Astra Pt. 09

He looked at them, "I got to get these colony ships moving to get them to the other side. This is the next test."

They threw up their hands as the other wives did the same thing and he yelled back, "You do not want to go on this one; stay here. But it is going to happen!"

He went to his shuttle and went to his battleship. His wives followed in another shuttle. He looked over, "XO, dock us with the Colossus."

He nodded and docked the ship. He called out, "Colossus base! Full expansion. Goliath dock inside the base. All hybrids to the Colossus bridge."

His wives and the others showed up on the deck. They all thought he was pushing it too fast. He called up the President once the walls were in place, "Madam President. Proceeding with the next jump test. I am taking the Colossus fully expanded with the Goliath inside and docked.

I have double the number of power cores, increased their output by another 50% and that is to each pylon in the Colossus. It is probably pushing as much power in that room as we have on half the planet."

She sighed, "Your wives are alright with this test?"

He chuckled, "No, I have been called crazy and out of my fucking mind. If I am right it is not the amount of telepathic power we have onboard at the moment. We have to increase the size of the wormhole further. With that, we could move a colony through a wormhole. If this works the colony could launch next week and on schedule instead of delayed because of these crashes."

She sighed, "Godspeed to you John."

He nodded at her. He had gotten the presidential medal of freedom again for his efforts. As did Astra, a first for a non-human and an android. He explained to those in attendance, "I have gotten this now in two timelines. I do not know how that works."

They laughed at him for his comments at that dinner. At least he knew it was coming for that award.

He looked over at Frankie, "Master Chief! Give me 25% power on the Wormhole Engine. They watched a massive hole open from that which had the wives concerned. He called out, "Half powered. It grew by 25% and looked just shy of getting them through. He called out, "Three-quarters power." He watched it expand to the size of the ship. He nodded, "Full power!" The others started to send him power and he kept it steady and built up the power they gave him as the hole finished expanding and he did the release through the hole and found himself in front of the docks, "Open up and launch Goliath."

He looked back and nodded to them all, "Thank you for all being a part of this history."

He brought up the comms through the satellite and looked at her, "No damage; arrived on target." The president collapsed back into her chair. With her cabinet members clapping. She asked, "How did you know?"

He looked at her, "First jump test we did we damaged pylons and we added power. The other timeline. After that last test, I knew we kept it straight going through. The results of the damage on the ship confirmed that. I added two more cores per pylon to Goliath and plan to jump Colossus back in a shrunken form tomorrow.

They have two factory ships out here now to run and collect material to build the local shuttles and supplies they will need for the 90 current colony ships planned."

She nodded as Lacy spoke, "The next ten terraforms are done as well and another 5 farm ships will be ready next week." He nodded at her. He looked back, "I need some rest now." Everyone laughed at that. He went to his room with the wives on his tail. Lacy looked at him, "Why didn't you tell us about the other crash."

He looked at her, "Because Astra already told you all after the first run with Goliath."

They looked at each other and did not deny she had told them. He looked at them, "Lacy, I need you to try and contact Grace."

She sighed, "I have never..."

He looked at here, "You try or I will." She nodded as he laid down and connected into Lacy's mind and then slowly fed her energy, some he kept from the jump and she gasped from that. He heard them talking. Grace asked, "Wow you must have had a spike in power to reach me."

John thought to her, * I gave it to her. *

She laughed, *I got you both. *

John asked, * You ever get Colossus through? *

Grace sighed, * We have barely gotten a dreadnought through. *

He thought to her, * Two more power cores per pylon on the Dreadnought. Build a half deck above the Pylons on the Colossus. Install 750-terawatt power cores. My old lab. Enter the motto in Latin and it will unlock all the files and you can search them. All except the most dangerous ones which will never be opened.

The Master Chief would know how if she were still around."

She sighed, "Gone but I know what you are talking about because of what you did before. What about that half deck?"

He thought, "Double all power cores to each pylon to the Colossus.

You got the power. I just pushed it through with 240 hybrids and not all were telepaths; fully expanded. Had our Goliath inside. The one that had to be fixed twice. That included my battleship on top. You got this. That capability is within your reach. *

She laughed, * Still trying to teach me. *

Lacy interrupted, * We all called him crazy and fucking insane for jumping to this test. Now we all feel like shit about it. *

She heard Grace sigh, * We had an argument before all the weddings got settled the first time. He came in and told us his safety is his concern. You can have your say but he will do what he wants to do. Supporting him is for the best. *

John thought back, * Did she tell you we got 66% of congress to approve the treaty? *

Grace laughed, * No I had not contacted here in a while. I have been busy working on keeping HG out of another civil war in Terra. It looks bad. At least two of the Starbases have been destroyed. They have left 9-12 alone. It probably helped we deployed another 150 fighters at each one of them as they kicked this off.

They are protecting the bases in between them as well. It is a no-fly zone for the war. Our offers to mediate have been denied by both sides. We have HG forces in system protecting Jupiter and Saturn which they seem fine with staying away from. Luna and Mars really put a hurt-on Terra with that sneak attack. *

John thought, * Pack up the Colossus, double up the cores and drop it in the middle with all of those forces and blockade Terra from attacking and from being attacked. If asked 'What do you think you are doing?' You respond. 'What is best for humanity.' *

Grace sighed, * They have thought of doing that with three of the dreadnoughts. We did it with two and the colossus carrying the third it might show them we are fucking serious about bringing this to a close. *

He sighed, * Need sleep after that push. Thank you, Lacy, for helping. *

Grace laughed, * Thank you for the technical updates. *

It ended. John looked at Lacey, "Now you know why I just walked out. I had that argument once before."

She nodded and told all the wives what had happened.

He went to sleep and heard from Justice. * Your solution was inventive. We did not see you getting it there that soon. You have about capped out on the power a hybrid can normally have in eternity.

Some Drakor were shocked and even a little jealous at how easy some things have come to you. Your string of bad luck appeased some until today. We knew you had great power when you pushed your scout through solo. Only an eternal with several centuries of experience should be able to do that. *

He thought back, * I was forced to start over and placed over 12 light-years away from where I needed to be. I have been striving to catch up since getting shoved back here. *

He heard, * Is your anger over this unfortunate circumstance keeping you from fully connecting to your wives? *

He thought back, * I had a phyco-bot strip me from time, not once but twice. They attempted to kill me twice and succeed once. I progressed in the other timeline, the Drakor wanted to graduate just me and separate me from my wives and children.

Then as I just got that treaty signed, I was sucked back through time by the Drakor. Again, to start over again and left in Tau Ceti. Having to abandon my wives. To start over yet again.

I get these colonies through and I wondered if you were going to show up and try to graduate me out yet again. Take me away from all of them. I am waiting for the next crazy thing to happen and find it hard to get as emotionally attached because of all the loses I have had. All of this fucking yanking me back and forth like a puppet on a string.

I wonder if it is even possible to get it done right without being a Drakor. How many races have you graduated versus eliminated? When are you going to come and take me away yet again from all of them? No point getting attached if you are simply going to yank my strings again. *

Justice was quiet for several seconds, * Some of your questions I am not permitted to answer, those dealing with numbers. I can tell you many have succeeded in the trials. Not all members of their society just a significant majority are required. You are going to ask if is all worth it.

To some yes. To others, it was simply a feeling of relief. We had a few who asked, 'What? this is it?' It is likely your mindset right now would be the later or relief. You turned down graduating on your own in the other timeline. We understood how you could see it as a trick or another test.

We have contemplated that. Some could see this being a point of confusion. This is also us hoping you will succeed personally and as a species. This requires trust in us. I know you accomplished much for them. Then you had one who wanted to kill you here.

He learned some hard lessons but to us, he is still very young. Your trust in us is almost as shattered as your trust in your species. Then there is the trust in your wives which has been held back by all of this. I know Meltora was a great guide for you.

He did not need to come back because he ceased to exist; Once he split. What has been done to you has not been fair, repeatedly so. We were made aware by an unknown from our own species you were in the system.

To meet at the human meeting point. You were a surprise to us. Your selection process had us baffled at first. Some who stayed and some who went with you. You were setting a core for each system.

Then some hybrid members move while others protect the systems. You cannot be everywhere and you want people you can rely on. You need to rely on your wives. They feel you pulling away from them.

You need to know we will see you again many times but we are not going to offer to graduate you again; at least not alone. You were given that choice once and you turned it down. It was no trick. We cannot predict when another time-hopping entity might try to grab you again. *

He thought back still angry. * Of course, I must watch over billions of fucking people and ensure they do not do something stupid. One does, poof, we are all fucking dead! One tries to use your technology we are dead.

We make an insult, poof we are dead. One gets to this moon first we are dead. You do not give us your rulebook on things. You expect us to magically figure it all out. I know you are not everywhere all the time.

The Praylon using your technology as a weapon is a good example. Do you tell us when a violation that will draw your wrath has occurred or do you expect us to find it across countless systems and Billions of people in the future? *

He heard back * You are overwhelmed at the enormity of the task ahead of you. How do you trust those you have made hybrids and how do you trust they will find the problems? The answer is, we would normally judge hybrids but you have so many justices being formed we have left judging them to you.

We would let you know if one crosses the line. As to your people, you are right, we cannot watch over all of them. When we or you find they have done something with Drakor technology then the hybrids must act to resolve the problem. If they fail then humanity fails. *

He thought back calmer, * That is when we hybrids will fail regardless. We will attack our own for attempting to better themselves through alien technology or you will destroy us all. We do not do what is 'best' for humanity in that case. We do what is required to keep them from being exterminated.

We hold back that ingenuity and creative spark I have been talking about our people's needs. They do that by studying from all sources. Give us something to detect the presence of your technology within our own systems at least. *

He heard, * You have all been given that gift. You are the only one right now who can unlock it. It is not a device. It is within you. The ability to reach out and find those things. Even our ships in the system. You asked the right question.

Hybrids ensuring humanity is not destroyed is best for humanity. You used it unknowingly to find your wife's blade. You yourself said humanity was not ready for this level of technology.

You were and are still right. Not until humanity, the majority of humanity, graduates would they be ready for that level of technology. Your ladies and others are worried about you. *

John woke up as we had been shaken from all sides. The ladies finally looked at him and Sindy spoke, "You stubborn ass. You have been out 20 hours since bringing this ship here."

He shook his head, "No. Justice contacted me. He was chastising me about my relationship with you. About being more fully committed to each of you. None of you know what it is like to lose 28 wives and thousands of children. One day you will.

Then you will understand why it is hard to recommit yourself fully into another relationship. Especially when you are jerked around in time by humanity and the Drakor. It turned into a long argument. One-sided. He stayed calm as always."

He looked at them. "With all the people and all of the planets, how do we even know where to find Drakor technology if it is in human hands?"

Lacy asked, "What did he say?"

He looked at them, "That is not a question I can answer. You are asking the wrong person."

He knew they had not had to go about this process before. He got up and out of the cum soaked bed. They obviously tried every method to wake him. He went into the shower and got cleaned up and got into his charcoal grey uniform which became HG standard colors before and again.

He stepped out and had arms surround him from Lacy, Camille, Kiru, Sindy, and Aurora who worked her way behind him to hug him. Kiru spoke first, "We had all been wondering why you had been getting more distant. He told us they are not coming for you like they did the last time as you made that choice once already."

He sighed, "That was part of it. Also, the enormity of the task without the tools to do it bothered me."

Lacy smiled, "I just had that conversation with Grace. They added the power cores to the Dreadnought and got through a lot easier. It will take a few days to do the Colossus. The President in her line which is the same one here. She was happy to hear she had gained contact with you and you provided guidance on Colossus and the Dreadnoughts.

I told her you were arguing with Justice in this time about how do you keep Drakor technology out of the hands of billions of humans. She asked what did you find out. I told her, she was asking the wrong person that question. She laughed and said she would talk to Justice later.

She told me there were a lot of questions like that early on that we missed. Justice told us you are the only one who can find it across a planet or system. We could find it if we were close and focused on it."

He hugged them all one at a time and tried to open his heart more to each one of his very pregnant wives. The news from Grace was uplifting and gave him some hope he got it right for them. When he was done, they all stood in awe of him, Kiru spoke, "We could all feel you opening your heart more to us. To let us inside. We felt it within us. Like you were releasing some of your willpower into us but leaving it with us."

He nodded, "Then you can imagine what it feels like to lose that 28 times over."

They all nodded at him. He looked, "Shower up, then meet me on the bridge."

Kiru sighed, "Astra can you see that he has food and drink in his office before he passes out."

She laughed, "I will."

He went to his office tried to reach out for any Drakor technology in the system and was surprised to find one stationary object. Small, but on the far moon. He thought to Justice * This a test to see if I could find the object on the far moon? *

He heard, * No. You find something, safeguard it. We will determine the best time and place to retrieve it. *

He called out, "XO set course, farthest planet farthest moon. 6x then put us in orbit."

He finished eating when his necklace with the president went active. He turned it on. He learned from the last time and set an answerability on his crystals. He heard, *You alright? We heard they were having a hard time waking you. *

He thought back, * Was in a long and somewhat heated discussion with Justice Incarnate. I was the one getting heated he was calm as always. He answered some of my questions and when I get back, I may very well be stepping all over local and Global military R&D efforts.

I know how to find every piece of Drakor technology in the system and it is in me. Not a device. I am on my way to find something small on the farthest moon here at this very moment. It was not a test. I will be knocking down a lot of doors. Remember what they told us about trying to reverse engineer their technology. *

She sighed, * Get me locations and I will try and smooth the way and if they get stubborn force the issue with you and your team going forward. Glad to hear you are all right. When will we see you? *

He thought, * In a few hours, I got a moon to visit here. *

He finished eating and went to the fighter bay and got into his flight suit, he got into his fighter, "Merlin ready to launch."

They cleared the deck and opened the doors. He veered off from there flight path as he focused in on the location he wanted.

He changed course as it slowly spun toward him from the other side. He pulled up a half a km away from the site and walked out onto the moon and found a Drakor sword buried in the dust he read it, * 'Extreme Vengeance' psi sword. *

Justice sighed and then chuckled, * The one you fought. He must have lost it when you struck him. He did not wish to be embarrassed about it and replaced it when he got back. He begrudgingly thanks you for recovering it. *

John thought, * Least I could do after kicking his ass. *

He heard Justice laughing which was a strange and eerie sensation. He got back into his fighter and rejoined his ship. The ladies looked at him as he tossed them the sword. Kiru caught it and asked, "One of their swords?"

He nodded, "The one who wanted to fight me. I sent him flying at least 25 meters. His sword must have kept flying. Until I just found it."