Traitor

Jason looked at Stan as Lauren introduced him. His suit looked a little ill fitting, with an odd pattern. He was quite tall, at least six foot four, with a very ruddy complexion. His hair was a strange brown-green mixture, and was slicked down as if he used a hair-cream. His face was very ordinary and he wouldn’t be noticed in a crowd. He shook Jason’s hand somewhat awkwardly varying his pressure as if uncertain as to the appropriate pressure to use.

“I’m honored to meet you, Lord Kargo. I’m sorry to hear about your wife and your recent illness. I’m horrified to hear you were incarcerated and beaten up by thugs. You do look like you received a brutal beating.

“I hope that you can walk to the nearby park. I’ve brought along an AG belt... uh, an antigravity belt... that will make it very easy for you to walk. If necessary, we can simply tow you behind us,” said Stan in a raspy voice.

“That would be of great help, I can hardly walk more than ten paces,” said Jason as he fitted the belt which made him feel feather light, “Stan, please lead the way. Dan, can you tow me if I get tired?”

The shuttle was cloaked, as it sat in the nearby park. They could see a ramp and a circular doorway, but only a vague impression of something behind as they got close to it, then walked up the ramp with Jason towed behind Dan as they entered the shuttle. They had no appreciation of the size of the shuttle, as all they saw was the ramp and the opening leading to a passageway.

The shuttle could easily hold twenty people in their partitioned section. It was luxuriously appointed with wonderfully comfortable seats. Jason looked, unsuccessfully, for some sort of seatbelt while he waited to take off. He switched off his AG belt. In front of the seats, a large hologram appeared. It showed they had left Earth and were going past the moon despite having only moved into the shuttle less than five minutes previously. The shuttle was a red blinking icon with an arrow pointing ahead of it. They had moved a long way in surprisingly little time. Amazingly, there was no sensation of movement, nor any sound of engines. They could all clearly see Jupiter to their far left, but were heading towards what looked like a large blunt, wedge shaped object, suspended in space behind the planet.

“Wow, Grandpa, look at that! It looks very much bigger than a skyscraper! It’s ginormously huge!” Chuck shouted out excitedly. It was like a very blunt wedge with the sharp edge rounded off. As they drew closer it looked even bigger. It looked as if it could fit fifty block sized buildings within it. It looked easily as big as a building built on the site of an entire city block, or large shopping center that was five miles high. A few moments later they barreled through an opening iris, and came to a sudden stop in a huge hanger close to dual leaf doors. They slowly opened also, and the shuttle moved slowly forward. The entrance swallowed their transport, and they found themselves in a cavernous bay. Four passenger liners could have fit through the iris together, and at least two through the double doors. The shuttle settled on the deck, and the shuttle hatch opened. When they walked out, they saw the iris closing. As the large doors closed behind them they heard a loud ‘thunk,’ and felt the vibration through their feet. The bay looked much larger than that of the space shuttle hangers in Florida.

“Look at those things, Grandpa. They look excellent for fighting bugs. I hope they can give us one for home. Dad, could we park it on the lawn,” asked Chuck.

There seemed to be thousands of shuttles and gunships, some with projecting weapons of all types. They were parked more than fifty layers high, on shelves that reached the roof. Some were many times larger than the shuttle that they arrived on. When Jason looked back at the shuttle he could see that it was much bigger than he expected. It looked as if it could carry at least hundred and fifty people. Jason could see the others looking around the bay, as impressed as he was.

“Chuck, if we have time, you and Dad could ask if you can borrow a tape measure and you two can measure one of the smaller ones and see if we can fit one on the lawn. See if you can find a small one that hides itself like the one in the park. If it’s small enough, we can ask if we can get another one for Chloe. I’m sure she would find it useful. Then we could let you fly to school,” said Lauren smiling at them fondly. “It might save us a few minutes if the traffic is all backed up.”

Jason looked around at the size and scope of everything. He was inordinately impressed. It was a mind blowing level of technology, and very exciting. There was not a person to be seen.

“Grandpa, this is awesome. I can’t believe it,” Chloe said and turned to Lauren. “Mum, I’d definitely like one for home. I’d let you use it for shopping,” said Chloe excitedly.

“My Lord, I’m sure engineering could make two small craft for the children that could fit in the back garden. We can construct a hanger beneath the garden if you so wish?” Stan helpfully suggested to an open-mouthed Lauren, Dan and the children. “For shopping, I would suggest one the size we used today. You could then take many of your friends. It’s also good for interplanetary travel and can even travel to the Empire. It’s not optimized for such travel, but if you wish we could change some of the interior to add two or three bedrooms. I would also suggest a bigger kitchen than the galley which is too cramped in my opinion.”

Jason smiled.

A multi-seat driverless open vehicle was headed their way, seemingly floating six inches above the ground. Stan seated them and they were rapidly transported to the medical area where they stepped out. The vehicle and the rapid trip fortunately distracted the two children from the recent topic.

“No one was driving, Grandpa, did you see that? It went so fast,” exclaimed Chuck.

Jason saw the vehicle lift off the ground and float away silently.

The medical center was impressive. Jason could see person sized white cigar like containers on platforms extending into the distance. There were comfortable looking seats sprinkled seemingly randomly in groups near each pod. Stan introduced them to the doctor, who looked frail and thin.

The doctor spoke to Stan for a few moments, before Stan excused himself saying that he had other matters requiring his attention, but would return when Jason had completed his treatment. She suggested they sit in the lounge area when all was done and wait for his return.

The doctor took over, and ushered them to one of the cigar like receptacles and spoke:

“I would like to welcome you to the ship, and its facilities. Stan tells me that you’ve been ill, Jason, and recently beaten up. Someone obviously did a real job on you. Your bruises are quite impressive. If you would like to head this way and step into the pod, it will do the necessary evaluation, and treat your injuries. I suspect we can do a lot for you. We can then discuss any concerns and answer questions. In simple and routine cases, you would probably be in the pod for three to five minutes, but it can be significantly longer for more complex illnesses and long established physical problems. You will feel no pain or discomfort, but it may well talk to you,” he said.

Jason felt that he had very little to lose, so he stepped into the pod, helped by Dan. He felt light headed climbing up the step and over the lip of the pod, and his balance seemed even more off than usual.

The pod closed around Jason. He felt quite comfortable.

“Welcome to the medical facilities of the Empire. These facilities can diagnose and treat nearly all known medical problems,” said the disembodied voice of a very superior, arrogant sounding woman.

“The diagnostic module has completed its evaluation; you have many physical and medical conditions that need to be treated. The estimated time in the pod will be seven hours. There is much work to be done that can’t be hurried. I have informed the doctor of this and your family. They will enter pods themselves, and then will receive a guided tour of the ship.

“Please await our intervention: the treatment module is commencing treatment; the sleep inducer will commence and by request of Stan you will learn the language: Empire Standard. You will also receive an overview of the history of the Empire.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Treatment is complete, you are now fully well, you may exit the pod. You are honored to be a recipient of the superior medicine of the Empire. Hail Emperor Cassius our Emperor, and his Empress Alana. Welcome to the Empire, Duke Kargo. Basic gene optimization has been accomplished. Forty-seven conditions have been isolated and rectified.

“Any complaints or suggestions may be made to the doctor. Please exit the pod as expeditiously as possible to make it available for service to eligible personnel.”

The top split open. Jason sat up and climbed out, carefully and cautiously. From his elevated position, he saw thousands of pods extending into the distance. The facility was empty except for his family. Lauren was looking very tense and anxious. Chloe was looking very cheerful as were Chuck and Dan. Lauren asked, “How was it?”

“I climbed in, it was comfortable. The pod arrogantly said that it was able to diagnose and treat nearly all medical problems, then said diagnosing, then said treating, I then fell asleep and when I woke it told me that it had fixed all kinds of problems. It told me unceremoniously to get out as it needed to be available to eligible personnel. Great job, I assume, but the worst bedside manner I’ve ever encountered.”

The doctor entered the room cheerfully whistling.

“Jason, you are fully well. As requested by Stan we optimized your DNA, but we have removed your early myeloma, your type II diabetes, fixed your neck, we have repaired your facial bones and skull, have dealt with your chronic sinusitis and pollen allergy, your crooked and broken arm was straightened and the cartilage in your knees was fixed. Your three thoracic compression spinal fractures were repaired. You were slightly shortsighted and had cataracts beginning in both eyes. All of that has been fixed. Your noise related ear damage was repaired. Before I forget, your teeth were also straightened and whitened. Your hair has been repaired and will return.

“We removed a large amount of fat and we have also repaired your heart, and have reconditioned all of your organs and muscles, and have removed extraneous matter from your brain and throughout your body. You will get a detailed report sent to you on your communication device as will all your family when treated. We have removed all gene risk factors for disease. What this means is, effectively your body has returned genetically to the age of twenty, but it’ll take your body two months, at least, to change back to the appearance of that age. You already look twenty years younger as we have entirely reconditioned your skin. You won’t recognize yourself in three months. We’ll check your progress weekly while you are onboard. Your heart required extensive work. we’ll grow you another one if the result is not to your satisfaction. It takes a week to grow, but extensive rehabilitation is needed for any new limb or organ.

“In the Empire, you can live forever; barring accident or misadventure. The oldest people in the Empire are sixty-three thousand years old, which is the age of the gene repair and the advanced medical technology. There’s no reason that we can see, that anyone will die. If anyone deteriorates, we simply put them back in the pods.

“I’m going to put Jason into a rehabilitation pod for half an hour. I suggest that now you all are rested and can see that Jason is all right, that you all go through pod therapy yourselves. There’s no reason not to. It’s a big job so it’ll take fifteen to twenty minutes,” she said, and led each of them to a different pod.

She put them inside before returning to chat to Jason.

“You are scheduled to meet Stan in an hour and a half. The family toured the ship, and have had some exposure to the educational systems.

“Doctor what is the myeloma that was fixed?”

“It’s a cancer that was in the earliest stages of evolution in you. We know how it develops and have corrected the deficit in your immune system that directs strategy. Your system will pick it up in future and destroy it before it can establish itself and start to grow.

“Jason, for us, what we have done for you isn’t our most complex medicine. Our technology is sixty-five thousand years ahead of yours, but much of what we have done for you would be discovered on your planet in the next few thousand years. I’ll continue to speak to you while you are in rehabilitation,” she said as she helped Jason into the rehabilitation pod and closed the lid. Her voice was easily heard but sounded a little tinny.

“Your family wanted to wait for you before they had the full treatment, including gene optimization. What that means is any genetic risk factor that they have for heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease... or for that matter; any illness... will be diagnosed and rectified. We don’t know the limits of life with this technology. Our oldest people are still fit, healthy, and well. People return to the pods for further evaluation every ten years, or if injured, or in rare cases of illness.

“I understand you will be joining us, and in fact you are the person we came to fetch. Your family is very well known in the Empire and your great-grandfather was one of the Kings. From what I can see your genes are very much part of the royal family, and I know the Emperor is your great uncle. Let me put you into the rehabilitation pod, which is only for a half an hour which will help accelerate the process of your muscle reconditioning.

Jason left the pod half an hour later, and was joined by his family.

The doctor loaded them onto another floating transport, which took them to a room that Stan later told them was close to the bridge. The room looked like a luxurious boardroom, with attractive abstract art on the walls and comfortable chairs that looked very similar to many in board rooms that Jason had seen over the years. Two people dressed as waiters pushed a trolley with food and drink to the table, then unloaded the trolley onto the table and silently left the room. Jason saw that Chloe was bursting to talk, but didn’t want to do so in front of other people. She waited ’til they left.

“Grandpa,” said Chloe, “that stuffy pod woman told me that she has fixed my diabetes! She said she has put some slow acting insulin into me while my pancreas is recovering over the next week. She said after that I won’t need any more insulin, but she said I need to be checked for the next few weeks. She wants to see me back there a few times. She also said that she has optimized my genes and has prevented me from getting a whole lot of sicknesses.”

“That’s great, Chloe, I’m so pleased for you,” said Jason enthusiastically, “I hope it works out well. How are you doing, Chuck?”

“I’m fine, Grandpa. I did get a shock as that horrible pod woman did tell me that I could get pretty sick by the time I was eighteen and that she would fix me and prevent me from getting sick in the future.”

“How are you feeling, Dad?”Lauren asked while they continued to wait for Stan.

“So far, I’ve not noticed terribly much difference, though it’s clearly early days. I did try and stand up quickly, and I no longer feel as giddy and lightheaded. My neck is still a little uncomfortable and I can’t say that I feel younger yet. I have lost twenty-five pounds of fat, though. I did look at my stomach which is sagging a little. The doctor said it’s going to take two months to notice an appreciable difference. She said that the more exercise I do, the better I’ll feel, or if I make use of the rehabilitation facility when I’m back on the ship it’ll accelerate the process dramatically. I’ve noticed that I’m much hungrier than I usually am,” said Jason. “What about you and Dan?”

“We were both largely fine, but she said that Dan was at high risk of getting bowel cancer in his sixties. She said we’ll both now live forever!”

“How are you doing, Chloe and Chuck, what do you think of the whole experience of being here?”Jason asked.

“Grandpa, this is the most awesome time that I’ve ever had. It’s better than Disney World! They showed us around while you were in your pod. This is a giant ship! They have farms and forests and parks. There are shopping malls and restaurants and lots of AI’s and worker drones. They told us that it’s bigger than many cities and when it had all its sailors and marines it used to have three hundred thousand people in a fight. Now it has a ‘small’ crew of ‘just’ thirty-thousand people. That’s amazing, Grandpa, the cannons look huge and they told us we landed in the smallest hanger. There are twenty hangers. The engines are as big as the Cornwall block of apartments where Tom lives. They can carry fifty-thousand fighters and I dunno how many thousands of gunships. The fighters are really big, like a jetliner without the wings, but flatter. The engineer said they’re all engine and weapons, and even carry lots of nasty missiles.

“One hanger that we went to had lots of landing craft for Marines. Another was full of shuttles and gunships. You can talk to the computers and it’s like talking to a person. I had a whole conversation with the ship and she told me that Stan is a robot. I really thought that he was alive. Ship also said that Stan is more like a zombie than he is an artificial intelligence. She also says that she’s much cleverer than he is, and she can tell better jokes than he can. She doesn’t seem to like him much, much less than Chloe likes me. She seems to be a bit mean like Chloe, though,” said Chuck excitedly.

“You know those waiters were robots that look like people? The ship says she runs them all, but she calls them drones.

“We went to the learning center. The machine asked me what I wanted to know and I said I wanted to learn the whole of what I needed to know at school. I also wanted to learn about fighting bugs and flying my shuttle. I shouted out to Chloe who was next to me in another machine and she said that that’s what she also asked for, the shuttle and school stuff, but not fighting bugs. The machine said that we needed to learn Empire Standard, and that was what we were going to learn first, and then we would get the school stuff, but I did learn shuttle stuff, and then she said that when we woke up it would be time to see you at the medical pods, and we would feel really rested,” said Chuck.

“The machine also told me that while you were in the medical pod you learned Empire Standard and that that’s what we have been speaking for the last ten minutes,” said Chloe. “The Engineers said a few shuttles are no problem. They will make two small ones for me and Chuck that will be big enough to last through University, and will refit a bigger one for mum and dad. They said they can even cloak the small ones.

“Mum said unfortunately she thinks the school wouldn’t let us park in the teacher’s or parents’ car park. She said no children are allowed to park at the school. Grandpa that is so unfair. The school lets us park bicycles in the shed, but we can’t park our shuttles. Chuck says he wants to speak to a lawyer.”Chloe said

“Mum said she wasn’t keen about the lawn being dug up but they showed us this tunneler thingie that they will bring to the house. It digs the whole thing in a few hours and the AIs do the rest. Chuck said it would be a good place to hide if the bugs attack. He asked if they could build in some missiles in case of an attack. They said they could but would need to ask Mum. She said only half a dozen missiles and they are not to disturb her radishes and her herb patch. Dad suggested a few cannons could also be useful to protect the house. The engineers suggested they put in a whole security system that would make the house pregnant.”Chuck said excitedly.

“Grandpa it’s so exciting, they will build a basement and hanger for us that goes under the whole house and even under the park. They said no-one will see a thing. They even make some grass to put on the doors that fits in with the lawn. They will cloak the whole back garden for light and sound and we’ll have a secret hanger door in the park. We can come back in a few days and fly the shuttles in one of the big hangers and then we can fly outside and practice. They said the small cloaking things mean we won’t be seen, even in the day. Mum and Dad had a bit of an argument about it, but Mum said she really needs a shuttle for shopping in Paris, Tokyo, Houston, and New York. She said it would be good to see the family in Houston more often. She and Dad are also getting a bigger shuttle with bedrooms and a kitchen. Dad said in the end Mum is always right, and we need to remember it. He said he never even realized he needed a shuttle so badly, but now we had one he thought we might go on a vacation to see the Oort Cloud. He said camping in the solar system will be such fun and it will bring astronomy to life,” Chloe continued enthusiastically.

“This is so amazing. I really wish I could come with you, Grandpa,” said Chuck passionately.

“Grandpa, the engineer is also making him some ray-guns for bugs. I decided I could use one as well. I didn’t want a marine battle-suit like they’re making for Chuckie. One of the engineers took me to a dresser. I got some dress up clothes. She made me an assassin suit. When I’ve got it on, you can hardly see me. I’m hard to kill when I’m in it, too. If I walk in front of a wall I change to the color of the wall. I have a replica knife, too. She said I should have a real one but it’s too sharp for my age. She gave the real one to Mum, who will give it to me when I’m forty she said. She had an iron bar and she showed Mum that the knife could cut it, and even stabbed a hole in the bar. I like it, Grandpa. I can’t wait ’til I’m forty. That’s awful old, Grandpa, and a long time for a girl to wait. I’d like it now. Can you talk to her for me?

“Grandpa, we also visited the kitchens. The chef Robert, who is a great guy, showed us the different ovens, grills and cook tops. Everything is so fast and they time everything to one-tenth of a second. They also have these amazing machines that if you ask for a food, it builds it for you like a 3D printer. We have one at school and it’s really slow and it can only print plastic stuff, not food. Here they call it a replicator. There were queues of people waiting to use the machines, but they hardly had to wait as the replicators are so quick.

“Robert didn’t want us to taste replicator food as he says that it’s ‘rubbish fast food and not fit for human consumption.’ It looked pretty good to me but I guess he’s the chef, and his food’s really yummy. I had a hamburger thingy that had vegetables in the middle, then some meat on each side that was pretty thin and then this bread that was like a wrap on the outside. Chuck had the same but we both had different sauces on the inside. It was scrumptious. They don’t use a knife and fork, but use a kind of fork, spoon, knife thing, all in one. He said the best way to eat was with your hands when you have those burger things. Robert gave us each one of the knife, fork, spoon things to take home. He said it was a reward for good behavior. We were as polite as we could be, even fat face next to me was half normal. Robert has a funny three-sided hat which he said all chefs wear in the Empire. Marie who is his sidekick he says and another lady in the kitchen had fancy red hats that were the same shape.

“Marie is the other chef, who is also really nice. She says that even though Robert says she is the sidekick she’s more like a front-kick but she lets Robert think he is the boss. They both did a lot of shouting and laughing in the kitchen. She made something for Mum and Dad which they also said was great. The ship seems like a fun place but there are no children. I also wish we could come with you, Grandpa. We could learn so much on the ship, but I’d miss my friends, and there’s no one we could play with on the ship,” said Chloe wistfully.

Stan walked in, greeted everyone, and sat down.

“I hope you’ve all enjoyed your tour and sampled the food of the Empire. Robert is a famous chef who has cooked for the Emperor in the past. He and Marie will be there to cook, especially for you, Jason, courtesy of the Empress Alana. Now let me get down to the essence of what we need to discuss.

“Jason, your great-grandfather is very ill, and has requested your presence to assist him with the Duchy, and to take it over if he dies. This ship is owned by the Empress who decided to send for you on behalf of your great-grandfather.

“I was told you and your extended family are all part of the royal family of the Empire who were sent away to be safe in case of disaster, during the second Mob war. That was a terrible war and at the time that your family was sent away, things were not going well. Jason will be the vanguard of the return of the family, if the family will want to return.

“Your great-grandfather has been ill for some time, and is apparently in desperate need of your assistance. I don’t know any more details, but that was the information that the Empress asked me to convey to you. This battleship will take you to the Empire, and you will initially stay with the Emperor and the Empress who will assist you in dealing with the intricacies of the situation, which I understand is highly political. You will have ample opportunity during the trip to use the learning machines to learn to integrate into the Empire, learn history and science, and build yourself up physically. It will help you help others in the family to reintegrate into the Empire.

“We survive in the Empire on self-discipline both mentally and physically. It’s essential that this occurs as people live such long lives. Without discipline and routine, we have found that people do very poorly. You will have every opportunity to make use of our excellent rehabilitation and gym facilities, and to learn the martial arts of the Empire. Lauren has explained to me that you have financial obligations to meet while you are away, and she has assured me that two billion dollars a year is a reasonable amount to compensate for your absence. This first annual payment will be transferred to you immediately, once you agree to return to the Empire.”

Jason looked at Lauren and raised his eyebrows. She smiled at him sweetly.

“She told us to acquire the money from various drug cartels, which for us was a simple exercise. Each of these delightful groups were encouraged to believe that their enemies have acquired their capital. I know it’s a lot of money but money is not an issue for us, nor should it be for you.

“Lauren will also assist us in acquiring food from your planet to restock the ship following a request from the Emperor.

“We have had a declining male population for thousands of years and the Emperor wishes to rule out food as a possible cause. Acquiring food from Earth will allow him to test that hypothesis. Lauren told me during our initial meeting that your families here and in Texas are heavily into food production and distribution which makes it very convenient for us.

“We intend to be here for two weeks to complete that exercise irrespective of you joining us or not, though I hope you do return with us as you are greatly needed. Are there any questions?”

Lauren and the children and occasionally Dan asked question after question while Jason tuned out. He felt very tired, and emotionally overwrought. He felt very sad about Sarah. He looked at Lauren and his grandchildren and thought how much he would miss them if he went. He put his head on the table.

“Dad, wake up it’s time to go. Stan is going to take us back soon after you’ve looked around a bit. He’ll come to see us, tomorrow evening. We have had a long and busy day. Robert and Marie are going to come back with us. They’ll stay in your house overnight and will join us in the morning for breakfast. The painting is done and we have hired furniture and some art for the house to facilitate the sale. I’ll start the planning with them and connect them to the Internet and call the family in Houston. Stan will bring a whole group just before sunup and will return in the evening once you’ve had a chance to think about your decision and talk to us about it over the day,” said Lauren. “You need to visit the police station weekly as part of your bail conditions. Dan says that is very lenient.

“I’d suggest that you go by shuttle to spend some time in Houston to visit Craig, Jeanette and the boys, and spend a bit of time with the rest of the family. It’s a pity Craig flew back on Qantas two days ago.

“Stan has arranged a shuttle and a pilot to be at our disposal. We all had the educational experience on the ship but will get a lot more training before it goes. We are all learning to fly the shuttles. They will sort out our garden and hanger tomorrow. I can certainly get into the whole Empire feeling,” said Lauren grinning broadly.

“We’ll be sending a whole team of people from the ship to start organizing things on the ground in Houston.

“The volumes of food that the ship can carry are mind blowing and the technologies that they have for storage are beyond impressive. I’m going to tour the ship for the remainder of today looking at the farms and storage areas while you, Dan, Chuck, and Chloe will see whatever else you want on the ship. The doctors also said that as we are still going to be here for a while, that you should spend the last half hour before we return home in the rehabilitation pod.”

Stan shipped them back to earth by early evening. They had little to say on the way back.

“I’ll be back by six thirty tomorrow morning,” he told Jason and Lauren. “Jason, I’ll take you and some of the logistics and farming people to Houston tomorrow evening after you visit the police station. Lauren has made the arrangements.”

“Lauren and Stan, I want you both to be aware that I have not made up my mind about anything, yet. I’m an old man ready to retire into obscurity. I’m not sure I want to start a new life, and put all the effort in to adapt to the Empire and then get involved in political intrigue while taking over the Duchy of my Great Grandfather. I know nothing of such activity. I’m tired. I just feel I need a break, and some peace and quiet. I’m going along with your plans so far, as I believe it’s good for the family; but even though I’m grateful for the total body overhaul, I see it as payback for the Empire dumping us here on Earth, then forgetting about us all.”