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Offspring Ch. 001

By: Talemaster



I have seen a lot of pussy in my life, but never anything like this. I mean, the fucking thing had feathers instead of pubic hair. Small, downy things, like you find on a freshly hatched chicken, bright yellow and soft, but feathers just the same. Though strange, the overall effect was incredibly erotic.

I should have been prepared for something like this, it simply had never occurred to me.

***

I was stranded on Okton4, one of the smaller planets in the Orion belt. Slightly bigger than Earth, it has a breathable atmosphere and is inhabited by a humanoid race that we call unimaginatively Oktonians. On first inspection, they could be mistaken for human, if it wasn't for the wings on their backs. Only the size of a large dinner plate each, they move in intricate ways whenever Oktonians talk. Brilliantly coloured, the wings display patterns that range from simple geometric shapes to incredibly complex designs. Our scientists say the colours are artificially applied and could possibly represent some sort of caste system. 

Oktonians are oviparous, that means they lay eggs. That also means that their females have no breasts, and are, while clothed, indistinguishable from the males. You would think that the absence of mammaries as well as their bald heads would kill any erotic ideas in a human. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their large, blue, expressive eyes and their naturally pouty lips, together with the graceful way in which they move could give a corpse an erection.

Obviously an advanced race, our scientist guess their technology to be centuries ahead of ours, virtually nothing is known about their civilisation. The interstellar spaceport that is open to offworlders is on a island about fifty miles in diameter in the middle of a massive ocean. It is perfectly circular, completely flat and looks artificial. The buildings are utilitarian and indistinguishable from those of other interstellar ports, showing no local style. There is no vegetation, nor any sign of wildlife, not even birds or insects. The rest of the planet is off limits. We know they have huge cities, that much is visible from space, but that's about it.

There has never been an attempt to land a ship outside the spaceport. Several Oktonian spaceships are in permanent orbit around the planet, discouraging any idea of conquest or infiltration. These ships are so large, they make our biggest warships look like lifeboats. The consensus is that a race who can build ships like these has weapons that are best not put to the test. 

As a result Okton4 is the safest and most peaceful place in the known universe, or so we think. No one, and I mean no one, fucks with Oktonians.

In spite of their imposing presence they are an unassuming and charming lot. They appear to have no territorial ambitions, being quite content to live in their own system. Just how many populated words are part of their system is also unknown since travel within a defined area is also off limits to outsiders. Any attempt to enter the proscribed areas is met with the presence of several of their warships and a polite request to refrain from travelling farther. No one tries any more.

***

Of all the weird places in the universe I had to get stuck here. I had been on board a mining company vessel on my way to a new assignment when we were ordered to Okton4. On arrival we were boarded by officers of the Interstellar Federation and informed the mining company who owned the vessel had gone belly up. The vessel was impounded and ordered to go to wherever repossessed space ships go. The crew was retained for the journey. I, being the only passenger on board, was unceremoniously tossed off the ship with my belongings and told I was on my own. When I asked what was to happen to me they gave me a card and told me to take it up with the receivers.

So there I was with no job, no ticket out and no prospects on this miserable concrete island. To say I was pissed off would be a monstrous understatement. Luckily I wasn't broke. The last ten years had been good to me. Most people would consider me wealthy.

I had been working in far off places where the pay was more than good and where there were few opportunities to spend it. Food and accommodation was found. I only drink beer when I go on the piss, which is usually cheap and, since I don't gamble, most of my pay and my bonuses had gone straight into my account. I could afford a first class ticket to anywhere and retire in relative comfort, if I so chose. 

I asked the senior officer of the Feds who had pulled me off the vessel where there was a good place to stay. I told him I wasn't short of funds and would like something decent with a bit of comfort. He said if I would care to wait until he was finished processing the paperwork he would be pleased to take me to somewhere suitable. An hour later we were on our way. He took me to a hotel and stayed with me as I booked in. We had a few drinks together afterwards. He told me his name was Arden and that he'd be happy to show me around a bit once I was settled in. I liked the guy. He gave me his phone number. We parted as friends.

I went to my room and hung my clothes up. The room had the feel of a hotel room in an upmarket Singapore hotel, expensively, but unimaginatively furnished. Impersonal and staid. I didn't think I would spend a lot of time there.

By the time I had all my gear stowed I was feeling hungry. The dining room was busy. Mostly senior officers from the freighters in port. Oktonian waitresses served at the tables. The food looked as good as any you can get in a major space port. I was surprised to find T-bone steak on the menu and ordered some; medium rare with pepper sauce, mashed potatoes and a salad with Roquefort dressing. It was every inch as good as on Earth. I asked the waitress where it had come from and she said it was food from Earth. It amazed me you could get something like this on Okton4. When I showed surprise she told me they had lots of Earth food because of the Pumpernickel.

Before I could ask her what that was all about some other customer demanded her attention. I made a note to ask Arden when I saw him next.

By that time I was weary and had an early night. The room had, apart from the en- suite bathroom a cubicle with a humpbot. I made use of it before I went to bed. It was an older model, barely better than the blow up sex dolls of the 20th century, but it did did get my rocks off. I slept okay after that.

***

I woke up in the morning with a monstrous hard on. A piss and a shower later the fucking thing still refused to go down. After that rather disappointing romp with the humpbot the night before, which I didn't want to repeat, I had to resort to pulling myself off like a schoolboy. There had to be a better way, even on this godforsaken piece of concrete. I decided to make some enquiries. There must be some whores somewhere, every spaceport had them.

After breakfast I had a bit of a look around. There wasn't much to see. The usual offices of the freight forwarders, some commodity traders, the Feds and the usual hotels, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and so forth. Nothing I hadn't seen before. Everything was in easy walking distance from each other. There was only pedestrian traffic. I guessed that goods vehicles moved at night or underground.

I quickly got bored with the place and went for a drink in one of the numerous bars. I was probably a bit early, there were only a handful of customers. I sat at the bar and ordered a beer. I couldn't tell if the person behind the bar was male or female, they all wore pretty much the same gear, some sort of uniform, I guessed.

When you are new in a town and want to get laid you either ask a taxi driver or a bar tender. They all know where the whores are. Many of them get a commission for referring clients. I decided to start my search right here.

"Would you know where a man get get a bit of adult entertainment around here?" I asked when my beer arrived.

"You mean you want to know where you can get a fuck?" was the disarming reply.

"Well ... yes."

"You must get yourself a permit first."

"A what?" I had never heard of a place where you needed a permit to fuck a whore.

"A permit. You get it from the Oktonian liaison officer in your hotel. It involves a medical check up and a briefing as to what is allowed and what not. After that you are free to have sex with any Oktonian woman here on the space port. Without permit no one will touch you."

"You mean humans can have sex with Oktonians?"

"Oh yes. We might bear our young in a different way to you humans, but I can assure you the procedure required to get there is very similar."

"How will I know who is an Oktonian woman and who is a man?"

"There are no Oktonian males on this island. All women here are ready and willing to have sex with humans. All you need to do is ask, but your liaison officer will tell you all about this."

"What about human women?"

"Human women are not allowed to disembark. Women aboard a space ship are confined to the ship while on Okton4."

At that time a group of spacers entered the bar. The barmaid leaned over and said quickly: "Get your permit and come and see me. I'll teach you proper Oktonian sex. You'll love it, I guarantee."

By that time the spacers were crowding around the bar and she was busy. I finished my beer and left.

Offspring Ch. 002



I went back to my hotel and had a few beers. Finally I had enough Dutch courage to go to the service counter and asked to speak to the liaison officer.

"You want to see her about a permit?" the girl asked.

"Yes."

The girl picked up the telephone and had a short conversation with someone in a language I had never heard before. After she hung up she filled in a form and gave it to me.

"She will see you tomorrow at ten AM. You will find everything you need to know on the form."

I thanked her and went back to the bar. There wasn't much on the form. Apart from the location of her office and her telephone number it simply asked me to refrain from sex, any kind of sex, until after the interview, as a sperm sample was required for the tests. It said nothing about not drinking so I got myself pissed out of sheer boredom. I wasn't all that steady when I went up to my room. I threw myself on the bed and must have passed out, for I was still fully dressed when I woke up hours later.

***

Luckily I don't get hangovers. After a shower and a change of clothes I felt like new and went downstairs for breakfast. I had some pancakes with maple syrup, bacon and eggs, coffee and orange juice. Real Earth food again. If this place had one saving grace, it was the food. It had been many years since I had eaten that well. I had some more coffee and then it was time for my interview.

"So you want to fuck," she said instead of a greeting. "Come in and take your clothes off. I want you naked."

I must have stood there looking like an idiot. She shook her head and laughed,

"I don't know how you expect to fuck anyone if you are too shy to drop your pants in front of a female."

Reluctantly I took my gear off. When I was finished she stuck a number of electrodes on my body and connected me to a machine. While the machine did its thing she wiped my dick down with some wet cloth that smelled of disinfectant. My dick came up like an express elevator. When she was satisfied it was clean enough she stuck the tip of my dick into a jar and proceeded to pull me off. It didn't take long. 

"Very nice," she said when she looked at the contents of her jar. She switched the machine off, took the electrodes off my body and told me to get dressed again.

"I want you back here at two this afternoon. You can eat and drink whatever you like."

I went straight to the bar and had a beer. I needed it. The whole interview had taken less than an hour. It was still early. On the spur of the moment I rang up Arden and invited him for lunch. He accepted and we were dining in style a short time later.

Over lunch I told him what I'd been up to.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said.

"What's the problem?"

"No problem really. It's just that they say anyone who screws Oktonian women never leaves here. They are supposed to be the ultimate sexual experience."

"Where are they then, these men who never left?"

"On the mainland."

"I thought that was off limits."

"It is to non Oktonians, but you can become an Oktonian. No one here knows for sure what that entails, rumour has it you have to have fathered some offspring with their women to qualify."

"We can breed with them?"

"That's how rumour would have it. As I've said, none of us knows for sure. Fact is men leave for the mainland and never return. That's why the Federation and the trading houses here will only recruit homosexuals. They have lost too many good men to the Oktonians."

"This place gets more interesting by the minute. Tell me, what's the story with the Pumpernickel?"

"There's not much to tell. Oktonians are descended, at least in part, from birds. Their dietary requirements are different from ours. While they can eat our food, it's not particularly good for them. The bulk of their diet is made up of grain and seeds of one sort or another. They don't eat them raw as their forebears presumably did, but prepare them in some way. Anyway, some enterprising Earth trader, about a hundred years ago, thought he might be able to sell some of the wholegrain breads they make on Earth to the Oktonians. He imported a mixed pallet load of different breads, amongst them Pumpernickel and offered them to the locals. Whilst they quite liked most of the breads, they went completely nuts over the Pumpernickel. Today it is Okton's biggest import by a long mile. Most of it comes from Earth and arrives in huge freighters. As a sideline the traders bring in other Earth food as well, that's why it's available here in the space port. All the hotels serve it."

Arden looked at his watch and decided he needed to go back to work. He thanked me profusely for the steak and departed. I thought I had had the better end of the deal. What I had just learned was worth a lot more than the price of a steak, expensive though it was. I had a couple of beers in the bar, then it was time for part two of my interview.

I had hardly entered the office when I was told to take my clothes off again. It still felt awkward but I did it more readily this time. Maybe she was going to pull me off again. She made me sit on what I took to be a bed, more of a padded platform really, knee high, about eight feet long and four feet wide. My dick was behaving himself for once.

She stood in front of me and seemed to scrutinise me.

"Your tests worked out alright, you have passed your medical. Now I need to tell you what Oktonian sex is about. You will find it quite a different experience. There are some rules you must remember. Our wings are very delicate and also very sensitive. That means we cannot lie on our backs the way you can. It also means you are not allowed to touch them. Oral sex is taboo. 

"I realise that what is permissible probably looks to you by now like very boring and unimaginative straight sex.

"You will soon realise that there are compensations that far transcend any shallow joy you might derive from having your dick sucked. I would suggest you take on a passive role for now and let the women take the lead until you know what you are doing.

"Our bodies are different from yours. Let me show you."

I had not expected her to strip, but she did. The first thing that struck me was that bright yellow, feathered pudenda. She probably expected my show of surprise, she would have seen it before. Without saying anything she climbed on the platform, went down on her haunches, opened her legs wide and afforded me my first view of an Oktonian pussy. Apart from the feathers it wasn't all that much different from the twats I had seen in the past except it had no clit.

It smelled different though, like apricot nectar with a hint of sweaty feet. There must have been some powerful pheromones hiding in that smell because my dick jumped up and became as rigid as a baseball bat as soon as I noticed it. She shuffled aside and said: "Come up here and lie on your back."

I did as I was asked and as soon as I was in position she straddled me and without the use of her hands slipped her very moist pussy over my rod to the hilt and just stayed there. For a second or two nothing happened. Then my dick started to feel warm. It felt like a warm effervescent liquid was entering me there, gradually filling up all of my body, spreading a feeling of indescribable well being as it moved. My senses shut off and internalised, there were colours, swirling to some unknown tune. I felt like I was in a sea of love and ecstasy, each molecule of mine having its own orgasm, then the sensations contracted and balled up, eventually discharging with a flood of semen into the Oktonian.

I must have blacked out about then for a while. When I came to the liaison officer was fully dressed. She asked me to put my clothes back on. Still in a daze I did as I was told. She gave me a plastic card, told me that this was my permit and shoved me out of the door. All I could think of was that I needed a drink. My head cleared after the second beer. I felt well. I could not remember ever having felt so good. I was happier than I'd ever been.

At the time it felt as if the experience had lasted well over an hour, but when I checked the time I guessed it couldn't have taken more than thirty minutes. At any rate, this was by a long shot the strangest, most satisfying, fuck of my life, if that's what it was. About the only thing it had in common with a fuck was that I had my dick in some alien pussy and had ejaculated into it. There had been no courting, however brief, no display of passion, no foreplay, no moans or screams, in fact little more than put your cock here and fuck off after the deed was done. I don't think either of us had even moved. And yet, it was an experience full of love and ecstasy. In retrospect it was more like a drug experience than a screw. Fuck or not, I just knew I was going to help myself to some more of that.

***

I slept well that night and when I woke up that feeling of well being was still there. I didn't however wake up with my usual woodie. I didn't feel horny either like I normally do at this time of day. Breakfast was as good as usual, but the joy was short lived when I went outside into the dismal everyday world of Okton4 spaceport. I checked out a couple of agents for available passage to Earth and was told the next Earth freighter was due in thirty-two days. I left them my name and the name of the hotel. They promised to let me know when something became available. Almost against my will I found myself heading for the bar where the barmaid had promised me a romp.

"Got your permit yet?" she asked when she brought my beer.

I waved my card at her.

"Come at four this afternoon when I get off here. You've had your introduction and have learned the basics. Let me show you how it all works in the real world."

I spent the rest of the day in the hotel and returned to the bar at the appointed time. She was ready to leave when I got there.

"Where to?" I asked.

"We go to your hotel," she said.

I wanted to take her by the hand but she shrunk back and said sharply: "Don't touch, you don't want to embarrass yourself." She continued in a mellower tone: "I'll show you what happens when you do that, once we are safely in private."

I was totally confused, but when in Rome.......

When we arrived at the hotel she went straight to the service desk. She asked for my permit and showed it to the girl behind the counter. The girl swiped the card into a computer and handed it back to me together with a key. It said forty-seven on the tag. My escort evidently knew where we had to go and took the lead. I followed like a lamb to the slaughter.

The room was bare except for the now familiar humping platform in the centre and what looked like a fancy towel rack, presumably for our clothes.

"You wanted to know what happens when you touch me," the barmaid said as soon as she had closed the door behind her. "Here, touch."

As soon as I touched her hand my dick went up like a rocket straining against my pants.

"I didn't think you wanted to walk all the way to your hotel like this," she said with a grin.

I thanked her for being considerate.

"You are in my charge," she said. "You had your introduction yesterday, I am here to deliver lesson one."

"Lesson one? How many lessons are there?" I was dumbfounded.

"As many as you need until you master the art. Oktonian sex is an intricate system of immensely satisfying techniques. You will want to learn them all. And now, get undressed, we are wasting time."

We took our clothes off and she made me lie on my back. She straddled me, but paused when she was in position..

"Who was the most beautiful and loving woman you have ever made love to? Tell me her name."

"Linette."

"I want you to close your eyes and picture Linette. Are you picturing her now?"

"Yes."

At that moment she impaled herself on me, except it wasn't her, it was Linette. I was floating in space, coupled with Linette. We made love for a very long time in that gentle loving fashion that had been Linette's way. When I finally reached orgasm it was as mind blowing as the last one. Again I must have blacked out because when I opened my eyes the barmaid was fully dressed.

"I think you are beginning to see the possibilities," she said. "Tomorrow at the same time you will show your permit to the girl at the service desk, She will give you a key to a room. There another lady will be waiting for you to teach lesson two. Good luck. Don't forget to hand the room key in."

The barmaid left without further word and without a backward glance.

I returned the room key. When I checked the time I noticed only half an hour had passed. It had seemed much, much longer.

Over a beer I tried to take stock. This was turning into the biggest adventure of my life. No way I was going to miss out, no matter where it led. 



Offspring Ch. 003



In the morning I checked my finances. They had charged me quite handsomely for the permit and the use of the room yesterday. If the girls were getting a share of this I didn't find out. It didn't show up as an item on the invoices. I didn't care. I had invested my money well. Even at my current rate of expenditure I was earning more than I was spending. I could keep this up for as long as I wanted. I was happy.

My day consisted mostly of eating, drinking and wasting time. All I wanted was my next lesson. It dawned on me that I was beginning to behave like a junkie, living from one fix to the next. I brushed the thought aside the minute it occurred. I was having an extraordinary adventure, it was only natural to be fixated on it for the time being. That was all, or so I told myself.

Eventually the appointed hour arrived, I picked up my key and went to the shagging room. The Oktonian chick was already there. As before, there was no introduction, no name. She told me to strip and lie on my back. She undressed also and straddled me. As soon as her pussy odour hit me my dick made handstands.

As she hovered over me she said: "Yesterday you fucked the love of your life again. Today I want you to do something different. Was there a woman in your life whom you always wanted to fuck, but never did?"

Was there ever! I just nodded as the memory came back.

"Tell me about her."

"We knew her as Miss Manning. I would have been around thirteen. She was my physics and chemistry teacher. Not much to look at, short, a bit dumpy, with big tits and an unashamed exhibitionist. She'd forever bend forward and give us boys a look at her tits and nipples. Never more than that. All us boys used to wank ourselves silly over her."

"Was there a particular place you associate with her?"

"Yes, there was a small office. She would call us boys in under some pretext and play her games there. I guess she was afraid of getting caught."

"Wonderful. I want you to picture her in her office. Pay particular attention to your surroundings. The objective of today's lesson is to get you to create a perfectly realistic scenario for your sexual excursion."

I did as I was asked. As soon as she slipped me inside her I was there. Right in front of Miss Manning, all of thirteen years old. Miss Manning did her usual teasing act and I got hard. This time she didn't stop there. She stepped up to me knelt down, took my prick out and gave it a suck.

"Oh, I love young cock," she said after a while. She sat on the edge of her desk lifted her skirt, pushed her pants to one side and said: "Put it in there young stud, I want it."

I didn't need any more encouragement, I was inside and rooting the crap out of her as fast as I could manage. Again that mind blowing orgasm as I emptied myself into that Oktonian woman. Again I blacked out and awoke with her fully dressed.

"Tomorrow lesson three. Same time, same place," she said and left.

As I got dressed I noticed something odd. My dick was perfectly dry and didn't smell. By rights he should have been wet and reeking of that powerful Oktonian pussy juice. I had obviously been cleaned up while I was unconscious. I wondered what that meant. 

Over a beer I thought about my latest escapade. It was obvious the women were teaching me to gain control over these illusions, if that's what they were. I could see that in time I would be skilled enough to screw anyone in any scenario I chose. Some very fancy way of wanking perhaps. There seemed to be more to it than that though. With Linette everything was as expected. No surprises there. Anything we did in the illusion we had done before. 

Miss Manning was a different proposition altogether. When I had conjured her up I had only thought about tearing her clothes off and screwing her. Instead, in the illusion, she had taken the initiative and really surprised me when she slid her pants to one side to give me access instead of pulling them down or not wearing any to start with. Where had that come from? It had felt like the real thing, not like a figment of my imagination.

My head was spinning so I concentrated on a few beers before going to dinner.

***

Over the next few weeks I gained more and more control over my experiences. However, the control extended to the scenario, the choice of sex partner and my own form. Once the parameters were set, things happened as they might within that scenario. There were many surprises. I remember conjuring up Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons during the Trojan war. First she beat the crap out of me, then she raped me and tried to cut my throat as I was ejaculating. Luckily I vanished as the knife was about to touch my neck. Needless to say, I didn't try this a second time. Screwing a cow in the form of a bull was interesting but not really my thing. Dragons were different. They had amazing ways of coupling in mid flight. I went there often. 

Two Earth freighters came and went, but I was not on them. I was having too much fun. 

I screwed myself through history. I started right at the beginning with Eve. She was a giggle, I liked her. Jezebel, Cleopatra and Lucrezia Borgia were whores and a lot of fun, Messalina had a cunt like an army boot and Guinevere liked it up the arse. I even tried the Virgin Mary when she was a teenager, She was a lousy lay. And no, she wasn't a virgin, not even then.

I screwed myself through Greek mythology. By far the most passionate and the most beautiful was Aphrodite. Hera was too demanding for my taste, as you would expect from someone used to screwing Zeus. Demeter and Hestia were sweet and loving.

The Norse gods were a disappointment. Cold, calculating bitches. I didn't try many of them.

The sex part was working beautifully. As to the Oktonian women, I never got to know them any better. Apart from the fact that it was never the same woman twice I couldn't talk to them about anything other than everyday mundane things and their way of having sex. It was a very one sided relationship. I was having a lot of fun for sure, but all they seemed to want was a pussy full of come and then disappear. It seemed incongruous that a race who had such awe inspiring technology had such dumb and uninteresting women.

Anyway, after a while all that screwing around, as satisfying as it was, started to lose its shine. I wouldn't say I was getting bored with it but I felt I needed something more. It was on one of my trysts with Cleopatra when I discovered something new. I liked her and she was fascinated with me. 

Cleopatra was a very well educated woman with a passionate interest in alchemy and magic. She believed me to be some supernatural being she had conjured up with one of her rituals. I left her in her belief for it gave me status; she was in awe of me. Anyway, on the occasion in question, I had timed my arrival rather badly, so I thought. She was in a foul mood, swearing like a trooper and throwing things around. My sudden appearance calmed her somewhat. I asked her what the matter was.

"Those arseholes Cassius and Brutus are giving me a hard time," she complained. "They want me to finance their war with Rome. They are threatening me with invasion if I refuse to support them. I don't like those pricks, they killed Caesar with their own hands. Besides, I don't think they'll last much longer against Octavian and Anthony." 

"So why are you in such a bad mood? Can I help in any way?"

"No, you can't help me with this. It's just that I've had a horrible disaster on my hands."

"What happened?"

"I decided to take position against the murderers, assembled a fleet and sailed to support Rome. On the way we got mauled by a violent storm, I got sick and had to return with a decimated fleet."

It wasn't all that big of a disaster for her, her pride was hurt more than anything. Eventually her mood settled somewhat and we started talking about chemical reactions and philosophy for a while. We had something to eat and some wine. It seemed to do her some good, she was much calmer and balanced now. When we finally wound up in bed it was as lively as ever and I got kicked out of her realm on orgasm. I had been with her the best part of a whole day.

When I woke up again on Okton4 I wondered what would happen now. I had never been away for that long on any of my excursions. I was expecting to be reprimanded. Nothing happened. When I checked, no more time had passed than the normal half hour. The Oktonian woman seemed unaware that there was something different this time.

Over a few beers I thought the whole episode over. It appeared that I could go wherever I wanted to as soon as I was inside an Oktonian pussy and did not have to return until I blew my wad. Maybe I could stay in these spaces for weeks, months or even years. Maybe I could even find out what these spaces were and how they related to our reality. I had found that bit extra I had been looking for, I would never get bored now.



Offspring Ch. 004



The next thing I tried with Cleopatra again. I told her in rough and ready terms how my travel worked, leaving the Oktonians out of it. I just said I needed to picture her and her surrounds very vividly if I wanted to visit her and that me coming to orgasm was the end of the trip. I told her I wanted to see what would happen if I masturbated myself to climax. Cleopatra was a good sport. She was not in the slightest put out by my suggestion and proposed we masturbate together, just looking at each other being about six feet apart. The moment I shot my wad I disappeared to Okton again. That stupid Oktonian woman never knew the difference.

This was a monumental discovery for me. It meant I did not need to fuck a woman at the other end to go back. I was free to virtually travel to anywhere as long as I focussed on a contemporary woman in the area and time I wanted to visit and pulled my putz to go home again.

On my next lesson I pictured a maiden aunt of mine whom I had always been very fond of. She lived on her own in a small village in what used to be Germany, in a picturesque cottage next to a forest. I made myself about 16 years old and arrived on my bicycle as I had done in my younger days. She was happy to see me. I stayed with her for a week, helping with repairs around the house, chopping wood and tidying up the garden. When I left, I travelled until I was out of sight, hid behind some bushes and pulled myself off. Instantly I was back on Okton4, the Oktonian woman not being any the wiser. Now I was cooking with gas. This was getting really exciting.

When I thought about my latest adventure I started wondering if the whole thing had anything to do with sex at all. Good old aunty Agatha had never appealed to me in a sexual way, nor had I imagined her as a sex object when I went on my journey. I felt that perhaps any focus would do. 

I was very apprehensive about my next experiment. I had no idea how that would land with the Oktonians, whether it would get the whole thing undone or whether it would go unnoticed as it had done until now. Whatever the risks, I just had to try.

When I was a youngster there was a place I would go to if I wanted to be on my own. It was a rocky ledge above a creek, way into the forest about a mile from home. It was awkward to get to. You actually had to wade in the creek some of the way to get to it. As far as I knew no one else ever went there.

That became my destination on the next session with the Oktonian ladies. I arrived there without problems as a thirteen year old and finished my little excursion by masturbating into the creek like I had done many times before. Again there was no reaction from the Oktonian woman. They either didn't know what I was doing or they didn't care.

***

That part was working very well. Nevertheless, I was getting restless. In spite of the excellent food, Okton4 was a sterile, staid place with very little joy for an adventurous spirit. The bars and coffee shops were filled with the crews and officers of the freighters, all males. Some of them were interesting characters, but they never stayed long enough to form any sort of relationship. As to the resident expatriates, they were homosexual males without exception whose main interest outside their work seemed to be exploring the buttocks of their co-workers. Many of them were outright hostile to heterosexual males such as myself. Arden was different. In spite of his fellow queers giving him a hard time over his friendship with a straight, he stayed loyal and was my only intelligent contact on that God-forsaken concrete island.

After a while I started telling him a little of my adventures. He didn't seem all that interested, suggesting that Oktonian pussy juice contained some powerful hallucinogenic that affected humans. He must have taken what I said more seriously than I had thought, because two weeks later I was asked to come to his office. It was an official request.

I am only a humble mining engineer who works the offworlds. My kind is totally dependent on the goodwill of the Interstellar Federation. When they ask for something it's not a request, it's an order. I wondered what they wanted. I've always kept my nose clean and stayed away from dicey business, still, I was worried why they wanted to talk to me officially.



Offspring Ch. 005



I arrived at Arden's office at the appointed time. There were two armed guards in his office who asked me to follow them. I asked if I was under arrest. 

"No," said one of the guards, "but you will be if you don't come with us."

There was no point in arguing with them. They frisked me for weapons and when they decided I was clean took me to the basement in the elevator and to a vehicle. We drove a short way underground and emerged on the spaceport tarmac a short while later. There was a Federation cruiser parked about a mile away; our destination.

On arrival I was blindfolded and escorted into what turned out to be a lift, then there was a walk along a corridor by the sound of it and we went into some room. Once inside the room the blindfold was removed and I found myself in front of a Federation general, still flanked by the gorillas. By that time I was well and truly shitting myself.

The general dismissed the guards and addressed me.

"My apologies, Mr. Walters. We had to make it look right for the Oktonians. A bit hard on the nerves, I know, but from what I've heard about you, you're a tough candidate, you can handle it. Come with me please."

We went into an adjacent room. It was sparsely furnished. There was a table and a few chairs, not much else. I was asked to sit on one side, the general sat on the other and was joined by two women, one in the uniform of a colonel, the other one a captain. I was sure I recognised the colonel, she looked older since I had seen her last, but it had to be her. By now I was getting an idea what this was all about.

"Names do not matter here, Mr. Walters, you will address us by our rank," said the colonel.

"If that's the way you want it Colonel Saraswati, so be it. You are Lata Saraswati, the famous anthropologist, aren't you?"

"You know me?" She looked like a stunned mullet.

I couldn't help myself. I just had to get a dig in. "If you guys had done your homework properly you would have known that you were lecturing at my university when I was a student. I used to sit in on your lectures whenever I had a chance. I wasn't one of your students, so you wouldn't remember me, but I remember you for sure. I guess we are here because you want me to brief you on what I know about the Oktonians."

"You are correct," she said, "that's why we are here."

"Alright," I said, "this is how we are going to play it. If we need to keep up some scam to prevent the Oktonians from guessing what we are doing I am quite happy to go along. Just tell me what you want me to do. Apart from that, no more of that military bullshit. Let's discuss the matter like civilised academics. I am quite happy to tell you everything I know. I have some questions of my own you might be able to help me with Dr. Saraswati. But please, let us adjourn to some more civilised surroundings. I don't respond very well to this inquisitorial setup. Besides, my dear Doctor, you look much prettier in a dress."

"You are a man of many surprises Mr. Walters." For the first time she smiled when she said that.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, Darlin'." I replied.

She laughed at the cliché. We went to what looked at a small club room adjacent to a bar. The ladies and the general excused themselves and left me with an orderly. He offered me some coffee, I asked for a beer. He served the beer without comment. I lit a cigarette and awaited proceedings.

Two beers later the ladies turned up without the general, both in dresses this time. 

"Sorry it took so long. I needed to pull a few strings to get your conditions accepted. This is Dr. Bernice Schreiber, my offsider. She is also an anthropologist." Then she surprised me. "Perhaps it would be best to dispense with formalities altogether and call each other by our first names. Is that alright with you Frank?"

I grinned. "I've always thought you were the cleverest woman I've ever come across. You proved it again, Lata."

She actually blushed. She shook her head, as if to get rid of an unwanted thought and said: "Let's get to work then."

I poured myself another beer, lit a cigarette and began with my tale. I started with my arrival on Okton4 and my introduction to Oktonian sex. Bernice was making notes on a small computer. I was sure the interview was being recorded as well. I got as far as Miss Manning when I decided it was enough for the day.

"Look, ladies, " I said, "I need to break off here and make tracks back to the hotel. I don't want to interrupt the routine, I don't know what might happen if I miss my next lesson. Let's continue this tomorrow."

The ladies agreed. The guards went through the rigmarole of blindfolding me until we were in the car. On the way back they told me that, if I was asked, I had to tell the Oktonians I was giving evidence in a massive fraud case and that I wasn't permitted to talk about it. If the Oktonians were persistent I was to refer them to the Federation judge. This made sense, since everybody who mattered on Okton4 knew I was stranded here because the company I had worked for had gone belly up.

Sure enough, when I went for my session I was pulled up by the liaison officer. She wanted to know what the Feds wanted of me. I gave her the party line. When she asked if I had been involved in anything untoward I said that I had never been an employee of the company, but merely a contract engineer. The judge simply wanted to know what I had observed over the years. She was happy with that and cleared me for the next lesson.

***

That day I went back to Cleopatra for a bit of fun. She was always happy to see me.

Over the next few days I told Lata and Bernice everything that had happened and what I thought about it. They never interrupted me or asked questions. That, I knew, would come later.

In my lessons I had done nothing new, mainly visiting places where I had been already. When I had brought my tale up to date Lata asked me a question that floored me.

"Why do you think you are still receiving lessons? They don't seem to be teaching you any more. From what you are telling me you have been freewheeling for a while now. None of the others have lasted longer than a month before they were whisked off to the mainland. Why not you?"

"That is an interesting question Lata. I've never asked myself that because I didn't know what happened to the others." Then I had an idea. "Lata," I asked, "can you get me the bank balance of everyone on the day they went to the mainland?"

"I'm sure I can. Why do you want that?"

"Just a hunch at this time, please humour me for now, I might well be wrong."

It was time to get back to the hotel. Nothing special happened. Again I didn't try anything exotic. Afterwards I sat in the bar and over a few beers I had an outrageous idea. I wondered if Lata would play ball if I asked her.

Lata had the figures I had asked for when I turned up in the morning. 

The figures showed what I had suspected.

"Look," I said, "They had spent all their money. At the time they left all were broke."

"I see that. So what?"

"The Oktonians charge quite heavily for their services. With the hotel, the food, the sex and a few beers, it's costing me over a thousand credits a day. I can afford it, the others couldn't. That's why they took them to the mainland."

"But why? If they can't pay, what do the Oktonians get out of it?"

"As far as I can tell they are harvesting human sperm. It's the only thing that makes sense. I am different to the others, with me they get their sperm and get paid on top of it. As long as I have money they won't invite me to the mainland. Why should they?"

"What do they want human sperm for?"

"Rumour has it they can breed with us. Maybe they fertilise their eggs with our sperm. What kind of hybrid that would produce I can only guess at. Whatever the purpose, it must be valuable to them or they wouldn't go so far out of their way to collect sperm. Tell me, how do Oktonians pay for their imports?"

"There is only one Oktonian export commodity, lithium. It is exported as what we call on Earth Zabuyelite, a natural mineral form of lithium carbonate. It is very rare. There are only five small deposits of it known on Earth. They seem to have lots of it."

"They sell the mineral form and not the pure metal? That must be prohibitively expensive as far as freight is concerned."

"It is. It's still worth it though. Federation traders have been trying to get the Oktonians to supply them with the metal instead, so far without success."

"I wonder why that is. You'd think with their technology it would be a pushover."

"Someone needs to go there. We would love to know what goes on in this place."

"It doesn't seem to be difficult to go there, many have done that. For some reason they can't communicate with us once they are there. Therein lies the problem. There is perhaps a way to do this. Are you game to try something really wild? If you are, I want to discuss that with you on your own, without witnesses." I turned to Bernice. "No disrespect Bernice."

Lata stared at me. She seemed unsure whether she wanted to hear more. In the end she took courage, dismissed Bernice and said: "What do you have in mind?"

"Please don't be offended, but I need to ask you something first. If, as part of an adventurous scientific experiment, it became necessary for you to screw me, would you do it?"

Lata stared at me in total disbelief. Eventually she said: "What did you just say?"

I repeated the question.

"This is the worst sexual come-on I have ever heard. Are you nuts?"

"No, oddly enough I'm not."

"You better have a good explanation for asking me that or there will be real trouble."

"Tell me Lata, you've heard of all my adventures with the Oktonians, can you tell me where or when I've been? Was I time travelling? Was I teleporting through universes? Or, was I simply hallucinating?"

"I have no idea."

"Wouldn't you like to find out?"

"I'd give my right arm if I knew the answer to that."

"That won't be necessary. The possible use of your cooch will be quite sufficient."

"Before I report you for sexual harassment you better explain yourself right now."

"What I have in mind is simple enough. When I go later for my lesson I'll focus on you in your bedroom, say at ten o'clock tonight. If it's a hallucination, nothing will happen. If it's not, you'll get laid. You need to go through with it though. I want it to be straight, with as few variables as possible."

"You are crazy."

"Perhaps. It's worth a try though."

"Why me?"

"Because you are the only one I would trust with this. One thing is crucial though. If the experiment works, the military must never find out about it. They would try to use me for clandestine shit. They would also need to kill you and Bernice to keep the whole thing secret."

"Assuming it works, what would you do then?"

"Going to the mainland and visiting you every time I have some information might be one way to use this."

"What do you want to do now?"

"I take it you are game to try?"

"Yes."

"A look at your bedroom would be really helpful."

"Come on then."

It wasn't very far away. It was a simple, though comparatively spacious cabin. I pulled her inside and kissed her. Much to my surprise Lata responded. When I released her she said: "What was that for?"

"Consider it a down payment for tonight."

"You are crazy!"

A short time later the guards escorted me back to the hotel. 



Offspring Ch. 006



While I was waiting for my appointment I felt the excitement building within me. What would happen? Would it be victory or a catastrophe or would it just turn out to be a hallucination after all? The wait seemed to drag on forever. Eventually it was time.

The procedure was the same as always, I pictured Lata in her bedroom and there I was. She was lying on the bed wearing only a transparent black nightie. She looked delicious.

"Well I'll be damned," she said when I appeared. "Alright, lover boy, I promised you my cooch. Come and get it!"

Gone was the staid professor, she had become all woman. I didn't fuck her. We made love, gently and with feeling. It was wonderful. While in the throes of passion I sucked on her neck, giving her a monstrous hickey. She never even noticed. I got her to orgasm three times before I became undone and surfaced in the Oktonian shagging room. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. The Oktonian woman had her cunt full of come and I was dismissed as usual.

***

The next few hours were murder. Even if I could have contacted Lata, there would have been no point. She wouldn't get laid for hours yet, assuming it worked. There was nothing to do until morning.

Lata appeared without Bernice when the guards delivered me. She wore a scarf and was fuming with anger.

"You bastard," she yelled at me when the guards had gone, "What did you give me the hickey for? What are you? Some silly teenager?"

"Sorry, Darling. I had to do that."

"What on Earth for?"

"Anything we remember might have been subjective. The hickey is objective proof that what we remember did in fact take place. No illusion, no psychic phenomenon could have put it there, neither could you've done it to yourself, seeing where it is."

"That was clever," she admitted. "So we really had an honest to goodness romp in the hay?"

"You bet we did. And what a wonderful romp it was, I must say. I loved every minute of it."

"To be honest, so did I. You can do that to me again, any time."

"How about right now, or would that raise eyebrows if we went to your cabin for a bit of fun?"

"The general might outrank me, but I don't report to him. This is my project. He is in charge of the ship and security. I can do whatever I deem necessary."

"How about deeming it necessary?"

"Come on, lover boy, let's go."

An hour later when we were in a post coital cuddle I said to her: "This is what I have missed. The moments when all passion is spent and only tenderness remains. You see, with the Oktonian sex, if that's what it is, the moment I come it's over. It's great if you just want to get your rocks off, but that's all. This is so much better."

"Yes it is. I missed that last night."

"Tell me what happened towards the end. I need to know how it finished for you."

"When I had my final orgasm it looked like you were about to come, but instead you faded out and disappeared. Even your clothes on the floor vanished, leaving me feeling incomplete. Happy, but incomplete, if you know what I mean."

"No one must know of this, at least for now. This is dangerous territory. Tell me, what are you to do when you are finished here on Okton4?"

"I will go home to Earth and prepare a report for my superiors. I shall give them a preliminary assessment and then do a report proper. I can take my time over this, maybe even schedule another field trip. I have fairly wide discretion there. No one expects instant results. What do you think I should do now?"

"I think you should tell them that your field work is complete for now and that there is no sense in you staying here any longer. Tell them everything, except what happened in the last twenty-four hours. Let them think it's some hallucination Oktonians create to collect human sperm. Tell them we need to find out what they do with it, if possible. For that you will have to stay in touch with me and perhaps schedule another field trip if there are developments. You can contact me through Arden's office."

"What will you do? Will you go to the mainland?"

"For the moment I will leave things as they are. I don't expect any move from the Oktonians as long as I pay my way. Perhaps there is a way to get to the mainland by using their sex as a vehicle and have a bit of a look around, maybe in the form of a bird or something. I need to experiment a little. See what opportunities there are. As long as I know where you will be at any given time I will be able to visit you in real time and tell you what I find out."

"Can I help you with something?"

"Yes. I know the Federation has some evidence of cities of Okton4 somewhere. See if you can get me some images. From what I gather they are not detailed enough to do much with, but there might just be enough information on them to enable me to go there and have a peek."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. Get a microchip and the tool to insert it with, I want you to microchip me in the arm."

"What, now? Why?"

"No, not now. I will come to visit you again tonight at ten. You will microchip me then."

"What for?"

"I want to see if the chip is still in my body after I get back. We can check that tomorrow. If that is possible I have a wild idea."

"You and your wild ideas. I take it you won't tell me more until you've tested it?"

"Right. Let it be a surprise."

"In the meantime, I want you again. Do you think you could rise to the occasion?"

I could.

***

The next adventure went as planned. Lata inserted the microchip and to my surprise it was still there the next day. I asked her to take it out and have it tested. The chip was fully functional.

"What is that all about?" Lata was curious and was pestering me for an answer.

"When you get back to Earth I want you to arrange for me to have a camera and recording device implanted into my body. I know we have the technology. I might be able to record things on my travels."

"How can I get this done without giving the game away?"

"Simple. Tell them I want to know what happens in the shagging room when I am gone, why I black out and wind up with a cleaned dick and the Oktonian woman is already fully dressed when I come out of it. They'll want to know that too. It'll be enough justification to get it done."

"You are a devious bastard. Yes, they'll buy it. What now?"

"Now you go back to Earth."

"Come to my room for a couple of hours before I leave?"

"Sure thing."



Offspring Ch. 007



The Federation vessel left the next day. About a week later Arden came to see me. He had been instructed to make a secure office available for my sole use. It was to contain an interstellar communications device and a computer. He said it would be ready in a couple of days. I was issued with a card that allowed me access to the Feds building and my office. I wondered what the fuss was all about.

I got an idea three days later when I went to see my new domain. My office was on a security floor only accessible by a special lift after passing through security checks. A guard accompanied me and showed me where it was. I had expected it would be just a small cubicle with a computer and was surprised to see a spacious, well furnished office with a desk, leather chairs, a coffee machine and a well stocked bar fridge. Apart from the computer screen there was a six foot display screen mounted on the wall opposite the desk. I wondered which executive had been tossed out of here to make room for me. There had been some serious string pulling. I had obviously become very important to someone high up in the hierarchy. They wanted me to be happy.

The guard explained to me that the computer and the terminal had been programmed with my biometric data and that I was the only person authorised and able to use it. I thanked the guard and after he left I got a beer from the fridge, settled down in my comfortable leather chair and lit a cigarette. Someone had been thoughtful. There was an ashtray on my desk and a carton of my favourite cigarettes in the top drawer. I was still on my first beer when there was a knock on the door. It was a uniformed security man carrying a briefcase. He introduced himself as Colonel Nakov and asked if I could spare him an hour for a briefing. I invited him in and offered him a drink. He settled for a beer.

He came straight to the point.

"This is a security area, as you know. Everything you might witness on this floor is classified. There are two requirements to be able to work here. First I must brief you on the official secrets act. You are required to sign a copy. Breaches of the act are considered treason and are treated as such."

He then took me in detail through the act, paragraph by paragraph and asked me at the end if I understood what I had been told. When I told him that I understood what I was committing myself to he gave me three copies of the act to sign. He countersigned the papers, handed me my copy and put the remaining two in his briefcase.

"Condition number two is that you must be an officer of the Interstellar Federation. You are being offered a commission by rank of Major with the pay and privileges that rank entitles you to. You are required to wear uniform when on duty, though civilian clothes are permitted, if necessary for your work. As a matter of courtesy we would appreciate if you notified security should this arise. You have a level one security clearance, which is about as good as you can get in this place. Are you prepared to accept your commission?"

I told him I was.

He took a piece of parchment from his briefcase, donned his hat and stood up. I knew enough of military procedure to stand up as well. He offered me his hand and said: "Congratulations Major Walters. Welcome aboard."

We shook hands and he handed me my commission.

The official business over we sat down again and had another beer.

"Your uniform and your identification papers will arrive shortly by orderly. We will also arrange for a change of uniform to be delivered to your hotel. It might be a good idea to wear uniform, even when not on duty, for the next couple of weeks or so to let everyone know of your new status. We will inform the Oktonian authorities of your appointment shortly. Officially you are working here in an administrative capacity. We don't expect any problems with the Oktonians. You will be required to attend a staff meeting tomorrow morning at ten, followed by lunch in the officers mess. An orderly will call on your office shortly before ten to take you to the conference room. 

"And now, I am afraid I must attend to other duties. Congratulations Major Walters and good luck."

We shook hands again and the Colonel left. Half an hour later the orderly turned up with my uniform and a sealed package. The office had an en suite bathroom with a shower, toilet, washbasin and a built in cupboard that contained towels, toiletries and a space to hang my clothes.

The Federation treats their senior officers very well. The dark blue uniform was cut from the best material and fit as if it was tailored for me. The underwear was genuine cotton, an absolute luxury in these parts, the shoes were real leather, not the plastic shit most people wear and didn't pinch as new shoes mostly do. I had never seen myself in uniform before and had to admit I looked a million credits when I examined myself in the full length mirror. I practised standing to attention and saluting until I was satisfied I looked like a seasoned officer and not stiff and awkward like a new recruit.

The parcel contained my ID card, a card for the officer's mess and a code book with security codes and instructions to keep it in the wall safe as well as a note that showed where I had to swipe my ID in order to open the safe. I did as I was asked and decided I had had enough of this shit for now..

Well, Major Walters, here we go I said to myself as I closed my office for the day and made my way to the lift.

On the way to the hotel I was careful to salute superior officers and return the salute of lower ranks. It would become second nature soon, but for now I had to pay attention. I think I acquitted myself well. When I went to pick up my room key I was told I had been moved to a different floor and that the liaison officer wanted a word with me. I didn't have long to wait. She asked me into her office and offered me a seat.

Here comes the third degree, I thought, but it was nothing like that. She congratulated me on my commission.

"We were a little concerned about the fraud enquiry," she said. "We are delighted with your commission. It proves your reputation is beyond reproach. We have upgraded your accommodation for no further charge. As far as your other arrangements are concerned nothing has changed. We are happy to have you with us, that is if you are willing to remain in our modest establishment."

"I see no reason to move," I said, "I'm happy here."

"Good," she said. We shook hands and I went to the bar for a beer.

***

What a difference a uniform makes. Who in his right mind wants to talk to a senior Fed officer? Certainly not the spacers. Normally I would have had someone to talk to by now, not this time. Most of these guys have some minor scam going they don't want the authorities to know about. Best not come to the attention of officials. The lower ranks naturally wouldn't approach a senior officer unless there was a reason. The senior officers would only talk to you if they knew you. And seeing there were no upmarket whores looking for business I was very much on my own. Not that it was a worry to me. It was just an interesting observation.

I went up to my new room to see what surprises, if any, were there. The room I had been given was much more spacious. It had a corner with a two seater lounge, two matching armchairs and a coffee table in addition to the standard stuff. My spare uniforms were already hanging in my wardrobe. The bathroom was bigger and had a bath as well as a shower. The real surprise was the shagging room. Instead of a humpbot cubicle there was an Oktonian shagging platform and the customary stand for the clothes. I wondered if that meant I could get the girls from now on to come to me.

Sure enough, when I went for my lesson I was told that the girls would come to my room, if I wanted them to. All I had to do was to let reception know half an hour before my appointment so the girls would know where to go. That opened up some interesting avenues. For the moment I decided to keep this quiet from Lata.

I did nothing adventurous in my session.

Over a beer afterwards I realised that I'd had a very profitable day in many ways. I was now part of the establishment, no longer the unemployed miner with a few bucks in the bank. I was earning money again, not that I needed it, but is was nice anyway. I had scored a better room and, most of all, I had something to do with my time on this shit heap of a concrete island. I wondered what the next day would bring, something I hadn't been doing for a while.

I slept well that night and went to the office early. I wanted to check on a few things before the staff meeting. First I familiarised myself with the various security procedures required to get the computer and comm terminal to work. Once I got it going it was simple fare. Nothing I wasn't used to.

I checked my incoming mail and found a note from Lata telling me that she had sent me the photographs I had asked for and their evaluations. I had no trouble downloading the images and that's where I got my first surprise. The picture were taken from very far away, but with very high resolution equipment. They were a lot better than the stuff coming from space probes I've had to work with to prepare a geological profile for assessment to see if a planet or asteroid was worth exploring further.

Whoever had done the evaluation was a rank amateur in my book. Almost any engineer I knew could have done a better job. Whoever it was had scribbled marks all over the images, explaining in an attached memo what he thought certain features meant. It was pure fantasy.

I was in the middle of drafting a reply when the orderly turned up to take me to the meeting. I closed my files and switched the machine off.

The staff meeting was interesting. Mostly junior officers, a few majors and colonels, about thirty in all. I was introduced to the group as Major Walters, reporting directly to Colonel Saraswati from Federation Research Command on Earth. That raised a few eyebrows. All the officers there were raging homosexuals who evidently did not like the idea of a heterosexual amongst them reporting straight to Earth command if their facial expressions were anything to go by. However, military etiquette is designed to allow people who can't stand each other to work together in comparative harmony so there was no drama. The lunch afterwards in the officer's mess was excellent and a lot cheaper than at my hotel. I created my mess account and lunched together with a couple of captains and a major. The conversation was bland. I was glad when it was over and I could return to my work.

My report wasn't very complimentary, though I did try to put it in civilised language. What it boiled down to was that whoever had done the work was an idiot and I could do a lot better if they gave me copies of the original photos untouched and in full resolution and a couple of software programmes I specified. I also gave them a list of areas where the fuck ups were and my reasons why the evaluation had gone wrong.

I mailed my report, closed up and went home.

At my lesson later in the day I did some animal stuff. This time I was a rooster on a chicken farm doing one of the hens. It did nothing for me, but I felt I had to do stuff like this for a while, since it seemed likely I had to roam Okton4 in animal form at least some of the time. As always the Oktonian woman seemed to be unaware of what I was on about. I had asked her to come to my room. Apart from the different locale there was no change in the procedure.

My earlier idea had just become a doable project. The idea was simple. Since I had now unsupervised access to the shagging area it would be a simple matter to install one or more hidden cameras to monitor what happened there. The problem I had was that if I did request it through normal channels I would lose my justification for the implanted camera which I wanted very badly.

I decided that would be a problem for another day and went to bed.

***

There was nothing new when I arrived at the office. I had not expected an answer to my request from Earth so soon. While I had nothing to do I decided to familiarise myself some more with the different security procedures. There was quite a bit of information in the manual I had been given. It was stressed that before talking to anyone in the organisation about classified matters it was necessary to check on their security clearance level. It gave an access code for an organisational chart which, amongst other information gave the clearance level for each member.

Not really knowing anyone yet apart from Arden I decided to check on him. It didn't take me long to find the information. It was interesting. I knew that Arden was a Major, the same rank as I. What I hadn't known was that he was second in charge of security with a level one security clearance and that he reported to Colonel Nakov.

That was handy to know, he might be able to help me with the surveillance camera in the shagging room. I wasted no time and rang him up. I told him I needed to talk to him and could we do this over lunch at the officer's mess.

"Look Frank," he said, "I haven't got a lot on my plate right now, why don't I come to your office for a chat and we go to lunch after."

"Actually, that would be perhaps better."

"Thought so, see you in ten."

"Well Major Walters," he said after we had settled down with a beer, "the uniform looks good on you, welcome to the spy business."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Let's not fuck around, Frank. We both know you have been hired to spy on the Oktonians. You are a bright boy and by now you must have figured out that is was me who got you the job. I am with security and part of our job is to gather as much intelligence on the Oktonians as we can. We're on the same team."

"Who else knows about me?"

"Only the Colonel and I, apart from your mob, of course."

"Why choose me?"

"Simple. Spying is about exploiting opportunities. We know fuck all about the Oktonians, and believe me, it isn't for lack of trying. Then you come along. Even the little you told me was more than we had been able to gather, in spite of our best efforts. I couldn't pass that up."

I decided to fly a kite.

"Look Arden, hypothetically speaking, if I were to ask you to help me with a little illegal surveillance, would you be obliged to report that to your or to my superiors?"

"Shit, you are a natural. In this business you hide more from your own organisation than from the rest of the world together. Need to know and all that shit. The straight answer is, as long as it doesn't interfere with the interests of the Federation, no, I wouldn't need to pass it on. This comes under the mutual back-scratching act. We do favours and we receive favours, mostly without the knowledge of our superiors. It's part of how the system works."

"I need someone here on Okton4 I can work with. My gut feel tells me I can trust you. I am prepared to level with you in exchange for your co-operation. Most of what I'm about to reveal is not classified, though I expect it will be after Colonel Saraswati tables her report to her superiors. The photographs I want to show you are classified level one, but you are cleared for that so there is no breach. All of what I am prepared to give you is known to the Federation, so there is no clash of interest. However, I need your guarantee that you will not pass any of this information on without my clearance."

"I knew I was making the right decision when I proposed recruiting you. I accept your conditions. You have my guarantee." 

"Good, then let's go and have some lunch, after you tell your office you will be tied up for the rest of the day. This will take some time."

We got some strange looks in the officer's mess, but no one said anything.

When we got back to the office I told Arden what happened in the sessions with the Oktonian women. About being unconscious for a time while I was being cleaned up and while the women got dressed. I didn't tell him about my adventures with Lata. I gave him the same explanation Lata would give her superiors that the Oktonians were using sex and hallucinogens to collect sperm.

I showed him the photos of Okton4 and told him why I thought they had been misinterpreted.

Arden was floored by the amount of new information he'd been given.

"What do you think it all means?" he said after I finished my presentation, " and how can I help you?"

"First of all I need to know what happens in these sex sessions. I want one or more surveillance cameras installed in my rooms at the hotel. Unofficially."

"I can get that done, though funding it might be a bit tricky, if you want it done without the organisation's knowledge."

"What do you have in mind?"

"The traders are forever spying on each other. There is one electronics engineer who is the best, though he is expensive. Officially he installs and maintains security cameras for the Oktonians in their hotels and bars. He also does clandestine shit, I know him well."

"Don't the Oktonians use their own surveillance gear?"

"Not that we know of."

"Strange. Tell your man I would like to see him tomorrow evening at my hotel at around eight, if possible. I'll pay for it."

"Anything else?"

"I need a complete run down on the lithium trade, ore quality, degree of contamination especially organic material. I also want any psychological profiles on Oktonians, if they are available."

"I can get you that easily enough. I suggest we do this through channels. Put in an official request with my office and I will see it gets done."

"Thanks Arden. I think we should call it quits for today. How about we meet tomorrow some time, I'm sure you have a lot of questions.

We had another couple of beers and went home.

***

I was in the middle of typing out my requests for information when a light flashed on the screen showing that mail had arrived. The sender was Lata.

In spite of being curious I finished what I was doing first and sent my requisitions off to Arden.

My darling Coochpacifyer, it said, 

Haven't you tossed a mob of cats amongst the pigeons? When I handed copies of your report to the committee General Weinberg went ballistic. "Who is this arsehole who is criticising my best analyst?" he screamed. He kept on and on until he finally ran out of steam. He wanted a vote to toss your report out with the garbage. That's when I stepped in and said that it would be better if we showed the report to some independent authority on the subject before discarding it. That way no one could claim we had acted negligently if it turned out later there had been some substance to it.

You know what committees are like. No one wants to stick their neck out and what I proposed was a responsible thing to do that no one could fault. I carried the vote. They summonsed Professor Williams, who was in the middle of a lecture, to the committee room to give his assessment. He took his time scrutinising your report and went over the photographs in meticulous detail. After four hours he announced. "Every now and then I have reason to be pleased with one of my ex students. Tell Major Walters he is correct on every point he raised. I give him an A plus."

General Weinberg turned green and stormed out. 

Anyway, they authorised the release of the original images to you and are formally asking you to assess them. When you are done, Professor Williams will check your work and give his own report.

Get to it, Darling, don't let me down.

Lata Coochbearer.

Good old Professor Williams. I didn't know he was still lecturing. He must be over eighty by now. I had to laugh. I have been called many things in my life but Coochpacifyer was a new one.

In the attachment were the images I had asked for plus a letter formally asking for my analysis. It was signed by the committee chairman, a General Taubner.




Offspring Ch. 007



There were hundreds of images, some in colour, some black and white and some taken with an infrared camera. There was something about the infrared images that niggled me. I couldn't put my finger on it though. I was still trying to guess what it was when Arden rang. He proposed lunch in the officer's mess and a meeting in my office afterwards as I had promised. I hadn't noticed it was lunchtime already in all the excitement. I closed my computer down and went to join him.

"You are very absent minded today," said Arden half way through lunch.

"I received the original images of Okton4 today. There is something about the infrared ones that bothers me and I don't know what it is." I had barely said it when it hit me what was wrong.

"Oh fuck, if that isn't going to throw the shit in the fan," I exclaimed.

"What are you on about?" Arden was mystified.

"I'll show you when we get back to my office, " I said and left it at that.

I couldn't finish my meal. My appetite had completely disappeared. I waited until Arden had finished and we left without waiting for our coffee.

Back in the office I booted the computer and pulled up the image file.

I showed Arden the patches we thought were cities on the images.

"See here," I pointed to the screen, "this is no natural feature, this looks to me very much like a large air strip. Each of the big cities has one of them. See, here and here and here again."

Then I showed him the picture of the other hemisphere. There wasn't much to see except for a spot in the middle of the ocean.

"This is the spaceport, even at that distance you can make out some of its features."

"Yes, that's what it has to be, there is nothing else there except water."

"Now look at the infrared images of the same areas. The cities are barely visible, in fact if we didn't have the other pictures to compare we wouldn't recognise them."

"Yes, I see what you mean."

"Now look at the spaceport in the infrared. The blacker the image, the higher the temperature. Now if we look at it in the negative and the black becomes white it looks like a fucking glow worm in the middle of the ocean. That, my friend is its heat signature. Are you with me?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Can you now see where my problem is?"

"No, can't say I do."

"The cities have no heat signature and they should have one, a massive one by the size of these things."

"You are right, but what does it mean?"

"It means either the Oktonians have a technology no one has ever heard of, or the cities are deserted and have been for a long time."

"How are we going to find out for sure?"

"That my dear Arden is something the two of us are going to have to work out."

"Where would you even start?"

"We are going to start off with some good old fashioned detective work. Let's see what we've got so far and see where that will take us. What do we know about the Oktonians?"

"We know they have a superior technology. Just look at their space ships."

"Yes, that's what everybody thinks, but is it true?"

"The ships are there, they must have built them."

"All we ever see of their technology are their ships, The huge warships in space and the small freighters which pick up cargo here at the spaceport and shift it to wherever. No one is allowed near them. None of us has ever been inside one of their ships. Everything else we see here we supply. The materials handling equipment, the vehicles in the spaceport, even the security cameras, so you tell me. I haven't even seen a computer of Oktonian manufacture. They use ours. Bit strange, don't you think?"

"But they must have all that stuff. Maybe they want to keep their technology secret. They might be using a different approach they don't want us to see."

"Their freighters don't seem all that different from ours. At least the part that's visible. From the way they start, take off and land their engines behave and sound similar to ours. They can't even get it together to supply us with refined lithium. Besides, all the Oktonians I have seen so far don't seem to be all that bright."

"What are you saying"

"I'm saying the fact that a man can drive a bus doesn't prove he is capable of building one."

"But someone is building that stuff."

"Or was."

"Whaaaat?"

"Alright Arden, take the following scenario: A technically very advanced race colonises a planet. There are sentient indigenous creatures living on it already. They aren't terribly intelligent, but they can be trained to do some things. A master - slave type society evolves. That's not new. Has been done many times. Then some shit happens. Perhaps a virus gets out of a laboratory and the masters get killed, perhaps to a man. The virus doesn't affect the locals because they have a different metabolism. The masters might have even perished from some indigenous disease. Even that has happened before. All the machinery is still lying around and the slaves keep on using it. When one machine breaks down they grab another one. Has happened before too. It might be a long time before the remaining society collapses. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it's possible. Maybe some of the masters have survived and are pulling the strings. Who knows?"

"I must say, when you put it like this, it has to be on the cards. It would explain why they won't allow us to look at anything of theirs."

"It could explain some things. Not everything. The semen collection for one doesn't fit into the picture. And where are the males? Why don't we get to see them? Why is this spaceport in the middle of the ocean and who built it? Why is Pumpernickel so important? Things like that."

"What do you want to do next?"

"I need to analyse the images. This is priority number one. I also need the reports I have asked for. Can you make a note please Arden? I want a list of what the Oktonians import for themselves. That would be total imports minus what is used by the spaceport. Figures for the last five years would be good. Add that to the lists I already gave you. That will give us enough to do for a while."

"And then what?"

"Then we collate all the data and see how they fit into the kind of model I have outlined. The data which don't fit the picture we'll set aside. Then we'll try to modify the model until all the pieces have a home. Is your engineer coming to see me tonight?"

"Yes. He calls himself Feng in honour of his Chinese ancestry. He'll be there at eight."

"Good. Shall we call it quits for today?"

"Suits me, I need to check on my office before I can go home anyway."



Offspring Ch. 008



The Oktonian woman turned up at seven. I had rescheduled my lessons to fit better into my day. Nothing special happened. I was lying low in that department for the time being. I dressed in civilian clothes. At eight o'clock reception called me and informed me a Mr. Feng was there to see me. I told them to send him up to my room.

He was a slim short man in his late thirties, early forties with distinct Chinese features and very intelligent penetrating eyes. 

"Sit down Mr. Feng, would you like a drink? A beer perhaps?"

"Not Mr. Feng, just Feng please. A beer would be lovely."

I joined him in a beer and lit a cigarette. 

"Oh good," he said, "I take it you don't mind me smoking either?"

I offered him a cigarette.

"So, what can I do for you Major Walters?"

"For a start you can call me Frank. Then I want you to sweep this room for bugs."

"You won't find any bugs here, Frank. I look after the surveillance gear in this hotel. The Oktonians aren't very good at this sort of thing. I'd know if something like that went on. Arden told me you had a job for me."

I showed him the shagging room. He didn't even blink. Maybe he had seen something like it before.

I want one or more cameras in here that show what goes on on this platform," I said.

"Is that what I think it's for?" he asked.

"If you think this thing is for fucking you are absolutely right."

"Good, that's not a problem. I suggest two cameras, one here and one here. A small computer to store the inputs, programmable as to timing. There is enough storage on the device to hold a week's worth of recordings, non stop. Is that acceptable?"

"That'll be fine. What'll that set me back?"

"Five thousand credits, cash."

"Done. When can you do it?"

"Tomorrow, same time? I need three hours max."

"Couldn't be better. I'll have the cash ready for you."

We shook hands on the deal and went downstairs to the bar where we had another couple of drinks. He gave me a card with his telephone number in case something unexpected happened and we needed to reschedule.

"Tell me Feng, how long have you been on Okton4?"

"About ten Earth years now."

"I take it you get around a bit in your job. You'd know pretty much everything that goes on. There is something I need to know."

"Come on Frank, you should know better than to pump me for information. You wouldn't want your business blown all over the landscape either. Fair go." 

"No Feng, I don't want to know anyone's business. I am just curious if you've ever seen anything of Oktonian manufacture, say a watch, a mobile phone, a computer, light bulbs, anything."

"It's strange you should ask that. This is really weird. Everything you see comes from us. Even the clothes they wear are made here on the spaceport from imported materials. I've never come across this sort of thing anywhere else. There is always local stuff around. Not here though. They seem to make nothing. Even the cooking is done by humans, but that might be because they can't understand our food. Their limit seems to be making coffee and mixing drinks."

"Any idea why that might be?"

"They must be keeping their intelligent and able people elsewhere. All you see in the spaceport are Oktonians of very limited ability. They make good servants, that's about it."

"Thanks Feng, let's leave it at that for now, I have a hard day ahead tomorrow. See you tomorrow at eight, don't bother with reception, just come up."

We shook hands and I went up to my room. It had been an eventful day. I was bushed.



Offspring Ch. 009



I went to the office at around seven and had my breakfast there. The Feds building was staffed around the clock, consequently the officer's mess never closed. The food was every inch as good as the food in the hotel and only about a third of the price. Not that the prices at the hotel worried me, but why pay more than you have to?

"You are bright and early Major Walters. May I join you?" It was Colonel Nakov.

"Please do. To answer your question, I have an awful lot of work ahead of me, Sir."

"You are settling in alright then?"

"Yes, Sir. No complaints."

"I've noticed you are on friendly terms with my executive officer."

"Yes, Sir, I have been since I arrived on Okton4. Actually, he was the officer who threw me off the ship."

"Ah yes, I remember now. Unfortunate business that."

"May I ask you a question, Colonel? There is something bothering me that you might be able to answer."

"Go ahead, Major. If I can help I'll be glad to."

"I know the Federation employs extra terrestrial races. You see them in every other spaceport, as civilian employees and in uniform. Why not here? You don't seem to have any Oktonian staff either, even your stewards and janitors are human. I find that strange."

"This goes back to the original agreements. Only human males are allowed here. Extra terrestrial races and women are off limits. The only exceptions are staff on Federation vessels on condition they stay confined to the ship when on Okton4. Any freighter who has non human staff or women on board is not permitted to land. Oktonians are prohibited by their own law to work for the Federation. These rules are over two hundred years old. I have never been able to determine the rationale behind it."

"Thank you, Sir. That answers one question and raises others."

"It's in the nature of this place. There are many things here that don't seem to make much sense."

By that time we had finished our meal. Colonel Nakov excused himself and left after telling me that his door would always be open to me. I went to my office.

First I checked my mail. The computer programmes I had asked for had arrived and the rest of the morning was taken up installing and testing the software. I was ready to start analysing the images in earnest.

But what exactly was I looking for? The more I had found out about the Oktonians the more I had become convinced that their so called highly developed, advanced civilisation was a bluff. It didn't exist any more. So what was in its place? 

I had come to believe that there was no such a thing as a smart Oktonian in the sense we understand smart. This assumption suggested that the Oktonians we saw were simply servants of another, far more intelligent race who stayed in the background. But why would they do that? Why not deal with us directly?

The only answer I came up with that made sense was they were vulnerable. They need us for some reason and are afraid we'll find out about their vulnerability and take advantage, I concluded. By the same logic, that could only mean that the real masters of this planet were small in number. Perhaps down to a population of a few thousand, or a few hundred even. By now I had a pretty coherent picture of a likely scenario. But how to prove it?

I needed to determine the level of activity on the whole planet. That would give me a pretty fair idea if there was substance to my theory. Checking for heat signatures on the images would be a good starting point. Of course, if the Oktonians had developed a technology that worked without producing heat as a by-product I would be stuffed, but that was highly unlikely.

I rang up Arden and asked if he had a bit of time on his hands I wanted to bounce some ideas off him. He said he would make some time. An hour later he came to my office. Over a beer I told him what I had been contemplating.

"Sounds reasonable to me. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of it. I wonder why this hasn't been analysed before. I didn't even know what can be done with the infrared imagery."

"It's because of this secrecy bit. Departments often don't talk to each other when they should."

"Too true. Anyway it'll give us a good starting point."

"Yes, but it still won't help us much. What we really need to know is what role the Oktonian males play in this. Perhaps they are the smart ones who pull all the strings. But if that is so, what is the sex bit all about?"

"Has it occurred to you that there may not be such a thing as an Oktonian male?"

"Are you nuts? Of course they must exist, how else could they breed?"

"Does the word parthenogenesis ring a bell?"

"Sexless reproduction? Yes, from memory, there are some bugs and some lizards on Earth that can do this."

"And turkeys."

"What?"

"My grandfather had a turkey farm. He said in some breeds over forty percent of turkeys hatch from unfertilised eggs. Aren't the Oktonians partly descended from birds?"

"So what do you get from sexless reproduction?'

"Essentially a clone. In the absence of males that would make their development as a race static. They might need human semen to introduce new, desirable genetic material into the breed."

"You mean, the Oktonians we meet are essentially farm animals?"

"Is there a lot of difference between farm animals and slaves?"

"I take your point."

"We better be real careful whom we are going to tell about this, or if we even should. Can you imagine what some of the Federation arseholes in high command would do with this if it's real?"

"Careful Arden, this kind of talk is getting dangerously close to treason."

"Fuck treason. Don't you think we have moral and ethical obligations that are senior to anything the Federation might demand from us?"

"You are right. The Oktonians we meet are not very bright and they are certainly different from us, but there is no malice in them. I would hate to throw them to the wolves."

"You better not put any of this on your computer."

"I thought this facility is secure."

"From the idiots here, for sure. From high command? Don't be silly. They can monitor everything you do on your equipment. You can bet on it, they do."

"Thanks for telling me. I'll be careful."

We called it a day after that. First I went to the bank to get Feng's cash.

Back at the hotel I changed into civilian gear and adjourned to a quiet corner of the bar with a beer. The few spacers who entered didn't give me a second glance. Good. I liked it better that way.

At seven I started my lesson and went to see Cleopatra for some relaxation. She asked me what I had been doing with my time. I told her I was studying asexual reproduction in animals. To my surprise she said she had also been looking into that some time ago. Fertilisation from within the alchemical egg, she explained, was a prerequisite to obtaining the Philosopher's Stone. Some snakes, scorpions and lizards were known to be able to do this. As far as she could tell this only occurred in species where shit and offspring emerged from the same orifice. I had seen an Oktonian pussy, but I hadn't noticed if they had an anus. I would have to check on that. The cameras should pick that up. She asked me to tell her if I discovered something interesting. I promised I would.



Offspring Ch. 010



At eight Feng arrived and did his thing. He showed me how to operate the device. At around ten he was through and we went downstairs for drinks.

"Any time you need me for a job, just call," he said before he left.

I asked him if that was still on offer if the job involved some danger to his person.

"I am in a dangerous business, Frank. A bit more or less doesn't worry me. Just tell me when I need to carry a gun."

He laughed, we shook hands and he went on his way.

***

After a gruelling day at the office sorting through pictures, and after my usual lesson I had my recording. It felt weird seeing myself naked with a hard on lying on that platform and the Oktonian woman straddling me. She pushed herself down, stayed there for about twenty seconds and withdrew. My penis started to deflate already, it was obvious I had ejaculated. She went to where her clothes were and withdrew a cylinder from her skirt. Pulling two pieces of what looked like wet cloth from the cylinder she dabbed herself with one and cleaned my dick carefully and meticulously with the other. She took the cylinder and the cloths to the bathroom and presumably threw them down the garbage chute. I lay on the platform, barely breathing, as in a coma. As she got dressed my body started to stir a little. She continued to watch me as I came to my senses. The whole event had lasted just over twenty minutes. When I was dressed again she left.

Nothing stuck out when I watched it again. I decided I was too tired to pay proper attention and left it until morning.

I gave the office a miss and had breakfast at the hotel, in civvies. Back at my room I kept looking at the recording over and over without coming up with anything new other than a look at a naked back of an Oktonian woman. I had never seen one. I had noticed Oktonian women always faced me, dressed or naked. I had thought that was because they were very protective of their wings, which they claimed were very delicate and easily injured. Maybe there were other reasons.

There was nothing erotic about an Oktonian rear. They had no arse to speak of. There was no deep crack dividing the cheeks as in humans, just a shallow furrow, covered with feathers. It seemed unlikely there was an arsehole underneath the feathers, it would make an awful mess every time they had a shit.

I wasn't getting anywhere. Perhaps another pair of eyes could help. I rang up Arden and asked him if he could come over to my hotel and have lunch with me later.

He turned up around ten. Arden spotted an irregularity on the second run through. He pointed out a flicker in the recording almost immediately after the woman had slipped her vagina over my dick. 

"What do you think this is?" he asked, taking me three or four times over that segment.

"Some glitch in the recording?"

"If it's a glitch in the recording, why is it only where your body is and nowhere else?"

I hadn't noticed that, but he was right. It almost seemed as if my body had blanked out for a fraction of a second at that point. The rest of the picture was steady. A frame by frame analysis brought no further clarification.

"Whatever happened there was too fast for the camera to pick up completely," said Arden."We need to adjust the recording devices or get different ones. You need Feng."

"It would be necessary to brief Feng on at least some of what I'm doing for him to do his job properly. Do you trust him that much?"

"I would rather have Feng in on our little conspiracy than some arsehole from the Federation."

Feng it was. He joined us an hour later.

Arden tried to put the fear of Jesus into him with official secrets act and so but Feng interrupted him in the middle of his speech.

"Listen you dumb prick," he said, "years ago, when your mob picked me up, after I made a mistake on some schonk deal, you decided I was worth more to you here than being deported. You killed the action against me and we have done all sorts of shit together since, on condition I would not be required to rat on my customers and colleagues. It's been working for close to ten years now.

"Make a fucking executive decision. Tell me what you want me to do and why and I tell you if I want to be in on it or not. In either case no one will ever hear from me what was discussed." 

"This is my call," I said. "Let's have lunch first and afterwards I'll brief you. After that you will have to make a fucking executive decision, as you so colourfully put it."

Feng just grinned and we went to get something to eat.

I have to give it to the Chinaman, he is a good listener. He paid close attention to what I was saying, only interrupting occasionally to clarify some point. I told him about Oktonians and their form of having sex with humans and our reasons for wanting to find out what that was all about.

I then showed him the recording. He went over it several times.

"This is weird shit. Whatever this is, a fuck it ain't." Turning to me he said: "You realise, of course, you've been drugged. Her cunt, or whatever that thing is you stick your dick into, is soaked with the drug. They collect your come while you are off your head and afterwards the woman neutralises the toxin with whatever is on those rags, which brings you back to reality. Evidently whatever crap they are using doesn't affect them the same way. At least that's what I think. That's number one.

"Number two is that the blurred patch in the recording is not caused by the equipment. Arden is right. Something happened there that happened too fast for the cameras to pick up. I can speed up the cameras to one hundred times the normal recording speed. I'll do that now. If that's not sufficient I'll have to get you some other gear.

"Number three, and this is where it gets exciting, here might be a chance to get our hands on a genuine Oktonian artefact. The cylinder and those rags don't look like anything I'm familiar with, besides there must be chemicals of one sort or another stuck to those pieces of cloth. It may well be something they produce."

"All very nice," I said. "How will you get your hands on it."

"The cameras don't show it, but you reckon she threw it down the garbage chute in the bathroom, don't you?"

"There is nowhere else she could have put it."

"It's simple then. Before she turns up for your lesson I'll tape a plastic bag into the chute to prevent things from dropping down. We should be able to retrieve whatever she puts in it."

"I take it that means you're in with us Feng?"

He laughed. "Of course I'm in with you guys. Look, I need to go now. I'll see you tonight at six, here in this room. I'll make sure the equipment does what it's supposed to do and tape the bag in the chute. We'll meet again after eight to see what we've got."

We agreed to the arrangement, Feng left and I went to the bar with Arden for a drink.

"Shit, I forgot to ask him if he could adjust the cameras," I said when we had settled down. "I want to know if Oktonians have an arsehole."

"What do you want to know that for? You don't want to fuck her arse, do you?"

I told him what Cleopatra had said about parthenogenesis and about shit and offspring emerging from the same hole.

"Why don't you talk to the coroner?"

"You have a coroner?"

"Look Frank, what do you think this is? This place may be the arse end of the universe and it definitely has some strange things going on that make no sense, but when you strip the shit away it's a spaceport. There are about 80,000 permanent residents and any number of transients here. As in any other place like this we have accidents, robberies, murders, illicit drugs, fraud, the whole criminal shooting match. We are called Federation Security, but we are the police here. We have a fraud squad, a homicide department, a forensic lab and so forth like any other bunch of coppers. Of course we have a coroner. Someone has to do the autopsies. 

"What are you telling me?"

"Not all victims of accidents and crime are human. He'll be able to tell you everything you want to know about Oktonian anatomy. He might even have an Oktonian body in a fridge somewhere."

Arden went back to his office. I stayed in my room.

At six Feng turned up and did his thing, at seven I had my daily lesson and at eight Feng and Arden arrived, anxious for results. Feng wanted to go straight to the bathroom to retrieve whatever had been caught in his bag. Arden stopped him.

He had brought some sort of forensic kit and made Feng wear gloves and a facemask. He donned the same gear himself and they went to work. Minutes later they returned from the bathroom with a number of neatly labelled evidence bags containing the bits and pieces they had found.

Feng wanted to have a closer look. Arden wasn't having any of it.

"This stuff will go to the forensic lab as is right now, I don't want it handled and contaminated."

They argued.

"Stop it, you guys. What are you arguing for? Feng can have his own set tomorrow to play around with. There's not much we can do with this shit tonight anyway. Let's have a look what the cameras tell us."

"You guys have a look at that, I'll get this shit off to the lab while it's still fresh." With that Arden closed his case and went.

Feng busied himself with the recording device. At 2400 frames per second there were a lot of images he had to go through. It took him a while. 

"Well, fuck me dead. What the fuck is this?" Feng was scratching his head.

"What are you talking about?" I was mystified.

"Look here, there are about twenty frames were your body is not in the picture. Everything else is. Either you went completely transparent, or for that split second you weren't there. I've never seen anything like it."

"Problems with the equipment? Something interfering with it?" I suggested.

"Not a chance."

Feng tuned the device to maximum resolution.

"Here, see? Every feather on that Oktonian quim is as clear as a bell, so is the surface texture of the platform where your body should be. You tell me how a problem with the gear can cause that. No, this is something else. It's no hallucination either, cameras cannot record hallucinations."

"What do we do now?" I didn't know how to proceed from here.

"First I'll erase all our recordings and then I'll remove the surveillance gear and get it out of here."

"Why would you do this?" I was mystified.

"There is nothing further we can learn here. I want to remove all evidence just in case someone comes across this shit and starts wondering what we're up to. Let me get my kit."

Feng left and returned after ten minutes with his briefcase. He immediately started to remove the cameras and patched the small holes in the wall where they had been. 

"You'll need something to show to your masters. I'll make a copy of the first recording, edit the picture where your body flickers, make it look like an equipment glitch. You can give them that. If you don't give them something they will wonder how come you have the artefacts. Once forensics have them there is no way to keep their existence quiet. I'll also doctor the speeded up recording and take the frames out where you disappear. I'll put the doctored versions on your computer. Give them to your masters, tell them we made a second recording because of the glitch in the first, just to make sure we hadn't missed anything. Tell them the artefacts were collected by Federation Security and are with forensics now for analysis. That'll cover your butt."

I agreed that this was a good plan.

It took Feng about an hour to remove all traces of what he had done except for the doctored copies on my computer.

"Let me get this shit away from here," he said when he was done. "I'll see you downstairs in the bar in half an hour, if that's okay with you."

I told him it was.

***

"You really know how to piss into a hornet's nest, don't you?" Feng said over a beer. "If the Federation finds out about this our lives won't be worth a cracker."

"Look Feng, as long as you keep quiet about this you can still bomb out, if it's too dangerous for you."

"Walk away from this? Are you nuts? This is shaping up to be the biggest adventure of my life. A million horses couldn't drag me away."

"How would I pay you? I can't very well have you put on the Federation payroll and I don't know if I can afford your services for any length of time."

"Fuck the money. I know you are well off, I checked. But, so am I. It's the adrenaline I'm after, not the cash. I'm bored shitless with my life."

"I'm making an executive decision here Feng. I've decided to level with you. Let's go up to my room, I need a secure environment."

"You mean there's more? Let's go for it. You're on."

"Give me your assessment so far, Feng. What do you think is happening here?" I asked when we had settled down.

"I trust my equipment. It tells me that for a split second your body was not in this room. That much is not speculation, at least as far as I'm concerned.

"You tell me that you enter into some spaces where you can act physically and that you can spend considerable time there. In this reality you're only gone for a split second. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, this spells to me some form of time travel. We know that, at least on a quantum level, it's possible. We have known that for a long time. No one has been able to do something with it though."

"You are right, that's exactly what it is. Your recording gave me the last bit of information I needed to come to that conclusion."

"You mean you have other evidence to support the theory?"

"Yes."

"Come on then. Don't leave me here sitting on the edge of my seat."

"What I'm about to tell you I haven't even told Arden. Only two people know of it so far."

I told him about my experiments with Lata, about the microchip and about my intention to have a camera implanted so I could take pictures when I was in those spaces.

"Whatever you do, don't have one of those implant jobs. They'll make you go blind within a year."

"How do you know that?"

"You are forgetting surveillance is my area of expertise. They use no camera in these devices. The way it works is they implant electrodes straight into the visual cortex, and pick up the images from there. The device sees everything the eyes of the subject see, with amazing clarity. The downside is that the visual cortex deteriorates rapidly in the process, rendering the subject blind in a comparatively short time. The deterioration is irreversible. It keeps on going even after the electrodes are removed. The Federation, and some criminal enterprises, use the technology only on disposables, meaning people they get rid of after they have the information they want."

"There goes that idea. It would have been nice to take pictures."

"That may still be possible. I have a device that might do the job, assuming you can take it with you. I'll show you tomorrow. I have to be here at six anyway to fit the bag in the chute, we'll try an experiment then. Now I've got to get some sleep if I'm to be of any use tomorrow. See you at six."

I decided I'd had enough too and went to bed.



Offspring Ch. 011



I arrived at the office bright and early in uniform. First I sent a report off to Lata. I told her I had managed to record two of the sex sessions and been able to retrieve some artefacts which I had given to the forensics lab for analysis. I explained that the second recording was taken with a higher speed and why. I also told her not to proceed with the implant camera, since it was no longer necessary. I attached the recordings to my report, closed down the computer and went to see Arden in his office.

I asked him to introduce me to the coroner. The morgue, it turned out, was in the basement of the Feds building. We went there by lift.

Arden introduced me to Dr. Patel, an old man of Indian extraction. He seemed to be still adhering to the old ways, if the little altar with a statue of the Indian elephant god Ganesh and the burning incense were any indication.

Arden excused himself and went back to his work.

"How may I be of service Major Walters?" he asked when we were alone in his office.

I told him to treat our conversation as classified, not to be discussed with anyone else. He didn't seem pleased with that turn of events.

"What do you think an old pathologist might know that needs to be kept secret? You people cannot do anything in a straightforward fashion, can you? Anyway, secret it is. I won't talk about our conversation. You have my word."

"To come straight to the point, it's about the fact that no one has ever seen an Oktonian male. Someone has suggested that there are possibly no males at all and that Oktonians might reproduce via parthenogenesis. I am here to check if there is some scientific basis to that theory."

Suddenly the old man was interested in what I had to say. He looked at me, as if he was seeing me for the first time.

"That is an interesting question, Major, perhaps not so easily answered."

He pushed a button on his intercom and asked not to be disturbed until further notice.

"Before we discuss the matter in detail there is something I need to tell you," I said, "something you may not be aware of. You might know humans have been known to have sex with Oktonians and have, according to rumour, created offspring."

"Yes, I'm aware of what's been said."

"You may not know, Dr. Patel, what happens during one of those unions. It is quite out of the ordinary."

"You have my attention."

I described to him a typical lesson in sex by an Oktonian. I gave him the hallucination version, there was no point going into more than that. The good doctor listened with fascination. Evidently this was news to him.

"I take it you speak from personal experience."

"Yes, Doctor, I do."

"How real are these hallucinations, are they like a drug experience or are they more solid?"

"They are indistinguishable from reality."

"And you say they are triggered by vaginal secretions?"

"So it would appear, Sir."

"Fascinating."

He went to his computer and punched in some figures. The large screen on the wall came to life and showed what looked like two X-rays of an Oktonian torso, side by side. Dr Patel picked up a pointer from his desk and motioned me over to the screen.

"What we have here are the X-rays of two female Oktonian cadavers. This one here," he pointed to the image on the left, "was killed in an accident. The other is something else. We'll get to that shortly. As you can see the internal organs are different from humans and resemble those of a bird."

He then pointed out all the different organs and explained their function. He showed me the cloaca, the ovaries and the tubules where sperm is stored, in some species up to one hundred days. The eggs, he explained, are then fertilised individually as they leave the ovaries.

"This is the X-ray of a murdered rape victim. If you look closely you can see the stored sperm. In birds the act of insemination happens very quickly. It is more an act of injecting semen rather than what we conceive to be intercourse. Most male birds do not even have a phallus though ostriches and turkeys do. The point here is that there is no need for lubrication as the act does not require it. Consequently there are no glands that secrete lubricant.

"Whatever fluid adhering to an Oktonian vagina you have observed is not generated by the female, it has to be applied. Another interesting point is that not one of the rapists who were caught has made mention of the fluid or the hallucinations accompanying intercourse. You can bet your life they would have done so and claimed they were under the influence of a drug administered by the Oktonians that caused them to behave the way they did. It would have been a strong defence."

I asked if asexual reproduction could occur in the species and he said that all things considered it was a possibility and that there was no scientific reason to rule it out.

Fascinating information indeed. I thanked the good doctor and went on my way.

By that time the morning was gone and I went to lunch.



Offspring Ch. 012



Arden joined me in the mess. I filled him in on my conversation with the coroner.

"He is right about the rapists. Not that it happens often, but it does occur. It would be a good defence to claim to have been drugged by the Oktonians. No one has ever brought it up."

"I take it there are no news from forensics on the stuff we gave them?"

"A bit early for that. It'll take at least a couple of days before they can tell us anything. They need to do a lot of tests."

"What about the figures I've asked for?"

"Another day or two, they say. I checked this morning. By the way did anything valuable come out of the speeded up recording?"

"It didn't tell us anything new, maybe it's a problem with the equipment after all." I had no idea why I lied to him about that, it just came out this way.

"Pity. Better get back to work then, See you."

"See you later Arden."

I went back to my office and looked at the images again. My heart wasn't in it. There were too many things buzzing around in my head. I wrote a short report about Arden's theory about parthenogenesis and my meeting with the coroner. I mailed it off, closed shop and went home.

I was sitting downstairs in the bar when Feng turned up. I hadn't expected him for another hour.

"You're home early," he said, "what happened?"

"I couldn't work in the office today, too many things bothering me."

"Let's go up to your room, I want to show you something."

First he taped the bag into the chute. When we sat down for a beer he took something out of his briefcase. It looked like a lipstick sealed inside a very small condom.

"This might work," he said.

"What is it?"

"A camera."

"Why is it inside this condom thing?"

"So you can stick it up your arse."

"I beg your pardon."

"How else will you take it with you?"

He showed me how to open the seal, how to operate the camera and how to put it back and seal it again.

"The seal is watertight and if you close it properly it will be again after you used the camera. Clean it up and dry it after you retrieve the device, use it like I showed you, pack it up when you are done and shove it up your butt again. You can use a bit of oil or butter to make it easier to insert, at a pinch use spit. For now use this sachet of lubricant. Now go and put it in place. Just make sure the cover is clean before you take the camera out, I don't want you to get shit on the lens. When you get back we'll stick it into this device here and feed the signal into my computer. It'll take half an hour's worth of video."

I sat there with this thing and a sachet in my hand and for once hesitated. I had never stuck anything up my arse before and I wasn't looking forward to it.

"Go on," prompted Feng. "I want you to get used to having it up there before the tart arrives. It won't do if you shit it out while she's doing you."

I felt stupid doing it and sitting there later with a camera up my arse, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.

Shortly before seven Feng left.

"Good luck, Tiger," was all he said.

I decided to visit aunt Agatha again. I could test the device in the house, the village and the forest. It would show me what the thing could do, if it worked that is.

I stayed with aunt Agatha for two days trying the device under a number of conditions, in the rain, at night, at twilight, in the forest and so forth until a red light showed me I had run out of memory. When I was done I pulled myself off and was back in the shagging room. The Oktonian woman left. I could feel the camera up my arse, so it might have worked as planned. I retrieved the device, cleaned the cover before taking the camera out and waited for Feng. I didn't have to wait long.

"Dddid it wwwork?" I had never seen Feng so excited.

I waved the camera at him.

"I got it there, took the pictures like you showed me and got it back here again. If you want to know more you better get your gear set up."

Five minutes later we were watching the footage I had taken. Aunt Agatha pulling weeds in the garden, the inside of the house, a stroll through the village, the country lane, the forest, a deer, a rabbit and a sixteen year old kid pulling faces at the camera."

"Who is the kid?"

"Why ... that's me. I could hardly go to visit aunt Agatha as a grown man, she didn't live long enough to see me all grown up."

"How does that work?"

"Fucked if I know. I imagine myself like that and that's how I appear. That's all I know. I can even turn myself into an animal if I want to."

"How long did you stay at your aunt's place?"

"Two days all up."

"Amazing. Did the camera up your arse worry you?"

"A bit at first, but I got used to it quite quickly. In fact I had to remind myself to take it out when I got there."

"You reckon you could handle something a bit bigger? I've got some snazzy optics at home I'd like to put in and some more memory"

"How much bigger?"

"About half as long again, the diameter won't change much."

"Yeah, I reckon I can handle it."

Feng retrieved the stuff from the chute and put it into his case. 

"Are you going to tell Arden what we did tonight?"

"I am in two minds about that. I'd have to tell him about Lata and that might become awkward with loyalties and so."

"Hold it off for a while. Today the ballgame changed. Now we have solid proof of something very powerful and very, very dangerous. I don't know if I would trust a Federation officer with it at this stage of the game."

"I am a Federation officer, Feng."

He laughed.

"No. you're not. You are an operator. A loner, like me. You only wear this uniform because you have little choice. You would tell these guys to fuck off, if you could, without the slightest hesitation. By the same token, to them you are an outsider. They'll drop you like a hot brick the moment you are no longer useful to them."

"I thought Arden was your friend."

"He is. I would never do anything to hurt him, but this is something else. You and I are financially independent. We think differently. We don't need these arseholes to live and to live well. A guy who only has his salary and career might be tempted to do many things you and I wouldn't entertain when his career is at stake. He'll never betray you voluntarily, but if he gets a direct order it might become a different matter. There is no hurry. Take your time and when you decide to make a move, make sure it's the right one."

This had to be good advice. There would be no liability in watching things for a while. I said as much to Feng.

He left shortly after that. It took me ages to go to sleep. I wondered what I had got myself into.



Offspring Ch. 013



The next three days were hard work. The hardest part was to find images that contained meaningful detail. On the usable photographs, using edge detection and false colour techniques, details showed up that were invisible otherwise. At the end I had a rough idea what Okton4 was all about. I had kept my notes and copies of the relevant images on my own small laptop rather than on the Federation computer. I carried the machine in my briefcase, which I took home every day. No one had ever queried what data I had on my computer.

I still had not received the figures I had asked Arden for. When I asked for them again he was evasive, saying something about his people having difficulties getting access to the data. This had to be bullshit. I had not asked for confidential material. What I wanted should be freely available. Over lunch he seemed preoccupied and reserved. Something wasn't right. I acted as if nothing was amiss.

I finished work early. On my way home I rang Feng and asked him to meet me somewhere away from the hotel. He suggested a restaurant in the Chinese section of town and gave me the address. 

Back at the hotel, I changed into civilian clothes and went on my way, carrying my briefcase with me. It was a fair walk, but I found the place without problems.

The doorman addressed me by name and told me Feng was expecting me. He waved to one of the waiters and said something in Chinese. The waiter motioned me to follow him and led me through the restaurant into a side room. Feng was waiting for me there.

He showed me the menu. I settled for some Wonton soup, lemon duck and lychees with ice-cream for afters. Feng had some barbequed pork. 

Over drinks Feng asked me what was bothering me. I told him about my meeting with Arden.

"How much does Arden know?"

"Nothing that isn't in my reports. If he has been ordered to spy on me they will learn nothing they don't already know."

"Keep it like that. If he is forced to choose between you and the Federation he will choose the Federation. What did you tell him about the glitch in the recording?"

"I told him we had detected nothing unusual in the speeded up recording and that you think it might have been a problem with the equipment after all."

"Good, your butt is covered in all directions. I take it you've got nothing dicey on the computer in your office and no papers lying around with stuff you don't want them to see?"

"All covered. Tell me Feng, what do you think it all means?"

"What is the report you are preparing all about? Can you tell me?"

"I don't see why not."

I told him about the images and the lack of heat signatures in key areas and what I thought it meant. While I was at it I also told him of Arden's theory and my conversation with the coroner.

"Now you know as much as I know," I concluded.

"You really think that whole Oktonian caper is a scam?"

"Everything I've found out so far points to it. Unless they have learned how to operate cities without generating heat I can't think of anything else. Such a technology is extremely unlikely though. Besides, they do have places that have heat signatures, but these are small. Nothing like the size of the cities. More like the size of this spaceport."

"If the Federation thinks this place is a pushover they will try to invade. I would not like to see that. You need to play that aspect down in your report."

"Anyway, now that you know it all, what do you think is going on? Why is Arden so jumpy all of a sudden?"

"Something has either happened or is about to happen at high command. They are waiting for your report. Someone is getting ideas. My guess is that after they get your report you will lose your privileged position. They will push you to the sidelines, just in case you come up with some more stuff, but you won't be working from your fancy office any more."

"Do you think they have me under surveillance?"

"That's unlikely, but as far as Arden is concerned your business with me is finished. It might be better if I don't come around to your hotel any more. We should meet elsewhere from now on. I'll give you another telephone number where you can reach me, just in case. Here is a good place to meet. It's as secure as you can get on Okton4. You might just suddenly develop a taste for Chinese food. Tell Arden you've discovered this wonderful place. Rave about the food. Bring him here for lunch. He doesn't like our food, but he'll come to check the joint out. Let the guys on the door know you are bringing him or they won't let him in. I'll give you a number to ring. After that he won't worry if you are seen to come here regularly. He doesn't know I'm connected to this place."

I settled the bill. Feng gave me the telephone numbers he had promised.

"Come here day after tomorrow at eight. I'll have them prepare a Peking duck for us, my treat. By that time the new camera should be finished," he said just before I left.

I arrived back at the hotel at around six-thirty, in plenty of time for my lesson. Again I did nothing special. 

Afterwards I had a few drinks and went to bed.

***

Next morning I rang Arden and told him I would not be at the office for a day or so and that I was writing my report at the hotel. He could reach me there if I was wanted.

I had already told Arden about the missing heat signatures and what I thought it meant so I had to put it in. I tried to think of ways to play its significance down, but nothing came to mind. Then I remembered I had not told him about the smaller places with heat signatures, which was the strongest indicator the cities were indeed deserted. If I didn't put that into my report the theory of an alien technology had still some credibility.

Doctoring the images was out. They had the originals and would spot if I tampered with them. But, there were a lot of images. No one would expect me to analyse them all. It would not be a problem to only pick photographs of what I wanted to show the Federation and keep the rest under wraps. As long as I gave them something new and interesting they would be happy with my work.

Okton4 is a strange planet. The total landmass is only about fifteen percent of the entire surface area, all confined to the eastern hemisphere. There is one continent about twice the size of Australia straddling the equator surrounded by thousands of islands of varying sizes. The rest of the planet is covered in water, frozen at the poles. In the centre of the water covered western hemisphere is the spaceport. I guessed that the artificial island had been built originally to house some military installation, now demolished to make way for the spaceport. Even with a heavily armed island in the middle of nowhere it would have been virtually impossible to defend the entire hemisphere against invasion, which could explain why the Oktonians decided on a ring of enormous space ships designed to defend the planet from space. 

In the material I had been given I could not find any reference to this as a possible scenario. I decided to start off my report with that idea. 

Next I showed my analysis of the main continent pointing out the Zabuyelite deposits. The sheer size of these deposits was bound to impress the Federation. They had not been identified in the reports I had seen.

Finally I showed some of the cities where my treatment of the images had made a number of features visible. Apart from the airports they showed massive wharves and some arterial roads. The wharves made sense. With that many islands there had to be a fair amount of traffic on the water. All the large cities were port cities, further proving the importance of seagoing activities.

Next I commented on the lack of heat signatures. I downplayed the idea that the cities might be deserted and forwarded the view that the missing heat signatures could well indicate the existence of an alien technology.

I finished my report with my theory that the Oktonians we dealt with were not the masters of their planet but only the servants of a far more developed race who, for reasons of their own, preferred to remain in the background. These masters were unlikely to be indigenous to Okton4, but more likely colonisers from elsewhere.

In addition I said that, in my view, the semen collection from humans were an effort to introduce new genetic material into the indigenous Oktonians in order to increase their usefulness to their masters.

This would give the Federation something to think about. 

As an afterthought I suggested that further investigation should centre around finding out what happens to the semen after collection and what possible role, if any, the Pumpernickel plays in the postulated breeding programme.



Offspring Ch. 014



So much for my report. It would give them a lot of information they didn't have and show the Federation I was worth keeping. If Feng was right and I was about to be shifted to the sidelines, perhaps it was worth taking the initiative and make the job easy for them. I didn't really need the office at the Fed building any more. If I handed the office back voluntarily it would save them from having to toss me out and risk resentment, it would also pacify those who didn't like me being there in the first place. Further it would show that I valued the Federation's interest more than a status symbol that most Federation officers would give their right arm for. Now, what to do with my notes and documents? They would not like the idea of me running around with a computer full of confidential and secret material, encrypted though it was. Luckily I had a second computer no one knew about, an identical model to the one I had been using until now. I spent several hours transferring the material I wanted the Federation to see onto the backup machine. When I was done I ran a small programme that set all the file creation dates and all access dates to a future date. Let them do something with that. Next I rang the number Feng had given me and informed the restaurant that I intended to go there for lunch with two other senior Federation officers, all in uniform and could we have a private room. They said that was okay. I told them I would confirm the booking before eleven AM tomorrow. I was set to make my play.

***

Next morning I went to the office early and in uniform. The first thing I did was upload my report. When that was done I asked for a conference with Arden and Colonel Nakov. I was told they would meet me in my office at ten.

They arrived exactly on time and after I had settled my guests down with a beer Colonel Nakov said:

"Where is the fire, Major Walters?"

"No fire, Colonel," I said. "I just wanted to inform you that my report has just been sent of to HQ. That part of the work is done. There is something important I would like to discuss with you gentlemen regarding this office."

"What about this office. Something wrong with it?" Colonel Nakov seemed irritated.

"No, nothing like that, Sir. It's just that I am, at least for the time being, finished here. It seems such a waste. I am certain the Federation has better use for this office than to accommodate an officer who no longer needs it. Please don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for the facilities here, they made my job a lot simpler and more pleasurable, but from now on all I will require is access to a terminal from time to time. I am sure we can work out something that is less resource intensive."

Arden and the Colonel exchanged looks, there was surprise, and, I fancied, relief.

"That is very generous of you Major Walters," said the Colonel. "Most officers would kill for an office like this. When do you intend to move out?"

"Right now, if that's alright. There is something else that bothers me though."

"And what would that be?"

"My computer, Sir. It contains my notes and work files. I will also need my code book. I am not comfortable carrying this machine around with me, although my files are all encrypted. I would hate it to fall into the wrong hands. The code book cannot leave the building, I know that. If it is possible, I would like to deposit these items with security so I can still have access when I need it."

"It pleases me no end to see an officer who is as security conscious as you are. I wish all senior officers were like that. It shall be as you wish. Arden will take charge of your items and make them accessible to you on demand. He will also guarantee access to a terminal, whenever you need it. What do you intend to do next?"

"I am waiting for orders, Sir. I have proposed a plan to HQ. I believe it will be acceptable."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Yes, something personal, Sir."

"Go on, speak up."

"I have discovered this wonderful Chinese restaurant. It's not far from here. The food is out of this world. I would like to take you gentlemen there for lunch today to show my appreciation for all the help you have given me. I have made a tentative booking, Would you do me the honour of lunching with me?"

Arden and the Colonel exchanged glances. For a second there I thought they were going to refuse, but then the Colonel said: "We would be delighted, Major Walters."

I rang the restaurant to confirm the booking, handed my computer and code book to Arden, arranged to meet them outside the restaurant at twelve, shook hands and took my leave.

I had just over an hour to kill. On a sudden impulse I rang Feng and asked him if he could supply me with a laptop computer. He said he owned an electronics shop in the mall and if I went there a Mr. Wu would look after my needs.

Shortly before twelve I turned up at the restaurant, my newly acquired computer under my arm. Arden and the Colonel were just arriving. The head waiter greeted me by name and ushered us into one of their private rooms. He suggested one of their set banquets and we settled for that. I could see Arden wasn't very impressed with the food, but the Colonel went into it with gusto, evidently enjoying every bite.

"I see you bought a computer, Major," said the Colonel.

"I feel naked without one, Sir. Seeing that my machine is tied up with Federation business I needed to get a new one for day to day stuff."

"If you hand me the receipt I will see that you get reimbursed. It's the least we can do."

The sly bastard. If I did that my old machine would effectively become Federation property. He could snoop around in my files without a court order and, if it contained something incriminating, use it against me in a court martial. Let them check. I was well covered there. Anything they found would only enhance my credibility. I handed him the receipt and thanked him for the generous gesture.

"How is Feng?" It was Arden who asked. He would know that the computer had come from Feng's shop.

"He seems fine, I only spoke briefly on the phone with him to ask if he could tell me where to get a computer without getting ripped off. He referred me to a Mr. Wu who sold me the machine."

"Good move. If he recommended Mr. Wu you would have got a good machine at the right price. He wouldn't refer you to a crook."

"That's what I figured."

If in future someone saw me with Feng and I was asked about it I could say I had some problems with the machine. They would buy it. Just another arse covering exercise on my part.

We finished our lunch and parted on friendly terms. I had done what I could to forestall whatever was converging on me. I hoped it was enough.

***

I went back to the hotel and changed into civilian clothes. My computer was a worry. If I got caught with it it would put me straight in front of a firing squad. I had turned the tables on the Federation and changed the scenario. It would take a while for them to adjust their security procedures. Once my report was evaluated and the full impact of what I said had sunk in they would check if I was holding anything back. At the very least they would have a clandestine look around my hotel room. If they found my computer I would be dead. For the moment I was safe. Nakov would not risk an illegal search without sanction from HQ. I had to get that thing out of here and there was only one place where I could keep it and that was with Feng. I decided to take the machine with me for our meeting at eight tonight. For once I cancelled my appointment with the Oktonian woman and left the hotel, the computer in my briefcase.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in a bar close to the restaurant after making sure I wasn't being followed. At eight I went to see Feng.

The Peking duck was superb. You couldn't get better on Earth. I said so.

Over coffee I showed Feng the report I had sent to the Federation. I also showed him two images I had withheld from my masters. One was a picture of a city I had worked over to show an amazing amount of detail. With a bit of luck it was enough to go there on one of my jaunts. The other was an island the size of Madagascar. What was interesting about this one were the heat signatures, indicating intense activity on the island. This, I figured, was the place the Oktonians operated from.

"This is dynamite," said Feng. "You need a safe place to put the machine."

"I thought you might be able to help me with that."

Feng fished for a card in his wallet and gave it to me.

"This is my bank," he said. "Meet me there tomorrow at ten, I'll introduce you to the manager. I suggest you transfer your investment portfolio to them, that'll give you a reason to go there frequently. We'll arrange a secret safe deposit box as well. You can keep your computer in there. Leave the machine with me overnight, I'll bring it with me tomorrow."

I really didn't have much of a choice, besides Feng knew all the dangerous shit on the machine anyway and he was as exposed as I was if it ever blew up. I gave him the machine. The bank was a solid institution with branches all over the known worlds, there would be little risk with them. I could confidently let them handle my investments.

Much relieved I made my way home. Back at the hotel I pretended to be much more loaded than I was. Let them think I'd had a heavy night on the piss, just in case they wondered why I had cancelled my appointment.

At ten the next morning I went to the bank and told the Oktonian girl at reception I had an appointment with the manager. Feng was already in his office with my computer in his briefcase. He introduced me to the manager, a Mr. Wong, and gave me my machine.

"Meet me at one in the restaurant," he said and departed.

Mr Wong was a short, balding gentleman in his mid sixties, fastidiously dressed in a dark pin stripe suit. With the typical politeness of an educated Chinese businessman he explained that Feng had briefed him on my requirements. He inspected my portfolio and prepared the necessary authorisations for me to sign. That being finished he took me to a vault. 

The manager showed me a safe deposit box and explained that this box was for my day to day matters. He then showed me another box in an adjacent aisle and told me that this was for the confidential stuff. The same key opened both boxes. The confidential box, he explained, was registered in a dummy name and the bank kept no record linking it to me. This way secrecy could be maintained.

I had to grin. What a simple and effective scam.

I deposited my computer there and we were done. He asked me to come and see him in two day's time and finalise matters with my portfolio. We made a time and I went for a beer before going to see Feng.

He had disappointing news.

"What we thought were Oktonian artefacts are not," he said. "Both the container and the impregnated cloths have been manufactured here. The cleaning agent cum deodoriser is of Earth manufacture too. We found the company that had supplied several thousand of these kits to the Oktonians. Apart from bird shit, which you would expect to find on a dick that had been up a cloaca, there were traces of a badly deteriorated, complex organic compound, unsuitable for further analysis. When I suggested getting more samples for analysis I was told there was no point. The cleaning agent did too good a job."

"I guess it's back to the drawing board," I said, "anything else?"

"Yes, the camera is finished." 

Feng took a small case from his coat pocket, opened it and showed me the new camera. He had said it was only about half as much longer than the previous one and that was probably right, but now when I looked at it I wondered how I could get that monster up my arse. The idea freaked me a bit. When I voiced my concerns Feng brushed them aside.

"It'll go. You just have to relax, lubricate it well and don't try shoving it up there in one go. You kind of need to fuck it in, a bit deeper with each stroke. Just make sure you've had a shit before you do it."

I wasn't looking forward to it, but I knew I'd try, especially when he told me about the new features he had built into the thing. It was a wonderful piece of engineering.

"I just need to make a waterproof cover for it," he said. "Give me another day or two."

We made a date two days hence and I went back to my hotel.



Offspring Ch. 015



I sat in the bar with a beer trying to find the courage for the next step. There was considerable risk in what I intended to do. Part of my problem was that I didn't know how clear a picture I needed of my destination in order to get there. The city I wanted to travel to lay on an estuary of a fairly large river. The infrared image I had must have been taken towards the end of a very hot day because the warm landmass was in sharp contrast to the considerably cooler body of water. This gave me a pretty good idea of the layout of the city. It also showed what in all probability where the port facilities. From here on it was guesswork. The only Oktonian building material I knew of was that grey concrety looking shit the spaceport island was made of. It seemed reasonable to assume that the port was paved with the same kind of stuff. There were what I reckoned to be warehouses, a broad wharf road and what could be huge cranes, judging by the position of those barely discernible blobs. That was about all I had to go by. The question was, was it enough? It had to be, because there was no more information forthcoming on that front. I had picked a spot between two warehouses adjacent to what I took to be a crane of some sort.

Just in case the wharf was brimming with workers I decided not to go there in my human form. A small monkey would be ideal, I thought. I could get out of reach quickly if there were creatures around, climb up almost anything and, since monkeys masturbate, I had a ticket home.

Time was getting close to my lesson, there was nothing further to do than to decide to take the risk or not. 

Here goes nothing, I thought when the Oktonian woman plunged down on my prick.

Well, something happened, because I found myself on the concrete of the wharf. The buildings were monstrous in size until I realised they only looked so huge to me because I was barely a foot tall. Looking around for predators in the sky that might consider me a meal I found the coast clear. 

I had guessed well. In front of me there was a huge crane that could move on wide tracks parallel to the wharf. Not much different from the cranes I had seen in lots of ports all over the galaxies. Form follows function, I thought. There was a ladder leading up to a platform with a control cabin. I quickly went up the ladder to get a better vantage point.

I heard noises. There was some activity on the far end of the wharf, about a mile away. A ship had docked there and human looking creatures were loading something. I was too far away to make out much detail. Otherwise there was no sign of life.

Feeling very vulnerable in my present form I examined the platform and the cabin in detail so I could go back there again and masturbated myself home. I had done it!

As always, the Oktonian woman wasn't any wiser. I got dressed and went to the bar for a stiff drink. I needed it.

I fought the urge to ring up Feng and tell him what I'd been up to. There wasn't all that much to tell him anyway. I decided to wait until I had some more information. Next, I decided I would go there at night and see if I could get any closer to where the activity was. I had a restless night.

***

The place at the end of the wharf was floodlit. The loading was continuing. I had arrived on the crane platform as planned. I climbed down the ladder and walked towards the light, carefully scanning my surrounds for patrols. There weren't any. That meant whoever was there felt secure, which in turn meant there were no opposing forces.

It didn't take long for me to get there in my human form. I went as close to the action as I dared, careful to stay in the dark. There was only one cargo, as far as I could tell. They looked like high pressure gas cylinders of varying sizes. Huge trucks arrived with these cylinders which were picked up by what looked like old fashioned forklift trucks. The vehicles appeared to run on electricity, judging by the noise they made. That made sense. With those huge reserves of lithium at their disposal they could build very efficient batteries of monstrous sizes that would have been prohibitively expensive elsewhere.

Two gas cylinders were mounted on the roof of the cabin. I guessed they drove a generator that replenished the batteries when power was low and no charging station nearby. No Earth shattering technology here. I was hiding behind one of the parked trucks when the generator cut in. There were no exhaust fumes, only water vapour. The cylinders contained hydrogen.

The crews were mostly Oktonians. About five percent of the personnel were human, which surprised me. The humans seemed to be in charge. From the bits of conversation I overheard they were speaking Federation Intergalactic, the lingua franca all over the populated worlds.

Trucks were coming and going. The road they were travelling on was wide, very wide. Evidently built to carry much more traffic. It wasn't difficult to follow the road and stay out of the headlights. The trucks didn't travel far. They stopped at a terminal building about the size of a football field. Not daring to enter there, I still saw enough to determine that this was where they charged and stored the cylinders. I circled around the well lit compound and found what I was looking for. A huge building with large pipes leading into it. The pipelines went from the building to the sea. Water for hydrolysis. Next to this was what looked like a fair sized nuclear reactor, which presumably provided the electricity needed for the process. Again, nothing new as far as technology was concerned. 

The staff I could see around the reactor were mostly human, with Oktonians relegated more or less to labouring tasks. I had seen enough for now. I looked for a sheltered spot I could return to, pulled myself off and was back at the hotel in a flash. Again, only half an hour had passed here. Time for a drink.



Offspring Ch. 016



I tried to digest what I had just seen. If my assumptions were right and the humans were in charge of everything that required more intelligence than Oktonians possessed there had to be a lot of humans there. At least the reactor and presumably the hydrolysis plant as well had to be manned around the clock. Depending on the degree of automation this would require some five hundred to one thousand humans to keep the show on the road. This was far more than the Oktonians could recruit from the space station. So where had these people come from? 

There seemed to be no one standing over them with a gun so presumably they weren't slaves. The technology they were using was little more than Earth technology of the late twentieth century. A people with that kind of technology cannot build space ships like the Oktonians had. And where were the overlords and how did they control the people? My head swam. So many questions and so few answers. I had to talk to Feng. I would see him in the morning. There was no point in calling him now.

Another restless night.

***

I met Feng at ten o'clock as arranged. He was stunned when I told him what I had discovered.

"And you reckon their main activity is on that smaller island you showed me?"

"Still looks like it. There is no alien technology without heat signatures that I've seen. I am still certain the cities are virtually dead. I doubt there is much more activity where I was than what I saw. You would hear the noise of a big city, if nothing else. The rest of the city wasn't lit up either. I bet it's deserted apart from that hydrolysis plant."

"Assuming they use the same system on the island and have humans in charge of the difficult things, how many humans do you think they'd need?"

"Another ten thousand at a minimum," I said wondering where Feng was going.

"There must be a human colony somewhere."

"How do you make this out?"

"We know the Oktonians don't recruit immigrants. They get a few here at the spaceport through the sex, but that would only be a trickle. There is only one other source; the slave trade. 

"Can you imagine what a slave costs delivered on Okton4? It's cheaper to buy male and female slaves and allow them to breed. They'd still buy premium slaves from time to time to bring fresh blood or talent in, but they couldn't do it in huge numbers. Don't forget they would only buy the best, they've got low grade labourers and whores enough and that is what the slave trade mostly supplies."

"If they have a human colony, why entice people here on the space station?"

"No one here on Okton4 is an idiot or labourer. Just about everyone who arrives here has some specialised skill. Here they get smart people at bargain rates. That's why they only allow men. Don't forget about the hybrids."

"Makes sense. Where does that get us though?"

"There must be some amongst them whose stay on Okton4 is not a happy one. Look for those, they will help you find out everything you want to know."

"How do you think the humans are controlled?"

"Through the food supply. We don't know if there is anything growing out there humans can eat. They can't grow anything they are used to because they have no plants or seeds or domestic animals. Do as you're told, or you don't eat. Simple."

"That would explain why there is so much Earth food here. But we know how much is coming in. We would know if they bought food for ten thousand extra people, wouldn't we?"

"The Feds only know what comes in from what the traders tell them. They have no way of checking. All the loading and unloading areas are off limits to them. I know from my own people how much shit they sell to the Oktonians that the Feds don't know about. Besides, the Feds might want to know where the stuff came from. Nobody wants that. All the official stuff is paid for with Lithium ore. The clandestine stuff is traded for precious metals and gemstones. The Feds suspect this is going on, but they have no way of proving it." 

"Tell me Feng, how do the traders do business with the Oktonians. Who do they talk to?"

"There are fifty accredited negotiators. All transactions, legal or clandestine, between the Oktonians and the humans go through them. The negotiators are human. After what you told me they're probably Oktonians, born and bred here. No one fucks with them, not even the Feds."

"Alright, that's it for now. Is the camera ready?"

"Oops, I nearly forgot." He reached in his pocket and handed it to me. I was still worried how I could get that monster up my arse, but I would try.

"What is the maximum recording time I can get out of this?"

"That depends on how many frames per second you need and at what resolution you are recording. What are you trying to do?"

"I want to train the camera on the factory exits and see how many people go in and out. There is presumably a shift change. It'll give me an idea of how many employees there are."

"Put it on three frames per second and half maximum resolution. That'll give you just over twenty-four hours."

"Perfect. Now let's go and get something to eat and have a few drinks.

"Suits me."

"By the time I got back to my hotel it was four in the afternoon."

I had a bit of trouble inserting the camera when the time came, but I managed. Once it was inside it was no more uncomfortable than the previous one. When I got to my preselected spot I found a place where I could position the camera. I set it according to Feng's instructions and went back home. No point in hanging around and risk exposure. Once I knew something about their routines it would be a different matter.



Offspring Ch. 017



That evening I was handed a note from Colonel Nakov asking me to present myself in his office at ten in the morning for an important conference. Whatever had been converging on me had arrived.

I turned up on time and in uniform. I was ushered into Colonel Nakov's office. Arden and the Colonel looked sombre and bade me sit down.

"I have bad news," the Colonel said. "There is no gentle way to break it to you so I come straight to the point. Just over a week ago Colonel Saraswati had a massive stroke in the middle of a conference with Captain Schreiber. In spite of the best medical treatment she could not be saved. Yesterday they switched off her life support system. She died within minutes. For what it's worth, there would have been no pain.

"I know you used to attend her lectures when you were a student and that you were very fond of her. Please accept my sincere condolences."

He stood up and we all shook hands.

"I apologise for not having informed you of her condition earlier," he continued, "I was under orders."

He handed me an envelope and said: "This has arrived from HQ for you. Needless to say the documentation within cannot leave the building. I know you need a stiff drink after this, so I will permit you to study the contents in the officers mess. The information inside is confidential and not to be discussed outside this office. Hand the envelope back to me when you are finished. It will be added to your other security items we hold for you."

He stood up, the interview was finished. 

I went to the officers mess, ordered a large Cognac and a beer and sat in a quiet corner of the club. My hands shook when I opened the envelope. There were two letters inside. One was from the committee chairman General Taubner informing me of what had happened. He then went on to say that my report had been vetted by Professor Williams and had been accepted by the committee in toto. He congratulated me on a job well done. I was to carry on with my plans for the future as stated in my report.

He also said that a reorganisation of the department was necessary, but would take some time. In the interim I was to report to Colonel Nakov who was under orders to help me where necessary. My status within the Federation was unchanged.

He finished by telling me that he had been very close to Lata for many years and that the loss of her was a great tragedy to him, as it must be for me. 

The other letter was from Bernice telling me in detail what had happened and offering her condolences.

I read both letters several times and decided these people were on the level. It was an unfortunate accident, nothing more, especially since Lata had been taken ill before my report had reached the committee. I returned the envelope to Colonel Nakov who, on my insistence, read both letters while I was there. I told him I was happy reporting to him.

"At least we know there won't be any unforeseen security problems under the new arrangements," I quipped in parting

Colonel Nakov laughed. "I wish all my officers were like you Major Walters. I am proud to have you."

Over a beer I contemplated what the new arrangements meant for me. With Lata dead it meant that only Feng and I knew about the time travel bit. That was a plus. Not that I had worried about Lata giving me up, but she would have been vulnerable to interrogation if someone was suspicious of me. Nakov being in charge was potentially troublesome. Since I was officially working for him he no longer needed HQ approval to have me investigated. The question was, would he? I'd have to be doubly careful.

I rang Feng and asked him how he was set for lunch. We decided to go Indian and met half an hour later in a small restaurant on the first floor of an office building. I had never been there before. Over a lamb vidaloo, some cucumber raita and a few chapaties I told him what had transpired and what I thought it meant.

"You don't have to worry about Nakov. He is going to be very orderly and not risk upsetting you and maybe look bad at HQ. You just got a pat on the back by the top brass. Taubner is a five star general. Normally he wouldn't even notice a guy like Nakov. If you tell Taubner what a helpful and allround good sausage Nakov is it'll do wonders for the Colonel's career. He'll lick your boots ever after."

"All very well, I just wish I had nothing to do with any of those arseholes. Unfortunately, that's not an option."

"Maybe there is a way. Let me think on this a while. In the meantime I have a little present for you."

Feng reached into his pocket and brought out another device, similar to the camera, but smaller.

"Another camera?" I queried.

"No. Plug this thing into the camera and press this button. It's a memory module. It will download the recording and reset the camera. There will be a green light when it's finished. Then you unplug it and take it back here. The advantage is you don't have to bring the camera back each time, it can keep recording when you're gone. That'll give you round the clock surveillance, if you want it."

"I like that."

He popped the module into its waterproof container and handed it to me. If nothing else, it would be easier on my arse. I arranged to meet Feng after I got back so we could see what the camera had recorded. I thanked him, settled the bill and left for the hotel.



Offspring Ch. 018



After I had downloaded the recording I looked around for a place to reposition my camera. I was interested in the parking area. Apart from trucks there were buses and a number of small two seater type cars parked there. The small cars had no gas cylinders. The rows of vehicles were parked with their front end against low level barricades and seemed to be connected to the barricades by a cable. I guessed that the cars were being recharged. My hunch seemed to be confirmed when I discovered a light fixture on the roof of the vehicles, some were lit up others not. Presumably that meant the lit up ones were fully charged and ready to go.

I found a place where I could train my camera on this section and started the recording. There was no point in hanging around, I hid somewhere where I could shove the memory module up my butt and masturbate my way home.

I went to see Feng soon after I got back. We had something to eat and then Feng led me to the back of the restaurant where we entered a goods lift and rode a few stories up. We wound up in a small office that had little more than a computer terminal, a large screen, a fridge and a table with a few chairs. I guessed it was some sort of conference room.

Feng got us some beer from the fridge and put an ashtray on the table. I handed him the memory module and a short time later we were watching what the camera had recorded.

It took three hours to watch the whole thing. There was a time stamp on each frame, showing official spaceport time. While watching the movie we made notes of the times of key events so we could get back to it later for further analysis. There were no surprises. They worked twelve hour shifts from five in the morning to five in the afternoon. Each shift employed about a thousand people two hundred of them being human. All Oktonians wore saffron coloured overalls, their wing markings possibly indicating status within the organisation. There were humans in blue, green, black and bright orange overalls. Then there were men in business suits and men wearing white lab coats, presumably the administrative and technological elite of the enterprise. 

Feng and I agreed that we were watching an efficient organisation with a rigidly defined hierarchy. About what one would expect in an outfit that handled huge amounts of hydrogen, not to mention the nuclear reactor, where even a minor slip could have devastating consequences.

It was already daylight, the ashtray was full and there were empty beer bottles all over the place when we finally called it a day. Feng erased the recording, there was no point in hanging onto it and risk exposure. 

I walked back to the hotel, had some breakfast and went to bed. I was stuffed.

Nothing much happened when I went back to the complex the next day. I downloaded the recording and reset the camera to full resolution and normal speed. I positioned the camera so it pointed to the section where the small cars where and set the timer for recording to start just before shift change. No point in hanging around, I went home.

Analysing the footage did not take very long since we knew what times were of interest. We saw the Oktonians and working class humans get onto separate buses and leave. The suits and the lab coats got into the small cars and drove off. Privilege of office.

The next day brought more information. I had repositioned the camera again. We saw how a guy in a suit unplugged the charging cable and put it into a holder provided on the rail. He got into the car, reversed out of the spot and departed. There seemed to be no fixed pattern. The executives simply grabbed the nearest fully charged car. The cars were not individually owned by the look of it. That gave me an idea.

I had taken to turning up in a business suit like the executives wore. In case I was spotted there was little chance someone would query why I was there and what I was doing, so I hoped. 

I timed it to arrive just before shift change on my next trip. When the workers went to the vehicles I came out of hiding and walked towards the area where the small cars were. I didn't pick the closest one but one on the far side. On a previous trip I had familiarised myself with the car. It had simple controls, easy to figure out. I unplugged the cable, like I had seen them do and climbed in. Just to be on the safe side I waited for a little while and followed the last one out of the parking lot. From then on I just tagged behind the traffic. No one drove fast. I soon found out why. The thing I was driving barely moved at more than twenty miles per hour. Drab buildings with high set windows and huge doors were on both sides of the road. There was no pavement. Warehouses I guessed. It was like driving down a prison corridor.

The buildings came to an abrupt end, making way for a big open area. I could see the sea to my left. Between the sea and the road was a green area about a hundred yards wide, like a big park. My first glimpse of Oktonian vegetation. To my right were what looked like a row of apartment buildings. The column in front of me turned right into a parking area. I followed, picking a parking spot as far away from the others as I dared and plugged the car into the charging rail like I had seen the others do.

Most of the workers went straight into the buildings, though some crossed over to the park, presumably to catch a few rays of the evening sun. Since I could hardly go into one of the buildings I went to the park too. No one paid any attention to me. I found a bench from where I could see a good portion of the park and sat down.

I had not sat more than five minutes when I got my first surprise. There on the promenade was a woman with a pushchair, accompanied by a man carrying a toddler. A proud dad, home from work. Feng had been right. There were breeding humans on Okton4. I took a picture of the three, downloaded the recordings I had onto the memory device and tied the camera onto a branch of a bush with some of that tough long grass that grew in patches between the bushes, made sure the camera was trained on the promenade and looked for a place where I could shove the memory module up my butt when I had an idea. The waterproof cover of the camera was much bigger than the memory module. If I used that I could fill the rest of the space up with some organic material. I took a leaf off a bush, some flower petals and something that looked like seeds on one of the plants. There wasn't room for much, but it was at least something. I sealed the cover and spat on it.

By that time it was getting dark enough to shove the thing up my butt without fear of being spotted. I stepped into the bushes for a quick wank and went home.

When I showed it to Feng he was excited.

"I'll get that analysed straight away," he said, "If I get this to our chemist now we can have a chromatograph in the morning. I'll give you call."

I got the results at around eight in the morning. I was told that the samples were too small to come up with a definitive analysis. One thing though stood out. The lithium levels were extraordinarily high. The chemist had never seen anything like it and had wanted to know where the samples had come from. Feng had told him he had found the organic matter in an ore shipment to which the chemist commented that this explained the high lithium content. Of course, we knew there was no such contamination.



Offspring Ch. 019



Over breakfast I wondered what it all meant. Lithium is toxic to humans. Every mining engineer knows that. In the twentieth century it was used in small doses to control bipolar and other mental disorders. Overdoses were common. A number of people died each year from lithium poisoning. If all vegetation on Okton4 contained high levels of lithium, a diet of Oktonian produce would be lethal to humans. But what, if anything, does it do to Oktonians? Does that account for their mental dullness? Do the Oktonians feed Pumpernickel to their offspring during critical stages of their development to keep lithium levels down and to enhance intelligence?

Interesting questions. I would need a fair quantity of indigenous organic material for a decent evaluation. I wouldn't be able to carry enough of the stuff up my arse to give meaningful results, besides they would want to know how I came by the specimens. Then I remembered. There was a lot of Oktonian biological material available and I wouldn't need to explain anything.

I rang up my new boss and asked if I could see him for about half an hour this morning. He told me he would see me at ten o'clock. I turned up in uniform and saluted smartly when I entered Colonel Nakov's office.

I explained my theory about lithium in the diet and how I thought it might be responsible for the low IQ in Oktonians. I explained how I saw the role of the Pumpernickel in a breeding programme.

"This sounds all very plausible, Major Walters, but how could you possibly test it? Where would you get the indigenous biological material from to start with?"

"From Dr. Patel's cadavers."

That stopped him in his tracks.

"Very clever," he said after a pause. "What do you need from me?"

"I would like you to order a toxicology report on the first available Oktonian cadaver, specifically looking for lithium levels; internal organs, brain and stomach contents. I would also like it if the order empowers Dr. Patel to request any further tests he deems necessary or helpful."

"Stomach contents?"

"Yes Sir, I need to know how much lithium is in their dietary intake."

"Very well. I take it you want to move on this straight away?"

"Yes Sir, if possible."

"Anything else?"

"Yes Sir, if you could make out the order as an officer of the Federation Research Command. This is going to be expensive. Let them pay for it."

"Good idea," grinned Nakov, "my budget needs every break it can get. Come back in half an hour or so, the paperwork will be with Arden. I take it you want to take it to Dr. Patel yourself."

"Indeed, Sir. Thank you."

We shook hands and that was it. I went to the officers mess and had a beer. Half an hour later I called in to see Arden. He had the paperwork ready for me.

Dr. Patel was in his office when I went to see him.

I explained to him what I wanted and why.

"You have come at a good time, Major," he said. "I'll be performing an autopsy on an Oktonian body this afternoon, I'll get your samples then. Just to make sure we aren't looking at an anomalous condition I suggest we get samples from other cadavers tested for comparison. We store tissue samples in most cases. Shall we say a single specimen each from thirty bodies. That'll give us a fair idea what we are dealing with."

"Wonderful, Doctor. Seeing it is nearly lunch time, would you care to join me as my guest?"

"I would love to. There are a couple of things I need to take care of first. How about I meet you in the officer's mess in about thirty minutes."

"You got it. See you then."

I took the lift up and ordered a beer.

***

True to his word Dr. Patel turned up half an hour later. Lamb roast was on special. We settled for that.

"You are right about the human-oktonian hybrids," Dr. Patel said over coffee.

"How do you know?"

"I've been doing a bit of research on my own. This has to stay between us. I had to break a few rules to get it done and I would get into trouble if that gets out."

"You have my guarantee. What did you do?"

"You see, by law I am limited to what tests I can order. I can only order tests if they are required to determine the cause of death. I am expressly forbidden to go beyond that. It has something to do with the agreements that were made originally between us and the Oktonians. I could not even order the toxicology reports you requested, not on my own authority that is. Anyway, I had a DNA profile done, unofficially, by a friend in the labs. The upshot is that the paternal DNA is definitely human."

"No wonder they don't want us do do these sorts of tests. Just as well you told me, we will have to do all our testing unofficially, under a security clamp. This has just become a black op."

"Is that necessary?"

"Yes. If we do it officially and the Oktonians find out we are in breach of our agreement with them we will all be in trouble. We might even lose our concession here on Okton4. You realise, we'll have to discuss this with Colonel Nakov. I won't tell him about your DNA tests, but he must know of the problem."

"I can see that."

"How trustworthy is your contact in the lab?"

"Absolutely. He has a level one security clearance, so have I."

"Good, I am assigning level one security. We proceed along these lines for now. I will inform Colonel Nakov of the changed conditions. No doubt he will get in touch with you and your friend. Order DNA tests on as many subjects as you see fit in addition to the toxicology reports."

We shook hands and Dr. Patel went back to his work. I rang Colonel Nakov and told him I had a security problem. He told me to come to his office straight away.

***

I explained the situation to Colonel Nakov, stressing that the tests were crucial and needed to be carried out regardless of any agreement with the Oktonians. He agreed with me.

"I am glad you caught this before it became a disaster," he said, "we need to proceed under a veil of secrecy. You mentioned that Dr. Patel had a trustworthy contact in the labs. Do you know who that contact is?"

"I didn't want to ask him. I thought it would be better if I left that part to you."

"That would be Dr. Schaeffer."

"Who is he?"

"He is the director of the pathology labs. The two are an item. They have been living together for years."

"How do we proceed from here, Sir?"

"We need to schedule a security briefing. Say at eight AM tomorrow. These gentlemen have a tight schedule, this way the briefing is finished before their daily work starts. We'll meet in the officers club and go to the conference room from there. I want you to attend."

"I'll be there. Anything else?"

"Yes. I want you to inform General Taubner of what you are doing. Mark it level one security, your eyes only. This gives him a chance to stop it if he thinks we should not proceed. I want you to do this now. Get Arden to make a secure terminal available for you. Send a copy to me please."

"Shall do."

Nakov was being cagey here. If this blew up he could distance himself from any repercussions. I didn't care. I sent my report as requested. When I was finished I went with Arden to have a beer upstairs.

"This lithium has you really bothered," he said.

Evidently Nakov had filled him in on what I was doing. I told him why I thought it important. While I was explaining things to Arden I had an idea.

"This place would be getting its water from a desalination plant. Would they know what the lithium levels are in raw sea water?"

"Why don't you ask Gregory?"

"Who is Gregory?"

"He's the head engineer at the desal plant. He's a friend of mine. He'd know. I'll get him for you."

Arden rang Gregory on his mobile phone. He explained I wanted to talk to him. He handed me the phone.

"Frank Walters here, Gregory. Just a question, would you know what the lithium levels are in seawater?"

"Four parts per million."

"How does that compare to Earth?"

"Over twenty times the amount you find back home."

"Would you be so kind to confirm that in writing?"

"No problem, where do you want me to send it?"

I gave him my details and thanked him for his cooperation. I had a couple more beers with Arden and went back to my hotel.

I didn't do anything special that night. I retrieved the recordings and looked them over with Feng later that evening. The daytime recording showed a lot of women and kids in the park. All the kids were very young, preschoolers by the look of them. The older kids were presumably at school somewhere else.

All the Oktonians in the recording did menial tasks, cleaning, weeding, collecting garbage and so forth. There did not seem to be any social interaction between humans and natives.

At the security meeting next morning things went as expected. Colonel Nakov had been right. It was Dr. Schaeffer who was Dr. Patel's contact at the lab. To my surprise Arden was present at the meeting. More arse covering by Nakov I guessed.

Dr. Schaeffer was the only one who had reservations about the project. I asked him what was bothering him.

"We are talking about a lot of tests here, more than I can handle on my own. Do I brief my technicians? How do I justify the expenditure on manpower and materials if the whole project has to stay secret?"

"I have thought about this," I said. "In my report to headquarters I suggested that we simply call the samples human tissue. We will re-write the order to show this. Everything will go through official channels. Dr. Schaeffer can invoice headquarters in the normal manner. Only the five of us and headquarters will need to know that in reality the samples are Oktonian. That should cover every contingency. After all, we are only talking about small bits of tissue."

"Brilliant," said Dr. Schaeffer. "Even if someone comes across the paperwork later there will be nothing unusual. There is no rule that stops us testing human tissue."

Nakov was pleased with my solution and called the meeting at an end. I went down to his office and we created the amended order, which I took to Dr. Patel, where I retrieved and destroyed the original. All bases were covered.

There had been no communication from General Taubner so presumably we had the blessing of the top brass.



Offspring Ch. 020



I went back to my hotel to get changed. As I walked by reception I saw Feng talking to the girl behind the counter. He gave her a card, which she swiped into a computer and handed him the card and a key. The sly bastard was taking lessons. He went in the direction of the humproom without turning around. He hadn't seen me.

Just to make sure I was right, I hurried upstairs, got changed and sat in the lobby from where I could see the reception counter. Sure enough, a few minutes later he handed in his key and went towards the bar. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

I gave him a couple of minutes to settle down, got a beer at the bar and sat at his table.

"Fancy seeing you here," I said instead of a greeting. "Was your lesson any good?"

"You didn't think I was going to miss out on that? Did you?" Feng didn't seem in the slightest embarrassed at having been caught.

"I thought it might go against your sexual persuasion."

"What are you talking about, you dumb prick? I'm not a queer. I'm as straight as you are."

"What have you been doing for sex then all these years?"

"Look Frank, not everyone who runs around with tits and in a dress in this place is a poofter in drag. You can get a straight fuck, if you know where to go."

"This is better discussed in a safer place. Shall we go for lunch at the Chinese joint? There are some things I have to tell you anyway."

***

Half an hour later we were in a private room in Feng's favourite restaurant. I told him about the tests and about Dr. Patel's DNA profile.

"Pretty much as we thought. The big picture still doesn't make any sense though."

"What are you driving at?"

"The cities don't make sense. From what I've seen, these things were not built by a space faring nation. Even by our standards, the level of technology used to construct and operate them is fairly primitive. They were certainly not built by the creatures who created these magnificent spacecraft that guard the planet. The Oktonians haven't built the cities either, they aren't evolved enough. That leaves the humans who live there. Technically they would have been able to, but there aren't enough of them to build things of that size, and what for? They don't need cities that big. Whoever built these things must have numbered in the millions, billions perhaps. So where are they? There seems to be an entire race missing. Whatever happened to these people must have been fairly recent, or the cities and their machines would be in worse shape than they are; say in the last two hundred years or so."

"How can an entire race go missing that quickly? There is no sign they were wiped out in a war or by an epidemic. There are no bombed buildings and no skeletons lying around from what I've seen. If it was as recent as you say there should be."

"I've thought about that. Say, if someone introduced a race specific virus or bacterium that made people sick. Not very sick, something of the nature of a cold perhaps, but left them in its wake sterile. That could wipe out a whole race in the space of a generation. Things would go on as before. People would grow old and die. They would get buried or cremated according to custom, until there were too few left to do much. The last ones you might still find in places because there was no one left to bury them, but there wouldn't be all that many. Genocide on a massive scale with few things left over to tell what happened there. They possibly never knew they had been attacked."

"A people who can build spaceships like the ones in orbit might well be able to do something like this. The question is ... why? And why hasn't the planet been invaded by now?"

"Maybe they cannot live on the planet. Perhaps they aren't oxygen breathers."

"That could explain a few things. I doubt it though. Why go to that much trouble if you can't live there? No Feng, I don't think that's it."

"Have you got a better explanation?"

"Take these huge warships of theirs. You're an engineer. Can you tell me why anyone in his right mind would build a fucker that size? Given the same technology, you could build hundreds of smaller vessels with the same amount of material. Against that many smaller ships those monsters wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. Some would get through and blow that big bastard right out of the sky."

"I can see your point, but where does that get us?"

"Look, Feng. We've been told they are warships and are there to protect their neck of the woods. We have always accepted that. No one has ever seen them fire a shot though I'm sure they are capable of it. Their mere size keeps opposing forces at bay. In other words we are scared of what they may contain."

"If they aren't warships, what are they then?"

"Transporters perhaps. The only reason I can think of to build a monster that size is to transport a lot of people. We know of eight of these vessels. There maybe more. Four of the ones we know about are always in orbit, four are out on patrol. They take turns. Depending on how long their journey took to get here they would hold about two hundred thousand people each, plus support gear. That gives us around one and a half million colonists plus the crews. With me so far?"

"Yes, go on."

"They send an advance party to deal with the locals. When the big ships arrive there are ready made, undamaged cities and a mass of docile slaves all waiting for them. The perfect conquest. They ferry the colonists to the surface, the crews stay on board. Now something unexpected happens. Those lovely bugs who sterilised the original inhabitants have mutated and now affect the colonists in the same way. They would have found out within months they were in trouble. They quarantine the crews on the ships. One generation later only the crews and their offspring are left, perhaps with nowhere to go."

"And then what?"

"They get humans to keep the show on the road and to get resources, working like mad to come up with a vaccine that will protect them from the bug and enable them to reclaim the planet. They might even use human researchers. I bet you anything you like they are importing the latest pharmacological technology."

"I can check on that. They would bring the stuff in clandestinely. My contacts amongst the traders will tell me. You know Frank, as crazy as it sounds, what you said makes sense. Why haven't you brought that up before?"

"Because I only got the idea when you came up with the sterilisation thing. Anyway, let's leave it at that for now. What are you going to tell me about human women on Okton4?"

"You have to know something about Chinese society before you can understand. Each of the big Chinese trading houses are headed by a Tai-pan. He is the unquestioned boss. Most of the Tai-pans here are weary of homosexuals. They judge them unreliable and unsuitable for senior positions in the organisation. This created a problem. The traders lost many good men to the Oktonians. The most powerful Tai-pans got together and decided they needed to circumvent the prohibition of women.

"The Oktonians check. They have scanners you have to go through when you disembark that look for the presence of a penis. It is done very discreetly, you wouldn't even notice you are being scanned. In addition, the paperwork has to state the person is male. The Federation checks the paperwork. Since the scanners are built and maintained by us, it wasn't very difficult to doctor the machines so they couldn't tell the difference between a real penis and a strap on plastic one. The paperwork was easy.

"Now, you must understand, the women they bring in are not whores. They are highly trained and trusted courtesans who work here for five years. They return to Earth as financially secure women. The screening process on Earth must be very good, there has never been a problem. Naturally the women have been sterilised.

"Only the top executives and some privileged people have access to them. Result, no more desertions to the Oktonians. Everybody is happy."

Trust the Chinese. Wherever they went they've always had their own society with its own rules. Okton4 was no different.

"How come you have access to them, Feng?"

"My uncle is the Tai-pan of the leading Noble House. He is very fond of me."

"And now you are taking lessons."

"Yes. The fuck doesn't interest me much, though it is very nice. I'm interested in the time travel. This is a unique opportunity. I doubt the masters of the Oktonians know about this aspect of the drug they are using."

"What makes you say that?"

"If they knew about the time travel bit they wouldn't use the drug. They can't afford wild cards. I'd bet all the masters know is that it makes humans horny and gives them spectacular hallucinations. You're an animal they've never encountered, that's how you found out about the other stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not all that interested in sex for a start. When you had your fill, you started looking around what else you could do. You experimented. The others went there for sex. They never looked elsewhere, they were happy to get their rocks off in a most spectacular fashion. When they ran out of money they went to the mainland because they had become hooked on the experience. I doubt the masters give them access to the drug there, why should they? Work for us and inseminate the Oktonians or you don't eat.

"You have money. You can keep this up as long as you wish. Consequently you've had more exposure to the drug than anyone else before you. That gave you a chance to investigate the phenomenon properly. Your scientific bend wouldn't let you act in any other way. 

"I don't think the drug is the vehicle for time travel. I believe the drug enables you to access a latent ability we might all have. That ability might grow with repeated exposure. Perhaps after a while you won't need the drug any more. 

"Think of it in terms of teleporting in time and space. That would explain how you were able to travel to places without any intention to have sex there."

I stared at my empty plate. Throughout this conversation I had been having a meal, eating it without thinking, without tasting a thing. In fact, I couldn't remember what I'd just eaten. That had never happened to me before. In spite of not tasting the meal this had been the best lunch I'd had for a long time. I said so to Feng. When he didn't understand I explained.

"For the first time since we started we have a model that accounts for all the facts as we know them."

"It doesn't account for the spaceport in the middle of nowhere. The people who built the cities didn't have the technology, or the need, to build that."

"Yes it does. Look at it this way. The invaders would have found out very quickly that something was wrong. No new pregnancies for three months in a population of one and a half million would have rung warning bells. They immediately quarantine the crews. Logical thing to do. Within a year they'd know for certain what was causing the problem. Now they know they are doomed. They also know they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to invasion. Their best people would have been on the surface, doomed with everyone else. I doubt their top scientists, technicians and teachers would have been crewing the ships. Within a generation most of their technology is bound to disappear because there will be no one left to understand it. They need access to advanced technology and resources.

"The solution is to build an artificial island in the middle of nowhere and commence negotiations with the Federation while they still have a powerful society. They make arrangements that ensure the true state of affairs stays hidden. This way at least their people on the ships have a chance to reclaim the planet if they can't come up with a cure within a generation. 

"It would be interesting to find out how contact was established and who did the negotiations. I doubt it was through Oktonian dumbwits. I need to check with the Federation."

"Leave the Federation out of it. I know an old Chinese scholar who is writing the history of our people on Okton4. He is in his nineties and has been here for over fifty years. What he doesn't know about the history of our involvement with this place isn't worth knowing. I'll arrange a meeting with Dr. Chang. He is very approachable."

"Good. And now I'll better get back to my hotel. I need some time to think things over before I go to the mainland tonight."



Offspring Ch. 021



I timed it to arrive in the park about half an hour before the humans left to commence the early shift. The car I had used to get here was still where I had parked it, the light on top indicating it was fully charged. I retrieved my camera and went to the vehicle as everyone was leaving. Again I tagged behind the column, driving slower than the rest to increase the distance between me and the last car in the column. They were soon out of sight.

The sea was at my right, the port straight ahead. In nearly every port city the central business district is close to the port facilities. It is part of the evolution. The port is the reason for the city and the traders want to be close to the action. The suburbs come later. This meant that logically the CBD should be to my left. I turned left at the next intersection.

Within half a mile the character of the buildings changed. Warehouses gave way to multi story buildings. The buildings got higher the further I drove. Space had been at a premium here, I was getting close. The road came to an abrupt end. In  front of me was a set of steps going to an open area about ten feet above. To the left and right of the steps were arches leading into some sort of underground structure. Somewhere to park vehicles, I guessed.

I was right. When I drove through one of the arches I arrived in an enormous underground car park with charging rails. To my surprise there were a number of cars like mine plugged in, some showing they were fully charged. There were people here, best to lie low. I parked the vehicle as far away from the others as I dared, picked up my gear and went exploring. It was still early. There wouldn't be too many people out and about just yet.

I retraced my steps until I wound up at the stairs. Carefully creeping up, I found myself looking at some sort of mall, about two-hundred feet square, surrounded on all sides by twenty-five story buildings, all identical in design. The floor was paved with pastel coloured tiles, arranged in a pleasing geometric fashion that converged on an island of greenery in the centre of the square, some fifty feet in diameter, featuring a fountain. The buildings themselves were unimaginative, except for the colourful, inlaid facades, reminiscent of Islamic architecture. On one end of the mall was a thirty foot gap where the steps led into the square from the level below and an identical gap on the opposite side. Apart from that the buildings were joined. All had glass fronts on the ground level, perhaps shops of some sort. Several buildings on the far end had tables and chairs outside, presumably outdoor dining areas. If that's what they were, there had to be a lot of people working here as they could easily seat hundreds.

The place was clean and well tended. There was a group of humans at the other end walking in my direction. Some Oktonians were working near the fountain trimming vegetation. I felt uncomfortable. At any time my presence could be discovered. I needed to know more about this place before proceeding. I filmed as much of the square as I dared, not moving about much, downloaded the recording, placed the camera and went back into the underground garage where I shoved the memory module up my butt and went home.

Feng was delighted when I showed him where I'd been. I asked him how his lessons were going.

"I'm still trying to get more control," he said. "I'm not quite ready to travel without the focus on sex. Don't forget it took you months to get that far. I don't want to take unnecessary chances. Once I can do that I should be able to meet you in the city. Give me a while longer and we can go exploring together."

***
The next few days were uneventful. I kept making short trips to the square, gathering my recordings and repositioning my camera, staying no longer than I needed to. At the end of a week I had a reasonable picture of what I was up against.

There was a hive of activity in some buildings while others appeared to be vacant. Because of all the coming and going it was difficult to estimate just how many people worked here, somewhere between five hundred and a thousand, not counting the Oktonians. 

More than half were younger people wearing lab coats, behaving like post graduate students on campus. The rest were older people, some in lab coats, some wearing business suits, moving about in a more dignified manner. There were also a few humans in overalls. This was no place of business. It was either a research facility or a university of some sort, possibly both. About a third of the people were women.

They seemed to live in the buildings with the outdoor dining areas; hostels or boarding houses of some sort I guessed. One of these places appeared to house exclusively Oktonians. No shortage of servants here. Again there was no perceivable social interaction between humans and Oktonians. In the middle of the day there was a lot of movement over a two hour period. People would stream out of their places of work and head for the park or the dining areas and return to work a while later. Lunch break!

It was Feng who spotted it. 

"Look at this chick," he said, pointing at the screen, "what do you reckon she is up to?"

He spun the recording back. It was lunchtime. People came out of the buildings, singly and in groups and headed for the dining areas. 

"Now watch," said Feng and pointed to one solitary figure who headed in the opposite direction. The girl stopped at the glassed front of a vacant building, adjusting her hair.

"She is checking in the reflection if anyone is observing her," commented Feng. Seemingly satisfied, she opened a glass door just wide enough to be able to slip inside the building and was lost to view.

"Now watch this," said Feng. He fast forwarded the recording until he reached the spot he was looking for. He stopped the recording and pointed to the screen.

"You can just make her out behind the glass door. She is watching the outside."

Sure enough there was a vaguely discernible figure behind the door. Feng started the recording up again and after a minute or so the door opened a little and the girl slipped out, stood for a few moments in front of the glass pretending to adjust her hair and rejoined the crowd returning to work.

"Whatever she is up to, she isn't meant to be doing this. And it isn't the first time. I noticed it in one of the earlier recordings but the camera angle was different and I couldn't be sure. What do you think she is doing in there?"

"Maybe she is meeting a lover," I replied.

We went carefully over the whole recording this time but it seemed no one was following her or leaving the building afterwards.

"If she is doing whatever she does on a regular basis this might well turn out to be to our advantage. If I can catch her doing something illegal I might be able to get a lot of information from her without fear of exposure. I can tell her I won't inform on her if she answers my questions. It's what we need, a contact in her society."

Feng agreed with me and we decided to concentrate on her and her doings.



Offspring Ch. 022



I had seen enough of what lay behind the glass door to land just inside the building on my next trip. I had timed it to arrive very early in the morning when there was negligible movement in the square. It would give me a chance to survey the building before the girl arrived, if she did.

As I had expected the building was deserted. To my surprise it was neat and clean and well furnished, indicating that it was being used frequently. There was a central lobby with a reception desk and soft furnishings with coffee tables. To my left there was a large cafeteria with tables and chairs, serving counters and a large commercial kitchen. Opposite the cafeteria there were two lifts and a staircase leading to the upper floors.

The lobby floor and the staircase were tiled in a manner similar to the tiling of the square but highly polished. I went upstairs to discover a number of conference rooms of varying sizes, all neat and orderly. The floor above the conference rooms contained small motel type units with a bed, a desk, a built in wardrobe, some comfortable armchairs and a small table. There was a door on one side leading to a shower and toilet. Apart from a couple of utility rooms there was nothing else on that level. All floors above were identical. The building was evidently a conference centre of some sort that was being used from time to time.

Investigating the building took a while and when there was nothing further to see I went downstairs and hid in the lobby behind the reception desk awaiting the possible arrival of my visitor. She was right on time.

She stood there a minute or two making sure no one had followed her. This gave me a chance to look her over. Shoulder length dark hair framed a narrow face with large brown eyes, a fairly prominent nose and full lips. In her late thirties I guessed. Even the drab lab coat could not fully hide a good figure with long legs. No raving beauty, but a very attractive woman nevertheless.

When she was satisfied that she was unobserved she made for the stairs. I slipped my shoes off and followed the noise her shoes made on the tiled stairs, just staying out of sight. On the third floor she went straight for one of the units and went inside. 

It had been a unit I had investigated earlier so I knew there was no one inside. Thinking she might be expecting company I went up to the next landing and waited for developments. Nothing happened.

Being fairly certain no one would be arriving now I went up to her door and listened. All I could hear were muffled squeals and the squeaking of bedsprings. Someone in the throes of passion. I went back to my hiding spot and waited for her to leave. I did not have to wait long.

When she was gone I went straight into her room. The bed was made and the room was tidy as before, the only sign she had been here the lingering smell of pussy. I checked the wardrobe and the bathroom but there was nobody hiding in there.

I wondered briefly why she was going to such extraordinary lengths just for a bit of a wank but I had no answer. I found a place above the curtain rail where I could hide my camera, set it on wide angle and timed it appropriately. If she came back to the same room I could see what she was doing. I went home wondering what it all meant.

***

On my next trip I timed my arrival for the early afternoon. The room was empty, as I expected. I downloaded the recording, reset the camera and went back.

Wow! What a show! Feng and I were holding our sides laughing when we watched it the first time. She certainly was into it.

We saw her enter the room and carefully lock the door. When she took her lab coat off we got our first surprise. She had a towel tied around her midriff. Undoing the towel she placed it on the centre of the bed. Then she took the rest of her clothes off and draped them over the chair. She had a body to kill for.

Her breasts were not large but beautifully shaped with no sag and crowned with dark areolae and prominent nipples. The tummy was flat and her butt like a peach. Long shapely legs and a shaved pussy completed the picture.

She lay down on the bed, making sure the towel was well under her butt. Then she began to stroke her breasts and play with her nipples until they looked hard as pebbles. Her left hand continued with her breasts as the right hand found its way to her pussy. Slowly, gently at first, she stroked her sex, increasing speed and ferocity as she abandoned herself to the experience. She was making small squealing noises by now. The movement of her hands became more frantic. Then one last furious onslaught, her butt arched off the towel and with a scream she collapsed back on the bed. By the look of it it had been quite an orgasm.

Four times she brought herself off that way before she had enough. She lay there exhausted for a few moments and then climbed off the bed with wobbly legs. She gathered up the towel, wiped the juices off her pussy, got dressed and tied the towel around her midriff before she put her lab coat back on again. 

Finally she smoothed out the bed, took one last look around the room to make sure everything was as it should be and departed.

We watched the recording a couple more times and then, reluctantly, erased it.

I went back to my hotel feeling somewhat down. Watching that wonderful sexy lady had made me aware just how much I missed contact with a real woman. I was unsure of how I should proceed from here. I got into the drink a lot harder that night than I normally do. I felt no pain when I eventually went to bed.

While I was having breakfast I received a telephone call from Arden. He asked me to come to lunch at the officers club at twelve and to a meeting afterwards. I said I would be there.

I was not surprised when Colonel Nakov, Dr. Patel and Dr. Schaeffer joined us for lunch. In a meeting afterwards they confirmed what I had expected. Lithium levels in Oktonians were very high but varied a great deal amongst individuals. In spite of the limited amount of data at their disposal they concluded that the lower levels of lithium were observed in office workers and so forth whereas the higher levels were found in low level manual workers such as janitors and porters, suggesting a link with intelligence. The results, Dr Patel explained, were tentative. More data were needed.

We decided we did not have enough conclusive data to send a report to headquarters just yet and to keep the tests going for now.

That out of the way I went back to my hotel.

When the Oktonian woman turned up for my lesson I was still unsure what I was to do. On the spur of the moment I decided to turn up in the wild lady's room in the middle of her session, if she was there.

Moments later I stood in front of the bed and she was at it again. She had her eyes closed and was frigging herself furiously. I doubt she would have noticed if an elephant had dropped in.

I stood there not knowing what to do next. The atmosphere in the room and her scent got to me. Almost without thinking I found myself at the foot of her bed leaning forward between her thighs, gently moving her hand from her sex and lowering my face into her flower. She froze for a moment, but when my tongue continued what her fingers had been doing only seconds before she squealed and threw herself headlong into the experience. The orgasm, when it came, must have been monumental. With a wild scream on her lips and a gush of juices from her sex she passed out. I came up for air and wiped my face with the sleeve of my lab coat.

When she came around she looked at me in wonder and in a shaky voice said: "Sometimes the Goddess is very good to one of her children."

Not knowing what to say I just smiled at her.

She used an accented old fashioned form of Federation Intergalactic but I had no difficulty understanding her.

"I don't know who you are or how you got in here, but you can do that to me any time. Will you fuck me now?"

"If you want me to," I said.

"Oh, I want!"

By that time I had already most of my clothes off. I threw the rest into a heap and moved on top of her. I kissed her gently and she responded with ardour. 

"Put it in. Put it in now," she gasped between kisses.

I entered her and it was on in earnest. She just went wild, kissing me, scratching my back, biting my shoulder and fucking me like a woman possessed. When she finally came the spasms in her pussy got me undone too and I disappeared. 

Never in my life had I been so pissed off as I was when I found myself back on that Oktonian rooting platform. I had all the trouble in the world not to be rude to the Oktonian lady who was just leaving.

I threw my clothes on in a hurry and went to the bar on unsteady feet. After a few stiff drinks I felt myself returning to normal. 



Offspring Ch. 023



The next day I worried all day long I might have scared her off with my sudden departure. I could hardly wait for my lesson. When it finally came I was half sick with apprehension. I arrived in the room a few minutes before she was normally due, sat down and waited.

I didn't have long to wait. The door opened and there she stood, staring at me.

"You came back," she said.

"I had to come back to the most desirable woman I have ever met," I replied.

"You came back ... for me?"

"Yes Darling, for you."

"Then why did you disappear and how did you do that anyway. Even your clothes disappeared with you. What are you?"

"It's a long story."

She carefully locked the door and sat down next to me.

"Tell me the long story," she said.

"My name is Frank," I said, "will you tell me yours?"

"I am called Mara and you are stalling. Get on with it."

"I'm a time traveller Mara and as human as you are ."

She looked at me and shook her head in disbelief.

"Time travel? It can be done?"

"Yes, Mara."

"Then why did you disappear?"

"When I am time travelling it sends me back to where I have come from when I have an orgasm. No one knows why it does that but it's the truth. The same with the clothes. When I go home the clothes disappear too. I return naked. No one knows how that works either."

"Is that why there was no baby-juice inside me when you left?"

"Yes, it squirts out the moment I get home."

She laughed and then changed the subject.

"Tell me, did you really come back for me?"

"Yes Mara, I did."

She got up, sat on my lap and started kissing me as if there were no tomorrows. She was crying, tears were streaming down her face. 

"I am so happy," she sobbed, "I have never been so happy all my life. Tomorrow I don't have lectures in the afternoon. We can spend all afternoon together if you like. Will you come?"

"Of course I'll come. I want to be with you."

"I'm yours, Darling. Make love to me now."

Our clothes came off in a hurry and we were at it again. In spite of everything, she had not forgotten to spread the towel on the bed. I grinned when she did that. The same mad romp as the day before. Of course, eventually I came again and disappeared.

This time I was not angry when I got home. I was looking forward to the next day.

***

The day went slowly. I was aching to get back to Mara. I had a couple of beers in the bar to pass the time. That's when I realised I was rapidly falling in love, though I knew next to nothing about her. No woman had ever affected me in that way before. I tried to figure out just what it was that attracted me so strongly. I could think of nothing specific. I guess that's what falling in love is about, no rhyme or reason.

Eventually the appointed hour arrived. That thing with the Oktonian ladies was becoming a drag, I wished there was a better way to travel. I couldn't think of an alternative.

Shortly after I got there Mara turned up carrying a bucket with ice, three bottles and two glasses in it.

"I've brought us some Gigglejuice," she announced.

"What's Gigglejuice?"

"That's what the women here call it, the men call it something else. It contains ethyl alcohol. I got it from the bar downstairs. They have loads of it."

She put the bucket down and said: "Are you going to kiss me or what?"

I gathered her in my arms and we kissed, gently, lovingly.

"That's better," she said as she pried herself loose, "Now we have a drink."

She poured two glasses and handed me one. I was a bit apprehensive at first but it was a very nice drink, something halfway between a wine and a cider with a light fizz to it. My first taste of Oktonian produce.

"Be careful with that stuff, it can kick you when you're not looking."

I grinned and told her when it came to alcohol I was an old trouper. It would take a lot to get me undone.

"Here's to not having to attend lectures," I said lifting my glass to her.

She laughed at my toast.

"I'm not a student, Silly. This is a research and teaching academy. I'm a senior lecturer here, I read advanced pharmacology. All my students are graduates working on their doctorates. I'm also head of the pharmacology lab. If it wasn't for that I would be working in the mines."

"That's an odd comment to make."

"Unfortunately it's also the truth."

"Will you tell me about it?"

"It's not a happy story."

"I want to know everything about you, but if you would rather not talk about it, that's okay too."

"Very well. Brace yourself for the story of my lousy life.

"I am a natural scientist. It showed up very early in life. My teachers in high school gave me all the help and encouragement they could. I graduated from high school before I was sixteen and from college barely three years later. At twenty-two I was lecturing students of the same age. I was popular and my students did well. Life was good and the future looked bright.

"At twenty-four I got married to an academic ten years my senior. He was lousy in bed. He would force himself into my dry vagina and ejaculate on the fourth stroke. I found out from the other wives that most men here are like that. In spite of it all I became pregnant within two months of my marriage. The pregnancy went badly. I miscarried three months later and was left barren as a result.

"To understand what follows I must tell you something about our society. By and large we are a fairly tolerant lot in most areas except sex. Here the rules are draconian. Only sex within marriage is permitted and only for purposes of procreation. Sex outside marriage and any form of sex that does not lead to procreation is a criminal offence. Prohibited acts include oral and anal sex, homosexuality and sex with a pregnant woman. These offences are punishable by life long exile to the mines. Life in the mines is harsh. Long hours of hard work, corporal punishment for minor transgressions and little food from what I hear. Life expectancy is poor.

"Barren women are considered a potential trouble source and are equally exiled. Only because of my outstanding academic record was I permitted to continue lecturing. 

"No man will touch a woman they are not married to or even shake her hand for fear someone will interpret it as a sexual act and cart him off to exile. Until you came along I had not felt the touch of a man since my divorce. The divorce was mandatory because my husband was not allowed to live with me after it became known I was barren.

"Masturbation is illegal and punishable by a public caning. This applies even to children, though their caning is not so severe. Now you know why I have to masturbate in safe places. I get very noisy when I'm aroused.

"And that my dear Frank is my miserable life in a nutshell, I would do anything to get out of here," she concluded.

I was speechless for a moment. Poor Mara. I gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Don't despair," I said, "I'll try to find a way to get you away from here. At the moment I have no idea how to do this, but I will make it my business to find out. I have powerful friends."

"I hope you can Frank. I long to go to a place where I can be myself and be accepted for what I am. But, enough of that. Lets talk about more pleasant things. This is our afternoon. Remember? Tell me something about yourself. Where do you come from?"

Mara poured us a new drink. When I told her I grew up on Earth she was delighted and wanted to know all about it. I obliged happily, telling her stories from my youth and about people and places she had heard of. It had her fascinated. All too quickly the afternoon passed. The Gigglejuice was finished and it was time to call it a day. She put the bucket with the empty bottles and the glasses next to the door so she would not forget to take them with her, spread the towel on the bed and asked me if I fancied a ride home.

I did. 



Offspring Ch. 024



I had not seen Feng since we had watched the masturbation movie. It was time we had a talk.

I rang him first thing in the morning and asked if he would like to have breakfast with me at my hotel. He said he would love to. I suggested we should have breakfast in my room, it would be more private. He liked that idea.

Over breakfast I told him of the events over the last three days. When I told him about Mara, her life and her difficulties he stared at me open mouthed.

"Fuck me dead Frank. You've hit the fucking jackpot!" Feng normally does not use language like that. It surprised me.

"Yes," I admitted, "she is quite a woman."

"Will you get your head out of your cock for a fucking minute, that's not what I'm talking about."

By now I was totally confused.

"Look," he said, "you've told me about that academy of theirs. Senior lecturers, graduates, research labs, the whole shooting match. Let's say there is a total human population of about a hundred thousand on the mainland. How many institutions of that calibre do you reckon they have?"

"Not many, I admit."

"Crap. They wouldn't have enough top class talent for more than one. Where you've been that's it! It's the top of the tree."

"Possibly, but where does that get us?"

"You're still not thinking. Remember that gunk the Oktonian ladies put on their cunts to send us off? If it's a manufactured compound, as I suspect, and not the sap of some exotic plant, that's where it comes from. And your lady, being in charge of the most sophisticated pharmaceutical lab on the planet, is making the shit."

"That fits. Mara's sex drive is way out of control. If, as you say, she is making the drug the Oktonians use on us this comes as no surprise. She needs these wild masturbation sessions just to maintain equilibrium. You know what the stuff does to us if we only get to smell it briefly."

I had the feeling we were missing something of importance. I said so. Then it hit me. 

"They know, Feng," I said. "They know all about Mara and her wanking sessions."

"What makes you say that?"

"Mara lives in a well ordered society. They must have law enforcement agencies who keep the lid on criminal and anti social behaviour. We know they administer corporal punishment and send undesirables to the mines. One thing they monitor with fervour is the sexual behaviour of their citizens. There is no way Mara could have carried on with her sexual escapades for so long without them finding out about it. They would also know the effect the manufacturing of the drug has on Mara's sex drive. They are turning a blind eye."

"Why would they do this?" Feng didn't get it.

"Because they have no choice. If they act on it they will either have to send her to the mines or control her sexual urges in some other way, with floggings or around the clock supervision for instance. In either case she is lost to them. To deprive her of her safety valve would send her insane in a very short time. With her gone they'd have the same problem with whoever is making the stuff from then on. 

"It wouldn't surprise me if they deliberately made her barren. She couldn't function in a marriage with her sex drive so much out of whack without making waves. They'd be forced to act. By making her a sexual outcast the side effects of the drug making can be kept quiet. It's a rather neat solution from their point of view."

"That's very interesting. Why do you think it's so important?"

"Look at the scenario. Here we have a fairly enlightened society with one exception. The draconian regulation of people's sex life, which is vigorously enforced. In one case they have to make an exception, for practical reasons. They'd want to keep that very quiet. I bet only very few people right at the helm of their society know about it. To keep their secret they have to make her off limits to any policing authority in case some ambitious jerk wants to make a name for himself by exposing her. They would not be allowed to go anywhere near her. As long as she is discrete she can do anything she wants when she is on her own. I wonder if she knows that."

"You are assuming the drug can be manufactured by a single person in the quantities they need," said Feng. "I consider that extremely unlikely. If more people are involved they would have to make the same kind of exception for them too."

"Not if they are using Oktonians as lab technicians. The drug doesn't affect them. With some automation in the manufacturing process you could perhaps run the show with Mara and some of the smarter Oktonians."

"That would mean a separate facility with access for only a handful of people. They wouldn't want this sort of shit going on in the main research lab. You have to level with her. Mara doesn't know that time travel is connected to the drug she makes. With her brain and the facilities she commands who knows what she can come up with once she is aware of that aspect. It's a big opportunity for her as well as us. You simply must tell her everything."

"That's a very dangerous thing to do. What if she informs on us? We'll be finished then. No, it's way too early for that."

"Bullshit. I bet she is the best they have in her field. In spite of that they treat her like shit. They won't even let her masturbate. Do you seriously think she is loyal to a bunch of people who would send her to a forced labour camp for life if it became known what you two have been up to? She wants to get away from there and you are her only chance."

"No, Feng. When it comes to where her loyalties lie I don't think it's as cut and dried as you make out. From my observations, and from the little she said, she seems to live in a fairly decent society, except for that sex thing. These people do not live under an oppressive totalitarian regime. There is no fear in their faces, nor are there masters standing over them with guns or whips. The draconian rules on sex appear to be quite out of character. There must be a reason for it. I need to find out what that is.

"She knows little about me. For the time being she trusts me as far as sex is concerned, she might even leave the planet with me, if I had the means. But that is as far as it goes. To help me develop a drug that would potentially allow a foreign invader to take over her home world would be an entirely different matter. She would not be part of that. We need to develop a plan that not only benefits us, but also her world. I have to convince her that we mean to help her people and the Oktonians. Then, and only then will she become our ally. This might include finding a way to deal with whatever floats around in those space ships above."

"So what do you intend to do next?"

"We have to find out the actual situation on Okton4. So far we've been guessing. By the look of it we've come pretty close, but we need to know more. The most important thing is to find out the role of the humans and the nature of their relationship with what we assume are their masters in the ships. For that I have to get to know her better. Ideally I need to get her away and for myself for a couple of days or so. These one hour fucking sessions aren't conducive to get into anything meaningful and even an afternoon isn't enough. I'll just have to play it by ear and be patient."

We left it at that.



Offspring Ch. 025



Over the next two weeks I introduced Mara to different ways of having sex. All her experiences to date had been mainly unsatisfactory couplings in the proscribed missionary position with her ex husband.

To have sex standing up, sitting down, doggie style or with her legs over my shoulders was new to her and she embraced it with enthusiasm. She loved it when I went down on her and even tried sucking dick. While this turned her on no end it did little for me. The moment I blew my wad I wound up on that Oktonian shagging platform in my hotel. I would have loved to introduce her to facials, cream pies and a mouth full of come, however, such things were not to be. It pissed me off no end. I guess I could have fucked her up the arse, but this sort of thing never held any attraction for me when there was a perfectly serviceable pussy no more than two inches away.

With all the fucking there was never much time for conversation. I wanted to find out so much about her world and I wasn't getting anywhere. On her next free afternoon I told her about my frustration.

"Why don't you use the library," she said, "everything you want to know will be in there. We keep very good records about most things that happen here."

"Where is the library? Can I work in there without being spotted as an outsider?"

"Use any one of the computers in the conference rooms."

I had known that that all conference rooms contained a computer terminal. I had not been game to switch one of them on for fear of raising an alarm. When I voiced my concerns Mara just laughed.

"The system is on automatic. It is always on. The only time someone checks on the machines is when there is a malfunction. Anyone is free to use the system at any time. You are quite safe."

Before we called it quits for the day Mara took me to one of the conference rooms and showed me how to get into the system.

I thanked her, bent her over one of the desks and fucked her from behind to get home.

***

Next day I went early. I retrieved my camera from its hiding place and took pictures of the room, the computer and filmed myself getting into the system so I could show it to Feng. When the time came I went to service Mara and made my way home with the memory module up my arse.

Feng was delighted when I showed him.

"This is an XGA-9944 of Earth manufacture," he said. "Its a few years old. I doubt there are any still around on the spaceport here, but it doesn't matter. I'll have all the technical details in my files somewhere so we'll know what we are dealing with. I'll build a memory module that can plug straight into the machine so we can copy files and take them with us."

"What for?" I asked. "We can look at anything we want without that."

"Think about it. Each minute we spend on their machines increases the risk of getting caught. I can download enough shit in a few hours to keep us busy for weeks. We can study the material at our leisure here in complete safety. Besides we will have a record."

Feng was right. It had to be the way to go.

"Now we need an excuse for you to spend a lot of your time behind a computer. The Federation will wonder what you are doing and have you watched every step of the way unless we can come up with a valid reason for it."

"That might be a tall order."

"Perhaps not. I have an idea that might be worth developing. My uncle is looking for a mining engineer for a new project. You want the Federation off your back anyway. This might just be the ticket. Let me talk to my uncle. He knows of you. I am sure he'll go for it."

Feng called his uncle on his mobile and talked to him in Chinese for about ten minutes.

"The job is yours, if you want it. Let me tell you what it entails," he said after he finished his call. "He has sent a number of space probes to a small planet earmarked for possible exploitation. Your job would be to evaluate the data and identify commercially valuable deposits. In addition he wants you to liaise with the Oktonian negotiators regarding the Zabuyelite shipments."

"He is putting a lot of trust into a man he knows little about," I said, suddenly a bit weary of this deal.

"Don't underestimate my uncle. He didn't get it from me, but he has a copy of your report to the Federation. He knows exactly what he is doing and who he is dealing with."

"Tell me Feng, your uncle wouldn't be negotiating a deal with the Oktonians to mine one of the planets in the proscribed zone?"

"He hasn't exactly said it, but that's what I figure. I knew it wouldn't take you long to catch on to this."

"I take it your uncle doesn't know about the time travel bit?"

"Are you nuts? We would be just as badly off as telling the Federation about it. No one must find out about that shit or we are history."

"Good. In this case I like the idea. The whole deal falls square within my area of expertise and competence. There won't be any raised eyebrows why I am so interested in the job. All I need to do now is to think of a way to sell it to the Federation. You can tell your uncle that I'll try. I need to resign my commission first before we can move on this. I'll keep you posted."

I took my leave, went to my room and drafted a letter to General Taubner.

I explained Feng's job offer and outlined why it would be in the Federation's interest if I took the job.

I have come to the end of the line with my current research, I wrote. I shall keep in contact with the Oktonians I have dealt with so far, just in case something unexpected turns up, but I sincerely doubt anything of interest will come from this quarter in the foreseeable future.

There are only two areas where we interact with the Oktonians. The workers at the space station I have dealt with so far and the human negotiators who deal with all the commercial arrangements. These negotiators must be, by necessity, far better informed about Oktonian affairs than the workers. If I am to find out more about Oktonian society I need to get close to these people.

This job offers a unique opportunity to do just that. It will take a while to establish trust, but there is no telling what I might be able to find out over time from this source.

Allow me to suggest a way to proceed.

Officially I resign my commission with an "I wish you well" from the Federation.

Unofficially I stay in contact with the Federation and report anything of interest I come across.

Personally I would prefer if I could continue to liaise with Colonel Nakov. He is a competent and honourable officer who is sympathetic to the project and intimately familiar with my research to date. In my view it would be difficult for the Federation to find a more qualified and enthusiastic man for the job.

In closing I would like to say that what I am proposing is little more than a chance to have a chance, but in the absence of other promising avenues of investigation perhaps well worth the effort.

Awaiting your orders.

Frank Walters, Major

By that time it was late and I went to bed.

***

I got up early, printed out my letter and went for breakfast; in uniform.

At nine AM I rang Colonel Nakov and asked for a one on one meeting on an important matter. He said he would see me at ten. There was just enough time to get to his office.

"This conversation is not taking place," I said after my salute. "What I have here is a letter to General Taubner, level one security, your eyes only. I would like you to read it before I send it off."

I handed the letter to Nakov. He read it several times and handed it back to me.

"This is quite a rap you gave me, Major."

"I am only stating facts to the General, Sir."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"I want you to know what is going on when this comes down the tubes shortly, as I suspect, Sir."

"I appreciate the courtesy, Major. Ask Arden for a secure terminal, priority one."

"Thank you , Sir."

I encrypted the letter and mailed it off to the General. When I was done I destroyed the original. Things would take their course.

I rang up Feng and said: "I want you to take me to lunch today at my hotel. Order something elaborate to make it look as if you are courting me. I'll turn up in uniform. We'll be noticed. It'll help down the track if this deal comes together."

"Good idea. I'll be there at twelve. Be a little late."

I had to grin. Feng is good on scams. Just how good he is I found out when I turned up at eight minutes past twelve. He wore an impeccably tailored charcoal grey business suit, white shirt, maroon tie and black shoes polished to perfection, every inch the high powered executive.

He bade me sit down and offered me an aperitif. This was followed by oxtail soup, prime rib of beef with mashed potatoes and asparagus, accompanied by an expensive Bordeaux, strawberries flambe for afters followed by an old French Cognac and coffee. It would have cost a small fortune. We would be remembered!

I told him over lunch what I had done with the Federation.

"I'm glad you took up my suggestion to give Nakov a good rap. He's been in line for promotion for a long while now. This just might him put over the line. If it does he'll blow your trumpet forever."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I have an appointment with the tart at four PM. I want to have a look at the computer. There is enough information on the shots you gave me, I should be able to get there without much trouble."

"You think you're ready?"

"I got to try sometime, might as well be now."

"Good luck. I'll see you at five in the bar, you can tell me then how you went."

We shook hands and went our own way. I took the lift up to my room to get changed. Hopefully I wouldn't need the uniform any longer, good though it looked on me. It just wasn't my thing.

***

I could see Feng's adventure had worked. He was grinning from ear to ear when I arrived.

"How much time did you spend there?" I asked.

"About four hours."

"Wow! That long. Learn something interesting?"

"First thing I looked at is how they had their data organised. File structure, directories, that sort of thing. Not quite the way we do it, though no great drama to figure out. The language is a bit archaic, but manageable with a little imagination.

"The data will blow your socks off. It's all there, at least from the moment the humans arrived some 400 years ago."

"That long ago? I didn't think humans were capable to reach so far into space at that time. We are over one thousand light years away from Earth."

"Exactly right. Something went wrong while they were in hyperspace. When they emerged they found themselves in the Orion belt with wrecked engines and no way back. They found a habitable planet and managed to land the ship, fairly intact with no loss of life from what I can gather.

"They did the best they could, made friends with the natives and taught them science and technology. It's quite a story. I only skipped over it and had to stop myself or I would still be there."

"I can't wait to see it."

"Hold your horses. Wait until I've downloaded the stuff. Then you can read as much as you like. It'll only be a day or two until I get the hardware sorted out. In the meantime we best stay away from the library." 



Offspring Ch. 026



It had been three days since my meeting with Feng when Colonel Nakov rang and asked me to come to his office at two PM.

I nearly stuffed up my salute when I saw Nakov in the uniform of a Brigadier General and Arden in the uniform of a Colonel.

"Congratulations on your promotions, Gentlemen," I said with as firm a voice as I could muster.

Feng's uncle must have very good feelers right into Federation High Command for Feng to be able to forecast that about Nakov. I found out later that, the moment his promotion became active, he promoted Arden to Colonel, as was his right. Nakov immediately went up several notches in my estimation when I heard this. I like a man who remembers his friends and allies when he's had a bit of luck.

After the obligatory handshaking we went on to business. Nakov handed me a letter from General Taubner. It was an informal letter informing me that the committee had agreed with my assessment of the situation and approved my suggested course of action. General Nakov will brief you on the new arrangement, it said. He then went on to say to inform him if there were any problems with it. He wished me luck with my investigation. 

I wanted to show the letter to the General, but he said Taubner had sent him a copy.

"This is how the Federation sees your new involvement. They will accept your resignation and provide you with a reference thanking you for your contribution and wishing you well in your new career. That is where the official relationship ends. Unofficially you will remain on the payroll as a consultant at the same pay and conditions as before. You will report to me or to Arden if I am not available. Remember, you are still bound by the official secrets act. I have had your resignation typed up, ready for your signature."

He handed me the document and I signed it.

"Your resignation will be effective as of tomorrow two PM. If you would be so kind to hand in your uniforms. Your reference will be ready for your collection. As far as your deposited security items and your access to a secure terminal are concerned nothing has changed. You will still be able to use the officer's mess when in the building. Any questions?"

I told him there were none and I was happy with the arrangements.

"And now, Gentlemen," said Nakov, "Let us commit a blatant breach of regulations and murder a bottle of French Champagne. I believe even General Taubner would not begrudge us a drink on such a magnificent occasion."

When the bottle was empty and I was about to take my leave Nakov said to me: "Seeing that you are now a civilian, Frank, I would like very much if you called me Ivan from now on. Besides, it will do wonders for your reputation when it gets around that you are on a first name basis with a General and a Colonel of the Federation. Things like that seem to have extraordinary significance on this God forsaken piece of concrete."

"I shall be honoured,General."

"Ivan," he corrected me.

"Not until tomorrow two PM. I am still in uniform,Sir."

That got Nakov and Arden to laugh. A fitting end to our meeting.

***

I rang up Feng the minute I left the Federation building. He said he would meet me in the bar of my hotel for a drink shortly. I went there, still in uniform. Feng turned up in a Tuxedo.

I told him what had happened at the Federation.

"Oh good. You got a Tux Frank?

"Every mining engineer carries at least two good suits and a Tuxedo. You never know where you get invited to."

"Go and change into your Tux, we're going to a party."

I was in a mood for a party. I didn't even ask Feng where we were going and went to get changed. I even had a shave.

"You scrub up alright," he said when I got back. We're a bit early, let's have another beer. We'll leave here at around five."

"Where are we going then?"

"My uncle is giving one of his parties. He wants to talk to you."

"Hang on then, I have to get something first."

I went back to my room, printed out a copy of the letter I had sent to General Taubner, folded it, put it in my pocket and returned to Feng. He didn't ask what I had been doing.

At five o'clock we went down to the basement where a limousine was waiting for us. Vehicular traffic moves underground in the CBD as a rule, only very early in the morning deliveries are allowed in the city streets. The rest of the time they are for pedestrians only. We drove for a while, I had no idea where we went. Eventually we wound up above ground outside a tall building. We entered the foyer and took a lift to the top.

We emerged in another foyer. This was obviously some sort of office floor. There wasn't much more than a reception desk, a couple of leather settees, an elaborately carved coffee table the only item that betrayed its Chinese origins and not much else.

The receptionist was a middle aged Chinese who greeted us and said to Feng: "Your uncle is expecting you in his office. You can go straight in."

Feng took the lead. We took the door to the left, walked down a corridor and wound up before a door at the end. Feng knocked and we entered the inner sanctum. If I had expected to wind up in some sort of exotic setting it was not to be. The office was modern and functional. There were just some cabinets, a couple of visitors chairs, the obligatory computer and a large desk, all in off white, the only decoration being some illustrated Chinese calligraphy, on parchment, under glass, in simple black frames on the walls. They looked old, very old. It looked more like an engineers office than the office of the most powerful tycoon on the planet. A place designed for work, not for show.

The man behind the desk stood up and went to greet us. He was nothing like I had pictured him. Barely five foot four tall, impeccably dressed in a tuxedo, trim, with strong Chinese features, rimless glasses, greying hair, perhaps in his sixties, he gave the impression of a rather unassuming no nonsense man. Only his penetrating eyes betrayed that this guy didn't miss much.

"This is Major Walters, Tai-pan," said Feng by way of introduction.

"It is an honour to meet you, Tai-pan," I said. "Thank you for inviting me."

His handshake was firm. He bade us to sit down and arranged for drinks. We settled for some beer. The Tai-pan did likewise, a man of simple tastes.

"So Mister Walters, you have managed to pry yourself loose from the Federation, I take it," said the Taipan when we had settled down with the drinks.

"In a way," I said.

"Oh?"

"Seeing most of this will be common knowledge soon, it might not be too grave a breach of secrecy if I show you what I've proposed to the Federation."

I handed him the copy of my letter to General Taubner. The old man studied the document carefully, drew a piece of paper from his desk drawer and compared  it to my letter. Seemingly satisfied he put the two documents face up, side by side, on his desk.

"Yes," he said.

The old sly bastard had a copy of my letter.

"So much for Federation level one security, your eyes only," I said with a grin.

The old man smiled.

"Seeing you managed to get a hold of this, I assume you have seen all my reports to the Federation and are aware of what the new arrangements are."

"You assume correctly Mister Walters. Excellent work, incidentally. I started off as a mining engineer myself so I am quite able to judge the quality of your analysis."

"I further assume you are more interested in my knowledge of Oktonian affairs than in my expertise as a miner."

"Why do you say this?" 

"It stands to reason, Tai-pan. The only situation I can think of why you'd want to employ a guy like me here on Okton4 is if you are negotiating a deal with the Oktonians to exploit one of the planets in the proscribed zone. Nothing else makes any sense."

"Not a bad guess, Mister Walters. You are as sharp as Feng said you were."

"And you are a very clever man, Tai-pan.

"How do you arrive at that conclusion?"

"By establishing a mining operation in the proscribed zone you are effectively putting yourself outside the jurisdiction of the Federation. In effect you will have sovereign control over an entire world as long as you pay something to the Oktonians. You'll be able to do whatever you want there, in time."

"It has crossed my mind."

"I bet it has. It will please you then to hear that you are in a much better situation than you think. There is much I have come across in my investigation that I have not told the Federation. Things you need to know. Now is not a good time. Besides, I need my computer; the computer I'm hiding from the Feds that is. You need to see for yourself, just talking about it isn't enough."

"I must admit you have made me curious. When can you show me and, above all, what is your price?"

"No price, Tai-pan. Let me show you what I have that will interest you and then we'll work out some deal. I am not a greedy man. As to a time, tomorrow I must finish off a few things with the Federation. Any time after that is fine. I'll get Feng to retrieve my computer for the meeting. All I need need is a conference room with a large screen and and two or three hours of your time."

"Shall we say we meet in my office day after tomorrow at twelve noon. We have a canteen here, the food is good. After the meal you can present your material, if that's alright. But now, I fear, we must join the party. I don't want to be rude to my guests."

We went back to the foyer and from there into a large room. On one end was a small stage, there were no windows. Evidently some sort of corporate auditorium. It would seat about two hundred people, I guessed. For this occasion most of the seating had been removed and tables and chairs had been set up, coffee house style. There were red tablecloths and a candle in a brass candle holder as well as an ashtray on each table. A buffet with Chinese food as well as a bar completed the picture.

Feng and I went to get ourselves a beer and some food and sat on one of the tables. The Tai-pan went from table to table to say hello to his guests, all male, all in Tuxedos and all Chinese. I seemed to be the only outsider there.

The food was good, but not very filling, even after my third trip to the buffet I was still hungry. No one spoke to us. About two hours later we saw the Tai-pan at the bar getting a drink.

"Come on," said Feng. "We've can piss off now without appearing rude. These parties give me the shits."

We made our way over to the Tai-pan and said our farewells.

There was a limousine ready when we arrived downstairs. It took us back to my hotel.

Feng nudged me "You as hungry as I am? I could eat a horse."

"We'll have to settle for a steak, I don't think they serve horse here."

"No, you'll have to go to a Chinese restaurant for that. They'll have it. Alright, let's slum it. Steak it is."

We went to the dining room and had a huge steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

"My uncle is very impressed with you, I can tell. It's not often he is impressed with anything. A word of warning. The old prick is generous to a fault. Help him to get what he wants and he'll give you the world, fuck him up ... watch out!"

"About what I figured."

"So what are you going to give him?"

"All the stuff that indicates the Oktonian caper is a scam. I'll give him my infrared analyses that show the real level of activity on the planet. Then I'll tell him that the spaceships are little more than prisons for the masters and that the planet is being run by a human colony under duress."

"He won't buy the human colony bit, unless you show him the videos. Do you want to do that?"

"Not on your life. I thought of another way to prove it to him. I can't provide the proof, but he could."

"This I got to hear."

"I had thought of it a while back, but I had no way of checking without giving the game away. See, according to you, there are about fifty human negotiators who set up the deals for the Oktonians. This has been going on for about two hundred years. You and I know they would use indigenous humans and not spacers who have joined them via a pussy. Depending on how long these people stay in the job that would add up to hundreds of people over that period. I bet you anything you like, none of these people could prove when, how and from where they arrived here. If there is no record to show their arrival they must have been born here, an impossibility if there are, as stated, no human women on the planet. I can't check this, but a man who can get a top secret report from a Federation General's desk would have the wherewithal to find out."

"This is the stuff the old bastard thrives on. He'll cream in his pants. How is this going to help him though?"

"It will show him that any Oktonian checking on his activities will be severely handicapped and at best cursory. They'll probably just ask him to land on Okton4 and be checked for weapons, as they do now, before they allow him to travel on. They wouldn't have the resources for much more than that. If that knowledge isn't pure gold to him I don't know what is."

We called it a day after that. When I wanted to settle the bill Feng stopped me.

"This meal as well as the last one will go on the corporate account. My uncle is paying for it. He treats his people very well."

***

Next day I sorted out my departure with the Federation. They had given me an excellent reference and wished me well with my new position in the Chang Corporation.

As a matter of courtesy I showed it to the liaison officer at the hotel. She thanked me and said she was aware of my new appointment and that Feng at this moment was arranging an office suite for me on the business floor. 

"First floor, suite seven," she said. "Mister Feng should be there now."

"That was quick," I said, pretending I knew all about it.

"We aim to please."

I made my way to the first floor. The offices were at the end of a fairly long corridor. There was a small reception with a desk and the Chang Corporation logo on the wall behind it, a settee with a coffee table and a couple of glossy magazines and a small fridge with a coffee maker on top. I was still looking around when Feng joined me.

"I thought it would be a good idea to be as far away from the lift as possible to stop all the idiots from coming in and asking where the coffee machine, the toilet, or Mr. Whatshisname's office is. Let me show you our new domain."

"How did you get this set up so quickly?" I asked.

"It helps that the Chang Corporation owns the hotel," he said with a grin.

The reception led into a corridor with offices on the left hand side. The first office was fairly small with a desk, a computer terminal, a small fridge and two visitors chairs as well as a couple of cabinets. Simple, functional and off white like the Tai-pan's office. The next office was a lot larger. It was much the same as the first office except it had a large computer screen mounted on the wall, a couple of settees with a coffee table and a cocktail cabinet instead of a fridge.

"This is your office," said Feng. If you want anything else in there just yell out."

Next to my office was a bathroom and toilet followed by an other smaller office furnished like the first one but with a five foot wide bookcase stuffed with technical literature and reference books mainly on mining and electronics.

Feng asked me to enter and carefully locked the door. I wondered what he was doing.

"This terminal only works when the door is locked," he explained, "now watch!"

Feng booted up the computer and typed in a code. When he hit the enter key the bookcase moved to the side revealing a door to yet another room.

"This is where we do the real work," he said and motioned me inside.

There wasn't much so see, two work stations, side by side with large screens on the opposite wall in addition to the smaller monitors on the desks.  To the right was a small sitting corner with two easy chairs and a coffee table and the obligatory fridge. There was also a small en suite toilet.

We went back into the small office and Feng switched the computer off. The moment he did that the bookcase slid back into its original position hiding the extra room.

"I'll take this office," he said. "I won't have visitors in here. The fewer people who see this set-up the better. When we need to see people we'll use your office."

He then went on to explain how the system worked and gave me the access codes.

"I installed the bookcase door myself. Only you and I know what it hides."

"Tell me, Feng what do we need the extra office for? Who else is going to work here?"

"The extra office is for the use of the Oktonian negotiator when he is here. They like having their own space when they work. The only other person here will be an Oktonian receptionist. She's been with the company a while. She, like most of them, isn't very bright, but very trustworthy and loyal. Her name is Talla, you'll meet her in a few days when we get this thing rolling.

"And now let's get to the bar for a drink, I'm parched and the fridges here haven't been stocked yet."

Over a beer I asked Feng if he could get me a few things for my office. I told him I wanted some strong steel shelves in off white about the same size as his bookcase. I also wanted some interesting mineral and rock samples, a couple of well used, but serviceable miner's lamps and perhaps an old fashioned, used, but working, theodolite on a tripod.

"I've got an old miner's helmet I keep as a good luck piece and some spectacular photographs of asteroid mining I want blown up, framed, hanging on the walls. I also have a photo of myself in a space suit with the helmet under my arm I want in there too."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I want to set a mood. I want to give the impression of real work being done by experienced operators."

"Good idea, Leave it to me. The old man is going to love it when he sees it. At heart he is still a miner, he talks about it often."

We had a couple of beers and went up to my room. I gave Feng my deposit box key and wrote an authorisation that would enable him to use it. Feng would pick up my computer and pick me up at eleven thirty to go to our meeting with the Tai-pan.

"Just in case the Feds are keeping an eye on me it is better if you pick the machine up.  You going into your bank won't raise any alarms," I said.

Feng agreed that was a wise thing to do.

***

We had our meal as planned. The old man was in a jovial mood and told a couple of stories from the time he was a mining engineer. It was obvious he remembered these times with fondness.

After the meal we adjourned to a small private conference room next to his office. Feng connected my computer to the large display screen and we were off. I started by showing the enhanced photographs and the corresponding infrared images I had withheld from the Federation. I didn't need to explain much. The old man could asses the pictures as well as I could.

"This is very interesting, Mister Walters," he said. "What do you think it all means?"

I explained to him the model Feng and I had developed, about a human colony, the genocide, the backlash and my suspicion that the invaders were virtual prisoners on their ships and that humans were running the planet under duress.

I pulled up the picture of the city I had worked over that had enabled me to go to the mainland. Obviously I didn't tell him that I had actually been there. I pointed out some of the features.

"These cities were not built by a space faring civilisation. There is nowhere on the planet that I have seen where these huge ships could have been built. The infrastructure required for such a project simply isn't there. If it was, it would be visible. I can say with absolute certainty the ships guarding the planet were not built on Okton4."




Offspring Ch. 026



"This is a very interesting model you boys have come up with. Difficult to prove though. It's still all speculation."

"There is more."

"There is?"

"Yes. Take those huge ships. Why do you think the Federation has no ships anywhere near this size? They have the industrial capacity to build something like that. Why do you think they don't?"

"Perhaps too expensive?"

"No. We don't build ships like this because they are virtually useless. You are familiar with the Robertson equations I take it?"

"Vaguely. It's been a while. Refresh my memory."

"The Robertson equations are about the power to mass ratio required to propel a ship into hyperspace. It is a logarithmic curve. Beyond a certain mass the power required becomes prohibitive. I have done the figures. The power plant required to take a ship this size into hyperspace would be bigger than the vessel,. That means ships this large can only be powered by sub light drives. It would take far too long to cross interstellar spaces to be a worthwhile proposition for anyone. You would only build something like this if there were compelling reasons.

"You have heard me say that I think these ships are transporters for colonists, not warships as everyone seems to think. I go one step further. These ships were created by a desperate civilisation on the brink of extinction. Maybe some asteroid or rogue planet on a collision course with their home world or some other pending catastrophe. They built these ships to give at least part of their population a chance to survive elsewhere. It might have taken them a century or more to get here."

"I must say you make a good case. Surely the Federation could work that out for them selves. Why do you think they haven't?"

"To the Federation Okton4 is a sideshow of a sideshow. Sure, they are interested if something new comes up. It would be a totally different story if they suspected this entire sector is up for grabs. That's why I didn't tell them. I don't want to see a Federation takeover."

"But you are telling me. Why?"

"Because you need a Federation takeover like a hole in the head, Sir. You have a cosy arrangement here which will even get cosier in time. All your business will come to very little if the sector comes under Federation control and every Tom, Dick and Harry with a freighter can land here and do business. Your interests in this are the same as mine."

"But you are still working for the Federation, even under the new arrangements."

"Because I have to. As long as I am feeding them information I am reasonably safe. If they suspect I am running my own race they'll arrest me, pump me full of drugs and try to find out what else I know. They have threatened me with arrest once before when they thought I wasn't coming willingly to the Fed cruiser to be questioned. All my life I had to bow and scrape to Federation bureaucrats just to get a job done. I want to be free of these arseholes and here is an opportunity. I would stake my last credit, Sir, you feel the same way."

"Quite, Mister Walters. Tell me, how many humans do you think are on the mainland."

"According to the level of activity, bearing in mind that Oktonians can only function in minor positions, somewhere between one and two-hundred thousand, including women and children."

"That many?"

"That is my estimate, Sir. Tell me, Tai-pan, do many slavers arrive here with human cargo?"

"There is no human trafficking going on here, I would know if there was."

"Then, according to what is known the only humans on the mainland are the spacers who jump ship because they are addicted to Oktonian sex."

"That is so."

"There wouldn't be all that many."

"No, only between thirty and fifty a year. I can get you precise figures, if you wish."

"Then where are all the humans coming from we already know of?"

"What? The fifty or so negotiators?"

"There must be a lot more. From what I can make out there are about fifteen to twenty-thousand Oktonians working in the spaceport alone. The way it looks they all carry the human genome. Who then fucked their mothers? Just the few deserting spacers? I don't believe it."

"Maybe they are using artificial insemination."

"I somehow doubt that works. There would be a lively trade in human sperm if that were so. Is there?"

"No."

"Then my figures are right."

"If there was only some way to prove it."

"There is, but I can't furnish it. You could though."

"I could? How?"

"Here I go with my assumptions again. I don't believe for a minute you have a mole at headquarters who can feed you a secret document from a five star General's desk. That leaves only one thing. You have a way to get into the Federation's communications network and God knows what else, bypassing all controls. Some secret back door into their system. If that is true we could find out what we want to know with ease."

"Assuming you are right, Mister Walters, what do you want me to do?"

"All Oktonian negotiators are accredited by the Federation and carry identification, showing name, date of birth etc. as well as their biometric data. There must be a list going back to day one. In addition, all spacers who have gone to the mainland will be on file as well with the same kind of information. Forget about the names and such, compare the biometric data of all negotiators with the biometric data of the spacers who went over. I bet you you won't find a match. That will prove the masters have access to humans the Federation doesn't know about. By inference, proof that there is a human colony on the mainland."

The old man got up. "Excuse me, Gentlemen," he said, "this won't take long."

He went to his office and left me and Feng to get another beer from the fridge. It wouldn't have been much more than half an hour before he returned.

"You are right, Mister Walters. What was it that made you so sure?"

"Common sense, Sir. Would you entrust the entire foreign trade of your planet to a bunch of people who are only with you because they were chasing alien pussy?"

The Tai-pan laughed out loud and said: "Of course I wouldn't. Only an idiot would do that. I should have seen this years ago. I wonder why I've missed it."

"When I first arrived here I asked Colonel Nakov about something that didn't make any sense to me. This is a weird society, he said, many things here don't make much sense. It's in the nature of the place. He left it at that. I couldn't accept what he said. Most things happen for a reason. Sometimes things only appear strange because we don't know why they happen. I made it my business to find out more, but then, I wasn't caught up in the daily grind of a full time job. I had time on my hands."

"You are right, my boy. I often would like to follow up on something and just can't find the time for it. It gets forgotten after a while."

"Well, Sir, I have put my cards on the table. Now I need something from you."

"You are talking about money, aren't you?"

The old man seemed displeased.

"No, Tai-pan, not money. I want something else. I need to know what possesses the Oktonian masters to offer you a planet in the proscribed zone. They must want something very badly to make such an offer. Something only you can supply. What is their price?"

The old man looked at me intently and studied me for quite a while before he made up his mind to answer.

"A Zephyr Mark Four supercomputer."

"That puts a new complexion on things. This is highly classified stuff, only the Federation has them. And you can supply?"

"The company that manufactures them is associated with the Chang Corporation."

"That explains your back door into the Federation's system. I take it you are bringing it in in bits and pieces to be assembled elsewhere. Very, very smart! You are a genius, Tai-pan."

"It doesn't require genius to get hold of the bits, just good connections."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"What are you talking about then, Mister Walters?"

"You couldn't possibly assemble it here and the Oktonians will not permit you to go to the mainland because they can't allow you to see their predicament. A planet in the proscribed zone is an entirely different matter. There you are free to do what needs to be done and acquire an empire into the bargain. I take it the planet we are talking about has a breathable atmosphere?"

"Of sorts. Too thin to sustain us for more than a few minutes. With a bit of compression quite tolerable though. Not as bad as Mars, but something along those lines."

"Excellent. The Oktonian masters must be desperate. I can just imagine what is happening."

"What do you think is happening?"

"They are running out of time. According to our reckoning they arrived a little more than two-hundred years ago. They would have unloaded all their manufacturing equipment and other gear when they first arrived. Then disaster strikes. The crews get quarantined, their best people are on the surface and doomed. Now the crews are on their own up there. Few machines are designed to run for two-hundred years. Infrastructure starts breaking down. Perhaps they shove most of the survivors onto a single ship and man the others with skeleton crews, just enough to keep them in orbit and do some patrols.

"Things break, specialists die, each new-born puts more strain on the system. They cannibalise the ships with the skeleton crews for parts. Jury rigs everywhere just to keep things ticking over. Fewer and fewer of them understand the technology. Apathy sets in with many. A few are able to keep the whole trip together but it gets more difficult by the day. They need a solution, they must find a vaccine or a cure. There are only the humans left who can provide this.

"I can't believe the humans are very keen to find a way for creatures who have murdered millions to return to the planet surface. Their response to the increased pressure is to ask for something they think is near impossible to obtain. There are enough spacers on the mainland who would know what to ask for. In the meantime time passes, time the masters can ill afford. I don't know why the masters have not tried to go to another planet, my guess is they would need the equipment that still lies on the surface of Okton4 hidden somewhere, which they can't use because it's contaminated.

"Anyway, something like that, more or less."

"So you don't want them to get hold of the machine?"

"No, Tai-pan. Give them the best machine you can. The humans will find a use for it. The one thing they won't do is cure the invaders. It'd be suicidal. They've probably had a cure for decades. I don't know what the masters have over them. It has to be something though or the humans would just ignore them, leave them to rot in their ships and do what they like. That doesn't seem to be happening for some reason. I need to find out what that is."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"By getting close to the negotiator. He'll be the best technician they have if he is handling this deal, just to make sure they are getting the real thing. They won't let a bureaucrat anywhere near it. This guy will also know most of what's going on over there. Technicians as a rule get on very well with other technicians regardless of race, creed or politics, you should know this from your time as a miner. After a while he'll tell me everything I want to know, if I can get him to trust me. Don't forget those people could do with some assistance to free themselves from their overlords. What will help is that he'll know we aren't working for the Federation because of the scam we're doing. This is going to come together rather neatly, I think."

"Thank you Mister Walters. You have given me a lot to think about. It is time though I devoted myself to some other things."

We shook hands and Feng and I left. Feng had my computer in his case. He said he would put it into my deposit box first thing in the morning. We went to his Chinese restaurant for a meal and some drinks. I rang the hotel and cancelled my lesson for the day.

It was late when I returned to my hotel, half cut.



Offspring Ch. 027



I could no get to sleep. There was a lot of stuff buzzing around in my head and to crown it all I was as horny as hell. I was lying naked on top of the bed, my dick hard as a rock. Almost without thinking my hand found itself there. I had my eyes closed and Cleopatra came to mind. I pictured her lying next to me as my hand started to stroke my member with a slow and sensuous motion.

"Why are you playing with yourself when there is a perfectly willing pussy lying next to you?"

I opened my eyes and there was Cleopatra, naked and wanton, just as I had pictured her. She climbed on top of me, impaling herself with one swift motion and rode me at a furious pace. When her orgasm hit her she screamed, let herself drop forward and bit me in the shoulder. It was enough to get me undone too and I shot my wad in a tremendous climax. When I opened my eyes I was back on my bed, covered in jiz up to my chin.

Too stunned to move I lay there for a while before I got up to have a shower. I felt worn out and drowsy. The shower did little to revive me. I only half dried myself and staggered back to bed. I remember being barely able to keep my eyes open as I lay down. I must have passed out after that.

The telephone woke me at eleven AM. I felt shaky and ravenously hungry. Feng was on the phone wanting to know what was keeping me. I asked him to come to my room. Only half awake I threw on a pair of pants and ordered a huge meal from room service. Feng arrived at the same time as my meal.

"What the fuck happened to you? You look like shit," Feng looked worries.

I totally ignored him as I greedily got into the food. Half way through my meal I started to feel better and by the time I had finished I felt almost back to normal, though still a bit shaky.

Feng had waited patiently until I finished eating without interrupting me. When I was through there was no stopping him.

"What on Earth have you been up to? I've never seen you like this. I thought you were about to kick the bucket. You look a bit better now. Can you talk?"

I told Feng what had happened. Feng became very thoughtful and didn't say anything for a while. I did nothing to interrupt his train of thought.

"This is shaping up pretty much as I've figured," he said eventually. "Remember when I told you that the drug probably triggers something within ourselves that enables us to travel this way? Your little adventure just proved it. It took a lot out of you by the look of it. If I were you I'd give this method of travelling a miss for a while. Travel the way we did so far for a while longer until you get stronger and then try again. I think it'll get easier in time as your body gets used to generate the energy that until now has been supplied by the drug. The drug is changing us. We are no longer what we were. Who knows what we'll be capable of doing down the track."

"You seem to have thought a lot about this, tell me, how does the sex bit fit into all of this?"

"My theory is that we are using some form of sexual energy in order to travel. There might be a whole spectrum where sexual energy as we know it is just one of the wavelengths. Other wavelengths have different properties, just like in the electromagnetic spectrum. Perhaps the drug enables us to generate a wavelength that is normally out of reach. Once we become aware of it and get used to manipulating it we are capable of doing that without the help of the drug. It takes a while for this to happen."

"I can see what you're getting at. It doesn't explain why we get booted out of these spaces on orgasm."

"I disagree. Think of it in terms of resonance. Let's say sex is the fundamental wave and time travel one of its harmonics. On orgasm the fundamental collapses and with it the corresponding harmonic. Result ... you go home. Learn how to trigger the harmonic directly and orgasms will no longer affect you. I have no idea how that could be done or if it's even possible."

"Anyway, enough of that for now. What's happening?"

"Uncle has sent you a parcel. It's on your desk downstairs. I suspect it contains your brief and whatever information on the planet in question he's been able to gather. Talla has arrived and is holding the fort. Your computer is back at the bank though I suggest we get rid of it shortly. I have something better in mind. I'll tell you about it when I have our new system up and running."

"Alright. Let's go for lunch and go to the office after."

"So soon? You've only just eaten."

"I'm still hungry."

Feng laughed and we went to the dining room.

***

After the meal we went to our new offices. Feng introduced me to Talla. Like most Oktonians, there was nothing special about her. She was sweet and friendly though and that makes up for a lot. I could see why Feng had wanted her.

The parcel with the stuff the Tai-pan had sent sat on my desk. Time to go to work.

There wasn't much in the package. A plug in memory module and a card with the Chang Corporation logo. On it a hand written note that said: Here you go, Mister Walters. Let's see what you can do with it. There was a hurried scribble on the bottom, presumably the Tai-pan's signature.

I booted up the computer and loaded the module. It contained a lot of material. There were comprehensive reports of astronomers who had done the original assessment, followed by data from space probes. Annexed were the software programmes I preferred to work with. They would have known what I used from my report to the Federation.

The planet in question was about ten light years away from Okton4. Not a big distance these days, but far enough to be very private. The Federation would have a hard time finding out anything useful about what was going on there. About twice as big as Mars it had liquid surface water, frozen at the poles. The orbit around its sun was almost circular, there was no axial tilt, therefore it had no seasons. Daytime temperatures around the equator were around 30 degrees Celsius, night time close to freezing. There were no oceans but there was an inland sea about the size of the Mediterranean. A few lakes, lots of rivers, a large, very high mountain range close to the sea, lots of seemingly deep valleys, a number of active volcanoes and that was about it. The planet rotated very slowly around its axis, making the day about sixty hours long. The year was roughly the same as an Earth year, but since there were no seasons it didn't really matter.

The one thing that stood out was the much higher than expected oxygen content of the atmosphere. That indicated to me that there should be a lot of vegetation of some type or another.

The data from the space probes looking for minerals were disappointing. There was a lot of stuff there, for sure, but no bonanza. Most of the stuff I could identify would have been valuable closer to civilisation. Out here, the profits that could be made would at best be marginal because of freight costs.

As far as worlds go, this one was a beauty. It wouldn't take much to get a thriving colony going. Using the natural resources of the planet and fabricating items that could be profitably sold elsewhere was very much possible. As a pure interstellar mining operation the place was a dud. The Tai-pan, being a mining engineer himself, would have seen that too.

The question I was faced with was if I should put my true findings in a report or should I massage the data somewhat to make them more appealing to the Oktonians in case my report would be used to make the deal attractive. I needed to find out.

Feng was in his office playing with his computers. I went to see him.

"What does it take to get to talk to your uncle, Feng?" I asked.

"You need to see him already?"

"Yes, Mate." 

I explained to Feng what I had uncovered and the dilemma I found myself in.

"I need a policy decision before I can go any further. I can only get that from your uncle."

"I can see that. Let me see if I can talk to him."

I left Feng to it and went back to my office. Half an hour later he turned up.

"He is giving a dinner party at the Chinese restaurant we go to. If we have our evening meal there at around seven he'll pop over to talk to us. I told him it wouldn't take long. I'll piss off now then, see you there at seven."

Feng left. I tidied up my desk and went too. On the way out I told Talla she could close the office and go home. She thanked me.

Before I went to the bar for a beer I called on the liaison officer and told her I would not take lessons tonight because I had an appointment at seven elsewhere.

***

I met Feng at the appointed hour and as usual we had our meal in a separate room. Sometime later the Tai-pan joined us, a beer in his hand.

"So what is the problem, Mister Walters?" he said after we settled down.

I told him about my analysis of the mineral deposits and said: "As far as an interstellar mining operation is concerned this planet is a dud, as you must already know. To make the deal palatable to the Oktonians I can either falsify the data to make the transaction look more attractive or devise a scheme that relies on secondary industries to make it pay. This will take a lot of time and cost an awful lot of money to get going."

The old man listened to me only with half an ear, evidently he had heard this all before.

"There may be a third way," I continued," to give the Oktonians what they want that would take considerably fewer resources and could be put together rather quickly."

That got his attention. 

"What do you have in mind?"

"I think the astronomers have been too conservative when they put their figures together. They have generalised too much. The oxygen content of the atmosphere seems to point in that direction. It's too high for the kind of world they describe.

"To me that indicates that there is an awful lot of vigorous vegetation there, most likely in the deep valleys that criss-cross the planet. I believe the air pressure in the valleys is higher than the average they quote, possibly meaning we can operate there with little or no life support. I further believe that the temperatures in the valleys do not drop down as far as the planet mean. I can't prove what I'm saying without going there, but that is my firm belief, Tai-pan."

"Perhaps you are right, Mister Walters, but how does this help us, apart from making it easier to survive?"

"I am thinking agriculture, Sir. Rye is very hardy and can grow under some harsh conditions. We grow rye, build a factory and pay the Oktonians with Pumpernickel. They would go for this like a shot. Whichever way the wind blows, Pumpernickel will be the most important commodity for years to come. The idea to produce it on their home ground as it were would be irresistible to the Oktonians. They'd give you all the Oktonian labour you want to get this going."

"This is the first sensible proposal I've heard regarding this project. What do you need Mister Walters?"

"I need to go there. I also need a top interstellar agronomist to go with me. I don't want one of those university jerks. I want a man with muddy boots and dirty fingernails."

The old man laughed. "I take it you know such a man."

"Yes, there is someone I have in in mind. He is in his early sixties and still fit from what I hear. This project would be to his liking, especially since he doesn't like the Federation much. He'll probably come if I ask him."

"What do you suggest we should offer?"

"I was thinking two-thousand credits a day plus expenses."

"Go for it. I'll leave it in your hands. You have full authority. Keep me informed."

The old man excused himself and went back to his guests.

"You realise, the old coot has just dropped the whole project square into your lap."

"I wouldn't go that far, Feng."

"You better believe it. I know him. He doesn't fuck around. When he sees a good thing he goes for it boots and all. And you, my friend, have just been declared a good thing. You have to perform though, he expects that."

"This might not be too difficult. I'm not saying it'll be a walk in the park, opening up a new world never is, but, barring any unforeseen nasty surprises, this planet seems easier than most. We shall just have to go there and have a look around. It all depends on whether the place is suitable for agriculture or not. Jack will tell us fairly quickly what can be done."

"I take it Jack is your agronomist. Do you think you can get him?"

"He'll come. All his life he's had to fight the bureaucrats of the Federation to get anything done at all. To be able to develop a world without interference from the Feds will be irresistible to him. If I know Jack at all, once he gets started he'll never want to leave."

By that time it was getting late and we decided to go home.

***

Next morning I went to my office early. By the time Talla and Feng arrived I had already written and posted a letter to Jack. He was on Earth. The letter would get to him within hours. My next job was to identify a landing site for our exploratory expedition. By the end of the day I had five possible sites earmarked that seemed promising. The final decision which one of those sites we were going to use I would leave to Jack.

That evening I had my lesson and went to see Mara. She was a bit miffed that I hadn't seen her for two days. I told her I had just started a new job and had found it difficult to find the time.

"I don't think I can come to visit you as often as I did, at least for a while," I said, "There is much to do that requires my attention."

She wasn't all that happy about it, but she accepted that we all had to make a living.

We had our romp and I was back in my hotel before long, the Oktonian lady satisfied with her cunt full of come.

Next morning a letter from Jack arrived. 

There is a freighter leaving for Okton4 in three days, he wrote. It will get there in ten days. I have booked a passage. The captain has agreed to take my laboratory and personal gear, if I can get it to him in time. I am packing as you read this. Don't bother to send me any money, as you suggested. I shall pay for everything and you can reimburse me when I get there. The world you have described sounds wonderful. I can't wait to set my foot on it. 

"This guy doesn't muck about," said Feng when I showed him the letter.

"This is something he's dreamt about all his life, something he thought he'd never see. He'd come even if he didn't get paid."

"Still ... no questions, no conditions, no anything. He just packs up and leaves. This guy must trust you with his life."

"He has reason to," was all I said, not wanting to get into my history with Jack.

I wrote a memo to the Tai-pan, attached Jack's letter, sent it off and called it a day.

***

I was at the office early again. It was time to establish contact with the Oktonian negotiator who was handling the transaction. I had no idea what the procedures were. Someone would have to brief me.

When Feng arrived I asked him into my office.

"There is not much formality when we deal with these guys.," he said when I asked him. "Why don't we just ring him up and invite him for lunch, show him his office and have a conference here afterwards."

"Suits me. Can you get this going?"

"When do you want to have the meeting?"

"As soon as convenient. I'll make myself available. I want you to attend too."

"I'll see if I can get him for lunch today. I'll do that now and tell you when I've spoken to him."

Feng went to his office to make the call.

Half an hour later Feng called in and told me we would be having lunch with him at twelve-thirty in the dining room.

"These guys are suckers for a good lunch. I don't think their employers are treating them all that well. They love sponging off us. Incidentally, the guy's name is Alfred Dalrymple."

"You are kidding me."

"Not at all. There was an Alfred Dalrymple who jumped ship some eight years ago. They are using his name, but we already know that's not who he is."

"Never mind. I'm going for a beer, there is nothing to do here. Want to join me?"

"Why not?" said Feng and we went to the bar.

Alfred (call me Al) Dalrymple arrived on time and after introductions we settled down for a sumptuous meal with excellent wine. He was a pleasant man in his late thirties with impeccable table manners. Unlikely for a spacer mechanic from Earth as they claimed. He appeared to be an intelligent and competent technician. Again, unlikely for a man of his supposed background. The clincher though was his occasional use of archaic words that were only found in historical documents these days. The veneer of credibility surrounding the Oktonian scam was very thin in places, I thought.

He was pleased with his office when we showed him later. After that we retired to my office for a conference.

I took the lead.

"As you know, Al, the images from the space probes are in the process of being evaluated. The next step is an exploratory expedition that will land on the planet. I have been put in charge of that expedition. The objective is to determine conditions on the ground and to identify a place where a settlement can be established for the next phase. We will go there in a scout ship of a type that is commonly used for such sorties. There will be two small aircraft on board to enable us to cover as much ground as possible. We will be gone for about a month.

"I think it would be to the advantage of your people if you were to accompany us on the mission. Apart from the ship's crew and the three of us there will be a small team of scientists who will gather most of the data."

"How many people in all?"

"There are eight crew, the three of us, an agronomist, a meteorologist, a chemist, a medical doctor and five soldiers, twenty people in all."

"Soldiers? You want to take soldiers?"

"Yes. Have you ever been on a virgin world Al?"

"Virgin world?"

"With virgin world I mean a world no one we know of has ever set foot on."

"No, I haven't."

"Then let me tell you this. We can only speculate what we might find. There may well be hostile indigenous life on this planet. We need to be prepared."

I reached into my desk drawer, withdrew a sheet of paper and gave it to Al.

"This is a list of weapons I will take with me. I would appreciate if you could arrange authorisation from your government."

"I don't think they will come at that. You know our no weapons policy."

"Then the deal is off. I will not set foot on the planet without weapons. No one in his right mind would. A no weapons policy on a civilised planet makes sense. On an unknown alien world it is suicide to arrive unarmed. Your government will understand this. Incidentally, they are not as inflexible as all this. Many Federation officers here carry guns for law enforcement."

"I still don't think my government will allow it. You must go without guns."

"I'm sorry. This part is not negotiable. I will not expose people under my command to unnecessary danger because some bureaucrat is worried that a few people with guns are going to start a revolution. The weapons will be locked up until we arrive at our destination and will be locked up again after our departure. If you wish, you can carry the key."

"And that is your last word?"

"Yes, it is. Don't forget, Al, this is for your protection too."

"I shall put it to my superiors. Is there anything else you would like to discuss today?"

"No. We aren't going anywhere until this issue is resolved."

"Then I shall take my leave. I'll be in contact as soon as I have an answer."

We shook hands and closed the meeting.

"They won't take this lying down," said Feng after Al had left. "They'll go to the old man and complain."

"Then we better get to the Tai-pan before they do. Have you got a direct line to him?"

Feng gave me a telephone number. I rang the Tai-pan.




Offspring Ch. 027



"I am sorry to interrupt you in what you are doing, Tai-pan," I said when he came on the line. "This can't wait."

I explained to him what I had done.

"You didn't give them much room to move," was all he said.

"Correct. I am not negotiating, I'm laying down the law. It's about time they understood who is in charge of this project. We are in a very strong position. They'll kick and scream for a while, but eventually they'll come to heel."

"What if you are wrong and they cancel the deal?"

"If that happens you will fire me, apologise to the Oktonians for having appointed the wrong man and use a softer approach."

"I must say you've got balls, my boy. Let's play it your way. You have a free hand for now. Keep me informed."

Feng had been listening in on the conversation.

"The old coot loves what you are doing," he said after I hung up. "He likes it when his people tackle problems head on without looking for cover."

"I'm not asking for something unreasonable."

"He knows that. That's why he'll back you."

"Good. Now we have to think about filling the open positions for the expedition."

"I can get you the chemist, the meteorologist and the doctor. We don't have to go far, I can find them here in the spaceport. Which leaves the soldiers. What do you have in mind about them?"

"I think I'll leave that to your uncle. He would have some reliable, battle hardened veterans on his books for sure. Perhaps you could talk to him about that."

"Will do. Fancy a drink? I've had enough for today."

On the way out Talla handed me an envelope that had just arrived by courier. It contained a corporate credit card with my name and biometrics on it.

We told Talla she could go home and made for the bar. I stopped at reception to cancel my lessons for the day. While I was there I asked for my hotel bill.

"There is nothing to pay," said the girl. "The Chang corporation is taking care of all your expenses."

When I mentioned it to Feng over a beer he said: "The old man is like that. If you look after his interests he'll treat you very well and makes sure you want for nothing. I know you haven't asked him for money yet. My advice is don't. He'll see you right."

I had never worked for a boss where you didn't need to ask for money. As things stood I was doing very well. My expenses were taken care of, I had a corporate credit card and the Federation was paying me still. Together with what the Taipan was going to throw me from time to time and the income from my investments I was better off than I had ever been.

Feng excused himself saying it was time for his lesson. I stayed in the bar.

"That was the last of the data from the library," he said when he returned about an hour later. "I've already uploaded it downstairs. Tomorrow we'll have a first good look at what we've got."

In the excitement of the last few days I had completely forgotten about the library. I wondered what surprises were in store for us.

"I need to do some tidying up of the directories first. That'll take most of the morning. After lunch we can get into it. Let's call it quits for today. Big day tomorrow."

I agreed, charged the drinks to my room, had a quick bite to eat in the dining room and went upstairs. 



Offspring Ch. 028



I took my time in the morning. There wasn't much for me to do and Feng wouldn't be ready until lunchtime. When I eventually went to my office I found workers in there installing the mining paraphernalia I had asked for. I left them to it and went to the bar for a beer.

I thought about my meeting with the Oktonian negotiator. There was something about it that disturbed me. We had already established the person we were dealing with wasn't Alfred Dalrymple. I found it difficult to believe the Federation did not know this. Arden and Nakov are competent security men. They would have checked. I decided to test the waters.

I rang up Arden and asked if I could see him. He said I was welcome. An hour later I was in his office.

"What can I do for you Frank?" he asked.

"Yesterday I've met Alfred Dalrymple, the negotiator. What can you tell me about him?"

Arden pulled up a file on his computer. It was all there. Date and place of birth, his career and his jumping ship eight years ago, accredited as negotiator some four months back. Then Arden surprised me. He pulled up another photograph and put it next to the photo on the accreditation document. It was evidently someone entirely different.

"This is the real Alfred Dalrymple," he said. "We have no idea who the guy is you were talking to. They are all like this. They carry the ID of people who jumped ship, but that's not who they are. We have no idea where the Oktonians get these people from. You realise of course what I am showing you here is classified."

"Yes, that goes without saying. What else can you tell me?"

"The Federation thinks the Oktonians are doing this because they don't want us to know where they are sourcing their staff. We are ordered to ignore it. These are the people who handle all trade matters. No one wants to rock the boat. When all is said and done it really doesn't matter who these guys are. Like it or not we have to deal with them, there is no other way to do business. They can be difficult to trade with at times, but they are well behaved and don't cause any problems."

"I thought it might be something like this. Thanks for telling me."

"Tell me, Frank, what made you suspicious?"

"The guy was too educated and too polished to be a spacer mechanic who had jumped a freighter because of alien pussy."

Arden laughed.

"I've always believed you are the right man for the job. Not much gets past you," he said when I took my leave. It was clear to me he would report our conversation to Nakov the minute I had left his office.

Feng was in the dining room when I got back. Over lunch I told him of my conversation with Arden.

"I am surprised Arden was that open with you."

"I'm not. Alfred Dalrymple's profile is on public record. Arden is a sharp operator. The fact that I called on him to ask for more detail about the man would have told him I was smelling a rat somewhere. Besides, as far as Arden and the Federation brass is concerned little has changed. In their eyes I am still a Federation Major, currently on undercover assignment."

***

We finished our meal and went downstairs. The workers were putting the final touches on my revamped office. Apart from installing the items I had asked for they had removed the settees and the coffee table and replaced it with a plain white table and eight simple chairs. They had thrown the cocktail cabinet out too and put in a fridge and a small cupboard for the liquor bottles and glasses instead. The place looked now like the office of a hands on engineer in charge of a large project. Precisely the impression I wanted to convey.

I thanked the workmen and rang the dining room. I told the head waiter to serve the workers with meals of their choice and any drinks they liked and book it to the Chang corporation. The men looked happy when they went upstairs.

"Good move," said Feng. "They'll brag about this. It'll get around that you are a good man to work for and help a lot when we are recruiting people for phase two."

"Alright Sir Feng, let's have a look at the library."

We told Talla that we were in conference and not to be disturbed. Safely tucked away in our hidden room Feng explained the system to me. Getting used to the layout of the data base would take a while, but it wouldn't be a major problem. Searching for specifics was a different matter. Because of the old fashioned language used it would be difficult to find items until we got more used to their version of Federation Intergalactic.

"Bearing in mind what I've just told you, where do you  want to start?"

"It'll be helpful to know a bit about the background and how humans got to be there. That'll give us an insight into the overall scenario. The really important bits though are the breeding programme and anything on whatever floats around in those spacecraft."

Feng sat down on one of the terminals and pulled some stuff up on the screen.

"Here," he said, vacating the seat and motioning me to sit down. "I've loaded the historical part. You busy yourself with that while I'll look for the other shit."

I did as I was asked and was soon immersed in some fascinating material. What Feng had given me was a history textbook, perhaps meant for high school students. The left two thirds of the screen told the story in fairly broad strokes, the right hand third provided links to source materials and articles that went into greater detail on certain points. The record started with the arrival of the humans almost 400 years ago.

Captain Lars Harkon was a slaver. He had called his ship Happy Delivery after a famous pirate ship of the eighteenth century. On the day in question Captain Harkon was very pleased with himself. Because of information he had received he was lying in wait for a Federation ship to set down colonists on a new world. As soon as the Federation vessel had left he had struck and captured five hundred colonists plus all their supplies without loss of life on either side. The Happy Delivery was overloaded, barely managing to take off. Things had gone well.

As soon as was in open space Captain Harkon set course to a planet in the Aldebaran system where he knew he could profitably sell his cargo and engaged the hyper-drive.

That's when disaster struck. For five days the ship bounced around in hyperspace like a tumble-weed in the desert. The Happy Delivery finally emerged on the rim of the Orion belt, its hyper-drives wrecked, but otherwise in fairly good order.

Captain Harkon took stock. It soon became clear that he was over one thousand light years away from civilisation and that there was no way back. Luckily there was a planet suitable for human habitation within reach of his still functioning sub-light drives. He set course for it. The prisoners and crew had been cuffed around a bit during that wild ride, but apart from a few cuts and bruises were in good shape. He issued extra rations and a can of beer or soft drink according to choice for crew and prisoners alike. The gesture was well received.

Well, Lars Harkon, he wrote in his log, you have royally fucked up. Here you are with a hundred crew and five hundred prisoners in the middle of nowhere. Your career as a pirate and slaver is over. If you want yourself and the people in your charge to survive you must become a statesman. Get on with it!

He did just that. He devised a plan. What helped was the fact that he had never tolerated any mistreatment of prisoners. Damaged goods are bad for business, he used to say and his crew had followed orders. It wasn't much to start with, but it was something. There would be some goodwill on which he could build.

When he had a fair idea how to proceed he called his ten senior officers into the briefing room and explained the situation they were in.

"Our only hope for survival is to establish a colony on the planet we are heading for. To achieve that we need to come to some arrangement with our captives. There are ten holds with fifty people each. I want you to go and see them. Explain that we want them to send one delegate per hold  to discuss future options. Give them two hours to do so. You will then undo the shackles of the delegates in full view of the others and bring them here. The rest of the captives will stay locked in their holds. Any questions?"

There were none. Just over two hours later the officers returned with their charges.

Captain Harkon explained the situation they were in. He spoke about his vision for the future, the need for cooperation and the need to come up with a model for a society that all can live with.

"It will take three weeks to reach our destination," he said. "I will put the ship into a low orbit to give us a chance to study the planet and identify a suitable landing site. This might take a week or more, depending on what we find. Once we have landed there will be no way to leave, so it is important we get it right. We will use that time to draft a constitution and a set of laws that will be binding on everybody. I want you to appoint your ten most suitable people for such a task. I will do the same. These twenty people will form a committee, chaired by me. I will have a casting vote in case of a deadlock. My crew has been ordered to treat your people with courtesy and respect. I demand from you the same respect and courtesy towards my crew. You will now return and inform your people of my conditions. I will give you three hours to get back to me with an answer. Should my proposal be acceptable I will have all shackles removed. I regret not to be able to allow you the freedom of the ship, it would create chaos, so the holds will stay locked. I will permit however limited movement between the holds to enable you to see friends and exchange places until we land. After that you will be free to move. That is all."

According to contemporary records the mood amongst the captives changed almost instantly. The general feeling of despair had made room for cautious optimism. Captain Harkon's conditions were accepted.

In due course a constitution was drawn up that spelled out the structure of the state as well as the rights and obligations of its citizens. It was an enlightened document. To start the discussion Captain Harkon had prepared a document outlining his vision of a future society. Basic rights and obligations were common to all and inviolable. In addition there was a system of privileges that would be granted on merit only. It revolved around a scale of Merit Levels or ML's that ranged from one to fifty depending on such things as level of education, strength of character, willingness to work, value of his/her contribution to society, obedience to the law and so forth. Each level had its own criteria that had to be met in order to qualify. All citizens had the right to apply for the next level above their current status and sit for an examination. On successful passing promotion was guaranteed. Three consecutive failures and there would be no further opportunity for advancement. 

The ML's determined rate of pay and status within the society. Each citizen was required to wear a badge showing the current ML and the area of employment such as construction, administration, research and so forth.

The idea of a meritocracy found immediate approval amongst committee members. The constitution was drawn up accordingly. A copy of the draft constitution was given to everyone and when put to the vote accepted by over eighty percent of the people on board. It was duly adopted and became the foundation of the emerging state.

A basic criminal and civil law was drafted and adopted and by the time the ship was in orbit around the new planet the stage was set. Captain Harkon had named the planet Hope, a name that found universal approval.

A team of scientists, both crew and former captives were busily evaluating the planet and found it suitable for colonisation. They discovered small cities, indicating the presence of intelligent indigenous life. There were no signs of advanced technology, presumably the inhabitants were still at a fairly early stage of development. The presence of fixed settlements proved that agriculture was flourishing. 

Several possible landing sites were identified. The site favoured by Captain Harkon was a plain, crossed by a large river that went from a snow covered mountain range to the sea. Where the river met the sea was a sizeable settlement. The distance from the mountains to the sea was about three hundred miles. He decided to set the ship down on the half way mark. It would allow him to establish contact with the natives without the likelihood of an immediate attack.

He managed to bring the ship down in one piece, more by luck than good management he admitted later. They were home.

***

I needed a break. As fascinating as the material was it was wearing me out. Because of the old fashioned language I had to go over some sentences several times to make some sense out of what I was reading. It was hard work. I poured myself a beer and sat down in our little sitting corner.  Feng must have thought it was a good idea. I had hardly sat down when he joined me.

"Had enough for a while?" he asked.

I told him I was struggling with the old fashioned terminology in places.

"Yeah, I know. It gets easier with time. To be truthful, I've had enough for today. Want to call it quits?"

I didn't need much prompting. We finished our drinks, closed off the computers and went upstairs into the bar after telling Talla she could go home.

"I don't know how Talla can stand it. Sitting there all day with virtually nothing to do. It would drive me nuts," I said after we had settled down.

"Talla lives in her own little dream world, whatever that is. She snaps out of it when there is something to do and gets back to it when she's done. That's one of the reasons why I picked her. That and the fact that she's fiercely loyal. Oktonians are like that. You treat them nicely and look after them and they'll do anything for you."

"What? Even give blow jobs?"

"Don't even think about it. Have you ever seen an Oktonian drink?"

"No, I haven't. What has that got to do with anything?"

"They are related to birds. They can't suck. When they drink they fill their mouth and tip their head back to swallow. On top of that they have razor sharp teeth."

"So?"

"There was this guy who tried just that. When he couldn't get her to suck he tried to fuck her throat. She gagged and bit down. Some sort of reflex. It took the surgeon three hours to stitch his cock up. He can still piss, but he'll never get hard again."

"There goes that idea," I said, suddenly experiencing a very nasty twitch in my nether region.

We had a couple more drinks before Feng excused himself.

"I need to go for my lesson, after that I'll go home. See you in the morning."

I stayed for another drink and went to the dining room for a meal. Afterwards I decided to pay Mara a visit and toddled off for my lesson. I timed myself to arrive early. When she arrived she was wearing her lab coat as usual. There was no sign of a ML badge though.

"Don't they make you wear ML badges any more?" I asked after I had kissed her.

"I see you have been doing some studying. Yes, we are still obliged to wear them, but only at work. At other times they are not compulsory any more."

"Where is it then?"

She reached into her pocket and showed me. It was a disk about three inches in diameter, silver with a red border. There were two symbols on the disk, one above the other. The top one was purple, the bottom one green. I asked what they meant.

"The top one is my merit level, in this case thirty-nine, the bottom one shows I am with research."

"Why aren't you wearing it?"

"I hide it when I come here. I am very careful, but if someone sees me by accident they won't wonder too much what I'm doing here. There could be any number of reasons. If they saw a ML39 entering the building they would know something is wrong and report it. They would also know who it was, I'm the only ML39 here. That's why I'm always wearing a lab coat when I come here. This particular badge is for use with the lab coats. We change coats sometimes two or three times a day, depending on what we are doing. When we get a fresh coat we transfer the badge. The tops I wear when I am lecturing have the badges sewn on."

"And you are level thirty-nine. That's pretty high."

"It's as high as I want to go. Senior management stops there. Higher up are only government jobs at the ruling level. I want to continue doing research."

Mara was already taking her clothes off, I gathered she was finished talking.

I was right.



Offspring Ch. 029



I went to the office early. Talla was dusting the shelves and the mineral specimens in my office when I arrived.

"You don't have to do this Talla," I said.

"The cleaners don't do a very good job," she said. "Talla makes sure everything is first class. Would you like Talla to make you some coffee?"

"That would be lovely, Darling. Thank you."

I was on my second cup when Talla told me Al Dalrymple wanted to talk to me. I took the call.

He told me that, as expected, his superiors were not prepared to authorise the weapons I had asked for, but would allow the hand guns.

"Look, Al," I said, "why don't we meet tomorrow at twelve in the dining room and discuss the matter over a meal and a couple of drinks like the civilised gentlemen we are."

I knew he wasn't going to miss out on this. As expected he told me he would be there.

I had hardly put the phone down when Feng turned up. I told him what Al had said.

"Are you going to accept their offer?"

"Not on you life, Feng. When I was talking to him I had an idea. I need your help."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find me a film clip of some soldiers fighting a very large ferocious creature. You are the computer genius, if anyone can find something like this, you can."

"This will be fun. I know just where to start looking."

Feng went to his office to start work. I did not want to interrupt him and busied myself with some of the space probe pictures of the planet we were to go to. It didn't have a name yet, only the number the astronomers had assigned. The majestic mountains and the Mediterranean like sea reminded me of something out of Greek mythology. I decided to call the planet Olympus. The abode of the Gods. It seemed a good name for this world.

I was still playing around with my images when I heard Feng laugh out loud.

"Just come over here and have a look at this," he yelled. 

I went to his office and Feng started the clip. It showed a group of soldiers fighting a dragon like creature the size of a house. The special effects were excellent, especially the scene where the dragon ripped apart a human body with his claws, dripping blood, gore and guts everywhere. The acting and dialogue was wooden and unconvincing. The sound track consisted mainly of screaming, shooting and explosions. I judged it to be a scene from an old Chinese horror movie.

"You cant show them this," I said. "They'll know it's fake. It has B-grade movie written all over it."

"It's perfect," said Feng. "By the time I'm finished with it even you will believe it's real. I can't do it here, I don't have the gear."

"So what are you going to do?"

Feng was already on the phone. He spoke for a while in Chinese and hung up.

"I just spoke to a friend of mine. He creates video games. All the gear I need is in his studio. I should know, I got it for him. He owes me a few favours. If I go over there now we'll have the whole thing in the bag by this afternoon."

Feng left brimming with excitement like a schoolboy on his way to a football match.

I couldn't get back into what I had been doing and left for an early lunch. I couldn't bring myself to share Feng's enthusiasm. To me he was going completely overboard. I would have preferred something a little less spectacular like perhaps a tiger or a rogue elephant. If it didn't work out what he was doing we'd have trouble coming up with an alternative. I realised I was worrying and went for a brisk walk through the dismal streets of Okton4 space port after I had finished my meal. It didn't help much.

I returned to the hotel and had a few drinks with some spacers in the bar. At four o'clock Feng rang. He said he was in his office and that the clip was ready.

Half an hour later I sat in Feng's office in front of the big screen. The show was about to start. Feng screened the original clip first.

"This is what we started off with," he said. "And now, without further ado, cast your eyes on this marvel of inspiration and technology."

It started off with the logo and jingle of some news service followed by a female newsreader introducing the lead story of the day. The set, costume and language was mid 25th century. She spoke of an ill fated exploratory expedition to Danos, a planet in the Arcturus system. After stating that there were a number of casualties and that what was left of the explorers were lucky to have left the planet alive she finished off with a warning that the images were extremely graphic and were likely to upset some viewers. What followed was the footage Feng had pinched from the movie, but what a change had come over it. Feng had cut out all the ham acting and close ups of the actors, he had dimmed the scene somewhat to give a twilight impression. The film was unsteady, slightly out of focus in places and askew at times, as if taken by a terrified camera man with a hand-held camera. The newsreader gave a running commentary explaining what the audience was seeing. The clip closed off with the news service logo and part of an advertisement introducing some laundry detergent. The whole thing looked and felt like a genuine 25th century news broadcast. It would scare the living daylights out of Alfred Dalrymple and his masters.

"We really should show this to your uncle before we hit Mr. Dalrymple with it."

"Already in the mill. I spoke to him earlier. He's got some business here in the hotel as luck would have it. Let's adjourn to your office. He'll be with us in about half an hour or so."

The Tai-pan arrived shortly afterwards. He took one look at my office and laughed.

"The office of a man with muddy boots and dirty fingernails as you so aptly put it, Mister Walters," he said, still chuckling.

"That's the impression I tried to give, Sir."

"Well done, I approve. Now, what do you want to show me."

I offered the Tai-pan a beer, which he accepted. We sat down and I explained the situation we were in.

"I needed something to convince the Oktonians that the weapons we asked for are necessary. This is what we have come up with. I switched the screen on and rolled the footage from the Chinese movie. The Tai-pan was horrified.

"You can't show them this. They'll know it's garbage," he said.

"I have no intention of showing them this."

"Then why are you showing me?"

"I want you to see for yourself what this genius nephew of yours has done with it."

With that I rolled the doctored version. The old man's face lit up. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"I have seen some scams in my time, but you two......." He left the sentence hanging in mid air before he continued. "Remind me to never buy a used space ship from you guys. If that doesn't work I don't know what will. By the way, where did you get the woman newsreader from?"

"It's not a real person. It's a computer generated avatar."

"I didn't know it could be done so realistically. It is the news reader who makes the whole thing so believable. I am impressed Gentlemen."

"We've just made his day," Feng said after the Tai-pan had left. "The old bugger loves a good scam."

Neither of us fancied a lesson today. We cancelled our appointments and decided on an evening at Feng's Chinese restaurant.

***

I sat in my office thinking about my upcoming meeting with Al. It irked me that all my negotiations with the masters had to go through another person. I could not control, or even know, how Al presented my case to his superiors. If only there was some way to talk to them directly. It occurred to me I was trying to do that already in a way.

There was the film clip. Al's bosses would see that.

When Feng arrived I asked him If we had a camera on the premises.

"Well," he said, "our mobile phones have a camera built in. If you need something better I can get Mr. Wu to send us what you need. It can be here within an hour. What do you want it for?"

"I want to explain to the masters directly what I want to do and why. We'll record it and append the film clip. This way I'll be able to present our case without intermediary."

"Way to go," said Feng and made a phone call.

I sat down and made some notes what I wanted to say and when the camera arrived we made the recording.

I started off with introducing myself as the leader of the expedition. I showed some pictures of the planet surface and the analysis of the atmosphere. I pointed out the oxygen content.

"I find the oxygen content far too high for a world as described by the astronomers," I said. "To me that indicates large areas with vigorous vegetation. Where there is vegetation there may be animals and possibly intelligent natives. Some of these may well be dangerous and hostile. We need to be prepared for such an eventuality.

"First contact with an unknown alien world is never without danger. There have been disasters in the past. We have searched the archives and found a record of an ill fated exploratory mission in the Arcturus system. I have appended the newscast to this report.

"I do not expect to find anything as violent as the creature in the recording on the world we are about to visit. Still, I would rather err on the side of caution when it comes to our ability to defend ourselves. There is a lot at stake for both Oktonians and the Chang Corporation with this project. I want to get it right. A failed expedition will help no one.

"My analysis has indicated it might also be feasible to grow rye and produce Pumpernickel on this world. I have engaged one of the best agronomists in the known worlds to investigate such a possibility. He will be member of our expedition. I don't need to point out what it would mean to Okton4 if its most important commodity could be produced only ten light years away.

"The attached footage speaks for itself. Let us hope we won't run into anything even remotely like it"

Feng did some editing, put the whole thing together and loaded it onto a memory stick to give to Al. We also sent a copy to the Tai-pan.

***

Lunch with Al went as expected. When I showed him my presentation afterwards he was stunned. He didn't even query what he had just seen.

"You don't negotiate, do you?" he said after a pause. "You dictate terms."

"No, Al. The project dictates the terms, not me. I've participated in a number of such missions, in some as a member, others I led. Nothing as bad as we've seen, but there were many hairy situations where we had to fight. I've never lost one of my men. I don't intend to start now."

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but I think they will accept your terms. You only lost out by a few votes the last time When they see this and hear about the Pumpernickel they'll come around. Incidentally, how serious are you about the Pumpernickel?"

"At this very moment the agronomist is on a freighter from Earth, due to arrive in a few days. He's not only the best man I could find, for my money he's the best there is. He brings with him a specialised, state of the art laboratory. We are paying him a small fortune. I think that means I am deadly serious about it."

"The possibility of producing Pumpernickel so close to us will have them excited to say the least. It will change the way we do business."

"In what way, Al?"

"Look at our main trade. Huge freighters loaded with Pumpernickel arrive from Earth and return with Zabuyelite. The freight costs are enormous. We can cut down on freight by supplying the refined metal, but that would mean most of the the Pumpernickel freighters would have to return empty. There are some savings in doing it this way, but by the time you add the refining costs you are actually worse off. Being able to meet even part of the Pumpernickel requirement from sources close by would make it an entirely new ballgame, much in our favour."

I would have dearly liked to ask why the Pumpernickel was that important but I judged it was too early for such a question. Al was getting more open, best not to spook him. Let him tell me things at his own pace.

After Al had left I wrote a short memo to the Tai-pan about Al's reaction and what had told me. The old man would be interested in this. Feng and I called it a day and went upstairs for drinks.

***

There wasn't much traffic. When I went to the bar to get the drinks I noticed two Oktonian bar maids having a conversation in a different language. When they noticed me they looked embarrassed and continued in Federation Intergalactic. I remembered having heard this language once before, right at the beginning when I arranged for my sex permit. The receptionist had spoken it on the phone. I wondered what that was all about.

I told Feng what I had observed and asked what he thought about it.

"I know they make some strange noises when they think themselves unobserved. it might even be some primitive language. Why should anyone care. We can communicate with them, that's all that matters. As you know they aren't very bright. It doesn't matter if they are capable of some childish banter amongst themselves. There is nothing there that would interest us."

"It is a language, and it's far from being primitive, that much I know."

"How would you know that?"

"Just now I overheard two of the barmaids speaking it. I only caught some snatches of the conversation. They stopped when they noticed me and continued in Federation Intergalactic. They seemed embarrassed, as if they had been caught doing something wrong. It reminded me of the first time I heard it.

"When I first arrived I went to arrange my sex permit. The receptionist made a phone call and spoke in that language. I don't think she was even aware of doing it. Maybe she was new on the job. After she finished her call she told me what I had to do to get the permit. She had evidently asked what the procedure was and received her instructions in that language. No primitive childish babble is capable of doing that. At the time I thought nothing of it. It's the sort of thing you come across on many worlds, natives speaking in their own lingo when they talk to each other. The Oktonians are evidently keeping it from us and use it exclusively when they think themselves unobserved. It's only the second time I've heard it in all the months I've been here. I wonder why that is. We must find out."

"Why must we find out? I grant you it's an interesting theory you have there, but what's the use? Even if you could learn their language it wouldn't tell you much. You know how dumb they are. You have to teach them everything. They have no imagination and no curiosity. They do not enquire into things and learn from them, as we do."

"Perhaps the Oktonians are nowhere near as dumb as we think they are."

"Oh, they're dumb alright. Take Talla. As you know she can read and write, like most of them. How they were taught to do this and by whom we don't know, but they can.

"Anyway, Talla ran out of paper in the middle of a job. I didn't have any white paper so I gave her some yellow paper I had been using for some reason. She didn't know what to do with it. I actually had to show her that one could write on yellow paper, she was alright after that and used it. It made me curious. I got some blue paper and gave her that. Same thing. I had to show her all over again.. Now that's dumb. You can teach them something and once they have caught on they can do it well, by rote. Change something and they are stuffed.

"They are like robots, you can program them, but anything that the programme doesn't cater for is barred to them. You have to re-program if you want them to do something different. Actually, the robot analogy fits well, they don't seem show or respond to affection, for example. They understand loyalty and appreciate when they are treated well, but that may be part of the programming too."

"I don't buy it, Feng. There is more to them than that. Put a wig and some plastic tits on them, stick them in an evening gown and if it wasn't for the wings you'd think they were human. We judge them by our standards because they resemble us in so may ways. We assume too much. If they were like the ant people on Drokos or the Tarr on Terigon with their tentacles we would see them in a totally different light. Fact is, in spite of their resemblance to us, we are dealing with an alien consciousness and an alien mind. Who knows what they are capable of. They may yet surprise us."

"They are what we see. It would have shown up if they had other talents."

"Like it shows up that you and I can time travel?"

"Oops. I see what you mean."

"Look, we've always thought that our ability to time travel is the result of the drug acting on some part of us we can't define. We saw the Oktonian ladies as no more than a carrier of the drug. What if they had a very real hand in providing us with that ability? They might be, like us, roaming other dimensions in forms we can't even conceive. We are doing it, why can't they? It would explain a lot."

"I have always marvelled at your ability to take the most outrageous theory and present it as a rational proposition. You've been pretty right so far. I'll go along. Where do we start?"

"I want to start with Talla. Leave that one to me for now. It might confuse her if we both start asking the same questions."

"Agreed."

"You mentioned a while back an old Chinese scholar who has been here for over fifty years and is writing the history of your people on Okton4."

"Dr. Chang."

"Yes. Any relation to the Tai-pan?"

"He's family. I don't know how he fits into the hierarchy, I've never asked. What do you want him for?"

"I would like to hear what he thinks about the Oktonians. He must have seen a lot more than either of us."

"Good idea. He loves his Peking duck. It'll have to be lunch, he doesn't like late nights any more. Leave it to me, I'll arrange something."

***

I went to the office early again in the morning. Talla was already there. When she brought me my coffee I asked her to stay.

"Sit down Talla," I said. "I want to ask you a few things."

Talla took one of the plain chairs from the table setting and sat on it sideways so the back of the chair wouldn't conflict with her wings. She just looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

"Tell me Talla, I have noticed that you people have your own language. I have also noticed that you only speak it when you believe yourself unobserved. Is it a secret?"

"No, no secret. We believe that it is very rude to speak in our language when there are people around who cannot understand what is being said."

"Is that why the girls were embarrassed when they noticed I had overheard some of their conversation?"

"Yes."

"I want to learn your language. Will you teach me?"

"Talla cannot."

"Is it forbidden?"

"No, not forbidden. Not possible."

"Why is it not possible?"

"Frank sees, smells, tastes, feels, hears. Talla sees, smells, tastes, feels, hears, other, other, other. Not possible for Frank to understand other."

"So what you are telling me is that your people have perceptics which are not part of human consciousness and that this makes the language of your people inaccessible."

"Talla does not understand perceptics."

"Sight, hearing, feeling and so forth are perceptics, part of what we perceive."

"Sight, hearing, feeling are all very different things, how can they also be the same thing called perceptics? We have difficulty understanding how and why humans group different things together. There are many things we don't understand about humans and there are many things humans don't understand about us."

"Then we should have many more of these conversations and try to get to know each other better."

"Talla would like that."

At that moment Feng turned up and we left it at that. Talla returned to her reception desk. I told Feng about my conversation with Talla.

"These people are not dumb," I said. "They have difficulty understanding the way in which we perceive reality because their perception is radically different. There is some common ground, that's why we can communicate with them, but there are barriers."




Offspring Ch. 029



"Give me an example."

"The Oktonians can't understand the way in which we group things together. 

"Let me put it this way. Show some paper in different pastel shades to colour blind people. To them they all look the same. They cannot see why you and I differentiate. 

"My guess is the Oktonians have the opposite problem. They perceive differently coloured paper in a way that makes it look like something else. The to us obvious communality 'paper' is buried in a flood of information that makes it appear as a different object with which they have no previous experience. They need to be shown what can be done with it. Something like that anyway."

"That makes sense."

"We assume because they have learned to speak like us they also think like us. That is a fallacy. That assumption makes them look dumb to us, rather than different. I asked Talla to teach me her language. She told me that was impossible and why. She also told me there were many things we didn't understand about each other. I don't know how you see this, but to me these were the answers of a highly intelligent and aware creature."

"Yes they were. That and the fact she expressed interest in learning more about us."

"I shall explore that avenue further. Now we should get back to the library and study some more. It seems to have fallen by the wayside a little."



Offspring Ch. 030



I found the place where I had left off. Captain Harkon had just landed on the planet he had called Hope. They were on a grassy plain, the river about two hundred feet to the east, a forest some five miles to the west. No sign of wildlife or natives.

Captain Harkon armed fifty of his men and instructed them to establish a defensive perimeter with orders to fire only if they were attacked. Scientists were sent to check the immediate environment. The results were encouraging. The river water was potable with little purification needed, there were no known pathogens in water or soil, the only disappointment the high lithium contamination of the soil apart from a strip around one hundred feet wide along the riverbank where the lithium had presumably leached out of the soil. With a bit of fertiliser it would be possible to grow Earth type plants there for food. There were fish in the river which proved to be edible and were found to be quite palatable.

All was peaceful and quiet. Over the next three weeks they established a settlement, planted crops and set up workshops and kitchens using the equipment and supplies meant for the erstwhile colony. People were at work as usual when one of the guards raised the alarm. Natives were heading up the river towards them in boats. There seemed to be only a few of them, they were still too far away to make out much detail.

Captain Harkon ordered his guards to take up defensive positions, to keep their weapons out of sight and not to make any hostile moves unless attacked. As the boats drew nearer it became clear that this was no native war party. The creatures on the boats wore no armour and seemed to be unarmed. The boats were fairly substantial, carried a small sail and were propelled by twelve oars, six on each side. There were six boats of this type. They were accompanied by two larger vessels carrying cargo with twice the number of rowers. The rowers were winged creatures with bald heads much like humans in appearance in contrast to the passengers who were furred and looked from the distance like squirrels walking upright on two legs, but without any tails. A quick count revealed there were about two hundred natives who made up the party.

The group stopped some two hundred yards downstream from the human settlement. They drew their boats up on the riverbank and commenced setting up camp. Colourful tents were erected, fires were lit and soon the smells of cooking food drifted across. There were still no signs of weapons.

Captain Harkon figured the natives were not here to make trouble, they were here to make contact. He decided to wait for developments. As night fell he posted extra guards with instructions to keep a close watch on the camp, but to stay put. The natives made no hostile moves during the night. The morning brought no surprises either. Just normal, peaceful camp activities.

***

Captain Harkon, trusting his earlier assessment of the situation, donned his best uniform and took the initiative. He walked slowly over to the native camp on his own. Squirrels and faeries he thought as he got a better look at the natives. The faeries seemed to do all the manual work while the squirrels sat around in groups talking and watching what was going on.

As he came closer one of the squirrels got up and walked towards him. They both stopped and looked at each other when they were about five steps apart. The squirrel lifted his arms and invited the captain into the camp with hand gestures. Captain Harkon sensed no hostility, only curiosity. Contact had been made and everything looked promising for the colonists.

Over the next few weeks better communication was established. Groups from each camp visited each other, friendships developed, in other words things went well. The squirrels were very much in charge, with the faeries doing the simpler jobs. They didn't appear to be servants or slaves to the squirrels. To Captain Harkon it seemed more like some sort of symbiotic relationship. Whatever the system, it worked well. There were no fights or arguments and strangely, apart from work, very little interaction between the two races.

Captain Harkon wrote in his log:

"I have been on a number of worlds and I have seen many extra terrestrial races. What I am seeing here is something I have not come across before. 

"The faeries, the squirrels call them 'Trinn', have many human characteristics. They are bipedal, have well formed hands with six fingers and an opposing thumb. Their heads are bald. On their backs they have two wings the size of large dinner plates, too small for flight. faeries are very protective of their wings claiming they are very sensitive and delicate. They possess a limited intelligence, are capable of speech and are conscientious workers when trained to do a specific job. The curious thing about the faeries is that all are female. They produce offspring by laying eggs which are produced asexually. In spite of their slender, almost fragile appearance they are physically very strong and do not seem to tire easily.

"The squirrels are totally different and one wonders how two such divergent sentient races could have evolved on the same planet. Calling themselves 'Darnaq', they come in three types, easily distinguished by their colouring. Type one have black fur with a white stripe down their backs and are called 'Orr'. Type two are called 'Mac' and are of a reddish colour. Type three are grey, called 'Orrmac' and have a pouch similar to Earth's marsupials. I am told they represent different sexes and that a union of all three is required to produce offspring. They mate for life. During their first mating their consciousness fuses and from then on resides in the Orrmac. The three sexes fulfil different functions. The Orr are the practical types, mostly concerned with handling physical things, the Macs are the intellectual part of the trio with the Orrmacs looking after offspring and doing all the domestic work. After mating when one of the trio dies for whatever reason its partners perish within hours."

So much for the good captain's comments. 

The squirrels were fascinated by Earth's technology. The volume I was studying went at length into the spread of human technology throughout squirrel society. I was skipping much as the subject did not hold a lot of interest for me. I almost missed the bit that talked about the emergence of human - faerie hybrids. The subject was only briefly mentioned, but it did provide three links to sections in Captain Harkon's log.

"Today I caught one of my guards fucking one of the faeries," wrote Harkon. "I didn't interfere or make my presence known since there seemed to be no coercion involved. I simply watched for a while.

"The guard had the faerie bent over a bale of some sort and was fucking her from behind. The female was flapping her wings in step with his strokes, otherwise she displayed no discernible reaction. When he had finished and pulled out of her she dropped her skirt and continued with her work as if nothing had happened. None of them had noticed me.

"Some hours later I called the guard into my office and told him what I'd seen. He was very embarrassed and presumably expected some punishment. I told him that since the act seemed to have been consensual I had no problem with it, but I was curious what had brought it about.

"He told me that the faerie had watched him urinating and had been curious about the appendage he had used for that purpose. She asked if she could touch it and he let her. When she was examining his penis and scrotum he got hard and eventually ejaculated. The faerie was so fascinated with it that the next day she walked up to him, took his penis out and brought him to climax once more. One thing led to another and he examined her in turn, discovering her orifice and deciding it was much like a human arse, a bit smelly and a bit too dry. He was no stranger to buttfucking. When she came to him the next time he lubricated his dick and fucked her. The guard explained that because her wings were so delicate he could not lay her on her back and that bending her over a bale and fucking her from behind seemed to be the only way to do it without injuring her wings. 'It's not too bad a fuck,' he had said, 'if you don't mind washing a bit of birdshit off your dick afterwards.' I thanked him for his frankness and let him go."

Harkon then went onto something else in his log so I went to the next reference.

"This planet is full of surprises," he wrote. "Just now the guard who had been fucking the faerie came to me and asked my advice. Apparently the girl had shown him an egg the size of an ostrich egg and told him he had made it in her. When he asked how she knew, she said the Goddess had told her and that the egg had a black shell instead of the normal yellow one. He asked me what he should do. When I asked him if she had made any demands of him he said no. She had told him she had to take the egg to the hatchery in the city and that she would not be around for some time. A short time later another faerie had come to him and asked him to make an egg in her too. She had been most insistent and had not left until he had fucked her. He was very confused. I told him to enjoy his good luck and go for it. He thanked me and left.

"I felt like a bit of a heel. I had only told him to keep going because I was curious what kind of a hybrid humans and faeries were capable of producing."

There was no more on the subject in the log entry so I went to the third reference I had been given. This entry was dated about two years later.

"Today I saw my first human - faerie hybrids. By now there are about eighty of them. The oldest is about two, the youngest hatched yesterday. Little is visible of their human characteristics when they first hatch. These develop later. When they emerge from the egg they look very much like birds, covered in bright yellow down everywhere except the face and the legs. They make no noises of any kind until they are a year old when they seem to acquire speech almost overnight. By that time arms, hands and human facial features are very much in evidence. By the time they are two they look like a grown up faerie except they are only three feet tall. In the hybrids human facial features are much more pronounced, their hands are like human hands having five fingers and fingernails instead of small claws. They are said to be more alert, learn easier and are more curious than their non hybrid cousins. They are evidently popular amongst their own. More and more human males are approached to make an egg inside a faerie. Curiously enough even the hybrids are all female."

Again Captain Harkon went onto something else and I went back to my history book. It went on about technical developments and I found myself skipping again. It was the grumbling of my stomach who brought me back into reality. I had been so absorbed in my reading the day had gone past unnoticed. Time to go for a bite to eat and a drink.

***

Feng had already left. I told Talla to call it a day and went upstairs to the bar. Feng was there nursing a beer.

"You were so absorbed in what you were doing, you didn't even hear me when I called," he said. "I thought it best to leave you at it."

Over a couple of beers and the meal afterwards I filled Feng in on what I had learned. I told him that, like Captain Harkon I found it strange that two such dramatically different sentient species could evolve on the same planet.

"I think I can explain how that happened," said Feng. "I've been doing some reading on flora, fauna and agriculture on this planet. As you know this world is different to most places we know because of the high lithium content of the soil. Consequently the plants have a very high lithium content in leaves, seeds and fruit which makes them toxic to us and incidentally also to the creatures Captain Harkon had named squirrels. Tubers, roots and also some nuts are virtually lithium free.

"A bit similar to the potato on Earth where the tubers are edible and nutritious and the leaves and seeds are toxic. 

"As a result two different types of fauna evolved, those who were lithium tolerant or dependant and those who were not. Since they didn't compete for food and couldn't eat each other the development of both types ran parallel without conflict. Aquatic life evolved along the same lines, where the lithium dependant creatures live in the ocean and lithium intolerant species in the rivers."

That made a lot of sense to me. I said so.

Feng excused himself and went to have his lesson. I had no idea where he took off to on his jaunts and what he did there. I never asked. A man's sex life is his business and if he doesn't want to talk about it one must accept it.

I went to visit Mara. There were a lot of things I wanted to ask her, but all she wanted to do was fuck. Admittedly there wasn't time for much else on those short lunch breaks of hers. Just the same, I found it irritating. I understood her need, but, for crying out loud, I fancy there is a bit more to me than my cock. But then, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I took my fuck and returned, somewhat frustrated, but at least I got my rocks off.



Offspring Ch. 031



Talla had hardly served me my morning coffee when the phone rang. It was Al. He told me my conditions had been accepted and all systems were 'GO'. I invited him for lunch. We would meet at 1 PM in the dining room.

I immediately rang the Tai-pan to tell him we had been cleared by the Oktonians. As expected he already knew.

"I take it, Mister Walters you didn't ring me to tell me just that," he said. "What else is on your mind."

"My agronomist is arriving here in eight day's time. I would like to take off for Olympus in ten days from now."

"Olympus?"

"That is what I have called the new planet because of the mountains and the Mediterranean type sea. Besides, since you will be virtually a God on this world, the name of the abode of the Gods seemed fitting."

"Very amusing, Mister Walters. Olympus it is."

"If I want to stick to this tentative schedule I need to know a couple of things. Have arrangements been made for the scout ship and the soldiers I have asked for? Everything else I have under control."

"The soldiers are already on standby. I can get Sergeant Conners to report to you at three this afternoon, if you wish. As to the scout ship, I leave it to you to make the arrangements. Use your corporate credit card to pay for their services. It's your project, do whatever you feel is necessary. Anything else?"

"Thank you, Tai-pan, for your confidence in me, and yes, there is something else."

"What then?"

"An up to date register of available scout ships is kept by the Federation. Seeing our expedition will be common knowledge all over the known worlds within days I feel we should make our arrangements with knowledge of the Federation.

"It may be presumptuous of me, but I would like to make the following suggestion: I go to Federation Security and ask formally for their assistance to procure a scout ship for a mission into the proscribed zone. I will tell them that there will be an Oktonian observer on board and that the mission entails evaluating a planet for possible commercial exploitation. I will show them a brief description of the planet in question like I did to the agronomist. I will tell them nothing else.

"If possible I would like you to invite General Nakov and his executive officer for a briefing on the mission over dinner, say tomorrow evening. There you can personally tell them what you want them to know."

"You are right, Mister Walters. It is presumptuous of you. It is also the correct course of action. It is never a disadvantage, even for a Tai-pan, to be seen dining with a General and a Colonel of Federation Security. I will get the invitations out today, say dinner at seven at your hotel. I shall make all the arrangements. I expect you and Feng to attend."

"Thank you, Tai-pan."

It was still early. Nakov would still be at breakfast. I rang Arden and asked if I could come around at ten for an important briefing. He said that would be alright. I printed out some copies of my report to Jack on the planet.

When Feng arrived I filled him in on what had happened and told him I was off to the Federation and that I would see him on my return. I had just enough time to make it to my appointment.

Arden took me straight into Nakov's office.

"Look at what the cat dragged in," said Nakov as we shook hands. "What's got you so flustered, Frank?"

I handed them the sheet with the specifics on the planet and said: "I've been asked to lead an exploratory expedition to this planet and investigate its suitability for commercial exploitation."

They both briefly looked over my report.

"Very nice for you," said Nakov, "but why should we be interested in this?"

"Have a look where it is," I said.

Arden went to the computer terminal and punched in the coordinates. Not believing what he saw he punched the numbers in again, just to make sure. He blanched.

"What is is Arden?" the general asked.

"It's in the forbidden zone, Sir."

Nakov got up and checked the computer himself.

"Precisely," I said. "I thought you guys would be interested."

Nakov went to the fridge, gave Arden and me a can of beer and took one for himself.

"Fuck regulations," he said. "I think we all need a drink. What the fuck is going on Frank?"

"I'm not quite sure myself, Ivan," I said, using his name for the first time, "All I know is, it's something big.

"A week ago the Tai-pan gave me some space probe shots and an astronomer's assessment of a planet and asked me to analyse it. I had a good look, wrote a report and recommended an exploratory expedition since there seemed to be a good potential for exploitation.

"This morning he told me where it is and what he wanted me to do. I told him it would be very expensive. He gave me a corporate credit card and dropped the whole project into my lap. He said I had a free hand. When I said he wouldn't get much change out of ten million credits he said the credit card was good for it. The old guy used to be a miner in his younger days, he'd have a fairly good idea what's involved in a project of this kind. Incidentally an Oktonian observer will accompany us."

"What else can you tell us?" Nakov was on the edge of his seat.

"When I told him I needed a scout ship with a first class crew and that it would perhaps be best if I asked the Federation for some assistance in this matter he said he had no problem with that. I said that perhaps Federation Security should be informed of the project too. He agreed that this was the proper way to go about it. He is inviting you two for a dinner tomorrow night where he will give you a briefing. You should get the invitations sometime today."

"So what do you want from us, Frank?"

"I want to use your facilities to find and hire a scout ship for the expedition. I know you have an up to date register of what's available."

"Surely the Chang Corporation can find that out without our help."

"Of course they can, but if you help now, down the track, if you want some information about what is going on in the forbidden zone, you get more than a 'Get fucked, mind you own business' type of answer. It can't hurt if the Federation is involved in the project, however peripherally, from the word go."

"You've sold me, Frank. Arden, help him find what he wants. Priority one."

It took us less than ten minutes. The Pygmalion was available and currently on Earth. I knew the ship and its captain from a previous expedition. It would be perfect. I sent a proposal off together with a description of the planet and a personal note to the captain. He would remember me.

I thanked Arden and made tracks back to the hotel. I would be in time for lunch with Mr. Dalrymple.

Lunch was uneventful. Over drinks I told Al that official duty would start day after tomorrow at 9 AM.

"From then on, until we depart, you will stay here in the hotel and be available at all times for briefings and training," I said. "There are a number of things you need to know. I don't want anyone to come on the expedition unprepared. Is there a problem with that?"

Al told me there wouldn't be.

"I'll assemble the rest of the crew. You will train together. The agronomist and the ship's crew are old hands at this, they don't need a lengthy introduction. The tentative departure date is ten days from today. And now, Gentlemen, I need to leave. I have Sergeant Conners reporting for duty in half an hour. I need to be at my office."

***

Trevor Conners was a wiry man of about five foot six wearing army fatigues and a red beret. He stood to attention and gave me a military salute.

"Sergeant Conners reporting for duty, Sir," he barked in the manner of soldiers.

"At ease, Soldier," I said without getting up from my chair. "I am Frank Walters and I am in charge of this expedition. Sit down Sergeant and join me in a beer."

"Not when I am on duty, Sir."

"You are not on duty yet. This is just a friendly get to know each other and an initial briefing. It's okay for you to have a drink."

"In that case, Sir, I'll gladly join you," he said with a grin.

"Before we going anywhere let's lay down some ground rules. I'm not much on formality. When we are off duty or in private you can call me Frank. Is that alright with you, Trevor?"

"That's usually the way it works with the better commanders, Frank." He was grinning again. I would get on well with this guy.

"I take it you have been briefed on the mission, Trevor."

"No, I haven't. All I've been told is that my men and I are to provide cover for an expedition to a virgin world and to report here."

"And you accepted the assignment without further detail?"

"We are soldiers, Frank. We go where we are sent."

I briefed Trevor on the mission.

"I have requested the 'Pygmalion' to be our scout ship," I concluded "I haven't heard back yet, but I think they will accept. I have worked with them before."

Sergeant Conners laughed out loud.

"You are that Frank Walters? Oh, this is going to be be a lot of fun."

"You've heard of me?"

"I've served with Captain Rodriguez and that crazy brother of his on a couple of missions. Only ship I've ever been on that had two captains. You never knew who is the captain and who is the exec. They told some wild stories about you."

"Really? What a coincidence!"

"Not especially. This is a very large universe, but when it comes to scout ships who handle the hairy missions it's a rather small club. They all know of each other's exploits."

"Yes, you are right. I've heard wild stories about some people too. I just never thought I was in that league. Anyway, let's get back to our task. I have heard you people have some place here where you train. What can you tell me about it?"

"There is a place where they have obstacle courses, gyms, mock up land and cityscapes and so forth where we train. A lot of civilians go there too, for fun. They even have mock battles with guns and everything. The guns are real in every respect except they can't fire live rounds. They fire laser beams instead. The hits are recorded and evaluated. You can even hunt virtual animals. It's very realistic."

"Wonderful. I want you to take the greenhorns in our expedition and train them in the rudiments. Weapons care and safety, how to take cover, how to hit a target and so forth, you know the drill. Lift their arses a little. Miniature boot camp sort of thing. You have about eight days to teach them how to handle trouble."

"I won't be able to teach them much."

"As long as they can take cover and fire in the direction of trouble and not into our arses I'll be quite happy. Better than leaving them ignorant."

"I can do that."

"We start day after tomorrow at 9 AM with a meeting here. After that they are all yours until we leave. There are rooms booked at the hotel for you and your men, you can move in as soon as you are ready. Book all meals and drinks to your rooms. The company will take care of the bills. And now, lets close off and have a couple more beers. Tell me about your time on the Pygmalion."

***

Feng had arranged for me to interview the chemist, the meteorologist and the doctor in the morning. I was through with them by lunchtime. They seemed to be good men.

I was just about to pack up and go upstairs when Talla came in, put a beer in front of me and just stood there staring at me expressionless. She had never done anything like this before.

"What's the matter Talla? Is there a problem somewhere?"

"No problem. Talla wants to go with Frank."

"Go with me? Where to?"

"Talla wants to go with Frank to Olympus."

"You want to join the expedition?"

"Yes."

I thought about it for a moment. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea. Sooner or later, if we found Olympus suitable, we would need to bring Oktonians there to handle the agriculture and a host of other things. If Talla came with us it would give us an idea if her people can handle the environment and function there.

"You realise, Talla, you might be going into great danger?"

"Talla knows."

"I have no idea how I am going to sell this to the Tai-pan or to Al Dalrymple's mob, but I promise you this: Tomorrow Sergeant Conners starts training the crew in ways to defend themselves. You will be amongst them. If at the end of the training he is convinced you can handle yourself as well as the others you can come."

"The Goddess loves Frank. Talla can see why."

Before I could ask what that was all about she was gone. She was sitting in her receptionist corner when I went for lunch.

***

I told Feng over lunch about Talla.

"I have no idea how to sell this to your uncle or to Al," I said.

"Don't sell! Simply tell them you are taking her if she passes the test. My uncle has given you the project. You make the decisions. End of story. Inform him as a matter of courtesy, but don't ask permission. As to Al's masters, since when have you ever given a fuck what they think? They are getting used to you pontificating. Why change it now?"

As usual, Feng's advice was as good as gold.

When I got back to the office there was a message from Captain Rodriguez. It read:

"Preparing the Pygmalion for departure. Awaiting confirmation. Contracts attached. My brother Juan is looking forward to getting pissed with you again, so am I. Pedro."

The contracts were straight forward. These guys don't believe in crooked clauses. I acknowledged the contracts and sent two million credits to their account as a down payment. I also sent the list of authorised weapons and asked for them to be put into the toy cupboard. They would have no trouble procuring them on Earth. On Okton4 it would be impossible.

The Pygmalion is fast. She would be here in four days.

There was nothing further to do in the office. I told Talla she could call it quits for the day, grabbed Feng and went upstairs. On the way to the bar I called in on the liaison officer and asked for an extra room for Talla on the floor where our crew members would stay in the coming days.

"I don't know if extra facilities are needed for her. I want her to be as comfortable as possible. You also need to arrange meals for her, she will be eating with the rest of the crew."

To say she was stunned at my request would be an understatement. She was totally confused. I had to repeat my request. In the end she excused herself and went to make some telephone calls. When she returned she apologised for the delay, saying that this sort of thing had never happened before and that she had to get instructions from her superiors. However, arrangements would be made and the room would be ready some time tomorrow. As to meals, would Talla please ring them in the morning and let them know what she would like to eat so it could be prepared.

I thanked her and went with Feng for a drink. Feng had been staying at the hotel for the last few days so when it became time to change for dinner he didn't have far to go. All spruced up in our Tuxedos we met in the bar again at around six. We had hardly sat down with our drinks when the Tai-pan turned up, grabbed himself a beer at the bar and joined us.

"You certainly know how to make waves, Mister Walters," he said after a greeting. "Your request to accommodate Talla here at the hotel went all the way to me. The management didn't know what to do. I told them to give you what you had asked for. They were not impressed. You must have your reasons. Care to tell me what they are?"

I told him that Talla had asked to join the expedition and that I had agreed to take her, subject to some conditions. I also told him that I didn't think the Oktonians were as dumb as everyone thinks.

"What we perceive as mental dullness is essentially a problem with communication. I intend to rectify this. With better communication between the races there is no telling what we might achieve together. Besides, sooner or later we have to introduce the Oktonians to the conditions on Olympus. Might as well be now, especially since we have a volunteer who understands the risks involved."

"You seem to understand these people better than anyone I've ever heard of. I trust your instincts in this. You have my support."

"Thank you Tai-pan."

"You realise you have just become a legend to the Oktonians. They have a better grapevine than we have. By tomorrow morning there won't be an Oktonian in the spaceport, if not on the whole planet, who won't know that you have demanded in one of the finest hotels that one of their own be treated as an equal. You'll be a hero."

"If that's the case, Sir, this won't hurt our project one bit. Especially when it comes to recruiting."

"Indeed, my boy. I wonder how the Federation is going to react when they find out."

"They won't even notice. The Federation see these people as some higher form of domestic animal. They couldn't give a fuck what some barkeeps and cleaning ladies think about anything."

"A rather sad, but nevertheless accurate comment on our society."

The Tai-pan looked at his watch.

"Well, Gentlemen," he said, "let's finish our drinks. It's time for our little public relations exercise."

***

Dinner was a formal affair complete with candles and real silverware. The General and Arden looked splendid in their dress uniforms. Cleverly the Tai-pan had chosen a round table for the occasion to give an egalitarian impression. He had the General seated to his right and myself to his left. The food was exquisite, the wines crisp and expensive.

Not much was said over dinner. When after dinner drinks and coffee were served the Tai-pan told our guests about the project. He spoke about the years it had taken him to convince the Oktonians that a joint venture between his company and their government was in the interest of both. Now that the political framework had been established the project could proceed in earnest. He spoke of his vision to have humans and Oktonians open up new worlds together in a spirit of cooperation and trust. It was all pure bullshit, of course. He implied that he saw the Federation getting involved at some stage, something the General was very impressed with. The old coot had no intention of ever allowing that to happen, but it sounded good and would keep the arseholes pacified, if not forever, but for a long while.

Eventually the party broke up. The Tai-pan asked me and Feng to join him for a last drink in the bar.

"How do you think we went?" he asked when we had settled down, to which I replied:

"Remind me to never buy a used space ship from you either."

The Tai-pan laughed out loud and mumbled something about birds of a feather.

We broke up soon after that. 



Offspring Ch. 032



I was in the office before 8 AM. Talla was already there. When she brought me my coffee I told her she was to live at the hotel for the next few days and that I had arranged a room for her. She was to take her meals with the rest of the group from now on. I asked her to give the liaison officer a ring and tell her what she wanted in the way of food so they could get it ready. I sent her off to make the arrangements.

At 8.20 Trevor and his men reported for duty. Trevor introduced me to to his group. I could tell they were no greenhorns. Battle hardened, every one of them.

"Sergeant Conners," I said, "there's been a slight change in plans. Talla has asked to join the expedition. She is Oktonian, as you know. I told her if she passes your course she is welcome to come with us. She perceives differently to us and might need some extra explaining what she is to do at times. Is that going to be a problem?"

"My boys and I have trained extra terrestrial races before, Sir. If she is willing to learn we can teach her, even if it takes a little longer to make her understand. We'll look after her."

By 9 AM all were assembled. I asked them to sit down and called Sergeant Conners to my side before addressing the group.

"As of now," I said, "you are soldiers. Sergeant Conners will be in charge of you until we leave. He and his men will teach you what you need to know to survive in a hostile environment. His word is law! He commands, you do! It will not be easy. At times you will curse me and the Sergeant for putting you through this. But, while you are cursing us, remember that your life may very well depend on how much you have been able to learn on this course. So pay attention and follow orders. That's all.''

"Sergeant Connors, they're all yours. Dismissed."

"Sir."

Trevor gathered his troops and left.

***

I was sitting at my desk making a list of things I wanted done once we were on Olympus when Feng turned up with an Oktonian in tow. He introduced her as Niphie. 

"I am Frank Walters," I said.

"Niphie knows," she said. "Niphie is here to do Talla's work. Niphie will go and make coffee for Frank and Feng now."

"That would be lovely, Darling."

She toddled off and started to make coffee without asking where anything was, as if she had worked here all her life.

"How does she do that Feng? She knows where everything is without being shown."

"They are all like that. They must work to some set pattern. Only explanation I've ever come up with."

I wasn't at all convinced that this was the explanation, but it would keep. I would look into that one later. Niphie brought the coffees in, white, two sugars as I always have it, black one sugar for Feng. Fuck set patterns, there was something else at work here.

Niphie left us and went to her reception desk.

"We are having Peking Duck at one o'clock."

"We are?"

"Yes. Remember Dr. Chang? Today is the day."

I had forgotten about Dr. Chang in all the excitement. It would be interesting to hear what he had to say about the Oktonians.

I asked Feng to give me a yell when it was time to go and went back to my lists.

***

Dr. Chang was a frail old man with sparse hair and gold rimmed spectacles. I was surprised to find standard cutlery on the table instead of the usual chopsticks until I noticed that the old scholar's hands were not as steady as  they ought to be. The host had given us all the same implements so the old man wouldn't lose face. It was a lovely touch.

Over lunch Dr. Chang spoke about his time on Okton4.

"When I look back over the last fifty years," he said, "it amazes me how little has changed here in all this time. Apart from a few exceptional people like the Tai-pan this is a rather staid, stratified, one could almost say fossilised, society, where drab everyday life and homosexual encounters are the norm, with little left over for other pursuits.

"One would think the spacers would bring a bit of life and adventure into the place, but that is a fallacy. It is true, they get to visit many different worlds. It is also true they rarely get to see more than the spaceports. For the bulk of the time they are locked up in a ship doing everyday mundane things highlighted by homosexual encounters. 

"But then, what kind of society would you expect on a concrete island devoid of women, children, trees, animals, rivers and hills."

Not a bad summary of life in the spaceport I had to admit.

"What about the natives, Sir?" I asked. "How do you see them?"

"The natives are the truly sad part of this place. I can only speak about the Oktonians one meets here in the spaceport because that is all we ever see. These people have obviously been trained to serve us. They perform their duties, however mundane, diligently and well. They never complain or refuse to do a task that is asked of them. And yet, our world must be truly alien to a people such as this. Surely, little of what they meet here would be natural or familiar to them. No wonder they retreat into their daydreams at every chance they get. But then, they may not be sentient beings in the way we understand sentience."

"I am not with you, Sir. Could you please elaborate."

"Has it occurred to you that the creatures we know as Oktonians might be some form of biological robot. It would explain such things as their limited understanding, their loyalty, the lack of complaints and so forth. What we perceive as their daydreaming might well be the robot switching to stand by mode in order to conserve energy."

"It has crossed my mind, Sir, but I know this not to be the case."

I told Dr. Chang of my observations about their language and my subsequent conversation with Talla on the subject. I mentioned that Talla had volunteered to take part in an expedition to an as yet unexplored world and that she was currently undergoing training. 

"I believe we are dealing with a highly intelligent race who perceive reality in a different way to us," I concluded. "This leads to difficulties in communication and our mistaken assumptions about each other."

The old man was getting visibly upset by what I was telling him. He had tears in his eyes when he said: "If Talla is representative of her people in general, their lot on this miserable heap of concrete is a tragedy beyond understanding."

"That's what I think, Sir. That's why I intend to do something about it."

"A noble intention, Mister Walters, but what can you do?"

"At this moment Talla is training with my crew. My instructions are to treat her in every respect as an equal. Fortunately Sergeant Conners and the men who are training my crew have trained and fought side by side with extra terrestrials before and wouldn't have it any other way. Talla will live and eat with the others in the same hotel. Initially the hotel management balked at this, but the Tai-pan overruled their objections and they have come to heel. When my people are ready we will depart to explore a new world. It is my hope that these shared experiences as equals will lead to a breakthrough in communication between the races. I intend to build on this."

"Perhaps there is hope for this place after all. Something has to change. No one knows this better than this old man. I wish you every success."

"Everything going right we will depart in about eight days from today. Before we leave we will all have a meal together at the hotel  I would consider it an honour if you would grace us with your presence."

"The honour is mine, my boy. I will be there."

"I think we've just found ourselves an ally," said Feng when we got back to the office. "It's good to have the old man on side, he is revered throughout the Chinese community. Even the big bosses listen to what he has to say."

***

Nothing much happened over the next three days. Trevor and his group were causing a bit of a stir in the dining room at first when they had their meals there in their battle dress. He had Talla's fatigues altered to accommodate her wings and had placed her on the head of the table on a special backless chair to give her room to move. The management complained to the Tai-pan, but quickly changed their tune when they saw the dining room filled to capacity every evening.

Word had gotten around of our expedition and that there was an Oktonian in the group. People who had never been in the hotel before came to eat there just to see this weird group everyone was talking about.

At the end of the third day, just before dinner, Trevor came to see me in my office and put two sets of fatigues and two red berets on my desk. He pointed out the colourful patches sewn to each sleeve just below the shoulder that showed an erupting volcano encircled by the words 'Operation Olympus'.

"I would like if you and Feng would wear these from now on when we are together. I's been my experience that nothing forms a cohesive group faster than a shared uniform." 

"Good idea Trevor. Will do. By the way, how is Talla getting on?"

"She is amazing, Frank. As you said, it takes a while to make her understand, but when she catches on what she is supposed to do there is no stopping her. After three days she can dissemble and assemble a gun as fast as any one of my men. On the range she can hold her own with any marksman I've ever seen and on the obstacle course she is giving my boys a run for their money. They love her.

"One of my men put it into a nutshell this afternoon when he said that in another week or two he wouldn't want to be up against her. Above all though, she is enjoying herself. She loves the camaraderie and learning new things. She is happy."

"How can you tell? They don't show emotions."

"We get fooled by the fact they have learned how to smile and laugh. They've learned it from us and do it when they think they ought to. It's not real though. Talla and her people show their emotions with their wing movements."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"At one stage I was training ant people from Drogon. They have exoskeletons. Their faces show about as much expression as a medieval knight in armour with his visor down. The only thing that is in constant movement are the antennae on their heads. It occurred to me that this might be the way they communicate feelings. I got quite good at reading them after a while. Talla and her people do very much the same thing, except they use their wings. I can tell now when she understands, when she is confused, when she is happy and when she is annoyed about something. It helps a great deal with her training."

"This is wonderful news, Trevor. Things are going well. I would like to buy all of you a drink tonight, but I don't want Talla to feel left out."

"Talla can drink beer, Frank."

"She can?"

"Yes. Yesterday my boys asked if they could buy her a drink. She said she could not drink spirits or wine, but beer was made from grain and things made from grain were good for her. My boys immediately grabbed her and took her for a beer in the bar. They came back pissing themselves laughing. Apparently the other guests were open mouthed and nearly dropped their drinks when they saw what was going on."

"Good on your boys, but shouldn't we make tracks soon?"

"Yes. I'll round my mob up. Join us in about half an hour. Don't forget the uniforms."

Trevor left and I changed into my fatigues. Feng was working on his computer when I went to see him. He stared at me. I threw him his fatigues and said: "Put these on soldier. I take it you want to come with us to Olympus."

"Who came up with this loony idea?"

I told him what Sergeant Conners had said about uniforms and cohesive troops.

"Makes sense," he said and started unbuttoning his shirt.

The dining room was packed when we arrived. Catcalls and wolf whistles came from our table as soon as they spotted me and Feng in uniform. I motioned Feng to sit down with the others and stepped over to where Talla was sitting.

"Listen everybody," I said. "When Talla first asked if she could come with us to Olympus I told her she would be welcome if she passed Sergeant Conner's course. A short time ago I asked the sergeant how she was doing. He said he was more than happy with her performance." I turned to Talla. "I still want you to finish the course, Talla, but as of this moment you are a full member of the expedition. No more conditions. Congratulations."

There was roaring applause from the table. Even some of the hotel guests who had been listening in were joining in the applause. It was a good sign.

We had our meal and afterwards I bought everybody a couple of beers in the bar. Again we got a lot of curious looks. An Oktonian socialising with humans was unheard of. People seemed to like it though. Many were smiling and there were no disparaging comments.

***

Niphi brought me my morning coffee when I arrived at the office. With it she gave me two notes. One was from the port authority informing me that the Pygmalion was scheduled to land at 2 PM today. The other was from Arden. He wanted to speak to me urgently. I rang him and said I was on my way to see him.

He took me straight into Nakov's office.

"The Oktonians are worried about the Pygmalion having weapons on board while she is in port." said Nakov after we sat down. "They've asked us to post guards inside and outside the ship while she is here to make sure the weapons don't fall into the wrong hands."

"That's a lot of trouble to go to over a few boxes of weapons and ammunition," I said. "Wouldn't it be a lot simpler if you took possession of the stuff, moved it under guard to one of your secure storage areas and transferred it back to the Pygmalion shortly before departure. It would take far fewer resources and for my money it would be much safer."

"I think everyone would sleep better at night if we did it this way. It's easier on my budget too. I leave you and Arden to make the arrangements. I shall inform the Oktonians myself."

"Perhaps it would be wise to invite the Oktonians to send an observer to witness the transfer and to see that everything is clean and above board."

"Good idea. They will welcome this. I shall ask them to have their man contact Arden for details. Thank you, Gentlemen. That is all for now."

Arden and I went to the officer's mess to have some coffee and a chat.

"I'll ask the port authority to put the Pygmalion down in the Federation area. My patrols can keep an eye on her there. She'll be safe. The Oktonians will like it that she is not amongst the freighters of the traders. One less worry for them."

"Why would she be a worry to them?"

"If she is amongst the freighters they are responsible for her safety, if she is on Federation ground, we are."

"I see. What is your plan for the next couple of hours?"

"I'll go to get my boys briefed and on stand by for the transfer. That shouldn't take long. I expect the Oktonian observer to contact me within the hour. These guys are very prompt as a rule."

"Good. May I suggest the following. The Pygmalion is due in at 2 PM. Allow thirty minutes for the port authority to sort the paper work out, after that she's all ours. Say, you grab your Oktonian observer and we meet at one o'clock at my hotel for lunch. I'll bring Feng. He will come with us. Feng and I will be wearing expedition uniforms, so don't show surprise. We'll have lunch and then time it to meet your transfer crews outside the ship at 2.30. How does that sit with you?"

"Suits me. I'll see you at one. Now I better get my arse into gear and do some work."

We shook hands and Arden left. I had another coffee and went back to the office. Feng was sitting on his computer when I got back. To my surprise he was in fatigues. I told him what I had arranged.

"As of now I'll be wearing uniform as well. I want us to be highly visible as a group."

"You'll like then what's sitting on your desk."

I hadn't looked into my office yet. When I checked there were nine parcels sitting on my desk, each with a name on it. Feng had followed me.

"These are the fatigues for the other members of the party. Trevor told me there will be two more sets for everybody arriving tomorrow sometime."

I changed into uniform. We decided to go for a beer and wait in the bar until lunch time. On the way out we told Niphi to hold the fort.

***

Darrin Weaver, the Oktonian observer was a dickhead bureaucrat. He tried telling us all through lunch how important he was. Arden, Feng and myself let him prattle on and listened with polite disinterest. I was glad when lunch was over and we went in a Federation minibus to the tarmac via an underground road.

When we arrived the port authority had finished and we were told we could proceed. Arden's men were there with a flattop vehicle to transport the boxes with the weapons. I introduced Arden, Feng and Mr. Weaver to Pedro and Juan.

I explained what the arrangements were. Pedro and Juan were happy. With the weapons off board and Federation patrols looking after the safety of the Pygmalion they wouldn't need to leave part of the crew on board while they were in port. Pedro went with Arden's men to get the weapons while Juan gave Arden the paperwork.

There were twelve boxes which had been sealed by Federation operatives on Earth, each box came with a certificate of content. Arden inspected that all the seals were undamaged and signed the transfer documents. I countersigned and handed the papers to the Oktonian observer for signature. The Arsehole refused to sign, insisting that all boxes should be opened and he'd be allowed to check the contents. Arden explained to him that this was not necessary and that if the boxes were opened the Federation would have to authenticate the contents all over again and reseal. The prick still wouldn't budge. That's when I stepped in.

"Mr. Weaver," I said, "Do you have any experience with a DRF-67 assault rifle?"

"No," he said.

"Have you ever even seen one?"

"No, can't say I have."

"What about hand grenades, land mines and ammunition, ever seen any of those?"

"No. What has that got to do with anything?"

"The boxes stay sealed," I said. "I shall write a report stating that Mr. Weaver refused to sign the transfer papers unless he was allowed to inspect the contents, in spite of him admitting that if the boxes were opened he would have no idea what he was looking at. I shall get everyone present here to countersign my report, attach it to the transfer papers and send it to the Oktonian authority with a copy to the Federation."

Darrin Weaver looked at me as if I had just poured a bucket of water over his head. I looked him straight in the face and said: "I'm sure you don't want this to happen, so be a good boy and sign the papers." I handed .him my pen. He looked at me stupefied, thought for a minute, signed the papers and stormed off in a huff without further word, taking my pen with him.

"Si, Señor. Thees ees our Franco," said Juan in this fake Mexican accent he puts on from time to time and thumped me on the back. Everyone laughed.

Arden went with his men to store the weapons after instructing the minibus driver to take us to the hotel. Pedro got his crew and locked the Pygmalion. It was a bit of a squeeze in the vehicle, but we got to the hotel without too much discomfort.

After introducing them to Niphi I ushered them into my office and bade them sit at my big table.

"What's with the fancy dress?" asked Pedro when everyone was settled.

"I want to create a presence," I said and handed them their parcels. "These are for you. I would like you to wear them on this expedition. Is there a problem with that?"

"You know my boys like a bit of theatrics. It'll be fun."

"Good. There is an empty office next to Niphi's reception area. You can change there. Leave your clothes in the office, I'll get them picked up and cleaned. After that we'll go to the bar for a couple of drinks. Later, we'll have dinner with Sergeant Conners and the rest of the crew."




Offspring Ch. 032



"Trevor Conners and his boys? They're here?" Juan was delighted.

"Yes. They are coming with us."

"Come on boys, let's get changed," said Pedro. "I'm thirsty."

Half an hour later they were into the beer. I went to reception and picked up the room keys for the newcomers.

There was a lot of backslapping at dinner when Pedro's and Trevor's boys met and a lot of drinking afterwards.

***

The next four days were busy. Ben, Pedro's cook, took lessons in Oktonian cooking and stocked the larder with food for Talla. Her cabin on the Pygmalion was modified to suit her needs. Frank arrived, much to the delight of Pedro and his crew. His laboratory and belongings were brought on board. Feng loaded his cameras and computers. I had several conferences with the Taipan to brief him on our progress. At the end of that period there was little left to do. We were ready.

We had our farewell lunch with Dr. Chang and the Tai-pan as guests of honour and a heavy drinking session afterwards.

Next morning everybody was on board, the weapons were loaded and stored in the toy cupboard. Hatches closed. Last minute systems checks showed all systems were go.

Pedro started the engines and minutes later we were off.

Olympus here we come.



Offspring Ch. 033



After half a day in space we were far enough away from gravitational influences and Pedro engaged the hyperdrive. Four hours later we were in open space again, the destination planet straight ahead about twelve hours away. I was on the bridge with Pedro and Juan. A scan revealed there were no ships within detecting range.

"Alright boys, this is where we start to cheat."

"Cheat?"

"Yes. I want you guys to enter in your log the presence of three Oktonian warships, keeping their distance, but monitoring us."

"Are you nuts? Falsifying logs, they bung you in the can for that."

"Not out here they don't. We are outside Federation jurisdiction. We can do what we like here. They can't check this sector. In other words, they can't prove we are lying."

"Perhaps. But why?"

"If the Federation thinks this sector is uncontrolled and undefended they'll land a Federation cruiser and take possession within days. It will just become another fucked up, corrupt Federation planet. If they think the Oktonians have warships here they won't go anywhere near it and we have the world to ourselves."

"The Oktonians wouldn't let the Federation land here. They'd quickly mobilise their fleet if the Federation were to violate the proscribed zone."

"There is no Oktonian fleet. That's why we have to invent one. Let me tell you about the great Oktonian bluff. Before we begin, can you please ask Feng to come to the bridge and bring his computer with him."

Pedro did as I had asked. When Feng arrived we connected his computer to one of the big screens on the bridge. The machine contained all our files as well as the Oktonian library. 

I gave Pedro and Juan essentially the same presentation I had given to the Tai-pan.

"You can see now that we have to maintain the Oktonian bluff at all costs," I concluded. "As long as the Federation thinks this sector is heavily defended we can do here what we like. If they were to find out the real situation they would go all out and annex the entire sector."

"Who knows of this?" asked Juan.

"The four of us, the Tai-pan and the Oktonian negotiator, of course, but he doesn't know that we know. I don't know how much Talla is aware of, probably the lot." 

Pedro and Juan exchanged glances and nodded to each other. 

"Alright," said Pedro. "Well go along, subject to some conditions."

"And they are?"

"I have the finest crew in the known universe, They will go wherever Juan and I go. They do this because we have no secrets from each other. I want you to give them the same presentation you just gave us. They must know what we are going into."

"Agreed. Anything else?"

"Yes. Assuming the planet is as suitable as we think I want to set up shop there. It will be great to have a home base away from Federation control. I want my own patch with total autonomy over my area."

"I thought you might ask for that. Also agreed."

"One more thing. When we get back to Okton4 the Federation will want to see a bit more than the logs. I want my computer man and Feng to doctor the monitor records to show the Oktonian presence. When the Federation asks I'll refer them to you. You can then authorise the release of any data you want them to see. It'll make the whole scam more believable."

"Good idea, I'll go along with that."

Feng was grinning. He loves shit like this.

"Alright, then let's have a drink and after that you can brief my crew."

"While we are at it it might be a good idea to include Jack in the briefing. He needs to know anyway."

"I have no problems with Jack. By all means let him attend."

***

There wasn't much to do. It would still take some hours before we reached Olympus. The plan was to put the Pygmalion about two hundred miles above the planet surface perpendicular to the equator. She would remain there for a complete rotation of the planet. The Pygmalion, being a scout ship, was equipped with state of the art scanners and sensors. They would give our scientists a good idea of what we were in for.

I went to the mess room to get myself a beer. The mess room on the Pygmalion seats about forty people and is adjacent to the galley, separated only by a servery. Ben and Talla were in the galley cooking. They barely acknowledged me with a wave and returned to what they were doing. Talla was really coming out of her shell now. She was far more animated and lively than I had ever seen her, as she explained to Ben the finer points of Oktonian cuisine. I asked what they were cooking and Ben said 'Green Gunk'. When I queried the term he explained that Talla's name for the dish was unpronounceable and since it looked like green gunk he had named it thus. It appeared to be a very involved procedure. 

I could see they were having fun making the stuff so I left them to their cooking and went to see Pedro and Juan on the bridge.

The first thing I noticed was the big screen showing Olympus and to the left eight of the big Oktonian ships in formation. They were still a fair distance away but it was clearly visible what they were. They looked intimidating.

"A bit of an overkill perhaps, but it'll do," I said.

"That's my doing," said Pedro. "I tried to put myself in the place of an Oktonian commander. If it had been me controlling this sector I would have been worried someone might try to use a cleared path into the forbidden zone as a means to infiltrate. Better to show up in strength and be ready for any eventuality."

I couldn't fault Pedro's logic.

"I bow to your superior knowledge, Pedro. It'll certainly get the Federation to think twice in case they get ideas."

"They'll think more than twice when they see what these two arseholes have done." Pedro pointed to George, his computer man, and Feng. Both were grinning from ear to ear.

Pedro hit a button on his console. The picture on the big screen disappeared and showed the bridge of the Pygmalion with Pedro and Juan at the controls. The screen showed static, as it does when the ship is in hyperspace. Then the screen cleared and showed Olympus and the Oktonian fleet. At the same time the bridge audio cut in.

"Approaching spaceship. This is Fleet Commander Tiri of the 85th fleet. You have entered proscribed space. Switch to comm channel 20, identify and state your business."

Pedro switched channels. The screen showed an Oktonian commander. He wore black body armour with silver insignia and a black helmet. Though still typically Oktonian, his features showed nothing of the softness Oktonian females are famous for. A prominent nose, clear, penetrating, dark eyes and a scar on his right cheek gave the impression of a soldier who had seen more than one battle.

"Greetings, Commander Tiri," said Pedro. "This is Captain Rodriguez of the scout ship Pygmalion on a joint venture mission with your government to Olympus."

"Welcome, Captain Rodriguez. We are aware of your mission. You are cleared to proceed. Please keep audio channel 31 open in case you need assistance. We will monitor your progress."

"Thank you Commander Tiri. Clear space to you and your fleet."

"Clear space to you too, Captain Rodriguez and good luck."

The screen cleared and showed the Pygmalion approaching Olympus.

"I've put into my log that you have given orders to document the entire journey. That was George and Feng documenting our reception. If I were you I would show this shit to the Federation. 85th fleet! They can do the numbers. They'll do anything to keep the Oktonians sweet."

"A stroke of genius, I admit, Pedro. Who came up with the Oktonian commander?"

"That was George," said Feng. "He is another gaming nut. He used a picture of Talla to create the avatar. 

"Which brings me to something else. I couldn't remember where I had filed Talla's biometrics so I had to do a search.

"George and I went to get a beer and something to eat in the galley while the machine was doing its thing. Juan was there making enchiladas. He made some for us as well, so it took a while until we got back. Imagine our surprise when we found two records of Talla on the machine. The second record had much more information on her than the one I had uploaded. It was part of the Oktonian library I had put on the machine.

"To cut a long story short, there is a personnel file of every human and faerie working in the spaceport amongst the records. Including the personnel file of Mr. Alfred Dalrymple alias Olaf Harkon, direct descendant of the famous Captain Harkon. I thought this might interest you."

Feng handed me a printout of Al's file. I glanced at it, more to ascertain it was the real thing than out of interest for the data. It was the real thing alright. 

It had been clear for some time that a confrontation with Al was inevitable. Feng had suggested we needed to convince Al that we not only knew much about what went on on Okton4, but that we had in fact been on the mainland. 

We had gone together there one day and shot a video showing us both on the square in front of the academy, in the port and outside the reactor. Feng had even included some footage of me driving the electric car I had purloined. 

Now seemed as good a time as any to deal with Al and hopefully bring him on side.

Pedro has a small briefing room he uses for meetings with his crew. It has a large screen and a computer terminal. It only seats about a dozen people. I asked him if I could use that and told him what I needed it for. He had no objections.

"You can monitor the meeting if you like," I said to Pedro. "I just don't want to freak Al or Talla out if there are too many people in there. This is rather delicate."

Pedro said he understood and might do just that to see how I handled the situation.

An hour later all was set. Feng, Talla, Al and myself were in the room. I started by rolling the footage Feng and George had created of our encounter with the Oktonian fleet. Al looked as if someone had hit him over the head with a baseball bat. Talla just sat there.

"This is what I am going to show the Federation," I said. "It is complete bullshit, a total fabrication, but you already know that, Olaf. Don't you?"

"What did you call me?"

"You are Olaf Harkon, Merit Level 36, a direct descendant of Captain Harkon himself, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

I wasn't going to argue the point, I simply handed him the printout of his personnel file.

Talla's wings fluttered like the wings of a butterfly in flight. According to Trevor, that meant she was highly amused. Talla was laughing.

"Where did you get that?" Al was getting flustered.

"Never mind where I got this. I need some answers, and you, Al, are going to give them to me. I know about the Oktonian scam, about your overlords and about your human colony on the mainland. But, there are holes in my knowledge and I need you to fill them for me."

"I don't know where you got this printout. It's no proof of anything, just fabrication. I will tell you nothing."

"I've been to the mainland, Al, so has Feng."

"I don't believe you."

"Roll the footage, Feng."

Feng pushed a button and there it was, our stroll through the plaza, the car, the port, the reactor ... everything.

At the end of it Al was a beaten man.

"This is going to destroy us," he said and wept.

"Stop it, you idiot. We are trying to liberate you, from your overlords and from the Federation. If I had wanted to hand you over to the Federation I could have done it months ago. I want to see the humans and Talla's people control their own affairs, without fear or pressures from outside.

"One word from me and your overlords would be vapour amongst the stars. But that would mean you would come under the yoke of the Federation. You would be emasculated and Talla's people would become little more than domestic animals to be bred on the planet and exported all over the known worlds. I would be a poor excuse for a man if I would lend my hand to something like this."

"You will get us all killed. You have no idea what you are interfering with. The Torgons are utterly ruthless. They would wipe us all out if they knew that security has been breached. And they can do it too. They are still bragging about the time when they wiped out the Darnaqs, a race of over one billion people, in the space of one generation."

"Actually we do have an idea what happened. We suspected something like this when we found out about the deserted cities."

I explained to Al the model Feng and I had developed.

"And you came up with all this just because of some missing heat signatures?"

"Short of an alien technology that did not generate heat as a by product, which I considered extremely unlikely, that was the only model which fit the known facts. Feng and I went to the mainland just to make sure we were in the right ballpark."

"Well, you've come pretty close. More or less this is what happened."

"There is one thing that puzzles me. Those Torgons you are talking about, why don't they maintain a presence on the planet surface? You would think there are enough of them either too old to have offspring or simply not interested in raising a family. These could stay on the ground and keep things going rather than rot away in the ships."

"When the virus was first released it affected only the Darnaqs. Apart from making them sterile there were no major side effects. The mutated virus that affected the Torgons was not as kind. Almost as soon as the infection took hold there was pain which did not abate and got progressively worse over the years. Some Torgons went insane, in others limbs started to die off and had to be amputated. Thirty years after the invasion no Torgon on the planet surface was left alive. Most had died a horrible death, many had committed suicide. Poetic justice perhaps for what they had done. The Torgons remaining on the ships are terrified of the disease."

"And you are supposed to find a cure or vaccine for them. Something you won't do. It would be suicide to bring these creatures back onto the planet's surface. You are stringing them along. The way I see it you've probably had a cure for decades."

"Frank must know," said Talla, who had been quiet until now. "There is no virus any more, none has been detected for eighty years. They couldn't even keep a culture alive in the laboratory. The virus can only survive for so long without a host."

"Are you trying to tell me, Talla, that there is nothing stopping the Torgons from reclaiming the planet except fear and their ignorance of the facts?"

"Yes."

Al had lost all colour in his face. His hands were shaking.

"Don't listen to her," he said, "What would a dumb faerie know."

"I only have to look at you to know that Talla is speaking the truth. This must be your society's biggest secret and Talla has just put it on the table. As to dumb ... Talla and her people are not dumb, they are different. It is your society who is dumb for not seeing that it is a matter of poor communication rather than mental dullness."

Suddenly the whole game had taken on a different complexion. I had to think this over and discuss the new scenario with Feng who had not said a word since we had entered the conference room.

"Look guys, let's break it up for now. We'll discuss these things some other time."

No one was more relieved than Al when I got up and went to see Pedro. Feng followed me.

***

The mood on the bridge was sombre when I arrived. Pedro and Juan had evidently been listening in on our meeting.

"We are sitting on a ticking time bomb," said Pedro. "This is going to get hairy."

"Relax Pedro, this time bomb has been ticking for eighty years. Nothing is going to happen. Even if the Torgons were to hear of this, they would probably think it was a ruse to lure them to the planet surface and let the virus take care of them once and for all. Don't forget, they know they have no friends on the planet, not after what they did. They will do nothing until they get their supercomputer and even then they will wait for results. We have time enough to develop a plan to get this entire sector under our control and build an empire to rival the Federation."

"Are you nuts? You can't do that."

"Just watch me. I've got a plan. It's still a bit rough in places, but I'll get that ironed out."

"Care to tell us about it?"

"Yes. Give me a few days. I need to speak to Talla first. The Faeries play a large part in my plan. I need to find out if my theories about her people are essentially correct. I also need to find out where that fucking Pumpernickel goes. I have a suspicion most of that stuff goes to the Torgons. I could ask Al, but he is too freaked out at the moment to be of much use. Talla will know. She'll tell me."

"So where do we go from here?"

"We carry on as planned with the Olympus project. That's what we're here for. The other stuff comes later. And now, Gentlemen, I'm ready for a beer."

***

Talla was sitting in the mess room having a beer when we got there. Feng and I got ourselves a can and joined her.

"You've adjusted well, Talla," said Feng. "Have Trevor's boys been teaching you bad habits?"

"No. Talla had beer before. Talla likes beer."

"Yes. Don't we all." Feng lifted his can to Talla. "Cheers."

"Talla knows Frank and Feng travel."

There was no doubt what she meant. If Feng was surprised he didn't show it. He did ask her however how she knew.

"The Goddess told Talla. Without help from the Goddess travel is not possible."

"Who is this Goddess of yours Talla?" I asked.

"Talla cannot explain the Goddess using human language. The Goddess will show Frank and Feng herself. The Goddess will decide when."

"And you, Talla, do you travel?"

"All Talla's people travel. It is part of other."

"And humans, do many humans travel?"

"No. Only you and Feng."

"Why, Talla? Why are the two of us so privileged?"

"Because it is necessary. That is all Talla knows."

This conversation wasn't going any further. Just as well, as all the gang arrived for a drink and a meal. Talla got up and helped Ben to put the food into the servery. Al looked very confused and very unhappy. I had to do something.

I went and got two cans of beer, handed one to Al and told him I needed to talk to him. Reluctantly he followed me into a corner away from the others.

"Tell me, Al," I said as we sat down, "why are you so afraid of the Torgons? What have they got over you that's got you so terrified?"

"They have told us that we must come up with a cure for the virus infection. If we don't, as a last measure, they will sterilise the entire planet to make it safe for their people. It's not their preferred option because it would mean turning the whole planet into a desert and they would have to spend centuries to make it liveable again. However, they left us in no doubt they will do just that if we don't come up with a solution."

"And you believe they can do this?"

"Have you seen their warships? Of course they can."

"They've got you bluffed the same way as they've hoodwinked the Federation. These are not warships. They can't be. Tell me, when they first invaded, how many Torgons landed here on Okton4? According to my calculations about one and a half million, give or take a hundred thousand. Am I right?"

"Yes. That is what we've come up with."

"And they arrived here in eight of these large ships, or were there more."

"No, eight is correct as far as we know."

"Then there would have been a lot of support gear, machines and so forth to make colonisation possible."

"Yes, according to our records they brought a lot of equipment with them."

"Are you noticing something? By now even these large ships are becoming rather cramped with all the gear and people we know they contained. But it gets worse.

"Ships this size cannot travel through hyperspace. That's why no one builds them this big. They also had to come from very far away or they would have gone back when they realised their situation was hopeless. I estimate they probably travelled for a century or more to get here, which means enormous machines to guarantee survival. Things like air regenerators, hydroponics for food, water recycling plants and nuclear reactors to provide the power. Not to mention the shuttles required to transfer the people and their gear to the planet. Are you with me so far?"




Offspring Ch. 033



"Yes, I think so, but what does it mean?"

"It means there wouldn't have been much room for offensive weapons or much spare energy for that matter. These things up there are little more than dismal prisons for an increasingly desperate and impotent people."

"So what do we do? Fight a war? Wipe them out as they did with the Darnaqs?""

"No. I will not be a party to genocide. For the moment we carry on as planned. We will supply the supercomputer, research will continue and we get the Pumpernickel production going, if we can. In the meantime we search for a suitable planet in the forbidden zone so we can evacuate these poor devils to a place where they can live with dignity. We cannot hold these people responsible for the sins of their ancestors."

"Do you think this can be done?"

"Yes, I do. And now let us have something to eat and stop worrying. We will talk some more about this some other time."

By the look of it a much relieved Al helped himself to some food. I wasn't hungry and settled for another beer.

***

Olympus was looming large on the screens. Pedro had brought the Pygmalion into position. We were two hundred miles above the planet surface. Olympus was revolving slowly before us. It would take sixty hours for a full rotation. Maintaining our vantage point would enable us to analyse the entire surface with our sensors. Our scientists and Pedro's crew were evaluating the data as they came in.

Feng and I were sitting in the mess room, guzzling beer and awaiting developments.

"Tell me, Frank, what do you think happened to all the equipment the Torgons brought with them?"

"I gather it is on an island as far away as possible from any area settled by humans. They would not have liked the idea of humans getting hold of that stuff. An island with existing Darnaq infrastructure, a city or town with an airport most likely."

"You realise we've got to find that shit and destroy it. It mustn't fall into Torgon hands again."

"We'll not destroy it, we'll steal it."

"And take it where?"

"Ever heard of a place called Olympus?"

"That's ten light years from Okton4. You'd need a fleet of ships with hyper drives. Where will you find those and who could pay for it? Not even my uncle is that rich."

"You keep forgetting about the shuttles. They had to have them or they couldn't transfer their people and gear to the Planet surface. They would have to be large, capable of travelling in hyperspace and armed. I estimate they would have needed at least twenty of those per mother ship. There is your fleet."

"How would they have travelled? In formation with the big ships?"

"No. Not necessary. They would have sent the mother ships ahead. Once they reached cruising speed, the shuttles, which are really heavily armed freighters, would have jumped ahead of the main fleet and waited for their arrival. When they met up, the shuttles matched speed, docked with the big ships and clamped themselves to the hull. From then on the shuttles could be mobilised easily in case of an attack. The Federation does something similar. They have highly mobile small fighters attached to some of their heavy cruisers."

"And you want to steal these things?"

"Not want to, have to. They will be sitting somewhere chock a bloc full of weapons and other important gear, mothballed and ready for action in no time at all. I don't want the Torgons, the humans on Okton4, or your uncle, get a hold of that lot."

"You'll need a lot of help to bring that off. Where will you get that?"

"I'm thinking of Talla's people."

"You seem to have a lot of faith in these people."

"That I do, my friend. That I do."

***

We had been in position for about thirty hours when Jack came to me with a preliminary report. He brought Dennis, the meteorologist, with him. I asked Feng and Juan to attend the briefing. Pedro is the strategist of the duo, Juan is the better pilot. It would be Juan who would land the Pygmalion. I figured he would like as much information on the surface conditions as was available.

We met in the briefing room.

"I'll let Dennis go first," said Jack. "Much of what I have to say builds on Dennis' findings."

"These are preliminary findings," said Dennis, "so the figures I am giving you are not set in stone, though the margin of error won't exceed ten percent or so. There are two things which come as a surprise. Gravity on the planet is about two thirds that of Earth. Considering the size of Olympus that is much higher than expected. Consequently the atmospheric pressure is also about two thirds of that of Earth, being roughly equivalent to ten thousand feet elevation back home. Oxygen content is thirty-five percent compared to Earth's twenty-one. Precipitation over the general land mass is poor, most of it occurring in the mountainous region, partly as snow, partly as rain. The highest temperatures so far recorded are forty degrees centigrade in the equatorial valleys. Night time figures aren't available yet. That's about it for now."

"Thanks Dennis," Frank took the floor again. "Now let me explain what this means to us. The first, obvious thing is that we won't have any trouble breathing. People back home live at elevations of ten thousand feet without discomfort. The higher oxygen levels mean we don't even need to adjust to the lower atmospheric pressure. We'll get as much oxygen per breath as we do on Earth. That is the good news. 

"We have taken pictures of some of the vegetation. Because of the distance and the steamy atmosphere in the valleys they aren't terribly good, however we seem to be dealing with fern like vegetation, mosses, fern trees and so forth, indicating that the planet on the evolutionary scale is about at a stage equivalent to the early carboniferous period on Earth. That is not so good for us as it means lots of nasties.

"During that period the oxygen content on Earth was about what it is here, allowing some rather unpleasant creatures to evolve. Scorpions two feet long, predatory dragonflies with a twenty-eight inch wing span, monstrous spiders and cockroaches, you get the idea. Most of the valleys will be swamps. All in all a rather unpleasant environment to start a colony in. I suggest therefore we stay out of those areas for now."

"What do you suggest we do, Jack?"

"Much of the planet is what we would call desert. These areas appear to be sterile, as they are in some places on Earth. What makes them interesting for us is that there are a number of underground rivers and aquifers, some rather close to the surface. I propose to look for a place as far away from native vegetation as possible with comparatively easy access to water. If I have water I can grow things. Competition from native flora and fauna I can do without. We've only seen half the planet so far. There are already a few places that appear to be suitable. Let's see the rest first before we make a decision on a landing site."

"Sounds like a sensible plan. If that is all for the moment I guess we close the meeting. We'll meet again when we have some more data. Time for something to eat and a few beers."

We did just that.

***

Some thirty hours later Frank and Juan came to see me.

"We've got a site," Jack said. "Juan is happy with it, so am I."

Jack put two photographs in front of me. One was a picture of a massive desert with a huge crater in it, the other was a blow-up of the crater. It looked like something you might find on the moon.

"Alright Jack, what am I looking at?"

"Only a meteor could have made a hole that size. The thing is about fifty miles in diameter, a thousand feet deep and the bottom is as flat as a billiard table. There is an aquifer below, at least the size of the hole."

"How do you explain that?"

"That's something for the geologists to work out. There are two things that excite me about the place. The isolation and the underground water. The water has got to be reasonably close to the surface or we couldn't have detected it from space. It seems ideal. The only possible problem might be the water quality. We just have to go there and check. I doubt there is any indigenous life within a hundred miles in any direction."

"When do you want to land?"

"At the moment the place is on the dark side. It will be light in about eight hours. If we land just after dawn we'll have thirty hours of daylight to get our bearings."

"Sounds alright to me. Go for it. I'll get everyone assembled and tell them the news. It's just about mealtime anyway."

Half an hour later we were all in the mess room. I addressed the meeting.

"In about eight hours we'll be landing on Olympus," I said. "I know some of you have been flat out these past three days. Have a meal and perhaps a couple of drinks and get some rest. I want everyone alert and fit when we touch down. That's all for now."

I had a couple of drinks with Feng and Talla and went to grab a few hours sleep myself.

***

I was woken up by the bell. Juan informed us over the speakers that he had taken the Pygmalion out of orbit and was heading for the landing zone. Touchdown would be in two hours. I got dressed and headed for the mess room. Talla was helping Ben in the galley, something she had been doing lately.

After the meal I gave everyone a pistol with two magazines with the instruction they were to be worn at all times when outside. Trevor and his boys received an assault rifle and ammunition in addition. I had opted for projectile weapons. Blasters have their place, but an old fashioned bullet will stop a lot of things a blaster won't, especially at a distance. Trevor asked me to give a rifle to Talla as well.

"Talla can shoot the penis off a fly at a hundred yards," he said with a grin. "I want her to cover us when we secure the perimeter."

I did as I was asked. We weren't expecting anything out there, but unexpected things can happen and do. Better to be prepared.

The actual landing was a bit of an anticlimax. Juan had sat down the Pygmalion so gently, the first indication we had that we were on the ground was when he switched the engines off.

"Amigos, we have arrived," his voice came over the speakers. "The probes will now sample and analyse the outside air in case there are any unforeseen surprises. When that is done I will equalise atmospheric pressure with the outside and adjust our gravity field to that of the planet. The differences are not very big, but some of you might experience a bit of discomfort for a few minutes until your body adjusts to the new conditions. All being well, I will be opening the main hatch in thirty minutes from now. Make sure you are wearing something warm. The temperature on the ground is presently three degrees above freezing. That is all. Good luck."

Thirty minutes later the main hatch opened and the gangway extended to the ground.

Olympus lay before us, ready to be claimed.



Offspring Ch. 034



Author's note

Well, I'm back. Two more chapters finished and uploaded. Sorry it's taking a while, but in spite of other things demanding my attention I have no intention to abandon the project. Have fun

Talemaster

*

There wasn't much to see yet. The sun was still low in the sky and the high crater walls kept the ground in deep shadow. Sergeant Conners and his men checked the area around the Pygmalion. As expected there was no sign of life. Nevertheless they established a perimeter the size of a football field with proximity detectors every ten yards. These would warn us if anything bigger than an Earth size cockroach tried to get past.

Pedro's crew was already unloading Jack's gear. Jack and Juan were directing the containers to an area fifty yards away from the Pygmalion. There were already three twenty foot standard containers on the ground. I had no idea Jack had that much gear.

"Must be one hell of a lab by the look of that stuff," I said.

"You've seen nothing yet. There are another nine containers to be offloaded." Jack and Juan grinned when Jack said that. "Seeing you were paying for the freight, I brought the farm."

"Farm? What farm?"

"The one Juan and I have designed over the years. The idea was to take a fair sized farming operation on to a virgin world rather than just a lab. This way we would get really meaningful results very early on. As you know, not everything that works in a lab works on the ground. We tried to sell the idea to the Federation, they just laughed at us.

"About three years ago I had the shits with the Federation putting roadblocks in my way every time I tried to do something. I settled on Earth told them to get fucked and retired from the game. By that time I had more credits than I knew what to do with. After a couple of months as a retiree I got bored with nothing to do. I had all these plans for a collapsible farm we had been working on so I decided to have the thing built. Juan and Jeremy, Pygmalion's engineer, would give me a hand every time they were back on Earth and we ironed all the bugs out. Result, a farm in kit form. When you called I thought it would be a great opportunity to put the thing to the test."

Jack and Juan have always worked well together. Juan, apart from being a crack pilot, has a degree in microbiology, which fits in well with Jack's area of expertise. I first met them years ago on the Pygmalion on my very first virgin world expedition. We became friends and have have been together on a number of expeditions since then.

Feng had reimbursed Jack's expenses. I had never seen the invoices, that's why I didn't know how much stuff he had brought with him. All in all it was a good thing and well worth the money. I said so.

***

What a difference a week makes. 

I was sitting on top of the gangway that led from Pygmalion's main hatch to the ground. Being about thirty feet above ground gave me an excellent view of the area under development. Bearing in mind that a week on Olympus is the equivalent of two and a half Earth weeks it was still amazing what we had achieved in such a short time.

Jack had not been exaggerating when he had called it a farm. When assembled the contents of the twelve containers had given us a two storey farm building with a kitchen, dining room and storage rooms on the ground floor and a dormitory that could accommodate twenty people, as well as showers and toilets on the floor above. Adjacent to the farm was a machinery shed, a laboratory and a greenhouse.

It was a masterpiece of engineering. When it was completed there was not as much as a bolt or a nut left over, even the walls and floors of the containers were used in the construction.

All members of the Pygmalion's crew apart from being skilled in operating and maintaining the craft were scientists with advanced qualifications. Geoffrey was the geologist of the group. As soon as the cargo had been unloaded he assembled a small drilling rig and started drilling for water. By the end of the second day he had sunk three spear points into the ground which were all producing. The farm complex was then built around them. The water was acceptable, though it tasted a bit off. When it was piped through a purifier it became palatable and safe to drink. There were some bacteria in the water, but they seemed not to interfere with the germination of Jack's seeds.

The moment they had water Jack had the lab and the greenhouse assembled and he was already running experiments while the rest of the farm was still being built. Talla was working with Jack. She had Trevor and his boys partition off a section in the dormitory and had her bed and other gear moved in there. When I asked her what that was all about she told me that this is where she would live from now on.

"Talla is learning how to grow rye and how to make Pumpernickel. Jack is teaching Talla. The Goddess wants Talla to do this. Talla is happy."

When I asked Jack about it he said that Talla had asked him if he would teach her. He was delighted that someone took such a strong interest in his work and agreed on the spot.

"These people," he said, "have agriculture in their blood. Talla fusses over every plant and makes sure her little charges want for nothing. She loves what she is doing. Eventually we will have her people tend the farms. Who better to teach them than one of their own. Talla seems perfect for the job."

I had told Jack that he had a free hand. If that's what he wanted it was alright with me. I said so.

I was still deep in contemplation when the hooter went off to tell us the food was ready. I went down the gangway and made my way over to the farm house where Ben had set up shop. It was a lot more convenient for the workers to take their meals there.

By the smells wafting from the kitchen Juan had been doing the cooking today. Mexican food. Enchiladas, chilli con carne, nachos, the whole deal, down to the Sangria served in colourful jugs he carried around with him for such occasions. He loved doing this occasionally and he was very good at it. My mouth was watering. Naturally, Talla had to have something different, but she did get into the tortillas.

After we had been fed Pedro asked me and Feng to join him on the bridge. From there we went to his briefing room where we were joined by Juan, Jeremy and Geoffrey. Pedro took the floor.

"Gentlemen, it's time we started thinking where we go from here. I know we said we would stay here for a month, but I can't see the point. Jack has things well in hand. Trevor and his boys are helping him. They still carry their guns with them just in case, but they are playing farm boys. Ben is cooking and Geoffrey will still sink some more spear points for extra water. The rest of us has bugger all to do. We could explore some of the planet, but that can wait until we are better organised. What we need is water and power, heaps of both. Let's get that organised now."

"I thought we were alright for water and power for a while." 

"At the moment all of Jack's gear is connected to the Pygmalion's reactor. With the Pygmalion gone he has to rely on his generator. It has just enough grunt to keep things ticking over if he is careful not to use too much electricity for things other than his lab and greenhouse and a few lights at night. He can perhaps cook for an hour a day and use one shower sparingly. There won't be enough to do any heating at night. I can let Jack have one of Pygmalion's emergency generators while we are gone but it will still be far from comfortable for them while we are away. As to the water, these spear points only reach into the water table. They produce about eighty gallons each per hour with the pumps going full pelt. To get any meaningful supplies we need to drill down into the aquifer. We neither have a suitable drilling rig nor the associated pumps and so forth to get this going."

"So what are you suggesting?"

"We go shopping."

"I don't want to return to Okton4 just yet."

"Who is talking about Okton4? I wouldn't be able to get there what we need anyway. No, we go straight to Earth from here. You said yourself there aren't any controls so we don't have to ask anyone. We just do it. Say eight days for the return journey, four days on Earth to get everything together. We can be back in twelve days. Jack will be able to make do until then."

I had to admit what Pedro was saying made sense.

"When do you want to do this, Pedro?"

"Give me eight hours to get the Pygmalion ready and the generator sorted out. Any time after that. Geoffrey and Ben are needed here, you and Feng will have to jump into the breach."

"Go for it, Pedro. I want to take Talla and Al with us, any problems with that?"

"I'll have to move Talla's gear back into the Pygmalion. Trevor and his boys can do that. Care to tell me why you want to take those two?"

"I don't want them to feel we are doing things behind their backs. It's difficult to know how Talla feels, but Al feels very much that he is an outsider and only tolerated because he is the Oktonian representative. He is a good bloke. I want to show him his heritage and hopefully convince him that his and his people's future is with us."

We left it at that and called an end to the meeting. Feng and I went to look for Talla and Al. We found them in the greenhouse with Jack. They were in excellent spirits. By now Jack's seedlings were growing. His trays were full of green shoots, some of them as high as three inches. Jack proudly pointed to an area behind the greenhouse about twenty by twenty feet that looked like a lawn.

"We won't have any problems growing rye here. Look how healthy the little buggers are. We are irrigating with raw water too. There is no need to treat the water, which is a big plus. All I need now is enough water and power and we are off in earnest."

"That's why I'm here, Jack. We'll be leaving for Earth in a few hours to get your stuff. Barring any unforeseen hold ups we should be back in twelve days. It all depends on your stuff being ready for pick up."

"I gave Pedro a list of what I want days ago. He ordered it there and then. It'll be sitting on the tarmac when you arrive."

"Talla, can you get Trevor and the boys to put your stuff back on the Pymalion? I want you to come with us."

"Frank wants Talla to go with him to Earth?"

"Yes, Darling."

Talla did a little dance, flapping her wings furiously. Even I could tell she was excited.

"The Goddess loves her Frankie, so does Talla," she said when she had calmed down a bit.

I turned to Al. "I want you to come with us too, Al."

"Me? Why? What can I do there?" My invitation clearly took him by surprise.

"I want you to see where you come from, besides, an extra pair of hands is always welcome when there is work to be done. Now go you two, get your stuff sorted out, you don't want to miss your flight."

Feng had been quiet until now. 

"Not so quick," he said as Talla and Al were about to leave. "Let me get George and the cameras. I want Jack to show us the seedlings again. George and I will record this historic occasion."

"Historic occasion?"

"These little seedlings may not look like much, but they prove beyond doubt that this project is no longer a vision. Especially that patch growing outside. We have now a doable programme with enormous potential for the Chang corporation and for the Oktonians. If that isn't a historic event I've never seen one. My uncle will be ecstatic."

As usual, Feng was right.

***

We were in hyperspace. I was keeping Juan company on the bridge. The screens showed static. They would come alive again the moment we entered normal space. In the meantime there wasn't much to do. We had used the hours required to get us to a jump off point well. George and Feng had created an edited version of the footage they had taken of our progress to date up to and including Jack showing us his seedlings. I had added a short segment where I explained our change in plans and that we were en route to Earth and why. We had sent the encrypted report via hypertransmission just before the jump. One cannot send or receive messages when in hyperspace. We wouldn't get a reply until we reached normal space again.

Talla brought us some coffee and a plate of cupcakes. 

"Where did these come from?" said Juan. "They are delicious."

"Al made them. He is a good cook."

"I'm beginning to like this guy. Looks like he is settling in. It'll do him good having something creative to do." Juan reached for another cake, a big grin on his face.

"Tell me Juan," I said when Talla had left. "Do you think you could teach Talla to fly a spaceship?"

"If you had asked me that a few weeks ago I would have called you nuts. I've watched Talla and I'm inclined to agree with you. I think we are dealing with a people who are very, very smart, in an alien sort of way. Trevor, incidentally, thinks the same. To answer your question, I don't know. There is only one way to find out. We start teaching her and see how she goes. I'm game to try.

"Before we go there I want to know why. I've known you long enough to know this isn't idle speculation on your part. You have something specific in mind, something that requires Talla, or someone like her, to fly a spaceship. Care to tell me about it?"

"Fair enough. You are the one with the buttons, Juan. Can you please ask Pedro and Feng to come to the bridge so I don't have to repeat myself."

"I've asked Juan if he can teach Talla to fly a spaceship," I explained when they arrived. "He wants to know why I want to do this. Now, before I tell you what I have in mind I want you to give me your guarantee that the matter stays between us for now. You will soon see why secrecy is mandatory at this stage. If and when we put my plan into action the people involved will be told all about it, but until then no one else is to know."

After all had agreed to my terms I told them about the Torgon invasion and the shuttles. I explained my theory of what these shuttles were and what they contained.

"You can imagine that I don't want the Torgons, Al's people or the Chang corporation to get hold of that lot." I concluded. "This leaves us with two options, either we destroy those ships or we take them. My preferred option is to take them."

"Assuming we can pull this off, what then?" said Pedro.

"We take the ships to Olympus, disarm them and use our fleet of freighters as a bargaining chip. We'll work out a deal with the Chang corporation that everybody is happy with. Not even the Chang corporation can boast a fleet of that many freighters, they'll be happy to enter into an agreement. It'll put them streets ahead from where they are now."

"And you want Oktonians to fly these things? Why not hire experienced pilots? Juan and I have enough connections to get you all the pilots you need."

"Not a good idea. You give some pilot a heavily armed freighter chock a block full of possibly priceless alien technology. What is to stop him to take off with it never to be seen again?"

"There is that. What is stopping the Oktonians to do the same thing?"

"First of all they wouldn't know what to do with it once they stole it. The have no connections, they know nothing about the universe they live in. Besides, we won't teach them enough to be able to do something like that. We will teach them to take off, ferry the ships to Olympus and put them into orbit. You and your boys can then pick up the ships one by one and land them on the surface. It's the safest way to do it, if we can get them to pilot the things in the first place."

"Have you spoken to Talla about this?"

"Not yet, I wanted to talk to you guys first."

"Good. Talk to her and when you are ready bring her to me. I will start teaching her the theory of space flight. She has to understand at least some of it before anything Juan shows her makes sense." Pedro turned to Juan. "Get Jeremy to hold the fort on the bridge, I think we could all do with a drink after this."

***

I had asked Talla and Feng to come up to my cabin for a talk. When we had settled down with a beer I said: "I have asked Pedro and Juan if they would teach Talla how to fly a spaceship. They are prepared to do this." I turned to Talla. "Would you like to fly a spaceship Talla?"

"Talla will do anything Frank asks of her."

"No, I don't mean it like that. It's not an order. You can say no if you don't want to. I want to know if you would like to learn this."

"Talla will learn anything Frank wants to show her. Talla has learned much and can do many things now she couldn't do before. The people here no longer see Talla as a dumb faerie. She has become a person who matters. All because Frank has faith in Talla and her people. Yes, Talla wants to fly a spaceship and show everybody that Talla and her people are good for more than making drinks and cleaning toilets."

"Good, it's settled then. We'll start your lessons as soon as possible. Before we break up here there is something I want to ask you. Something that has been bothering me for some time."

"What is it you want to know from Talla?"

"When you went to do Trevor's course Niphi took over your job at the office. She had only just arrived and offered to make us some coffee. To my surprise she did just that without trying to find out where everything was, she just knew. When I asked Feng he said he suspected you all worked to some set pattern. That could have explained it, but when she arrived with the coffees they were made up according to our preferences, black with one sugar for Feng, white with two for me. No one had told her. Set patterns did not explain that. 

"There are other things. In Captain Harkon's log he mentions that when your people grow up they acquire speech and full knowledge of language virtually overnight without having been taught. Feng also told me that all your people can speak, read and write Federation Intergalactic. I asked Al if you had schools where this was taught. He said there were none. You could just do it. He couldn't tell me where you had learned this.

"It didn't make sense. The only thing I could come up with was that you people are somehow connected psychically and can transfer ability and knowledge directly from mind to mind. What can you tell me about this?"

"Everything Talla knows and can do is part of Talla. It is also part of Goddess. This is true for all of Talla's people. When people die their knowledge dies with them. The Goddess does not die. All the things the dead people knew are still with her. When one of Talla's people needs something someone else has learned the Goddess gives it to them as a gift, if she so chooses. The Goddess decides."

"Let me see if I got this right. For instance, Trevor taught you how to shoot a rifle. He says you are very good at it. So if the Goddess wanted anyone else of your people to be able to this she could give them the ability and they could shoot thereafter as good as you. Is that what you are telling me?"

"Yes, but not anyone. Some people are more able than others."

"So it depends on a person's native capacity how much they can absorb?"

"Yes."

"Thanks Talla, we'll talk about this some more at another time. Do me a favour, don't mention this to anyone else, it's very important we keep this quiet.

"Talla understands."

"Now go and grab some sleep, you must be getting tired. When you've had your rest I'll take you to Pedro and we get started on your lessons."

Feng poured himself another beer after Talla had left.

"Fascinating story," he said. "But why the secrecy?"

"Because this stuff is dynamite. Think about it. The Torgons would have needed a lot of help to shift all their gear. They would have used Talla's people and perhaps some humans to do it and killed everyone who knew about it afterwards to keep it secret. If what Talla is telling us is right, that knowledge is not lost. The Goddess would know where the shit is. Furthermore, if we train Talla to fly we can have as many pilots as we need, virtually overnight. That is, if the Goddess will help us. If that isn't dynamite I don't know what is."




Offspring Ch. 034



"Yes, but will she help us?"

"I think so. She can't be very happy with that shit being a threat to her people as long as it stays where it is."

"Stands to reason. And now I'm going to turn in, I'm bushed."

"Good idea, see you in the morning." 



Offspring Ch. 035



Author's note

For those who have asked for nit, this chapter actually has some sex in it :-)

Have fun.

Talemaster

*

Earth was looming large on the screen. We had come out of hyperspace several hours ago and were on our final approach.

I am not given much to sentimentality, but seeing Earth so clearly before me always touches me deeply. I had not been home for some time and I was looking forward to spending a few days on the planet where I had grown up.

We would not be allowed into any regular spaceport on Earth. Being a scout ship returning from a virgin world we would be directed to a quarantine station in the middle of the Simpson desert on a continent that has been known as Australia for more than a millennium. There the ship would be carefully examined and decontaminated, if necessary, before being allowed to travel on. We had carefully purged all computer records on board of material we didn't want the Federation to see and had left the Oktonian library and the other stuff behind on Olympus where it would be safe from prying eyes. I had also made an edited version of our arrival and subsequent activity and loaded it on a memory stick. I was sure to be pulled in by Federation High Command who were dying to know what we had been up to, I guessed. I wasn't far off the mark. 

The moment we were on the ground we were boarded by Federation officers in biological hazard suits. I think they were surprised to see all of us in our Olympus fatigues, but no one said anything about that. After determining who is who I was asked off the ship and escorted to a decontamination chamber. I had to take my clothes off and put the contents of my pockets into a tray before I was motioned into a shower. After I had washed myself down with that awful shit that comes out of the shower, under the watchful eye of a quarantine officer who made sure I didn't miss any bits, I was led into another shower where I could finally cleanse myself properly with soap and clean water. It's important to do that well since the decontaminant they use stings on the skin if left on too long. They gave me a hospital gown and led me into another room where a doctor did a thorough health check.

I must have passed because they gave me my clothes and other stuff back, which had also been treated. The moment I was dressed a Colonel and a Major of Federation security escorted me to a waiting shuttle. We were the only passengers in an aircraft designed to take about a dozen people.

The flight attendant was a sweetie. She served me with a meal and a few beers on the two hour long flight under the disapproving stares of my surly escorts. We transferred to a limousine while still on the tarmac. There was little I could see through the heavily tinted windows of the vehicle. I didn't know where we were and my escorts simply had not answered my question when I asked where we were going.

After passing through several checkpoints we eventually wound up in some underground complex in front of a lift guarded by a detachment of armed soldiers. My escort presented some documents to the officer in charge and we were cleared to proceed. Eventually we wound up in some office. There wasn't much to see. A desk, a computer terminal, the obligatory Federation flag in a corner, the Federation coat of arms prominently displayed an the wall behind the desk and a rather pleasant looking female Federation Major behind the desk.

My escorts presented their papers again, the Major signed the documents and dismissed the goons.

"Welcome to Federation headquarters," she said to me when we were alone. "I trust you had a pleasant journey."

"Wonderful," I said. "Those two gorillas were a bundle of laughs."

"Don't be too hard on them Major Walters, they were under orders not to engage in any conversation with you. We are trying to keep your visit here rather quiet."

She pointed to a door and said: "You may go in, General Taubner is expecting you."

General Taubner's office, though larger, was equally Spartan in decor. Evidently an office where he saw visitors. He would do his work somewhere else. The General was in uniform, seated behind his desk, the only items on the polished surface being a peak cap, a swagger stick and a dossier with my name on it. Military traditions die hard, I thought.

Seeing I was wearing my Olympus fatigues I gave the General a smart military salute.

"Sit down Mayor," he said. "I wanted to meet you before I have you tell the committee about your observations in the forbidden zone. You are the only Federation officer ever to have been there. Naturally we are all curious."

"With the General's permission. I have documented our journey to Olympus and our activities there. Perhaps it might be prudent to see what I have before deciding how much of it and to whom the material should be shown. It's all on here."

I handed the General the memory stick and gave him the encryption key from memory. The General typed the key into the computer after loading the module. He watched my presentation twice before commenting.

"I see what you mean. I think I will sit on this for a while before deciding what to do. This is dynamite."

He pushed a button on his computer and instructed his orderly to cancel the committee meeting and to tell them something urgent had come up he had to attend to.

He turned to me.

"This is excellent work, You are supplying us with tangible information about this sector no one has been able to gather so far. Our first glimpse of an Oktonian male, better knowledge about their fleet, the list goes on. We owe you much. In recognition of your work I'm promoting you Colonel."

"I am flattered, General, but you mustn't do that. In fact I would like you to stop all payments to me as of now as a matter of urgency."

"You surprise me Major, I thought you would be pleased."

"I am, Sir. However, there are compelling reasons why we mustn't go down this road."

"Alright, tell me."

"The situation has changed. I seriously doubt the Chang Corporation is contemplating replacing me. I have proved the viability of producing Pumpernickel on Olympus, something the Oktonian government is incredibly keen on. I will be put in charge of the colonisation of an entire planet, I expect, with immense discretionary powers. As such I will become a key figure for the Chang Corporation and the Oktonian government.

"The moment this becomes common knowledge, as it will, my doings and my past will come under intense scrutiny. If it ever got out that I am still receiving pay from the Federation my credibility would be shot and my position wwould become untenable. They'd have to get someone else. Believe me, it will get out if you continue to pay me. Someone will talk. I don't need the money, as you know. Why then run a risk that can get everything undone when it's not necessary.

"I will continue to liaise with the Federation, this is proper and expected. My excellent personal relationship with General Nakov and his exec is very much viewed as being in my favour. The Oktonians and the Chang Corporation are interested in good relations with the Federation. Let's not jeopardise what we have here for the sake of a few credits and a rank."

"You make a persuasive case, Major. What do you want us to do, if anything?"

"I want the Federation to send me a letter apologising for some administrative error that caused my salary to be continued after I had in fact resigned. I will take the letter to my bank, ask them to identify the overpaid amounts and reimburse the Federation. That covers everybody. Errors occur and it is up to the people involved to correct them when the facts become known. No one can find fault with that."

"This is a good plan, let's do it. Anything else?"

"Yes, my visit here today. Quite a few people have seen me. With my Olympus fatigues I stick out like the proverbial canine testicles. At the moment it won't mean much, but when pictures of me appear in newspapers, as they will once the Olympus project becomes known, people will remember and wonder what I was doing here. Some will talk. We need to offer an explanation for my visit. We should make it official."

"What do you have in mind? Something devious, no doubt."

"I take it Lata is buried here somewhere close by?"

"Yes, in a cemetery about five miles from here. How does Lata get into this?"

"It's one hell of an imposition, but it's the best I can come up with."

"Let's hear it then."

"When we are done here I leave through the front door. I don't know my way around and I would appreciate if you could arrange transport and a room in one of the better hotels close by. I'll pay my own bills, of course. I'll arrange for a suitable wreath through the hotel. Sometime tomorrow you and I and perhaps Bernice, Lata's old assistant, go to the cemetery and lay the wreath on Lata's grave. Perhaps your PR department can arrange a photo and a short article and launch it in one of the gossip papers. It won't be to the detriment of either of us for people to know that a man has come all the way from Okton4 and together with a five star general laid a wreath on the grave of a mutual friend. People will love it. Afterwards we drop Bernice off and have a couple of drinks in my hotel, somewhere where we can be seen and not overheard. I am sure by tomorrow you will have a lot of questions. After that we'll have all bases covered. As I said, it's a hell of an imposition."

"Very neat. I like that idea."

He turned to his computer, pushed a button and asked his orderly to come in.

"Major Dennings," he said, "order some transport, book a room in the Galaxy hotel for Colonel Walters of Olympus Colonisation Command and arrange for one of our VIP bags. Before you do that however, bring us a drink. Ask Colonel Walters what he wants."

I settled for a beer, so did the general.

We had just finished our beer when the Major returned and told us everything was ready. The General ordered her to take care of me and to get me settled in at the hotel.

"Start the rumour mill going at the hotel," he instructed her. "Tell them Colonel Walters is in charge of the colonisation of a planet in the forbidden zone in a joint venture with the Oktonian government and that he is here in a private capacity to pay his last respects to a personal friend and Federation officer who died on duty."

General Taubner got up and offered me his hand. We shook hands and he told me he would pick me up at the hotel at eleven in the morning.

***

Major Dennings booked me in at the hotel, all I had to do was to sign the register and hand over my credit card to be swiped. I had the impression the receptionist was not very impressed with my fatigues. Her attitude changed though when she saw my unlimited Chang Corporation credit card. She was all smiles after that. She would also be wet between the legs. Some women get more turned on by the smell of money than by the smell of sex. She was one of them. Her pussy would be mine if I cared to ask. I wasn't interested. I would rather fuck a whore. At least whores are honest about what they do.

I was ready for a drink and said so.

"Get me an orange juice please. I mustn't be seen drinking while on duty. However, if you were the sneaky kind and added some Gin to my drink, what is a girl to do? You go ahead, I need to get them to take your bag to your room."

I laughed, sat down in the lobby and ordered the drinks. Beer for me, double Gin and Orange for the lady.

When she joined me she lifted her glass and said before she even tasted it: "Here's to being sneaky. You can call me Marissa, if you like."

"Only if you call me Frank."

"Good," she said and handed me a piece of paper and a pen. "Could you please write down for me what you want to say on the wreath."

I wrote 'From two old friends who remember you with love and respect. Rest in peace, Lata.' I handed her the paper and asked: "What happens now, Marissa?"

"The wreath will be waiting on a stand next to the grave site. It's established procedure, Frank. We do that quite often. Let me go and get that going, I won't be long."

"The general will love what you wrote, he was very fond of Lata."

"I know, he told me in a letter when he informed me of Lata's death."

"I need to get back to the office," she said after she had finished her drink. She gave me my room key before continuing. "Your bag is in your room. It contains a change of clothes and underwear as well as some other necessities. Put your fatigues and your underwear into a laundry bag and arrange for room service to get it cleaned for the wreath laying tomorrow. I picked out a nice casual suit, some shirts and some underwear for you. The clothes will fit, we have your measurements on file. I hope you'll like it."

"That is very nice of you."

"Actually it's also established procedure. We often get people who come in without luggage to report and are forced for some reason to stay a day or two. We cater for such eventualities. Incidentally, the bag and its contents are yours to keep, compliments of the Federation. But now I must really depart. Thanks for the drink."

We shook hands and I was on my own.

***

After I had a few drinks at the bar I went to my room. It was still a bit early for the whores to be out, otherwise I might have grabbed one. I was more than ready for it.

The room was as expected decorated in contemporary bland, the same expensive, but unimaginative, impersonal style you find all over the universe now. Still, it was roomy, light and comfortable. I was surprised at the quality of the stuff in my bag. Marissa had chosen an elegantly styled casual suit in light grey with matching shirts and accessories. I hung up my clothes and put the rest of the gear in the wardrobe and the bathroom. I had a shower and a shave and put a little body cologne on since I was thinking of going tomcatting later. Normally I don't bother with stuff like this. The things we do for pussy.

I wrapped a towel around my midriff, put my fatigues and underwear into a bag and called room service. They came up promptly and collected my laundry and shoes for cleaning.

I was just about to get another beer when there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was room service who had come back for some reason I asked them to enter. It wasn't room service, it was Bernice, dressed to kill. 

She came up to me, hugged me, kissed my cheek and then put her head on my shoulder sobbing quietly while still holding on to me. Her closeness and odour affected me. My dick was behaving like an unruly horse under my towel.

It had to happen. The towel became undone and dropped to the floor, my prick as stiff as a soldier on parade. Bernice looked down, grabbed my dick and said: "Is this for me?" She was no longer sobbing. Grinning broadly, her face still wet with tears she started to rub me slowly and sensuously.

"If you keep this up you'll have to send your dress to the cleaners," I said. "I haven't had sex in a while and that thing is about to explode."

"Can't let that happen," she replied, dropped to her knees and had my dick in her mouth in an instant. She was a good cocksucker. In no time at all I was pumping what felt like gallons of come down her throat. She didn't spill a drop.

My dick was still hard when she stood up.

"I think you are ready to fuck me now," she said and started undoing her dress.

I didn't think her remark needed a reply and instead helped her to get her gear off. Half a minute later I was up her without foreplay or anything. She didn't need it. Her pussy was dripping with excitement. She fucked with the same wild abandon as Mara. I made the best of it.

In what seemed like two hours later we were exhausted.

"I think we both needed that," she said. "Lata would be proud of us."

"What makes you say that?"

"When we were on Okton4 you and Lata came out of her cabin, both looking a bit worse for wear. You absolutely reeked of her cunt, a smell I was intimately familiar with.

"Like me, Lata liked men and like me she didn't mind a bit of slit when it was going. Especially on those long field trips it was really the only way. We could hardly fuck the crew. So we helped each other out. It was a good relationship. We had a lot of fun together. Be that as it may, I'm starving. Sex makes me always hungry."

"Well, how about we have a shower and go to the restaurant for a meal and a few drinks. Afterwards, if you feel like it, we come back here and fuck some more."

Bernice sang:

"Fuck some more, fuck some more,

Oh, I like the sound of that,

Fuck some more, fuck some more, 

With a donger long and fat!"

"You should be a songwriter."

"I have many talents."

"Yes," I said, looking at my thoroughly deflated dick. "Yes, I know."

***

The wreath laying went as expected. General Taubner had arranged an honour guard as well as people who photographed and filmed the event. Some joker had colonel insignia in bright yellow embroidered on my fatigues. Not the same insignia the Federation uses, but something similar. At any rate it was clear to any observer what they meant. It had to de done on the general's orders. Why he felt that was necessary I didn't know. I didn't ask. We had a meal and a few drinks after the event at my hotel. As expected General Taubner had a lot of questions. I told him a number of things, some real, others total bullshit. Nothing of much importance.

Then he came to the thing that was really bugging him.

"Where do you think the Oktonians get their human negotiators from? Any ideas?" he asked.

Sooner or later that would get out anyway so I answered truthfully.

"I believe there is a human colony on Okton4, Sir."

"How can there be? There are no human women on the planet."

"That's what they say. But, is it true? I think not."

"You must have your reasons. Care to tell me what they are?"

"When I went to Federation Security to query the credentials of the negotiator assigned to my project I was told what the Federation knew of him and his colleagues and shown proof. When asked why I had been suspicious I told them I didn't think the Oktonians would hand over their entire foreign trade to a bunch of spacers who had deserted their ships because of alien pussy.

"It wasn't until later, when I thought some more about it, that I realised the same would be true for a bunch of humans recruited clandestinely elsewhere. They could never trust them enough. Which leaves as the only other possible source a human colony on Okton4, possibly established long before the Oktonians approached the Federation. That, and only that, explains the facts as we know them, in my view."

"Thank you, Colonel Walters. Duty calls. I must get back to my office. You may approach me directly at any time, bypassing the chain of command, should you judge it to be necessary. Good luck with your project."

We shook hands and that was it. I was on my own again. I got in touch with Pedro. The Pygmalion had been cleared by quarantine and was now some eight hundred miles east of here on his property. He told me he would send a small plane to pick me up and could I be at the airport at midday tomorrow. I said that would be alright.

An hour later Bernice arrived. We spent the rest of the day and the night together. It was nice. In the morning I was full of energy and rearing to go. It is amazing what a few good fucks do to the morale of a man. I settled my hotel bill and after breakfast Bernice drove me to the airport. I gave Bernice my hypercom address and told her to stay in touch. She left without looking back.

I went to the bar and waited for my transport. The flight to Juan and Pedro's spread was uneventful. We were on the tarmac at around two o'clock. 

The Rodriguez property had been in the hands of the family for over two hundred years. Originally a cattle property and much larger, today there are some five square miles left, which had been turned into a private spaceport over time. The Federation does not like facilities like this in private hands and had been pressuring the brothers for a number of years to sell out to them. Pedro and Juan did not think they could hold out much longer, hence their interest in moving their operation to Olympus.




Offspring Ch. 035



The plane taxied and came to a stop some fifty yards from the Pygmalion where there was a lot of activity. Containers were being loaded, presumably the stuff Jack had asked for.

Pedro, Juan and Feng were on the bridge when I arrived. Pedro jumped up, saluted smartly and yelled: "Welcome aboard Colonel Walters from Olympus Colonisation Command."

This was as far as he got before all three of them burst out laughing.

"Cut it out fellows, how the fuck do you know?"

"Your little wreath laying ceremony was on the news last night together with an editorial explaining the project. We were wondering what kind of a scam you were pulling."

"This wasn't my doing. I had no idea this shit would wind up on the news. Still, I suppose it can't hurt."

"Too right it can't hurt. They made us out as real heroes. Doing a joint venture with a notoriously secret and closed empire in the forbidden zone. A major breakthrough in interstellar relations they called it. Chang Corporation shares are going through the roof. The Tai-pan is tickled pink. Feng has recorded the broadcast and sent a copy to his uncle. You can have a look at it later. Incidentally, a senior executive of the Chang Corporation is on his way here. He wants to talk to you."

"Well, it looks like we fluked a good one here," I said and spent the next hour telling the Rodriguez brothers and Feng what had happened at HQ.

"The general is a cagey bastard," I concluded. "He is trying to write the Federation into our project in any way he can. Without saying so he is giving the impression to the world at large that the Federation is already deeply involved. So far he is succeeding admirably. If we play our cards right we might get a lot of help from the Feds by just waving a carrot in front of their faces."

Pedro had become very thoughtful. After a pause he said: "Perhaps now is the time to let the Federation know we might be prepared to sell, if they can make us a tempting enough offer."

"Get a proposal together. I have a direct line to General Taubner. We can bypass all the bureaucracy and go straight to the top of the decision making tree. I take it you know what you want in exchange?"

"Let me make a few calls. We'll talk about it tomorrow."



Offspring Ch. 036



There is a small town next to the spaceport, still on Rodriguez land. About two thousand people live there, all connected to the spaceport in some fashion. There are a couple of shops, a school, a community hall and a pub, complete with mini brewery and bowling alley. These kind of communities, once common on Earth, are now exceedingly rare, having been replaced by bland, utilitarian high rise settlements policed and controlled by the Federation.

I had been there before on a few occasions and loved the friendly, laid back atmosphere of the place. Seeing that there was little to do while the Pygmalion was being loaded I decided to take Talla and Al to the local pub for a beer. I could tell Al was out of his depth. To see men, women and children mixing so freely must have jarred his consciousness some.

Talla took it in her stride. She got curious, but not unfriendly looks from the adults. It was the children, however, who crowded around her. They were utterly fascinated with her wings. The kids wanted to know if she was an angel. Talla didn't know what an angel was and I had to explain.

I told them that Talla was not an angel, but a native of a far off planet and that there were many like her. They wanted to touch her wings.

I said the wings were very sensitive and that Talla could be hurt if someone treated them roughly. The kids promised to be good.

I was about to tell them no, but Talla said it was alright. She spread her wings and motioned the children to come closer. They took turns stroking her feathers lovingly with their fingertips until one of the adults said that was enough and to leave the lady alone for a while. The kids stayed close by and looked at their hero adoringly as Talla sat down and had a beer with us.

It turned into a good evening. Al relaxed after a few beers and actually talked to the other patrons, even to some of the women, which must have cost him some. We saw little of Talla. She was mixing with the locals who were totally smitten with her and bought her one beer after another. Talla loves her beer, though alcohol does not seem to affect her.

It was late when we returned to the Pygmalion.

***

After breakfast I went to see Pedro and transferred five million credits into his account.

"You are going to need it,"I said. "This stuff of Jack's wouldn't have been cheap."

"Thanks for the money," he said. "It'll come in handy, but as far as Jack's stuff is concerned it's all paid for. When I placed the order I placed it with the Chang Corporation. It was the logical thing to do. They handled everything and picked up the tab. There is nothing further to pay. By the way, their representative will arrive here by executive jet in half an hour. He says he has not much time and asked if you could meet him on his aircraft after he arrives."

I was a bit surprised at that. Well, if he wanted it this way I would accommodate him. I said so. I called Feng and asked him to go with me.

The plane arrived on time and taxied to a stop some thirty yards away from the Pygmalion. The stairs descended and Feng and I went towards it to be met by a big titted lady in a skimpy dress. She had tart written all over her. She led us into the main cabin and asked us to wait there for a moment before she disappeared through a door towards the back of the craft.

The cabin contained a bar, leather armchairs, wide leather couches and some coffee tables. It smelled of cunt. We were evidently in a flying executive brothel.

The door opened and a small, bald headed Chinese came in. He seemed ill at ease, as though he could not wait to get the fuck out of here. He did not introduce himself. By now I had an idea what this was all about. These types get very nervy when they think they are being asked to do something shonky.

"Mister Walters I take it," he said in lieu of a greeting.

"Correct," I said, determined not to make it easy for the jerk.

"I am instructed to hand you this," he said as he handed me a memory module. "It contains a communication from the Tai-pan."

"Thank you," I said and put the thing in my pocket.

"There is something else," he stammered, "something better discussed in private."

He shot a disapproving glance towards Feng.

"This is Feng," I said. "He is the Tai-pan's nephew. Anything you need to say to me you can say in front of him."

"Very well," he grunted. "The Tai-pan asked me to tell you that the Chang Corporation has added four containers to the consignment. He said you would be familiar with what they contained."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper which he gave to me. It was a handwritten note with some numbers on it.

"These are the numbers of the containers in question. And now I must hurry, I have to be elsewhere shortly."

"Shove a couple of strokes in for us when you are fucking your tart," I said.

He blushed like a schoolgirl.

Feng and I were still laughing when we left the plane.

Minutes later they were gone.

***

"Are you going to tell Pedro and Juan about those containers?" asked Feng when we were clear of the plane.

"I don't see why we should. All the containers we loaded have been cleared and sealed by the Federation before they arrived here. There won't be any further checks. Pedro and Juan and the two of us are in the clear should something blow up against expectations. We are entitled to rely on the certified manifests. The fewer people who know the supercomputer is on board the better it is."

"Alright, as long as I know."

"What now?"

"We go to Pedro's conference room and have a look what the Tai-pan has to say. I think we should invite the Rodriguez brothers to watch the communication with us. I doubt the Tai-pan will talk about that other stuff."

Half an hour later we were in the conference room. I decrypted the message and rolled the footage.

The Tai-pan was seated behind his desk, smiling broadly.

"Greetings to you and your crew, Mister Walters," he said. "Progress on the project has exceeded my most optimistic projections. I have released Jack's demonstration to the Oktonian authorities. To say that they are excited about the possibilities would be an understatement. As a result our relations with them have warmed considerably. Your little unexpected performance on Earth has not gone unnoticed either. Chang Corporation shares are at a all time high and are still climbing. Altogether things couldn't be better. You will need to build infrastructure now. As an interim measure I have authorised a further one hundred million credits for the project, for you to use as you see fit. As before, you are in total charge of the project, answerable only to me personally. Keep up the good work and thank you."

"Well, that wasn't entirely unexpected," said Feng.

"That hundred mil is nice," said Pedro. "Can I have some of that?"

"Sure, how much do you need?"

"About half of it."

At first I thought he was joking, but he was deadly serious about it.

"Alright, tell me what you want if for. What are you offering in exchange?"

"Give me ten square miles of land next to Jack's farm and fifty million and I will put a spaceport like the one we are on and a town that can accommodate ten thousand people on Olympus. In addition I will give you all the power and water you need to develop that entire crater. I'll have the whole thing standing and operating within six months."

"Sounds like a bargain. How on Earth are you going to do this? Fifty million is nowhere near enough to put all this together."

"Let me tell you a little story. About fifteen years ago the Federation decided to colonise a planet. Some bright spark suggested they use some of their obsolete heavy cruisers to transport all the gear and some two thousand colonist to the destination.

"Those old cruisers are worth nothing. It costs more to cut the bastards up than you would get for the scrap. The normal procedure is to strip them of the weaponry, take them into space and point them at the nearest sun just inside the gravitational field. Nature takes over and the craft eventually plunges into the sun to be burned up. Problem solved.

"Anyway they decided to use four of these for the project. They filled them up with everything you could possibly need to establish the infrastructure needed for around ten thousand colonists. Two thousand people would go in the cruisers to assemble everything, the rest were to be sent by transporter some time later.

"Then something went wrong. The project got cancelled and those four cruisers have been sitting in mothballs for the last ten years. No one has any plans for them. When I decided to move from here I put some feelers out. The Federation wants this place as is. What we've been talking about is a straight swap. The spaceport for the cruisers plus cargo.

"Let me put this straight. These ships are outdated, heavy and obsolete. They cost a fortune to run. By the same token they are fully functional and space worthy. They'll make the journey to Olympus without problems. I can get the ships. What I don't have are the resources to get them there. Fifty million will buy me all the fuel I need plus a few things I want to take with me. I would have to sell the Pygmalion to do the deal on my own, something I don't want to do."

"What will happen to all the people here?"

"They'll come with us to a man. None of them wants to live under Federation control. Their whole lifestyle would be a thing of the past. We'll need them over there to set things up and operate the spaceport anyway. It'll be a bit of a squeeze for them on the journey, but they know that and don't mind a bit of discomfort on the way. It's only for about ten days anyway."

"I'm inclined to go along with you. Ten square miles is perhaps a bit slim, let's make it twenty. It'll give you a bit of room to move. I know the Tai-pan has said I was in control and I could spend the money as I see fit. I'd feel much better though if I took the proposal to the Tai-pan first."

"You do that. Tell him, before the deal I want the Chang Corporation to recognise the land grant and acknowledge us as the Autonomous Principality of Juanpedro."

"Principality of Juanpedro?" I queried.

"Yes. Principality of Pedrojuan sounded awkward. I have the charter and constitution already drawn up. You can show it to him. If he agrees we'll have a deal."

***

I drafted a letter to the Tai-pan telling him about Pedro's proposal and that I thought it was too good a deal to miss. I asked if he thought I should proceed. Pedro gave me a copy of his charter and his constitution. He also gave me the details of the cruisers and the manifests listing the cargo. I appended the documents to my report and sent it off.

Six hours later I had an answer.

"You keep surprising me, Frank," he wrote. "This is as good a deal as I've ever seen. Grab it! You already have full authority over all matters in relation to the colonisation of Olympus. Your signature on the land grant and the charter of autonomy is sufficient to guarantee the rights conferred, under interstellar law. 

I am familiar with the four cruisers and their cargo. Much of what is on board was at the time supplied by the Chang Corporation. You will find everything to be of excellent quality. This was supposed to be a show project, the Federation bought nothing but the best.

Incidentally, you are not, nor have you ever been an employee of the Chang Corporation. This is strictly a Chang family initiative.

Cordial greetings,

Uncle.

PS. Show this letter to Feng. He will explain what it means."

"I'll be fucked, Cousin," said Feng when he saw it.

"Cousin?"

"Yes, he's just adopted you into the family. It's a great honour. You'll have to call him Uncle from now on. It's very rare for him to do that. I know of only two others in the family who are not connected by blood."

"I'll have to remember that. Mind you, if I have to have an uncle I'd rather have him than anyone else."

"He's not a bad old stick. As long as you do the right thing he'll back you to the hilt. But you already know that."

We went to see Pedro to give him the news. I signed his charter and the land grant and transferred fifty million into his account. Juan and Feng witnessed my signatures.

I grabbed a few cans and handed them out. 

"Here's to the dukes of Juanpedro," I said, lifting my can. "Do I have to call you cunts 'Your Grace' from now on?"

"No, Don Juan and Don Pedro will do," said Juan.

"You'll be waiting a long fucking time."

"Spoilsport!"

"Where do we go from here?" I asked when the laughter had died down.

"I've got in principle agreement. All I have to do is sign the contracts and pay thirty-two million to get the cruisers ready and fuelled up."

"That much?"

"Yes. These things carry a lot of dead weight and the engines are inefficient by today's standards. They need enormous amounts of fuel. That's why no one wants them. I'll get onto it straight away and let you know what happens next."

"Might as well go to the pub."

"You do that, I'll catch you there later."

Feng and I went to get Al and Talla and we were off. Beer o'clock!

***

As before Talla was the star of the evening. We had hardly arrived when kids came from everywhere to see their hero. In spite of being told otherwise the kids insisted she was their angel and that was that. Talla talked to them for a while and then proceeded to the bar to drink beer with the locals. She seemed at ease.

An hour later Pedro turned up.

"All sorted out. The contracts are signed and the money has been paid. You won't need to ask for help from the general. The cruisers are being fuelled up as we speak. They will be brought here. Formal handover of the space port is scheduled for day after tomorrow. For some reason they want this done very quickly.

"I will stay here with Jeremy to complete the deal. Juan will take off for Olympus tomorrow. I would like you to be Juan's exec on the trip. Any problems with that?"

"No. If Juan is agreeable that will be fine."

"Seeing it was Juan's idea I don't think you'll have a problem there. I am sending twenty of my best technicians with you to get the drilling started. With some luck the new ships will arrive on Olympus in three weeks from now with two thousand settlers. We will need a lot of water. Hopefully there will be a producing deep well by then."

I had a couple of beers with Pedro and went back to the ship with Talla, Feng and Al. I told them to get some rest as we were leaving the next day. Juan was in the mess having a beer. I joined him.

"The Pygmalion is ready. Everything is loaded. The twenty technicians will report in at around eight in the morning. There will be a short briefing in the mess, after that preflight checks and off at around eleven. Suit you?"

"You're the boss."

"I want Talla to do the preflight checks. You will watch and make sure she does it right. Don't interfere unless you have to."

"She is doing well then?"

"In a weird kind of way. Sometimes she catches on very quickly, at other times I have to go to extremes to explain something to her. Once she catches on, however, I never have to go over the same ground again."

"She'll make a good pilot then?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not."

"What are your reservations?"

"She will not accept our model of hyperspace. She insists there is no such thing. She maintains we are manipulating time and not space, What she is saying is that when we travel one thousand light years in four days we are condensing a thousand light years into four days, which gives us the impression we are travelling over distance rather than travelling through time."

"Not a bad way of looking at it. She might be right. Perhaps Talla perceives something we don't. Be that as it may, how does that impair her training as a pilot?"

"I am worried she might develop a whole raft of fixed ideas as we go along. Ideas that will stop her from progressing."

"We will just have to wait and see. She wants this. My guess is she'll be fine."

"Well, you've been right so far about her. Let's talk about it some other time. Now it's time to hit the sack. Big day tomorrow."

***

The journey back to Olympus was uneventful. Talla handled the preflight checks expertly, I did not have to step in. The rest of the journey she spent in the copilot seat which Juan had modified to accommodate her wings. Her training was progressing well. 

It was daytime when we landed. The first thing we did after arriving was to connect Jack's farm to the Pygmalion's reactor, much to the relief of Jack's crew who had been going without a shower since we left. Gregory put the technicians to work and by nightfall the drilling rig had been assembled and was operating. His crews worked in shifts throughout the night under lights, erecting a prefabricated water tower.

Talla was working with Jack again when she wasn't receiving lessons from Juan. She seemed happy.

After a week the well had come in. The water quality was much better than what we had obtained from the spear points. When I asked Gregory about this he said that there must be an underground river flowing through the aquifer keeping it fresh and oxygenated. 

The water tower was finished and the rig had been moved to another location to provide water for irrigation. Things were progressing well. Trevor and his boys had ploughed and seeded one hundred acres and were installing the big travelling irrigators. There would be no need for a water tower. We would pump the water straight from the ground at night to minimise evaporation once the new well came in.

Pedro was on his way, he would be arriving in eight days. Feng and George had documented our progress to date. I wrote a short report to my newly acquired uncle and appended their footage.

Feng George and Al were unloading the containers with the supercomputer. Juan was a bit miffed when he found out about it. He wanted to know why he wasn't informed about having contraband on board.

"Look Juan, I was only told after the stuff was already on board and cleared by the Federation. I didn't think it advisable to inform you after the event. It would have only worried you for no reason. What would you have done if you had been in my shoes?"

"The fucking same, I think. Let's have a beer, I'm thirsty."

We did just that.

***

Hours later a message arrived from the Tai-pan.

Greetings Frank,

I am happy with what you are doing. I have shown your footage to the Oktonians and they are delighted things are going that well. One thing though they are not happy with. They don't like you going straight to Earth and back without landing on Okton4. I told them you are in charge and if they have any complaints they should take it up with you. There is a certain Darrin Weaver who is leading the charge against you. He is a lightweight. I'm sure you can handle him. Go for his throat.

Uncle.

It wasn't long after that when another message arrived. It read:

Mister Walters,

You have exceeded your authority by sending a ship straight to Earth and back without making yourself available for checks by the Oktonian authorities. This is a grave breach of protocol. I will do my utmost to have you removed from your post and put before an Oktonian court for your insubordination.

Darrin Weaver

Co-ordinator.

I took both letters straight to Al.

"Tell me, Al," I said after he had read the letters, "who does Darrin Weaver report to?"

"That would be Fred Lang."

"Real names please, Al. No bullshit on this one."

"His boss is Niels Harkon, my brother."

"What kind of a man is your brother, Al?"

"A fair minded man, if that's what you are after."

"Thanks Al. That'll do me."

I went back and drafted a letter:

Okton 4 High Command

Attention Niels Harkon

Greetings Niels,




Offspring Ch. 036



I think I owe you an explanation.

I took a ship from Olympus to Earth to get some badly needed supplies. When on Earth I took delivery of certain hardware requested by your government. I returned to Olympus without delay. Your brother accompanied me on this trip.

Let me stress, my objectives are the same as yours. Your brother and I are doing our utmost to give you what you so desperately need.

There was no way I would risk to be anywhere near Federation control with the cargo I was carrying. Olaf and my specialists are currently assembling what you asked for.

I know what I have to do and I will do it my way. I will not tolerate any roadblocks put into my way by the likes of Darrin Weaver. I will deliver what I have promised. We have come a long way towards it. I think you are aware of this. Let us continue the way we are going for the benefit of Okton 4 and the Chang Corporation.

I have appended Mr. Weaver's letter so you know what is going on.

Frank Walters

Colonel, Olympus Colonisation Command.

PS. You can tell Mr Weaver that he has my solemn oath that I will put a bullet into his fucking brain if he ever crosses my path again.

I sent the letter off with a copy to the Tai-pan.

Hours later a message arrived:

I'm proud of you, Nephew.

Uncle.

Sometime later, another message:

Greetings Frank,

Thanks for telling me what is going on. Darrin Weaver will be enjoying a two year sabbatical in the mines. I've had enough of him. Maybe that will take his arrogance back a notch or two. My brother seems to trust you or he wouldn't have given you my real name. Look after him, he is very dear to me.

Niels.

Feng was in stitches when I showed him the letters.

"Put a bullet into his fucking brain? The old coot would have loved it. You've made his day."

"So, what's our next move?"

"A beer or two?"

It was a reasonable idea.



Offspring Ch. 037



She appeared in my cabin as I was getting ready to go to bed. At first I thought it was Mara, the same figure, the same eyes and facial features, except she was a lot younger. Not a day over thirty, I thought. I must have stood there looking like an idiot, staring at her. What threw me was that Talla had insisted that Feng and I were the only humans who travelled. But, there she was, evidently human and evidently travelling.

"You can call me Tikana," she said. 

By that time I had composed myself a bit and remembered my manners. I offered her a seat and a drink. She settled for a beer.

"Who are you, Tikana, and what brings me the honour of your visit?"

"My people refer to me as the Goddess. I thought it was time we had a talk."

"But you are human!"

"Remember when you travelled as a bull, a dragon and a little monkey? I am as human as that."

I felt like an idiot. Of course she could take on any form she liked. I had done it myself, as she correctly pointed out. I apologised for being confused.

"I have never been visited by a Goddess before," I stammered, still a bit flustered.

"Perhaps not, but you've fucked a few. Remember Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite ... shall I carry on? You weren't confused then."

"No, I wasn't. At that time I still thought of them as exciting and very realistic hallucinations. I wasn't until Lata that I discovered the true nature of travel. I doubt I would have dared to screw Hera if I'd known then that she was the real thing."

By that time Tikana had finished her beer. I gave her another one.

"Tell me, Tikana, what makes me and Feng important and why now?" I asked as I filled her glass.

"Brace yourself for a long story. I have to go way back into the history of my people if what I'm about to tell you will make any sense. I have suspended time around your cabin. We could spend weeks in here and it would only be a split second in your universe once you left this space. You already know about this."

"Yes, I do."

"Talla already explained some of this to you. My people experience things, learn things, have feelings and thoughts like every other living thing.

"I don't know if other creatures do something similar, but my people, throughout their lives, make a copy of everything they perceive and deposit it on a different plane. It happens on a subconscious level. Call it a racial record, if you like. This record of consciousness became very large over time and by processes I don't understand acquired sentience. I am that sentience. I don't know if the males of my race did something similar, mine is exclusively a female perspective, there are no male memories in the things that make up my racial consciousness. All I know about males of my race was put there by females, including me, once I became aware.

"The males of my race were thoroughly detestable creatures. They lived in bands in the forests. They only cared about two things, food and inseminating females. They built nothing, they grew nothing. The females lived in small communities, villages, if you like, where they raised their offspring and grew a few crops. Periodically the males would raid these settlements, inseminate what they could and eat some of the females and even their own offspring.

"This went on for a very long time. I was still in my infancy, if you wish, still accepting things for what they were without looking for alternatives. The change came when a group of women decided they had enough and wanted nothing further to do with males. They moved their village to easily defensible ground and built fortifications. The males had never met violent opposition before. When next they tried to raid the settlement they were bombarded with rocks by females on top of barricades. Many were killed or maimed. After three unsuccessful raids the males decided to move on to places where the pickings were easier and left them alone. 

"Our females can tell if a freshly laid egg will produce a male, a female or is infertile. The women in their isolated position noticed they were still laying eggs and that some of the eggs were fertile and could raise female offspring. They had discovered they were capable of sexless reproduction, parthenogenesis, as it is called by humans. Suddenly the males had become obsolete, or so they thought. The knowledge of this became widespread and females everywhere started to destroy eggs which contained male embryos. I was still young and inexperienced and encouraged this practice. Within a century there was no male alive on the planet. Everyone, including me, considered it to be a good thing.

"For a while things went well. With the constant irritation and damage caused by the males removed the settlements thrived. Production was at an all time high. Trade with the Darnaqs also increased. For a long time my people had known that the inedible parts of the plants we harvested were prized by the Darnaqs and that they threw away much that was edible by us. A trade developed over time benefiting both sides. At some stage it was suggested that perhaps a joint venture was better. The Darnaqs would plough and plant the fields and my people would tend the plants and harvest the crop. The roots and so forth would go to the Darnaqs, the to us edible parts would go to us. It was so successful that this method became standard all over the planet. Over time cooperation extended over many areas, both races did better than ever before. Everyone was happy.

"Then cracks started to appear. I was the first to notice that something was wrong. 

"Each successive generation was a carbon copy of the one before it. New born were exact replicas of their mothers. The entire race had become stagnant. That's when I realised that the males may have had something of value to contribute after all. The Darnaqs noticed it too. My people became more or less a servant race, only good for lowly labour. There was no malice involved, it was just the way it worked out.

"Then the humans arrived. I was overjoyed when the first hybrids appeared. After centuries of stagnation my race was evolving again. The new cross breeds had many desirable characteristics. They were more alert, more intelligent and more curious than their mothers. Their bodies too had evolved to a more refined form with many human features The most notable change the human type hand, which afforded better dexterity and enabled my people to perform delicate tasks that had been difficult or impossible before.

"Then problems arose. At around age four the young ones started to get sick. They became listless, dull and showed poor coordination. We didn't know what to do. Since only the cross breeds were affected we thought it might be some kind of human disease and asked Captain Harkon for help. He wasted no time. He sent a team of scientists to find out what the problem was. They must have been good people. In less than a week they had determined that the children's diet was causing the problem. The doctors called it lithium poisoning.

"They immediately took the children off our traditional food and fed them a type of bread they had made up of native tubers, grain the humans grew for themselves and river fish. Within days the children showed improvement. We were told that our food was too rich in lithium for their metabolism. They designed a diet that gave the children the lithium they needed without overdosing them. For the next twelve months they monitored the lithium levels in the kids and adjusted their diets as needed. There were no new cases and all the children that had been affected had recovered.

"The next problem that cropped up was the food supply. There are only a few areas on the planet where human type food can be grown, mostly narrow strips along riverbanks where the lithium had leached out of the soil. Now that grain had become an important part of my people's diet shortages developed. There was no satisfactory substitute for grain. The native tubers and roots did not supply the energy needed to maintain my people's health. Only the native seeds and grain could do that and there was now a limit on how much of the native seeds we could consume. This problem did not get solved until we discovered Pumpernickel and started to import it in quantity.

"One more problem showed up when the new hybrids reached maturity. They were not capable of asexual reproduction. In other words they needed human sperm to produce offspring. Most human males find having sex with my people repulsive. Sure enough, there are always some who don't care what kind of an orifice they stick their dicks into as long as they get their rocks off. There weren't enough of them to fill the requirements though, besides, a much larger gene pool was needed if the new hybrid race was to have a chance at all.

"By that time Captain Harkon had passed away. The people who were running human society were not as enlightened and liberal as the old man had been. They solved the problem by introducing harsh rules that regulated people's sex lives. Masturbation was banned, human to human sex was restricted to producing offspring and men were forced to inseminate a certain number of my people every year. Any breach of the rules was punished severely. This regimen still exists today.

"Then the Torgons arrived. By that time the virus they had released had wiped out the Darnaqs. My people had no defence against them. They were put to work under harsh conditions and treated cruelly. They were even killed for food. The humans had scattered and gone underground. They were hunted mercilessly. But the humans fought back. Many Torgons were killed, mostly by explosions set off by humans who seemed to appear out of nowhere, struck and disappeared as if by magic. This went on for about a year.

"The killing stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The Torgons arranged some kind of truce with the humans and negotiated a deal. I guess by that time the Torgons had found out they were doomed. The humans must have demanded a better deal for my people as part of the arrangements, because many of the cruelties inflicted on my people stopped. They also received more and better food.

"For the next ten years they loaded up all the large ships and aircraft they could find with ballast, took them out to sea and sank them, creating an artificial reef in the middle of the ocean. On this reef a huge concrete platform was erected. They made contact with the Federation via the humans and the spaceport was built by the Federation.

"Then the Torgons started dying. It wasn't pretty. In spite of what they had done you couldn't help feeling sorry for them. Thirty years after the invasion all were dead except for the ones on the ships. My people had been decimated. The humans started trading lithium ore for things they needed.

"The turning point for us came when we discovered Pumpernickel. Since my people had started breeding with humans, each successive generation had become less tolerant of native produce and more reliant on grain, which was in ever shorter supply. Pumpernickel changed all that. It contains no lithium, is palatable and very nutritious for us. Since then we haven't looked back. My people are more numerous now than they've ever been.

"The humans developed a drug, a mixture of aphrodisiacs and hallucinogens that make sex with one of my people exciting and desirable for human males. It is expensive and difficult to produce. We use it to attract more genetic variation into the pool. In the beginning we had lots of success with it. When the traders and the Federation discovered they were losing too many good men to us they started appointing homosexuals. Since then our supply of genes has been reduced to a trickle.

"Now we have one major problem left that needs solving. We must make sure the Torgons will never return to the planet surface. My people would be doomed if that happened. If the Torgons can retrieve their weapons they will take charge again. Only their fear is stopping them, as you know. That will not last forever. If they become desperate enough they will invade again regardless of the consequences. We must not let it get that far. I know you have a plan to stop that from happening."

"Is that why you chose me and Feng and allowed us to travel"?

"No. You are here because you are unique. Feng is here because I made him your companion."

"I don't understand."

"Remember when you first arrived and went to get your sex permit? Something happened then that changed everything. When the liaison officer gave you your first lesson she made a duplicate record of the event to reside within me as all my people do. What completely threw me at the time was the fact that you did too. There I had two records of the same event, one from her viewpoint, one from yours. That had never happened before. No alien creature had ever deposited a record with me.

"Here was my chance to learn something about human consciousness. From then on I was with you every time you had a lesson. Your trip with Linette was still part memory and part hallucination. Your trip with Miss Manning however was genuine travel. That's why unexpected things happened. This was fascinating territory for me because I was there watching the event and I could look at your perception of it at the same time.

"Every time you travelled I learned more about the way you perceive things and about the way your mind works. By now, a large part of your consciousness resides in me. That's why I can talk to you like this, from human to human. I will leave now, you have much to think about. Ask yourself if you want to fuck me."

"You want me to fuck you?"

"Yes, but it must be your decision. If we do this our minds will fuse in a special way. You will become part of me and I will become part of you. Be certain you want this before you decide to go down this road. Call me when you have an answer."

She disappeared as soon as she had said this. I poured myself a large cognac and downed it in one gulp. I needed it.

***

The next few days were busy. New buildings were being erected all over then place as Jack's stuff was being unloaded. The containers the goods were shipped in are especially designed for colonisation. They dissemble into parts that can be used to construct a variety of buildings. Nothing is wasted. Every bit can be put to good use. Centuries of development resulted in components which can be assembled into useful forms which are aesthetically pleasing when completed.

I tried to tuck my conversation with Tikana into the back of my mind for later consideration; rather unsuccessfully, I might add. It kept bothering me.

It was Talla who broke the impasse. She turned up one night in my cabin, took two cans of beer from my fridge, poured us both a drink, sat down and said:

"Talla knows the Goddess came to see Frank. Talla wants to help."

"How can you help? I take it you know what the Goddess wants me to do?"

"Yes, Talla knows. It is a big journey for Frank and for the Goddess to make. Neither of you will remain what you are now. The Goddess wants you and her to be a bridge between your people and mine."

"I don't understand."

"Talla's people have become part human. By nature of what she is that made the Goddess part human too. It creates a conflict within us because human consciousness does not come with human genes, only the possibility of acquiring it. Perhaps it is that which enabled Frank to share experiences with the Goddess. It is not a one way street though. The bond between Frank and the Goddess that developed from there allowed Frank a glimpse into our psyche. 

"Gradually Frank saw us as something different than dumb faeries and went out of his way to improve communication between the races. Not only did he accept Talla as an equal, he convinced other humans they should too. Trevor and his boys had no difficulty with that, they had worked with extraterrestrials before. Neither had the humans on Earth. They had no preconceived ideas about Talla and her people and accepted Talla readily into their midst. It took Feng and some of the others longer to change their minds about us, but in the end they did.

"The Goddess believes that a closer psychic union between Frank and her will enable my people to claim their humanity and give Frank's people a better understanding of us. She says a sexual union will bring that meeting of the minds about. There is no precedent for this and there may be dangers involved. That is why it has to be Frank's decision. The Goddess is willing."

"Pedro's fleet is arriving tomorrow. I need to work with him until he has his side of the bargain under control. I also need to brief Feng to enable him to take over in case something happens to me. Tell your Goddess I will do as she asks once I've done that."

***

The ships arrived on schedule. Pedro's people wasted no time. Within hours engineers were surveying the area where Pedro's town was to be built, crews unloaded some of the cargo and set up temporary workshops. Two days later construction began on the centre of town. The pub, the brewery, the community hall, a small clinic, the school and a play area for the children were the first facilities to be erected around a generous town square that was to have a fountain in the centre as a special feature. I was a bit surprised at this. I had thought that Pedro would start building houses for his people first.

"My people can live on the cruisers for now," said Pedro when I asked him. "As cargo is being unloaded conditions on the ships will become less cramped. The most important thing is that we maintain the social cohesion that makes our little society what it is. The townspeople need places where they can congregate. The rest can come later."

With so many people hard at work the project progressed quickly. Two weeks later the kids were back at school and the townspeople were drinking in the pub while workmen were still putting the final touches on the building. The brewery was in production, but it would still be a little while before fresh beer became available. In the meantime they drank the canned stuff. It was no great hardship.

There was much debate what to call their new home. Many names were suggested and rejected. It was the kids who said there could only be one name for the new town. They said it must be called Talla, in honour of their angel. The idea found resonance. Soon everyone started to refer to the settlement as Talla, long before the official naming.

***

Pedro had things well in hand. It was time to fulfil my promise to the Goddess. Part of me was excited, part of me was shit scared. It had to be done though. It was clear to me that I would no longer be human if the process worked. What Tikana proposed would change my perception in ways I could not even conceive. The idea to see the universe in the way Talla and her people did was immensely attractive to me, though it held its degree of terror. I remembered a passage in Carlos Castaneda's writing where Don Juan talks about the leap into the unknown. He maintained that only a warrior with an impeccable spirit could survive such a leap. If he did, untold realities would be open to him in which to act. I wondered if my spirit was impeccable enough for such a task. He also said that a warrior might be seeing the devil himself and be shaking in his boots, but he would not let anyone see that. If that is what he meant by being impeccable, perhaps I had a chance. I had made my decision, now was the time to live up to it. Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant. (Hail Caesar, those who are about to die salute you.)

I invited Jack, Feng Pedro and Juan to a meeting. We were in Pedro's briefing room. I told them about my conversation with Tikana and what she had proposed.

"I was told that since there was no precedent there for what she suggested, there was also no way of knowing what dangers might be involved for both of us," I said. "I have decided to go along with it because what is being offered here holds such great promise for both our races that it is worth the risk. You know what to do and will be able to carry on with this project should I meet my demise. Wish me luck."




Offspring Ch. 037



There was stunned silence after I had made my announcement.

It was Jack who spoke up.

"I have known you for a long time," he said. "Often I wished I had your balls. This time however I'm glad I haven't. Your mind is made up. I won't even try to talk you out of it. I wish you well."

He stepped up to me and gave me a hug

The others followed suit. No more was being said. I went to my cabin and called Tikana.



Offspring Ch. 038



Author's note.

Well, here I am again. For those of you who are waiting for it, yes, this time there is some sex happening. Enjoy the 'ride' and don't make a mess on the carpet. ;-)

Talemaster

*

Tikana appeared wearing a tight fitting emerald green gown. She looked delicious. Stepping up to me she took my head in both her hands and kissed me lovingly. I closed my eyes, enjoying her kiss, when I experienced a feeling of vertigo. When I opened my eyes again I was lying naked with her on a bed of blankets. It smelled like Earth. Looking around I realised I was on my special ledge above the creek. It was a lovely day, the sun was high in the sky.

"This is your power spot," she said, "you used to come here to be yourself. Until now you have never shared this space with anyone. It is a fitting place for our union."

Her smell and her nakedness excited me. I returned to kissing her, exploring her body with my hands. Her nipples were erect and hard and when I touched her flower she was wet. My dick was as rigid as a stick of timber, aching to enter that warm, velvety softness my hand was exploring.

"Make love to me. Now!" she whispered between kisses.

She spread her legs and I entered her slowly and lovingly when I struck an obstruction. 'She has given herself the body of a virgin' I thought.

"Come inside, all the way," she commanded.

"This is going to hurt."

"I know. Just do it."

I drew back gently and drove myself into her with a swift stroke until our pubic bones touched. I felt her virginity bursting. She gasped.

"Just hold it for a minute, let me catch my breath," she murmured.

I held it there until I felt she was ready for more and started to make love to her, slowly and gently.

We made love for a long time, much longer than I am used to. My excitement built up to heights I had never experienced. I could sense the same in her. Just when I thought I could not stand the intensity of feeling any longer the dam burst. In both of us.

The world disappeared for me. I was floating in a sea of ecstasy, colours were swirling around me, music exploded into a crescendo that left me paralysed. Then it was over.

When my senses returned I was floating in a darkness surrounded by a myriad of softly glowing jewels. Some were green, the majority were a faint yellow. It was beautiful. I felt happy and at peace. I could not sense my body.

"We did it," a voice rang within me. "Welcome to my world. What you are seeing are the records of my people. The green jewels represent people who are physically alive now, the others represent the departed and exist only in this space. But more of this later. Picture yourself in your cabin."

I did and found myself standing in my cabin with Tikana next to me. We were both naked.

"Get us some beer and let us sit down. There is much I need to tell you."

I did as I was asked.

"You are no longer what you were, but that was what we were trying to achieve. Your human body is dust among the stars. There is no way to retrieve it."

"So what is this then?" I pointed to my chest. "I don't feel any different. I'm still me." 

"This is your travelling body. You already know all about those."

"What is the difference?"

"Picture yourself as a dog."

The moment I did this I was standing in front of her wagging my tail. I quickly imagined myself in human form and I was back in my seat the way I had been before. I gulped my beer like a man who was dying of thirst and got myself another one.

"Convinced?"

"This is hard to take."

"You'll get used to it. You are still what you were, except you have now an added dimension. You no longer need sex to travel. Just picture where you want to go and you'll be there. Since your old body no longer exists it cannot pull you back the moment you reach orgasm. You need to picture where you want to go and in what form every time you travel. You will be able to have proper sex and ejaculate into someone like Cleopatra, though you cannot make her pregnant. You sperm returns with you when you go back to your own time."

"Why is that?"

"It is some mechanism that stops a time paradox occurring. Otherwise a horny devil like you could impregnate the whole Greek Pantheon just for fun. The whole time matrix would collapse if that were to happen."

"I am sterile then?"

"No, it just means you cannot father offspring in a different time to the one you live in."

"We are alive at the same time. Does that mean you could be pregnant now?"

"No such luck, Buster. I don't have a body. This body will dissolve when I return to my true form and anything you might have deposited inside will dissolve with it."

"Well, there goes that idea."

"There is one more thing I need to explain now. Close your eyes. You will see at your far right a pink membrane. If you move your consciousness to the right of the membrane you will perceive the world as we do. It will be very blurred at first, but it will clarify as your mind gets used to the new perspective. To the left of the membrane you will see the world the way you always did. By focussing on the membrane itself you will have both perceptions at once. Experiment a little and be prepared to be confused for a while."

I tried to do what she said but all I got was swirls of colour which seemed to be random. I felt dizzy.

"You must have patience and keep practising. And now I want you to fuck me again before I go. This human sex is wonderful. We have nothing like it. Insemination for my people is unpleasant, the joy is in laying eggs."

I would have liked to introduce her to sucking cock, but I thought it might be a bit early for that. I licked her pussy instead. She loved it and came off three times. Not as violently as before, but good enough for starters. As a grand finale I fucked her again giving her a pussy full of come in the end. It was good.

"I think we will do this often," she said, kissed me tenderly and vanished.

***

Jack, Feng, Juan and Pedro were in the Pygmalion's mess when I went looking for them. They were drinking beer.

"You've changed your mind?" said Jack when he saw me.

"No, all done and I'm still in one piece. She took me to her universe and showed me things. It took hours."

"You were only gone for twenty minutes."

"Time must be different where we were."

I gave them an edited version of what had happened. I left out the fucking and the thing with the travelling body, but I did tell them of Tikana's universe and the bit with the membrane in my perception.

"She said it would take time until I could see the world the way her people did and that I had to keep on practising. She said my mind must learn to assemble the information I am getting into a meaningful picture."

"You are alright then? No strange side effects?"

"None so far. She said everything had gone well."

"That takes a load of my mind," said Jack. "You are one crazy fucker. One of these days you'll take on some shit that'll really hurt you if you keep going like this."

"I'm not buying it," said Juan.

"What aren't you buying, Juan?"

"Your story. I'm not saying you've been lying to us, you wouldn't do that. It's what you're not saying that makes me jumpy. This is all very nice about better understanding between the races, wanting to see the world from their perspective and all that shit. No doubt it will be important in the long run and worth taking a few risks over. But it's not so important right now that you would risk your life and sanity over it; on the spur of the moment as it were. You'd have to have far more compelling reasons to take such a risk. Not only that, something has happened that put you under time pressure. Hence the rush. How am I doing, Franco?"

"You are right, Juan. I haven't spoken about it because I'm not certain I see this correctly. Still, now that you've brought it up I better fill you in.

"For some time I had been wondering how Talla and her people acquired their knowledge and skills. They have no schools, no training facilities, but they all know how to read and write and how to do certain tasks. Feng was with me when I asked Talla how that worked. Talla said it came from the Goddess. The Goddess, she explained, was the sum total of her people's consciousness, past and present. Everything her people had ever done, learned and experienced was vested in her. From that reservoir the Goddess could impart whatever skill or knowledge her people needed whenever she judged it to be necessary. She said the Goddess would approach me at some time and answer my questions.

"I reasoned that, if what Talla had said was true, the Goddess could tell us where the Torgons had hidden their weapons and shuttles and if we trained one of her people to fly a spaceship we could get as many pilots as we needed, virtually overnight. The only question was, would she help us? There was little I could do until the Goddess contacted me. One thing I could arrange and that was Talla's training as a pilot. I did that without delay.

"The Goddess, her name is Tikana by the way, is prepared to help. How far that help will go I don't know yet. I still don't understand what powers she has. When she offered to fuse minds with me I saw the opportunity to find out."

"That explains a few things," said Juan. "What I don't understand is why the rush all of a sudden. You've been patient so far. Why not continue in that vein and take things step by step?"

"It was something Tikana said that make me think we might not have as much time as we thought. She said: 'We must make sure the Torgons will never return to the planet surface. My people would be doomed if that happened. If the Torgons can retrieve their weapons they will take charge again. Only their fear is stopping them, as you know. That will not last forever. If they become desperate enough they will invade again, regardless of the consequences. We must not let it get that far.'

"That's when it hit me. We have no idea how desperate the Torgons are and how close they are to throwing caution into the wind and act. I had a long conversation with Talla later that day. Talla knew all about my meeting with Tikana. She clarified a few things for me. That's when I decided it was my turn to throw caution into the wind and make a move. The rest you know." 

"What do you think we should do now? How imminent is a confrontation with the Torgons?"

"I don't think there is an imminent problem. They will wait to get their computer. I don't intend to give it to them."

"Won't that kick them into action?"

"Not if we do it right. Say we have the computer running in about a month. We will then get Al to tell them he wants some further tests to make sure everything is as it should be. He'll suggest they send a team of scientists to Olympus and put the machine through its paces before it gets moved. They'll come at that. When the team gets here we'll start a scam. During the tests their experts will suddenly discover a new avenue of research that promises positive results within weeks. We'll feed the Torgons data that support this, all made up, of course. The reports will show they are getting so close that it doesn't make sense to take the machine to Okton4 and risk months of delays. They'll propose to complete their research here where they have all needed facilities. We then string the Torgons along until we take possession of the weapons. Once we have done that we'll bring them to heel. In the meantime we must give them the impression of imminent victory. A person with a strong conviction that success is around the corner will not do something desperate that is full of dangers. This allows us to control events and gives us the time we need."

"Assuming this works. Say we have arrived on the ground. Now we need time to figure out how to fly the shuttles. Perhaps quite a bit of time. What if they have some small fighters left. They'll attack. The Pygmalion is no match for that."

"We'll not go there in the Pygmalion. Initially I considered infiltration, but things have changed. We'll arrive in the four heavy cruisers we have just scored. I want the Torgons to see us coming. Surely we can organise the fuel we need for a short hop of ten light years."

"These ships are unarmed scrap!"

"The Torgons don't know that. They wouldn't be game to take them on. Two can play at the massive warships with empty hulls game. We'll set them down on the tarmac next to their shuttles to protect our band of thieves. They'll scream and kick and yell, but they'll leave us alone. We'll need to work out a lot more detail to make this convincing, but basically this is my plan."

"Remember when we were about to land on Olympus, Frank?" said Pedro. "At that time you told me you wanted to take over this entire sector and build a civilisation to rival the Federation. I figured you were either off your rocker or pulling my leg. I'm starting to think you were serious. What more, I'm beginning to think you may even pull it off. I can see your plan now. The Feds stay out of this sector because they believe it to be populated and heavily defended. You want keep the illusion going, bluff the Torgons out of the driver seat and take over. Simple as that."

"Essentially yes. Except for one thing. Once we take possession of the shuttles we'll have more fire power than anyone else in this neck of the woods. We won't need to bluff. What aids us in this whole scenario is that the Torgons don't officially exist. Neither does the human colony on Okton4. As far as the Federation is concerned Talla's people run the show and use a few human intermediaries as negotiators. Talla's people are the key to take over this entire sector. I have known this for a while.

"Take the following scenario. If tomorrow a delegation of Oktonians, perhaps headed by Talla, were to turn up in the spaceport and offer the Federation a better deal, such as lifting the ban on women and extraterrestrials and allowing their own to take up employment with the Federation, maybe even allowing limited access to the mainland. There is really no one who could stop it. The humans have pretended for two centuries to be the servants of the Oktonians. Any objection on their part would reek of rebellion. The Federation would be forced to side with Talla's people if a conflict developed. They, and only they, are the legitimate government of this entire sector, recognised by interstellar treaty. It must have been very tempting for the Torgons at the time to get the dumb faeries to front for their scam. They were easily controlled. Now this decision is going to bite them in the arse big time." 

"Look fellows," said Juan, "lets break it up. I am told that in half an hour's time the first draft beer will be on tap. I don't know about you guys, but I want to be there when it happens."

"Good idea," said Feng. "Let's be off then."

***

Over the next two weeks I tried to get a grip on the area Tikana had opened up in my mind. Gradually the apparent randomness of colours sounds and feelings coagulated into perceivable patterns. The world as I knew it was still there, but flooded with other things that appeared as flows, concentrations of energy, subtle vibrations and darkness where there shouldn't be any. If that was the way Talla's people saw reality, no wonder they had trouble perceiving the world as we did. I had no idea what these things meant. I tried to call Tikana without success. I told Talla about my dilemma.

"The Goddess will not come to you now," she said. "You must discover her within first. The darkness you speak of is your connection with her. You resent the darkness and are trying to get rid of it. This is what is stopping you. Embrace it, immerse yourself in it, love it without reservation, for it is the Goddess. Your perception will follow and your union will be complete. You must be patient. It will take time."

I tried to get her to explain what some of the other things meant I was experiencing. To that she said that once my perception had merged with that of the Goddess there would be no need for explanations. I would simply know. Anything she might say now would only add to my confusion.

There was nothing further I could learn here. I went to see Feng, George and Al to see how they were getting on with the assembly of the supercomputer. I was told that assembly was almost complete and the first tests could commence in a matter of days. This was far too soon for me. I needed to stall. It meant I had to reveal at least some of my plan to Al and George. I suggested we go to the pub, have a bite to eat and discuss what needed to be done over a few beers. 

The pub wasn't very busy at this time of day. We had no trouble finding a quiet corner where we could talk.

"Tell me Al, what does your brother actually do?" I said when we had settled down, "you can speak freely, everyone at this table knows about the Torgon scam." 

"My brother is in charge of external affairs."

"What does that entail, Al?"

"Essentially everything that deals with the outside world. Our export and import trade, the port authorities, the faerie workers in the spaceport, the negotiators, liaison with the Federation and the traders. All that is part of his portfolio. He also deals directly with the Torgons. His department is autonomous and senior to the mainland government. All his people are stationed in the spaceport, they are only allowed to travel to the mainland on rare occasions when it is necessary. The Torgons had insisted on this arrangement. It isolates the mainland government from external influences."

"How does your brother feel about the Torgons?"

"He hates them with a passion. By the same token he realises that he has to do their bidding for the time being if our people are to survive. For years he has been collecting intelligence about the Torgons for the day when an opportunity arises to free us from that curse. 

"Most of my people believe they can maintain the status quo indefinitely. They would not support a rebellion. My brother knows that this is an unrealistic expectation and that the day of reckoning must come. He and a small group around him are preparing for the inevitable confrontation as best they can."

"Thanks Al, I think we need to talk to your brother as soon as possible. Now let me tell you what I have in mind: 

"In my estimation the Torgons are getting desperate. They are running out of options. There is not much they can do from where they are, but they still have heavily armed shuttles and a host of weaponry stashed away. If they reach a point of no return they will claim those weapons and let loose; whatever the consequences. I intend to deprive them of that opportunity. Without their weapons they have to come to the negotiating table and we can work out a programme of orderly evacuation. They will have to drop their dreams of conquest and settle for survival."

I then told them how I intended to stop them from claiming their weapons by using our newly acquired heavy cruisers.

"They don't know they are facing empty hulls. Our job is to convince the Torgons they are up against a massive force. They will not be expecting us to pull the same stunt they have used against the Federation. The key point to my plan is to evacuate the Torgons, leave their huge ships where they are, man them with our people and keep the bluff going. This is the only way to stop the Federation from taking over. This way we can claim the entire sector and give the humans on Okton4 and Talla's people the freedom they deserve.

"I need time to put everything in place. We need to stall."

I next explained what I had in mind with the computer and the false information I intended to feed the Torgons to keep them at bay until we were ready to move.

"This has a chance," said Al. "The beauty of it is that it will not be a rebellion by my people, for which they might have contingency plans. It will be an attack by renegade forces from elsewhere. I doubt they are prepared for something of that nature."




Offspring Ch. 038



"Exactly. We will make it look like a raid by space pirates. They won't like it, but they won't feel threatened. Pirates are opportunists, they raid a place, steal what they can carry and piss off again. Only after we have control of their weapons will we tell them they have been usurped and who their masters are."

By that time the townspeople were arriving. The place was getting crowded. We went on to other things. 



Offspring Ch. 039



Author's note.

My apologies for having taken a while to continue the story. I have had a number of inquiries if I were to continue the story, or if this was it.

I fully intend to finish the story. It's getting a bit more elaborate than I thought at first. So far I have 115K of words and it doesn't look as if it is going to end tomorrow. I'm working on chapter 43 at the moment. Chapters 40, 41 and 42 will be posted shortly.

Happy reading and Thanks for your interest.

Talemaster

---------------------------------------------

The town square was finished. The fountain in the centre was little more than a shallow basin, about thirty feet in diameter, filled with eighteen inches of water. In the centre were six jets that shot water ten feet into the air. It wasn't much to look at, but the kids thought it was heaven. They'd splash around in it during the heat of the day amongst much screeching and carrying on. No one minded. The children had named the square 'Angel Square' and the fountain 'Angel Fountain'. They loved their angel. 

Talla went periodically to the school to tell the kids about her people. Her little lectures were so popular that adults started to sit in and they had to move her presentations to the community hall to accommodate everybody.

Houses were going up at the rate of three per day. It was a simple procedure to assemble the prefabricated modules. The biggest job was to connect the buildings to power, water and sewer. There were trenches everywhere.

Jeremy was in charge of construction. I found him in his site office. Pedro was with him when I arrived.'I asked Jeremy how he planned to provide accommodation for Talla's people.

"I've spoken to Talla about this. Their domestic arrangements are different from ours. They don't have families who live together. Instead they live in small communities, ideally ten to a dwelling so Talla tells me. All are adults. Their young live in hatcheries where the older kids look after the eggs and the little ones until they are old enough to leave and join a community somewhere. Anyway, back to their dwellings. These are little more than dormitories with ablution facilities and a laundry. They do not cook, eat or congregate socially in their homes. That is done in what we might call cafeterias. Anyway, to answer your question, this is the kind of thing I have in mind for them."

Jeremy brought up some images on his computer. They showed a fairly large central facility with two story houses grouped around it. There was a lot of bare ground between the buildings. Jeremy explained:

"The building in the centre is the cafeteria, if you wish. The buildings are simple, the dormitory is on the top floor, the toilets, showers and laundry are on the ground floor. I've shown the house design to Talla, she likes it. The empty spaces are for when we get a bit of greenery going. Talla tells me her people like to have lots of plants around them. I need more information on how to build the hatchery. I've made provision for the building, but that is all I can do at the moment."

"This is excellent work Jeremy, but we need to make some changes. What you have here is a ghetto. We need to break it up. These people have been isolated from the dominant society for a long time. First from the Darnaqs, later from the humans and Torgons. I doubt this separation was their idea. If we want to break this pattern and foster a greater understanding between the races we must integrate them into our society. Talla has shown us that this is not only possible, but welcomed by both races. She loves moving in our society as an equal. Our kids worship her, our adults love her. This is the way forward. Her people will be readily accepted into our midst. Let's build on that."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Put their houses amongst the human dwellings. Build a cafeteria that caters for humans and Oktonians. Let them live side by side with us; as equals."

"That's easily done. I won't have to change much at all, my general layout won't be affected. How soon do you want me to start construction?"

"As soon as possible."

"How many Angels are we talking about?"

"Angels?"

"That's what everybody calls them now."

"I must say it's a great improvement over 'dumb faeries'. Alright, Angels it is. I'm thinking of about two hundred in the short term, more later. Is that a problem?"

"Not really. We are only talking about twenty buildings, I can have them up in a week. I've got everything I need except the beds and the special plumbing fixtures. I could get our workshops to make them, but why bother? I've made some enquiries. On Okton4 they have everything we need in stock."

"What's so special about the beds and the plumbing?"

"As you know the Angels cannot get a proper rest on our beds. They have to lie face down, something that is very uncomfortable for them. Apparently the wings move all the time, even in sleep. Their beds are a kind of divan with one end raised. It is contoured to their bodies. They lie on it on their side, at an angle. The wings stick out over the side. Quite a clever piece of engineering, if you ask me. They don't have showers the way we do either. Instead they use a piece of flexible pipe with a small shower head at one end. They use a similar fixture on their toilets to wash themselves after they've done their business. Apart from that there are a few custom utensils they use for the preparation of their food, which we'll need for the cafeteria. That's all."

"Can you make up a list of what you need so we can order the stuff? Get in touch with Ben, he will tell you what we need in the way of food, say enough to feed two hundred Angels for three months. Add that to the list."

"Give me two days. Is that soon enough for you?"

"That'll be fine. Pedro, how much time do you need to get the Pygmalion ready for a trip to Okton4?"

"The Pygmalion no longer supplies power for the colony. The reactors on the cruisers do that now. I can get her ready in four hours. How soon do you want to go?"

"About a week from now, if I can. There are a few things I need to do first."

"Well, if there is nothing else, I'm off to the pub. Frank, Jeremy, are you coming with me?"

We did.

***

The pub was getting busy. I had a couple of beers with Pedro and Jeremy when I spotted Feng and Talla. I asked them to join us. Pedro and Jeremy soon went off to talk to some of their mates. When there were only the three of us left at the table I suggested we go to my cabin for a conference.

"I need to ask you some questions, Talla," I said when we arrived there. "First I must explain something to Feng, so bear with me.

"You were there when I explained the changes that had come over me after my union with the Goddess. There was something I left out. I couldn't tell the others because it has to do with travelling. According to Tikana, my human body is dust amongst the stars and is not retrievable. What you are looking at is my travelling body. I no longer need sex to travel, I can go everywhere my travelling body can, at will. I can also change form."

To illustrate the point I changed into a dog for a few moments and changed back.

"Shit, that's weird. I know I have changed shape while travelling, but to see it happening in front of me is something else. Quite disconcerting actually."

"It takes some getting used to, even for me."

"I bet. I wish I knew how that works."

"Talla can explain."

"You can?" Feng and I said simultaneously.

"Yes. All creatures have two bodies. In your terms you have a physical body and a dream body. The dream body exists on a different plane and is not subject to the constraints of time and form. When you dream you subconsciously put some of your life force into your dream body. Whatever the dream body experiences on its own plane of existence you can perceive. There is little or no control. All creatures dream.

"Talla's people have learned how to put much more life force into the dream body than is required for dreaming. This enables the dream body to become so solid that it can act on the physical plane outside the constraints of time and form. The Goddess has taught Frank and Feng how to do this. Your dream body became a travelling body.

"What the Goddess did to Frank was to tie his entire life force to the travelling body. She then destroyed his human body. To make the new arrangement permanent she exchanged part of Frank's life force with some of her own. That made him what he is today, part Frank and part Goddess as the Goddess is now part Goddess and part Frank."

I was stunned. Not because of what she had said. I had been thinking along these lines myself for a few days. What rattled me was the eloquence and precision of her elucidation. I asked her how that had come about.

"Frank's understanding of the language and his skill with words have become part of the Goddess. She gave it to Talla as a gift."

"I hope she left out the swearwords."

"Listen, you dumb prick, it's part of your fucking skill with words. Got that, Arsehole?"

While I stood there open mouthed Feng burst out laughing.

"Looks like she gave her your warped sense of humour too," he said, still chuckling, "This is going to be fun."

I have no idea where this conversation would have gone from here if Talla had not changed the subject by asking what questions I had wanted to ask her.

"I can't contact the Goddess right now, can you ask her something for me?"

"What is it that Frank wants to know?"

"I want to know where the Torgons have hidden their weapons."

"The Goddess doesn't know. She can go there, but she doesn't know where it is."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Frank is not thinking," she admonished me. "Did Frank know where on the map he was every time he visited Cleopatra? He went to see Cleopatra and got there, regardless of where she was at the time. Cleopatra was the focus which enabled Frank to travel, not a physical location. The Goddess has shown Talla where the weapons are kept. Talla has been there, but she doesn't know where the island is."

"Can you take me there Talla?"

"Talla cannot. Frank must go there by himself."

"How the hell can I go there when I don't know what the place looks like? I have no reference."

"Talla is right," said Feng. "Frank is not thinking! Remember when you wanted me to go to the library on the mainland? You took some pictures of the library and gave them to me so I would know where to go. Talla can do the same. Hang on a minute."

Feng left and returned five minutes later with the little camera we had been using. He showed it to Talla and explained to her how it works. He had Talla operate the camera and try the different settings. When he was satisfied she could operate it he showed her the rubber casing and explained what it was for.

"Is that how you and Frank got your pictures, by transporting the camera up your rear end to the mainland?"

Feng told her that had been the case.

Tallas wings fluttered like mad. She was having a fit of laughter. It took her a while to calm down.

Feng explained that it was the only way known to us to transport the camera and hide it from the Oktonian sex partner at the same time.

"It's not necessary to put the camera, or anything else for that matter, inside your body. It is sufficient to have physical contact with the item, but when you imagine your travelling form you must include it in that picture. The item will travel with you. You must do the same on the return journey or it will stay behind."

"How big an item can you take?"

"Talla doesn't know. You must try different things to find out."

"What will happen if I try to take something too big to take?" asked Feng.

"The item would stay behind, you would travel without it."

Talla picked up the camera, took it out of its casing, held it for a moment and handed it back to Feng.

"Connect it to your computer," she said. "It will give you what you need to know."

"What did you do, Talla?"

"Talla went there and took the pictures. And now Talla is going back to the pub, drink beer and talk to people."

With that she left.

***

Feng wasted no time to connect the device to his computer. Minutes later we watched Talla's footage. The first picture showed where she had landed. She was on what appeared to be the roof of a large airport building. There was enough detail for us to get there. Next she had recorded a panoramic view of the airfield with its hangars and the shuttles, which were parked on the massive airstrip. It was impossible to tell from the footage how many of them were there. Certainly more than a hundred. 

I had expected the shuttles to be all of the same type. This was not the case. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some were the size of the Pygmalion, many were larger, much larger. I expressed surprise at that.

"That makes sense," said Feng. "The Torgons had only one stab at this. They would have cobbled together a fleet of the best ships they had. You told me you suspected they would have sent the huge ships ahead and docked the shuttles in space after the mother ships had reached cruising speed. Under those conditions the varying sizes of the shuttles would have made little difference as long as the docking gear was identical."

"There is enough hardware here to conduct a major war."

"That makes sense too. They had no way of knowing what they would come across on their long journey. They would have made provisions."

"I wonder what made them pick Okton4 as a destination."

"The large lithium deposits perhaps. You know how scarce the shit is. If they use fusion reactors, as I suspect, they would need a lot of lithium to keep them going in the long run. It's required for the reaction. Secure lithium deposits, build a base and from there conquer an entire sector from a position of strength."

"I think you've hit the nail on the head. This is beginning to form into a coherent picture. Take the following scenario. The Torgons discover their world is doomed, a planet on collision course, perhaps their sun going nova, something they can't survive where they are. Say they have about a century before the shit hits the fan. The rich and powerful get together and decide to do a bunk. They don't tell their people of the impending disaster. They start building those huge ships. The vessels would have had to be assembled in space, you could never get them off the ground if they were built on the planet surface.

"One indispensable ingredient they need to keep their civilisation going is lithium. They send out scout ships. Eventually they find what they are looking for. The world they discovered is ideal. Not only is it awash with the lithium they require, it has a breathable atmosphere and ready made cities of some magnitude. Only the Darnaqs are in their way. Millions of them. They kidnap a few and develop a virus which makes the Darnaqs sterile. The Torgons don't target the Angels as they will make perfect slaves. They don't know about the humans, perhaps they haven't arrived yet.

"The fleet takes off. with a select section of their society, scientists, engineers, politicians, the wealthy, you get the idea. They will not want to attack the Darnaqs straight away. Let them maintain the planet while the ships are in transit. Say about eighty years before arriving they send a few shuttles ahead and infect the planet. The rest we know."

"A more than likely scenario, I admit," said Feng. "Knowing about it doesn't help us one bit though. Our immediate problem is that we need to show Pedro and Juan, perhaps Al as well, what we've got here without spilling the beans about travelling."

"Does the term 'Deus ex machina' mean anything to you?"

"No, what is it?"

"It's a device writers use when they have tied their story into so many knots that only divine intervention can resolve it."

"You mean like the cavalry arriving at the last minute out of the blue to save the fair maiden?"

"Something like that. I'll tell them the Goddess took me to the island and showed me. Gods are supposed to be able to do shit like this. I took a camera with me so we all can get an idea what is there. They'll buy it. What worries me more is how we'll locate the island."

"That's easy. You go over there and plant a homing device."

"Won't the device give the game away?"

"Not if we are smart and activate the gadget when the cruisers are already above the planet preparing for a landing. By that time the Torgons would have spotted us anyway so there is no further need for secrecy."

"Alright, that solves it. Now let's go and show Pedro and the others what we've got."

"Not so fast, Frank. The pictures Talla took with the arse-camera are all very nice if you want a general idea of the layout. It would be better if we had something that showed a bit more detail."

"What do you have in mind."

"You go there, Frank. I'll give you my best camera. You have a better idea than Talla what to look for. Stick to the roof of the terminal building, it'll be one of the few places where the Torgons won't have surveillance equipment. Look for surveillance gear and booby traps. My camera can pick out a fly at a thousand paces, it should give us a better idea of what we're up against."

Feng was right. Half an hour later I was on the roof. For the next two hours I took pictures. Following Feng's advice I concentrated on areas where surveillance equipment and booby traps were likely to be, I also filmed as much detail of the shuttles as I could. Having run out of interesting places to look at without shifting position I went home. The viewfinder of the camera didn't allow me to see much detail. That would show up when we had my pictures on the big screen and zoomed in on places of interest. I hoped I had something of value in the bag.

Feng had a quick look at my footage.

"This will take some time to analyse," he said. "No point getting into it now. We need to put a team together. Apart from the usual suspects I want George, Jeremy and Talla on the team."

"Talla?"

"Yes. At the moment she is our pipeline to the Goddess. We might need her help in clarifying a few things."

***

A week went by. Most of the cafeteria building was up, so were a few houses that would accommodate the Angels. Some of Pedro's people had already moved into their new homes. More dwellings were being completed every day. 

The analysis of my footage showed up some things of interest. We managed to identify the surveillance cameras. Two hundred years in the open without maintenance had taken their toll. They were caked with dust and grime, much of the cabling was torn. According to George and Feng the whole system was defunct. We managed also to identify some of the booby traps; energy weapons, powered by batteries and solar panels. We doubted the batteries could still be charged after all this time, besides, the solar panels were so dirty we decided this system was probably defunct as well.

"I don't get it," said Feng. "They've built those magnificent ships, both the monsters in orbit and the shuttles here. Every inch as good as something we can produce today. And yet, they used electronics and control gear that has been antiquated and obsolete in our society for centuries."

"Hallmarks of a totalitarian system of government, I think," said Pedro.

"What has government to do with it?"

"Typically everything. There was a major power on Earth in the twentieth century called the Soviet Union. Allegedly a communist state, it was in reality a brutal dictatorship run by thugs and party hacks. They threw money and resources at anything that made them look strong in the eyes of the world. The biggest tanks, the biggest aircraft, the biggest fission reactors, you name it they built it, as long as it was big and impressive. Much of what they produced was truly great. The flaws in their approach showed up gradually. Aircraft crashed, ships sank, nuclear reactors blew up, that sort of thing. 




Offspring Ch. 039



"In their zeal to built bigger and more impressive things than their rivals they had neglected the other technologies, like electronics for instance. There was no glamour in that. So they wound up with a state of the art rocket being controlled by electro magnetic relays instead of integrated circuits and sophisticated computers. It wasn't until the political system collapsed that they started to correct their approach.

"I think we are looking here at a similar philosophy. If it's not big and impressive don't spend much time and resources on it as long as it kind of works."

"That explains a few things. If you're right it will make it easy for us to figure out how the shuttles are controlled. Simple, straight forward circuitry, easy to trace."

"Alright fellows," I said, "there isn't much more we can do with this until we get there. Now we need to talk to Al's brother and get the gear for the Angels. That means we have to go to Okton4. Before we can leave I want George and Feng to do a little job for me."

"What do you want us to do?"

"I need a presentation I can show to Niels and perhaps a few of his people. Say, the bit with the missing heat signatures, the model we built, evidence of our presence on the mainland, the scam we worked with Commander Tiri and his fleet and this lot with the shuttles. Oh, and while you are at it, show a few pictures of what we are doing here and don't forget to include some shots of the four cruisers."

"That's simple," said George. "It'll be a cut and paste job. All we need is on file already. Give us about eight hours."

"Good. Any reason why we can't take off in twenty-four hours from now?"

"None I can think of," said Pedro. "I'll stay here. Too much to do. You and Juan can handle it without me. The gear for the Angels is on standby. The Chang Corporation is handling that end of it."

I went to see Jack to ask him if there was anything he wanted us to get for him while we were on Okton4. He said there was nothing, but I should check with Sergeant Conners in case he needed something.

Jack had put him in charge of the day to day running of the farm. It freed him to concentrate on his research. I found Trevor in the yard giving instructions to his workers. When I told him I was about to take off to Okton4 he asked for a conference.

We went to the worker's canteen in the farm house. Ben was busily preparing meals. He had a number of people helping him. He seemed content.

"My boys know what to do," said Trevor. "I'm taking the rest of the shift off. Let's get us some beer, this is going to take a while."

I had no problems with that. 

"What's bothering you, Trevor?" I asked when we had settled down in a quiet corner.

"Well there is the meteorologist and the chemist we brought with us. They are unhappy and want to go home. They miss the homosexual scene back on Okton4. Besides, we don't need them any more. Pedro has two meteorologists amongst his technicians and Ben is by far the better chemist."

"Ben is a chemist? I thought he was a cook."

"He's got a doctorate in chemistry. When I found out about it I asked him why he was cooking. He said that cooking was applied organic chemistry and that it fell squarely within his area of expertise."

"Fair enough. Alright, I'll take them with me and pay them out when we get there. Anything else?"

"Yes, my men and Doctor Finn want to settle here. All my guys have girlfriends over in Talla. One of them plans to get married soon. The good doctor is running Pedro's clinic. He likes what he is doing. You should talk to him before you leave, he's got big plans for this place."

"And you, Trevor, what do you intend to do."

"My place is with my men. You will need us when you go and explore the valleys. Jack told me what to expect there. I have been training a few volunteers. We'll have quite a little army if there is trouble. I want to go with you. I need some more rifles and ammo."

"You can't get those on Okton4."

"Says who? Not a problem if you know some big boys with low morals. You know how corrupt the Federation is. I can get you anything. It's only a question of credits."

"What? Even medium range space torpedoes?"

"About one hundred grand a piece, How many do you want?"

"Say ten."

"Give me a million credits in gold. I'll get them for you. I'll even get the rifles and ammo I want thrown in for free on a deal like that."

"Alright. Get your kit. You're coming with me."

"You go and have a talk with the good doctor. I need to see Jack to tell him I won't be here for a few days and brief my men. I'll meet you on the Pygmalion after I'm done."

***

Doctor Finn was busy. He was seeing a patient when I got there. I had to wait for half an hour. When I finally got to see him I came straight to the point.

"I take it you would like to stay here permanently, Doctor Finn."

"I am needed here," he said. "I like the people. I like the atmosphere. I am busy. I feel fulfilled. What more can a man want?"

"What is it you actually do?"

"This is a small town, Colonel. I am the local GP. Mostly we do small stuff. Treating cuts and bruises, the odd broken limb, looking after kids and pregnant women, about what you'd expect a quack to do in a small community. It's all very personal. I know most of my patients by name, they confide in me. Medicine at its best. There is just one thing that worries me."

"What would that be?"

"I am told you are going to bring a number of Angels here. I don't know anything about them. Sooner or later they will need treatment of some sort. I am not equipped to handle that."

"You need a crash course in Angel anatomy and physiology and some knowledge of species specific pharmacology."

"I know, but where could I get that?"

"Can you get away from here for a week or two?"

"I have a junior doctor helping me. She is very good. The nursing staff is as good as you'd find anywhere. They'll be able to cope without me for a while. What do you have in mind?"

"I want you to come with me to Okton4. There is an old pathologist on Okton4 who might be able to help you."

"You are talking about Dr. Patel, aren't you? I know of him. He is brilliant. He knows much that would be helpful. He and his partner Dr. Schaeffer. They both work for the Federation though. I doubt they would be allowed to talk to me. The morgue and the path lab are security areas, off limits to the likes of me."

"Leave that to me. I know them well. They would be delighted to help. As far as the Federation is concerned, I can get clearance. Tidy up your affairs here and meet me on the Pygmalion in about eight hours. Can do?"

"No problems. See you there."

There was nothing further to do for me so I went to the pub for some draft beer. Feng, Talla and Al must have had the same idea. I joined them.



Offspring Ch. 040



Talla was flying the Pygmalion under Juan's watchful eye. She was doing alright. Juan did not have to interfere. When we were about two hours out of Okton4 Juan took over. He was going to land her himself.

While we were in space I had briefed Trevor on the whole operation. I had shown him the footage we had prepared for Niels and explained how I was going to take over the shuttles.

"The space torpedos are insurance against something they might still have up their sleeves." I concluded. "This is still very tentative, Let's see what Niels has to offer by way of intelligence before we draw up final plans."

"My men and I will follow wherever it might lead. You can rely on us."

An hour before landing I addressed everyone on the bridge.

"This time we'll arrive low key. No uniforms. Civilian clothes everyone. I have arranged with General Nakov a berth in the Federation area. They'll look after the Pygmalion like the last time, so we can all go straight to the hotel. Al, you'll arrange a meeting with your brother. Feng and Juan, you'll arrange the loading of our supplies. Trevor, you have your orders, report to me when you have some firm arrangements in place. Doctor Finn you come with me. We'll go and see General Nakov as soon as you have your gear stowed in your room. Talla, keep Niphi company until I return. Notify the Tai-pan that we are in town and that I will talk to him later tonight. That is all."

Quarantine was a breeze. The Pygmalion had been very thoroughly examined on Earth and nothing suspicious had been found. In addition we had submitted the results of our own tests on Olympus. As a consequence Olympus had been declared a low risk world. They took some air samples and some swabs of the hull and some internal fixtures, an hour later we were cleared to disembark. I paid the meteorologist and the chemist, they couldn't get away quickly enough. I suspected both would have very sore rear ends within hours. Each to his own.

I had expected Nakov to baulk at my request to allow Dr. Finn access to the Oktonian cadavers so I was surprised when Nakov gave Dr. Finn an ID card and asked Arden to introduce him to Dr. Patel.

When we were alone in his office he said: "I was initially annoyed at your request. You know the Oktonians only allow authorised people to go near their dead. I had no idea how to approach them about this. Then I noticed you had sent a copy of your request to their headquarters. An hour after receiving your letter I had a phone call from their top man, a certain Fred Lang. He told me that they are pleased you go to so much trouble to make sure their people are well looked after. He confirmed the authorisation in writing. I had never seen them so accommodating. You seem to have a good hand with them. Relations between us and the Oktonians have never been better. We're almost on friendly terms now. I don't know how you do it."

"Look Ivan, I want to tell you something. It might come in very handy down the track, but only if you don't tell anyone about it. If it gets around it's not worth a pinch of shit."

"You've made me curious, you have my word. I'll keep it to myself."

"Alfred Dalrymple's real name is Olaf Harkon, the man you know as Fred Lang is Niels Harkon. The two are brothers and very close."

"Now that is handy to know. It makes Al Dalrymple a direct, informal communication line to the top of the tree. Thanks very much. I owe you one."

Nakov went to his fridge and came back with two cans of beer.

"How is it, Frank, half the time when we have a talk I wind up breaching regulations?"

"Because you are as big a pisspot as I am?"

"There is that," said Nakov and laughed.

***

When I got back to the hotel I ran into Feng. I asked him into my office.

"Tell me, Feng, where can I buy a million credits worth of gold under the counter?"

"It'll cost you some in bribes and fees. Ask Mr. Wong, your friendly and very accommodating bank manager. He'll fix it up for you."

"Is he safe to deal with? If this thing blows up the shit will hit the fan in a very big way."

"Look, Frank. Either tell me or don't tell me what this is all about. It'll be cool with me either way. Just don't fucking cock tease me."

"Sorry, Feng. I was going to tell you anyway. I'm just a bit jumpy about it right now."

"What are you trying to buy with a mil in black market gold?"

"Ten medium range space torpedoes."

"Here on Okton4?"

"Yes."

"Trevor is getting them for you?"

"Yes."

"It'll have to be Federation gear, they are the only ones who have shit like this in this neck of the woods."

"That's what I reckon."

"Then you're fairly safe."

"How do you make this out?"

"Only top brass can do a deal like that and get away with it. It's called the executive pension plan. Ordnance is there to be blown up. In battle, on fleet exercises, on expiration of use-by date. One little bang and millions of credits are gone. After the event it's only the paperwork that tells the tale.

"Get the idea? Doctor the paperwork and you have millions in assets which don't officially exist any more. Sell the shit and you're rich and not dependent on a Federation pension, which isn't all that generous, even for senior officers they tell me. The trouble with that system is they have to find a buyer, not an easy thing to do in this shitheap of a spaceport.

"You turn up with a shitload of gold. The ordnance goes to an area outside Federation jurisdiction. That's as sweet a deal as they are ever likely to get. They'll pull out all the stops to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"What if they just take the money and tell us to fuck off?"

"Sometimes you're really thick. Bear in mind the torpedoes cost them nothing. Now, along comes a guy who is paying big money for them. Whoever it is is not going to decorate his garden with it. He's going to use it. After ten bangs he'll need some more. Would you fuck up what could easily turn into a long term arrangement over one lousy mil when you got the shit for nothing? They'll want happy customers who'll come back for more, not people who'll bear a grudge and are likely to do something that gets the whole scam undone."

"So what do we do?"

"We'll wait until Trevor gets back. He'll know when and where we have to deliver the gold. In the morning you and I go to the bank and get the gold on standby ... and now we better get Talla and go to the bar. Uncle will join us in an hour or so."

"You want to take Talla?"

"Yes, Uncle asked for her to be present. He could scarcely believe it when I told him Talla had flown the Pygmalion. He is very excited about the possibilities this opens up."

Uncle was at his jovial best when we met up. After we had exchanged pleasantries he told Feng and me he wanted to talk to Talla on her own for a while. Feng and I went to the other end of the bar and left them to it. Uncle joined us an hour later, he was on his own.

"I said before that I believed you had a better insight into these people than anyone I've ever met, Frank," he said. "I no longer need to believe that. I know now you've been right all along. Tell me, how do you see the role of the Angels in our venture?"

"Sooner or later we will have to set up some form of government on Olympus. I want the Angels to be full and equal partners in the running of the planet."

"I am not adverse to that idea. Nevertheless, I would like to hear your reasons for such an arrangement. You evidently have thought about this a great deal."

"Apart from being much smarter than people give them credit for, the Angels have two qualities that make them unique as a race. Qualities that are highly prized, but thin on the ground normally. I am talking about their legendary honesty and loyalty. This is the stuff empires are built on. A state who can rely on the honesty and loyalty of its citizens can do anything."

"Do you have a specific form of government in mind?"

"Yes. I want to set up a constitutional monarchy."

"With you as king, I suppose."

"No, my role lies elsewhere. I can think of only one man who has the qualities and experience demanded by such a position. 'King Chang the First of Olympus' has a rather nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Are you nuts, Frank? I can't be a king."

"My dear uncle, you already are. What is a Tai-pan other than a king? You are the undisputed leader of a large, successful organisation, you have ruled for many years with foresight and compassion, you have the loyalty of your staff. What more do you need to be a king?"

"We have to talk about this some more, but not tonight. For now lets enjoy a few drinks and sleep on it."

***

By morning I still hadn't seen Trevor. In spite of this Feng and I went to the bank to make sure the gold was on standby. It was a real eye opener for me. Mr Wong asked us into his office and after a cordial greeting Feng came straight to the point.

"Mr. Wong," he said, "we need a million credits worth of untraceable gold to be used as payment to corrupt Federation officers."

"It will cost you an additional twelve percent in fees and bribes. This covers everything, including the handing over of the gold. Let me explain to you the procedure we use in such cases:

"You will withdraw the entire amount including fees in cash. That is where the official involvement of the bank ends. How you explain the withdrawal in your own accounting is your business.

"Next you will put the cash into one of our deposit boxes. This box is officially empty. I will give you a key and a security card that allows access to the box. My people will exchange the cash for the required amount in ten ounce gold bars.

"When you meet your business partners you will hand over the security card. This allows them to verify with me the contents of the box. Upon completion of the deal you will hand over the key and that ends your involvement."

"How can I be sure that the money goes to the right people?" I asked. "I take it anyone who possesses both card and key has access to the gold. What is to stop some underling from ripping his bosses off?"

"A transaction this size can only be done by one of two people in the Federation. Both are known to me. Anyone else would not be able to collect and would be in deep shit for even trying, as the colloquial saying goes."

We did what we were asked to do.

"I couldn't believe my ears when you told Wong what we were doing," I said to Feng when we were having a beer in one of the bars down town.

"Within the framework of what they do, Wong and the people he deals with are honourable gentlemen. They require two things, scrupulous honesty and secrecy. They must know exactly what they are involving themselves in. Once they agree to a deal they'll stick to it to the letter. The system wouldn't work otherwise."

"What happens if someone talks or tries to get the better of them."

"Believe me, my dear cousin, you really don't want to know."

***

Al and Talla were having lunch when we got back to the hotel. We joined them.

"I went to see my brother earlier today" said Al. "I didn't tell him much. I would rather leave that up to you, Frank. I did tell him about Talla and how she piloted the Pygmalion. I don't think he can get his head around that at the moment. He seems to think you deceived me into believing she really piloted the craft. At any rate, he wants to meet you as soon as possible."

"I know it's short notice. Can you ask your brother if he can see me in my office at four in the afternoon for a briefing and have dinner with us afterwards? If he can't make it get him to suggest a suitable time."

"Give me a moment. Let me make a telephone call."

Al left the table and returned after five minutes. 

"All set," he said. "He'll be there."

We left for my office a short time later, Al stayed behind. While we were waiting for Niels to turn up Trevor popped in to inform us that the deal was set. I explained the procedure to him regards the gold and handed him the security card. I kept the key for the time being. He said he would keep me informed and went to make arrangements.

Niels was punctual. I introduced him to Talla, Feng and Juan.

"Before we get into any discussion, Niels, I want you to see a presentation I have prepared for this occasion. After that we all know what we are talking about."

Without waiting for an answer I rolled the footage. I could tell Niels was stunned by what he saw. When it was over his face was ashen and his hands shook. I poured him a large Cognac and urged him to drink it.

"Before we go anywhere," he said after he regained control of himself, "I need to know who on the mainland is helping you. How many of my people know of this?"

"No one over there does. Your people know nothing of this, not one of them helped me."

"I find that difficult to accept."

"Tell me, Niels, which one of your people could have told me where the shuttles are kept and taken me there?"

"There is no one. But how? Where did you get all this stuff? It seems you can come and go whenever you please."

"That is true, Niels. I can move around on Okton4 at will. The best part of it is that apart from my little group of insiders and now you and your brother no one else knows about it. I could get rid of the Torgons right now. If I showed the Federation what I've just shown you the Torgons would be a little footnote in the history books and this entire sector would become part of the Federation in less than a week. For Talla's people and for you and your mob that would probably be a worse fate than living under the Torgons. I will not let this happen."

"What are your plans then?"

"Within the next few months I will bring the Torgons to heel, man the big ships with Talla's people and keep the bluff that is keeping the Federation out of this sector going. This way we can build a worthwhile society free of Torgon and Federation tyranny. For this I need your help."

"What can I do?"

"I need to know more about the Torgons. What kind of creatures they are, their true state of affairs, how many of them we have to contend with, that sort of thing. Your library is remarkably quiet on the subject, we don't even know what they look like."

"Before they died out they obliterated all references to themselves from our records. You won't find anything there. I have a lot of intelligence that would be useful to you. The question is ... do I want to put the fate of my people in your hands?"

"What choice do you have? You have no allies. The Torgons are rapidly approaching a situation where they have to act, regardless of consequences. We all know what will happen when they find out that there is no virus any more. I am the only chance you have."

"But you have only a handful of people."

"I have a whole nation backing me. Talla's people will be solidly behind me. I have the word of their Goddess."

"Don't make me laugh. What can the Faeries do?"

"Ask Juan, he taught Talla to fly a spaceship. Ask Trevor, he trained Talla to be a soldier. You know nothing of what these people are capable of. Talk to your brother. He knows. He trained with Talla.

"I know you have a lot of responsibility. You need time to think. Let's go and have something to eat. Maybe a few drinks afterwards. We'll meet tomorrow or the day after and talk again. It'll give you a chance to digest what you've learned."

***

The next week was busy. Trevor's arrangements were coming to a close. The weapons were on board of the Pygmalion and I handed the key that would give access to the gold to Trevor who would pass it on after he was sure everything had been supplied as agreed. Dr. Finn was happy with the training he had received from Dr. Patel and Dr. Schaeffer. Talla had recruited twenty Angels who would come with us to Olympus. She had done well. Amongst her people were two Oktonian healers who were what we might call herbalists and who could also set broken bones. Dr Finn was delighted. They would find a place in his clinic. She had also recruited the Oktonian liaison officer from the hotel. I was happy with that, she had shown herself to be a cut above the rest in my dealings with her. 

The Tai-pan was getting used to the idea to be our future king. I had a sneaking suspicion he was actually looking forward to it. Niels had brought four of his senior staff and asked for a briefing. I showed them the footage I had shown to Niels. They were nowhere near as surprised as Niels had been, evidently they had been briefed on what to expect and simply wanted to see for themselves what we had. In essence they agreed with my plan to take over, but they were more than a little concerned with my gung ho approach to the problem. I explained to them my plan of making my attack look like a raid by space pirates.

"They'll leave you and your people alone. You have nothing to do with it, they think you are helping them. Besides, pirates only steal, they don't invade. They might not even bother to attack us, if they have anything to attack us with left. Once we have the shuttles under control we have more than enough fire power to bring them to heel if we can't get them to see reason."

"They might fall for your bluff," said Niels. "It's one hell of a gamble though. If they do mount an attack, however small, you'll be a dead duck with your four unarmed cruisers."

"Who says they are unarmed?"

"Look Frank, I know the history of those cruisers. The Federation would have never sold them to you if there was even a smidgeon of ordnance left on them. They are much too paranoid to let something like this happen."

"True. On the other hand I have an awful lot of money. You'd be surprised how much military hardware you can buy on the black market if you have a hundred million credits in your kitty. Also, the shields on those ships are purely defensive, that's why they were never dismantled. I had my engineers check them and do needed repairs where necessary. They are fully functional. Believe me, they can take one hell of a pounding."

"Now that changes the equation quite a bit in our favour. I'll talk it over with my top people. I'll let you know what we've decided before you leave for Olympus."

We left it at that. I took Niels and his people to have a meal and a few drinks. When they departed I had the distinct impression they would support us in our venture.

I was ready to go to my room when Trevor turned up. He reported that everything had gone well. Our trading partners were happy with the way things had worked out and told him we would be welcome if we decided we needed more. We had a couple more drinks.

"I need to ask a favour," said Trevor after the first drink.

"Alright, out with it."

"As you know when I joined the expedition I had four of my soldiers with me. I wasn't very keen on this deal, but you had asked for only five men and you don't say no to the Tai-pan, so we went. My full platoon is fifteen men, including me. I had to leave ten of my soldiers behind, very reluctantly I might add. They are currently working as security guards and are very unhappy about it. To make a long story short I have talked to them and told them a bit about Olympus. They understand that at the moment my men work on the farm and do a bit of soldiering on the side. To a man they decided they would like to join if it was at all possible. They are good men, Frank. I'd love to have them back."

"Go for it, Trevor. Your recommendation is good enough for me. Pay and conditions the same as your other men. Arrange for some uniforms. We'll leave day after tomorrow. Book rooms in the hotel until then, if necessary."

"The uniforms are already on the Pygmalion," said Trevor with a grin. "I knew you'd say yes."

***

Niels and Al had called early and asked for a conference. I invited them to join me for breakfast.

As expected they told me that they had decided to join the alliance. Niels handed me a memory module.




Offspring Ch. 040



"This is what we have on the Torgons as well as some other bits and pieces that might come in useful. Al is fully briefed on the contents and is ready to help clarify things where needed."

"Thanks, Niels," I said. "Nothing overt is going to happen for quite a while. You will be fully briefed on any attack well before the event. Al will sit on the committee that makes all the decisions as a full member with an equal say. I hope this is satisfactory for now."

"Yes, that'll be fine."

"Tell me, Niels, where do your freighters come from? They look and behave awfully like the freighters we use."

"That's because we buy them on the open market. Traders bring them in with cargo. The hyperdrives are removed and destroyed after arrival, we take them to the mainland, make some cosmetic alterations and incorporate them into our fleet. The Torgons will not let us have any ships equipped with hyperdrives and monitor closely their removal and destruction. It is meant to stop us from leaving the planet."

"That explains a few things. I had always thought your freighters were of Federation construction."

"Now you'll understand why we don't let the Federation go anywhere near them."

"Before we break up there is something I need to tell you. The Tai-pan knows nothing of our alliance or of my plans to deal with the Torgons. I don't want him to know until the Torgon shuttles and armaments are under our control. I suspect you, Niels, will get an invitation from the Tai-pan soon. He will want to meet you and sound you out. Be careful what you say to him."

"I read you loud and clear, Frank. I'll watch my step."

***

We had our by now traditional meal scheduled for 3PM. There were around fifty of us and we didn't want to occupy the dining room when it was busy with the lunchtime crowd. The management appreciated this.

We had decided to turn up to our farewell lunch in uniform. Trevor had new fatigues for everybody, including his men and Talla's girls. He had arranged for new patches. They were identical to the old ones except they read now Olympus Colonisation Command. My uniform, in addition to the colonel insignia sported pilot's wings. He explained he had included them for Juan, Feng and myself because we were qualified pilots. He had also given Talla a set of wings, which was perhaps pushing it a bit. He said he was making a statement. When Talla turned up in her new uniform Trevor whispered to me: "Look at the way her wings move. She is as proud as shit."

I was nowhere near as good as Trevor in reading Talla's wing movements, but even I could see what he meant. Talla had once said she wanted to show everybody that she and her people were good for more than serving drinks and cleaning toilets. The wings on her chest gave a clear message that this was so.

After lunch I was having a few drinks with the Tai-pan and Dr. Chang in the bar. Talla was talking to a group of spacers who were buying her beer.

"Have a look at this," said Dr. Chang. "They are treating Talla like a fellow officer. I would have never believed I would see something like this in my lifetime."

"It doesn't surprise me," I said. "Spacers meet many extra terrestrial pilots on their travels. As far as they are concerned she is one of them."

"It is good to see. Soon there will be many like her, ready to take their rightful place in society. Few things will stay the same. Not before time if you ask me. You are making a lot of difference, Cousin."

"Cousin?"

"We have the same uncle. That makes us cousins. Does it not?"

"I guess so. I feel very honoured to have the revered Dr. Chang as a cousin."

"Alright, then allow an old scholar to give you some advice, Cousin. You have started a revolution. The Angels are coming into their own. They are discovering self worth and ambition. They will want to change things. Many of them will no longer be satisfied with being only the lowly servants of another race, they will want to move on. The poofterocracy that controls things here in the spaceport will not like it. There will be trouble. Better be prepared for it. Martin Luther King, an American civil rights leader of the twentieth century, once said: 'Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' That's what you will have to deal with here before there is any kind of permanent peace."

"I have no intention of dealing with it here. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as an old Earth saying goes."

"Here it comes," said the Tai-pan, who had been quiet up to now. "Brace yourself for one of Colonel Walters' famous scams."

"Actually, Uncle, this time its no scam. It's strictly in accordance with established protocol and interstellar law."

"Go on, this I got to hear."

"Tell me, who controls the spaceport?"

"The Federation does, subject to a treaty with the Oktonian government."

"The local Federation personnel get their orders ultimately from Federation High Command on Earth. Correct?"

"Yes it is."

"The Oktonians, that means Talla's people, are the recognised government of this sector. The humans are only negotiating on behalf of Talla's people, the Torgons don't officially exist. Still correct?"

"In theory, yes, but ..."

"Not in theory,. The humans and the Torgons, if the Federation ever finds out about them, have no legal standing whatsoever."

"I'll go along with that."

"Alright, now imagine this: I turn up with a delegation composed of twenty of Talla's people and a couple of accredited human negotiators at Federation High Command and propose some amendments to the original contracts. First and foremost, the lifting of the ban on women and extra terrestrials, then the removal of the clause prohibiting Oktonians to work for the Federation. As a sweetener I was thinking to offer conditional access to one island to serve as rest and recreation area.

"They would go for this like a shot. According to Bernice Schreiber, senior anthropologist at HQ, the top brass have been unhappy for a long time with the exclusively homosexual staff on Okton4. They would dearly love to change that if they could. I will propose an immediate replacement of 50% of the personnel with heterosexual males and women. Once the new amendments are signed into law we will inform the public of the changes."

"The Torgons will be furious, what do you think they'll do?"

"What can they do other than scream? They can't come out into the open, it would be suicide. We are safe from them. They put the dumb faeries up as the government because they thought they were too stupid to take over. Now I'm going to fuck them over royally with their own policies."

"Well, Frank, I must say this is a good plan. The Chinese community and most of the traders will welcome these changes. So when is this going to go down?"

"First I need to train my ambassador and the delegation. I'll start in on General Taubner and let him know I am trying to convince the Oktonian Government that these changes are in the best interest of all. I also need to install an Olympus embassy here. I'll get Taubner to help me with the accreditation. There is a lot of detail that needs working out. It'll take three months or so to get everything together."

"Anything you want from me?"

"Yes. If you can, find me a freighter to serve as shuttle between Okton4 and Olympus. I don't want to keep using the Pygmalion for supply runs."

"Leave it with me, We need to be off now. Good luck."

We shook hands and that was that.

***

Next morning Juan and Talla readied the Pygmalion for departure. We took off just after lunch.

While we were in hyperspace Juan and I were having a beer in the mess when Juan asked: "Alright, Franco. What kind of shit do you have in those four containers that weren't part of our scheduled cargo?"

I waved Trevor to come to our table.

"Trevor, tell Juan what you've got in those four boxes."

"Twelve medium range space torpedoes, a shitload of guns, ammo, flame throwers and grenades, a few land mines, shit like this." Trevor was grinning from ear to ear.

"Twelve torpedoes? How come? We only ordered ten."

"They come four to a container. The boys on the other end didn't want to fuck around with taking two out and then having to put extra packing in and perhaps getting caught doing it."

"What are the flame throwers for?"

"I thought they might come in handy if we want to clear an area to set up camp in the valleys. Gets rid of the nasties real quick."

Juan blanched. "I'm glad you didn't tell me. I would have shit myself had I known. That's why I didn't ask when I noticed the extra containers." He finished his beer and went to get another one. I think he needed it.

Fourteen hours later we touched down on Olympus. Talla had flown the Pygmalion all the way again. Juan didn't like anyone but himself landing the ship, he took over when we were just above the planet. Talla had performed her duties well and Juan was full of praise for his pupil.



Offspring Ch. 041



It was midday when we arrived. Unloading started almost as soon as we had touched down. The first boxes to be unloaded contained what Jeremy needed to complete the house where the Angels would live. He assured me the place would be ready for occupation in less than five hours.

When Talla arrived at the town square with her girls all pandemonium broke loose. One of the kids ran up to Talla and told her they should stay where they were. The kids positioned themselves in front of Talla's group in neat rows, many of them were dripping wet, having come straight out of the fountain. There must have been a hundred kids there. They all sang a song of welcome to their Angels, conducted by one of the teachers. They must have practised this a lot since the performance was flawless. Adults had come out of businesses and houses to watch. When they were done there was roaring applause. Talla thanked the children and at a sign from the teacher the kids went back to what they had been doing.

Talla took her girls to the pub to sample the draft beer she had been telling them so much about. The girls loved it.

Pedro was having a quiet beer with his brother when I arrived in the pub.

"We've been playing arms dealer I heard," said Pedro. "It must have cost a fortune."

"Not really. I paid one mil in black market gold plus hundred and twenty 

grand in fees and bribes. The shit would have cost the Feds ten times that."

"You gonna get some more?"

"That depends on what we find out about the Torgons. Niels gave me a lot of stuff I haven't had a chance to look at yet."

I had made some copies of Niels' material. I handed Pedro and Juan each a memory stick.

"Have a good look at it and then we'll discuss whatever it is that turns up new."

I told them about my plans with the embassy and my wanting to amend the deal the Federation had with the Oktonian government and how I intended to deal with the poofterocracy in the spaceport.

"Poofterocracy? As in bureaucracy run by poofters?" Pedro was beside himself laughing. "Who on Earth came up with that one?"

I told him Dr. Chang had coined the word.

"Good on the old bastard. I would have never though it to come from him. I love it."

"Now I need an ambassador. I don't know if you remember Mira. She was the Oktonian liaison officer at the hotel. She is here. Mira has a good touch in dealing with humans, even drunk and obnoxious spacers. I think she would be excellent for the job. I want you, Pedro, to coach her in the art of diplomacy. Will you do that?"

"I could do with some help. She can do some secretarial work for me and I'll coach her as we go along."

I called Mira over and introduced her to Pedro and Juan.

"I want you to work for Pedro after you have settled in. You will help him with some secretarial work and he will teach you how diplomacy works in a human society. When you are ready I want you to head an Oktonian embassy I will set up in the spaceport. Would you like to do that?"

"Frank wants Mira to be an ambassador for her people?"

"Yes."

Mira did a little war dance like I had seen Talla do when I told her I wanted her to come with me to Earth.

"Mira will do as Frank says. Mira loves Frankie," she said when she was through with her routine.

I had no idea what this Frankie business was all about. Maybe that was what the Angels called me amongst themselves.

After another couple of beers I went to my cabin on the Pygmalion. I was tired and slept well in spite of the noise from the unloading of our cargo.

***

I didn't feel like spending the day behind a computer and have a look at Niels' material so I went to see Jack instead. I had never seen him happier. He seemed to have shed twenty years and was hopping around like a young goat. Jack took me around to show me where he was at. By now he had four hundred acres under cultivation at various stages of growth. His early plants were already over six inches tall. The highlight of his guided tour was the greenhouse. He had extended it with a tunnel. It was a simple frame covered with translucent plastic foil. Some sixty feet long and about fifteen wide it was crammed with pots containing what looked like twelve inch sticks with a few leaves on them. 

"Australian eucalyptus trees," Jack explained. "They can handle the conditions here. Their tap roots go very deep, well into our water table. I'll only need to water them until they are established, after that they'll look after themselves."

"How come they're already this big?"

"We bought them like this. They were grown on Earth by the Federation's Forestry Commission. They grow them in sterile green houses from tissue cultures for export to other worlds. Guaranteed free of diseases and parasites. It's their biggest seller because those trees thrive almost anywhere, grow fast and make good timber."

The greenhouse proper was also full of pots, but with a number of different plants growing in them.

"Flowers and shrubs," Jack explained. "They'll brighten up the landscape. Talla got me some seeds and tubers from the mainland on Okton4. She reckoned they would do well here. Don't ask me how she got them. I'm just happy I can play with something I haven't come across before. Let her keep her secrets. The rest are plants from Earth and some other worlds I had brought with me."

We concluded the tour by having a drink with Ben in his lunch room. That had been extended too. It could now hold fifty people at a time with ease. In addition he had added a terrace with tables, chairs and umbrellas where people could dine 'al fresco' if they so wished. Ben said that a number of people came over from Talla most days to sample his cooking that's why he needed the extra space. 

By now I was feeling guilty for not getting stuck into Niels' material. It was time I made a move.

I had hardly returned to my cabin on the Pygmalion when Feng and Talla came to see me.

"Let's get a move on, Cousin. You no longer live here."

When Feng said that I noticed for the first time my gear was not in the cabin any more.

"What the fuck happened?"

"Talla and I got us something a bit more comfortable."

"Alright, what have you done?"

"Remember the building we put up to assemble the supercomputer? Anyway, I thought it would make a good base for us. I had Jeremy extend it, offices downstairs and living accommodation upstairs. It's next to the farm and Ben's diner so its really handy if you want a drink or a meal. While we were on Okton4 Talla had her girls pack up our office gear and load it on the Pygmalion. They worked like crazy to get everything installed. The place is ready."

"Just one question. Why over there and not in Talla, say next to the pub?"

"Because Talla is the capital of the Principality of Juanpedro. We need to have our administration, however temporary, in the Kingdom of Olympus. It's a question of sovereign territory. I talked it over with Pedro and Uncle. They both thought it was the proper way to proceed. At the moment it doesn't mean much, later it will become a different story."

"Good thinking. Let's make a move then."

The new building was everything Feng had said it was and more. The living quarters upstairs were self contained units with an en suite bathroom. Feng, Talla, Al and myself would live there for the time being. We would be comfortable. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to recreate my office the way it had been back on Okton4. Even the beer in the fridge was cold. Naturally we had to have some.

Then it was time to get into Niels' material. It fell into three categories. The first segment was mainly space footage of deliveries the humans made to the Torgons. All deliveries went to the same ship without exception. The commentator explained that the Torgons had presumably modified one of their ships to act as a decontamination station to ensure all goods received were free of the virus before the cargoes were transferred to the other ships. For this purpose the Torgons used four shuttles which had either been cleaned up or had never been on the planet surface. There were a number of shots that showed the shuttles clearly as being of Torgon construction. Presumably these things were capable of travelling in hyperspace and were armed. This was not good news, for it meant that, depending on how these ships were fitted out, I had no chance to put them out of commission with twelve lousy torpedoes. But that was tomorrow's problem.

The second segment was a breakdown of all goods received by the Torgons over the last twelve months. This was useful information. It would give us an idea how many of the creatures we had to contend with and what they relied on for survival. As expected much of the cargo was Deuterium and Lithium for the fusion reactors and food, mainly Pumpernickel, roots, tubers and eggs. Talla explained that her people laid many eggs that were infertile. These eggs were collected, preserved in some fashion and sent to the Torgons for consumption.

The third segment was a surprise to us. It consisted of the diaries of a Colonel Justin Emerson who had led the guerilla war against the Torgons and who had negotiated the deal which caused the uneasy truce between Torgons, Faeries and humans that existed to this day.

To me this was pure gold. Here was a man who had actively fought the very creatures I was up against and had prevailed against them in some fashion. His experiences and observations would be invaluable to me. I decided to start with his diaries, Feng and the others could look at the rest of the material for now.

Colonel Emerson's diaries were a handwritten record of some thousand pages in length. Luckily his handwriting was neat and orderly and presented no problems. I made a copy and asked one of Talla's girls to get two copies printed out for me. This way I could carry it around wherever I went and study the document at my leisure. The second copy I intended to give to Trevor.

I had expected to see some photographs of Torgons amongst the material, but all there was were shots of them in spacesuits, which didn't tell me much. I wondered what that meant. When I asked Al about this over dinner he said that no one in living memory had ever seen a Torgon in the flesh as it were and if photos existed of them from earlier times he had no idea where they might be kept. He had never come across a photograph, neither had he met someone who claimed to have seen one. As far as he knew the only reliable information they had of the creatures came from Colonel Emerson's diaries. Of course there were stories from the time of the invasion, but they either described the Torgons as super beings or the devil incarnate, depending on who was telling the tale. The Emerson diaries were classified information, only accessible to a few.

"I have no idea how my brother managed to get his hands on a copy," he said. "If the mainland government ever found out about this he would spend the rest of his life in the mines or worse."

"Tell me, Al, why do you think that is?"

"My brother and I have discussed this at length on a number of occasions. We came to the conclusion that our government wants contact with the Torgons only under strictly supervised conditions by only a handful of people. To the masses they foster the belief that Torgons are immensely powerful supernatural creatures who hold our lives in their hands and are only approachable by a chosen few. Something like this anyway."

"Why would they do that?"

"In every society there are people who worship the dark forces. There are those who would sell us out to the Torgons without hesitation if they could figure out how to get in touch with them. There are temples on the mainland where people pray to the Torgons for deliverance. That is why the only equipment capable of communicating with them is in the spaceport in an area off limits to the Federation."

"It was your own government then who has carefully purged the records of all information about the Torgons?"

"So it would appear, Frank."

"Thanks Al, this clarifies a few things for me."

***

I had a restless night. Until Al told me I had not known how far Niels had put his head on the chopping block by giving me the information he had. I had to tell the others, just in case someone said something somewhere to the wrong people.

It was dark when I got up eventually. These sixty hour days were hard to get used to. I had breakfast at Ben's. Talla, Feng, Al and Trevor were already there when I arrived. I told them we had to have a conference as soon as possible.

I phoned Pedro and informed him what I had in mind. He promised to arrange for Juan, George and Jeremy to be in the meeting room on the Pygmalion in two hours time. The Pygmalion wasn't a bad choice for a meeting of this nature. No one would overhear us there. I said so and told the others.

Having still some time up my sleeve I went to my office. Tami, our new receptionist cum house mother, had been working through the sleeping period by the look of it. On my desk were the two copies of the Emerson diaries, as well as the memory stick I had given her.

I thanked her and told her to go and get some sleep, but she insisted she was alright and made me some coffee instead. There was a communication from the Tai-pan on my desk as well. He had found a freighter on Earth he thought was suitable for us. About four times the size of the Pygmalion it was an older model but in good shape. The engines were not terribly efficient by today's standards, but since we were using it mostly for short hops the extra fuel costs were not too much of a burden, so Uncle explained. I had Tami print out the specs to show to Pedro, Juan and Talla, then it was time for my meeting.

Outside temperatures were around freezing, normal for this time of day. I was wearing my fatigues with long thermal underwear so it was no hardship. The others must have had similar ideas for all were in uniform. I had to laugh when I saw Pedro and Juan. Both wore the insignia of a spaceship captain as well as their wings. The funny bit were the patches on their arms. They showed a Mexican golden eagle, sitting on a prickly pear, devouring a snake. The emblem of Mexico when there was still such a country. The legend surrounding the eagle read Principality of Juanpedro. Actually, it looked great and I said so. That's when I noticed Jeremy and George wearing the same patches.

I opened the meeting by explaining Niels' predicament and the need for secrecy.

"I had to bring this up," I said. "You guys wouldn't talk to outsiders about this, I know. However, we will need to bring other people into the project as time goes by. We need to be sure whom we will tell what to make certain Niels is safe."

"It is better we know," said Talla. "Tami has seen the diaries. She is safe. She will never talk about what happens in the office. You can trust her."

"How do I fit into this?" asked Jeremy.

"You are the best engineer we have on Olympus. The first segment of the material shows space footage of deliveries. It contains close up shots of the big ships, Torgon shuttles, docking manoeuvres and so forth. I want you to go through that footage with a fine tooth comb and glean as much technical information as you can."

"Not a problem."

"Trevor, here is a copy of Colonel Emerson's diaries. He conducted the guerilla war against the Torgons two hundred years ago. You are the soldier, see what you can do with it."

"Sir."

"Alright, before we close the meeting there is one more thing. The Tai-pan has found a freighter for us. I have the specifications here."

I handed a copy of the specs to Pedro, Juan and Talla.

"I want to know what you guys think before I give the go ahead. Discuss it with Talla, since it will be her ship. Give me a call when you've come to a decision."

"Talla will get her own ship?" Talla's wings indicated confusion.

"Not much point training you to be a pilot without giving you a ship. Is there?"

Talla did one of her little war dances again. It took a while for her to calm down.

"Talla loves Frankie," she said.

"Seeing it will be your ship, what are you going to call her?"

"There is only one name," she said. "Talla will call her 'Tikana' in honour of the Goddess."

"Good choice. Now let's break up, I'm thirsty."



Offspring Ch. 042



After the first two pages it became obvious that this was no ordinary diary. No diarist starts off with a short autobiography for a start. Colonel Emerson had evidently meant it to be a record for posterity.

At the time of the Torgon invasion Emerson was forty-six years old, married with two teenage children and head of police in Dorivar, which turned out to be the city Feng and I had visited. At the time of his birth the Darnaqs were already doomed. No offspring had been born for decades and the end was in sight. The Darnaq population of around a billion had dwindled to around ten million by then, huge tracts in the cities were empty, infrastructure was breaking up, supply problems arose. When it became obvious that the cities could no longer be maintained, one city after another was closed down and the survivors, human Faerie and Darnaq moved to Dorivar. By the time Emerson was in his twenties there were less than a million Darnaqs left, all elderly by now. In addition there were about two million Faeries and around fifty thousand humans. More than half the Faeries were working the farms surrounding Dorivar and along the rivers where they grew human type food, mainly grain.

Emerson had joined the police force by then. Originally the police had only few human officers, the vast majority being Darnaqs as the Faeries were unsuitable for such duties. By now the police force was exclusively staffed by humans, the surviving Darnaqs being too old or infirm. Ten years later there were no Darnaqs left.

Emerson was in his thirties now. He had quickly risen through the ranks in spite of being a rather controversial figure. The controversy arose because he was one of a group of people who publicly advocated that the demise of the Darnaqs was a prelude to an invasion by hostile aliens and not a natural tragedy as was generally believed.

This theory gained some credibility over the years as scientists claimed that the virus could not possibly have evolved on the planet. By analysing the initial spread of the disease they also stated that the simultaneous outbreak of the epidemic all over the planet could not be attributed to a natural event. The logical conclusion was that the planet was under attack.

Emerson had been advocating for a long time that preparation for an invasion was necessary and prudent. The police force had never been armed with more than batons. Crime was rare and their main duties were traffic control and crowd control at big public events, attending accidents, sorting out squabbles between neighbours and so forth. Emerson wanted to increase the size of the police force and have them armed. He also proposed to create arms caches and storage of provisions in specially constructed underground facilities that could accommodate a large number of people, if necessary.

There was no shortage of resources. Just about any commodity imaginable was lying around somewhere unused. There were also miles of disused underground railway tunnels that could be modified into bomb proof shelters with comparatively little effort. In addition there were thousands of Faeries who had moved to Dorivar and had little to do because the Darnaqs they had served no longer existed.

In spite of the fact that most people still considered an invasion unlikely Emerson's ideas found resonance. There were two main reasons. There was a growing group who thought that perhaps being prepared for invasion wasn't a bad idea. Better safe than sorry, they reasoned. By far the largest group believed that having a huge idle population was unwanted in the extreme and that Emerson's plan put these people to work on something that arguably was important and desirable. It would have a positive effect on society, whether the fears were justified or not.

Emerson was promoted to Colonel and made head of police with the mandate to implement his plans. He was thirty-five.

Colonel Emerson wasted no time. There had never been a war on the planet. The Darnaqs were a laid back, peace loving bunch and although personal fights occurred at times, organised violent confrontations between groups were unknown. The Faeries were so placid they never bickered, even amongst themselves. The only knowledge of war and warfare came from Captain Harkon's records.

Being an ardent admirer of Harkon and being somewhat familiar with human history he appointed a committee to go through Harkon's library and records to find as many references to warfare and especially guerilla warfare as they could find. He knew that only guerilla warfare against an invader had any chance at all if a confrontation became necessary.

He trebled the size of the police force and started training them in guerilla tactics. Captain Harkon's weapons had been locked up for a long time on the old man's orders. Emerson opened the vault and started copying them in one of the idle engineering works. He produced rifles, handguns and grenades and trained his people in their use. He also trained special groups in the production of bombs. The Darnaqs had been producing explosives for use in quarries and mines for a long time. These facilities were reopened and put into production.

Meanwhile work on the railway tunnels had started.

***

When the Torgons finally arrived Colonel Emerson was as ready as he ever would get. Where the term Torgon had come from no one could say with certainty. Some said it was the Faerie word for shit, but the Faeries denied that this was so. It didn't matter, that's what they were called. 

Emerson held his horses and evacuated as many of his people and Faeries as he could into the underground facilities and awaited developments. Many were unwilling to go, thinking they could come to some arrangement with the invaders. It was not to be.

The Torgons could speak Darnaq. They had evidently studied the language to be able to boss the Faeries around. And boss them around they did. They put them to work in the most cruel fashion. When the Faeries did not understand what they wanted, instead of clarifying the situation they cut their wings off, dragged them in chains through the streets, ripped the clothes off their bodies, impaled them, roasted them alive over an open fire and consumed them when they were cooked.

In spite of these atrocities there were still humans who believed they could arrange some sort of deal. They put a delegation together who approached the building they thought accommodated the Torgon headquarters. 

The Torgons panicked. They had evidently not expected another sentient species on the planet and opened fire on the newcomers without enquiring what they had to say. All humans were killed.

To Colonel Emerson this was tantamount to a declaration of war. He decided to teach them a lesson. The building where the murders had occurred was a forty story waterfront building. It had once been an upmarket hotel. The Torgon elite seemed to have made its home there, judging by the amount of activity around the place. The icing on the cake was the main sewage line that ran past the building only thirty yards away. It would not be too difficult to dig a tunnel from the sewer to the basement of the hotel, pack it with explosives and send the whole structure to kingdom come.

The Torgons worked in ten day cycles. On the tenth day they had what appeared to be a rest day. That is when they had their Faerie roasting parties on the terrace of the hotel. On the day before the event they set up fifty braziers and filled them with charcoal in preparation for the feast. Torgons came from everywhere to partake in the festivities. On these days the place was crowded.

The Colonel decided to hit on feast day. It didn't take long to dig the tunnel and on the eve of the Torgon feast they breached the wall to the basement and spent all night stacking their explosives. Emerson wanted to make a statement and used far more than was necessary to bring the building down.

He waited until lunchtime, the height of the festival, to set off his charge. Watching from a safe distance, even Emerson was amazed at the destruction they had wrought.

When the explosion went off the entire forty story building went three hundred feet into the air as if shot from a cannon. For a fraction of a second it just hung in mid air, turned slightly and went crashing down to earth, killing thousands of Torgons in seconds. Gas and water mains burst, a huge area around the crater where the building had been was in flames and looked as if a meteor had hit it. 

"It looks like we've made our point," said Emerson dryly when the dust settled. "Now we've got to tell these arseholes what we want and what we are prepared to do if they don't come to the party."

He was addressing about three hundred of his followers in on of their bunkers.

"I want you to catch me three or four of the blighters and bring them to me. If possible, don't kill anyone when you capture them. I want to send them to their high command with a message, so don't damage them too badly. Andreas, grab your platoon and get moving. Try to get someone with a bit of standing in their community. You have fifteen hours."

"Sir."

Less than six hours later Andreas and his men turned up with three prisoners. The larger one of the three, presumably the male, was dressed in what seemed to be an elaborate uniform.

***

Colonel Emerson describes the encounter in his diary:

It was the first time I had a close up look at a Torgon. Though covered in fine green scales, the head of the creature reminded me of the head of a pig I had seen in one of Captain Harkon's books. It was only the long pig like snout with its tusks that gave that impression, the rest was quite different. There were four eyes, one upper and one lower pair situated above the snout about four inches apart. The creature seemed to be using only one pair at a time, the lower pair being closed when the upper pair was looking and vice versa. The alternating use of the eyes for no discernible reason made me feel uneasy. There were no ears I could make out. The Torgon had two arms and hands with three fingers and and two opposing thumbs, also covered with fine green scales. Loose fitting clothing hid the rest of the creature from view. The Torgon was angry.

"Animal," he yelled at me in Darnaq, "you will immediately release us or I will have you all killed."

Andreas stepped in.

"You will not talk to our Colonel like this, Arsehole," he yelled, "is that understood?"

To emphasise his point Andreas hit the Torgon as hard as he could on the tip of the snout with the flat of his hand.

The Torgon froze. He just stood there and after a small pause started shaking like a leaf. I could not make out if the creature was shaking with rage or fear.

Andreas hit him again and yelled: "I asked if that is understood. I will keep hitting you until I get an answer and you behave yourself in front of our leader."

"Don't hit me again," the Torgon whined, "I will do as you say."

"Well, this cunt is as yellow as they come," commented Andreas. "I wonder if they are all like that."

I addressed the Torgons in Darnaq:

"I am Colonel Justin Emerson. I am the elected leader of the humans here.

"You have killed a number of my people without reason. They came unarmed to you to talk, but you attacked them without enquiring what they had to say. This act was a declaration of war. In retaliation I have destroyed one of your buildings, causing thousands of casualties as well as widespread destruction of property.

"Any attack on my people will be swiftly followed by retaliation. We will show no mercy and take no prisoners.

"The Faeries have been good and loyal servants to us for nearly two centuries. Any criminal acts against them will invite retaliation as if it were an attack on us.

"You will as of now stop the following atrocities: Killing of Faeries, cutting their wings off, impaling and roasting them, consuming their flesh and beating them with hands or implements.

"In addition you will provide enough food and accommodate them in decent dwellings.

"From now on we will only communicate with you or receive communication from you in our language. We will not speak to you ever again in the language of our friends whom you have wiped out in a cowardly attack. Get the Faeries to teach you our language or use them as interpreters.

"We will only negotiate a truce when all the above conditions have been met. In the meantime we will kill as many of you as we can."

I handed the Torgon a document where it stated the above in Darnaq and Federation Intergalactic and instructed him to take it to his leaders. I also handed him a photograph of myself so his superiors could see who they were dealing with.

***

If the Torgons took any notice at all of Colonel Emersons conditions at that time is not known. The atrocities continued unabated. Emerson hit the invaders wherever he could. He staged dozens of hit and run attacks with few casualties on his side. His impact on the Torgons was devastating. Thousands died. This went on for some four months. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the atrocities stopped. Colonel Emerson held his attacks.

The Faeries saw the Torgons as evil. They only did what they were forced to do and remained loyal to the humans throughout. Just how loyal they had been Emerson found out when the Torgons sent a delegation of Faeries to him to negotiate a truce. The Torgons, suspecting the Faeries knew more about the humans than they admitted to tried everything to get information. They offered incentives and resorted to torture and killing when that didn't work. The Faeries played dumb. In the end the Torgons decided the Faeries simply weren't bright enough to have noticed or remembered much.

"I was utterly astounded," writes Emerson in his diary, "when I realised how the Faeries had strung the Torgons along in spite of the many sacrifices they were forced to make.

"The best part, however, was when I found out that, unbeknownst to the Torgons, the Faeries had picked up their language and were fluent in it.

"We had known for a long time that the Faeries have a real talent for picking up languages. According to Captain Harkon they were proficient in Federation Intergalactic long before the Darnaqs were able to hold a simple conversation. No one had taught them.

"The Faeries filled us in on the real situation in the Torgon camp. The invaders spoke freely amongst themselves because they thought no one could understand what they were saying. To my surprise it wasn't my attacks that was forcing them to the negotiating table.

"According to the faeries the Torgons had brought a sickness to the planet that had wiped out the Darnaqs. They actually bragged about it. Then they realised that the sickness had changed and was affecting them very badly. They knew that if they could not come up with a cure very soon they were doomed. They needed help."

Colonel Emerson went on to explain that the Torgons, going through Darnaq archives, discovered the humans had been the technological and scientific elite on the planet and weren't part of the indigenous population. Captain Harkon and his successors had never made a secret of where they had come from and that they were stranded with no way to return home. It was all recorded somewhere. That's how the Torgons found out about the Federation and a technologically advanced civilisation that rivalled their own.

The Torgon proposal was simple. They would guarantee that what the humans had called atrocities would stop and that there would be no further attacks against human or Faerie. In exchange they demanded that the humans would submit to Torgon authority and work for them as directed.

Emerson answered with a counter proposal. He would stop all attacks if the Torgons would allow the humans and one hundred thousand Faeries to settle on Teridor Island. The island would become an autonomous zone without Torgon presence where humans and Faerie could build heir own society in peace.

I took this to be the Madagascar size island where I had detected a lot of activity.

The Torgons rejected his proposal outright.

Emerson played hard to get. For the next two years an uneasy armistice hung over the planet only sporadically interrupted by Torgon attempts at a permanent solution. In the meantime the Torgons had found out that apart from being unable to breed the disease was cutting down their life expectancy dramatically. Time was running out for them. The Faeries kept Emerson informed of the desperation in the Torgon camp.

Colonel Emerson decided to take he initiative. He informed the Torgon leadership in their own language that he was fully aware of their predicament. He repeated his demand for an autonomous zone. In exchange he offered to re-open the academy on Tiaran Square where human and Torgon scientists could work together in a spirit of cooperation to find solutions to the problems confronting the Torgon nation.

There was pandemonium in a hurriedly convened assembly where the human proposals were discussed. Many held that giving in to the demands of an inferior species was tantamount to losing face and an insult to the Torgon concept of honour. For a while it looked as if they would win the debate.

The turning point came when Taq-Vau-Tan, the Dean of the scientific community, addressed the meeting.

"A scientist finds knowledge where it is to be found," he said. "Many of the diseases who were killing our people would still be with us if our scientists had thought it dishonourable or beneath them to examine putrefying bodies or piles of faeces. Many scientists have lost their lives, their health and their sanity in pursuit of knowledge that was ultimately beneficial to our society. Many sacrifices were made for the greater good.

"From what I have read the same holds true for human scientists.

"The problems confronting us cannot be solved by political means. Only science and intensive research has a chance to provide a cure. I believe I speak for the entire scientific community when I say that I would rather take the advice of a human scientist than a Torgon politician when it comes to finding a solution to our ills.

"Give them what they ask for and let us work together. What else is there that can give us hope?"

There was still much discussion and disagreement, but in the end common sense won. Emerson's proposals were accepted.

Emerson was smart. Without delay he opened up the academy and staffed it with his best scientists as a gesture of goodwill. Taq-Vau-Tan was delighted and put his best people in. The academy became a world of its own. For the next year academics were teaching academics. Both sides by now were proficient in Torgon and Federation Intergalacic. Humans were studying Torgon mathematics and technology, the Torgons were learning human sciences. At the end of the year they held a conference.

By now it had become clear that they did not have the resources required to solve the problems confronting them. Torgon engineers were perhaps the best in the universe. No project was too big for them. In some of the other sciences they were woefully behind. The humans reasoned if they could enlist the help of the Federation they might be able to acquire what they needed. Human technology here was two hundred years behind the Federation. There was no telling what might have been developed in the meantime. given their resources. They decided to make contact.

It was easier said than done. The Torgons had hyperspace transceivers of a primitive kind, not capable of crossing a thousand light years of space. Captain Harkon's transceiver was far more sophisticated, but not powerful enough. It had not been switched on in two hundred years but was still in excellent condition since it had been kept in a sealed cabin on Harkon's ship filled with an inert gas to stop deterioration. Captain Harkon, thinking one day it might be needed, had made provisions.




Offspring Ch. 042



Taking Harkon's transceiver, some Torgon parts and some specially manufactured ones they managed to put a working device together capable of crossing the distance. There was jubilation in the academy when the first Federation transmissions were heard.

Neither humans nor Torgons fancied a Federation takeover. Torgon politicians came up with an elaborate plan, what Feng and I, two centuries later, would call the Oktonian scam. They decided to build an island in the middle of the big ocean on the western hemisphere, fifty miles in diameter. The humans laughed at the idea, they didn't believe it could be done. Torgon engineers proved them wrong.

They filled everything that could float or fly with as much ballast as it could carry, moved it to the target area and sank it, creating an artificial reef. On that they build their island. Five years later it was completed.

They had known from the humans that lithium was a prized commodity in continual short supply throughout the Federation worlds. Using the vast lithium deposits as bait they contacted the Federation and offered a supply under certain conditions. A year later a Federation cruiser arrived to start negotiations.

How they explained the human negotiators who dealt with the Federation on behalf of the Faeries is not known. Perhaps no one cared. At any rate, a deal was struck and led to the conditions we know now.

A decade or so later no Torgons were left alive on the planet. Colonel Emerson does not talk about that, perhaps he himself was dead by then.

There was a lot more detail in the diaries, but for the moment I had seen enough.



Offspring Ch. 043



The Olympus day was dawning, soon it would warm up. I went over to Ben's diner to get something to eat. I had just finished my meal when Talla turned up with a folder in her hand. She sat down, ordered a beer and handed me the papers.

"We are agreed," she said, "the ship is suitable for what we need. Pedro is unhappy with the communications equipment. He has already arranged with the Tai-pan to have it replaced with something of his choosing. Apart from that she is fine. She'll be ready for pick-up in three days. Pedro wants to know where we go from there."

"Wonderful. Let's go and see him."

An hour later we sat with Pedro and Juan in the pub.

"Well,we've got ourselves a ship," said Pedro. "What do you want to have done with her?"

"I want her to be registered to Olympus Colonisation Command. Name: Tikana. Home port: Talla/Olympus. I also want her to take on a cargo of Pumpernickel and have her delivered to Okton4. I take it the ship still has a captain and crew."

"I've spoken to Captain Gomez, the current skipper. He sounds like a good man. He said he was prepared to deliver the ship to anywhere we wanted, subject to the usual contract conditions as to pay and repatriation of crew." 

"Excellent. I leave it with you then. Get the Chang Corporation to arrange the cargo. No point in having her arrive empty."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, and it's a big favour. The ship will be new to Talla. I would like it if Talla could fly the vessel under Juan's supervision until he is satisfied she can handle the ship on her own."

"Already arranged," said Juan. "I have downloaded the specs for this type of ship into our flight simulator. Training can start later today. You didn't think I would abandon my best student, did you? She'll be fine. I'm also arranging a crew for her."

"Thanks Juan, you are a champion."

***

I went back to my office and wrote a long memo to Uncle. I told him what my arrangements were regarding the Tikana and what I had in mind with the cargo of Pumpernickel.

"The Pumpernickel," I wrote, "is intended to be a gift to the Oktonians. They will not expect this. In the general scheme of things the price of the cargo is a small matter, especially since the freight costs us virtually nothing. It will however, in my view, go a long way towards establishing goodwill and show our honest intention to make this project beneficial to all parties involved. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

"There is something else I would like your opinion on.

"As you know General Taubner is trying his best to write the Federation into our project. Let's give him the illusion that he is succeeding.

"One of his closest advisors is Bernice Schreiber, a senior anthropologist. He knows Bernice and I are old friends. He will also know by now that I have fucked her on my last trip to Earth.

"Now here is the scam: I will ask Taubner to send Bernice to Olympus to act as liaison officer between Olympus Colonisation Command and the Federation. He will go for this like a shot, assuming that my request for her is at least partly dictated by my cock, which renders me vulnerable to manipulation.

"There is no liability to having her on Olympus. Only a handful of people know of the Oktonian scam and the Torgons, all are totally dependable. She will not see or hear anything that we aren't prepared to show the Federation anyway, such as our progress with the agriculture and the building of infrastructure as well as our efforts to teach and emancipate the Angels.

"The upside is that Taubner will bend over backwards in helping us to establish accredited embassies and bring about the reforms on Okton4 we have discussed earlier. He will be convinced that we are on the level and that there is no hidden agenda. If you are agreeable we can have Bernice as a passenger on the Tikana, I believe, and get our plans moving.

"As a bonus I'll be able to feed Taubner and his masters any kind of bullshit we feel appropriate from time to time."

I encrypted the memo and sent it off. Hours later I had a reply.

"You've done it again, Frank," he wrote. "I just love your convoluted and devious thinking. The thing with the Pumpernickel is an obvious way to go. Small investment for major benefits. The Oktonian hierarchy has been notoriously difficult to deal with in the past. Since you have been handling matters the Chang Corporation has found it a lot easier to do business with them. This action will help further.

"What you are proposing to do with the Federation is cheeky beyond belief. You are giving them the impression they are winning when in effect they are losing ground.

"Millennia ago, Sun Tzu, perhaps the greatest military strategist of all time, argued that the best way to win a war was to win without firing a shot. He would have approved of your approach.

"Go for it my boy. I will monitor how your proposal is received.

"Good luck, Uncle."

I wasted no time. My proposal to General Taubner went off the same day, so did a letter to Niels explaining why I had asked for a Federation liaison officer and what benefits I saw arising from that action. I asked him if the Tikana arriving with a woman passenger would create problems for him.

He replied that if the Tikana landed in the Federation area he would not officially need to know about it. I made contact with General Nakov to make the appropriate arrangements.

As expected Taubner was over the moon. The way he saw it he had managed to infiltrate the proscribed zone with one of his most trusted advisors, using me as a patsy. He bragged in a memo to the head of secret service how he had sent Bernice to seduce me and how I had fallen for the scam. "I can control this prick via Bernice's cunt," he said, "He won't know what's hit him, that cuntstruck idiot."

Uncle had sent me the above memo with a note saying: "He's not as smart as he thinks he is, is he?" To me Taubner sent a note telling me that my proposals had been accepted. He congratulated me on my initiative and assured me of any help from his side I might need in future. 

Just for a laugh I sent uncle a copy of his note knowing full well he'd already know about it.

I made the necessary arrangements. Bernice would be arriving on Okton4 in two week's time.

***

I was having a rest in my room when Talla turned up. Without a word she made some coffee and handed me a cup. For herself she got some beer.

"A bit early for beer," I said.

"You don't understand. Beer for us is liquid food. We know that the alcohol in beer affects humans and can make them drunk and lose control. It doesn't do that to us. We could actually live on beer alone for extended periods and stay healthy."

"Interesting. Anyway, Talla, I gather you haven't come to see me to discuss beer. What is on your mind."

"Tikana is getting worried about you. You have not fully integrated her, it is taking too long."

"I have been doing the exercises you recommended. I felt I was making progress for a while, but just lately I feel I am not getting any further, try as I might."

"Tikana thinks you are hanging on to your humanity too hard. You must let go if you want to claim your new beingness fully. We must try something else. Take your clothes off and stand in front of me."

I felt awkward stripping in front of Talla. When I was completely undressed she made me stand straight and positioned herself six feet in front of me.

"Now I want you to watch me. I want you to take in all of me while watching the feelings that well up inside of you."

Talla began to take her clothes off. I wondered if I was supposed to fuck her. I felt more uncomfortable by the minute. I couldn't understand my reaction. I had fucked dozens of her race and never felt this revolted before. The mere thought of having to fuck Talla gave me a queasy feeling in the stomach.

Soon she stood naked in front of me and watched me intently.

"I know you love me, but right now the mere thought of having to have sex with me makes you feel ill. This is as it should be. What you are feeling is the natural barrier between different species. It is also the very thing that is holding you back.

"In some people this barrier is not there. They will fuck anything as long as they get their rocks off. The vast majority feels like you do right now. It was the drug that stopped you feeling like this, that is why you were able to perform and even gain pleasure from the sex act."

She turned slowly, showing me every part of her body.

"Keep watching," she commanded. "take in every inch of me regardless how you feel."

I did as I was told for what seemed an eternity. The sick feeling in my stomach abated somewhat, but it was still there. Then she stopped. Facing me again she said: "Now take on my form."

I hesitated. I did not know what she meant.

"Come on," she prompted, "you have been a dragon, a dog. a monkey and who knows what else, surely you can take on the form of a dumb Faerie."

It was harder than I imagined, but in the end I managed.

That's when my world exploded.

***

I found myself in Tikana's universe.

'Finally you have found me,' it rang in my head. It took me a while to orient myself.

I had been here before, but this time it was different. Before I had only seen the gemstone like things floating in a void, this time I saw so much more. I could zoom in on the individual islands of recorded consciousness and perceive entire life times in a flash. I saw that there is no such thing as space, there is only time. A universal time that governs all things and a personal time that is different. The difference between personal time and universal time is what we call space. By altering the personal time we can move around in universal time at will. That's how travelling works. I perceived Tikana in all her glory and understood what she was. She was truly a Goddess.

Move back into your human form before this world overwhelms you, instructed Tikana.

I did as I was told and found myself back in my room. Talla had gone. Instead Tikana in her human form was lying on the bed, naked and wanton.

"I think we should celebrate our reunion with some good old-fashioned human sex." she said.

I didn't need much encouragement.

"We started your transformation with a human sex act, we completed it the same way," Tikana said when we were done. "The new arrangements are now permanent. You can enter my world any time you wish simply by taking on the form Talla taught you. A word of warning. Roaming around in my world is very demanding on your energy. Take it easy for now, it will get better with time. If you want me in my human form all you need to do is call me. What is true for you in my universe is also true for me in yours. There are limits to how long I can stay here before I need to build up my energy again. Let us use the time we spend with each other wisely. I love you."

With that she went.

I don't drink hard liquor often. This time I needed it. Goddesses are a hard act to follow. I went over to Ben's place and had myself some French Cognac.

"Something rattled you," said Ben when he poured me my third double. "I've never seen you do that."

"You'd need one too if you had just fucked a Goddess," I said and left it at that.

Ben gave me a totally puzzled look, evidently he had no idea what to do with that remark. I left him with his confusion and went outside to get some fresh air.

***

Back at the office I ran into Feng. I had only seen him sporadically in the last few days, it was time we had a chat. As it worked out he had some time on his hands and we settled down in my office with some beer.

"What have you been up to Feng? I haven't seen you around for ages."

"There is a lot to do. George and I have been running our arses off to document everything that is going on. The town is growing like mad, Jack has over two thousand acres under cultivation right now, they are building roads, drilling for water everywhere and Trevor is building a military compound and training a small army. We've been chasing our tails for days to catch up and get it all on record."

"Wonderful. But now, can you get someone else to do the donkey work for you, I need you for something else."

"What do you have in mind."

I told him about my arrangements and that Bernice would be arriving in a little less than three weeks.

"She'll expect me to take her frequently, if not permanently, into my bed and give her every opportunity to spy on me. I can't have that."

"So where do I come into the game?"

"I want you to seduce her. She is an attractive lady and an outstanding fuck. You'll have a lot of fun. I want you to keep her off my back."

"You are trying to pimp me."

"Yes."

Feng burst out laughing.

"Uncle is right. He reckons you are the most devious prick he has ever come across, with me running a distant second. Anyway, I won't commit myself to fucking her, not without seeing first what I'll be letting myself into. I have an idea though how we can run this, at least to start with."

"I'm all ears."

"If I'm reading you right her primary objective is to gather intelligence. If necessary she'll use her cunt to get it."

"Correct."

"Let's give it to her. I'll carry on with what I'm doing. When she arrives, assign her to George and me to show her what is going on so she can orient herself. We get around. She'll recognise that. We'll make sure she only gets to see what we want her to see, staying well away from the supercomputer and the space torpedoes. Tell her that's the best way to get a quick overview of what is happening here. That gets her off your back for now and gives me a chance to see if I want to fuck her or not. From then on we play it by ear."

"Brilliant."

"Now let's go and see Juan and Pedro."

"Why?"

"Because they are essential to my plan. You don't want the tart living next door to you? Do you?"

"No. How are Juan and Pedro going to help?"

"They have built some very nice visitor's flats above the pub. I want to put her in one of those. She'll quickly realise that those two swing a lot of weight around here. She'll want to pump them for information. If Bernice is anything like you portrayed, those two will fuck the arse off her in no time and lead her up the garden path the same as us, as long as they know what the game is."

"I have no idea why uncle reckons your deviousness is second to mine. Fucked if I can see it. Ok, let's go and see if the Rodriguez brothers are going to be in on it."

We had no problems with those two. The idea to stick shit up the Federation and getting a few fucks into the bargain tickled them no end. All Juan wanted to know was if she had 'beeeg teeets'.

***

I thanked Talla for what she had done for me when I saw her next.

"Tell me. Talla, do your people when they are having sex with humans experience the same revulsion I did?"

"Yes, Frank, they do. They take herbs that numb them to make the act bearable. Again, as in humans, not all of us are like that, there are some who enjoy fucking this way."

"Wouldn't it be easier to use artificial insemination to impregnate the Angels with human sperm?"

"It would be welcomed by my people and by the human males who are forced to inseminate us, if it can be done."

"Then why isn't it being tried?"

"The most powerful people on Okton4 are the government institutions who supervise and control all sexual activity. They would lose their reason for existence. Anyone who even talks about artificial insemination or sexual freedom is carted off to the mines, never to be seen again. These people are ruthless and cruel."

"Sooner or later we'll have to deal with this. I'll have a chat with Doctor Finn to see what can be done. In the meantime, how are we going with the two hundred Angels I want to bring here?"

"Niphi has arranged that with the help of the Goddess. They are on standby, ready to depart at a day's notice."

***

The next few days went quickly. Then it was time to leave. The Tikana was due to arrive in two day's time. Pedro was flying the Pygmalion since Juan would be needed on the Tikana later. I took Feng and George with me. They would take Bernice under their wings right from the start, creating the kind of kind of distance I wanted between Bernice and me from the outset. I put Al in charge of fifty of Pedro's technicians we took with us to make the required modifications on the Tikana. Some of them had been trained by Juan to crew the ship after the handover. We arrived on Okton4 without mishap. The Pygmalion set down in the Federation area next to where the Tikana would land when she arrived.

George, Pedro and Feng had created another elaborate scam that made this arrangement necessary. Nakov had bent over backwards to make it possible, evidently he had orders to make things easy for us.

It had been Pedro's idea. He suggested we should transfer Bernice to the Pygmalion on the basis that the Pygmalion was far more comfortable than the Tikana with her rather Spartan appointments. He would then invite her onto the bridge as the Pygmalion entered the proscribed zone. Feng and George had prepared another scam recording of a rendezvous with Commander Tiri where he would greet Captain Rodrigues and clear him for his journey to Olympus.

They had created a script because Pedro's had to communicate with the avatar in real time to make it believable. They had actually rehearsed the scam a number of times to make sure it would be convincing. Bernice was certain to report the event to her masters. 

Feng and I had dinner with Uncle that night. We filled him in on the latest developments. When Feng told him what Pedro had arranged he laughed.

"What are you guys doing up there, running an academy for scam merchants?" he joked.

"That's one way of putting it," said Feng. "It's not all that far off the mark. Pedro, Juan, George, Frank and myself, none of us are fond of the Federation. We all understand that our autonomy depends on how well we can flummox the Feds. To do that effectively we all have to become as cunning as shithouse rats as George put it once he understood what we are up against.

"The appointment of Bernice as liaison officer is crucial. Frank is still a Federation officer as far as the brass is concerned. But Frank is an outsider and only part of the organisation for his usefulness. Though commissioned, they view him like they would view a police informant. Whatever he says will be taken with a grain of salt. They are looking for corroboration.

"Bernice will furnish that corroboration. By allowing her to watch an event in seemingly real time she will be convinced that what she is watching is reality beyond question. Her standing at headquarters will insure her report is taken seriously and our bullshit will be accepted without reservation."

"Tell me, why are you going to so much trouble. The Torgons have flummoxed the Federation for centuries with what they've set up. Why do you feel you have to go further."

"Because it's a different situation," I said. "For two centuries the Federation has tried to find out what goes on in this sector. They got nowhere. According to their thinking the Oktonians have sent their dumbest females to work in the spaceport and dealt with the outside world exclusively through hired human underlings in anything that mattered. The intelligentsia of the planet was inaccessible. This arrangement stopped them from gathering any meaningful intelligence."

"So what has changed?"

"You, my dear uncle, you have changed everything."

"In what way?"

"Ever since we informed the Federation of our expedition into the forbidden zone they've been trying to figure out how a sleazebag, slitty eyed trader and a cuntstruck idiot, for that's how they see us, have managed to gain the ear of the top echelon of the Oktonian government and achieved major concessions, when the Federation with all its might got nowhere in two hundred years.




Offspring Ch. 043



"From that moment on we became a target. They will want to know how we managed to establish contact with the mainland government and to whom we are talking there. To find out they need to infiltrate our organisation at the senior level. When I invited Bernice to Olympus as liaison officer I gave them the opportunity to do just that. By controlling Bernice we control their espionage efforts, at least that's the theory behind the scam."

***

The Tikana arrived in due course and set down next to the Pygmalion. After transferring Bernice to the Pygmalion Captain Gomez lifted the Tikana off again and set her down in the area where the other freighters were so her cargo could be unloaded and handed over to the Oktonians. 

That evening we had dinner on the Pygmalion. I introduced Bernice and Captain Gomez to Pedro, Juan, Feng, George and Talla. Over drinks afterwards I informed Bernice that the Pygmalion was scheduled to leave for Olympus in the morning and that Talla, Juan and myself were staying behind with the Tikana who would have to remain in port for the next ten days to enable modifications to the vessel to be made and to take on cargo. She expressed disappointment.

I had arranged a room for Captain Gomez at my hotel. We left early. After booking our guest in we went to the bar for some more liquid refreshments. Julio Gomez turned out to be a jovial fellow with a wicked sense of humour. He was no foreigner to a good old fashioned piss up. We kept going late into the night swapping spacer stories. Julio got on well with Talla, treating her like a fellow spacer. For a joke he challenged her to a drinking competition. Talla accepted, on condition they only drank beer, since her metabolism couldn't handle wine or spirits. Throughout the night she matched him glass for glass.

When we broke up Julio was stinking drunk and Talla still stone cold sober. He got up on shaky feet, bowed to her and conceded defeat.

"Captain Talla," he said, kissing her hand, "You are the first creature to ever drink me under the table. I salute you."

Juan and I broke out laughing. I didn't have the heart to tell the old captain that Angels are impervious to the alcohol in beer.

***

We had a late breakfast, still battle weary from last night. I called Al and introduced him to Julio.

"Alright gentlemen,"I said, "let's go and have a look how the unloading is going."

An hour later we were on the Tikana. It was my first look at the interior of the ship. The cargo master informed us that unloading was on schedule and would be completed late that afternoon.

Captain Gomez introduced us to his crew of twelve and showed us around the ship. As expected the decor and fittings were simple and functional. There were thirty cabins in all to accommodate the crew and some passengers, which was the usual thing to be found on a vessel of this type. A fair sized galley and a mess room as well as an officer's mess that served as a conference room. The bridge was well equipped and spacious. He showed us the loading bay where we would install accommodation for up to two-hundred Angels and the customary Angel cafeteria.

I had wanted to install a separate galley for the Angels, but Talla pointed out that on the two day trip to Olympus her people could happily live on beer alone, which to them was food. With Jeremy's help the whole installation had been planned and all the material required was on stand by; courtesy Chang Corporation. Al would be in charge of construction. It would start as soon as unloading was complete.

There was one thing that surprised me about the Tikana. She was clean. I don't mean the sort of clean used spaceships get when they are up for sale, I mean really clean, you could eat off the floor with appetite anywhere on the ship. When I complimented Captain Gomez on that fact he said:

"This ship has been our home for a long time. We have treated her accordingly, with love and attention to detail. She may be an old girl, but she was our old girl. We've looked after her."

I assured him we would honour that tradition.

We stayed until the cargo was off the vessel. Julio's crew would work through the night to clean the cargo bays making her ready for official hand over in the morning.

Back at the hotel Julio asked us about Olympus. I showed him some footage of Talla and the agricultural project I had on my computer. He seemed impressed. We had a few drinks, nothing like the night before and went to bed early.

After breakfast we went back to the ship. There was little ceremony when we took possession of the Tikana. The handover was duly entered into the ship's log, signed by Captain Gomez and Talla and witnessed by Juan and myself. A message was dispatched to the Federation that as of this moment the Tikana belonged officially to Olympus Colonisation Command with Captain Talla in charge of the vessel.