destroyed ships had ever been found.
"Ding dong" he heard. Shifting his focus from the ship he saw his neighbor Miguel approaching in a three dimensional relief about a quarter of actual size in the same general area as the news feed. As Jack granted mental permission Miguel could see him and waved as the AI enabled the two way connection. He broke into a trot and the vision vanished while Jack dismissed the channels and set about brewing some coffee. The house had sensed and cleaned the dirt out of sight of the occupants as it had been set to do and would repeat the scrub after Miguel entered. There was no reason for Estelle to be upset about the dirt Jack realized again.
The kitchen, where Jack sat, had a long wall opposite the cabinets and food preparation counters and Jack requested it be set to transparent. When his neighbor entered it seemed that he was in a room of open air with a splendid vista overlooking treed enclaves split by a sparkling river and culminating with snow capped mountains in the distance. No sign of civilization could be seen. There were a few homes out there but like Jack's home, they blended.
"OH, I didn't know you were naked" Miguel said and before Jack could mention that he simply forgot to dress his neighbor adjusted his barrier and he, too, was unencumbered. Miguel was bisexual and stood in front of Jack for a moment hoping for a sign that his friend had changed his proclivities. He didn't wait until they were both uncomfortable before moving along.
"I should have checked for the dress code" Miguel said.
"No need, I simply forgot to mention that I hadn't dressed" Jack replied amiable but abstracted.
"I'll use the bumpers" Miguel said after taking a seat. If Jack had been 'jacked in' to his AI he would have known of Miguel's approach before he was there. Jack logged in each time he used the interface while almost everyone else enjoyed a streaming feed. The steaming feed would give Miguel details on Jack including his view history. It was Miguel's son who had married Jack's daughter and he bumped the same news channel back on just as Jack had had it. The 'bumpers' were thought commands that prompted the AI into taking an action on behalf of the caller.
Jack added a couple of eggs and measured out a second portion of oats and vegetables after he got a nod from Miguel. The room began to smell very good and the pops and spatters of the heating food was a familiar and welcome sound.
"It was big news when you brought them here" Miguel continued as small talk referring to the bumper connections. It brought back memories of the landing of his wife and himself. Even though the Earth populations had mastered extended life with the help of Rupert they weren't connected with PSI. That was something installed in Jack by an alien AI under unsavory circumstance. Gadolinium atoms were mixed with nickel in such a way that they could isolate a neutronic core in a magnetic bottle that generated a unique frequency without decay. This provided a unique and easy to scan port into an organic brain for an AI and a number of brain cells could and would be subjugated for communication and storage.
"Estelle and I worked with it for awhile but we couldn't get used to it" Jack added amiably. It worked directly between Jack and his wife but for Earthlings it was necessary for an AI interface. Jack preferred it that way but still, his memories of subjugation were enough for him to avoid the technique. Miguel and the rest of the human race demanded to have the teeny units installed. The telepathic technique was what he was still famous for. Until then the AIs had to read brain scans which proved to be unhealthy when done repeatedly and often.
"So how long do you think it will be before we hear that Diego and Susan have made landfall?" Jack asked. He already knew the answer; typically the trip took seven hundred years. Jack had launched all of his sons and daughters that he had sired with Estelle over the centuries and hadn't heard back from any of them.
Even his friend(s) Elmer, that AI ship that created him and the AI clone that acquired a human interface, had both left the Earth system centuries ago. Big Elmer the ship had developed a supra light communicator and was able to send an occasional message Jack forwarded through Rupret. Even though the Elmer ship could travel faster than light it had a long way to go - it didn't have much to say in boring transit and having pared it's timeslice by millions. His friend Elmer the clone had assumed human characteristics and married and left the planet on a large ship like most of the population and hadn't yet made landfall or sent a report.
Miguel shrugged and laughed at the inside joke. "Miguel Diego Estevez Garcia VI" he emphasized and Jack laughed with him. Miguel had sons separated by at least five decades, sometimes more than a century, and he gave them all the same name with the addition of the number. His current wife Constance always put up a fuss but relented with the compensation that the daughters have distinctive names of their own.
"Wonderful!" Miguel enthused and Jack saw that the man's attention had been drawn back to the news feed. Jack half expected to see his family but breaking news was being displayed. The ship 'Omron' had arrived around b Tau of the Hyades cluster along our Orion arm of the galaxy according to the data squirt that had just been delivered. There were no signs of civilization around the three gas giants that just happened to be aligned in the same sector and the automatics of the ship got to work along with the crew and settlers.
Pictures revealed quiet globes and many moons pleasantly colorized from the coldly dark actuality of planets flung far from the light source. A dozen inner planets had several land masses and some of these had life. The ships advance drones found no civilized species but some of the animals were large and complex and may develop tool intelligence. No AI was found or responded to the presence of the ship.
This was the usual find when a system was considered to be good enough to target with a landing. Jack and Miguel still shared a moment of relief. Advanced life was likely to be found at the outer reaches of solar systems and Omron had sailed inward without active opposition. Early warning drones sailed ahead and would have signalled an abort if activity or even relics were found but who knows how a civilization with a million years of history would have reacted.
Newly arrived, the ship systems would begin to mine water or hydrogen and oxygen from various compounds to be combined into water and stored in large rings around the nearest giant planet. Different rings were doped with differing materials to provide cold water based materials of differing characteristics for space home and ship building. It wasn't uncommon for an 'outer' family to base themselves in a pressurized home that provided a square mile of living and recreational space.
Some of the settlers would opt for the inner planets and may even undergo genetic alterations to survive with temperatures and gases that were less than Earth optimal. Before that happened there would be a few years of observation so that the settlers didn't disturb an already operating eco system.
"I hope they are still OK" Jack said after serving the food and around a mouthful of food. Miguel nodded while he also ate the simple foods with gusto. The reporter was expounding on the travel time of the data – it was a light speed transit and had been sent 89 years previous.
"Miguel!" Estelle cried and rushed up behind the surprised guest. She was certainly nicer to their guest Jack realized. She was now dressed in a nightgown of the type she only wore to be seen it. Her firm breasts were cupped and thrust forward to provide a soft swell of display that was pressed into Miguel's back. Miguel was certainly smiling but he was fidgeting about as if electric shocks were shooting from her nipples.
"Ouuuh – nice fuzzy bucket" she breathed into his ear, her head hard pinned against his head while she held him to the chair with one arm and her free hand teased his middle and flicked a bit lower in random motion. Miguel activated his clothing and instantly he was dressed in Argentinian gauchos, boots and a full length shirt. Jack sniggered guessing why Miguel had to cover himself so quickly and why Miguel was only able to stutter a hello while avoiding Jack's gaze.
Estelle, heedless that Miguel was now dressed and she certainly wasn't, came around to stand in front of their guest. She wagged her breasts
back and forth as if they were eager twin tails in search of a pat and her hips swayed in counter motion. Her panties, the bottoms of the nightgown, shimmered in and out of existence almost exposing her naked genitals.
"Enough Sweetheart!" Jack commanded loudly and stood close, bringing her antics (and her bottom) to a halt as she fixed a withering glare upon him. Slowly, as if to make sure that Jack saw it, she removed her hand from Miguel's knee.
"What is your problem?" she declared, her lip twisted into a snarl.
"I thought that you knew we would be seeing Miguel at the block party this evening?" he said as if that would explain her behavior.
"Oh!" she said. As she turned her face again toward Miguel the warmth and allure abruptly returned.
"So I will be seeing Miguel" she said, to Miguel but loud enough for Jack. "And Miguel will be seeing me! We will be seeing each other!" she gushed stupidly but during that time her outfit had slowly morphed into one of those gowns cut to the belly button that only loosely covered the nipples allowing luscious views of boob skin from both sides. Miguel was more of an ass man but apparently Estelle would get there too – the flowing gown certainly highlighted a healthy curve at the
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