Traitor

Linda introduced Gen. Matilda MacArthur from intelligence to Jason’s group. “Matilda is the brains of our Intelligence outfit. She has already met with Major Connie Ross. They have been hard at work together, which is why you didn’t meet her at lunch. She will update you on what we know and have been thinking.”

Matilda stood up to speak, “We have returned your senior intelligence assets back to the planet together with some of our people.

“We are attempting to assess if there are other hidden reserves of fighters and soldiers. We are also interrogating the senior priests. I think we have done about as much as we can do at this point. I’d suggest,” said General MacArthur, “that we meet half an hour before dinner and then have a working meal in the conference room with our wider senior team. Subsequently, we’ll consider our plans overnight, and meet after breakfast to discuss matters further.”

“I’ve already arranged a special meal for all of you. Let’s enjoy the food and then we talk as we need to,” said Jason. Matilda looked at the others and nodded.

“It appears that we have at least implicitly agreed that we’ll work together on this next step as speed is of the essence and inaction constitutes a bigger risk. I believe that this will be a useful exercise for us to see if and how we can form an alliance with common objectives, at least in the short term. Is that satisfactory, Dad? The family will still be together?” Matilda asked as the clones sniggered.

“Karen, Linda, and Andrea we go to the gym first thing in the morning, workout and spar, have a quick sauna and then go to breakfast. Why don’t you guys join us and your father? I’ll send one of my assistants to get you. We also need to discuss giving you the latest generation of implants and tie you guys into the security of the ship and the battle AIs,” suggested Colonel Janet Malone giggling.

Jason returned to his room. He felt completely exhausted after what was already feeling like a long day. Winston woke him after about an hour and suggested they talk about the day a bit more.

“Jason I’ve made sure that you are fully rested. I’ve a few matters that I want to discuss with you. I can see that there’s a very strong attraction between you and Linda and surprisingly to Andrea as well. You and Linda at least are an excellent match. I’ve detected that she has a very powerful crystal. She’s not the only one. Somehow the priests must have obtained the crystals of their ancestors, and found a way to hand them on. This is beyond current Empire technology. “Every single person that I’ve looked at has a superior crystal. A lot of work and planning has gone into this effort. The crystals are augmenting them as did yours.

“Linda has prodigious organizational skills, and is strongly telepathic. Her family and yours have a history. The same factors that led to the previous attraction are again operating. The two of you are feeling a strong bond. You and Linda are a very powerful combination. You’ve great instincts and she has the capacity to ensure that the job gets done. She was a great woman. Linda has not yet faced the life challenges that were the events that shaped the original.

“She has a great capacity for deception and a great interest in military intelligence techniques and methodology to deceive the enemy. She organized the group to carve out the grenades from packing foam and paint them. They only made a few each for the top layer and the rest was packing products. She fully intended to go along with all of you but wanted to show they’re no pushover and they deserve respect and a place at the table. I had the greatest difficulty in not laughing at the time. So, did she. She’s an excellent actress. She also has excellent telepathic blocks and that’s why the others didn’t suspect deception.

“Your gene purity surprised her. You are very close to the Emperor.

“You impressed her and you attract her strongly. You made a big impact on her when she saw you. Jason, you even look like the younger version of your family member that was so close to her original. She has seen the pictures.”

“There are very limited forces left on the surface of the planet. I’ve scanned at depth and there are a few hundred residual fanatical soldiers in deep bunkers. I’ve very little doubt that our General and Admiral will very shortly present plans based on deception as opposed to direct confrontation that will lead to the capture of the leadership.

“The history of groups with fanatics is interesting. They usually represent only 10 percent of any group but have the capacity to control and influence the remainder. As you go higher up the chain of command, you encounter a greater percentage of fanatics,” said Winston.

He heard Linda buzz him and heard her sexy voice. “Jason, I’ve a few things that I’d like to discuss with you on your own. I need your personal attention as a matter of some urgency. Are you available?” She said in a jocular, teasing, and flirty tone. There was no doubt about the topic of the meeting. She was not backward in coming forward! Jason smiled. Sometimes, it was fun to be the prey! She was already several steps ahead of him and he was squarely in her sights.

Jason informed his sentries it wouldn’t be necessary for them to remain with him in the room. They grinned at him knowingly.

She strode into the room confidently and gave him a peck on the lips.

She’d been dressed at lunch in a somewhat baggy military uniform. She was his height, if not fractionally taller. Her face was handsome as well as beautiful with the most intense gray-blue eyes he had ever seen. Her hair was brown and fell in waves around her head. Her eyes very much dominated her face. They were large and could look gentle and they could look dangerous. Her lips were naturally more reddish as was her skin than you would customarily see on Earth. She looked strong and walked in a determined way, unless she was swaying and teasing him. She had a husky voice and she smelled delightful. The dresser could provide a woman with her own blended scent that could be replicated by every dresser.

For this assignation, she had dressed in a blouse of the most intense blue, that flowed over her breasts and intriguingly twirled and rippled as she undulated towards him, and the Empire version of a very dark contrasting blue skirt with a fine pattern; very long on one side and much shorter on the other with filmy harem pants beneath. He didn’t notice her golden sandals until later. Her hair was shining. Her eyes seemed more pronounced. He lost concentration as he fell into her eyes and he smelt a gorgeous, enticing, and delicious perfume. She sauntered towards him.

“Consider yourself the mistress of seduction and me the innocent victim of your charms,” Jason said as he dramatically, wiped his brow.

“You may have your way with me madam. I can resist your seductive ways no longer!”

He moved towards her and kissed her gently and then gradually more passionately as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him more tightly towards her. Her skin was soft and her touch gentle. He luxuriated in the feel of her athletic, taught, but so womanly body

They made love tenderly. For the first-time Jason experienced the intensity and profound intimacy of making love with someone who opened her mind completely to another. He could feel her feelings and her emotions as well as his own. The experience was so concentrated and powerful that it was overwhelming. It was almost as if he had never made love before. He opened his mind as completely to her as she had to him.

It was an experience where there could be no deception. It was an intimacy beyond anything that he had ever known and he fell in love with her, knowing her deepest self. It was as if he experienced years of courtship in minutes. He loved her mind, the neat organization, the warmth, the intimacy, the passion and her values and loyal nature. He drew her in, to feel what he felt. They basked in each other’s minds and moved like a metronome in and out of each other’s mind while their bodies joined. He felt her every feeling, he felt her joy, and he felt her tenderness, and her love and her intrinsic nature. She was a woman of iron, of tenderness, of integrity, a woman of great substance, the woman he loved passionately and devotedly within a few short hours.

They held each other closely laughing and crying with the intensity of their feelings, before entering the cleanser together but were joined moments later by the dogs, who seemed happy to be part of such an important moment. They continued laughing and playing, touching, and caressing before dressing more formally for dinner.

She excused herself and said that she would shortly meet him at dinner but that she had some matters to attend to before she saw him again. He read for a while before making his way to his canteen.

The canteen was in an uproar when he arrived. There was a party going on. When they saw Jason, they did the Empire cheer which consisted of flapping their arms like a chicken and shouting Hoo – Hoo - Hoo.

Linda came up and hugged him and then shouted out to the whole canteen, “I’m pregnant and the medical pod has confirmed it,” she looked absolutely overjoyed and said, “I’m also pleased to say that the aging gene has been fixed and I can expect to live a normal life span. Four cheers for lord daddy, father to me, and father to us all.”

The cheering started again even louder.

“Come and sit at the table. You can fix some of the others as soon as possible. If you are going to sort out twenty million women you will have your work cut out for you!” This was met by universal cheers, hoots, and ribald laughter from the adjacent tables. She then whispered in Jason’s ear, “I want you to take care of my great friend Andrea tonight. Her original had a miserable life and she unfortunately has read about it. It’s beginning to poison her mind as it did to the original. She was a great Admiral but was not a pleasant person to be around and became horrid by the end of her life.

“This time she was cheerful and was quite happy until we all began to discover our histories and backgrounds. Please do it for me and especially think of helping her turn into a more fulfilled and happy person,” she kissed Jason on the cheek and guided him to a seat at the table with Andrea on his other side. She leaned over his back and told Andrea that after the meeting Jason would take care of her. She winked at Jason while on the other side Andrea was blushing.

Jason then heard the voice of Winston. “Jason, you do need to make a big effort with that woman. It’ll be well worth it. Her husband emotionally abused her for many hundreds of years and fathered two children by other women. He was constantly critical of her.

“Her own father was strict and critical and believed that nothing would become of her, despite her brilliant achievements in both academia and in sport. He still lives as does her husband.

“She joined the Navy to escape her family, but her first commander after she completed her training was a sadistic brutal woman who nearly broke her. She had no support from her family and her husband was a useless piece of baggage, correction he still is useless.

“She managed to continue to move on but turned out to be an embittered, sad woman, with a very poor capacity to relate to others. She was so brilliant, that despite everything, she had a stellar career and became chief admiral.

“She started off well on the planet and as Janet said she went well until she learned of her history. Her natural temperament is of a sweet woman, a bit shy, much as you are. I do hope you can get her back onto the right track. She’s beginning to ruminate and her self-esteem is declining as a consequence. She’s intensely loyal and I suspect she will see your relationship as long term. Her loyalty was strong in her marriage and that’s why she stuck at it.

“I can see the signs of a formidable but loving woman, that will flourish with the right support and cultivation.

“In Imperial society, it’s rare for a man to have more than one wife, but legally, he can have as many as he wishes and they wish. Women can similarly have as many husbands as they wish. Group marriages are also possible. There are no arbitrary limits to any type of marital groups. In your case I shudder to think how many wives you could have but I doubt that you could survive more than a few women of this caliber.”

Jason was in a very good mood and thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the scintillating entertaining company. He understood that the clones during their generative process were extensively educated however they needed to apply what they learned for some time before the knowledge integrated itself. If a person had the training as an engineer, they needed to work on problems and be an engineer for some time, under supervision, before their level of judgment would approximate that of an engineer.

Linda explained that she had very detailed training as did all of them relevant to their specialties. She had received all the knowledge that was taught at a war college as well as a significant amount of information about society and its function, everything that was taught to a child and teenager at school as if she had been there. She was given memories of having lived with her family and siblings, but most of them shared similar sets of memories. A good proportion of the information was propaganda that was disseminated to them by the priests while they were growing and reinforced after activation.

The other information was from conventional learning system education as received through school or university. She and the others had spent considerable amounts of time in simulators to consolidate what they had learned.

What the priests had not realized was that this allowed them to gain access privately, within the simulator, to the diverse network of resources that was available to the priests and the wider network of systems analogous to the Internet.

Within their teams they had IT, cyber warfare and communications specialists who ensured full connectivity without their activities being exposed. As they gained a wider understanding of Imperial society, they realized quickly that they had been exposed to propaganda. The information that they read and disseminated to each other nullified the influence of the priests.

As far as they were able to establish, the propaganda efforts were very poorly constructed and were not effective. Most of the clones began to experience what they thought were memories of what their originals had experienced, as well as the values and beliefs that they had developed. They experienced a profound sense of loss. They felt that they were from the Empire, but couldn’t become part of it. They felt more loyalty to the Empire than they felt to the priests. They had discussed their hopes and dreams that somehow this could be reversed leaving them with fully normal family lives, rather than the stunted twenty to thirty-year lifespans. They had read that there had been rumors of Imperial cure, but regarded these as futile hopes. Now she was delighted that they had not only hope but an expectation. However, their role or future role in Imperial society was yet to be determined.

“You lovely man, you complete me and I’ll have my revenge on you for thousands of years,” said Linda with a proprietary gleam in her eye, and then smiled broadly and smugly.

They made their way to the conference room with Linda holding his hand on one side and Andrea holding his hand on the other, a little more tentatively. Malone and Harris were there with Ross, the intelligence major, the intelligence general, Matilda MacArthur, an assistant, the Admiral, Andrea, and one of her senior staff. They were a team, blended from the clones and ship cyber warfare and communications groups.

“Matilda, can you provide an overview of the intelligence that has been collected to date and brief everyone on what we know from what we collected on the planet before we left,” Linda prompted.

Matilda stood up and started a hologram showing the planet. She enlarged the area near where Jason had landed and indicated where the clone facilities were to be found.

“It was quite easy to ask the priests for a map of the facilities. They were quite open with us fully believing that we were loyal and their propaganda had worked. We made sure to reinforce that opinion. The army commanders were less easy to convince. We invited them in one morning saying that we had constructed a scenario of how we would defend the planet and needed their opinion as to how we had done. We deliberately didn’t do as well as we could and they were happy to tell us what they would do and had done after they had warmed to us. We pretended we were very impressed with what they had done and then asked if we could see how they had done it. They knew that we were not going to be on the planet that much longer and didn’t seem to be suspicious of our motives. We broke into groups to tour the defense facilities while mapping them and their coordinates.”

“Our medical team did a similar exercise as if they were preparing to make clones and then presented to the existing senior medical teams. They were then shown every aspect of the processes including the educational input system. They then asked if they could practice with some real clones to understand the processes prior to their removal from the tanks.

“They managed to establish an excellent rapport with the medical group and cultivated friendships with them. Many of them were quite lonely and communicated their issues and concerns without prompting.

“A very critical piece of information emerged. One of the senior medical people complained that she and her partner had been split up and her partner was growing clones on a nearby planet.

“There’s only one suitable planet in reasonable proximity to here where clones can be grown. My colleague’s opinion was that it was a similar level of activity to this one but we have been unable to confirm this.

“Our medical team persuaded them to allow us to manage one small clone facility where we awakened forty- thousand troops. We told them that we needed to see how we could prepare our troops and get an idea of their readiness. We chose a diverse group giving us a small army at our disposal. They represent three thousand officers and non-commissioned officers followed by engineers, tank, and other commanders. We have a force of nearly 1000 special forces. We also resuscitated nearly five thousand naval personnel particularly officers but nearly 2000 Marine Special Operations people and about 5000 other Marines. The rest are Army. We have groups of cyber warfare, communications, IT, and enough pilots to fly transport and provide protection. They are fully loaded now with all necessary IT and communications gear as we could persuade the Guild that they needed to be able to practice and that there was no risk. We were not able to arm them but the armory is nearby.

“We broke the codes for the armory. Within this armory are all the supplies and weapons, other than food, to supply a much bigger army including all armor and ammunition. There’s a very large amount of stored ammunition. We were not able to find out the plans of the priests. We don’t know how they intended to use us and we believe it’s because they have not been told. There’s a limited amount of food on the planet and none is grown here. It’s enough for two weeks for the full twenty-million once awakened.

“We removed the priests’ propaganda from our clones prior to resuscitation and revival and provided them with an understanding of who they were and the problems that were being faced. We could have resuscitated more but it was unrealistic from a logistical point of view as the resources for feeding the whole group are so limited. We felt that the force was more than sufficient to deal with the current perceived threats as we can unlock the armory.

We did find the hidden large underground food storage reserves that would feed the entire twenty-million but it’s limited as I’ve already said.

“Our combined team consisting of the clone and ship group have examined the battle statistics and have determined that there are somewhere between three and five thousand enemy troops remaining. We have captured the senior officers who were quartered with us. Notably, one of their best officers, a senior colonel, was not present at the time. He’s an intelligent man and could be a cunning adversary. We have had the greatest difficulty in obtaining consensus as to his level of loyalty. He became friendly with no one, no one in the priests group, no one in our group. He was superficially friendly but if one got on to any personal topic he became brusque and non-communicative. My impression is, he’s a man with a background or has some other agenda. Interestingly, like many males within the Guild, he appears to be strong and healthy.

“Nevertheless, it’s important to say that he was most helpful in ensuring that we did get to see all the facilities. We saw more than we expected. The two fighter facilities were identical but they insisted on showing us both. We were able to count all the fighters. We did wonder whether there were other hidden facilities. The colonel appeared quite open and he had a very good mind. We were not sure whether he was loyal to the priests or was a spy for the Imperium. We found him a puzzling man,” concluded Gen. MacArthur.

Jason was very impressed with Matilda. He did like the generals turn of phrase and the woman’s obvious intelligence. Jason delighted in spending company with such fine people, with outstanding minds. Gen. Matilda MacArthur had a slight build. Her hair was an auburn to light brown color and was much shorter than the others but still looked very feminine. She had hazel green eyes and plump lips. She had beautiful white teeth that were perfectly aligned in her mouth and smiled often despite her serious demeanor when talking. Her face was pixie like and quite tanned. Her mouth was small with red pouty lips. Her skin color was a little browner than many of the others but with the same red mix. She was beautiful. Her manner was relaxed but she was very charismatic. She appeared to have a very quick mind and sounded very sophisticated considering that she had only awakened six months ago. She continued with the discussion.

“The most economical and efficient way to proceed would be to attempt to pretend that the lines of command have continued and assemble the available military command for capture. We have a unique capacity to do this. The Guild members were of the belief that there was a rogue element within their group who were traitors. The defenses of the planet were motivated by their belief that this element was acting against their interest and would try and take over their assets. We were not able to obtain any more detailed information.

“There’s a reasonable chance that despite their casualties they can be led to believe that their defense was successful. I do believe that there’s a reasonable chance that such a ruse can be fruitful. This is on the basis that we have the communications encryption protocols and we have a person who can successfully impersonate the head of the Guild on the planet. Andrea our illustrious actor Admiral has successfully impersonated this person and in the current circumstances could do so for long enough to achieve our aims. There’s no risk to her in this.

“Simultaneously, a small force could take over the armory and supply our people there. We’ll need a reasonable sized force to keep control of the planet and prisoners. I don’t recommend taking more than a small number of the leadership into the ship as there’s little value in doing so, though we’ll keep them in stasis with the rest after interrogation.

“When we attack the armory, which the priests’ soldiers guard, we can block planetary communications.

“We have already blocked and intercepted all communications to and from the planet and are on route to find the second clone planet. We’ll do the same there. It’s vital that the Patriarch is kept in the dark,” said Maj. Constance Ross. “There’s only one probable viable planet in this vicinity.”

“Excellent! Well done and thank you, Connie,” said Matilda.

“We only need to capture the senior leadership of the remaining forces and I believe that the remaining mop up will be easier. Even though they’re fanatics they have nowhere to go and we’ll leave there soon. We do need to keep the option open that we’ll need to use our forces to gain control if we can’t capture the leadership. This is the least favored option as the casualty rate could be significant. There are also at least fifteen-thousand medical and other technicians who are distributed amongst the facilities. Many had their origins in the Medical Guild and are reluctant members of the Priests Guild. I don’t think that they will be a problem and are likely to be very cooperative. Amongst them is a group of 1500 members of the Priest Guild who are allegedly their supervisors. I’d suggest that the next task would be to capture and/or eliminate this group.

“The timetable for awakening the clones starts in four days. They will be oriented on the surface and then enter the fleet as naval personnel, marines, and army. This gives us a window of opportunity to take over this planet and prepare our colleagues and a future force to take over the armada that will assemble above the planet.

“The organization of loading and transporting such an army and preparing them for work is no small task. It’ll be done in five stages taking a week for embarkation. Loading takes three or four days followed by familiarization of naval personnel on the ships and initial shipboard training and then the next loading commences.

“It was done this way as there are simply not enough facilities on the planet to do it all at once. Incidentally the attitude of the Guild to the Mob is one of a total lack of respect and an unsubstantiated belief that the Mob are the lackeys of the Guild Masters, who see themselves as very superior beings.

“We don’t know nor have we been able to establish where the priests have acquired such a fleet. This will need to be very much a focus of the interrogation of the senior group that we have on board. We also need to find out the timetable of the second group of clones. We don’t have enough manpower and ship assets currently to tackle the fleet and another planet concurrently and be sure we achieve our objectives.

“Speed of action is essential as every passing day increases the risk of information leaking and a more difficult resistance against us. If the other group loads ahead of us we have to hope and pray that they have had the same experience as we have and also intend to take over the fleet that’s there to collect them.

“This is a big enough fleet for a very serious planetary assault on a core planet, and if it has the expected number of warships it’ll be a daunting fleet to face for anyone.” Matilda picked up a glass of water, winked at Jason who was looking at her admiringly, drank a little of the water while thinking and moved on.

“My suggestion is that we confirm that the clones are on the expected planet. We have enough people between us to establish intelligence on the ground. Colonels Malone and Harris I wonder if you could meet with General Karen DuPree and Colonel James who are part of my group and Major Ross to plan what we do once the planet is found and confirmed?” They arranged to meet after in one of the smaller adjacent meeting rooms.

Jason felt a great sense of relief that he didn’t have to deal with planning way past his pay grade. Matilda MacArthur fascinated Jason with her penetrating assessment. He was very pleased to have the clones on his side. He enjoyed assisting them and in working with them. Now the boot was on the other foot and they were taking charge.

“Let’s carry on with the plans to get Andrea to liaise with Colonel Oleg and get him to join them for a meeting. Then we capture them and do whatever is necessary. At the same time as we spring the trap with Oleg we take over the armory and provide cover when the ground troops are armed, commission the heavy weaponry, gunships and tanks and armored transportation shuttles then widen the perimeter and when ready, take over clone facilities. We’ll cover them from the air and join them in attacking the barracks and underground facilities. They have all the emergency codes to open all the bunkers to allow for entry,” Linda suggested in a commanding voice.

“I’d suggest that some of the pilots from our ship and Marines who specialize in heavy weapons, gunships, tanks, and shuttles help orient the clones to their assets. Engineers may also be considered. The clones may have all the education but it’s the practical small problems that are the biggest obstructions. There may be issues they would encounter due to the mode of storage and the armory that could be assisted by someone with experience and similarly with the issues that would arise in battle,” suggested Jason. This was agreed.

“If we capture the top leadership, it may be a forlorn hope that they can be persuaded to call for surrender,” suggested Linda, “and in that case the cyber warfare and communications people need to prepare a fake call for surrender and block all other communications. There’s a high probability that we are going to have to hit them with bunker busters. To this end we would like to manufacture fifty heavy bunker buster missiles,” said Linda, “Also, I’ve some ideas I want to try out.”

Jason introduced her to engineering and facilitated the use of the resources.

He was feeling ready for bed. The planning group was working overnight ensuring that the mission of the next day would be successful.

“Jason please wait with me while they change my appearance and create a background and do my performance,” Andrea asked him seductively. He quickly sat down to watch her staff quickly change Andrea’s appearance and re-create the office background.

Andrea contacted Oleg easily and she quite calmly informed him that the attackers had managed to breach the facility but seemed most interested in removing the most senior general staff of the clones. She informed him that several of her staff had been killed defending her giving her enough time to conceal herself in the basement. He was aware that there was a safe room in the basement. She said that she had only recently emerged and suggested that they met at 1030 the next morning as she needed to attempt to rally her staff at the clone facilities and ensure that everything would go on schedule. She needed him to report on the planetary defenses in the morning and how he could prevent another attack if necessary.

Jason watched her closely. She had changed her whole manner and acted confidently and arrogantly as did the priests. Her manner was at the same time calm and serene. Her voice and demeanor were quite unlike her usual behavior. She assumed an entirely different personality. Jason thought it was an Oscar winning performance. He enthusiastically clapped after he was sure they had shut the connection.

“I’m not sure that he was convinced. If I was in his position I’d mobilize the defenses in case the Guild Plutarch was indeed under duress,” said Andrea, “and they may have codes they use to indicate if they’re not under duress or if they’re safe. He didn’t buy my story.”

“If I was Oleg I’d try and arm the clones to fight on my side. I was watching him closely and I could see his mind working. I don’t think we can afford Oleg getting his troops mixed with the clones. I don’t think that he realizes that the clones are no longer loyal. My instinct is that we must get going sooner rather than later. Linda, I want to mobilize now, for action, as soon as we can get going. Oleg is aware that the Plutarch isn’t a sophisticated military man. Whether he’s a spy or whether he’s loyal he still needs to gain control of the clones. If he does that and leaves his hardened facilities he will be exposed and we can hit him. We need to be alert and watching. If we see soldiers emerging from any point, we hit the entry with bunker busters from the ship and hit the exposed soldiers with cannon. We have five of the older version of bunker busters left, but we have forty of the smaller ones on missile gunships. I’ll send them down to the surface in stages,” Andrea said and created the orders with the War Command AI. Within fifteen minutes four gunships were headed for the surface loaded for bear.

“We definitely don’t want him to get to the clones,” Linda stated, “come on people let’s get organized to open the armory and defend our people. I want us on the ground by midnight and on the offensive.”

“Linda our instincts are the same. The more I think about it the more convinced I am, and I was already pretty sure. Oleg looked as though he smelled a dead krevil and was trying to pretend that he didn’t notice the stench. We need to move it and fast. I think he believes I’m the Plutarch but thinks I’m under duress. I’m going to send the cruiser, destroyer, and frigates in closer to support fighters as is necessary and send in sub atmospheric scanners. All right, people, please get it done. I’m going help young Jason relax as he’s looking rather tense, it’s only his second planetary assault,” said Andrea looking at Linda and grinning, “we have practiced this scenario a few hundred times already, Jason. We have all the data ready for the War AI to disseminate to the battle AIs.”

Linda looked at Jason and said in a friendly but no nonsense tone, “Jason take Andrea with you to your room you’ve a lot to discuss and I can certainly see you are looking tense and need to relax!” She winked at both of them. “Try and get some rest if you can! I have things to do and troops to organize and mobilize.”

The team leaders dispersed to send orders to their units. Jason took Andrea by the hand and they walked arm in arm to his stateroom. She leaned against him and put her arm around his waist. He was thoroughly enjoying the experience as he held her firm waist and smelled her scented hair. He was beginning to enjoy no longer being a monogamous male. True and not true, he still had a modicum of guilt. He dragged his mind away from thinking of Sarah.

He took great pleasure in Andrea’s company and was looking forward to their encounter. He didn’t want to think of anyone else, he just wanted to concentrate on her and her needs. He felt secure in that he knew he had found a soulmate in Linda.

They both ignored their guards who both led, and followed closely behind them.

Andrea blushed as he indicated to her to enter ahead of him as he called out to the dogs who rushed out to greet them. She, as had Linda, didn’t seem startled by the dogs who greeted them both affectionately. He patted them and rubbed their heads and a minute later they went back to settle on their beds. He gently kissed Andrea. She responded enthusiastically and was soon panting. Beneath the surface of this apparently shy woman was a passionate wanton woman waiting to emerge. The strength of her response surprised him. She literally tore his clothes from him and pushed him onto the bed on his back.

He felt Andrea in his head and let her in readily. Then he entered her consciousness and felt her feelings, her thoughts, and her essence. She drew him into her and he saw a beautiful mind behind her recent insecurities. She was such a good person, such a lovely gentle being of good intentions. He felt her feelings and her rising arousal which inflamed him. She moaned and groaned, she shouted and cursed, she slapped his hip urging him to move faster. He heard her shriek and convulse, he felt her intense series of orgasms, and it was beyond his capacity to endure. He briefly lost consciousness before awakening in pain. He felt her sink her nails into his back, pause, move rapidly while urging him to pound her, heard her shriek and deafen him, convulse like a puppet on a string, rip his back and collapse, unconscious.

Jason had been exhausted before this encounter and now felt more tired than when he had previously run an ultra-marathon in ancient times. His sides ached, his back burnt and his abdominal muscles felt as if he had over exerted himself with sit-ups. Never had he ever met such a wild passionate woman. She had plumbed his mind all the way to his soul. He had felt her essence and her being and he liked it. She felt so different and yet she had a warm and a loving nature. She in her own way was spectacularly beautiful. In her bare feet, she was slightly taller than Jason, with the build of an athlete, bountiful breasts and blue, blonde straight hair. Her lips were reminiscent of Angelina Jolie, ruby red, and her eyes a startling blue and her skin a very pale blue. She was strongly built and looked as though she worked out. She looked and acted quite coldly in meetings and Jason had the impression that she could easily become quite difficult. She had an imperious manner that brooked no opposition. She looked distinguished despite her youthful appearance. Her hair was much longer than most of the clone women and was close to her shoulders and fell in waves. Her hair had complex colors and he could see some red as well as the clear blue highlights in her hair. So many of the women were so perfect that one became blasé. He reflected that most of the personalities of people he had met were pleasant, and even when he was shunned, people did it politely.

He intended to wake up to observe the action, instructed ship to wake him but it was not to be.

Jason fell into a profoundly deep and dreamless sleep. Waking to an empty bed, his alarm alerted him to run with the dogs, and then spend time in the gym. He realized Andrea had switched on the sleep inducer. He thought fleetingly that perhaps nothing untoward had happened in the night, but the gym was largely deserted and he put that thought to rest. He asked Ship/Cherie why she didn’t wake him. She told him the women wanted him to rest and had cancelled Cherie waking him. Cherie hypothesized the clones wanted to do something on their own without his wise counsel. She told him that Andrea had talked about it with Col. Malone and Col. Harris beforehand. They all felt he had overextended himself and needed a break.

He exercised along with a few marines who had sustained injury the previous day and wouldn’t reach full fitness for another few days. He increased his weights and repetitions and thus he was very sore when he entered the sauna. He was teased about his deeply scratched sides and back. He was asked if an assassin or a mountain cat of legend had attacked him. They then suggested a wild Admiral attacked him, but noted that she didn’t seem to have any injuries. He had obviously not given as good as he had received.

The sauna, with its medical treatment, relieved much of his soreness. He saw that his sides were rapidly healing. The medical technology, even at the sauna level, was remarkable.

The pods were astounding technology. Injured marines were transformed in one day back to functioning and seriously injured marines could recover in a week from life threatening injuries. Limbs could be grown in a little bit longer, but they substituted cybernetic limbs in the short term. Brain injury he understood was difficult to treat and slow to repair.

Jason assumed that much had occurred in the night, was relieved on the one hand that he had not been woken, but on the other he felt he was now more dispensable. He had moved from a critical central position to be more of an observer and lesser contributor. He felt a little hurt, but recognized that he didn’t have the appropriate background. They couldn’t afford to run major operations while he was flying by the seat of his pants. In crisis, he had found himself thrust into leadership. Now he was in the presence of top professionals.

Jason thought that he would go to the medical center to see if there was any possibility of having a chat with ‘AI Phyllis’. He saw that the center was quite busy. Nurses and technicians that he had never seen before were actively moving the injured to and from machines.

He was directed to a medical hologram to communicate with Phyllis. He decided to look at some history first. The medical pod he learned had its origins in the insect world. Doctors had discovered mechanisms within the pupa of growth enhancement and repair that could be applied to humans. Jason had thought of it more like a cocoon because it was essentially white and it had a network of fine hair like fibers running over the surface. He then opened communication with Phyllis.

‘Phyllis’ was entirely unflustered and appeared to have plenty of time for him. She was a delight to talk to and had a husky sexy voice.

“Jason, I have to thank Chloe and you too, I suppose. Patients do better when they like the manner of the healer. I’ve found that the marines liked my bedside manner and I think it was likely that a Guild person has an entirely different idea of what constitutes a good healer.”

“Phyllis, I’m pleased that you’ve learned something useful.

I’d like to know what it would take for you to remove my genetic risks. You are aware by now who I am, and my background. I’d also like to know about what enhancement options are open to me?” Jason asked.

“The technology of removal of genetic risks has been around for a long of time. Most of the very important advances occurred more than fifty-seven thousand years ago, and began thousands of years earlier. They preceded the decline in the population by a long way as the decline has been only in the last three thousand years. The enhancements were available in the first rudimentary form well over sixty-thousand years ago and were created for the military first. The crystals that you have continue to be busy enhancing you genetically, physically, and mentally. They are actively repairing and enhancing your genes every day. The job is largely done and more has been done than I could do and it’s not finished. You’ve an immune system beyond anything I could produce. You could live a million years. You do come from a relatively high gravity planet, which gives you strength advantages. When I first saw you, I removed your genetic risks but did no enhancement. Now the enhancement is being done with a vengeance by your crystals. There’s an amazing event going on in you Jason. The crystals are consolidating to form one giant crystal. I’ve never heard of anything like it. You now have hundreds and hundreds of free slots. Come and see me once a month and I’ll tell you how it’s going. Was there anything else?” Phyllis asked Jason.

“Can you directly repair the aging gene of the clones now that you’ve had the programming decontaminated from the priests’ limitations?” Jason wondered.

“Indeed, I can, Jason but aren’t you having fun doing it your way? The clones that I’ve looked at are desperate to have children. They are young and some of the desperation is born of their beliefs that they would die very soon. There’s a procedure in the Empire that if a woman is successfully impregnated that we can take the residual sperm and transfer the sperm to other women. The ship Marines and the clones are aware of this and are actively making use of the technology. Usually, it can successfully be done for another two women, but in your case those numbers are increasing quickly and we have not tested the limit. You produce billions of viable undamaged sperm. That’s why the women leave you after sexual activity. They come here to pass on their residual sperm to other women. With my past work it was rare for me to be able to impregnate more than one or two further women. In your case if you directly gave me sperm without me having to extract it after the event your hit rate could be even higher, but I suspect it would upset your companions if you pursued that avenue. Even so you are doing well. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the numbers and I will not breach patient confidentiality.

“I’ll arrange to schedule the clones to go through the gene repair process as soon as it’s feasible. One other little snippet for your interest, Jason, and in the long-term interests of doctor-patient relationships I’ve discovered that the priests could do something unique. They can place crystals correctly without using a trans-dimensional room. Now that’s something I want to do and I’d like you to find out how that’s achieved.”

“Please make sure to remind me and please communicate directly with the Intelligence people quickly with my authority so they include your questions when they interrogate the medical people on the ground. It’s an interesting question and I’d also love to know the answer. The trans-dimensional room is a really unpleasant experience. I’d want to know where they got the crystals as well.

Jason went to the canteen and rattled around the empty facility while he enjoyed a plate of bacon, eggs, and tomato slices. Marie came out to chat. He looked at her carefully and noticed she was a very pretty petite woman with a pixie face and curly brown hair, and who was always very touchy-feely with him. She told him she was proud to be the mother of a son that he had given her. She had despaired of ever having a child and was now ‘over the moons of Molefe.’ She then went on to suggest that Jason take up a large plate of pastries to the bridge to replenish their supply and sent a couple of wait-bots along with him with even larger trays.

Jason considered that being a waiter was probably an appropriate level reflective of his real expertise, and recalled that he had plenty of experience as a student working as a waiter in a restaurant. He demonstrated his dexterity by carrying two large trays while accompanying two wait-bots to the bridge conference room. He found most of the clone and ship officers that were part of the planning teams in attendance watching and manipulating a series of holographic projections observing different areas on the planet and communicating with the two Generals and the Admiral and her assistant on the bridge. Jason placed the trays on the table. He instructed the waiters to do the same and refill the plates and coffee and tea machines. He suggested that they then handed food to each of the officers while he took some serving plates to the bridge. They were all looking much more relaxed than the group in the conference room, but were clearly still attentive to what remained of the action on the surface. Jason was thanked for the food replying, “Yes Madam,” to each thanking him and went to collect them their drinks. The bridge he noticed was more fully staffed though as yet there was no captain.

Both Andrea and Linda were smiling broadly at him on his return and told him about the rumors they had heard about him having been attacked by some form of wild animal. Linda found it hilarious.

“I thought I was to have a romantic assignation,” said Jason, “but during the night I was attacked by what must have been an army of clawed creatures that left me unconscious till the morning.”

“Andrea, you are an animal, you nearly tore up our man. You can’t use him up like this,” laughed Linda.

Andrea preened herself and looked very smug.

He felt both of their minds warmly caress him and reassure him with their love. He enjoyed the feeling.

He had felt very much involved and now these formidable women had taken over his tasks. He had to admit that they did it very well. Jason reminded himself that in Empire women saw themselves as caring for men and were very much the stronger sex. This had been the case for thousands of years. Men were also scarce and precious, as well as frail and fragile.

“My interface woke me at 01:30 as I had requested. You were deeply asleep and had seemed exhausted earlier. Linda and I were concerned that you were over strained and doing more than you should. We didn’t want to exclude you, but knew you could well benefit from some more sleep and it’s important that we show you that we can do our job. We also know that you feel a great degree of personal responsibility for our well-being, and for all of the clones. We knew that in the short term that you would feel excluded, but we do believe that you are going to play a major role if not an essential role in the times to come. This was not a battle we were going to lose. Bring up a chair and we’ll show you what happened. This is our job and we need to do it. You can relax and be our boy toy,” said Andrea in confident voice and with a decided sway of her hips.