Augmented Tycoon (Game of Planets Book 1)

by Marcus Sloss

  “Got it, you are happy with the size of the table?” I asked.

  “Extremely. Starla and I have bonded for months but Lorie fit right in. Lorie has been snuggling with us every night. Bexso joined last night. We never crossed any lines but there is a good tension there. Your bed is full. At least I think it is. You are the head of the house though. Damn it Mack I look at you and want to strip you naked - ride you until you drip out of me!” She covered her mouth like a child might when caught saying a bad word. She coughed and cleared her throat. “I am a bit emotional, I have desperately missed you and that bitch killed you. Set me off. You are not going anywhere for a few weeks. We all started training with Bexso so we can go on excursions with you. Oh, and we finally swapped and left our old bodies behind. It was like chocking on a giant seven foot dildo. Super awkward when your head is frozen and it wiggles past your lips.” She shuddered. Around the table, everyone shuddered.

  “Right I hate that, okay what business opportunities did you find. I got seventy five million in D-coins burning a hole in my pocket.” I said.

  “We visited a dozen markets all over the four, five, and six stage. The same thing kept coming up. Fast small shuttles. The prices keep going up as labor increases. The trade agreement of Fairmax… Let me look at my notes… It is very technical. The key part to know is you must utilize labor provided by an actual species. I read it as restricting robots is that correct?”

  “Yes, robots were stealing jobs. She found this on her own Mack. I saw the pattern but she came to the conclusion. Astrid is a very smart human much smarter than your two.” Mila said stern faced

  I populated my stat sheet from my profile and indeed I went back to a two. Argh. Okay, now I was pissed off. Lethality went to a four. I guess letting a lancer walk up to you and gut you reduced your score a lot. Oh well.

  “That was bullshit they reduced his number back to two. Super not fair. Back to small shuttles. We can build on a mineral rich planet. I happen to know of a place with high unemployment and the planet has recently been mined clean of useful metals…” Astrid said throwing me a softball hint.

  A dog chased its tail in my brain and then caught it.

  “Narshak!” I blurted out proudly. “Ugh, it does sound perfect. I hate the name of the planets though. Mila see if we can rename it. Side project low priority.” I said and then stood. I reached for Astrid and picked her up. She only weighed sixty kilos. I stuck her on my lap and let her snuggle into me. Her head rested on my chest under my chin. I could see her want to cry but she held it back so Lorie could speak.

  “I talked to my father for the first time. He mentioned he was proud of me. He went over my entire life from sixteen on, and he knew it from memory. Not from reading it on a script or from a notepad in his eye. He apologized for not being there and wanted to let me know he was sorry. My mother never told him. And I already knew that. It still brought up a valid issue.

  “The need for you to marry into his line for when you eventually secure the throne. With the crown prince gone, my siblings will get the message. You are the defacto crown prince. Tonight they will hound you. They will compete for a spot on your crew, business ventures, and even your bed. None of them will want to transition into nobodies when the upheaval of power occurs. I have prepared a list of actually skilled males that can qualify for all sorts of jobs you may need. I would have Mila test them.” I raised an eyebrow at this and Mila shrugged. I was surprised she told her. “Here is a list of his daughters who won’t cheat on you or likely stab one of your wives. I think after the crown prince’s disappearance… I can’t prove it but I think he killed him. He won’t admit it, but his eldest son is gone. You don’t hide that recognition unless you can clone them. There were no massive movements of money and I watched over your exchange. Here is the list.”

  A ping notified me she sent a list. I rejected it. She sent it again. I rejected it again.

  “Mack do not be stubborn, this list took days to assemble.” She sent the list and I accepted.

  My hand shot out so fast she jumped in surprise. The girl was a pilot so her reflexes kept her out of my grasp.

  “Come here, woman,” I demanded. Astrid slid over completely to my right side. Starla got up and went behind Lorie and guided her onto my laps left side. The two snuggled into me while Starla stood behind me and kissed my cheek. “Do you understand Lorie, I will review your list? But I am with Astrid. Our family is big enough for now. Do you want to join it is what we want to know? Starla will you do the honors.”

  “Yes, dear husband,” Starla said.

  I scooted the chair back. Situated Lorie to stand at the head of the table facing the three of us as we kneeled. Starla slid a ring out of her breast pocket and held it toward Lorie.

  “You fit perfectly into our family and it was like you were always there. We would be lost, adrift without you. Will you Lorie Williams take me, Starla Raul, to be your wife?”

  “Will you Lorie Williams take me, Mark Raul, to be your husband?”

  “Will you Lorie Williams take me, Astrid Raul, to be your wife?”

  There was no hesitation. “Yes! A million times yes! We will have an amazing family and it can only get better from here. And not because you bought me a dreadnaught to fly around in. That is only a bonus, well that and the mind blowing sex we will get to have.” Lorie said.

  Mila stood. “By the power invested in me, I now proclaim you Lorie Raul. Congratulations the documents are done and official if you all digitally sign.”

  We all digitally signed the documents and the table shot holographic fireworks. Rio entered and clapped beside Mila. Bexso clapped a few times, a few tears streamed down and the tall dragumi couldn’t hold back. She raced to us and made it a group hug. Mila and Rio joined until it got cramped.

  “Okay, enough. We have a fancy ball to get ready for. Got to wine and dine. I want to compete in more events, maybe even do a duo or team event. We need to make connections to get our new Trag built. Then lay the groundwork for shuttle production with wormhole tech. The gatekeepers will be pissed.” I said.

  “Why do you think we practically gave them to humans, they are hundreds of millions of your years old.”

  We all laughed at humanity getting suckered into old tech and went to our bedroom to get ready. I realized that Bexso, who was not a wife would still be rooming with us. I was okay with it if they were. It would be a few days if not weeks before we got more rooms. I hope she had earplugs because after the ball things were going to get kinky and loud.

  Which reminded me of the excess toys that were scattered across our floor. Starla and Astrid had been keeping each other busy while I was gone. I was more than okay with that. They were wives after all. I merely hoped they recorded it.

  CHAPTER 20

  The outfit they selected for me was dashing. It was white with gold trim and sections of blue. Not my normal baby blue but closer to a navy blue. The design of the fabric and the way it loosely flowed around my body meant it was strictly for appearance. There would be no fighting in this attire and for once I was more than okay with. I wore black combat space boots, they were a recent acquisition from Starla. She knew how much I liked heavy, sturdy boots.

  The pre-event for the next pre-event had slated only me for attending. I gave cheeks kisses when I was ready and dragged myself from the room. I mention it that way because there were four goddesses swapping clothes, doing makeup, and giggling endlessly. The soft flesh and bouncy bits yearned for fondling. My strength to keep them all employed, cared for, and happy prevailed though. I followed the blue line that would take me into the dragumi station.

  The exterior door of the Griffin hissed. This ship was a black rock that was coarse and jagged. There were a few smooth sections on the floor from excess traffic but other than that everything was natural. There even hung stalagmites. The rock type was unknown to me and my eye scanner failed to acquire a name. I noticed a few sparkling gemstones that were embedded in the black. Their sparkli
ng colors that danced with the illuminated light brought contrast to the stone. A hovering drone awaited me outside the door. I looked for anchored light points and found none. These were it, I guessed they would follow me into the darkness. It made sense to have personal lighting, what if a creature sensitive to light came. They would need glasses or dimmers. Actually, I let my intellect of two stop spinning in circles over lights and walked forward.

  A green blinking drone guided me down the path that crunched under my feet. I immediately had an idea I felt would be thanked for later.

  “Starla…” I mentally sent her a private message.

  “No Mack, video phones, please. Astrid and I tried that form of communication. We hate it and understand why it is an emergency used tool for when people can’t hear you talk or see you messaging internally. What can I help you with? These tits are too big, I added three pounds over the last week while you were gone, and I can’t get these damn shoes to fit.” Starla said while in between outfits. Her boobs were pumped up with a tight lifting bra. Her vagina and ass bare were a sight I wanted to drink in for hours. Alas work…

  “Naked sexy wifey! Look at my sight.” I said realizing that I needed to interrupt them getting ready for big events more often. I had seen them naked before but my goodness, I was the luckiest man alive.

  “A blessing and a curse.” Starla turned to the other girls getting ready. She saw me drooling and closed the video. Awe. “Bexso you forgot to mention we couldn’t wear heels in your magnificent ship. Boots will work. We can get some sent up from Earth in time.”

  The call ended. No ‘thank you’, no ‘you look handsome’. Women and the need to doll themselves up. I chuckled and rounded a corner. It led up a ramp and then I turned right. A door on my left was open and the drone stopped at. I entered to find a bright conference table. At the table were Governor Winslow, Lady Winslow, three advisors, and his fifteen year old daughter. Score, too young for me to have to deal with. I found it odd that was my first concern. I should be worried about what was so important that my time was booked on an alien species’ orbital.

  When I seated myself the door to the room promptly shut.

  “Mack introductions. You have met my lovely wife Patricia Winslow. These are business people I have brought along for today’s meeting. This is Sariah, Veranda, and Mike. This is my daughter Halina.” Governor Winslow said. He paused and I shook hands. “We know you have a busy evening so let us get right to it. Here are two proposals.”

  A disk was slid my way and I clicked on it to populate the image. Not as fancy as the cool eye transfers, but this was a reliable method. A large tourist attraction formed into a display over the disk. It had a branding title of “The Universe on Versi”. Okay, I got it and nodded my approval. Hesitant of why this was presented.

  “Do you like it?” Sariah asked. She was an older woman in a one piece power suit. Stern and focused. No smile etched that face. I shivered at seeing her wedding ring. Poor guy.

  “I do, a lot more than I thought I would. Maybe it is time we start giving people aspirations on what expansion means. The question is cost. One second while I find out if my financial planner is busy.” I said and immediately Mila popped into my eye on a video chat.

  “I am in the auditorium. Screens are showing me everything I have access to. I am not attending the ball so I can be your backup for diplomatic reasons. Let me review the file the have.” Mila said and the disk display flickered out. It quickly returned to its rotating image. “The expensive part is going to be filling the building with art. Which you are in luck, we can transfer the art we collected her to down there. Insert a dragonfly, and… Actually, this will be beneficial for teaching humans the rules of the Universe. They want… converting at the current rate. One thousand D-coins. Too funny this structure on a lancer world would cost ten thousand times this one. You get repaid in forty five thousand years from portions of ticket sales. This is a donation Mack. I feel a worthy one though.”

  The guest across from me waited patiently. A green light came to life around the disk indicating I had approved the contract. There were smiles around the table. The next proposal was fished out of a pocket by Mike and placed in front of me.

  An image of dozers, miners, and workers sifting through dirt displayed. I grew a tad confused because Governor Winslow had always run on a pro environmental agenda.

  “You were not expecting this I wager. It will be done in a pro environmental manner. Every inch removed will be replaced with asteroid filler and the surface restored to its natural beauty. I pleased the business community while minimally angering the environmentalists. This idea was proposed by one of your wives, a wonderful lady Starla. We altered some things but this is the best option we could find. Your other wife Astrid mentioned you were going to be in need of materials for construction. Which I can help with by implementing this plan. Adding massive factories not so much.” The Governor said.

  “We are going to set up manufacturing on Narshak. Our wonderful planet I still like to call home will be restored and maintained. I approved the attraction because it will help humanity. It was a charity case on a few levels. I am not a man of charity only. Tell me this will turn a profit and be worth my time. I am guessing you want a sizable investment.”

  “The numbers are in there if your assistant can review them. All this will take time, and does not need to be done instantly. I will see you at the ball tonight. Our allotted time expired ten seconds ago and I was warned not to keep you past it.” Winslow said as he stood.

  I shook hands again and left the room. A green drone hovered me to the next room. A rock person sat at a table. They had a single round black eye with no pupil, inset ears and a boxy large jar with no teeth. The bulging arms led down into hands and I glanced at feet under the table. I had no idea if it was a male or female until the translator spoke in a soft kind voice.

  “Welcome Mack Raul. I represent the Samu species. You saw some of my fellow warriors down in the lower layers of that planet the little AI hid in. Our troops grumbled the whole way up from those depths… Saying you had the easy return. We chuckled at this. To the point though.

  “We Samu understand why you sent the recovered money away, and also feel you earned the bounty. We also know the lancers and dragumi has designs for some of your bounty. Insert us, we would like to send a company of mercenaries for six months. We are a warrior species that does not take sides and tend to always remain neutral. Due to our unique physical structure and attributes, we have our own cloning machine per company. You would only have to house the troops, cover additional expenses, and not needlessly throw away lives. Which in terms you can understand. If the company commander says your idea will get them all killed you don’t do it. They rarely say that and are apt to help delivery victory. Three million.”

  I was feeling a bit extorted here. Not to mention I may never use the troops. Three million was a lot of hidden clones.

  “I have blocked our room from outside communications if you were trying to reach your pet lancer. Nice catch by the way. Not every day you see a prideful species subservient to a stage three.”

  I had been outmaneuvered and woefully unprepared for this meeting.

  “Warrior species… Do you manufacture weapons?” I asked.

  “Hmm… The troops want a cozy assignment. Still, my leaders would be upset if you wanted to spend coins and I turned you away. One moment. Oh wow, you have nothing for combat gear. Okay, I can work with this. A dozen fighters, four tanks, a thousand laser rifles. It is all old but working fine. And we do not barter human. If a Samu offers a deal reject or accept it. For this amount of items, the price is three million. That was the transacted minimum number I was sent here to get. I could sell you more of this stuff but it would reflect negatively. In your case these are essential.”

  I stood, accepted the contract and exited the room. The Samu followed me out asking where to deposit the gear to and I told her the Griffin if it would fit. If not Versi. She nodded
and I went to my next meeting. It was nice of the dragumi to set up individual rooms for each of my meetings.

  I passed the doorway and floated up in a drift. My previous momentum carrying me. The room was lacking gravity and I was alone in it. What does a man do when he is in a cube with no gravity? He jets around the air giggling with joy. I must have been at it for five minutes when a single egg headed green gangly being materialized into the room.

  His colorations twirled and flowed to blend into a jungle. In the well-lit gravity free black cube they stood out, but I bet they were hard to see in green foliage. They were humanoid in structure with two arm and two legs. The main difference was they were taller and very thin. Their class was more than likely toolmaker because they had almost no muscle.

  “Greetings human Mack. I am Oont of the Planu species. We lost considerable finances and standing when Tuxpin scammed us of considerable funds. He promised a slightly upgraded cloning process that was… smoke and mirrors as your species says. We promptly placed a large deposit and lost it all. Alas… we eventually recovered and retooled our machines to be more effective from parts of his idea. So on behalf of the Planu federation, we congratulate and thank you for slicing that slimy AI in half. Do you mind if I join you? We rarely get to play in zero-g. It is why I always ask for rooms like this.”

  We pinged off the walls and soared around each other having fun.

  Mila sent me a notification that was in a text message. She mentioned the contract with Vensi for the mining was a good investment and approved the transaction. She then stressed to pay attention to the Planu. They were the primary cloners and fertility experts of many advanced races. The fact they were meeting me was a great honor. I closed the message and started some more elaborate maneuvers.

  “This is the best meeting ever Oont. All meetings and business need to be conducted in such a fashion.”

  “We tried to have the honor of reviving you but the Emperor ChiKhi himself interceded. Which is impressive in its own way. They are always so stern. I can never tell them apart.” We continued to shoot between walls as we talked. I was working the kinks out, it had been a while since I got to warm up without gravity. I did want to comment on not being able to tell the Emperor apart. They were super easy to tell who was which. Maybe the Planu were horrid poker players.