by Marcus Sloss
“Mack I am young again. My bones don’t ache and I can walk without it hurting. I am shorter than before but my dick is huge!” Braxton exclaimed.
“That would be your wife, stick some back aching tits on her when it’s your turn. Too bad you got to wait though… I am taking us to try to win a competition. You are to link up with Astrid and Mila to figure out how to start making our bank account go up instead of down. The clone I ordered is already on the ship so we need to dock to get going.”
“How did I die? Did I do anything cool in my last moments?”
“You shit yourself!” I said with a chuckle.
“Epic, can’t get me down Mack. Not every day you get reborn. Let us go to some faraway planet and watch you die some horrible death shall we.” Braxton said.
The little man could sure make me laugh. We did exactly that and return to the Griffin by leaving the atmosphere with the Purr. New coordinates were set and we headed deep into the Universe to compete.
CHAPTER 22
I awoke to a gentle chime from my sleep pod in my new clone. I made certain to swap out of my combat clone last night. No chance of me randomly forgetting and dying in an expensive body. I also was now infertile having selected the option last night. No more happy accidents. I had included a workout I was struggling to find the time for during the day. Bexso, Astrid, and I had trained all evening last night. There was no funny business after.
I exited the pod and stretched feeling well rested. My muscles were stiff and sore. The transition from Lunish to Caruw lasted until early this morning. The event was scheduled for midday giving us time to do some shopping. I had noticed something with the girls. While they loved me, they seemed to be falling into bossy roles. They also were doing things without my consent. When we arrived at breakfast I decided to stop the sloping behavior and insert my dominance.
I waited until everyone arrived. It was all smiles and light talk over a yummy keesh, my personal favorite type. Bacon, eggs, and green peppers. I sat at the head of the table and hit my fist loudly on the metallic surface. A few were startled, Astrid jolted, mom jumped slightly.
“I am honored to sit around this table with all of you. I have noticed some things lately. It started with me giving complete freedom to Mila, and has escalated to me having children without consult.” The side chatter of justifications got on my nerves. “ENOUGH!”
A silence arrested all talk and movement.
“I am the king here. Not the puppet you get to wrap around your finger. You will treat me as your lord. If you think I am on a power trip, then good, because I am. This is my home. The Oralis is my ship. You are my wives, my servants or my hired help. Stay in your lanes and seek my approval before you do something drastic. Like setting courses before we know for certain we should be moving. We probably could have brought Braxton’s wife. Now we have to spend at least an extra six hours not focused on our businesses. For fuck sakes girls… I love you but come to me next time. I am going to go die again and the last thing I want is to worry about is what other nonsense is happening while I am gone. Actually, aren’t I technically a duke now.”
Mila timidly raised a paw. “You are a duke in your empire from marriage to the duchess. Correct my lord. I have failed you and strayed back to my ways of leisure. I will work harder to acknowledge your kindness and sacrifices.”
I slammed my palms against the table causing another round of jumps. “My lord. Unless we are in a private setting you will address me as such from now on. If I give you money to spend, do so how you wish. I do not need every little detail. But big things like babies should be discussed. If I am on my ship. I decided when and where it goes. That is final.”
I grabbed my food and tossed it into the disposal bin no longer hungry. I went to the Purr and cleared customs for Caruw. There was a bar not far from where I was due to sign in. A nice comfy corner called to me and I downed a few beers while I waited to die. The Caruw citizens were called monqual and were a lizard bipedal race. They were scattered around the establishment, silently enjoying their drinks just like me. I made sure to never get a buzz and paced myself. A timer went off in my display and I saw forty three messages. Too bad. I would open them after the match. I could let the anger fuel me.
The inspection point went smooth and I was handed a speargun that looked broken and a laser pistol with only half a charge. What was this nonsense? I tried to ask but no one cared as I was led into a small room. There was a hiss from the wall as a yellow dust escaped small holes. I tried to hold my breath and inhaled deeply when my lungs burned. My vision blacked and I passed out.
∞∞∞
The left side of my face flared in pain when my senses returned. I was face down with my right cheek in the sand. Most of my naked body was under the shade of a tree but not the left half of my head exposed. It was sunburned badly and all I could think about. I calmed my pain the best I could and assessed the situation.
The speargun was still a tangled mess, but I had my laser pistol. At least they had not stolen it or hid it from me. I quickly checked my display and got a map to populate. I was in the circle. On the outskirts but in. The map was already shrinking. A five minute timer until the zone reset. Quick match.
I probably should have studied instead of drinking. Knowing I had time and was in a decent place I fiddled with the larger weapon. It was never loaded properly and I figured I should toss it but I wanted to have the option. I only had the two weapons and found no structures around that may contain more. Three minutes into fiddling with it and it still was not set right. I used my left calf as a prop when the unimaginable happened.
Snap! Thud! Then I cried out in pain. I cover my mouth with my forearm and bit into my flesh in agony.
I shot myself in the calf. The bolt lodged into a tree behind my leg not allowing the object to pass all the way through.
Unreal. My intelligence score was going to a one for sure. I pushed the bolt out and used my arm to do a muffled cry.
Of all the stupid things I had done… this took the winner spot. I was bleeding, nothing mortal but still enough to leave a trail. A trail where I would have to limp. I looked around for anything to clot the bleeding when I again felt dumb. I was going to die. Well, unless I finished first with a wounded leg. Which was highly unlikely. I stuffed handfuls of sand into my wound to slow the bleeding. Infections were not a concern when I would perish before it set in.
I checked the circle and to my dismay, I had lucked out and only needed to shift thirty meters further into the tree line. I decided to wait where I was until the last moment. Mainly to stop the blood flow but also in case someone ran by my hidden position between the trees.
When the zone started to shift closer I heard the rustling of rapidly moving feet. A feathered quad pedal birdman was running my direction. He had wings that trailed behind his biceps. His arms a thick tough skin like a chicken's feet. The four legs were long and double jointed. He moved smoothly and it would have passed unnoticed if he didn’t travel so close to me.
I lined up the laser expecting it not to fire. It did. The beam erupted in a bright display as I sliced the top half of his body off. He never even saw me. One moment running for the zone. The next a laser was parting his skin in an instant. The legs and lower body kept running for a good minute as I went to retrieve his weapons.
Now, this was interesting. The dead birdman had a rifle, a medkit, and a grenade. Wow… Really should have read up on the rules. His loss was my gain. I checked the map and the zone was closing but I had time to repair my wound. I plunged the med bots into my leg and the sand was pushed out. The hole healed up and my sunburn faded. Hell yeah!
Time to go. I snatched the exposed heart out of the sentient bird body and chomped a bloody bite. Why? Because I could.
I raced ahead of the zone and wondered if I was the next one to suddenly die a horrific death. I inspected the new circle and saw it was a close to the edge again. Random generating factors were working in my favor. They shoul
d add a luck skill to my sheet and put it at 10. I tucked myself under a tree burrow and listened. A crunch. Followed by another crunch. I realized there was walking in front of me.
The footsteps were getting closer. I thumbed the grenade pin, counted to three then underhand tossed it right at my target’s feet. The explosion was deafening. It almost jolted me out of my cover. I went looking for his or her weapons and was disappointed. I had blown something with scales to pieces. I found nothing of use and pushed closer to the center of the circle. I stopped when I felt I had trekked far enough away from my grenade kill.
The sounds of gunfire erupted as this circle closed. The zone was getting infinitely smaller. I turned my back on the center and faced the shrinking area. A team of two monqual were in full sprint running at me while taking fire from the right side. Their talon hands returned fire as they expertly swung their tails to keep balance while running.
My laser was low on energy but a silent killer. They never noticed me lying in wait. The first one went down as I sliced from his armpit to his other shoulder decapitating him with an arm still attached. The next I plunked a few laser holes into. The laser was out of juice now and I set it down. I picked my rifle the bird man dropped and placed it at the ready to watch over the bodies. Maybe whoever was firing at them thought they downed them. Or got greedy enough to attempt to pilfer.
I glanced to ensure the gun was set to single fire and the safety was off. I watched the countdown timer as I listened intently. A rustling by the bodies. All I could see was a long slender form shifting through the grass. A snake with a large head and a torso with arms slithered over the first body to snatch a weapon and medkit quickly. Not being shot at gave him just enough carelessness to expose his head to me when he went to loot the second body.
We were only a dozen meters away and the first round caught him in the shoulder. The next round blew his brains out of his head. I hurried over and grabbed a laser rifle. I felt much more comfortable with them. The projectile weapon went into the grass and I sped closer into the circle.
A laser beam from some hidden bush tore off my right arm. I dove to the ground as fire erupted all around me. I was in a lot of pain. Luckily the laser had cauterized the wound so I wouldn’t die from blood loss. I was fighting the need to pass out from the pain though. I dug a finger into my arm nub to keep myself awake. We were close to the last circle. And I knew I could maybe outlive a few more.
My best bet at this point was to play dead. Let the others fight it out. I checked the circle. The next zone was tiny, barely ten meters and I would have to run to get inside it. When two seconds were left I saw the laser dome enclose. I did not want to be sliced so I leaped to my feet and barreled forward. I dove into a bush as projectiles zoomed overhead.
Phew. I exhaled at making it inside the small zone. Thud! Thump, thump. A grenade landed, bounced, and rolled to rest centimeters from my face… Blackness.
CHAPTER 23
I tell myself one day I will get used to my stomach being unclogged by a snaking tube. Nope, that day was not today. I checked my display to verify I was, in fact, waking up on the same day I had died. I was.
When my vision cleared I opened the pod and stepped to my flight suit that hung from a shelf. Mila and Starla waited for me. They both curtsied cutely.
“Sixth my lord. Excellent showing. The prizes for these events are never something to swoon over but sixth is fantastic. You got to take home eighty thousand D-coins after the cost of your clone from Lunish. It may not seem like a lot compared to these massive numbers lately but for forty two minutes of work, it is fantastic. They even left your intelligence score at a two!”
I saw Starla swat at Mila. I raised an eyebrow.
“Dear husband, you never returned our messages. We all apologized in them and realized we have been overstepping. I do not want to drag you into it again and we would like to move forward as a family. Mack, where shall the Griffin proceed to?”
“Earth, at optimal. Indeed I think we should move forward. My point was made. I still love you all and would like nothing more than to eat a family dinner before a swim. Also no makeup sex. The infertile clone ate a grenade on that desert wasteland. Tonight I will reset this one. Then I would like to make love to only you Starla. Would you be acceptable to that for tomorrow night? Only you and me in our big bed?” I asked and Starla crossed the distance to plant a deep kiss on my lips.
My loins stirred and I almost had my way with her regardless when Mila cleared her throat to remind me she was still in the room.
“Dinner it is then. There is so much to discuss and plan. After you sir.” Mila said and stepped aside so I could walk past her. I knew where I was going and led the way.
“I will miss the Griffin, great ship but I am excited to move onto Oralis. Tonight after the workout, we will start packing some of the nonessential stuff. Chat as we work. May even make it go by quicker.” I said thinking of the idea. I was a tad nervous to return everyone to the place I had berated them last. The issue was settled and it was time to move on.
∞∞∞
Eight days flew by in a hurry. That is not to say some interesting things did not happen. The work crews on Oralis were a bit behind progress and it was four days before we could move into our new wing. Our shared bedroom was the greatest change. It was now attached to a dozen small individual rooms designated for children. Inside our room was still a large bed and a hottub shower combo. Because it was worth the cost to install. The meeting table was removed and the bar was gone too. I also ensured the new layout of our wing was properly done for humans in mind.
Bathrooms at the end of halls, a large communal dining room, and a dozen average sized rooms for guests or loved ones. My mom had retrieved all her nice items and moved in. Rio and Mila shared a nice room that was specifically made to meet the lancer’s needs. Braxton and his wife decided to temporarily stay with us until the city was built. There was a pool in our wing that was a mix of workout and kids' play area. I always had enjoyed playing in the water as a child so we designed a cool water park that transitioned into a deep end. Mom and Starla insisted on three play rooms for the kids to keep them entertained through the day and rotated. Since they were hands on and I would just be the playful day I obviously approved. It all connected to a small gym with no track but all the essential machines. There was a cloning revival and body storage chamber added here also. We almost forgot it when Astrid’s new bodies showed up so we had it rushed completion.
The exterior of our luxurious private residence was enclosed in crystalline armor. An armored cover rested open for when in a friendly port providing spectacular views. If in danger the cover closed. It was the same for all the hotels and bubbled buildouts on the ship.
Braxton and I had been incredibly busy. We toured facilities on Versi and Narshak. Versi was functioning well and increasing our flanfish numbers with first hatchlings. They had taken to the natural waters of the planet with mild success. There were natural predators in Versi’s oceans after all. The protestors were not friendly nor fun. They had stopped me from touring mining on Versi and I was a bit bummed about not seeing giant machines digging out the planet. It was childhood dream of mine to visit such a place. The tour on Narshak was more hectic because we were scaling so rapidly. The planet had cooled considerably and the populace, for the most part, was very appreciative of the rising factories. I found our facilities rising quickly and was told in weeks not months production could begin churning out cheap, reliable, and sturdy shuttles. The other shocking thing I learned was there were still a lot of valuable items being recovered from battle remnants. Aliens had poured over the tunnels and surface remains with abandon until most of the good stuff was gone. They missed some things and we could melt it or resell it at a higher stage market. It was a hidden boon. The people collecting the scraps only wanted E-bits and I told Braxton to include bonuses for any valuables. It was already in place but he complimented me for the idea none the less.
T
he biggest deal to me was that we bought out a ZBall farm team called the Pirates. Irony, because I was about to fight some pirates in a few months. No owners were willing to part with a team but if I raised up two teams then I could increase the league size. So we did that and one team would be on Oralis and a new team would be competing out of Narshak. The funny part was E-bits continued to go down as less tourism came to human space. I gobbled the currency up and was able to afford so much for so little. It was only a matter of time until humanity got its hooks into D-coins and the universal economy. Employees were already asking to get paid D-coins and I approved it.
As the days rolled by I would rotate time between wives. There were lots of romantic dates and quiet times as well as fun sex times. The girls always would show me images of our children growing. Oont had them updated hourly on the tiny human’s progress. Things progressed ten times faster in that facility so the babies were ninety days developed already. At twelve weeks old they were still little gummy bears but defined. I tried hard to pay attention but got distracted easily. I was merely happy we humans found a way past the vampire stage of our offspring.
Mila had secured three quick shuttles for us to utilize for wormhole space. They were not fancy like the Griffin but efficient, fast, and reliable. We had a private dock to our residence and stashed one there for as needed basis. Mila had set up a few markets for us to sell raw materials and our cheap shuttles in but our production chains were not functioning yet.
Tomorrow was the big event for our four member battle royale with extreme monsters. I had to admit I getting very excited when an issue was brought up by Bexso after our morning training.
“This Captain Larz, he is good. Very good. He will even make me look bad in comparison. The male is a naturally gifted lancer with supreme reflexes. Remember that dragumi you offered a safe harbor?” Bexso asked as we showered off the sweat with Astrid. Astrid was living extensively in her fire red draguman body for training purposes. She excused herself to let us talk while she swapped bodies for the rest of the day.