Astra Pt. 09

She sighed. "Alright."

He called out, "Lockdown protocol."

She hated hearing it but she did as he instructed. He took the necklace off and ran through hours of logs.

Until he finally found the entries he was looking for, "We found two human hybrids who came to join our cause. Vengeance Untold, and Truths Vengeance. The human faction fractured after the disappearance of their leader 221 years ago. According to his mate who was traveling with her son. The blues, both humans and Drakor, started coming in and killing red hybrids.

They were 2 reds to 1 of the rest of us, most came after the disappearance of Dispenser of Justice. I was never a fan of his. His mate said he tried an experiment to jump timelines to see his remaining wife in that timeline. He lost Lacy and wanted to see Grace. She said they all assumed she was the favorite. The first.

He went off the deep end when she died in the opening days of one of our wars. Having been aboard with a group of justices to stop the fracture. That was our first big strike as a united front against the blues who acted like royalty and the purples who were 'royalty.'"

He went to an entry in which Kiru spoke, "Once our justices disappeared and no purples showing themselves as elders the reds started recruits more like-minded individuals. They were like me and my sons so we did not care. Aurora complained a lot about it. When war broke out and it was red vs blue I was the last one standing of John's wives.

I had to cut down Aurora myself, the soft-hearted bitch. Camille and Sindy had been dead over 900 years after we 'graduated'. What a fucking joke that was. 500 years of keeping humanity in check and expanding to be invited into the fucking boy's club of 6 other races.

A level of enlightenment that we were nothing to the powers that be other than pawns in a game. All we got was the drop in the threat of constantly being threatened with extermination. That is all well and good but that was essentially it.

John might have learned more but he did not share it with us, especially me. Could not get him to add another wife after the destruction of Astra 1,405 years ago; by her own kind!

He could just toss off to get a release if he needed it. Aurora tried to make excuses for him. He did fuck us but his heart and mind seemed to be broken over the loss of Lacy and the others. After the loss of 30 wives, he was not willing to add any more. Even John seemed crushed by the graduation. 500 years to get them to join with 6 other races in this graduation state. We were all grandmasters of the Drakor game."

He thought to Justice, * Is this true, we are hoping to be one of a hand full of races worthy of graduating? *

He heard, * I told you I cannot talk about numbers. *

John spouted off, * We are just pieces in a game then. The Drakor game of grand selection. You destroyed hundreds or thousands of races along the way. Just to suit your concept of balanced perfection.

You mentioned creating swords was a mundane task that justices did not normally do. Your swords represent a class system. Not a system of equals. That explains the red's anger at you. They were your servants, enlisted grunts.

The blues your officers and nobility. With the purples rising above them all. A symbol to bridge the gap. I think humans have graduated. Our approach to your dynamic works better. We are equals. You cannot say that we are not ready.

We have removed your technology and your presence in our lives it is no longer required or desired. We can handle ourselves better than you it seems. We do not have your technology and we are not ready for it. Not now and not in five hundred years.

The future described here is not coming about. I will work to ensure that. I honestly believe I am not in my timeline. Instead, I am in a Drakor experiment on my fucking mind. *

He pushed out with his mind with every ounce of rage and pain they had made him feel and unleashed it onto them.

He turned his head to Astra and she sighed, "It has been 21 minutes and we are still sitting here. You've unresponsive. "

He heard in his head as he sat in a cold sweat, * Dispenser of Justice, you have made it so your people have graduated. The time events will stop. The Drakor are not that society but we wanted to see what you would do if it were true.

We believe you are a true balance. We had to be sure. There was no Kiru, Lacy, Camille, Aurora, or Sindy. You could only connect with Lacy out of them and only because she was, in your mind, connected to Grace.

You are a man out of time and these events were caused by that but we have cleaned up those markers. You are where you belong. Justice Incarnate will fulfill his contract for the Eternals. There are no remnants of Drakor technology left in this system.

We would appreciate it if you continue to find any in your travels that you continue to contact us. Otherwise, the Drakor are moving on from here to another race to evaluate. *

The door opened and he took the scout out. Astra looked confused, "What just happened?"

He sighed, "Those 21 minutes were 7 years of hell to me. But it is done. Humanity, Terran humanity has graduated and the time events will stop. Cannot speak for those going to Pena."

He searched for Drakor technology and caught the last two ships before they departed. He knew how to locate them in the system. She looked confused, "They messed with your mind for 21 minutes and it felt like 7 years?"

He nodded, "No children names, no holding them, and no strong connection to the new 'wives'; they put before me. Except one and she is here. This is King Arthur returning to dock."

He looked at her, "I suspected sooner, GS did not assassinate those I went into business with. I brought the entire company to a stop by having their ships disable themselves. Then the courts took care of the rest; one man blows his head off and I could swoop in and buy that juggernaut. I got my answer."

He landed the shuttle and looked at everyone. "I need volunteers to put this all back." Grace jumped into his arms she asked, "What about the time events?"

He sighed, "They could stop them. They saw how I adapted. Even under that threat, I kept a balance between the sword and the shield."

He went back to his room with them following. He connected to all of them and shared his 7 years of hell and heartache they put him through. He opened his eyes and there was not a dry eye among them. He looked at them. "They took elements of every wife and merged them together into new configurations; even Astra. New and old.

They showed me Geos as a failed desolate ruin when Astra said there should have been over 5,000 people there. A lot did not make sense to me but I rolled with it to see where they wanted me to go. Astra went nuts; if her brain was cracked it would have shut down or exploded. They wanted to see what extremes I would go to protect humanity; even from them."

He answered his vid and the President looked at him, "What the hell just happened?"

He smiled, "I need to have another interview. We are taking my battleship and we are on our way back to you. The time events have been fixed by the Drakor as a 'parting' present."

He looked at Jack, "They are gone?"

He shook his head, "Justice Incarnate still plans to fulfill his role of that contract for the Eternals. Otherwise, the threat to humanity is what it always has been. A real possibility, 'from something.'"

---

Jack had them slow the return journey so he could appreciate every moment with his wives in bed, Except for 3 and he was looking forward to seeing his Irish Rose and two island girls again. It also took time for him to adjust to being called Jack instead of John. He went to the lab and had Astra administer the IQ test to him. He completed the testing in under 10 minutes.

He went to the Capitol and had a press conference. He refused to speak of the details of the 21 minutes that felt like 7 years. Simply stating, "That was 7 years of hell I would only readily share with my wives unless I saw a really good reason to change my mind."

He told them several key pieces appeared to play a part in their graduation, "One was that made the meeting with the Drakor. It was moved up and the location changed for us because of the actions I took. Two, we embraced our roles and the sword. Three, we had to get a majority of the people to believe in us.

That last part was likely satisfied by the majority of congress backing that treaty and possibly the polls ran by the news. They then tested to see how far I would go to protect humanity, even from them. They also ensured no Drakor technology was in the systems occupied currently by man remained before departing.

They have asked us to keep an eye open for any derelict ships or another race abusing their technology. They could have stopped the time-hopping events at any point after the first. They let it run to speed up the testing of humanity because of how fast I was coming along for humanity.

My assumption but it makes sense. They wanted to see what I would do to protect the people. I was very conservative about weapons technology 20 years ago. I came back with technology that could turn your battleships inside out in a single shot. I fixed the issue with the shields.

I brought the sword and shield back into balance. I went after corruption in the procurement of your ships by becoming your airframe manufacture. There was not a single great airframe until the 30th century. Created by AI's, The Excalibur.

It could handle Jupiter's gravity to allow us to mine from it. Taking over airframes became the logical choice when they wanted to steal my designs. The Drakor fixed the issue and told me I was in the 'right time' to save this humanity. I saved humanity from them by getting the answers right; again.

We are not ready for their level of firepower because they have more self-control on using it on themselves. They gave us hundreds of years in the other timeline to get it right. Humanity failed twice.

I do believe I got a couple of hints out of the process. How to get a Dreadnought, and how to get Colossus moved through a wormhole. Short answer, More power on the technical side. A lot more will power in the case of the Colossus."

He answered a lot of questions. but the one he got and wanted to answer came from a congresswoman in attendance. The same one who asked him if they backed off could he fix the time problem. She asked him, "You expect us to believe that you spend 7 years in hell in 21 minutes? This was not some stunt to get us to approve your treaty?"

He looked at her and remained quiet while she held onto her head in her chair. He sent the entire 7 years over the course of the next 21 minutes. He finished and looked at her, "I will never lie to you, Congresswoman. You just got all 7 years in 21 minutes."

She looked down for several seconds and then back up with tears in her eyes, "Years of depression and loneliness then everything seemed to go along so smooth but it all felt off to you. Then all that anger and rage at the end. They really did a mind job on you!"

He nodded, "Except all of my parts I had to interact. You just got to watch the events. I had to live it. Compared to here, the 'real world' it was all too easy in that environment. Even the vote with congress was not even close. The failures we had with jumps I was never contacted by grief-stricken parents. It was making repairs and try it again. Our first jump here we broke two pylons.

I added more power to make it bigger. I applied that to both ships I wanted to jump. I went straight to the largest ship. The first time I did it, the very next jump, and in the largest configuration, we did it without wanting to pass out. I felt the power coming into me to make that jump and it was beyond anything I had gotten here.

Getting the large ships out, should and would never be that easy but it worked the first time for Colossus. There was so much that was off that I finally pulled all those pieces together. I had enough to know I was being mind-fucked. I just lashed out at the hell they put me through. I fixed the time problem. My going back would have likely fixed it. The Drakor fixing it regardless.

Congress asked me to take this on. In my mind, it took 7 years to complete that task on my own. There is one other thing. My mind is not as active as it was before. I do not feel like I need to get something out of my head every 10 seconds or I would burst.

Now it is about every 60 to 120 minutes. My IQ is still up there. I checked it; it was still the same at 242. I completed the test in 10 minutes. I believe they fixed the spiraling issue of it continuing to raise during this 'visit.'"

The Congresswoman looked at him. She started to walk away and stopped. She turned back, "Thank you." She then left the room.

Over the course of the next year, he did get Colossus through with the extra colony ships to get the Penal colony sent on its way. Jack did not follow but figured out how to jump there through his sons' eyes. He brought in the 180 additional ships for those that wanted to follow them away from alien influence.

Including the additional military vessels manned by the former or retired military. In total, 5 million people went including another 120 who had Capitol crime murders. That was the last he saw or even thought of that group. The President, only a year after leaving office, announced he was taking up the offer to become a hybrid presented to him.

He would never again seek public off as he wanted to spend a lifetime with his wives after giving a lifetime of service to humanity. He moved to Tau Ceti. He told them how the offer came about. The loss of years of his life because of his extension in office and his work to be as honorable a leader as he could.

Yet compromising with congress always took a toll on him. He would compromise no more. He became the elder statesman whom leaders contacted. They asked about how he dealt with things that seemed to be spiraling on future presidents, senators, and colony leaders.

He was a justice as were his first two wives. The third wife, Rita the weapons master was a red blade. Wendi the top-heavy blonde was a blue blade. The former president had a lot more children with them over the coming years, his own children. Jack and Astra did honor their kitchen passes when the time came. He ensured they were pregnant already at the time.

Jack traveled to all four colony sites in a row. Taking a Dreadnought with him in each case. Then jumping back to get the colony ships loaded. The farm vessels were kept on the backside of the moon to let the plant life and animals acclimate to the new star's spectrum of light.

He took 90 ships to each of the 4 sites over the next several years. In-between he took 270 ships to Tau Ceti. Then 60 more to each of the other 4 colonies before turning that part over to his sons and spending a few years with his family in Tau Ceti.

He organized the terraforming of all 3 moons as he said he would do. They spent another 20 years helping others to expand their skills. Including a couple of judges who developed empathic abilities. They helped to become humanities diplomatic corps; including the former President.

When civil wars arrived, the Home Guard moved in to mediate and, in some cases, form a line between the two sides; even in Tau Ceti, the disputes died quickly because the hybrids got to the source of the problems quickly in their 'home' system.

He got command of the Colossus after it became a mark 5 version with upgrades. He had ships built for the HG and at every other system through the shipyards they had built during establishing the colonies. He took The Colossus on a 20-year exploration of all systems surrounding Tau Ceti.

He identifies several systems ripe for mining activity but no habitual worlds. He found some of Meltora's relatives and let them know where it was located; that they were safe from hunting in that system.

Upon his return, the Colossus was taken to each of the other four systems and spend 20 years exploring the surround systems by different groups of his children. The group finding a Gaia world 20 times the size of Geos, 100 times the size of earth, with three massive moons inside the habitat zone of a young yellow star.

Before they expanded there, they ran a 5 years search of nearby systems using Dreadnoughts to spread out from that location. They encountered one pre-FTL world, in fact, they had not even gotten into space. They kept their distance.

Then a great migration from Terra occurred and some from other worlds. The Terran population on Terra dropped back to 5 Billion people, while humanity had grown to 80 Billion.

Jack spent 30 years in Terra space during the years he was born. His parents were still the party animal and sex-starved people he found them both to be. They were there when he graduated college though. He watched one of his couriers deliver a message to the boy, himself.

Offering a position into the Home Guard if he was interested along with the personal message that was set to play only once and he was warned the file would destroy itself when completed. He then understood the invitation and why Jack had not given it to him 'himself.'

He was given the option to find a life of his own; to follow his own path and his own heart. Giving him a warning that wives would find each other and it was better too, 'just get a core group and go with it. Be glad for the changes because it saved him from losing his parents two years earlier.'

The younger one sent a message back to Jack, "Thanking him for the advice. He had grown up thinking just how fucked up Jack's life must be to be doing this for centuries and then to find out it is was him from an alternate timeline.

He thought one of them working that path was enough. He thanked him for his parents. They were just as surprised when he told them. He was going to work for Treven Engines. Glad to know what drove that passion in him is what drove it in 'Jack Travus.'

He commented, "You got to meet her and that had to be a surreal moment. You managed to still get to see me born even with all the changes you did to this timeline. Somethings are meant to be. You were meant to give me a better life and for that, I thank you."

Jack checked on him every few years and did so until he was 30. Glad to see him with his three wives living his life. He did not have the heart to tell him 2 of them were his own grand-daughters and the other a great grand-daughter. He learned more at a family reunion that was held. He still looked 20, from the cure, and Jack still looked 26. He took him aside, "You know how hard it is for you to find a woman who is not related to you after all of the children I have had?"

The younger man laughed, "Yes, that was what they told me when we got married and I told them who you were to me. They all laughed at that then they fucked me silly until I had them all pregnant within the first month.

I still found it odd but did a search and found out you had a biological connection to 80% of the population in the worlds. So bad you would find it hard not to find another who is not related to you at least distantly."

He laughed as Astra stepped over, "Not true. He has me. I have 4,000 candidates lined up at any time just in case; spread across the colonies. Grace insisted."

Jack nodded, "She would."

Sprits came over and Jack introduced him, "Sprits this is the other me."

Her mouth fell open as she had not put it together yet. She nodded. "Seen him around the shipyard on a few occasions talking engine specifications."