Cowboys and Aliens Ch. 16

Mark was concerned, "Kaleb, I share your feeling of being exposed! This has got to change! Does it cost anything to build ships or are they pretty much all mass fabricated?"

Kaleb said, "It does cost a bit to collect the raw material to build ships, so we hire cargo vessels to harvest asteroids, so depending on cargo ship availability, it can cost quite a bit to haul the resources to the shipyards. However the main cost to ships is staffing them."

Mark said, "How many ships can we build at one time?"

"We only have the two old shipyards that the Mazjik left us and they can build one ship at a time, but the trick is we're not the only people having ships built!"

"OK so how much will it cost and how long will it take to build our own shipyard solely for security purposes?" Mark asked.

Kaleb said, "Only someone with royal blood can build a shipyard or weapons. Well, we can build laser turrets and pulse cannons because we invented those, but we can't build TRD's or singularity shells, that's for you only!"

Mark asked "What's a TRD?"

"Are you familiar with our construx technology for building things?" Mark nodded his head yes, so Kaleb continued, "A TRD is a Targeted Rapid Deconstrux. On contact, it replaces all of the molecules in an object and then deactivates itself. More or less causing a ship or weapon to literally disintegrate into nothing."

Mark said with concern, "Wouldn't that be dangerous against us then?"

"Actually it's totally harmless against anything that is built with the special Mazjik material. There were three technologies that the Mazjik kept secret, we can use them, but we can't manipulate them. TRD's, singularity shells and the formula for the special indestructible material, all of which can only be built by a King, when an AI is active."

Mark asked Cricket, "You can create those weapons right?"

Cricket replied, "Of course, and I can greatly improve their power and efficiency of their laser turrets and pulse cannons!"

Mark was deep in thought now, "Here's what I envision, tell me what you think and be honest!"

Mark thought for a second about his vision, "I want to build our own shipyards, I want to be capable of building 4 ships at a time. Then I want to build two dozen Destroyers first and then maybe a Battlestar or two. I also want all security stations upgraded with fighters, that way the federated planets will be able to patrol their area and possibly defend it.

We should have lots of ships to defend the planet, once we have enough ships to begin monthly rotations. It's fine to have a Battlestar or two in orbit right now, but I would rather have the Battlestars out there on patrol and I think both a Battlestar and a Destroyer should be sent to explore new planets and areas of space. The Battlestar can hang back to provide support and the Destroyer can run point."

Mark then thought for a bit before continuing, "I also want R&D ramped up, with the first priority being extend our scanning range. While it is fine and dandy to possibly have the most powerful weapons, the real advantage is having the ability to detect and prepare for problems, long before they can detect you."

Kaleb had a huge smile on his face, "This is music to my ears! I take it you plan on leaving one Destroyer around every federated planet?"

"Exactly!" Mark said with a frown, "I don't like leaving our citizens with such limited defence capabilities. I've read the laws, even when a planet joins the Federation, we don't give them ship building or weapons technologies, except stun guns, so I interpret that as, it is our responsibility to protect them."

"My King," Kaleb asked with concern, "how will all this be funded? This will probably cost a couple of billion credits to build!"

Mark smiled, "Our gracious Prince just so happened to leave town without his credits! I was going to donate them all to charities and worthwhile causes, but this seems like the most worthwhile cause I can think of!"

"Sir, I have been trying for over 150 years to get someone to even listen to me, yet here you are saying almost my exact same words as if there is some urgency to them. Why?"

"Kaleb," Mark looked solemn as he composed himself, "the Prince has been selling our technology to non-federated planets. If he's sold our ship building or weapons technologies to someone, then it's safe to assume that we won't be the most advanced civilization for long!"

Kaleb smiled, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, he wouldn't have been able to build shipyards, TRDs, singularity drivers or anything with the special Mazjik material. The only weapons he would have access to are lasers, pulse cannons and stun guns. Plus any construx he would've taken, wouldn't be capable of building things using the Mazjik material either. Those can only be accessed by the royal bloodline, through your AI, and just so you know, the AI is something that was gifted to us by the Mazjik, we did not create it, nor can we control it."

"Cricket, can you interface with the original AI of the Federation?" Mark asked.

Cricket replied, "No, I can't interface with it. It's me!"

"What? You're the Mazjik AI?" Mark asked.

Cricket explained, "Yes, when the last of the royal bloodline died, my AI code was suspended, everything that has kept happening since that time has simply been fork routines to do specific tasks. Exactly like what I left at the ranch, or all the buildings and events the security company monitors. However, until I was reconnected to all these old fork routines via the Atlantean network, I was pretty limited in my functionality. But since reconnecting, I've regained everything!"

Mark said, "Good! So you've got access to the shipyard plans and the weapons technologies, can you make any improvements to the shipyards or maybe even the weapons?"

"Shipyards yes! The only weapons plans I have, are what you have seen, stun guns, laser turrets, pulse cannons, singularity shells and TRDs. I can improve the laser turrets and pulse cannons, but the other weapons I can access, but there's nothing I can do to improve them. As for improving the shipyards, well I would only make a few changes, I'd add thrusters and automatic harvesting ships, so you wouldn't have to build them around the planet or hire cargo ships to harvest resources. It would significantly improve production and efficiency to move the shipyards wherever the resources are."

"That makes a lot of sense, but not being local, means we'll need to defend them, so give them some weapons too. Make the changes to the shipyard plans, I want these things up and running as fast as possible!" Mark thought.

"Kaleb, just so you know I'm going to make some new shipyards, but they aren't going to be in our orbit. I'm going to build them near an asteroid belt, they're going to be armed and they're going to have automatic harvesters. Being closer to the resources will reduce costs and speed up production," Mark explained.

"Now why has no one else ever thought of that?" Kaleb asked stupendously.

Mark explained, "Likely because they didn't like the idea of having production facilities outside of our monitoring space, which is why I'm giving them weapons."

Kaleb was all smiles, "I am so glad we are on the same page. Finally, we can begin advancing the Federation again. Since we are talking about ships, will you be staying with Commander Topos on the Poseidon? I hear you made quite an impression on the crew!"

"I'm not sure if I need to have 250 crew with me all the time, I would think they're going to get bored with all my little excursions."

"That's what they're there for, if you're not with them, they'll still be on patrol, plus it's policy that wherever the King goes, a Battlestar goes with him."

Mark thought for a second, "Well then, I guess the Poseidon will be my royal ship. I think we have a pretty good plan in place, is there anything else you want to talk about today?"

"No, my King! I think you've already read pretty much everything in my mind."

"Thank you for your time, General!"

"No, thank you, my King! I shall once again sleep well knowing the Federation is in good hands."

Everyone was waiting in the central area for them to end the meeting. When the two of them exited Kaleb's office, Angela smiled, "Dad I haven't seen you smile that big in years! I take it you had a productive meeting?"

Kaleb hugged his daughter and smiled, "Angela, I feel better now than I have in years... like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. For the first time in centuries, the Federation actually has a leader that listens and truly understands how things work!"

Liyana smiled, "That is good to hear, General Marsbe, would you mind if Samira contacts you for a statement?"

"Not at all," he said with a smile, "I'm happy to support our King!"

"Unfortunately we can't stick around," Liyana conceded, "the King doesn't realize how many items are on his to-do list right now!"

Mark looked at Kaleb and joked, "Women are always so demanding and pushy!"

Everyone laughed as Annabelle pushed Mark to the hover elevator and they descended down to the central band, then made their way back to the shuttle and then back down to the palace.

Back at the palace, the girls went to check on Maren and were then going to go relax on the beach.

Half an hour later, Liyana's reporter friend was flying in to the palace in a lift to get the scoop on the attack. Elisha and Gerald were there waiting to also record the interview.

When they landed, Liyana introduced them, "Mark, this is Samira Amparo, a reporter for the Atlantean Federation News Network, Samira this is Mark, sorry we didn't get a chance to talk after the coronation, it got kind of hectic."

Samira was an attractive woman, she was about 5'7", brown skin, brown eyes, short black hair, firm looking C-cup breasts. Unlike Elisha and Gerald, Samira was alone, with a hovering camera bot, that had a projector below the lens.

Elisha nudged Gerald, "Look it's a more compact version of you," pointing at the floating camera device.

Samira laughed, "Actually, I work with a lot of people, they just work from the studio doing all the editing. The camera just follows me around until I indicate I'm ready and then they take control of the camera from there, it's not self-aware."

Gerald said, "You know, I'd actually be in favour of working like that! I'd still get to do my job, but I'd be part of a team and would get to go home to my family every day. The people at your studio do take turns operating the camera right?"

Samira answered, "Yes, the studio team is quite busy, as they do all the editing for all the reporters."

Liyana then interjected and suggested they do the interview in the palace, and that after the interview, Samira should get a statement from General Marsbe.

The group went into the palace and up to Mark's room, where it was decided Mark should be sitting at his desk for the interview. Samira, Elisha and Gerald got setup, then Samira started the interview.

'This is Samira Amparo from AFNN, I'm here at the palace with King Phoenix, who, I've just learned, has had a second attempt on his life, by the Prince, in as many days. What happened, Sir?'

'The coward must have figured he would be imprisoned at the palace, so he took the liberty to build some escape tunnels into the holding cells.

Fortunately we stumbled upon his secret hideout in the mountains earlier this afternoon. In exploring his lair, we found and rescued 3 young girls and recovered the remains of 5 other young girls, all of which had seemingly vanished from Carthas over the past year.'

Samira interrupted, "You mean the Prince was the one behind the kidnappings, and then he raped and killed those poor young girls?"

'I'm afraid so Samira, him and his friends. When we found him missing, myself and some security personnel went to his hideout and waited for them.

He was extremely irate that we had found out about his plans, and made a hasty exit and blew up his hideout with us in it! Then during his escape, he stabbed my pilot and pushed her off a cliff, and stole our shuttle, boarded his friend's cargo ship and left.

There is currently a Federation wide warrant and bounty for his capture, anyone found aiding them will be considered accomplices to his crimes.'

'Is your pilot OK?'

'She will be, thanks to Senator Marsbe, who knew how to pilot the shuttle at the palace. She and my friends were only a few minutes behind us. They got her into the medibed in the securivac, while the others dug us out of the rubble. Unfortunately, the explosion killed four of the security with me and three of the Prince's men.'

'So where is the Prince now?'

'Well, he is no longer a Prince! He, along with the crew of the Phalynx, are now fugitives. They escaped with a cargo ship full of technology that we suspect they will try to sell on a non-federated planet. In his hideout, we uncovered that he had been selling our technology to non-federated planets and siphoning tax money into private accounts for years. We recovered over 400 billion credits that he had siphoned away.'

'That's a lot of credits, what are you going to do with that?'

'After meeting with some of my advisers, I've learned that our rescue, medical and security programs have had their budgets cut, fairly drastically, in the past century. A lot of those credits are going to be used to bring our emergency services up to, what I would classify as, a necessary level to properly protect and serve every planet in the Federation.

We're also going to create grants and provide awards for research and development of technology that will benefit the Federation. Anything left over is going to be donated to worthwhile causes needing funding.'

'So what's going to happen to the Pri... err Sebastian?'

'There is a bounty of a million credits for anyone that brings him in dead or alive, but I seriously doubt he will ever show his face on a Federated planet again. As for the Phalynx, there is an FWB out for it, they are to surrender or be destroyed.'

'Wow, you've had quite the first two days as King! What's next for our new king?'

'I'm not sure, but my advisers and assistant tell me there's lots of items on my to-do list, so I'm pretty much doing whatever they tell me to do, but I think we'll be touring Atlanterra and then the other planets in the Federation.'

'Sounds like you have lots to do, thank you for your time today, my King! This is Samira Amparo signing off from the palace.'

After the interview, Liyana and Samira went off to talk, while Gerald packed away his camera and then went off to do some editing.

After a moment of uncertainty, Elisha asked, "Maybe it's normal for Atlanteans, but I can't believe no one has asked how you survived the bomb, the cave in, or even the assassination attempt when you first got here? How did you do it? Are you a superhero or something?"

Mark laughed, "Definitely not a superhero, but Solara is pretty smart and, it's because of her, that I'm safe. This belt I wear is a personal shield that she made. It's a small scale version of what is used on a spaceship. It broadcasts an inertial dampening field around me and anything moving fast enough to hurt me gets stopped.

In the cave, it recognized an attack from all angles and created a hard shield, rather than just an inertial dampening field, which kept me in a bubble until I could be rescued. Fortunately, the girls weren't far behind, as the air in the bubble wouldn't have lasted for very long."

Elisha looked at him forlorn, "You really are amazing! Before we left, I looked into your history. It's pretty remarkable! You owned and operated a successful IT business, which only fell apart due to some bad employees. Then your wife left you and you moved out to the ranch to retire, only to stumble across some aliens. They put you into a medibed, which restored your youth and caused you to get abducted for over a month. Then more aliens show up, declare you the King to billions of citizens across 11 planets!

You should write a book about it! You have had to deal with changes far beyond anything probably any other human has had to deal with, then add in traumatic experiences like two assassination attempts and you are still calm and collected. How do you do it?"

Mark smiled, got up from the desk and walked out onto the patio to look at the girls down at the beach, "I've surrounded myself with smart beautiful women."

Elisha laughed from behind him, as she undid her dress and let it fall to the floor, "So, the reason for your success is because, you've got cute fuckable women around you?"

Mark laughed, "Well, if you're going to word it that way..." as he turned around and saw the stunning blonde reporter, standing there in her birthday suit.

Mark raised an eyebrow as he approached the blonde, but as he reached her, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around him and they kissed passionately. Mark grabbed her ass as he carried her over to the bed and laid her down. That was when their kiss finally broke as he moved his mouth down to her firm C-cup breasts and began sucking on her pink nipples. One hand roamed up to massage the other breast, while the other hand found a very wet pussy.

Mark dipped a couple of fingers into her slick sex, then brought them up to spread pussy juice all over her nipple, which he then proceeded to lick clean. His hand returned to her pussy and his fingers soon located her g-spot and began applying some pressure to the sensitive area inside of her. Soon Elisha grabbed his hand and held it there while her body spasmed in orgasm.

Once her orgasm subsided, she got up off the bed and started stripping Mark's clothes off, leaving his underwear for last, as she got down on her knees to remove those. Letting his already hard cock pop out in front of her. She stared in awe at his huge tattooed phallus, as she slowly started stroking it.

"Wow, I can see why all the girls make such a fuss over you. This big boy looks like fun!" She said as she smiled and licked her lips, before opening her mouth and taking Mark's cock in.

After a couple of minutes of fellatio, Elisha stood up, still holding Mark's cock, laid back on the bed and guided the head of his cock to her pussy.

Mark applied a bit of pressure and her bare nether lips made an audible smack, as they opened up to accept him into her hot steamy depths. He slowly slid all the way in, until his balls rested against her puckered asshole. Elisha breathed in slowly during the entire penetration, before finally whispering "Oh wow!" as she felt his balls on her ass.

Mark smiled and said, "Wow, you're tight!" as he slowly fucked in and out of her.

After a couple of minutes of slow fucking and kissing, Elisha wrapped her legs around Mark, which he read as she wanted to change positions, so he grabbed her ass and lifted her off the bed while still managing their slow fuck.

He laid down, with her on top, and she picked up the pace of their fucking.

From this vantage point, Mark had an incredible view of her perfect breasts bouncing in front of his face. He couldn't help but hold them, suck them and pinch the nipples.

Elisha started slamming her groin into Mark's, as if trying to get him deeper inside. Mark just smiled and said, "Would you like a bit more?" as his cock started to tingle. As soon as she felt him start to grow she sat still and felt his cock expand. She inhaled another huge breath as the head of his cock slipped through her cervix and into her womb.

Elisha just smiled and tried to relax, as her pussy got accustomed to the intrusion. Soon, she resumed fucking herself up and down on his cock. It didn't take much longer before she began to climax, which caused her cervix to clamp down tight on Mark's cock triggering his own orgasm, as he began to pump hot cum into her womb.