Retreat And Adapt (A Galaxy Unknown) Page 5

  Everyone at the table raised his or her hand except Strauss, who didn't have the right to vote at an Upper Council meeting.

  "The motion passes. Er, Strauss?"

  "Sir?"

  "You said that Arneu changed his sex?"

  "Yes, sir. He's now a twenty-three-year-old female. And since he's used the Age Prolongation procedure on himself, or rather herself, she should live for possibly another five thousand years. At least that was the original projection for Admiral Carver."

  "I didn't realize the DNA Manipulation procedure could be used just to alter sex," Whitely said. "We could market that process alone and clean up. We wouldn't be adversely affecting the size of the general population if we didn't combine it with the other procedures. The sex change clinics are always busy these days and the final result is not a true gender change. It's more or less cosmetic. We could easily charge a hundred times the sex-change rate for a full genetic conversion."

  The other council members began talking among themselves about the merits of offering single-procedure packages until Gladsworth pounded the gavel.

  "There will be plenty of time to discuss alternate possibilities later. The issue nearest and dearest to any of us here should be the use of the procedures on ourselves. I would love to be twenty-three again and have the energy of a youthful body."

  "Uh, there's a small— glitch, sir," Strauss said. "Arneu says that the Age Regression procedure only works on women. That's why he changed his sex. It was necessary if he was to become twenty-three again."

  "And you can't change back to male afterwards?"

  "Yes, you can, but the process of changing sex is quite painful according to Arneu, and it takes a full year to complete just the basic changes. That's allegedly the reason she's procrastinated beginning the procedure to become a male again. Also, I think she likes her new form."

  "That doesn't mean that everyone would prefer to remain a woman. And we could charge outsiders for every change."

  "But if you are already female," Council member Paula Sorreto asked, "you wouldn't have to change to male first. Is that correct?"

  "Yes, ma'am. The process requires you be female when the Age Regression procedure is performed. It has something to do with the percentage of male and female hormones in the body. There's no need to alter your body in preparation for the process if you are already female."

  "Well, that's okay," Gladsworth said. "You'd only have to go through the Age Regression procedure once if you then go through the Age Prolongation process."

  "What if we opt to only undergo the Age Prolongation procedure?" Whitely asked.

  "At your age, sir, it would probably only extend your life by forty years at most, and repeated application wouldn't extend it further. The age at the time the process is first administered makes all the difference."

  "Well, it seems that we all have a great deal to think about. That's all, Strauss. Thank you for coming in. And congratulations on your success with this issue. It's been a long time in coming, but it's worth every credit we've expended. And it clears the slate of your Dakistee blunder."

  "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

  * * *

  Chairman Strauss leaned back in his sumptuous chair and stared out the full wall of glass in the penthouse apartment provided for his use by the corporation. An orange sun was setting over distant mountains that wore caps of white below a cloudless sky. Far below his domicile the 'little' people were struggling to eke out a daily living in the timeless tradition of the less affluent. Strauss had never had a moment's remorse about the role he played in the misery and suffering of so many. When he stood at the window and looked down at the tiny dark shapes moving in endless streams of traffic, he always thought of them as insignificant insects. If an action he took or was responsible for killed a few, a few hundred, or a few thousand, it didn't lead to any sleepless nights. His only concern was that their deaths not make his life or job any more complicated or difficult.

  Strauss hadn't believed Ravenau for a second when she spun that lie about not having plans to kill Carver when she visited the military quarters on Dakistee, but he couldn't harm her until he had the formulas. Now he could dispose of her at any time, but killing her would be a waste of a beautiful body. Perhaps he should simply have her mind wiped and put her into one of the corporation's brothels where she would continue to produce income for hundreds, or maybe thousands, of years. Or perhaps he should let her live and serve the corporation in some more useful capacity. He couldn't deny that she had succeeded in providing a product that would make hundreds of trillions for the corporation in the years ahead, so the question was whether or not that was enough to forgive her past transgressions. Should he emulate the clemency exhibited by the Upper Council, who had just forgiven Strauss for the costs associated with the bollixed operation on Dakistee, even though the problems were beyond his control, or should he follow his instincts and condemn Ravenau to a life of sexual adulteration and degradation? He decided he should sleep on it some more.

  A handsome face and tall, slim body meant that Strauss had no real desire to make use of the DNA Manipulation process for the sake of appearance, but the side benefits might be desirable. Having a body that repaired itself ten times faster than ordinary humans, even those with surgical nano-bots in their bodies, was surely an enviable attribute. That process and the Age Prolongation process would be the extent of his treatments. Now in his early seventies, he was just middle-aged and had the distinguished appearance of a wealthy power broker, so he certainly wasn't going to spend a year in pain just to change his sex so he could look thirty or forty years younger as Ravenau had, but he had no doubt that every one of the Upper Council members would soon begin the changes.

  After ordering a drink from his automated servant, Strauss relaxed until the three fingers of bonded scotch whiskey was poured and delivered. He never drank until his business for the day was over, and even then he strictly maintained a limit of two. When he had drunk more than that in his younger years, he had tended to desire female companionship and sometimes gotten foolish and talked too much, leaving himself open to possible blackmail. He'd always regretted it in the morning and had finally outgrown the behavior after a woman had been dumb enough to try using his loose talk to her advantage. She'd disappeared very soon thereafter and was never heard from again. He couldn't even remember which whore palace she had been sent to after her mind was wiped.

  After his second drink, Strauss walked to the bedroom and flopped onto his bed. His dinner, untouched, grew cold on his dining room table and eventually went into the disposal unit.

  * * *

  Nicole Ravenau stretched out languidly as she relaxed on the sofa in her quarters, an excellent bottle of wine from the Sebastian Colony chilling in a wine bucket on the side table. The DNA Manipulation formula she'd subjected herself to while at Raider-One had left her almost impervious to the effects of alcohol, and the most recent application, the one that changed her sex, hadn't altered her tolerance. Where in the far distant past she had sometimes used alcohol to intentionally dull her memory, that was no longer possible. Now she imbibed only in social situations or when she had acquired a particularly excellent vintage. On this occasion she was celebrating with a bottle of the priciest wine available in the online catalog. She had delivered the formulas to the Raider Central Labs and was still alive. What's more, she was still free. That was more than she had expected following her meeting with Strauss.

  Of course, Strauss could still come after her, but every day that didn't happen lessened the chances that it would. Perhaps he had decided she still had enough value to the corporation as an administrator that he should keep her around— at least for now.

  Ravenau was currently attired in the slinkiest lingerie she owned. She was trying to fully adapt to her gender change, and lingerie was the most pleasant aspect. She still hadn't been able to wrap her head around engaging in sex with a male, though. She had all the right equipment now, and there was no lack o
f admirers who would love to bed her, but more than sixty years of living as a male had left her with certain— prejudices. She had three times tried sex with female partners since her gender change, but it just wasn't the same as when she had been a male, and each encounter had left her more unsatisfied. She was alone at present and wasn't expecting company, so she was trying to drown her current sexual frustration in a fine wine.

  Suddenly Ravenau sat up straight, her eyes wide. Then a huge smile played across her face. Perhaps it was the wine or perhaps it was just her baser instincts, but she had been struck by an idea, nay an epiphany, on how to settle the issue with Strauss once and for all and at the same time resolve several other longstanding issues.

  * * *

  "Sir," the controller at a Flordarya Planetary Defense Distant DeTect Grid console said to the lead controller via his com headset, "I'm getting some strange readings on the grid.

  "What kind of strange readings?" Supervisor Caulliffyr asked.

  "The grid indicates that there are five ships headed inbound towards the planet, but we're not expecting any arrivals this morning."

  "Five?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "What kind of ships? Passenger or freighters?"

  "Uh, the equipment puts them at about small passenger ship size, but…"

  "But what, Azeallum?"

  "Uh, there're no AutoTect signals."

  "Do you think it's a ghost reading?"

  "Negative, it's too strong. They're coming in slow and in tight formation. If I was going to guess, I would say it's five warships about the size of destroyers. They're moving like a task force."

  "And no AutoTect?"

  "That's correct, sir."

  "I'm coming over."

  Caulliffyr rose from his chair and walked to the steps that led to the lower level of the large room where the controllers who monitored the planetary DeTect grid were located. When he reached the console where Azeallum sat, he peered over his shoulder.

  "Here's the cluster," Azeallum said, pointing to a spot on the screen. "As you can see, there's no indication that it might be a ghost reflection. It's hard and steady."

  "Yeah," Caulliffyr agreed. "I wonder if they can be Space Command?"

  "Space Command ships always announce their presence long before we can see them, and besides, they always use AutoTect."

  "Not if they're on a mission. Since there's five of them, that could be the reason for not using AutoTect."

  "But they'd certainly notify us if they were approaching the planet."

  "They should, but they don't have to."

  "Space Command always plays it by the book, sir. They'd notify us if they were coming here."

  "So who do you think it is?"

  "I don't know, sir, and that's what bothers me."

  "Admiral Carver established a Territorial Guard unit composed of former Milori military units."

  "But everything I've heard says they follow the Space Command rulebook as stringently as Space Command."

  "It has to be one of them. There's nobody else operating warships in GA Region Two."

  "Yes, sir. There's not supposed to be anyone else operating warships in GA Region Two. But if it was someone else, why would they be moving so slow?"

  "I have to report this to the Commander. Continue monitoring them and advise me immediately of any changes."

  "Yes, sir. Will do."

  * * *

  Chapter Five

  ~ February 27th, 2286 ~

  With her Admiralty Board business concluded, Jenetta settled comfortably into vacation mode. Repeated requests for personal appearances from recruitment officials were declined without discussion, and she did her best to put aside thoughts of the Yenisei until new information became available. Jenetta hadn't been home in years and wasn't going to squander the opportunity to enjoy the company of available family. As much as she loved spending every moment she could with her mom, she relished the time she now had with Marisa. The numerous vidMails they had exchanged over the years were a poor substitute for direct contact where you could say what you felt without worrying that someone might be eavesdropping on the communication. She didn't initiate any calls to schoolmates or old friends, but she didn't refuse them either. She merely tried to limit them to a reasonable conversation length and put off all requests for visits.

  "Marisa and I have reached a consensus," Annette announced to Jenetta one morning at breakfast.

  "A consensus on what?" Jenetta asked after she had finished chewing and then swallowed the piece of pancake she had pushed into her mouth ten seconds earlier.

  "Obotymot."

  "What about Obotymot?"

  "We've decided to travel there for a brief visit."

  "Wonderful. I think you'll enjoy the trip. Do you want to go when I leave here or travel independently?"

  "We might as well go with you. It appears that neither daddy nor Richie will be home for at least a year, so we want to go now. And this way you can show us around."

  "I've never been to the estate."

  "But you've been to the planet, right?"

  "Not since '67. I'm happy to say that the face of the planet has changed dramatically since then. When I was there, the air was full of the dust and dirt kicked up from the meteor strike. The vegetation had died from lack of sunlight and the erosion of the soil was making the situation worse. The surface never got brighter than a sort of twilight, even at high noon. It took years of low-altitude scrubbing with air filtering and moisture release to clear the air, and then more years to get crops growing again."

  "Then this will be your chance to see it as well," Marisa said. "The more I think about it, the more excited I become. What's the weather like on the estate right now?"

  "From the reports, I would say our estate lands are like central California. It never gets bone-freezing cold like it does here at the Potomac base, but you might see a little snow in winter, and it never gets burning hot in summer like it does in parts of Arizona. The temperate weather, combined with a good average rainfall and dozens of enormous fresh-water reservoirs for irrigation in the event of a slight drought, makes it ideal for crop production. Now that the atmosphere is clearing, the farms have become productive again, with expectations that crop yields will continue to improve in coming years as the topsoil is replaced and improved. The tenant farmers have all returned over recent years and I expect we'll find a number of active communities on the peninsula."

  "It sounds lovely," Annette said. "I admit that I've been warming to the idea a little more each year. I just didn't want to go there alone and be the only human among an alien culture."

  "You should have said something, Mother," Marisa said. "I would have gone with you so you didn't feel alone."

  "So, it's decided," Jenetta said, "we'll all go to the family estate on Obotymot. Do you need to do some shopping before we go?"

  "Are you kidding?" Marisa said. "Of course we need to do some shopping before we go. We'll need new clothes suitable for the climate and, of course, a few new pairs of shoes."

  "Okay, but let's not go overboard. I have no idea what the fashions are like there at present. Besides, there's a dressmaker on staff at the palace. She'll be able to assist with tailoring clothes we purchase on the planet or perhaps even prepare new clothing."

  * * *

  A week later, the Ares left Earth orbit. Its primary destination was Higgins Space Station, but it would make a quick side trip to Obotymot on the way. Two civilian guests, members of the Nordakian Royal Family Carver, had come aboard for the trip and been assigned quarters on the VIP deck.

  The Ares reached Obotymot in just sixty-four GST hours. After establishing a stable orbit around the planet, Admiral Carver and her two guests boarded a shuttle for the ride down to the surface. Since this was a vacation, Lt. Commander Ashraf remained aboard the ship and would monitor communications in case something of importance arrived, but a large security team accompanied Jenetta. Planetary sub-orbit traffic control immediat
ely cleared a route to the royal palace on the Gavistee peninsula, and the shuttle landed at the pad on the palace grounds within thirty minutes. Three oh-gee limos were waiting to accept the guests, cats, and security team for the short ride to the main house. They could easily have walked, but the luggage had to be ferried there anyway.

  "Oh, Jen, this is soooo beautiful," Annette Carver said to her daughter as they pulled up in front of the palace.

  "The palace or the countryside?"

  "Both. Everything. It's all so grand. I can't believe it's all yours."

  "Ours, Momma. It's the official estate of the Family Carver. Uh, don't show surprise by what happens next."

  "What's going to happen next?"

  "You'll see," Jenetta said as the vehicle came to a halt and someone opened the door.

  Jenetta led the way, being the Azula. The entire palace staff, all of whom had already adopted Jenetta's skin color, had turned out to greet them. As Jenetta stepped from the vehicle, all but one of the entire staff of males dropped to one knee and bowed their heads, while the women bowed their heads and remained staring down at the ground.

  "What are they doing?" her mother whispered.

  "Showing their respect," Jenetta whispered back. "I'll explain later."

  A very dignified Nordakian, whom Jenetta instantly recognized as her chamberlain, stepped forward and then dropped to one knee and stared at the ground.

  "Chamberlain Yaghutol, please raise your head and stand up," Jenetta said.

  The Nordakian rose and smiled. "Greetings, My Lady. It's wonderful to finally be able to welcome you home."

  "Thank you, Chamberlain. I'm happy to be here. The palace and grounds look magnificent. You've done a marvelous job here."

  "Thank you, My Lady. It's been my honor to represent you during your absence."

  Raising her voice to address the servants, Jenetta said, "Thank you for this wonderful greeting. I'm delighted to be here among you at last. The reports I've received from Chamberlain Yaghutol have kept me informed of the progress here, and I know how hard you've all worked to restore the palace and grounds following the terrible event that devastated our planet, and then to maintain them since being presented to me by King Tpalsh and Queen Ckuhah. Although I will only be here for a week on this trip, my mother and the wife of one of my brothers will be staying for an extended visit. I recognize all of you from the files that have been sent to me, and I look forward to getting to know each of you on a personal basis."