We visited the bridge next. Once there, I let Jasper sit in the pilot’s seat, at which point the three daughters surrounded him, telling him what control did what. Next, we went to the living quarters. We reached the point of showing them the galley, Alenna thought it was time to discuss with our guests what should happen next. Jenna prepared some refreshments, and we then sat down at one of the tables, while my daughters and Jasper sat at the other. There was still some reluctance from Jasper’s mother. Deep down I still think she wanted him to marry the girl associated with the other fishing vessel. Logan’s outlook on the situation was different. He was pleased for his son, if not just a little envious at the thought of his son having the chance to visit many different planets and moons. Sheba acknowledged that this marriage would be good for her house, having an alliance with a house that was not just tied up with fishing has its rewards. She was hoping to cut the middle man out in selling her fish direct to a merchant on Alkarr. I could not help noticing the girls and Jasper. They had moved to a position near the door. Jessica was watching us. Every time the mother of Jasper looked up at them, they pretended to be looking at some of Yarkeli’s paintings. I knew what they wanted to do. I had to accept that my daughters had made their choice. Next time Jessica looked towards us I made a gesture with my head to go, and at that moment I distracted our guests by asking if they had any concerns about the Silka. This was not the thing I should be discussing, but a least it drew the attention of Jasper’s mother long enough for the four to sneak out of the room.
Five seconds later I said in a fake concerned voice, “Where have the girls and Jasper gone?” Jasper’s mother jumped up and made for the door before turning left. Sheba and Logan were not so bothered.
I said, “Looks like we are now family.” We now smiled as we had all accepted that indeed a new alliance had been created between our house, the House of Albion and their house, the House of Bonder. Jenna called up Minty, informing her that the family should return to the cargo freighter without delay.
Takisha returned to the galley in tears, muttering, “I could not catch them, it’s a big ship and I don’t know where they have gone.”
I checked on my pid. After all, I had programmed all my family’s pids so I could tell where each member of the family was situated on the ship if needed. I said to Takisha, “They must have turned right when exiting the galley. I can tell my daughters’ whereabouts by their pid’s. If you want to know where they are, they are in their cabin. It’s too late to do anything about it now, they must be considered married. Please don’t look at it negatively as losing your son. Think positive and that you now have three more daughters.”
Sheba said to Takisha, “Don’t be so upset, making room for the girls at our residence isn’t a problem.”
Takisha replied to Sheba, “You don’t understand why Jasper was willing to accept these three girls as his wives. Jasper and the girls will not be living with our house, they will be living with their house. He is going to leave us!” Takisha again burst into tears.
Normally they would live with his mother’s house. The general reason is that the girl or girl’s house may have sisters of marrying age. Fortunately for my three eldest daughters, their sisters were younger and it would not be for another thirty months before Misty and Jett reach marrying age.
I said to Takisha. Sheba and Logan, “We can accommodate them for the next two and a half years. After that, they must leave. Before you say, they can come and live with you after that, I have a continuing plan.” I looked towards Alenna and explained, “I want to give them our old ship as a delayed wedding present so they can run their own business. What’s your position on that idea Alenna?”
I had put Alenna on the spot. It would be difficult for her to say no if she was not willing to pass on our old ship to our three eldest daughters.
Jenna butted in with, “I think that it a brilliant idea, and so it’s a yes from me.”
Alenna after thinking for a moment said, “Yes, but they will need to find a suitable navigator before they can use the ship though.”
Alenna was right, Ellie would need to find Jasper another wife who was a qualified navigator. She might turn to Jett who would be sixteen then. The problem was Jett might not wish to marry Jasper. Jett had eyes for a boy of her age, I saw them smiling at each other and she had the chance to talk to him on one occasion that I know of. Anyway, Ellie would have two and a half years to find one, which should be more than enough time. Just being married meant they had to inform the rest of both families personally. Jenna went to make sure that when Minty arrived back with my family, they were all taken straight to and then instructed to stay in the main entertainment room.
Alenna called up Ellie on her pid. Ellie took some time to answer. She replied with a timid voice, “Hello Alenna.” She then waited for Alenna to speak. She expected to be in considerable trouble.
Alenna did not scold her, but instead said, “Ellie when you are ready, please come straight to the galley. You need to introduce your husband to the rest of the family. We have not even told Minty that Jessica is now married, so it will be a shock to all of them.”
Ellie replied, “We will be there in a moment.”
Ellie had mistakenly thought she would be in trouble for sneaking out of the galley, but Alenna, like me expected them to leave. Alenna confessed later to me in confidence that she had seen them leave, but pretended not to notice.
Ellie poked her head around the door of the galley. She looked a little sheepish. Alenna said, “Come on in Ellie, you are now going to take up the duties of a prime wife. One of the most important issues that you will have to organise is that of chaperoning Jasper. We will discuss whether this is necessary during our journeys later. First, you will need to introduce your husband to our family before going with Jasper and doing the same to his.”
We all left the galley to make our way to the entertainment room where the family had been instructed to go. Alenna and I along with Jasper’s parents and Sheba entered and stood to one side. Takisha, Sheba and Logan drew the attention of my family. They were wondering why they were there. It was Ellie’s turn. She walked into the room and stood in front of everyone, snapped her fingers and Jasper came in along with Jessica and Rachael, who both stood either side of him.
Ellie took a deep breath and said, “I have the pleasure of introducing my husband. His name is Jasper. He is also now the husband of Jessica and Rachael.” It was time to mingle and introduce our family to Jasper.
Minty took Jessica aside and said, “This marriage is a total shock to me, you didn’t even take time to get to know the boy.”
Jessica replied, “Mother, you can talk, you did the same with dad, so why shouldn’t I?” Minty was stumped with an answer so accepted it by saying, “Congratulations Jessica, I suppose you will be leaving us now?”
Jessica smiled and said in reply, “You can’t get rid of me that easily mum. Jasper will be staying with us.” Minty smiled before giving Jessica a hug.
Jett is not always tactful; she sometimes states the obvious which is likely to offend. When Jasper was introduced to Misty and her, she came right out with what she thought saying, “Sisters, your husband stinks of fish!”
Ellie, annoyed at her remark said, “Jett, shame on you. You can be so very rude at times.”
Jasper laughed and said, “Jett, sorry, but I haven’t had time to shower after the fishing trip. I will take a shower as soon as I get a chance and hopefully I will never smell of fish again.”
Jett sniggered and replied, “You think! We transport fish all the time unless you are going to be lazy and not help at all, you may well find you smell of fish after loading and unloading.”
Alenna took Ellie aside to discuss some details with her, “Ellie, we will have a party f
or you, but I think this should wait until we return to Alkarr so Lara and your grandparents can attend. We also need to sort out head bangles and have the marriage and your new house name registered. We will have plenty of time to do this when we reach home.”
After Ellie had finished introducing all my family, it was time to go to the residence belonging to the House of Bonder. Lumi was left in charge as Alenna, Jenner, Minty and I would accompany the girls. It was time for Sheba to instruct all her family to be in their entertainment hall. They lived a mile from the port. I had not been to this small hamlet before. There were just eight residencies. To cut a long story short, Jasper’s family were just as surprised at the sudden marriage as mine had been. Sheba announced they would hold a party that very same evening. As normal, only the three girls, their mother's, their sisters and I would attend. The rest of my family would have to wait until Alenna had organised our party. Alenna had willingly delayed our departure from Molk until the following morning. The party was the usual affair. I had to associate with Logan and Jasper. We sat being watched by a number of females. Minty was watching me. Logan supplied all the necessary alcohol. Unlike Alenna and her sister’s brother Tyrone, Jasper was cautious and only had two glasses. Although he was merry he did not show himself up. I was now feeling he was a good example of an Alkarren male and I was proud that Ellie and her sisters had selected a good husband. I would see how it went and if he indeed kept up the good work.
The next morning we left Molk. Jasper had lived all his life on Molk and had never left the planet. Once in orbit, I allowed him to leave his seat and gaze upon Molk.
I said, as I pointed towards the planet, “That small island was your home, though it may not seem so small when you are standing on it.”
Jasper replied, “It looks so small viewed from space. It’s also hard to take in that it’s the biggest landmass on the planet.”
I replied, “It is also the only inhabited island. Those other two islands you can see are smaller and apart from any wildlife, are uninhabited. There is another island on the side of the planet that you can’t see. It is half the size of your island. Again is uninhabited; perhaps one day it will be.”
Now, I had to be the father-in-law and set an example. He had impressed me so far and I wished that it would continue. Alenna again had to speak to Ellie alone. She was my prime wife and the head of my house. Alenna would specify the conditions that Ellie would have to abide by, now that her house lived with us. Another déjà vu. Alenna agreed to a very good allowance, conditional on Jasper working hard. What was different from my experience though, was that Alenna had not put any conditions on Ellie taking on any more wives. As expected, I would share my man cave, although reluctant, I allowed this concession. Alenna had also given Ellie a concession that she would only need to chaperone Jasper during trips if we had an unmarried female on board, which happened to me when we lived aboard the House of Motok’s cargo ship. I never had a younger brother. Jasper kind of fitted that position a little. On return to Alkarr, Jenna took her daughter Ellie to register the marriage and their house name. Jasper had chosen the House of Molkarr as his house name, a mix between Alkarr and Molk. Jenna had to also purchase head bangles.
Months passed. Jasper had soon settled into the routine of our cargo runs and was eager to help with the loading and unloading. He was also excited when going to a new world for the first time. Molk was a frequent destination so Jasper had the chance to visit his mother and family quite regularly. We always ended up spending longer there than planned. All went well until we had a delivery to make to Grimda. Alenna asked for volunteers. I as always, obliged. Jasper seeing that I did, also volunteered, and as he did, so Ellie had to. Up to now, Ellie had never stepped out of our freighter on to Grimda. Now for the first time, she had to and was not at all looking forward to the prospect. No sooner had we exited the cargo ship than a swarm of insects had descended upon us. Ellie screamed, Jasper did also.
I said to them both, “The insects can’t get to you, try and ignore them.” Ellie could not take it any longer and got quite hysterical, I said, “Go back inside our ship and ask Jenna if she would kindly assist us.”
Jasper by this time had noticed that I was not at all concerned about being covered in insects of any type. He thought if I could bravely get on with loading, so could he. In the end, he did bravely fight his fears and held his ground. In future when we visited Grimda, Jessica turned out to be far less bothered regarding insects than Ellie, brushing them off herself only if they got in her way. Time passed and the inevitable happened, I became a grandfather. This made me feel so old, even though I was still in my mid-thirties.
Chapter 8
The New Residence
All had been quiet for some time as if the Silka had given up, but why this situation existed was of some concern to me. I had not been back to Earth for almost two years. I needed to go there. We were still paying for the hire of the ore containers and it was about time I returned them to Relnor before we ended up running at a loss for that transaction. Alenna had a small contract to deliver some goods to Earth. I also had at the back of the warehouse on Alkarr those old hover lifts and the two fusion reactors that came from Lidier. I had paid her in advance a long time ago. So off we went to Earth. As I had not been back for so long, I did not know who would now be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. On arriving at Earth I could have found out by going on the internet but chose instead to call the person I still hoped would be the Prime Minister.
I phoned the number I had anyways used, I said, “Hello, its Jake, are you by any chance still the Prime Minister as I have not been back to Earth since you had your general election.”
He replied, “Yes I am, though the polls had me behind until the opposition made an enormous blunder in assuming the public did not want money spent on defending Earth, but instead on public services. The public were not daft and soon came to the conclusion as to what use is public services if the country is decimated by the Silka. The public demanded protection. They had seen what the Silka had done to Paris. Paris is a wasteland. As a result, my poll ratings tripled. I won the election with a seventy-four seat majority.”
I was pleased and said, “Please accept my much-belated congratulations.”
The Prime Minister replied, “Thank you for that. Oh, on another note, would you like a guided tour of our new state of the art construction yards for building space vessels? We have four battlecruisers under construction. Seven countries have agreed to build battlecruisers. The amount being built by each county reflects to some degree their population size. USA, Russia and China are building ten apiece. Japan, Australia and Canada have joined forces to build three in total. The cost and the number of resources going into this project are mindboggling, but we have little choice if we want to defend the planet. We are all being strangely open to giving each other details of problems encountered and how they were remedied. It shows we can all work together with each other if the situation demands it. On another note, could you do me a great favour please? Perhaps not just me, but the Earth’s defence league.”
Wow, I thought, and I quickly replied, “I would be honoured to have a guided tour.” I also thought, thirty-seven ships in total, I reckon that would be more than the alliance have. I continued, “Now this favour, what does it entail?”
The Prime Minister now explained, “It’s about that huge battlecruiser you delivered and which now belongs to the Earth defence league. We, or should I say the league, have finished refurbishing and renovating it and it is now ready for its maiden flight. The problem is that none of the pilots are confident enough to take it into orbit, having never flown anything so big. Would you be willing to show a couple of our pilots how it is done?”
I thought I had washed my hands of this huge ship, I was not at all keen on flying it again, but what could I do
, it was the Prime Minister asking. So I said, “Is it just to orbit or are you wanting me to land it back on Earth afterwards?”
He replied, “Just into orbit, we can take it from there.”
I was a least relieved that I did not have to do the more difficult part so nodded to myself and said, “Fine, I am here on Earth for two days so please arrange the details before I leave.”
First things first, I now needed to land our ship at the port. After landing Alenna had me unload the consignment of cargo. I also moved the hover lifts and two fusion reactors to the warehouse. We had not used the warehouse for so long. I expected the containers that I hired to be inside and sure enough, they were. But what I did not expect to find were both the containers and cages we used for the Grimda contract. The cages were still where I had left them, and the sealable containers, emptied before being returned. They now sat stacked in front of the cages.
I phoned the Prime Minister again and said, “Do you realise that those insect containers are still in the port warehouse and the sealable ore containers had been returned there also?”
He said, “I had completely forgotten to tell you, we would like some more of that ore, please. We only had enough for half of the ships being constructed. We would like to barter some more locusts for that ore?”
I replied, “I am sure we can, I will ask Alenna as to when we can arrange it for you.”
“That’s good,” he said. “Are you free this afternoon for the tour?”
I excitedly replied, “Yes I am free. How many can I bring with me?”
The Prime Minister thought then answered, “A total of four including yourself. I think four would be a safe number. I will give you the coordinates, so you can arrive on your own transport.”
I was given the details along with the time that I would be expected to arrive. It was near lunchtime and I was getting quite peckish. I mentioned the tour to Alenna, she wasn’t all that keen on going to see the military craft, so I had the privilege of choosing those who would accompany me. River was easy enough to persuade, the others were a little less keen. In the end, Jenna said she would go, my sister Rachael wanted to come, but Sabrina did not so Rachael decided she would not accompany me after all. Yarkeli had other ideas. She wanted to find out if her art had been popular. The only other member of my family who was eager to accompany me was my daughter Misty. So I now had my complement of four. After lunch, we prepared to leave. As Misty was still being trained as a pilot, I let her fly us there, under my supervision of course. As we approached our destination I observed four battlecruisers under construction. I was completely shocked, well, more flabbergasted that Earth had progressed so far in just around two years. Two ships looked as if they were ready to fly, though the hive of activity around them told a different story. These ships were twice the size of my cargo freighter and the surprising thing about them was that they had a smooth surface. I thought, do they have an illusion field. The only way they could have found out how the illusion system worked was through that old battered shuttle that I had sold on to them. Anyway, I was certainly curious and eager to get a better look. We landed in an area marked with a large ‘H’ which was designated for helicopters normally, but it was the most logical area where Misty should set the shuttle down. We were greeted by a tour guild who had been watching out for our arrival.
The Alliance in Peril: The Chronicles of Jake -- Book 3 (The Chronicles of Jake Trilogy) Page 17