Astra Pt. 09

He looked over, "I do not know..." John threw him an image of the boy. The man growled, "He dies and you die!"

John shrugged, "You were already trying to kill me. The 'creature is a menace?"

I have that recorded by the way and that is slander. I have been found to be human in the World Court. That is disparaging remarks against me."

He yelled out, "I will kill you myself."

He nodded, "Astra forward that threat straight to the GBI along with all of these recordings. As to your grandson. Which of these fires the tractor beam, and which one fires the weapons? I guess I will just have to choose at random."

He ended the call. He called into the scout, "How many aboard, still alive?" He heard, "Three all still alive."

John sighed, "EVA suits. No weapons. Exit your craft. You have 1 minute before I destroy it."

He contacted Astra, "Give me that one power core we pulled from the last shuttle and an adapter for their EVA suits. They are going to Meos for now."

Astra laughed into the comms, "Will have it ready."

He put on his EVA suit. Those three exited and he scanned them, "Two of you have pistols. Return and leave them." They turned around and went back inside.

They came out again without weapons. He pulled close and decompressed. To open the doorway. Once they were inside, he sat back zoomed in on the ship ID and then blew the ship into pieces. He took off for the Starbase. The grandson asked, "You are not going to put the atmosphere back on?"

He laughed, "Not now. Just so you can try and pull laser swords on me and force me to kill you." He got near the airlock, "Launch it out to them." She laughed and decompressed it. "Better grab your lifeline." They pulled in the core and one of the others asked, "What are you going to do, Leave us on a moon?"

John shook his head, "Planet with edible vegetation."

He closed the door moved away and started up the Wormhole Engine and took them to Meos. The grandson looked shocked as he took them to the surface. He landed and pressurized the cabin as he got up from his seat with his sword at the ready, "This is being recorded. Step outside and take the power core."

They walked out and he pointed to six different plants in the area, "All edible plants. That direction is cooler you will find lots of snow and water, very cold. This power core with an adapter will allow you to stay warm in your EVA suits until you build yourselves some shelter. Welcome to Meos. Sign the Charter or I return you to your ship wreckage in Jupiter's orbit."

The grandson sighed, "My grandfather will come for me."

He nodded, "8-12-year sentence; how long it will take him to send something out here and get back."

He shook his head, "Not if he captures your ship."

John laughed, "The ship can only be powered by a Wormhole Engine and a telepath to pull the ship through the astral plane. A powerful telepath. At this moment, I am the only one."

The guy rolled his eyes. "We get water and vegetables for 8-12 years?"

John nodded, "Unless you catch some of the local wildlife. There is one with five tusks on the front. Those are venomous and the meat is tainted. They are rather territorial but they stay further north. Most small game is edible or will give you diarrhea."

He got back into his ship. "The recording is off. One of those six plants will also give you diarrhea. Enjoy figuring out which one."

He closed the door, took it back up and returned to Jupiter. A bit weary from the trip. He called out to Astra, "Connect me to the asshole and the girl reporter without his knowledge." She laughed and he had both again.

He looked over, "How do you keep breaking into my comms?"

John shrugged, "I just dialed you. Here is the first video." He showed the ship being destroyed."

The man yelled, "I will end you, you fuck!"

He shook his head, "Here is the second." He showed the three men on the planet and signing the charter. He looked at them, "Depending on how bad you want them, they are on the planet Meos in Tau Ceti.

12.25 light-years away. The pylons on my ship are used for a Wormhole Engine that can only be used by a telepath. I took them there. That is an 8-12-year prison sentence if you send someone to get them today. Else it is life. Considering you sent 4 ships in stealth to kill me."

The angry older man looked over, "I will send a hundred to kill you!"

He thought, * Hook in the reporter. *

She smiled as she could finally speak, "Sir, is that the official GS position as I just got an exclusive that is going to hit the air as soon as you finish answering that question."

The man screamed and ended the call. She looked at John, "Anything else to add?"

He smiled, "My lawyer will be submitting the patent to the Wormhole Engine in the morning so there will be no eminent domain claim made against my ship."

She smiled, "Thank you Mr. Travus."

He nodded, "Thank you for taking this call."

He ended it and then docked. He undid the airlock and watched the vid as the story aired. He got a call from the Capitol and even though he was tired he answered it. "Madam President, what can I do for you?"

She sighed, "You could return the President of GS's grandson."

He sighed, "Madam President, this ship has a dual registry with Mixtios and Terra. Under Mixtios law, when they boarded my ship, after attempting to kill me I sentenced them to a fate far worse than death. I did not vaporize them. The actions occurred aboard my ship. As such, legally I am within my right to leave them there.

If he wants to negotiate for his grandson's return, I can work with that. He sends more men, those that surrender will be joining the others on Meos. Those that refuse will probably not be alive. They assumed I could not get the Starbase armed fast enough to repeal borders. Also, the fact that my sensors can pick up stealth ships. If you wish to set up negotiations between the ruling body of the Colony, yourself, and the instigator, I would be amenable to that solution."

She laughed, "You got those charters approved and your ship has two transponders?" He smiled, "One that is programmable to support multiple colony registrations. Another patent I should forward in at some point."

She laughed, "Alright I will let him know he could try the World Court or mediation."

John smiled, "Either will be displayed live on a vid. Stipulation. No strong-arming attempts from either side."

She smiled, "I will contact you back."

He nodded and ended the call. He went into the station and Astra shook her head at him, "The bots have the first set of weapons deployed and the cloaking device is ready. All power cores have been replaced on the station."

He nodded. And went and found a seat. She sighed, "Eat and drink..." He nodded and tore through a couple of packages of dry rations and 6 bottles of mead when the call came in.

The President looked at him, "He will try mediation at this point. I explained the precarious situation. The fact you never boarded their ship yet they boarded yours and with its dual registry based on colony law, you were within the legal right to sentence them to a living fate vs being dead. Can you be here in an hour?"

John shook his head, "It will take almost 3 to get all of the alcohol out of my system I drank after getting back. Then there is the flight time from here to earth which is 24 hours at 3x speeds at the given distance."

She chuckled, "You could be here in seconds with that drive."

He nodded, "That takes energy out of the one using it and I will need that if I reach an agreement and go after his grandson.

I also have to be concerned about protecting the base while I am gone because he is likely to try and destroy it now."

She sighed, "Alright, This time tomorrow. My office."

He shook his head, "No this should be done in a meeting room with the press present. My condition, remembers."

She groaned, "He does not wish for the press to be present."

John shrugged, "Then I will await a subpoena from the World Court."

She held up a finger, "She contacted him and she heard him yelling and her yelling right back. She looked over, "One member of the press."

He nodded, "The girl who broke the story then."

She rolled her eyes. "He said anyone but her."

John shrugged, "I am not yelling at you. How do you wish to handle it?"

She sighed and went back to him and finally came back. "He has decided to try his luck in the World Court."

He nodded, "Good. All of the press will be there for that."

He ended the call and went and woke Lacy up. "Sorry to bother you. I need a patent sent out and legal representation for the World Court."

She got up and sent the patent off for the Wormhole Engine. He got another call from the Capitol. He answered it. "Hello again, Madam President."

She shook her head. "The World Court has refused to hear the case. He is back to talk mediation."

He sighed, "Put him on. We can loop in the reporter and do this remotely."

She chuckled and he saw the reporter. He nodded, to her, "Hold questions if you can. This is a mediation you are getting an exclusive look into."

She smiled, "Thank you."

He nodded. The President was back and it looked like fifty lawyers behind the GS President. He nodded to him, "Your request to start with."

He looked over, "I want him to return my grandson and the two men with him."

John nodded, "In exchange for what?"

He sighed, "How much ransom are you demanding?"

John shook his head, "No ransom, no money. What are you offering?"

He looked confused, "What are you asking for?"

John asked, "If the men in custody were acting under GS direction? Did you send a hit squad after my location because you stated, 'This creature will be a menace to us all. How did this creature get connected?' I have that recorded if needed. My defamation suit will be coming for that one. By the way, this is my lawyer Lacy Landers."

He talked to his lawyers. "We cannot have the company accept responsibility for their actions."

John nodded, "Then all of the company lawyers are dismissed from this mediation and only his personal attorney; not even you, can work to address his release. Let alone the release of the other 2. Where or should I say who is their counsel in this mediation?"

He looked over, "That is not your call."

The President chimed in, "It would be mine and he would be correct. If those lawyers have no responsibility in this case then they should be removed from the mediation."

John held up a hand, "Point of order. Recording of his capture."

John sighed, "You are telling me you are still a threat."

The man got backhanded by another, "Look, I am in a position to negotiate. You let us go and we will ensure they don't come to kill you."

He sighed, "How are you going to ensure that?"

He sighed, "The president of GS in my grandfather."

He asked, "Did GS put you up to this or did you just go joyriding on your own?"

He sighed out, "I work for GS and we were told to eliminate you."

The President looked across, "Your grandson has implicated the company so I guess they get to stay longer."

John smiled, "Now, either he is lying. And this mediation is over or he told the truth and we continue under an umbrella of truth."

One of the lawyers whispered something to the President of GS. He looked across, "You are a fraud! John Travus does not exist. Your name is Jack Scrogum, you were an engineer aboard the Victus, which was found destroyed. Your holdings and everything are illegal."

John called out, "Astra, loop him in. Please note that is the second case of slander and defamation I will be taking up with the courts."

The Judge appeared fifteen minutes later. He sighed, "Sorry I was in court when I got notified. John Jack Travus is his legal name. Changed in my court in my presence the day he returned.

The situation with how he was abducted and the years he had to spend away from here to return to 14 dead wives and 17 dead children were enough of a contributing factor to grant his name change. All of his business dealings are legal."

John looked across, "Any questions for the Judge in Chiba Japan who oversaw this name change request?"

The President chuckled, "No questions for the Judge. Thank you for clarifying his legal name is John Jack Travus. I have a copy of the file here that was just sent to me by the courthouse."

John looked across, "Does he stay or do you admit culpability in attacking me. Is family or business more important to you?"

He stepped back and spoke with his lawyers and then came back upfront. "The company, as a whole, did not order an attack on you. I did."

John shook his head, "You did it as the head of your company. Those were your employees. You are saying you committed fraud against your own employees by doing an action not sanctioned by your company? Also, what about the recorded message where you called me a creature. I am human based upon existing human laws. Not a creature."

He growled, "You are a creature to me and always will be."

John looked at the President, "The first case of slander has been proven. In addition to the second in calling me a fraud and that came from your corporate lawyers. I will ensure they are called out in that lawsuit as well for supplying the fictitious information."

He looked back and the one lawyer left the room. John looked across, "You ordered the action, you did it as the head of your company, with or without their permission makes no difference as they put you into that role to make those decisions.

I wish to return the 3 of them to the GBI for further questioning. I would also make my demand for compensation be known. As they were sentenced to 8 years on that isolated planet, I request that GS systems and its subsidiaries or any that are backed by GS be forbidden to bid on government contracts, including Terra 8 and the fighters and scout contracts that would come out in the next 8 years."

She looked at me, "You would deliver alternatives?"

He nodded, "Alternatives that will have scouts crushing your existing battleship. I have 150, 200, and 500-terawatt power cores. I have one weapon I am pulling off and destroying from my shuttle because it is too heavy-handed until the shield is balanced. What I mean by that is all your fleet would have to be retired and new designs capable of withstanding the weapon would have to be put in place.

I also have multi-layered shields to help with that and those would have to be incorporated into ground defense systems at all major metropolitan areas and military installations to protect from aerial bombardment. Roll the images of this weapon firing on GS battleships that were shielded. Keep in mind I am an engineer and I knew right where your faulty cores resided on your ships."

She showed them both being destroyed with a single shot. "Your grandson stated he wanted to tell you about the superior firepower being displayed by my scout. When the Drakor modified me, my IQ went from 197 to 242. Hybrids do not require sleep so that aids in avoiding insanity. I have thousands of patentable ideas you have not seen yet. Some, no man or woman will ever see.

They are things I know how to build but would never willingly want to build. Genocide weapons. Just because you could build something and patent it does not mean you should! Madam President, I have stated my grounds for release and considering the level of corruption I am being more than fair."

She sighed, "You have any proof you can deliver these assets?" He nodded, "Astra, Role Home Guard arrival in Terra year 2451."

She sighed and sent the images of everything coming in from the new fighters to the Dreadnoughts.

John looked across, "I was sent further back in time for 20 years and had to develop weapons and defenses to deal with hostile aliens who came in from 250 years in the future. Weapons humanity does not have because of the stifling control over the market GS has today and would have into the future if allowed to continue unchecked."

The President looked at the GS President. "I think he has made his case but I am taking it one step further. Any more attacks on him, or his facilities, industrial espionage to direct covert strikes by GS will add another 5 years for each actor involved."

John took a couple of days and cleared the Caldar from the world one slimeball at a time. Then he returned the three men to the GBI at Terra-7.

The news traveled fast about GS. The GS board fired the President of the company following the meeting. As it was a mediation, they had no avenue for appeal. John returned the three wayward fugitives the same way he got them, in EVA suits. A little thinner but alive. That lasted all of 3 months.

After 3 months the 3 of them and the former GS president all died under mysterious circumstances on the same day in different parts of the world. In the case of the GS President, they found his dismembered body in shipping boxes. All outbound for pick-up as they were being sent to the Capitol.

John met with Camille's grandparents and with the aid of his ship he relocated the remaining aboriginal people to Geos. Almost 200 hundred of them with his blood being circulated among the elders and young adults. To give them time to replenish their numbers. John offered the same opportunity to the Native Americans who would be interested as well as the last of the Eskimo people.

Both groups turned him down but thanked him for the offer. John had successfully relocated the Jupiter station to IO and kept it cloaked while he brought in those with skills from the debtor's section of the different space stations to work on building his caterpillar factories.

---

He had three ladies aboard the station today who interested him. Lacy, Camille and he had the reporter Yoshida Kiru who had to sign an NDA to show no outside footage or discussion of the process in which some of the metal was created. John started farming in patents slowly and has a team of other patent lawyers riding shotgun over GS for any and all patent infringement issues.

While watching out for hidden actors. Up until this point Astra had been his only outlet and she was frustrated by his constant delays. Though his semen always remained sold out as soon as it arrived. He finished his interview with the reporter who loved the station. She also loved the mockup of the fighter she was shown; having flown fighters herself.

He had all three of them in a dining area. He looked across, "I am in need of wives and hybrids. I have extended this offer to Lacy and Camille but I am also extending it to you Kiru."

She looked over shocked, "You are looking for multiple wives?"

He nodded, "I had 14 at one point before I left, 7-8 who all shared my bed in the recent past. I had 3 who died and we added 4 more, almost 15 years later. I showed you the diagnosis. Astra, as you now know and covered by that NDA, is my semen sipping android who has been managing my levels for over 4 years. She wants a break. She wants me to find at least 5 wives to fill out the eternal council."

Lacy looked over and smiled, "Camille and I have talked and we agree. We say yes."

Kiru looked at him, "You want me to become a hybrid?"

He nodded, "Yes, I want you to live a very long life and be able to defend yourself."

She smiled, "I can already defend myself."

He smiled, "Dojo."

She smiled, "A challenge. Accepted. I told my parents long ago I would never marry a man who could not best me in combat. You beat me without any twisty arm movements and I will look to marry you."

He nodded, "Astra before we go down. Show all three of them Danyelle's last flight and then they will see why I am the way I am about wanting this."