by Bill Nolan
Once they had the information they had come for, Jane and Serena quickly returned to the Large Magellanic Cloud and reported to Robert and Shanna. Dodra had said, just before they left, that the stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud were making a list of the planets and locations where Potriem were found, and that he would transmit the list the next time they visited him.
Robert was clearly upset, but Jane wasn’t ready to back down. “I am a warrior of the To’Ach’an, and my role is to be a scout. That’s why Serena was created, and together, we are good at it. We are at war. I scouted the enemy and got good intel. Yes, there was a risk. You are also a warrior. Do you want to live forever?”
Robert didn’t like her attitude, but he also knew she was right. “Fine, so what intel were you able to get. You weren’t gone long.”
“Serena and I travel a lot faster when we don’t have to shepherd other ships. I befriended a star named Dodra, and he gave me the whole history. The Suram are victims, just like the Nuste. The real bad actors are the Potriem, who took over the Small Magellanic Cloud a couple thousand years ago. They control the Suram. Dodra is working with the other stars in the Galaxy to let them know we are on the side of the Suram and to make a list of the locations where we can find the Potriem. Dodra gave me one location and Serena took out a base, along with about 100 Potriem. There aren’t many of them on each planet, apparently. Also, they don’t talk to the stars, or rather, the stars won’t talk to them.”
Robert thought for a minute. “Do you have a plan?”
“No, but I do have some ideas. We need to do a lot of thinking before we have a plan.”
This was when Serena chimed in. “Actually, I do have a tentative plan. I have been discussing it with Shanna, and she likes it. We need the locations from Dodra, and then Jane and I will need to do some more scouting, but I think we could be ready in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we need to clear the rest of the Potriem out of this galaxy. Then we hit the other one, fast and hard. If we do that, I think the Potriem will fold and run.”
Robert replied, “Really, why do you think that?”
Serena said, “They have probably never faced an adversary that could actually fight back. They just mentally take over, so, unlike us, they are not warriors. In addition, Dodra thinks they are immortal, so they really do want to live forever. I think if we kill some, the rest will flee. In addition, I don’t think they even knew I was a ship. Maybe they aren’t familiar with self-aware ships. I think they thought I was an organic life form.”
Jane spoke next. “That makes sense. They were controlling me when Serena grabbed their base and dumped it near the star. That mental link goes in both directions, so I was in contact, and I sensed the total shock when Serena ignored their attempts to control her and grabbed them. It was like disbelief and abject fear. Also, they didn’t seem to have any way to fight other than the mental control. They are a one trick pony.”
Shanna joined the conversation. “How do we want to go about clearing out this galaxy? The Nuste know where they are. There are only about a dozen systems that have been invaded so far.”
Serena said, “Jane and I could hit a dozen systems in one day.”
Robert decided, “OK, we will hit the Potriem in this Galaxy tomorrow, then do some scouting and planning to try to be ready to hit the other galaxy in the two weeks you mentioned. Let’s not give them any time to get organized.”
Chapter 11, Surrender
Overnight Shanna and Serena mapped out the jumps for the attack the next day, and each added more of the fake “intelligences” so it would seem like the ships had several pilots. Shanna also isolated her consciousness so her actual self wouldn’t be obvious, just as Serena had done. The next morning, ship time, they were ready. Robert had told anyone who wanted out of Shanna during the attack that they could go to one of the other ships, but there were no takers. Teams quickly were stationed around the ship to provide damage control if necessary, and airtight doors were shut against the possibility of hull breech.
They had divided up the dozen systems infested by the Potriem. Shanna would take three and Serena would take nine. On Serena’s mark both ships made the first jump. The Potriem in both systems had a pyramid base, and both Serena and Shanna were easily able to “grab” them and drop them near the stars. Those two bases were down in a couple of minutes. In both systems, there were Potriem on ships, and those ships jumped out of the system immediately, putting up no fight. This pattern continued when they hit the next two systems. The ships with Potriem fled immediately. Both Shanna and Serena noticed that nobody tried to control them at the second systems. They were in contact with each other, so they decided Serena should do a bit of scouting. She jumped to another four systems in about 20 minutes total. It was the same everywhere. The Potriem were fleeing.
Jane and Serena slowed down but checked all of the Potriem controlled systems. Jane spoke with several of the stars as well. By the end of the day it was clear that the Potriem had abandoned the galaxy. They were nowhere to be found. Serena certainly seemed to be right about them running. In the next to the last system checked, the Potriem had left a beacon. It was playing a message in the Nuste language that they were abandoning the Galaxy and would not be returning.
The To’Ach’an continued their planning to take the fight to the Small Magellanic Cloud. However, on the third day they were hailed by a Potriem ship. The Potriem had first contacted a Nuste ship and were directed to contact Serena. Serena handled the contact since she was most fluent in Nuste. The Potriem ship was about 100 parsecs outside the galaxy, which was much too far for the Potriem to try their mental control. They said they were not a warlike people and had not realized that another “master” race had already claimed these galaxies. They proceeded to apologize and ask for a time period that was about three weeks to remove all of their people from the area, and they promised they would never return. Robert had Serena tell them that the Milky Way and all of its satellite galaxies were claimed by the To’Ach’an. They replied that they had only had bases in the two Magellanic Clouds and would now abandon them forever. Robert agreed to allow them the three weeks, and it appeared that the first intergalactic war had been pretty short.
The prevailing sentiment on the To’Ach’an ships was a kind of disappointment. The Potriem said they were not a warlike people, but that was far from the case with the To’Ach’an. They were very much a warlike people. This “war” had ended all too quickly for many of them. Jane and Serena, however, were now heroes. For all practical purposes they had fought and won an intergalactic war – the first known in history – all by themselves. That’s the sort of thing of which legends are made.
Now that the galaxies were secure, Robert and his band quickly agreed with the Nuste that Earthlike planets and any others too warm for the Nuste would belong to Robert’s To’Ach’an group, while the humans would not interfere with the Nuste in the colder parts of solar systems. In exchange for the warm planets, Robert agreed that the portion of the To’Ach’an he led would protect the galaxy from future attacks.
Chapter 12, Treaty
Shortly after that, and about four weeks after the Potriem had fled, Jane and Serena returned to the Small Magellanic Cloud to speak with the star Dodra. He had been conferring with other stars in the small galaxy and was able to confirm that the Potriem had left the area. He also told Jane that the Suram in the system where Jane and Serena had hit the Potriem were broadcasting on multiple bands that they wanted to speak with their savior.
Jane knew she should probably talk this over with Robert, but he was out of communication range, so she and Serena just jumped to the other system. Serena came out of jump about halfway between the star and the Suram planet and began moving toward them. A jump back to Dodra’s system was precalculated and entered so it could be activated in a millisecond if necessary. As they approached, they were met by a fleet of 37 Suram ships in a radial formation, and all had their shields down. They were broadcasting a message about h
ow thankful they were that Jane and Serena had freed them from their oppressors.
Serena stopped and waited. When she did, the Suram ships also stopped, and then their message changed. They asked for mercy and also asked how they could serve their new master. Jane had Serena message back that no services were required as long as peace was maintained. A conversation of several hours ensued. Jane learned that the Suram of the Small Magellanic Cloud were much more organized than the Nuste. The entire galaxy was ruled by a sort of council, and the entire council was on one of the ships in the fleet that had approached Serena. The council expressed their awe and admiration that a single, small ship had so easily defeated the powerful Potriem, panicking them and causing them to quickly flee, promising never to return. They pledged their eternal friendship and loyalty to Jane and Serena and asked for their protection.
As the conversation continued, Jane explained that her people were people of warm planets where water was a liquid, and so there was no reason for them to be in conflict. The council quickly agreed and ceded all planets too warm for them to Jane specifically in return for her continued protection. They then transmitted a list of all such planets and their locations to Serena. The list marked those planets with a large biomass, which they felt would be of special interest, and they said that their short-lived probes had never detected any sign of civilization or intelligence on any of the warm planets. The meeting concluded with specific plans as to when and where they would meet again.
Before Jane returned to the Large Magellanic Cloud and Shanna, she jumped to a dozen of the planets the Suram had marked as being of possible special interest. In every case, Jane found the planets were very Earthlike, with forests, jungles, plains, and even large herds of herbivores. She remembered learning that some unknown race, some billions of years before, had come through the Milky Way galaxy, seeding the suitable planets with life. Apparently, the same thing had happened here, and if so, the life on these worlds would be quite similar to that found on the planets in the Milky Way, and the atmospheres were fine for humans. Jane returned to Shanna personally owning approximately 100,000 Earthlike worlds, and a much larger number of warm planets which were not Earthlike. The percentage of Earthlike planets in both Magellanic Clouds was less than in the Milky Way, because both galaxies contain more hydrogen and helium and less of the heavier elements. To’Ach’an law is clear. If you discover it or are the first to visit it, you own it. Jane not only had a list, with locations and descriptions, which counted as discovery, but had also been ceded the planets by the current residents of the galaxy. Thus, she legally and personally owned them. Of course, nobody had ever owned a whole galaxy before. Naturally, the little fleet of To’Ach’an ships and the people on them also now owned the warm planets in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The number was not as certain but was probably about 10 times the count from the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Scouting and exploring a brand new planet is inherently dangerous. The first people to land don’t know what dangers may be waiting. There could be pathogens, parasites, dangerous predators, venomous and poisonous animals and plants, and lots more. The To’Ach’an power suits provide very good physical protection, but nothing is absolute. By chance the first system they had visited contained a very good prospect, and so several teams went to the surface to explore. Robert was the first to put a foot on the planet’s surface. Three weeks later they had a pretty good idea of the main dangers. In general, the planet was no more dangerous than Earth. Now, Earth is still a pretty dangerous place, and was more so before humans eliminated many of the dangers, so the planet, which they named Janakara, was still not benign. They picked out several nice areas and began installation of some bases. After about three weeks of the initial exploration, Shanna and Robert headed back to Earth to check on things there.
Chapter 13, Angela Again
When Robert arrived back on Earth, one of his first stops was at the clinic in Tucson. He wanted to see how well it was shaping up. Maria was glad to show him around again. They were up to having about 3500 of their 5000 tanks occupied, but the demand was still rising. Luckily Jonu had a large organization to draw from for staff. As automated as they were, they were still busy. While he was there, Maria arranged a meeting with a woman who wanted to work for the To’Ach’an. She was a whale biologist named Angela. Maria seemed to think this situation was quite humorous.
Robert borrowed a meeting room at the clinic and had Angela brought by. Taika Mota brought her in and sat in the back of the room. Angela brought her suitcase. When she came in, Robert said, “That’s a big purse. Do you always use a rolling purse?”
Angela laughed. “No, but I am hoping for a job, and I wanted to be ready to start right away. I mean, you wouldn’t need a marine biologist right here. Also, I am willing to sign an unlimited services contract or whatever you want, and you don’t have to pay me. I will work for room and board.”
Robert paused a moment, and then said, “Do you know what an unlimited services contract is, and what it implies?”
“Yes sir. It means you could assign me any job you like, use me for sex, and physically punish me if you choose. I’m sure there is a lot more. I am OK with all of that.”
“Really? Do you have any experience?” In the back of the room, Taika was suppressing a laugh.
Angela turned a little red. “Well, I have a PhD in marine biology, but I have never worked in the field.”
“What about the sex?” Taika looked to be in serious pain trying not to laugh.
Angela got a lot redder. “I’m a virgin, but I have read several books.”
Robert said, “I see. Well, strip and let’s see what we’re working with here.” Taika lost it completely and started laughing.
Angela looked back at Taika. “What’s so funny?” She turned back to Robert. “What do you mean?”
Robert never even smiled. “I thought that was self-explanatory. To strip means to remove all of your clothing. You probably do it every time you shower.”
Angela stood up and slowly began to unbutton her shirt. Taika was still trying to control her laughter. By the time Angela got down to her bra and panties, Taika couldn’t take any more.
“Angela, you know he’s just messing with you, right?” She was still laughing.
Angela was stunned into silence. She just looked at Robert. “You are messing with me? You mean like teasing me? You don’t really want me to strip?”
Robert finally smiled. “I don’t care either way. I was just teasing you. To’Ach’an have kind of a rough sense of humor. Sorry. You can finish getting naked or get dressed. Your choice. Nudity is not a taboo with us.”
Angela glared at Robert and then took off her undergarments. “OK, there you go. I’m naked.”
Robert kept smiling. “So you are. You are quite pretty. Now, about the job. Do you have any objection to going off planet?”
That question caught Angela off guard. “You mean into space?”
“Well, briefly. It is hard to get to other planets without going through space. My friends and I have recently discovered quite a few Earthlike planets that are completely undeveloped and have never been visited by humans before.”
That caught Taika’s attention. “Wait a minute. How many is quite a few?”
“Probably at least a million.”
Now Taika was stunned into silence for a few moments. “You aren’t kidding, are you? That’s why you have been gone these past weeks. Is the Empire going to try to take them?”
Robert shook his head. “No way they could even try. They aren’t in this galaxy, and the empire has no way to map the jump points. Nobody but us could get there.” He turned back to Angela. “We are going to need people to study these planets, and that includes a marine biologist. Would you be interested in studying the oceans on a completely pristine world?”
Angela forgot about being naked. “Of course. That would be awesome. We will need more people to do a real planetary survey.” She was jumping up and down in exc
itement. “What kind of equipment is there?”
Robert pushed her into a chair and looked meaningfully at Taika. She got the hint, sat next to Angela and held her hand. Angela started to settle down as the healer sort of fed calmness into her through her hand.
Robert answered her. “These are pristine worlds. There is almost nothing there at all right now, but we will get what you need. We will, of course, use airships, not boats. Our airships can function just as well under water as they can in atmosphere or vacuum, and at pretty much any depth you are likely to encounter. We also have much better scanners and other equipment than you are used to using. Don’t worry, we will have what you need.”
Robert continued. “It’s already been explained to me why you have problems getting a job here on Earth. We don’t care about any of that. Now, you did dig a bit of a hole for yourself. You probably know that we don’t negotiate, right?”
Angela answered, “Yes, I know.”
“Well, you made an offer. You said you wanted to work for us. You further said you would sign an unlimited services contract and work for room and board, and that you could start immediately. I can either accept or decline that offer. Those are my choices. Anything else would be negotiating. I accept. You can sign the contract today.”
Taika was still laughing. “I’ll see that we get the contract signed. I presume it’s to you.”
Robert got up to leave. “Yes, send her up to Shanna as soon as it’s signed.”
Chapter 14, Contact
After concluding business on Earth, Robert and Shanna travelled back to the Large Magellanic Cloud. Things had really progressed while they were gone. The bases on Janakara were pretty much finished. In addition, they had installed a series of communication repeaters between the Milky Way Galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and the Small Magellanic Cloud. A few more were installed in the two Magellanic Clouds. These allowed normal communication between ships in any of those locations. Since Jane and Serena were off in the Small Magellanic Cloud, this allowed Robert to contact her and let her know he was back. She sent a message back. “You may want to get over here pretty soon. We have a major development.”