by Andur
Our satellites aren't nearly as fancy as the old ones from the Empire, but we can be sure that they are under our control. Keep it simple and stupid is the way to go here. The same applies to the weapon system we mounted onto my modified drones. I kept the options of focusing light and overloading their drives, though they don't help them much up there. Our satellites don't have a heat shield, so they wouldn't survive a re-entry into the atmosphere.
What we could do though was to equip them with a set of big metal slugs. They can use their gravitational drive to propel these projectiles to high speeds in order to shoot at a target.
Then we did something which most people in my old world would have called the destruction of a cultural heritage. Once we had enough makeshift satellites in place we destroyed the old Empire's satellites in a coordinated attack. As expected the Empire's satellites struck back at ours and for a few moments we had a real space battle going on. The real thing was very boring to watch since everything was over within seconds. We shot our slugs at them, they retaliated in a probably automated reaction and that was it. All we had to do was to replace our destroyed equipment. Though I admit that I feared that the satellites would be a little smarter than I anticipated. Everything worked out in the end.
Of course we also tried to send a satellite over Quinn, though that didn't work out so well. As it entered Quinn's airspace we simply lost contact and that's it; reason unknown. The satellite simply fell from the sky and burned in the atmosphere. It bugs me, but I have better things to do than to show interest in Quinn right now.
The next item on my list is enlarged versions of my drones to spy in greater detail on the other countries. The equipment in our satellites may be sufficient, but it's not nearly good enough. There is a limit to what you can do in a limited time-frame. I want to be able to read Quinn's newspaper by the end of next year... if they have one.
The fact that Louise joined my team was also a big help. She is a smart one and used my mana net as interface to control the satellites. Of course everything with proper protection from the public. Maybe I shouldn't have dropped the idea with the mana net onto this unsuspecting society. It gained a life of its own and Helen has real trouble with keeping certain knowledge out of the net and away from civilian eyes.
If you rule a country as something akin to a king, you rely on certain news spreading slowly and other information not at all. Keeping the flow of information under control is the key of ruling a country, though the mana net is spreading everything like a wildfire. Sorry, Helen. Maybe you'll have to put up some national laws for using the new technology.
In this manner the months went by and we waited and searched for new leads to our enemy. The southern nations didn't make a move, probably because they learned of what happened to their allies. I continued to train my ability with my mother and then there is spear practice with my father. University, tutoring, my research team, visits at Chuck's tower, Stella, Karsen and Talia, who announced their betrothal by the way, I can only say that my schedule is full.
I've even cut down my hobby of dabbling around in my laboratory. There is simply too much to do right now and I admit that I am not paying attention to everything. May it be lack of interest or bad information sharing.
But I should have become aware of something as grave as this! After a hard day I come home and find Stella sitting in our kitchen and shining like a mother-to-be, while polishing a huge egg in a basket. She is sitting on the bench at the kitchen table and Ivy is spraying the egg with some water. Talia is standing ready with a dry towel.
It can't be, I would have noticed if Stella had become fat. Though she didn't. Can females hide their pregnancy somehow? The egg looks awfully familiar to the one Valeria came out of.
Warily I walk to the table and point at the egg. “Dinner?”
All three of them look with shocked expressions at me. Stella puts her arms protectively around the egg. “That's not food! That's my niece! Isn't she cute?” She places her cheek on the egg. “I think I can hear her inside the egg!”
I sigh in relief. Though, what's cute about an egg? “So it's Sola's! Why is it here? I didn't know that she was already at that stage with... Xander was his name?”
“It surprised me too. Apparently she used him right away to consolidate their union.” Talia rubs the egg dry with the towel.
I pull a grimace. The poor guy fell into the honey trap right away. Probably it happened the first time they did it. I can't imagine Sola as someone who takes contraceptives. She is a woman who knows what she wants.
Stella continues to pet the egg. “Sola had to go on a diplomatic mission to Dwem. It's regarding the ongoing war with the barbarians and how much help the Dwemer will need to keep the upper hand. The barbarians switched from open warfare to guerilla tactics. So the negotiations may take a while. Our ability to create materials may seem powerful, but if you put the few Gejene in relation to a country as big as Nict, you realize that you have to place priorities.”
I nod slowly, that sounds like this mission will take a while. “But she will be back before it hatches?” I can't imagine something worse than having to take care of someone else's offspring.
Stella's expression turns mournful. “You are right, it's a shame that it won't hatch in time! I would like to see her eyes when she takes her first look at the world. Unfortunately it's a tradition that only the parents are allowed to be present when it happens. Sola will surely come back in time.”
Whew! Seems like I dodged a bullet. “That's too bad. Well, see you later then, I'll go to rest.” It's better to make a tactical retreat before Stella asks me if she can have one too. I know exactly how the chain of events goes. First they get fooled by the cuteness of someone else's offspring, then they want one of their own and bam! The house is full of little annoying critters who rob you of your sleep.
“Hrgh...!”
Something wrapped around my neck and held me back. I reach up and feel a scaly tail while I am turning around to the owner. “Is there something you need, Stella?”
She pats on the bench and pulls me closer, this doesn't feel right. It's like being put on a leash!
“~Actually I wanted to ask you a question.~”
Oh, no! It's the dreaded question! How can I get out of this? “It depends?”
“Can you take care of the egg? It's just for five days. I've laboratories this week and they last for the whole day. I can't postpone those lessons.” Her expression is pleading and she even grabbed my hand while begging me.
I already imagined the worst, but it turned out to be only half as bad. What's the problem with taking care of an egg. Seriously, even I should be able to handle that. It's most likely only taking a look after the temperature and that's it. “Sure. Why not. I guess I can make a few free minutes in my table.”
“Great!” Stella hugs me from the side, pressing her chest onto me. This feels like a good decision, I can earn some bonus points with her and it doesn't even take that much work.
She pulls a sheet of paper out of her cleavage. “This is a list of the things you have to do. First, in the morning you control the temperature. It has to be exactly forty point three degrees. There is a heating circuit in the basket. Then you turn over the egg and spray it with some water so that it doesn't dry out.”
“Here is the dispenser.” Ivy places her dispenser in front of me.
“Then you spread this paste on the egg to keep the shell strong and sturdy, make sure to rub it until the paste is completely absorbed. It will take a while.” Talia pulls a tube out of a pocket and places it in front of me.
“Then you turn the egg every three hours and control the temperature. Don't forget to spray it with water. In the evening you wash the egg with lukewarm water and rub the remains of the paste off. When you are done you dry it with a towel and lay it to rest until next morning. Make sure to put it on the right side.” Stella kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you.”
Before I can voice my complaint all three of th
em are gone. Seriously? I am not some kind of wet nurse! And why did Ivy run too? What do I have a servant for if she doesn't do her job! I glare at the egg. I can't remember Valeria's egg being that much trouble. Are they setting me up? I have to go and confirm this with my medical books, I think I still have them in my laboratory.
Half an hour later I am back; the book confirmed the excessive care.
“You are troublesome!”
*Knock* *Knock*
62. ~Taking care.~
“We fought the soulless armies of the Empire. We opposed their wicked magic with our bodies, minds and will. Our goddess and our belief gave us the power to do so.
Quinn will always stand united facing its enemies and the one true goddess looks down and blesses us with her grace.”
-Chronicles of Quinn.
Free City States of Nict, Capital
Azir
“Where is my niece?”
I put my book down and look up at Stella. She is looking at me worriedly, almost as if she is expecting that something grave happened. I point at the glass box at my side. On the surface of the box are the big, black letters 'Incubator -Mark I-'. “In there.”
Stella dashes for the glass box and tries to open it. “Are you insane? Even an egg needs light and air. You can't just lock it into a box!”
“Don't go nuts, it's not like I don't recognize basic biological needs. That's why I made the walls out of glass.” I stand up and deactivate the breeding cycle with a button at the top of the box. Then I open the complicated mechanism which sealed it. Stella pushes the slowly splitting box apart and retrieves the egg from two cushioned rollers where it rested comfortably. She knocks onto the egg and sighs in relief when the characteristic *Knock* *Knock* answers her. “What's this abomination anyway?”
I point at the two cushioned rollers. “Those are turning the egg as recommended in this book.” I raise my medical book 'How to take care of an egg'. “The heaters at the sides are keeping a constant temperature as recommended. This flap regulates the air supply to keep the atmosphere and moisture constant. The dispensers are applying water as recommended in the book. They also dry the egg by switching to air after the washing cycle. Everything as recommended.” I scratch my cheek. “Once the device was running, taking care of the egg wasn't troublesome at all. I mean, no screaming and all that. Eggs have huge benefits to infants. Why can't they stay inside the egg until they are bigger? I would probably like it to be a father if it wasn't for the screaming.”
Stella gasps. “Washing cycle!?”
What's her problem. I invented this marvellous device to help all would-be parents on this world. “When the washing cycle activates, the dispensers spray fresh water from this tank. After the egg is clean they spin and dry the egg with air. It's working like the washing machine which I built for our kitchen. The only issue I couldn't solve right away is applying the paste. I was afraid of breaking the egg if I use too much pressure, but that's to be done once a day. I decided to leave this issue to the second version. Selling this will make quite some money.”
Stella turns the egg in her hands to inspect it for damage. Then she looks accusingly at me and turns the egg to show me what she is dissatisfied about. “What's this?”
I shrug my shoulders. “It's just that I had the feeling that the egg was watching me while I built the incubator for it. After a while I couldn't bear it any more and-”
“Drew a face onto it!?” Stella screams and I jump. It's just a smiling face, come on.
“It's cute, isn't it? The world lost a great artist to me.” I made two circles with small black dots as eyes and a wide smiling mouth. “The runes around the egg are buffs to increase its vitality and healthiness.”
“It's creepy!” Stella tries to clean the egg with her sleeve.
“That's not going to work, I had to use water proof colours.” The paint would've been washed off otherwise.
“Sola is going to kill me! Why did you do something so insensitive as painting on my niece.” Stella is close to tears, did she have a hard day?
But it's just an egg? Why does she get that worked up about a little paint on it. “How about saying that I blessed the creepy thing?”
In the end I had to wash the paint off. After long minutes of explaining my incubator and its safety features, Stella finally allowed me to use it. The installed uplink to the mana net, which automatically warns you if something is wrong, persuaded her in the end.
“So how was your day?” I try to change the subject.
Stella rubs her temples and heads over to the kitchen. “Boring university stuff. The teacher found an old book in the library and tried to reinvent the contents, though it wasn't as easy as it sounded from the description. The part where you have to map out the DNA of someone got us a little confused. We lack the necessary devices to do that fast enough.”
She continues to explain her day while she prepares some food, mostly vegetables, in a pot. “Then I visited the Dwemer in their new mansion. Nikita is getting better, though she is still unable to cast spells. The doctors say that removing the poison completely might take a few more months. There is even a chance that her ability to use magic is completely gone.”
“That's sad to hear. Don't the nomads have some kind of antidote? If someone uses a poison regularly he must have something to counteract it in case of an accident.” I offer her a possible solution.
Stella shrugs her shoulders. “Even so, the nomads are hostile to anyone who doesn't belong to their caravan. They don't trade with us, so it's unlikely to obtain something like that. At least Saana and Triz are freed. The shaman's guards found a secret chamber under the southerners' quarters. There they had stored the amulet in question. How did your day go?”
At least some good news. I would've dreaded if I had to try to free Saana and Triz from such a strong enslavement spell. “I ditched university to build the chamber with my research team and gave them guidance in a few other matters, then training with my father and my mother. I had an uneventful day.”
Stella stops cooking and stares at me. “You used your research team to build the abomination?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Why not? It's not like they can't use the chamber for themselves and it isn't like something of that scale requires many resources. We had it done within five hours.”
She starts eating directly out of her pot while I explain some interesting details about the creation of the incubator. Musing over what else happened today, I remember the most important point. “Ah, and I had a real breakthrough with my ability. Up until now I always tried very hard to sense something, but then I simply relaxed myself and simply bathed in the incoming feelings. After a while it really happened! I can't exactly explain it, but suddenly I could simply see so much more than before! It was breathtaking! The trick isn't concentrating on your sight alone, you have to use everything, all of your senses at once.”
I activate my mana sight and let my gaze wander. “It's really cool if you think about it. Being able to actually look into things, no wonder my mother is so proficient with gathering mana.”
Stella's eyebrows angle slightly in amusement, then her expression turns thoughtful. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
For a moment I consider hiding the extent of my breakthrough, but then I decide to be blunt about it. “The view is magnificent!”
She frowns and looks down at herself and then at me. “I can't help it, but your perverted expression feels like I am parading bare naked in front of you... though I am fully clothed. Did you hit your head?”
My smile grows wider as I blind out her clothes layer by layer. “I can't imagine ever living without this excellent skill.” I inch closer and she backs off, realizing what I have been doing.
“If you ever use that on someone else, you can imagine what I'll do to you?” She gets up and returns her pot to the stove.
I follow the inviting movements of her ass and leave my seat to hug her from behind. Somehow I am really in the
mood right now. “I have to relieve some frustration.” My left wanders to her chest and my right between her legs.
Unfortunately Stella doesn't seem to be up for it. “It's not safe today and I don't want to relive such a bad experience again.”
“Haah...” What a let down, but I really want to! It's not fair. Then I realize what she said. “What do you mean, you don't want to let it happen again? Are you still blaming yourself? I told you that it was bad luck!”
She stiffens and suddenly she starts to cry. “It was my fault! I noticed the bomb before it exploded! And despite knowing that I am pregnant I still jumped in front of Sola to cover her! If I had simply taken care of myself then... that's why she has been so nice to me all of a sudden. She just has a bad conscience! The whole situation is making me sick! I am not fit to be a parent if I misplace my priorities like that! And now I have to take care of that egg and search for excuses to force the responsibility onto you.” She forces my arms away and tries to leave.
I didn't know that it happened like that, but the fault doesn't lie with her. She saved her sister, even if Sola is a bitch. Who knows what could have happened if she didn't cover for Sola? Maybe the child and her sister would have both died. Will she continue to eat herself up until she is proven otherwise? It's been more than a year since that day and she is still mourning by herself, not sharing the pain with me. What an idiot.
I hold her back by reaching out and grabbing her tail, which makes her fall to her knees. “Stop that!”
Not caring about her complaints I fold my hands around her and kiss her neck. “It's not your fault and you will surely be a wonderful parent.”
Fondling her, I push her down and reach under her clothes. She tries to get away, but I pull her back to kiss her. Finally she stops fighting me and I wipe the tears out of her face. Then I continue to caress her until she is ready. To avoid changing my mind I pull her clothes hastily aside and enter her with a single thrust. The sensation is intoxicating and I move on my own rhythm while clinging to her back until she starts moaning herself and answers my movements. My hands wander to her chest to massage her. Her moving tail is a little disturbing, but after a while she wraps it around us.