Astra Pt. 03

He ran the numbers and he could even build the weapons out of what he had stockpiled. He just needed a shipyard to work on his plans. He looked at the time and went to the medical bay. He laid face down while Astra put in a new implant without the explosive core. She whispered, "It will be good to hear you all the time again. I have missed it."

Jack sighed, "I missed getting all the information with a question and nobody knew you were the power behind that discussion. You have been there for me Astra. I could not have done any of this without you. That is why I did not want you destroyed. I want you better protected even, like my wives."

She finished and thought to him, "I am here my Captain, my love. I love you for all you do. Even if you cannot fully grasp what that means to me. I loved you the moment I saw you. I understand it better than you think, just not as well as your wives do."

He rolled over, "Collect samples however you want. I am sleeping here for a while, my precious Astra."

Astra smiled and slid her vaginal opening over his cock and kissed him. She then rode him like the wind for hours to collect more samples. He just laid there with the sleep of the dead.

---

He awoke with 6 hours to go and Astra laid upon him. He rubbed her face. "I got work to do, lovely lady."

She smiled, "I got 346ml of semen to process for the market. That will take us to 5,011 samples sent out. When the courier arrives."

He thought out, "Over 5,000 mothers. Should I bring more metallic hydrogen?"

He heard back, "Bring what you need. We gave you a minimum but you can always bring more. You will be able to build them on your own after this so you have enough already for those you worked to create. Not all mothers will have swords or be hybrids most likely. The choice though is yours. You will have to find the right balance for your species. You were very clever in figuring out what you needed to make Metallic Hydrogen stable. You impressed us yet again."

He got up and cleaned up. He headed to the bridge. "Astra could you get Linda to send something to my office on the bridge. Before the wives say I am not eating again."

Astra sighed, "You have eaten 1.78 meals over the last month on average. You have lost weight. We all have a right to be concerned."

Jack asked, "Astra, Send a message to Holly. Would like to know when and where the wedding is occurring."

Jack got up on the bridge and smiled at Sarah, "About 5 hours out now?"

Sarah nodded, "Wives were looking for you. Said they found you in medical."

Jack nodded, "Needed to get Astra's comm back into my head. Too many people to deal with. She helps with all the 'behind the scenes research' that makes me look smarter than I am."

Sarah smiled, "You are pretty damn smart, without her help. But she does know everything it seems."

Jack laughed, "Yes, she does. I am calling your former boss to lay into him over his structural failures in his design."

Sarah smiled, "He deserves it. It was coming apart all over the place. We had gaps we could stick our arms through. Everyone looked at an EVA suit every time they thought about flying that thing. Even after you reenforced it. Makes me wonder if my husband died in vain testing those airframes."

Jack sat back in the captain's chair. He brought up the contact for Yetto's Space Frames and placed the call. It was answered by a receptionist or office worker. She spoke in Japanese off to someone at the side, "Jack Travus is on the screen with me."

Jack responded to her in Japanese, "I am aware. May I speak with Mr. Takii please."

She smiled and nodded. She sent him to the secretary who put Jack through, "Mr. Takii, We have a problem. You advertise your scouts to be able to go up to 10x normal speeds without a problem. I know that is not true because I had stress fractures, hull plating bucking, hull breaches, and many other issues. ALL documented. Right up until a Black-ops group destroyed it. I did not advertise where I was going and I wondered who at your facility placed a tracker aboard my Ravager ship?"

He looked at Jack, "You have proof someone from my company planted some kind of tracker on you?"

Jack smiled, "You and I both know that if I had definitive proof, my gunship would be parked over your facility until the culprit was neutralized. Based on their system we know they were tracking that ship! I know 8 of your Ravagers and one battleship came my way. 7 destroyed and 1 captured. The battleship was heavily damaged or destroyed. I did not stop to ask for further information or check for survivors. Admiral Archer is likely a frozen corpse now. We captured no prisoners.

I know I have all the video evidence and modeling data concerning your failed Ravager. Along with the steps I had to take with the captured one to finish my testing. Heavy reinforcement of the airframe. We did not do 10 times but we did go 5 times faster. I am scheduled to have an interview in about 8 hours. Do you want me to release that raw data or are you going to fix this problem?"

Mr. Takii looked at Jack, "What do you want?"

Jack looked at him, "A full crew working around the clock to build the Travus Stingray scout ship. I will provide all of the engines and weapons. Sensors, inertial dampeners, heatsinks power relays, shield, and the Titanium-H bars to build the frame and panels. I will approve the interior for this 14-man scout with a Series 5 system drive. Along with a series 5 FLT drive with three power cores using a power core multiplexer. I will provide that technology.

I will be on hand day and night overseeing the construction. Cabling, computer systems, and navigation systems, you would put into a destroyer. 153 million and it folded like a cheap paper cup. This ship is proprietary and I hold the patent on the alloy. This alloy was never made in the future, it is something new. I have over 5,000 bars to build it and the raw material to double that if needed. You set it up, refund my money, or it will go to the press.

Regardless it will be discussed in the coming days with the President because of everything I have had to build to bring this technology online. You will have to review your frame designs because those 5x drives are coming in 4 hours. No existing airframe will handle those engines, let alone the inertial dampeners and other tech required."

Mr. Takii sighed, "You want to use our facilities and crew to build a prototype airframe using a metal we know nothing of."

Jack slid a file over and transmitted it to him, with the thickness to strength ratio. "I could make it half as thick as your current frames and be able to absorb 5 times more damage to the Titanium alloy you are using. As it is, I will be using the same thickness. It will be a monster scout tank and not a prototype. A custom scout with the latest technology.

It will be an operational Scout in the future when we do Scout missions for Terran settlers to other systems. Here are the renderings. As soon as I have confirmation that the patent is in place, I can send the schematics. Contact Grace Winters, my Business Manager and Lawyer. She will be expecting your call when you decide which course of action you will take. Taking no action is a course of action that will end in a very public lawsuit."

He bowed and Jack ended the call.

Jack looked at Sarah, "Japan has a long history of quality products. That may cost him his job."

Sarah looked back, "I know. You will get what you want. It is a matter of pride now for the local governments as well. Thank you for letting me watch that pompous ass getting what was coming to him. Especially after the crap we saw."

Jack contacted the Tera-3 registration office. The lady smiled at him, "It just got back to normal around here."

Jack laughed, "That will not last. Tar-2 Nautilus was destroyed by the rogue Tera military who followed the disgraced Admiral Archer. I am having a new scout being built based on my designs. I would like to use TAR-2 King Arthur on the new ship. Can that be done?"

She smiled, "It can, when will we see this new ship."

Jack sent her the mockup of the ship. "Wow."

Jack smiled, "It will be covered in a brand-new alloy. I found a way to merge Metallic hydrogen into Titanium. The bonded structure is 5 times stronger at half the thickness. She will also have a frame made from this alloy, and all weapons made from it. She will shine in the night sky. Keep an eye on the news. We will be arriving shortly."

She smiled, "I will send you the form you can get to your shipbuilder."

Jack nodded, "Thank you."

Jack ended the call, "Drop us down to factor 4. All pilots to their shuttles or ships. I got the bridge."

Sarah sighed, "I got the Ravager, right?"

He nodded, "This time. The new scout is my craft though."

Sarah smiled as she walked by, "Then I will be flying this one if you are out and about."

Jack laughed, "We will build another shuttle as well. An elongated Manta." He called out as everyone was ready, "Launch on my go. Rocket you are a go." He gave it 8 seconds because of the staggered start. "Red Mouser, you are a go." Then 5 seconds, "Merlin you are a go."

He gave it another 5 seconds. "Go for it Black Bogie."

Sarah laughed and launched out of the hangar bay. He closed the hanger bay and pushed it back up to full power. "Tera-4 tower, we request a 12-minute break in any traffic leaving the outer marker and any craft coming in should hold back at least 10km. This is Excalibur TAR-1 and we are coming in hot on a fly-by. The President is aware."

He heard, "Excalibur we are not even picking you up on sensors yet."

Jack smiled. "Tower we will need to look at upgrading your sensors. As it goes by Tera-4, 5, and 6. I will put it in the talking points with the President."

The tower sighed, "We cannot...Holy fuck! What is that!"

Jack laughed, "Tower the first one was a rocket single-engine. In case you missed it. We have 5 craft flying in this formation."

Jack adjusted the course and angled the Excalibur slightly as he went by. He adjusted course to fly in front of a moon transport that had not been warned or failed to stop. He missed it by several meters but they would have seen the lettering on the bottom of the ship up close. He called out, "Excalibur to all test craft. Throttle down and return to the hanger bay."

He throttled back. Then spun it 180 degrees and took it back to between Tera-5 and 6 and came to a stop. He opened the shuttle bay and they returned in reverse order. "Tera-5 tower, the demonstration is done. I was not joking about needing to upgrade your sensors." He heard laughter from the other craft except one.

"Excalibur, this is the copilot of TLS-495 and you physically scared the shit out of our pilot. But that looked so cool." Jack heard. "Excalibur TAR-1, Just how fast were you going? This is the Tera-6 tower."

Jack replied, "Tera-6 tower. This is Excalibur TAR-1. The words would be wickedly fast for all 5 ships. It is significant as we just traveled 5x faster than anything in the Tera Military fleet. Patents started being processed yesterday along with the technology we had to incorporate to deal with those speeds. Over 4,000 more patents with more on the way. We are awaiting VIP's tower."

Sarah made it back to the bridge, "That was fun. It did hold together. Glad you missed the shuttle pilot. I heard him talking on the low band about needing to meet schedule."

Jack laughed, "He met the need to get out of his soiled clothes. I think the co-pilot was forced to take over with the stench."

Sarah laughed at that. They heard, "Excalibur this is Wildcard with Crazy Eights. We were directed to see you."

He looked at Sarah, "We got some room for a couple of fighters?"

She nodded, "It is getting crowded though."

Jack smiled, "Wildcard, good to see you again. You are cleared to dock in the shuttle bay. It will be tight; we have a lot of craft inside."

Astra opened the bay and he watched the display and they both managed to park in front of the Bogie.

Then he heard, "Excalibur, this is Treven-2. Request permission to dock."

He smiled, "Permission granted. Astra, please meet our guests at the airlock on deck 9 after you help them dock and take them to the shuttle bay. You got the bridge, Sarah. Astra, have Grace meet us in the shuttle bay along with Sprits and Carol."

He arrived at the bay and the 2 pilots just stared around in awe. Jack walked out to them, "You must be 2 hotshot pilots."

They looked over and he cut them off, "Jack, AKA Merlin last we spoke."

Crazy Eights started laughing at Wildcard. Wildcard shook his head, "I was sent back to target practice and I nailed everything! You were just crazy with your moves."

Jack pointed back, "This is my business manager and lawyer, Grace. She has a release for each of you to sign. The two ladies next to her are Sprits and Dr. Carol. They own the one-man and two-man craft you are about to get your hands on for some flying time."

They both smiled and Wildarcrd spoke, "You mean blasting through all that. How do you do it without getting sucked through your seat?"

Sprits smiled, "He yanked my music and stuck a small inertial dampener into my rocket. You will still need your flight suit but it offsets the rest, mostly. Watch the hard turns. It has a hard-coded governor on the engine on it. You can take it to half and then when it is at that speed you can take it to full."

Jack looked at Crazy Eights, "The two-man has a full two-board inertial dampener in it. Use your EVA suit to be safe. I told the President we start getting the big ship flying that fast we must do something with the fighter jocks. I asked for you both. You give us an honest assessment. Sprits is married to me.

Carol and Grace are engaged to me. They will walk you through the craft flight controls. When you are ready, call inside and ask for Astra to open the bays. She will ensure it is clear and then let you out to play for a while. I recommend 'follow the leader' as you have no weapons on those 2."

Wildcard looked over, "What is with the Black-ops craft?"

Jack sighed, "Commandeered after 8 of those and a battleship went rogue with Admiral Archer. That is the only one to survive and they destroyed our already damaged Ravager. When you get back, take a walk inside. Check out the FTL drive and the additional support bracing we had to install to keep it from flying apart."

They nodded and went off. Jack turned to see Francine and James; his Grandparents 5 times removed. He hugged her and shook his hand, "We are going to the freight elevator. The only way into my lab other than a tube."

Francine laughed, "That was quite the entrance today."

Jack nodded, "I wanted to show them for a one-man to a destroyer-sized vessel, I could get them all going that fast."

She nodded. He stopped and looked at the power cores. She walked around, "This framework around your cores. It lets them operate as a single unit?"

Jack nodded, "One was used for the FLT and another for the cursory system while the third was for engines. I added the 4th through 6th to have all weapons power at all times. Each group of 3 is on a separate multiplexer. I can travel full speed and it will still fire everything. Look at the box at the bottom of the rack."

Francine looked it over, "Inertial dampeners with five boards?"

Jack nodded, "It uses 3 the other 2 will come online if a board fails."

He walked her to the elevator. They went up to his lab as Astra spoke, "Jack there is a cargo hauler here from Trikora Manufacturing here for a pickup."

Jack nodded, "Get Tim, and a couple of others to the deck 7 cargo bay. That large container I filled. They want it. Use gravity platforms to raise it out for them and shut off gravity in deck 7. Tim knows how to do this."

She laughed, "He is on his way as is Aiko."

Jack called out, "Astra, pass to Aiko that telekinesis works wonders on large objects in space. She should be able to handle any surprises."

He looked over as they stared at the particle accelerator. "It is collecting material for an element not in this system, Vironidite. I use it to create bars of metal. Solid Metallic Hydrogen that will hold at room temperature. Then created a new alloy, Titanium-H. New, not even around in my old timeline or Astra's time. My next engine design will incorporate that to get rid of the magnetic field needed. Better performance, the 6b design if you will. You will get those as a replacement to the 6a."

She nodded. He walked down to the wall of monitors and took all of the files on one and started dragging them and throwing them up on separate monitors. "The weapon systems. The ones I am giving the government."

Francine asked, "If this technology comes from the future, why do you patent it?"

Jack smiled, "The medical device is what that cargo container was about. The element to create it. The harvester for the collider and the colliders to be built. All direct copies. I gave the rights to the HCL guys to build a harvester and gave a 5 Billion TC grant for the HCL to expand to build 3 of those for manufacturing elements for business, medical, and the military. Overseen by the President's advisors. I spent 5 Billion and took nothing in licensing agreements.

Same for the medical device. I restricted the mark up to 75% and had them make my per unit cost go into an account to buy the units at cost for the poorer communities around the world. My gain. Nothing. These weapon systems. I cannot show the originals because they are way more powerful. They are what was put on this ship to defend the repository.

I had to re-engineer them to work with existing power constraints and use my electronics from other products. Not a direct copy in design. A weapon that emulates what we have; but on a much smaller scale. Spent more time on the weapons than on most of the other components. I had to keep them balanced with the new shields. They are all new designs."

Francine nodded. He put them all back in the folder and brought up his engine folder, "This design you were working on when you died and another finally finished it."

Francine looked at it, "Masterful."

Jack pulled up the drive schematic for the new drive. "I built this using this as a reference platform. That is what I am patenting in my name and it is not in any of Astra's repositories."

He pulled up the entries for the power core, "The base, the model 6 with half the components replaced. The 6A with metallic liquid hydrogen is the magnetic field. The 6B will take it to solid metallic hydrogen. Sold it to you for 15 billion not 118 billion. There is some original work left, but not much."

Jack pulled up the inertial damper chassis and boards. She looked at them, "Like night and day!"

He pulled up the shields and showed them to her. Francine shook her head; "How do you do this?"

Jack stepped back, "Astra, throw the image up when I was pouring over the power couplers."

She displayed it, "You gutted it, replaced most of the components off the bat, built new housing, and aligned a new heatsink over it that the last one did not have. She looked at it, "That took you mere minutes to do!"

Jack nodded, "Astra show my last bio-scan and next to it the list of procedures done to me by the Tera federation future if you will."

She threw them up and Francine gasped, "You look...well-endowed."

He pointed over, "Read the list. She went through it and was shocked. "Oh my god."

The military file blocked out his family names and dates on him and his parents. He pointed to the one entry and Francine shook her head. "7 wives make sense with what they did to you."

Jack nodded, "Now you see the image of what the alien DNA did. That piece sent my creativity into overdrive."

Francine nodded, "How you can do all of that but a lot of it would come from the other side of your brain."