Astra Pt. 03

Gloria hugged Jack and Grace smiled, "I do not speak Japanese."

She smiled, "He is a charmer. I like him, James Edward. I do not use those words on engineers outside of the family often. He reminds me of Francine in some ways. That was very nice of you to get a patent on her engine design."

Jack nodded, "It was a 2.5x engine design that has the potential to compete with mine in time. It took over another 100 years to get to a 3x design because of GS. They never used hers, they buried it in a vault to keep it out of the market. She gets to innovate on both designs. Then no advancement in those areas for over 400 years at one point, until they were destroyed with Tera's destruction. Astra, what was the fastest speed drive in your era?"

Astra sighed, "When war hit innovation tried and floundered a lot. By the end of humanity, a 6x drive had been created and existed on a handful of ships. The research was being done at that point by a lot of AI systems as Tera had been destroyed. They went from 3x to 6x over a hundred years of war. 5x and 6x ships could only be used by AI crewed ships.

The ID systems were not powerful enough for humans. This is why I was shocked at what Jack created that matched no other design schematics in my repository. Yet it hit 5x speed during testing. Then he built an ID system to make it work for humans without EVA compression suits even. We had a lot of recalibrations to do after that."

Francine walked up and hugged him, "Thank you for that surprise. I will have to look it over."

Jack nodded, "There are 147 other patents under that for various components. Also, in your name but the engine looked more impressive. We should get going. Two guards are going to be pissed that I got 2 swords past them because they look like a couple of girls' best friends."

Grace smiled, "He stuck them in my purse knowing that is what they would look like. How he got them in before."

Paul asked, "Are you serious about these opportunities?"

Jack nodded, "One requires married couples and you could be gone from home for 5 years or longer. The other is out there, but a lot closer to home. Things to think about. You have a lot to discuss with your father concerning these ideas. We both do. Also, your ladies."

Paul shook Jack's hand as they headed out. They walked up to the 2 guards who nodded, "Everything alright?"

The one guard nodded, "We heard they are swords but they are special. I don't know how a sword can be special."

Jack smiled, "Would you like to see it?" He smiled and the guard who was pissed earlier stood there with a disposable cup in his hand while drinking coffee. He looked at Jack, "I would like to know how they are special."

Jack nodded, "Close to being done with your coffee?" He nodded, "Just a second. Jack activated the swords, "Just the paper cup." The man brought it down when Jack swung both swords. He destroyed the bottom of it with one blade. He turned them off, "You managed to destroy the bottom of the cup. That is what is impressive?"

His buddy stood there, "Watch the security feed. That one, that went through the cup slices through your chest, and the other he sliced through your neck."

Jack nodded, "I can get them to avoid everything except my target if I wished. If someone had the President from behind and brandished a gun. I could summon the blade and cut the man from groin to skull and never hurt the President.

I must deliberately tell it to pass through everything but the target. In the Capitol, that is all I have done is give demonstrations. I do not want him hurt, he is a good man who is doing the best he can until the special elections and then he will have Congress to deal with again."

The one guard rubbed his neck. "Astra, play them the video of the swordfight." They watched the projection on the wall. "This is what I am working to avoid. Making them an ally for all of humanity, if you will, instead of an enemy that destroys us. They have a way about them. They gave us all this biotechnology and they asked for a meeting with just the hybrids in return. Nothing more than us embracing our nature, the sword, and visiting them. Humanity failed at this twice before.

Now we know what it takes. This is one of the many reasons the President trusts me enough to have my calls put straight through to him when I call. I call him when I have something to report; to give him a status update. He sometimes calls me because of an issue. Today he wanted to award me the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Then address questions from the contractors including yesterday's death in space and my financial windfall from all of the patents. Everything I am trying to do to save humanity from that destruction."

The guard nodded, "Nice trick then but how did you keep me from touching them?"

Jack smiled, "The same way the flotation worked. A telekinetic wall around them. In this case."

He nodded, "Just small things?"

Jack smiled and lifted both guards a meter off the ground and then brought them back down. Jack smiled, "Not just little things. Don't sell yourselves short."

Another guard, this one female, giggled at the exchange. She smiled at Jack, "I guess it is fun in the bedroom."

Jack laughed, "It is fun everywhere. Not just the bedroom."

Grace laughed at him as they went back to his ship and left that woman sexually frustrated. They boarded and contacted the tower, "Capitol Tower this is Merlin TPS-497042. Requesting permission to depart, a 90-degree up angle assent it requested at speed."

"This is Capitol Tower. We do not typically allow that maneuver."

Jack replied, "Check the last log entry for this craft's departure, Capitol Tower."

The tower responded, "90-degree departure denied. You are cleared to leave."

Jack took it up 30 meters and set an up angle of 45 degrees. "Tower, this is Merlin. If you're holding anything hot you might want to put it down." He launched right over the tower instead and then took it to 90 degrees 20 km out.

Grace looked back, "That tower guy is going to hate you."

They heard, "Merlin this is the Capitol tower. We should pull your license for that."

Jack shook his head, "This is Merlin, Capitol tower; you gave no flight path or bearing, just told me to leave but not at 90 degrees. You did not deny my request for moving at speed. I followed your directions perfectly and ensured my guns were never pointed at the Capitol Building. Replay your flight logs and speak with a senior controller. Add a note to your logs. There are only so many ways to leave your airspace with those requirements. I gave you the best option."

He heard laughter from someone on that channel. They were coming up on the bottom side of Tera-4. "Tera-4 tower this is Merlin TPS-497042. Requesting a glide path to Excalibur and what speed you want me running at?"

"Merlin, we do not see you. What direction are you approaching?"

Jack sighed, "Tower this is Merlin. We are directly 90 degrees down from your location and headed straight at you."

He heard, "Unidentified craft please cut your speed in half as you are approaching a Starbase."

Jack responded, "Unidentified craft you might want to identify the location of the unidentified craft so everyone here knows who you are talking about. This is MERLIN TPS-497042. I have been talking to the tower for some time and they have yet to give me any instruction, or a glide path to Excalibur. I am not unidentified and if there is another craft out there, they might want additional details. Requesting somebody in that tower give direction before my ship rips a hole through the station."

"This is a senior controller to Merlin. Cut to half power and turn to face the moon."

He complied and the tower came back "Merlin, we asked you to cut power."

Jack sighed, "Tower you said in half. This ship travels 5x faster than any ship operated by Tera. We are at 2.5. Did you wish for me to drop to 1/10th power?"

The operator at the Tower groaned, "Yes Merlin, drop to 1/10th power."

He dropped power and was interdicted by a pair of fighters. "Merlin we are seizing your craft."

Jack responded, "This is Merlin to the unidentified voice by whose authority do you attempt to seize my craft?"

He called over, "Merlin this is the fighter off of your right-wing Yankee-7763."

Jack called over, "This is Merlin. You still did not tell me by whose authority. Who is the fighter on my left-wing?"

He tried not to laugh, "This is Wildcard, Merlin."

Jack chuckled, "Wildcard, are you guys out trying to get all of your new pilots' call signs?"

He laughed, "We got a couple of gung-ho rookies wanting to make a name for themselves."

Merlin chuckled, "Yankee, you know you are talking with a flight instructor, correct?"

He yelled, "Merlin power down or I will fire upon you."

Jack sighed, "Yankee schools in session." He spun 90 degrees to face him, hit the tractor beam, and locked him up. He faced forward with him in front. "Wildcard, what can you tell me of this man?"

He laughed, "From the US Midwest. Kansas, I believe."

Jack called out, "Wildcard are you sure this is your wingman?"

Wildcard laughed, "Hard to be certain at this range." Jack pushed forward just a little and rose about 3 meters. "Yankee sounds like you are having a bad day. Yet I must ask you. Do you know what the last thing that goes through a bug's mind before it hits the windshield?"

He started screaming, "Release me, Merlin."

Jack called out, "Sorry, wrong answer." He swung over Wildcard so he was on the other side and inverted, narrowed the beam on the tractor beam, and took a 90-degree spin back to the right toward Wildcard as he switched to the other side of his fighter. He was now inverted facing the opposite direction, and about a meter from him; canopy-to-canopy. "Wildcard, now that he is close is this your wingman?"

Wildcard laughed, "Yes, that is my wingman."

Jack pulled him back 90 degrees, "Tower, have I cleared your area of responsibility this is Merlin." The tower operator called out, "You are outside our control Merlin." He laughed while saying it.

Jack smiled, "Returning to full speed." He took him out and then did a wingover 40 times. Leveled off, flipped it end over end, and inverted.

He spun him in the other direction and flew back after leveling off. "Wildcard this is Merlin. Your wingman seems to be stuck to my windshield. I tried shaking him off but he has not gone anywhere. You think if I stop this Bug might fly away?"

Wildcard laughed, "Yankee-7763 are you conscious."

He groaned. "Yes, I am conscious."

"This is Merlin to Bug. Did you puke your guts up like Death Blossom?"

He sighed out, "Fuck these assholes putting us on to the same target for this training exercise. Merlin this is Bug. I am ready to fly away."

Jack released his craft, "Bug you and Death Blossom get cleaned up. Meet me on the Excalibur and I will buy you both a drink. Ask Crazy Eights to show you the schooling I put onto Wildcard. The answer to the question. The last thing to go through a bug's mind when it hits a windshield is its ass."

He turned around, "Excalibur, Give me a glide path home."

Astra laughed, "Done teaching school? Glide path sent. The hanger door will be open."

He punched it and then slowed as he got into the hanger bay, rotated, and set it down nice and easy. He shut everything down.

Grace reached over and kissed him, "I figured out what you were doing. You were training them, even the guys at the tower. Training them to do better. Why?"

Jack looked at her, "Military coup while we were gone. How many of them are green and still wet behind the ears? Sounds like a lot of them. Giving no flight paths, and not following established protocol at the Capitol. It was worse than he stated while we were gone. Deck 7 and then the bridge, my office. We got a Presidential call to make."

Grace sighed, "I am getting worried about you. You have not eaten today."

He nodded, "I'll go to 7 and you go to 3 and find me some food, we will meet in my office and eat together."

She nodded and he went to the cargo bay to see 10 people melting bars into a pair of 'beam presses' with several already set aside. He looked across, "Everything working for you? Your thoughts on the alloy?"

Vincent looked over, "We are progressing nicely. Interesting alloy, heated and mixed, formed, and then quickly cooled in the vacuum of space. All to harden or cure it to finish the bonding after the beams are done. We built up several beams and then shaped them.

Then expose them to the cold of space. Never seen a harder metal. It takes a lot of heat to break that bond to reforge it. If you need to make repairs; it is possible but will take a lot of specialized equipment that we don't have yet."

Jack nodded, "Vincent, as long as the frame stays solid, the plate can be replaced if damaged. Then they can be recycled, put into molds, and reprocessed to recreate replacements. More work if the frame gets damaged. That is why the frame is 4 times as thick as the plating."

Jack looked around at the 7 members of the team there were women. They all looked to be sisters or something. Sprits was the smallest in stature by over 10 cm from the other ladies.

Jack asked, "7 sisters?"

Vincent smiled, "2 are twins and my wives. The other 5 are my daughters, a set of twins, and a set of triplets."

Jack nodded, "The 2 guys?"

He pointed out, "Jake is married to my daughter Emily her twin is Sprits, fraternal twins. She is 25 cm taller. Sprits was always much smaller. We worried she had dwarfism but the markers were not there. They said it was likely caused in the womb. Her sister got more of the nutrients than she did. Or a partial placenta separation. Sprits had always been the one we felt was the most fragile. She does not seem that way with you or your other ladies. She feels complete with you.

What she told her mother and me. Her sister is happy for her as she always felt 'guilty' about her sister's stature. It was nothing she could control in the womb. Fraternal twins but still twins. She told us she liked the ladies and was not set on finding a husband. Then you came into her life. Made her mother happy; made us all happy really that she found a good husband. The big strapping man is Harrold and he is married to all 3 of the triplets." Vincent shook his head. "Still trying to figure out how he handles 3?"

Jack laughed, "I have had very few issues and I am juggling 7 ladies."

He looked at Jack, "7 wives?!"

Jack shook his head, "3 are wives the other 4 are planning some elaborate wedding all of them are pregnant and work onboard. Carol, our Xenobiologist, is carrying 7 right now. Across those 7 women, I have 21 children coming and there are more."

Vincent looked over, "More?"

Jack nodded, "Sperm samples, 5,011 of them at last count."

Vincent shook his head, "That is a lot of children."

Jack nodded, "Yes, if they all took. Astra, what have we heard from mothers and children?"

Astra groaned, "I knew you would eventually ask. Over 85% success rate with approximately 2.51 children per implantation. The last count was 10,727 expecting babies plus your 21."

Vincent's wives overheard this and Tracy spoke, "Sister maybe we should pick up a couple of samples. What do you think, Vince?"

Vincent looked at Jack, "All I got was girls so I had a vasectomy and gave up."

Jack called out, "Astra, you got a couple of samples on hand?"

She laughed, "324 more after that last deposit. You want me to hook the 2 women up?"

They looked at each other and then at Vincent. Vincent nodded, "So long as you're not doing it yourself."

Jack walked over and hugged Vincent's first wife for a whole minute, Sprits's mother Stacy. Then the second wife for the same amount of time and she was named Tracy. Jack looked at them, "I have been implanted with a device that causes women to ovulate. Here within my stomach. By doing just that, you should be ovulating. Astra, give them 2 each and keep an eye on everything. Sprits can talk you through it."

Astra laughed, "You have 3 girls and 18 boys on the way. Carol's triplets are the girls. Odds are good they will have boys." They walked Vincent and his wives into the medical bay.

Jack looked at Astra "Hand me the 4 samples." She handed them over. He thought, "All boys and all twins or better." He handed them back to Astra. He hugged both ladies again.

Jack smiled, "Just to be sure. We will check a theory they have. If I can control the sex of the children. I also said twins or better. We will see." The ladies laughed as Jack left, "We will see. I was not joking."

He went to the bridge. He sat down and ate with Grace. He then hit the call for the President. The operator put him through and he smiled, "Calling so soon. Something up?"

Jack nodded, "Can you secure this call."

He nodded, "Alright. What is the problem?"

Jack looked at President Grendal. "That coup attempt was bad, wasn't it? I have been dealing with brand new fighter pilots and new flight controllers who do not know their jobs. How bad was it?"

President Grendal sighed, "Very bad. I had to replace 80% of our flight controller. We have pushed 3 classes of officers through a period that should have been 1. We are short on ships now and our fighter fleet is barely half. That was why delaying the T84 was painful."

Jack groaned. He looked up to see 2 pilots in flight jackets standing with Holly, "These 2 were supposed to meet you for a drink."

He waved them over, "Mr. President. Bug and Death Blossom. 2 of those new gung-ho fighter pilots I told you about."

President Grendal nodded, "Lieutenants." They both saluted. Jack looked back, "Your fighter squadrons are a joke. Who is building them?"

He looked over, "Who was building them. The same company as the Ravager, Yetto's Space Frames. They also designed the G12 assault craft. All work with them has been suspended and they are on the verge of losing those contracts."

Jack called out, "Astra, can you get Vincent to join me for a talk with the President in my office."

Astra smiled, "He is on his way to the bridge."

Jack looked over, "I have a shipbuilder on board building that scout ship of mine. If I could design you a heavy fighter, I could have him build up a couple of mockups while he is here. I could use them in my travels regardless but I got a pair of young pilots who got taken to school, I gave them their call signs. Wildcard and Crazy Eights both stuck the little go-getters after me. They found out quickly they were no match for a Tractor Beam."

President Grendal laughed, "I saw the tower tapes from your vertical launch. I can guess what you did with Death Blossom. What is the deal with Bug?"

Jack chuckled, "The man is from Kansas. I did about 40 wingovers in rapid succession. Then pulled a 180, repeated in the opposite direction all at 5x speeds. He took on 2 tornados in space. I had grabbed him from the side when he got mouthy with me. He was literally and figuratively the bug on my windshield. I made both sick. I invited them to the ship to get them a drink. Bug found out he was not in Kansas anymore."

President Grendal laughed his ass off. "Alright, I could see that."

Vincent showed and Jack looked at him, "If I did a mockup for a new fighter can you knock out a few of them?"

He nodded, "Sure will take a day or two, depending." Jack nodded, "I will pay you for your time on this. The follow-up question is if they flight-check alright, could you crank them out for the President? They only have about half the fighters they need and they are completely inadequate. I can draw out something in my sleep that is better. They will be traveling at 5x speeds and 2.5 in the atmosphere."

He sighed, "I would have to see what materials they want to use, how soon they want them, and then there is the per-unit cost." Jack looked, "How much were the current fighters per unit cost?"