It was Chrystal’s turn to be choked up, and he wasn’t sure if he should be happy, or amused as they started kissing passionately, and extremely sloppily. They were both crying.

  His mind was spinning a bit, four mates, that was a lot of babies. At least eight, and possibly more than that. Of course, his family was pretty damned big too, so it wouldn’t be anything new to him, but it was overwhelming. Then again, they’d be spread out quite a bit if he had sixty years to wait on Alyndra, and a hundred to two hundred to wait on Dahlia. Still, he was going to be a father, very soon…

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  They dropped out of subspace three light minutes from the planet. The Canosian Carrier was near the planet, and they’d launched all their ships, which were in a defensive pattern around the mother ship. They were all on the bridge, including Xia and Xylla. He’d just finished doing a full backup, and offline time, arranging it for their arrival there.

  He opened his mouth to order a connection opened, but got interrupted.

  Chrystal said, “Incoming transmission, it’s in the same format as the battle plans were.”

  They brought up a hologram of the planet. On one side was the Canosian Carrier and fighters exactly as it really was right now. On the direct opposite side of the planet was his ship. Down on the planet, a quarter way around the globe and halfway between ships, was one Canosian fighter and one shuttle.

  He said, “Looks good to me, Princess?”

  Xia rolled her eyes, “Call me Xia when we aren’t in public, would you?”

  “Of course.”

  Xia smiled, “Yes, it looks perfect, let’s make orbit.”

  He said, “Chrystal, if you would. Xylla and I should head down to the shuttle.”

  He kissed each of his mates, more worried about Xylla getting back than about himself. He hoped his mistrust was unfounded, but he’d much rather go alone. Of course, that was impossible, the Xaran needed to lead in this situation, he was just support in case stomping needed to be done.

  Xylla patted his arm, and then they went down to the shuttle and waited for orders to launch from the princess.

  “Does my flirting really bother you? Because I don’t think I can help myself. But I promise I won’t try to go further.”

  He was uncomfortable, even with this conversation. But he liked her anyway, just usually with a few light years between them the talk was far more comfortable.

  “I can deal. Just remember, if anything goes wrong you run, and I’ll cover your escape the best I can.”

  She smiled at him coquettishly, “My hero.”

  He snorted, and couldn’t wait for her to change back to a blob.

  Xylla sighed, “Suppose, I became an amalgam of your mates, instead of your mothers.”

  That… was far more tempting than he’d ever admit. At least in concept, if not reality. Still, not a chance.

  “It would still be you Xylla, the form is just one road block, I’d still technically be sharing you, the being Xylla, with my own father. That’s just not going to happen. Plus, my mates and I have an exclusive relationship, we’d need their permission which they wouldn’t give for a simple fling, only for another potential commitment. But still, even if they gave it,” he shook his head.

  He tried not to visibly shudder at the idea of sharing a woman with his own father.

  “Why are you so persistent?” he asked, “Usually a no on sharing pleasure is enough.”

  She shrugged, and blushed, “You’re right, I’m sorry Mike. You just… look so much like your father, and like him you collect mates who are beautiful, powerful, and intelligent women in their own right. I’m just… curious. Maybe I should just return to my own form, it would be simpler for both of us. Your mates all said no as well by the way, while you were working, and for much the same reasons.”

  Chrystal sent to the shuttle out loud, “They’re launching a fighter. Xia said to go now.”

  Xylla turned into a blob of shapeless flesh as he flew the shuttle out of the hangar. They were taking one of his, instead of the Xaran shuttle. He felt a bit tense as they entered the atmosphere and flew to the coordinates, but nothing happened, or at least, nothing untoward from the Canosians, or Xylla for that matter.

  The world seemed strangely empty, but there was oxygen because there was still plenty of flora. Just no large animals. He caught sight of a few birds, and his scanners picked up very small mammals, the largest of which were squirrel sized, and of course, insects.

  They landed about a hundred feet from the fighter, and shut down the shuttle. He half expected to be vaporized or crushed by gravity at that point, but nothing happened. Maybe he was being too pessimistic? Perhaps, but they had betrayed him once already.

  They got out, and slowly walked until they were in the middle, the Canosians did the same. He immediately recognized Vice Admiral Shirnax, and Captain Shirilla. If there was a betrayal coming, it would be deeper if those two were taking the chance to meet them. They Canosians both had their eyes on Xylla in her natural form, and virtually ignored him. He couldn’t blame them for that.

  Xylla said, “It is good to be here, may I know you? I must touch.”

  Shirilla looked… he had no idea. Her wings were slightly away from her body, and of course her face looked like a hawk and couldn’t change expression. Maybe wary, as if ready to fly off? He didn’t want to misjudge their stance though, since birds on Earth were probably not the most reliable thing to use as a baseline.

  Shirilla stepped forward, obviously taking the risk for the general. The Canosian captain froze as Xylla extended a pseudopod, and touched her, before moving back.

  Then she transformed, into an exact copy of Shirilla.

  Xylla said, “Please don’t be alarmed, I may appear like you, but I do not have your knowledge or memories. I am also suppressing the urge to lift my wings and display dominance over you. Your species is aggressive, but no more so than many other predator species that are already a part of the Xaran Empire. I would be happy to hear your proposal and speak with the heir’s authority.”

  He didn’t know what to say about that, but he was pleasantly surprised. The Canosians clearly had the instincts and proclivities to betray them again, but they also had the ability to suppress those and become an ally. Only problem was, would it be the former or latter on that day?

  Shirnax said, “We would like to pursue the possibility of a treaty on many levels, from trade, to mutual defense. If of course, we can figure out how to trust each other.”

  He said, “To that end, I will now keep my promise. We’ll transmit that database to you now. If you like, we could pause for a time, so you could return to your fighter and read over the data? We’ve included social, cultural, and even trade data for the various planets in the Empire, as well as our interstellar laws.”

  The warbling screech that came from his beak was disturbing, but the translation indicated complete agreement. He and Xylla returned to the shuttle as they went to their fighter. Xylla transformed back into a blob of flesh, and her translator spoke in English.

  “That was hard, I kept resisting tearing you apart. You smelled like prey. I could also tell by their stance they
had no problem at all suppressing that instinctive reaction. Most likely from social or cultural norms and teachings. I much prefer you in my human form.”

  He snorted, “Good to know. So what do you think, now that you know them.”

  She was silent for a minute, long enough that he wondered if she would answer him.

  “My conclusion is that it’s up in the air, and could go either way. There is nothing in their genetic makeup that would instinctively prevent such an arrangement. The question now is what their cultural norms are this way.”

  He nodded.

  “We seem to be making good progress.”

  Xylla said, “Agreed. It will be an uphill battle though, and I’m not sure about the mutual defense part. Something tells me they already need the help, otherwise they wouldn’t risk this at all. Either that, or they’re betraying us.”

  He wondered about that for a second. He supposed it was possible, but the second option could be possible too. With the Kascorix gone, the Xaran empire would make a handy next threat for the Canosians. Still, he tried to keep an open mind, he’d regret it if they were willing to be an ally and he screwed it up. Especially after that speech he gave in the Senate.

  Then they waited, and waited some more, it was a large database.

  Chrystal sent through the shuttle systems, “A cloaked vessel just entered the solar system, same kind of anti-mass field that we and the Vun-Turuhm use based on the surrounding space. It is also very large, about forty miles long, ten miles wide, and a mile high.”

  He sighed, that was much larger than any of the Canosian Carriers. About twice the dimensions, but many times the cubic footage. Was it a Canosian mega-carrier? Or… he didn’t know.

  “Thanks for the update love, we’ll ask about it when we rejoin, and be ready to activate the shields if they enter weapons range.”

  Chrystal said, “Will do, right now they’re holding at twenty-five light seconds. I got my finger on the figurative button, their weapons range may not be the same as ours.”

  He replied, “Good point, got to go, they’re coming back from the fighter.”

  They got out, and once again approached them, this time Xylla simply formed her blob in a rough analogue of the Canosian form. Probably a good idea, she’d be able to think more clearly that way.

  Shirnax said without preamble, “I am both encouraged and disturbed that so many disparate races are joined. Disturbed because it seems to be doomed to failure. Encouraged, because it has lasted for thousands of years, and if you welcome such diverse species chances are you could come to welcome us at least as allies.”

  Xylla said, “I am glad to hear that. I am also concerned. Why is there a cloaked ship in this system, a very large one it seems.”

  Shirilla squawked in alarm, but Shirnax froze, obviously fighting not to do the same.

  Shirilla asked Shirnax, “Could the Sarians have followed us here?”

  Shirnax said, “I have not told you the whole truth about the attack against you over the Kascorix world. It was not just greed and fear. Or at least, it was not as I implied, fear of you. Virnix had hoped to be a hero of our people, when he brought home the capability to finally destroy our enemies in our home galaxy. This is also one of the reasons we are now trying trade, or even a mutual defense agreement which we will follow to the letter, even after, or rather if, our enemy is vanquished.

  “Shirilla, send them the data on the Sarians. Don’t edit it.”

  Shirilla asked, “Do you trust them that much?”

  Shirnax’s wings drooped, “Do we have a choice? I believe I do trust them, but we must take the chance. Hopefully desperation is not making me as foolish as my predecessor.”

  His eyes narrowed in thought, how the hell had Xylla known? They do already have an enemy, one they can’t beat. Seen through those eyes, he could understand why they’d been desperate to steal his technology. He’d never condone it of course, but he could understand it.

  The data file came in. He started to study it, and had no doubt Xylla was doing the same. It was a lot of data, but his digitized mind took it all in very quickly.

  The Canosians and Sarians had been at war for almost a hundred years, and both races originated in M33, or Triangulum. The galaxy was very close, relatively, and only about five hundred thousand light years further from the Milky way than Andromeda was. The Canosians had built an empire that ranged almost forty percent of their galaxy before they ran into the Sarians.

  They didn’t have other races in the Canosian Empire, but they also didn’t destroy every race in their space, only the ones that attacked them first. He still found genocide disturbing, but at least it was in defense. He’d prefer to take less drastic action, like with the Kascorix. Simply quarantine them to the planets. Still, the Canosians instincts rebelled against the idea of containment that much, that they seemed to prefer death, and would think his way was immoral. He’d seen that clearly with the Kascorix.

  The Sarians on the other hand, conquered and enslaved everyone. For those races that fought back too hard, they would be annihilated. The Sarian empire seemed to cover the rest of the galaxy, and the Canosians had slowly lost ground over a hundred years. They’d lost thousands of systems, and now their empire encompassed just thirty percent of their own galaxy.

  They were desperate, and he really wanted to help. But… he still wasn’t sure if he could trust them. What happened when they helped the Canosians with the Sarians? He sure as hell wasn’t sharing his latest technology, and probably not the L2 stuff either.

  On the other hand, if the Sarians were that bad, and they’d have to face them sooner or later, better when they were still trying to tame their own galaxy, and before they moved out of it. The races the Sarians conquered were used for labor, including merchant ships which would bring food and other spoils to their main worlds.

  The Sarian ship data was there. The large ships carried landing craft, and troops. Enough to overwhelm a developed and advanced world. Their armaments in space were the familiar subspace shields which barely qualified for level two travel, same as the Canosians. There was more though, they used missiles.

  He’d disregarded that as a waste, and it was, but the reason it was effective was twofold. Just like the Kascorix who had overloaded their emitters in level two, the missiles perform similarly with an emitter on the front of them, trying to break through the shield before detonation. The second reason was they could launch thousands of them at a time.

  The top of their ships were forty miles by ten miles, which was four hundred square miles of area filled with missile launchers. Besides the overload emitter, they were surrounded by a more stable subspace shield, and were basically a gravity drive, a payload, and a sensor suite. The missiles themselves were about eight feet long, and four feet wide in diameter.

  When they met in battle, the missiles fired usually outnumbered the amount of Canosian fighters very quickly, so it took up to three carriers to ensure a victory over just one Sarian ship. The trouble was, the Sarians cloaking ensured they never faced those odds, and the Canosians found themselves being picked off.

  With stronger level two subspace tech the odds would change drastically against those missiles. As for level three, well the Sarian missiles wouldn’t even have a chance, no matter how far the field overloaded before breaching its containment. Which just once again outlined the desperation of the Canosians betrayal to secure the technology.

  Xylla must have absorbed the data just as quickly, he knew the Xaran’s were very good at that.

  Xylla said, “We will not share our technology, however we will ally with you under a mutual defense agreement.”

  Then she shocked him, by sharing their coordinates and origin galaxy to return things to an even exchange of information. He had no choice but to trust her, he knew she’d have a better handle on the species than he did, or ever could.

  Shirnax replied, “We must return to our ships before the Sarians attack. We will hold them long enough for y
ou to escape and bring word to your leadership.”

  Xylla said, “I agree to the first. As far as the second my leadership is already in orbit of this world. We will fight with you, and then if you agree Princess Xia and I will join your ship and accompany you home, where she and your leader can work out a treaty.”

  He frowned not happy with the idea of letting the two Xaran leave without him. He trusted Xylla’s judgement, and he even understood the Canosians more, but he was still wary. They were a desperate people, the Canosians.

  “And what will I be doing?” he asked.

  Xylla said, “You will build more ships in anticipation of the signing, or in case of a betrayal, and then do what is appropriate. If you agree to help, you will also need to secure pilots.”

  Shirilla ruffled her feathers, but Shirnax managed to stand still again.

  Wow, he was impressed, an olive branch to help them vanquish their enemies, and a death threat all in one sentence.

  Huh, so much for vacation. How could he say no, when he knew helping was the right thing to do? Xylla didn’t even know about his newest breakthrough yet.

  “Of course I will help.”

  Huh, now he had to explain that to his mates, but he truly didn’t think they’d mind. The job seemed bigger than their fight with the Kascorix, but with level three subspace they could move between star systems in seconds within a galaxy, and clear the space in minutes. He wondered if that would terrify the Canosians. Hell, he wondered if that would terrify the Xarans…

  Chapter Thirty

  They moved fast, but the Sarians dropped their cloak and fired missiles when they were just about halfway to the ship. They couldn’t fire while cloaked, the anti-mass field would disrupt their electronics as the missiles passed through otherwise. Still, at twenty-five light seconds away, with the missiles moving about half the speed of light, that left them fifty seconds to get back to the ship.

  They only needed eighteen. As soon as he landed in the bay he spoke.