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Gail watched her leave and looked back at Jorga with a raised eyebrow. Jorga smiled at her and nodded slightly, glanced at Ben and shook her head. The message was clear, Ben didn't know Deirdre was pregnant.

  "Ben, since we know you're going to be speaking to Hjoolous later, Deirdre and I would like to be here for it; there is a favor we would like to ask of him," Jorga said.

  Ben was looking at the now closed bathroom door as well. "She's been getting sick like that a lot lately. I thought she was going to see John about it, but I guess she hasn't yet. Are you sure she'll be up to the call?"

  "She'll be fine, Ben," Jorga said and looked back at Gail. "So how are things at the base?"

  "Going pretty good, actually; we've gotten our drone compliment back up to full strength. We've even had to begin restricting recruitment for the time being. We've got full compliments in training for the new Terran ships. Which reminds me, we're going to need a Fleet Admiral for our Navy. Any luck on finding one, Ben?" Gail asked trying to get his mind off Deirdre for the moment.

  "Yeah, but I haven't gotten an answer from him yet. I was going to ask Jance if she wanted the job, but she wants to stay with the Rangers so, I asked Elrond Coir. If he turns me down then Gerent Oldstone would be next," Ben replied.

  "Both are damn good choices. If I may recommend it, whichever one doesn't take the command chair, offer the other the command of System Defense; they would still work together that way, and we would get the benefit of their knowledge and experiences." Gail said. "At least we already know they're trustworthy!"

  "Well, if they turn me down, then we'll have to ask Admiral Yolinar if he has any good officers we could recruit. We just don't have anyone else qualified for the job yet," Ben replied.

  "Captain Oldstone asked that his son be accepted as an officer candidate at the new academy. Since the young man had already applied, it was easy enough to approve, and we’ve already pulled him in for training. He already has command experience, so he's going to end up with his own ship. You know, a good portion of the old pirates have joined us; I should say, the ones that did the actual raiding have. It's been good to have their help with hammering out the training regimen for naval operations. They even helped with the Marine training by working with Imperial trainers to incorporate the stuff they learned raiding ships. I know the training officers were impressed and included their knowledge in their own training programs. They placed commendations in the training files of the former 'Pirate Marines'," Gail replied.

  "Really? I didn't know that!" Ben sighed. "We're getting so big, it's hard to keep track of those I intended to keep track of. At least their lives are going good."

  Ben's intercom beeped. "Highness, I apologize for the interruption, but His Majesty is calling for you," Sharon could be heard to say as Deirdre exited the bathroom.

  Gail wiped her mouth on her napkin. "Well, that's good timing. Have fun, Highness!" She got up and moved toward the door.

  "You are an evil woman, Gail," Ben replied. She laughed as she left the room.

  "Please put him though, Sharon," Ben replied to his aide.

  Hjoolous image appeared on his monitor. "Good morning to you, King Bedouin. I trust you are well?"

  Ben smiled back at his friend. " I am, Majesty. Thank you for asking. How are things for you?"

  "Same as always, my friend; as usual, I am calling to create more work for you," Hjoolous replied. He was aware of how hard the Terran system was working and how few people they currently had.

  "Majesty, General Greenwold has just left my office. She briefed me on what you would be asking us to undertake. As you are aware, as things stand right now, we simply don't have the capacity to make it happen," Ben admitted. "However, we're going to find a way to change that."

  Hjoolous looked surprised. "She works quickly; Yolinar told me she was going to try to speak to you first. I would have delayed this call longer, but my schedule wouldn't permit it. So, you understand the problem we are facing then?"

  Ben nodded. "I do. This needs to be handled as quickly as we can without compromising security. Do you need us to design the module for the new ships?"

  "If you could. It only makes sense, as the designs we are using are from your artisans, it would certainly make the most sense for your people to do it. I would ask that, if possible, the design be made to adapt to the older ships as well. In this way, perhaps we can take some of the load off your people by sending modules to other yards for installation in at least the already upgraded ships," Hjoolous replied, but shrugged. "If it's not possible, then it isn't. It was just a suggestion.

  "You are going to allow more of your people to return to the system then?" Hjoolous asked.

  Ben nodded. "That's the plan. We just need to figure out how and where to house them. I was to meet with the labor leaders later today to discuss current working conditions. There is growing dissatisfaction within our labor force. I need to address that as well. The only way I can think of to ease the strain is to bring in more people to do the work. I may have to have to call on your ministries for specific skill sets. After all, who said the people that come here have to all be humans? However, we are going to be looking at building domes on the forth planet, as well as expanding out to the next closest system. We will probably need to expand our mining efforts to that system as well."

  Hjoolous looked confused. "Just for the addition of the transponder project?"

  Ben smiled. "No, Majesty. General Greenwold told me she feels that we need to accelerate the Aegis project considerably. To that end, I will be adding a dedicated construction dock and more mining and refining facilities. We will have to build all of it, but if we can get it up and running fast enough, we can get a jump on our original schedule for the fortress’ construction."

  Hjoolous nodded and looked thoughtful. "One moment Ben, I want to add Yolinar to this conversation; I might have an idea to help."

  The big Admiral joined Hjoolous on the monitors. "Majesty, Highness, how may I serve?" he said as he bowed.

  "Yolinar, Ben just told me about accelerating the Aegis project. Has General Greenwold spoken to you of this?" Hjoolous asked.

  "Yes Majesty, she asked for permission to speak to King Bedouin about it, as it concerned Imperial matters," Yolinar replied.

  Hjoolous nodded. "Good, do you have any ships available that can tow the Galatian Gantry to Sol?"

  Yolinar raised both eyebrows at the question. "That would require more than one ship, Majesty. The Galatian is pretty massive."

  "Can you do it?" Hjoolous asked.

  "Not at the moment, no. But perhaps in a month I can task three dreadnoughts to perform this task. Their fleets will provide escort, this may work well, as they will need their transponders replaced as well as one of the fleets needing upgrades," Yolinar replied. "I have been loath to recall them for upgrade, as they are one of our newest fleets and have seen a lot of action so far."

  Ben nodded. "A month's delay would be fine, Admiral. We don't have the people to get to work on it yet, anyway. As for the fleet; get us their specs before they get here and we'll make sure the components are ready for them. It should cut down on the time they'll be in the dock."

  Yolinar nodded. "I will send them by armed courier directly to your facility. With the added issue of the transponder alterations, perhaps we should begin doing this with all incoming units."

  "If that's what you need, Admiral, we'll make it happen," Ben replied.

  "Excellent!" Hjoolous replied. "So if there is nothing else, I'll let you get back to work, Ben."

  "Actually Majesty, Jorga and Deirdre have asked to speak to you," Ben replied. "If you can spare them a moment?"

  "Certainly! I would be happy to speak with them!" Hjoolous replied.

  Both women came around Ben's desk and bowed to the two beings on the screen.

  "Majesty, we have a personal request to ask of you," Jorga began.

  "If it is within my power," Hjoolous replied calmly.

  Deirdre smiled at him. "
Majesty, there is a human custom from before The Fall the predates even those times. It was the practice of families living on the frontier to ask close friends to watch over the children of a family in the event something was to happen to the parents. This duty was only asked of those the parents trusted fully and without reservation. When they accepted, they became a Godparent. Although, over the years, our peoples’ lives have become less dangerous and more comfortable, the practice is maintained as a sort of tradition of good luck. I know how Jorga and Ben feel about you, and I agree with them. So I would ask that you, Hjoolous Ip Hyclarion, consider being our child's Godparent."

  There was silence for a moment as both Ben and Hjoolous thought about what she had just said.

  "Wait… what?" Ben asked and looked at the two women. He focused on Deirdre. "Is that why you've been so sick lately?"

  She nodded. "It's morning sickness. John confirmed it yesterday; I'm pregnant."

  Ben stood and took her in his arms. "You could have told me sooner! I was worried about you!"

  "I love you too, Ben!" Deirdre said and hugged him back.

  Jorga was smiling with tears of her own in her eyes while she caressed the back of Deirdre's head.

  "By the Gods! That is fabulous news!" Hjoolous replied. "You have honored me beyond words with your request, my friends! I would be happy to accept, but I will need to be sure I can do this before I agree. Is this acceptable?"

  "Of course, Sire. We tried to check ourselves so we wouldn't put you in an awkward position, but we couldn't figure it out," Jorga replied.

  "We'll get it figured out," Hjoolous replied, he had a huge smile on his face and was clearly proud. Yolinar also gave the family his own congratulations and blessings for the child.

  "We haven't made an announcement yet, so we have some time, Majesty," Deirdre added.

  After Hjoolous and Yolinar ended the call, Ben sat the women back down. "We never discussed this. Jorga, are you okay with Deirdre having our first child?"

  She rolled her eyes, "of course I am you dope! She's my best friend just like you are. Until Mom gets these nanocytes figured out, I can't get pregnant. She says she's close, but just not there yet. We may have to remove them completely."

  "Are you good with this, Deirdre?" Ben asked.

  "I'm a little scared at becoming a mother, but yeah, I'm good with it," Deirdre replied.

  Ben took the problems of the transponder upgrades as well as the acceleration of the Aegis project to the Council. Once he outlined the problems, he brought up the colonization plans for the planet Mars and the Centauri system.

  The Council itself had undergone quite a bit of restructuring as well. The massive increase in population, as well as the addition of non-humans, had called for a restructuring of the Council under the laws of their constitution. Granted, those laws were written with the expectation of a much slower growth in population, but they were working well under the current situation. There were a few more councilors now; three of them were not human. Although Ben did hold open court once a week, it was more for the general public to have access to him than it was for the Council to handle business.

  Ben told the Council that they needed to expand their population once again; not only to bring in more people to handle the tasks given them by the Empire, but to help relieve the strain of over-work on their current populations. He told them he intended to open immigration to a minimum of five million new citizens. Not only for the new projects, but to ease the load on their already over-worked population. They would also need to increase food production because the Martian colony will not be fully self-sufficient until the terraforming process completed in another seventy years. Almost every aspect of their current industry will be impacted by the addition of the new projects. Directly, by increasing the demand for components and refined metals, and indirectly, through the industries that support those facilities and the people that will work in them. Even the Council would be impacted as the increase would add members to their ranks.

  However, the original reason Ben had opposed the idea of expansion to begin with was still valid; security. Granted the Lizards hadn't really attacked them, but that was by no means an indication they wouldn't. However, Admiral Yolinar agreed to add additional units for the protection of the Centauri system until such time as Terra could defend it herself. It would be difficult to do, but it was possible and needed to be done.

  The Council approved, of course. However, they suggested the Aegis Project gantry be placed in the Centauri system along with the mining and refining facilities for it. It would ease the load in the Sol System, and put the workers closer to their work; which meant they could see their families more often and should help with morale. In addition to the additional workers, several of the Councilors began discussing smaller projects such as parks, amusement and entertainment centers and even a few resorts to be located near all the major population centers. Instead of arguing that these projects would take workers away from the main efforts, Ben simply added more construction workers to the list; it was a really good idea and the people needed it. Now all they needed to do was recruit more construction people and get the ball rolling.

  Ben also instituted a type of lottery for his people. Participation was free and the offered prizes were things like extra rest days, luxury food items, free meals at restaurants; things that made the people happy. Eventually, he would add all-inclusive vacations to one of the new resorts. It took credits away from the public corporation, but they could afford it, and it would help the people to cope while the expansion was being worked on. The project was placed under the supervision of Deirdre's Ministry, and drawings were held every two weeks. At first, the public reaction was somewhat cool, but when people began to win, popularity for the program increased quickly.

  Three of the private corporations at Terra also began their own lotteries, although those drawings were held monthly because they also began a rewards program for the most productive workers. Research and design level workers excluded themselves from the rewards program, claiming that they had enough incentives and rewards already. Besides, they were still enrolled in the national lottery.

  The idea spread, and even Hjoolous adopted it for parts of his private business as well as the public-held corporations. In the Empire, the lottery was restricted to those that were actively employed or on medical leave and excluded kingdoms that already had their own program. It was an all-around success and improved the morale of the whole Empire that had begun to suffer because of the war.

  Two million new construction workers were brought in from the Empire for the massive projects that needed to be built. Half of them were only temporary and would be returning to the Empire after the public facilities were built for the new colonies. These workers did not need to be vetted by security as they would not be exposed to, or even be near, any classified aspects of the work being done in the system. The rest of the workers would have to be vetted for secure work. Since the project had such a high priority, Security Commander Warmake joined the effort for clearing the people in addition to his department's primary duty of peace-keeping.

  The workers hit the ground running, so to speak, as they began work the same day they began arriving. The Mars colony project was given to one of the temporary companies hired by the Empire to assist with the effort. Since a good portion of the colony would be an underground construction, Hjoolous called in a favor and got a fully Kanrathi crew to build it. Kanrathi were an underground species by nature and were specialists in underground construction techniques. This particular group specialized in hostile environment construction, and the added complication of it being a mostly human facility didn't bother them in the slightest. By the end of the first week, they had the foundation of the main dome set and had already begun work on the frame. The Kanrathi boss was impressed by the support he was getting and was heard to comment on how well and how quickly supplies and resources were being provided for the project.

  On the Centauri wor
lds, the mixed race crews were not quite as efficient, but still managed to get a lot done. Unlike the Kanrathi crews, these people had not worked together before and had to adjust to each other and their new surroundings. They began work on the first part of the project, a spaceport, and had the foundations for the building set. They also cleared the land for the runways, landing pads, and parking aprons. The future city was surveyed, and planning was almost complete for the first stage of the settlement.

  Chapter Six

  Office of King Bedouin

  Tower of Government

  Stardock City

  18 Jun. 10267 CE (AD)

  Terra, Sol System

  As it turned out, Hjoolous could not accept the duties of Godparent. The way the laws of the Empire were written, assuming the responsibility for the child in an emergency would be seen as adopting him. In Hjoolous case, it would make the child his first born and heir to the throne of the Empire. While the status of the human race was growing daily, no one would accept a human heir. The Empire had always been ruled by Hyclarion, no one wanted that to change. Regretfully, Hjoolous had to decline the offer.

  Ben and his ladies could see that Hjoolous had really wanted to accept, but couldn't because of his position. Hjoolous told them that regardless of what was official, if anything happened to them, Hjoolous would make sure the child was taken care of and well cared for.

  Ben smiled at his friend. "You know, that's really what the job is. The Godparent would take the child in, make sure they were cared for and taken care of, told of his parents, and what happened to them once they were old enough to understand. They retained their original family name and linage, it was only a matter of the child being cared for by someone that cared for them, until they could do so for themselves. It prevented the child from becoming a ward of the state or a foster child of some unknown family that wouldn't treat them well."

  Hjoolous nodded slowly. "I think the position was misunderstood by my councilors. We all believed I would have to adopt the child; in our history it was a way of increasing the status of a child if the family was disgraced."