by Isaac Hooke
He waited until most of Bokerov’s tanks had passed through, and then he said: “So, Bokerov, you have a few bases in the mountains… I want you to highlight the one you believe is the most extensive, and secure.”
Jason accepted Bokerov’s location share request, and zoomed out on the map. The coordinates were roughly a hundred kilometers to the west, nestled amid the mountains there.
Jason shared the location with the other War Forgers. “This will become our new base. Aria, you’ll work with your clones to reinforce it, and improve the defenses. We have to prepare for the day when the governments of humanity send a delegation to visit us.”
“It won’t be a delegation,” Xin said softly. “It will be hunter killers.”
“Either way, I want to make sure we’re ready,” Jason said. “I want them to understand that we just want to be left alone.”
“We should have stayed on the Tyrnari homeworld,” Jerry said. “You should have accepted the empress’s offer.”
“Except that wasn’t our homeworld,” Jason said. “This is.”
Jason had told his other clones of the offer the empress had made, but he hadn’t yet informed the girls. The expected question came a moment later.
“What offer?” Lori asked.
“She wanted me to marry her, and become king,” Jason said.
“Gah!” Sophie said. “Thankfully you didn’t choose that option. Married to a sickly tentacled alien? What kind of a life is that?”
“He didn’t accept, because of us!” Lori said.
“That’s right,” Jason said. “I refused to give you up.”
“Aw,” Tara said.
“He can be sweet when he wants to be, can’t he?” Aria said.
Jason would have been reddening if he were still human.
“All right then,” Jason said. “As soon as all the troops are through, we’re heading west, to the mountains. It’s time to live out our lives in peace and quiet, instead of fighting through every day.”
“At least for the moment,” Julian said. “Until the governments of humanity, as you call them, decide to show up.”
“We’ll deal with that when it comes,” Jason said.
Jason watched as the last of Bokerov’s Cataphracts entered from the rift.
“What do we do with Bokerov?” Sophie said on a private line that excluded the Russian.
“He stays with us, for now,” Jason said. “Lori has already firmed up his Containment Code, in case you’re worried he’ll turn on us again.”
“That’s one of my worries,” Sophie said. “But I also mean, we can’t keep him a slave forever. No matter what he’s done, it’s not right.”
“I would disagree,” Aria 5 said. “As far as I’m concerned, what he did to us warrants permanent slavery.”
“I have to side with Sophie on this,” Jason said. “We can’t keep him a slave forever. We’ll transfer his mind copies into custom-designed androids at some point, and send him off to Russia. We’ll replace any empty tank and Cataphract AI cores with autonomous units.”
“To do that, we’ll have to gather parts and materials from Bokerov’s other bases,” Tara said.
“We’ll do whatever it takes,” Jason said. “But for now, I just want to forget about the future, and enjoy this moment. We’ve saved Earth, even though humanity might not know it yet, and helped out another alien race in the process, making allies for life. I think we’ve done pretty well for ourselves, considering we’re not even human anymore.”
“We certainly have,” Xin said.
The rift closed beside them. Jason turned toward the west, facing the location of their new home.
Ahead, the sun was setting.
“Man, I can’t tell you how much I really missed sunsets,” Tara said, scratching Bruiser under the neck beside her. The Rex Wolf half closed his eyes in delight.
“As did I,” Cheyanne said. “And this one is spectacularly beautiful.”
“It is indeed,” Jason said. The clouds were cast a pretty purple sandwiched between the reds and yellows of the sky.
He led the War Forgers and his army across the plains, into the setting sun.
Thank you very much for reading!
If you liked this series, consider checking out the AI Reborn trilogy, set sixty years before the events in Battle Harem. Learn about the alien invasion that created the uninhabited zone, and follow the adventures of the brave platoon of Mind Refurbs who sacrificed almost everything to save their human creators.
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Afterword
Please help spread the word about Battle Harem 3 by leaving a one or two sentence review. The number of reviews an ebook receives has a big impact on how well it does, so if you liked this story I'd REALLY appreciate it if you left a quick review. Anything will do, even one or two lines.
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Isaac Hooke holds a degree in engineering physics, though his more unusual inventions remain fictive at this time. He is an avid hiker, cyclist, and photographer who sometimes resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
Get in touch:
isaachooke.com
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Acknowledgments
I’d also like to thank my knowledgeable beta readers and advanced reviewers who helped smooth out the rough edges of the prerelease manuscript: Nicole P., Lisa G., Gary F., Sandy G., Amy B., Karen J., Jeremy G., Doug B., Jenny O., Bryan O., Lezza, Noel, Anton, Spencer, Norman, Trudi, Corey, Erol, Terje, David, Charles, Walter, Lisa, Ramon, Chris, Scott, Michael, Chris, Bob, Jim, Maureen, Zane, Chuck, Shayne, Anna, Dave, Roger, Nick, Gerry, Charles, Annie, Patrick, Mike, Jeff, Lisa, Jason, Bryant, Janna, Tom, Jerry, Chris, Jim, Brandon, Kathy, Norm, Jonathan, Derek, Shawn, Judi, Eric, Rick, Bryan, Barry, Sherman, Jim, Bob, Ralph, Darren, Michael, Chris, Michael, Julie, Glenn, Rickie, Rhonda, Neil, Claude, Ski, Joe, Paul, Larry, John, Norma, Jeff, David, Brennan, Phyllis, Robert, Darren, Daniel, Montzalee, Robert, Dave, Diane, Peter, Skip, Louise, Dave, Brent, Erin, Paul, Jeremy, Dan, Garland, Sharon, Dave, Pat, Nathan, Max, Martin, Greg, David, Myles, Nancy, Ed, David, Karen, Becky, Jacob, Ben, Don, Carl, Gene, Bob, Luke, Teri, Robine, Gerald, Lee, Rich, Ken, Daniel, Chris, Al, Andy, Tim, Robert, Fred, David, Mitch, Don, Tony, Dian, Tony, John, Sandy, James, David, Pat, Gary, Jean, Bryan, William, Roy, Dave, Vincent, Tim, Richard, Kevin, George, Andrew, John, Richard, Robin, Sue, Mark, Jerry, Rodger, Rob, Byron, Ty, Mike, Gerry, Steve, Benjamin, Anna, Keith, Jeff, Josh, Herb, Bev, Simon, John, David, Greg, Larry, Timothy, Tony, Ian, Niraj, Maureen, Jim, Len, Bryan, Todd, Maria, Angela, Gerhard, Renee, Pete, Hemantkumar, Tim, Joseph, Will, David, Suzanne, Steve, Derek, Valerie, Laurence, James, Andy, Mark, Tarzy, Christina, Rick, Mike, Paula, Tim, Jim, Gal, Anthony, Ron, Dietrich, Mindy, Ben, Steve, Allen, Paddy & Penny, Troy, Marti, Herb, Jim, David, Alan, Leslie, Chuck, Dan, Perry, Chris, Rich, Rod, Trevor, Rick, Michael, Tim, Mark, Alex, John, William, Doug, Tony, David, Sam, Derek, John, Jay, Tom, Bryant, Larry, Anjanette, Gary, Travis, Jennifer, Henry, Drew, Michelle, Bob, Gregg, Billy, Jack, Lance, Sandra, Libby, Jonathan, Karl, Bruce, Clay, Gary, Sarge, Andrew, Deborah, Steve, and Curtis.
Without you all, this novel would have typos, continuity errors, and excessive lapses in realism. Thank you for helping me make this the best novel possible, and thank you for leaving the early reviews that help new readers find my books.
And of course I’d be remiss if I didn't thank my mother, father, and brothers, whose wisdom and insights have always guided me through the winding roads of life.
— Isaac Hooke
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