The Emperor’s secretary led Jason into his uncle’s study. Jason’s ring vibrated vigorously. There was not doubt the enemy was in the palace and the secretary was one of them. Jason’s heart began to thump. The door took some effort to open after the secretary knocked. It looked thick and heavy, the surface was covered with elaborate tiny carvings and it looked to be very old. The cosy welcoming room was paneled in the same richly colored wood as the door and was illuminated by a friendly yellow light projected up to the very high, cream colored ceiling. The light was uneven, the lighted areas punctuated by areas of deep shadow. There were several statues of military figures on pedestals and paintings on the walls of family scenes gently illuminated by suspended focused beams.

Jason watched the secretary carefully. Jason concentrated on his walking meditation to hide his abilities and make his powers invisible to the palace infiltrators. There were three of them on the scans in the palace.

The secretary was thin and spindly and had a dowagers hump and a mincing walk. He was wearing a dark gray robe he constantly nervously rearranged, pulling it tighter around him. His belt looked like an old black piece of rope. He wore black sandals with black socks that looked threadbare. His voice was high pitched and grating in the extreme. The secretary had an obsequious manner that gave Jason the creeps.

“Your esteemed highness – I would like to introduce the primitive from Earth,” he said with disdain and smirked never looking directly at Jason. He then lifted his head back and peered down his nose at Jason’s navel and whispered in a peevish tone, “Do not tire the Emperor and above all do not waste his valuable time, he is a very busy man and does not take to chatter and gossip.” He sniffed, turned and walked rapidly out of the door and closed it loudly.

Jason peered into the dimly lit room and saw a tall middle aged man who stood shaking his head as if to clear it. He looked at Jason vaguely. “Can you explain to me who you are and why you’re coming to see me?” Cassius the Emperor said plaintively with his voice sounding weak. Jason noticed his face was looking sallow and sickly.

“Your highness, you may recall speaking to me on my ship several times during the war with The Mob. I am the young Duke Jason Kargo, who has returned at the request of my great-grandfather. You are my great uncle. You and Empress Alana asked me to call you, uncle, and join you in the palace on my arrival in the Empire.

“I am returning at the request of the Empress representing my great grandfather one of your ex kings and now Archduke, as my great-grandfather is ailing. I have returned to assist my great-grandfather and reclaim the Duchy. I understand that my great-grandfather’s nephew, my cousin, is temporarily running the estate. I am seeking this appointment to visit with you as my Emperor, and as my great uncle. I have come to pay you my respects and introduce myself formally.”

The study was a sizable L shaped room. The Emperor was a little past the L and could not see the door and conversely could not be seen from the door. He was moving backwards and forwards a step at a time to look at Jason and then returned to his desk where he could not be seen from the door but could just be seen by Jason as he moved further into the room.

The secretary barged into the room and stood next to Jason. “My Lord, the time for this interview has passed. Shall I usher him out?”

“No,” said the Emperor, in a firmer clearer voice, “I remember him. He is my nephew and is to stay with us. He did a wonderful job for us in the war, give us at least another hour and perhaps closer to two hours before you ask again.” The Emperor waved imperiously at him to dismiss him and was sounding firmer. Cassius again moved towards his desk and Jason seeing the opportunity moved behind the secretary who was looking angry and starting to turn to leave the room, and put his signet ring to the secretary's neck. The secretary was drawn into the ring and then incarcerated in trans-dimensional space. There was sufficient power in the ring to hold him for at least twelve hours.

‘One down, two to go,’ thought Jason. He turned and gently shut the door. He scanned the room with his pocket scanner and established the room was under electronic surveillance. He touched his belt which produced a prerecorded conversation for the listeners that appeared quite innocuous. He switched on his counter-surveillance equipment. He could now speak freely.

“Uncle, if I may call you that, I would very much like to visit my great-grandfather on the estate and assume my title as Archduke if appropriate. I certainly wish to take over from my cousin. It is my understanding that there may be little time left for great-grandfather, so the sooner I see him, the better. I understand that since his illness that he can no longer undertake his role as one of your Kings.

“I believe that I can be of great assistance to grandfather during his remaining time.”

“Young man, do not be in such a hurry to take over the Duchy,” he said with a smile. “I am told by my advisers that it is being run very well by Ingmar Hesketh, your cousin. Although, I admit I've had my share of doubts, knowing Hesketh. He's a wastrel, like his now deceased father. My vizier assures me that he keeps in touch with his colleague Norwald Yang who is his counterpart on the estate. He's vizier to the estate and keeps Hesketh in line,” said the Emperor. “I am not sure that you need to worry. My own vizier has been with me for a very long time, and is a very able and convincing man. He has had a very firm view about how this palace and the estate should be operated, and I am inclined to support him. He suggested that we give you time to settle but expressed his doubts that a primitive could contribute to the estate. He believes you need to show you are competent and perhaps even work under supervision before you take an important role.”

Jason had a strong feeling that his uncle despite his apparent frail and confused state was much more aware and alert than he seemed and was testing him.

“In that case your highness, I would like to challenge my cousin, Ingmar Hesketh to a duel for the right to become the Archduke, which I believe is my right. I would appreciate your support. I may well be from a backward planet, however the sooner I am in position to assist my great-grandfather with the estate the better. I may be more competent than many would assume. I have my own independent assets, and do believe that I can contribute to the Empire. There is no doubt I could be of help to my great-grandfather. By the time I would do as your vizier suggests my grandfather would be dead.”

Jason was sure the Grand Vizier was enemy number two.

“Young man I wonder if you would put your head out of the door and ask the young lady at the desk if she would ask the ‘Grand Vizier’ to attend upon us?”

“Certainly. your highness, I shall do so immediately.”

The Emperor moved out of sight again, and sat on his seat. Jason opened the door and put his head out and spoke softly to the elegant young lady, sitting at a beautiful wooden workstation, operating a holo-cube.

“Hello I am sorry to disturb you. The Emperor has asked for the ‘Grand Vizier’ to attend on him as quickly as is possible.”

Jason kept the door slightly ajar. He heard her call for the ‘Grand Vizier’ and moments later he could hear impatient footsteps. Jason move a little further towards the right wall to force the grand Vizier to remain in the part of the room out of sight of the Emperor.

The vizier entered the room brusquely. He wore a robe that was ill fitting but the material was plush and looked like a brown velvet. He had a thick leather belt that covered the bulge of his waist. He was a large portly man, who barely glanced at Jason before walking to Jason’s left where he was not visible to the Emperor. He could not see the Emperor. He sighed impatiently and moved in front of Jason. Jason moved behind him and placed his left hand with his ring on the man's shoulder next to his neck. He was drawn into the ring.

Jason could feel the remaining powerful presence in the palace. Porquenta’s intelligence had identified these two as being most likely to be the enemy. There was a much greater degree of uncertainty about who the third person might be and what strategy to apply to winkle him or her out.

“Uncle, he appears to be too busy to be able to attend upon us. Can I invite you to inspect the gift that I have brought for you, which was made especially for you? It is a very high powered luxury yacht made on my planet, Porquenta.”

Jason knew that the Emperor loved gifts. His intelligence people believed if the Emperor went to the ship it would force the last cockroach to make a move to ensure that the emperor would not be alone and without surveillance. The Emperor smiled broadly and rubbed his hands together like a little boy eager for his toy.

“Young man, I wonder if I could prevail upon you to ask young lady outside if my security guards will insist on accompanying us to the yacht. No doubt they will. I cannot go anywhere without them babysitting me nowadays. At least you are a family member, you are of impeccable background and a defender of the Empire. You are unarmed and no threat to me. Perhaps we could keep them out of this and go for a ride. They stick their noses into too many things as it is. My head of security is insufferable and worse than that he and the vizier are as close as two peas in a pod. I cannot do anything without one or the other supervising my every move.

‘Bingo!’ Jason thought.

Three security guards insisted on attending and there was no doubt that the head of security was one of the enemy. He was a powerful looking mountain of a man. He and his Deputies were wearing light armor without helmets and all three looked at Jason suspiciously.

“Yelgo, this is my nephew. You don’t need to look at him like that. He's family. We are going to look at the yacht he has given me, made on his planet.”

They walked towards the yacht, which was a luxuriously fitted out gunship. It was manufactured on Porquenta. Porquenta was making very fast luxury yachts for sale.

“Jason, it looks lovely! Sleek and dangerous. I can’t wait to see the interior!”

The head of security was alert and looked daggers at Jason.

Jason wondered if he was not a little curious wondering about the absence of the secretary and the ‘Grand Vizier’. The Emperor was becoming progressively less confused as time passed and was looking better with each passing minute. He chatted all the way to the ship with Jason while asking many questions about his trip, but was seemingly poorly informed about the priests and even seemed to recall surprisingly little detail about the recent planetary battles with The Mob. He clearly maintained the view Jason was a hero and had been of great help. He was under the impression that there were some skirmishes and Jason had acquitted himself well… for a gross amateur. He appeared to have forgotten the substance of some of the discussions they had enjoyed. Jason wondered if it was for the benefit of the guards who remained close to them.

Jason saw Cassius was dressed in a robe that once had been lovely. It looked worn, creased and was stained on the front.

The palace gardens were beautiful with colorful flowers, fountains and tall trees. The gardens extended in terraces to the distant walls. They walked along a path adjacent to a flat paved area for shuttles and cargo deliveries to the palace near the large service entrance where a small shuttle was unloading fruit and vegetables. The yacht was clearly visible nearby on a similar circular paved area. It was an elegant silver colored craft with fine lines that managed to look both dignified, and ferocious. It looked like a purebred stallion ready to leap forward.

The Emperor became highly animated and very excited the closer they came to the ship. He was smiling and almost skipping and moved with surprising speed and agility.

“I’m sure your highness that you do not want to tire yourself by walking to the yacht. I’m sure that we can show you pictures of the interior,” said the chief of security as if he was communicating with a recalcitrant child.

“Nonsense Yelgo, it’s a pleasant stroll, and I am enjoying spending time with my nephew. I am not an invalid. I’m perfectly able to walk, and walk I shall. I shall inspect the yacht. You do not need to treat me like a baby. If you are feeling tired, stay behind. That is the most beautiful yacht that I have seen and if my nephew has given it to me as a gift, I will see it and inspect it thoroughly.

“Ensure that my diary is cleared for this afternoon. I will have lunch with my nephew, and I will spend the afternoon with him!”

Jason could see that Yelgo was steaming. His shoulders tensed and his neck, already red, looked even redder and blotchy. It looked as though the other two guards were struggling to stifle their laughter. As they got close to the yacht an elegant ramp unfolded outwards and an iris opened to expose a doorway. The surfaces of the yacht all looked smooth and it gleamed in the sun. Jason thought it was beautifully presented. Gentle but inviting lighting could be seen within.

The head of security sent in the two guards first. Jason informed them that there were two pilots and a small staff who had accompanied him.

The guards re-appeared and nodded to Yelgo to indicate the Emperor could enter. Jason tried to position himself next to the head of security but without success. The man was a security professional and was alert. The Emperor entered ahead of Jason. He looked around.

“Jason this is an amazing gift. Your aunt would love it. It is beautiful and the finish is magnificent. I like how it projects beauty along with being dangerous. It is a great compliment to your designer.”

The staff on the ship were of bug origin. They included six of the AIs who had been part of the group that had captured Nimrod Khong as well as Philippa and one or two of her support staff. They showed the Emperor through all the areas of the yacht. The head of security remained vigilant. They went up to the top deck where there was a large lounge area adjoining the bulkhead behind the pilots. The AIs attempted to position themselves behind the security people but were constantly ushered ahead of them.

“Jason, this is truly one of the most magnificent gifts I have ever seen. I would very much like to go for a quick test flight, out to the blue moon and back. That should get us back in time for lunch and then we can spend a relaxing afternoon.”

“Your highness, we have not had enough time to prepare for a surprise trip away from the palace. You would be too vulnerable. Can we not delay this for three to four hours? It would be a good idea if both your secretary and vizier came along to help you appreciate your gift,” said Yelgo shaking his head vigorously. He finally made a mistake moving towards the Emperor allowing one of the AIs behind him. As the AI lifted his hand, the head of security became aware of the AI moving behind him and began to lift his weapon towards the Emperor. The other two security guards looked at this in horror.

Jason who was next to the Emperor knocked the weapon roughly aside, while moving in front of the Emperor. The AI lifted his capture device to Yelgo’s exposed neck, but Yelgo sent a small stream of mist towards Jason and the Emperor behind him from his open mouth.

The AI captured Yelgo, Jason put up a shield and sighed in relief. The AIs and Philippa quickly commenced countermeasures to prevent the mist touching anyone else. The two security guards were temporarily put in stasis to prevent any premature or inappropriate response.

“Jason, my boy, I am eternally grateful to you for what you have done, today. I have never liked that man, but he was competent. I wonder what happened to make him decide that today was the day he would assassinate me.

“I cannot imagine it was your presence or even the proposed trip. We could have easily called up several frigates, a few destroyers and a cruiser or even a battleship to accompany us within fifteen minutes as they are already picketing the planet.” Jason turned to face him. The Emperor excitedly patted him on the shoulder and then moved forward to hug him. Jason slowly collapsed to the floor.

There was very rapid action on the yacht. “Put Jason into stasis, immediately,” said Philippa. As she spoke, two of the AIs placed him in stasis and carried him to the stasis chamber.

“What's going on?” said the Emperor.

He was flummoxed by what was going on, and he was worried about Jason.

Cockroach Coven- Old Palace of the Emperor, Conference room 1:

Meeting of the senior Coven leadership political and military.

Chairman: Larnor Bakt-Yekt Grand Overseer of the Coven of cockroaches.

The Chairman leaned over his boat chair and over the table, moving his antennae. “I would now like to receive your reports of progress,” Bakt-Yekt ordered as he looked at Gremd Mordrake - Para-Overseer Internal affairs. “Mordrake, I was disturbed by your report. Can you please explain your opinions?”

“Grand Overseer, the morale of the Coven is at an all time low and the people pine for our Emperor of old. Traitors, at the instigation of the Emperor, have broadcast our perceived setbacks and they hanker for a return to the old days before the Great War. Sadly we have lost two of our three operatives infiltrating the followers of the Old Emperor.

“It remains my view that we need to act against the Emperor, it is merely a question of when. It is clearly not now. We will need a major distraction first, like a war. One with the human Empire or the Octopi will suffice.

“We have made some progress in gaining a foothold in the genetics research laboratories of the Emperor. These efforts are beginning to bear fruit in improving our infiltration efforts into the human Empire and the Insect Collective. We still cannot achieve form change at will, though it is but a matter of time.

“Our restive population is our biggest risk, and it leaves us at risk of insurrection and a counter coup. We need a major success, urgently. The human Empire is our best opportunity. We need to act soon or we will lose our opportunity. I hope Krimpt and his Intelligence people are finally able to make a move.”

Gremd looked around the room at the nodding heads and nodded to Krimpt. The chairman nodded and turned to Yesteg Krimpt Senior General, Intelligence, senior Handler of Norwald Yang.

“Krimpt, can you provide us with an update of your information?

“Grand Overseer, we are at a critical mass of influence in the human Empire. We are ready to assassinate the Emperor and his great-nephew… an oxymoron if I have ever heard one. Despite being an incompetent from a primitive planet his forces are well led and led to short term setbacks. We are ready to take over the Empire and reverse our loss of the tentacles. The Jumo remain weak. They have lost their military and we will be able to strike after we control the Empire of Cassius. The Jumo Emperor is floundering.

“General Norwald Yang the Estate's Vizier, has gained control of the Kargo Estates. The old Archduke is under guard in a basement and is close to his end, the nephew was assassinated and the unstable son is under Yang’s control, and is doing as he asks. He is a loose cannon whose days are numbered. Yang and his associates are moving to gain control of the Kargo corporations. The great nephew is a fool and slows the progress Yang makes in gaining corporate control. Yang believes full control will readily be achieved after the Emperor’s demise which will allow him to terminate the old man and his nephew.

“General Derris Yelgo as head guard of the Emperor will assassinate him within days of your order. Yang has two long term operatives in the palace, the vizier and the secretary who are both very capable and have achieved the rank of Colonel. There will be a smooth transition of power.

“We have forces in the capitol that are ready to move. We will act during the funeral of the Emperor. We will strike the critical decisive blows necessary to gain us a major foothold in the soon to be ex human galaxy. Soon the galaxy will be ours simply taken from within. Covert operations are economical except in time. We are a patient people. Our enemies grow complacent while we prepare to strike at their hearts.

“Soon we will act in the Collective. Ouma Chatzke has become progressively less vigilant as the years pass and we have been patient. We collect a steady stream of technology from the universities and they unknowingly conduct research for us. We are not yet able to strike the fatal blow that we need to gain the ascendancy in the Collective.

“The Octopus intruders into our Galaxy are on the run. We will succeed in finding their core planets and we will destroy them and gain a galaxy that is much like our own and ripe for the taking. Our scouts are actively searching.

“Grand Overseer at your command we shall act in the Empire, decisively and irrevocably. A decisive victory will be achieved.”

“Krimpt, as Grand Overseer, I command you to execute your plan for the Empire as described and outlined by you. May we all move to victory together after the conclusion of a long planned and executed strategy!”

All twelve around the table cheered. They lay around the table eating and drinking and calling for more toasts “To the Conquest of the Human Galaxy!”

“Your highness this will require a little explanation. You may recall,” said Philippa authoritatively, “the war that nearly destroyed this galaxy?”

Cassius nodded - "Wait, Wait! I am really interested in what you are saying but I want my wife involved. I want Alana to hear this explanation and know what is going on. The more she knows the more she can make rational decisions on my behalf. Please get the palace on the line and I will speak to her."

Fifteen minutes later Alana arrived, ostensibly to see the yacht.

"My darling this is a gift from my great nephew, Jason as I explained when I called you. These are his staff and guards who accompanied him.”

“This is a beautiful yacht Cassius but where is Jason?” Alana asked.

“My head of the guards Capt. Derris Yelgo, appointed by my Vizier attempted to assassinate me.

“Yelgo attacked me with poison and Jason stood in front of me to prevent me being killed. He saved me at great cost to himself. He is now in stasis and is desperately ill an aerosol poison.

“Jason’s staff can put it in perspective. Then we have to get Jason into treatment, I don’t know how the doctors will fix him. This is Philippa, I am not sure of her role. She and his other staff are going to explain what happened and what they know. I am shocked by these event.”

Alana moved over and gently placed her arm around his shoulders as Cassius sobbed for several moments, before regaining control and putting his arm around Empress Alana’s waist. Philippa stood in front of them both and spoke calmly and reassuringly.

"My name is Philippa and I am for the sake of simplicity a fiancé of Jason. I come from another galaxy where I am a Queen, one of four Queens and three Kings. My mother is the supreme Queen. Her name is Ouma Chatzke, and she is also known as the Prime Minister. You do not know our people; and, until recently, we did not know of you. We live in what is called a Collective, and our population consists of more than ninety-trillion beings. We are a very ancient people.

"This Yelgo creature comes from our galaxy and is disguised as a human. I shall briefly reiterate what I said to Emperor Cassius and I will then explain further. Your highnesses you may recall from your history that there was previously an inter-galactic war. It was one of three we know about. The last war was around a hundred thousand years ago and was much less severe than the previous two we have fought. The invaders included a group of highly advanced cockroaches who were beaten off by a more advanced group of beings. What you have seen today is their new infiltration into this galaxy. They have found a way of disguising themselves as humans.

“Our technology is very much more advanced than the Empire and we have the ability to extract information directly from a person's brain without the necessity for interrogation. I will show you a little of what was the history of each of these individuals and was in the minds of your head of security and his friends your secretary and the grand vizier. In view of the urgency that we face of moving Jason to appropriate care I will have to be brief. We must get Jason to our doctors very soon. Your medical care cannot save him. We will need to leave here within ninety minutes at the latest. He is safe in stasis and in another dimension which delays the activity of the poison.

“Our fleet circling above us can take us to the Collective very much more quickly and safely than any ship in the Empire.

“I have taken the liberty of asking our AI to assemble a summary of what has happened today and then I will move on to show you the background and thoughts of each individual.”

She then proceeded to show using holograms assembled by the AI, first what happened in the palace so that Cassius had a frame of reference.

"I am very pleased that Jason captured those two slimy bastards," said Empress Alana. “I told you I loathed that fat self satisfied, controlling piece of dung Vizier as much as that unctuous, sycophantic, slimy, ingratiating secretary of yours,” Alana stated strongly.

“Yes, dear, I was aware that you had some feelings about them. I am sure I was influenced by them. I had no will to do anything other than do as they suggested. I can feel my mind is much clearer, even now,” said Cassius.

“Please continue, Philippa, dear. I am sorry we interrupted,” Alana said.

Philippa then showed what happened on the ship and played the holographic image in slow motion of Yelgo sending a stream of poison towards Jason and the Emperor, Jason knocking the weapon from Yelgo's hand, the stream partly stopped by the shield, and droplets hitting Jason's face. They watched the capture of Yelgo and the guards and Jason’s collapse. Emperor Cassius, Empress Alana, her guards, Jonathan, Norbert and Gamma watched the events with great interest.

This astounding presentation went a long way to convince them that she was trustworthy. Philippa repeated some of the conversations in summary form between Cassius and Jason when Jason was in the palace.

"I will now show you both, very briefly and in a highly condensed summary, what has happened to Jason on the way to the Empire. This is from a few months after he was on the ship when he encountered the first priest who was attempting to poison him on the battleship," said Philippa.

She showed the history very briefly.

"To get back to the present time there is a high probability many more cockroaches have infiltrated the Empire. You can see how we collected the information when The Mob was conquered. You can also understand we were originally, and still are, an insect species. The cockroaches come from our galaxy. Our galaxy is much older than this galaxy, and that is the reason that we are an older species than yours."

"That was truly an amazing presentation," said Emperor Cassius. "My nephew is indeed one-of-a-kind. He is a very special person. How do you know that the three beings that have been captured are cockroaches?" Cassius asked.

"We have extracted the memories of your secretary, the grand Vizier and the guard Yelgo. I will show you a brief summary of what we have extracted."

Philippa proceeded to show holograms that went back to the earliest times in the lives of the three cockroaches. The Emperor could clearly see their background on one of the planets where they were hatched, received their education from cockroaches and then were assisted to infiltrate the Empire. He first began to look concerned as did Alana and then he began to look angry while she looked resolute.

"Philippa, I know those two guards who were along with Yelgo, and I know their fathers and their grandfathers. I am happy for them to be released, and for them to remain my guards."

Philippa apologized for detaining them, and then arranged for their release.

"I am very worried about Jason, and I am sure we do not know as much about the poison as do your people who appear to be very much more advanced we are. What is going to happen to him?" Cassius asked.

"The poison of the cockroaches is a devastating DNA poison. The insects in our galaxy all use poisons offensively and defensively. Our people are inoculated before conflicts against the latest incarnation of the poison of the enemy. We have inoculated Jason against many poisons but did not think, even for a brief instant, that he would be subjected to the poison of cockroaches. By now the poison will have done incalculable damage to Jason's body.

"As you have seen, we met Jason previously when he was poisoned with a different poison, but fortunately that poison struck him in the leg not in the face as you saw on the hologram. This time, I suspect, we will be forced to rebuild Jason from scratch, but fortunately we can do so and he will be better than he has ever been. I think that our doctors will take the opportunity to optimize him even further.

"As you have seen our medical technology is very highly advanced. You have seen how we reconstructed Jason previously.

“We have completed the analysis of the poison of the priests and can repair the damage it causes. Jason was hoping, as were our people that we could assist you later in reversing the damage to your population, caused by that poison.

“Emperor Cassius we are going to need to make our way back home to begin to treat Jason. We will return within ten days to two weeks and continue our conversations further. I am happy to leave some of my people with you to assist your guards as this is going to be a very dangerous time."

“Queen Philippa, I found what you have said and have shown me to be convincing and I definitely trust Jason. I am grateful for your help in dealing with the cockroaches and for providing the information about them.

“I would like to accompany you and Jason on this journey. I would like to help and support him but also I would like to see your worlds and learn what we can do to fight the impending threat of the cockroaches.

“Alana, you always provide wise counsel, what do you think?

“Cassius, my dear, Jason will benefit from your support; of that I have no doubt. He will be very ill. Having a family member accompanying him will be of comfort as well. One can always benefit from support in difficult times. It’s so sad about his grandfather who will be too ill to be able to help him. This is a concerning turn of events, but serendipitous. We will now be able to save the Empire, not become puppets of these monsters as happened with the Jumo. Bless Jason and his friends for saving your life.

“With respect to the Empire: in the short term there is no issue with you taking a break and a holiday. The Empire runs itself, and you have four highly capable Kings who will benefit from not having somebody looking over their shoulders for a short period of time.

“I am more than capable of dealing with whatever issues arise in your stead. I shall arrange a meeting of the Kings in the next few weeks, and I will inform them that your beloved nephew came to visit, and the two of you have decided to have a vacation where you can get to know each other. I do not want to raise any concerns, and I do not want to alert any of the cockroaches who are observing us as to what may have happened.

“Make sure that you find out how to identify these cockroaches so that we can remove them from the Empire. The reports that you received minimized the threats ‘The Mob’ presented. They were entirely false, and I am sure the cockroaches have penetrated military intelligence, the military and perhaps even our companies. That is what I would have done,” Alana said.

“My Empress Alana is a far more capable leader than I am, and I have four Kings who do all the administrative tasks of the Empire. She is a genius in the intelligence area amongst many other areas of special skills and abilities. I will probably not even be missed.

“I do believe, considering how much better I feel now, that I am in a less drugged state than I have been for some time. I will feel much safer with you, than I will rattling around in the palace being unsure who is friend or foe,” Cassius said and he pointed at one of his two security guards now released - “Joshua I have had your acquaintance from the time that your father used to work for me. I appoint you the head of security. Please ensure that we have ten guards that accompany us who we are sure are of good Empire stock. I don’t want anyone where you do not know their father, mother or brothers and sisters and even grandparents. You will do this in fifteen minutes. Now run, Jason is in danger and we must move fast.

"Alana, my dear, do you wish to come with us, or will you stay behind?"

"My darling Cassius, I thank you very much for inviting me, but I do believe that one of us needs to stay behind to reassure the people. I can simply say that you are away on a holiday with your long lost nephew, the hero of the Mob war. I don't believe that both of us should be away from the Empire at a time of flux and instability, just after a major war has ended. While you prepare to leave, send a message or quickly conference the Kings so they see you. Appear relaxed and confident and say you will be away for two or even three weeks. Everyone knows of Jason by now and they will accept what you say without question.

“I would love to visit a different galaxy and hope to do this another time. I will also ensure that the whole palace is gone over with the proverbial 'fine-toothed comb', to ensure that it is clear of surveillance and our enemies. I will surround us with people I have known for a lifetime.

“Cassius my darling you are indeed a fine leader. Do not demean yourself at this terrible time from the guilt of what has happened, you tend to be far too self critical. Relax and refresh yourself while you look after your nephew. He is an amazing young man who deserves our help. I am confident from what I have seen he is in good hands.”

The Emperor strode into the palace and true to his word was back in fifteen minutes with ten guards.

“I don’t know that I need ten guards, I probably don't need any, but I know that everyone would be suspicious if I simply left without guards. This way no one will be suspicious that I am a hostage. I spoke to the Kings, and I told them that I am taking a vacation with my great-nephew. Everyone knows that he has been on his way for ages, and they are also well aware of his heroic role defending the Empire. They wanted to meet him now, but I said it would be soon. We needed to catch up and he needed a break after fighting the war for us.

“I told them for security reasons I was not telling them which resort we were going to. I told them that we would be accompanied by a protective fleet. I also would like to meet the family members you have brought to the Empire. My staff say Jason adopted a few people on the way here.”

Philippa smiled.

The guard contacted the escorts to accompany the Emperor to the fleet of Lord Kargo. The yacht rose sharply with a cruiser, two destroyers and five frigates forming a cordon around them. They rose above the planet in formation, waited thirty-seconds, and jumped together.

They returned to conventional space close to the battleship. The battleship and escorts made full speed for Charassa with their Porquenta modified' engines. The Emperor was shown to his wardroom and his guards were provided with cabins close by. The battleship had a full “Royal Suite”. Cassius joined Jason and Philippa to meet Jason’s inner circle at the conference room near the bridge.

The Emperor was introduced to the usual suspects: Admiral Andrea Phillips, General Linda Andrews, Jonathan, Gamma, Norbert, Colonel Janet Malone, General Celia Ford, Admiral Felicia MacDonald, General Morgan James, Admiral Peter Kane, and Colonel Phoebe Harris. They were all distressed by the news about Jason. Philippa introduced Cassius and showed them what happened in the palace and on the yacht. Cassius watched the hologram intently.

Robert and Marie, the chefs and friends of Jason, were distraught about Jason but rose to the occasion. Food was provided served by a worried looking Robert and Marie. Cassius sampled and enjoyed several delicacies from Earth.

The news of Jason’s poisoning spread throughout the ship like wildfire, as did the news that the Emperor was on board. Many were very upset even more so than the previous time as the images of the thwarted assassination were shown on every holo-presenter on the ship.

Robert, the chef who had known the emperor previously, tearfully told the Emperor that even though he knew the Emperor’s favorite foods, he was serving Jason’s favorite foods in Jason’s honor.

Philippa contacted Charassa to warn of their arrival.

After a sampling of miso soup, followed by chicken teriyaki, and slices of ice-cold watermelon; the Emperor said that he now had some new favorite foods. Chefs Robert and Marie were delighted but subdued. The guards ate as if it was their last meal and demolished an impressive amount of chicken and rice. Robert cheered up a little at everyone’s appreciation of the food despite the somber atmosphere. After the serving staff removed the plates the Emperor sent all but the original two guards back to their rooms and asked a series of questions. Many of the questions were the questions that were on everyone’s lips.

“Can you tell me a little bit about the prognosis for Jason?” he asked very concerned.

“I have had the opportunity to consult with the medical specialists who are on the ship who had already consulted the top experts in Charassa. We have encountered this toxin before. We Charassans know it well, and have fought against it a number of times. Our soldiers in recent centuries have been inoculated with a very effective antitoxin. We feel profoundly guilty that we did not think of the possibility that he would be exposed to any such risk.

“Jason is very fortunate in that we know his brain and body well. Not only that, because of his importance his brain is backed up daily in case of misadventure. Our poison is as toxic to the Coven as theirs is to us. They have not been able to develop an effective antitoxin to neutralize ours.

“The poison in Jason is an extremely rapid poison. It is also a devastating poison. He is still alive in stasis, but stasis only slows the poison. It does not stop it. He is also in a different dimension which slows it further. We are fortunate to have a medical toxicology specialist who accompanied us. She is managing and monitoring Jason. We did not suspect that we would encounter the cockroaches here. We are traveling at the highest speed possible to our galaxy and to the top hospital for poisons on Charassa. Several of our hospitals have very high levels of expertise in the area.

“I am not qualified to discuss treatment or his prognosis. All I can say is that we are doing our best with our current resources to arrest the progress of this nasty poison. It easily passes through the skin and the eye. Fortunately, only a tiny amount landed on Jason. His body also has a high resistance with a very advanced immune system augmented by our organic micro bots. The micro bots managed to mop up most of the toxin and we have removed those bots while replacing them with more specialized anti-poison micro bots. He also was given an antitoxin. The poison quickly fixes to cellular DNA throughout the body, replicates itself and rapidly causes profound damage. Without treatment one tiny droplet will kill even the biggest organisms within fifteen minutes. We were aware of the problem within thirty-seconds. Even with thirty-seconds exposure profound damage will occur. We will do everything we can to save him,” said Philippa gravely.

“Emperor, this battleship is no longer anything like you may remember it when you last were on it, a thousand years ago. The fastest battleship of the Empire would take nearly three weeks to get to Charassa. On Porquenta we have modified some of the fleet in the last two weeks. These modifications will allow us to get to Charassa in another three hours a total of six hours travel. These engines have not been tested at full speed and we are being very cautious. When fully tuned, and tested the same trip would take us two hours. Two of our own ships have joined us a few minutes ago from Porquenta to provide an escort in case of unexpected difficulty.

“You are going to have a wondrous experience filled with many surprises. Jason will have the best medical care that is available in two galaxies. Our society has evolved over more than a million and a quarter years. Our technology is very advanced. We are delighted to be Jason’s friends and colleagues, and even lovers. I will be having Jason’s child. I am a Queen of the Collective, one of seven queens. We are junior queens to Ouma Chatzke who is the supreme Queen, and my mother. It is a powerful and sophisticated society of 'bugs', as Jason calls us.” Philippa sat back and slowly drank a glass of water. The Emperor sat deep in thought.

“There are two questions that I’m going to ask in parallel. The first is I would very much appreciate some more background on young Jason, and how he has arrived at the Empire. I saw your brief presentation on the yacht, but I was too overwrought to take much in. I am assuming most of what I have heard from my advisers is rubbish, and I need to start from scratch. Do you have a longer version of the history I can watch.

“I would like to know more details about what has happened in the skirmishes with The Mob. Thirdly, the question that I didn’t think about is, I would like to know what you know about what is happening in Jason’s Duchy. I suspect that there is more there than meets the eye,” the Emperor said as he raised his eyebrows quizzically. He added, “It may be that we will not be able to go through all of this in detail prior to arrival on Charassa. I would rather have a little more detailed summary and then further more extensive detail later if possible. I am too wound up to sleep and I suspect that all of you will be in the same position until we get an opinion from the doctors on Charassa.”

“Emperor, I will suggest is that I ask my AI technicians to create a two to three hour summary of extracts from Jason’s previous telling of the story. Nearly all of us here - other than Jonathan, your guards, Norbert and the AIs - make up Jason’s family. Even our ship AIs consider themselves part of his family as they were created by Jason’s grandfather and were socialized in his home.

“It is a very emotional time for us. I hope seeing this tale will help us get through this time and if possible support him if he is damaged by the poison, or does not survive. We are all devoted to him. Jason has ancient DNA in him, even older than ours. We recognize the DNA but cannot comprehend how it got into Jason nor how it is operating.”

“The AI has completed a summary, I will arrange for breaks and for refreshment. If you are tired and want to terminate this presentation along the way please do so. They addressed your questions precisely.

What followed was an amazing production with Jason as the storyteller telling his story all the way from earth to their recent time on Porquenta. It was a magnificent summary. The Emperor found it all fascinating.

“Philippa, what do we know about the cockroaches in the Empire?” Cassius asked.

“Our intelligence on the Empire is woefully inadequate. We will need to work with you to plan a strategy to collect broader information, as well as some very specific information, to catch cockroaches that have been inserted into the Empire. We know they have been producing infiltrators for some time. You saw many of them being hatched. We need to find out where they have gone. We knew there were cockroaches in the Empire and Jason believed you had some in the palace. We spotted three on scans on our way in. Jason can detect them using a scanner we developed after we captured Nimrod Khong.”

“Porquenta has put some effort into finding out about the Duchy. We do not want to risk our long term relationship with the Empire by willy-nilly inserting spies and starting an independent search for cockroaches,” said Philippa. “General Karen DuPree and Matilda MacArthur of Jason’s intelligence division have been doing some work on the Duchy. Karen will present what we know. Matilda is on Charassa where she is obtaining our intelligence training. ”

Karen bowed to the Emperor before she made her presentation.

“As far as we know, Jason’s great-grandfather began to become ill shortly after a nasty cockroach, Norwald Yang, inserted himself into the Duchy,” said Karen. “As you know Jason’s uncle was a nasty piece of work and his son is a psychopath of the first order. He is an evil conscienceless individual who delights in harming others. His father has covered for his crimes his whole life. We strongly suspect he or Norwald killed the uncle.

“Our priority is going to be to see if Jason’s great-grandfather is salvageable, and to get rid of the group in the Duchy. I am sure his great grandfather is being slowly poisoned, as that is their style. There is no doubt that they are up to nefarious activities. They also have access to massive resources on sixteen planets via the Duchy. It is the third biggest Duchy in the Empire, and it has some of the wealthiest old companies as well. We would like to know where those resources are going. Fortunately the enemy has only had two years to get themselves organized.

“Two years is not enough time to turn multiple huge enterprises into their puppets and the cousin presents himself badly. No doubt commandeering resources is a significant part of their current effort. They have to move very carefully to not alert the Empire to their activities.

“We are also keen to find the compatriots and colleagues of Norwald Yang,” Karen continued handing the floor to Gamma. Gamma was dressed in a more sophisticated Goth outfit than her previous one. The gum had disappeared.

“Your highness you have to assume it is likely from the numbers we saw hatching these cockroaches have infested all critical political and military activities of the Empire. You also may assume they have inserted themselves into every important corporation, to try and influence them. We can identify many cockroaches at a distance using our scanners, but do not know if our methods will work with all of the infiltrators. We don’t know if never generations of cockroach are less easily found. They can be very dangerous. It is necessary to go carefully and delicately. As ancients they are very dangerous to you. We may need at least in the to beginning to help you identify them, then capture them and interrogate them and find their colleagues,” said Gamma in an impassioned voice.

“Ladies, gentlemen, bugs and others, I’m pleased to inform all of you that we are fifteen minutes away from Charassa. All services are alerted to take Jason to the hospital. A hospital shuttle will dock in thirty-seconds. They can take fifty people with them back to the planet,” said Andrea excitedly.

They hurried to the hangar. Linda remembered thinking that the Emperor might well be shocked seeing bugs pour out of the ambulance.

Janet could not prevent herself from laughing at the nurses in sexy revealing uniforms and scrubs carrying stethoscopes as they left the ship. They had what looked like the kind of stretchers that were used during the Korean War. She had watched MASH with Jason. The stretchers appeared to float. Jason was carried out in a medical cocoon. The stretchers had no conceivable purpose. Jason’s group including the Emperor and his guard trooped onto the ambulance.

One moment they were in the ambulance, scant seconds later they were above the roof of the hospital. Cassius was clearly impressed as he sat grinning broadly. They did not land on the roof, the roof opened. As soon as they were on a surface inside, the roof closed. No door or iris was seen. Jason and his pod simply disappeared as they got close to the roof. He was teleported elsewhere. There was not a bug to be seen in the hospital, which was a hive of activity with uniforms from 'M.A.S.H.', with an admixture of elements from the first and second world wars. The group was ushered into a large waiting room. No one expected any news for some time. Even with the best of Empire technology at least three quarters of an hour would be required for detailed diagnosis and prognosis. Yet the doctor, together with his entourage, emerged within five minutes. He began to speak very gently while standing in front of all of them.

“Jason’s situation is grave. The poison of the cockroaches has evolved. Jason is an extraordinarily robust individual. In another two minutes he would have been totally destroyed. His body is unsalvageable.”

The group stood looking at him. They all looked stunned and anguished.

“We began building a new body after we were informed of his injury. We have done these rebuilds for soldiers for a very long time. Adapting to a new body is extraordinarily difficult, and our earliest efforts led to incurable insanity. It is necessary to re-learn all things physical, again. Not all individuals can make such an adjustment, but Jason is an extraordinary individual and we now more about supporting beings through the process.

“Jason is popular individual in the Collective. He embraced our society, and our society embraced him. He was like a breath of fresh air, but a young man of enormous accomplishments in a very short life. His body is very damaged but we can give him a new one and transfer his consciousness.

“There may be tiny fragments of his memory that we might miss and he may feel he is different. Some cannot cope with that and the knowledge of living in another body.

“We have the advantage we know him well, and we have backups of his brain up until he woke up on the morning of his visit to meet the Emperor. We believe we can help him adjust.

“We have not had a failure of a primary build in a hundred and fifty-thousand years. Thirteen percent have great difficulty in accepting the new body and a feeling of cognitive dissonance or dysmorphia. We have a complete map of his DNA from the previous time and a total map of his memory at that time. We can ensure memory and personality integrity.

“We have no doubt that Jason is a descended ancient. We can see from his backups his backup systems operate in an even more advanced way than ours. He is working remarkably with with both his crystals and his AI ancillary brains. The fact that he has the structures to do it, strongly suggests his ancient people had the capacity themselves to do full primary builds as we are proposing and engineered their brains to be effective in their use of AI augmentation.

“A primary build is an easier way to proceed than a large and complex repair. We begin with a clean slate and have a clear field of work. It will take at least a week to ten days - but likely closer to ten days - before we have completed our work. I regret that you remain in suspense for that length of time, but it is the best that we can do.

“Ouma Chatzke has allocated unlimited resources and unlimited discretion to us, for this task. May I suggest that you occupy yourselves productively for the next ten days. There is nothing useful that we can tell you on a day-to-day basis. There is no value in visiting the hospital during the ten day period to him or to you. You will see the pod. Visit the planet, participate in some education, visit other planets or upgrade your DNA in the hospital, be a bug and learn our martial arts.”

The doctor turned to Cassius and bowed.

“Emperor, we are truly honored to have you here on our planet.

“Many in the Collective elected to be humanoid in support of Jason as he faces a difficult challenge. Many spent time as mammals after his visit but now those in mammalian form are in their trillions.

“No matter where you go you will see very few 'bugs', as Jason calls us. It is because of the huge respect and admiration we have for him. It may also be that fashion and make up have also become a preoccupation amongst women and even many men. Most men have become very interested in ties. All of this we understand is very much Earth fashion. We will also be interested the food and fashion of the Empire.”

The doctor briefly paused and then continued to speak.

“Emperor, I would strongly suggest that while you are here you take advantage of our medicine. There is every chance that you have been slowly poisoned over time. We are also itching to make you younger and stronger, and to rejuvenate you to the extent that we can. It will only take us a matter of minutes to do this simple task. We can also give you the capacity to turn into an insect or other creature at will. It could assist you during an assassination attempt. Talk to the others, there is no hurry. Your bodyguards can have the same if you wish. We have done this for Jason, and all his family. I suggest we also inoculate all of you against these nasty cockroach poisons.”

“We will contact all of you when our job has been completed.”

He turned on his heels and walked out briskly.

The group from Cassiopeia were all haggard and exhausted. The Emperor asked one of the women at a nearby desk using a hologram, if she could direct them to the nearest hotel or failing that return to the ship. The nearby hospital staff were highly amused, and arranged for accommodation in the spacious largely unoccupied wing of family suites within the hospital.

The Emperor did not require terribly much sleep. He never had. He survived well on five hours and could manage on three hours of sleep. He woke early and found a way to switch on the holo-projector in his room. The pictures showed Jason and some of his previous appearance.

He watched for ten minutes then restlessly flipped programs. Cassius decided to accept the full treatment. He returned to the desk clerk. It literally took five minutes to arrange, then ten minutes to undertake both the detoxification and the gene optimization. He returned to his room fully able to understand the newscasts. He enjoyed some of the segments of Jason during his television appearances. He then practiced to change into the family default praying mantis. He thought that it was strange that in such a short period of time Jason had not only saved his life but may well have saved his Empire.

He did not know how he could be so unaware of what was going on. He knew he had been drugged for a long time; lightly in the beginning, but much more heavily when people visited.

He was delighted to have his own nasty toxin. He ensured he could spray poison from some distance into the refresher. He excitedly changed himself back and forth ten times. He felt like a young boy full of energy and drive and decided to use the full opportunities presented to him. He felt better than he had felt for tens of thousands of years. Everything that was happening was fascinating. He felt he had a new lease on life. He was truly delighted that he had acquired a new family member but hoped that there would not be a disaster and they would find Jason irretrievable. He excitedly called Alana and told her about Jason, his rejuvenation and the new ability to turn into a bug.

He told his bodyguards that they needed to be rejuvenated as well and go through some training as bugs while they were on Charassa. At breakfast the Emperor was delighted to discover that he was to meet with Ouma Chatzke and some of her close advisers later in the day. Linda and Andrea were to accompany him. The rest of the military team were going to tour military facilities and have preliminary formal talks with the senior military and intelligence.

Linda and Andrea were expected to join the military teams as was the Emperor for half the day before the visit to the Prime Minister. Cassius’ was to receive a high-level intelligence briefing and an overview of the weapons and ships of the fleet of the Collective.

Ouma Chatzke and the Emperor related as old friends surprisingly quickly. She and her advisers remained as bugs, but were delighted when the Emperor and the others disrobed and changed into their bug forms. The appropriate bug chairs were brought in. The Emperor thoroughly enjoyed his insect form and his pleasure in his bug form was conspicuous and contagious. His acceptance of them was clear, and the advisors also took to him almost immediately.

Cassius, like Ouma Chatzke, could charm a bird from a tree. He rapidly endeared himself to Ouma and her advisers.

“Ouma thank you for the treatment here. I was intoxicated on a daily basis and poisoned over a long time. I feel infinitely better than I have for a very long time. I am assured I am back to normal if not much better,” said Cassius enthusiastically.

“The doctors told me it was the first opportunity they had to directly investigate a person in whom poisoning had occurred for quite some time, previously. I understand Jason gave your doctors a sample of the poison and it has been extensively studied,” said Ouma Chatzke.

The doctors had told Ouma Chatzke that they had completely reversed the Emperor’s problem and could easily do so for the entire male population of the Empire relatively quickly and economically. They had been working on the issues since the vial had been given to them by Jason and delivered to Charassa.

Within a very short period of time Ouma Chatzke and the Emperor were firm friends and allies.

Ouma Chatzke persuaded Cassius to go on TV holo-broadcast. The Emperor was an old hand at dealing with the media. He had seen Jason on the bug media and was happy to do his bit.

Cassius rose early the next morning and began his usual routine. He was shown the hospital's gym, and he and his guards worked out and sparred together before their scheduled second visit to the military.

The military base was massive. It was entirely underground as most structures were on Charassa. The group was shown a demonstration of special forces in action demonstrating infantry weapons.

They watched demonstrations of insect like tanks that could fly, as well as move like insects along the ground over very rough and uneven terrain. They toured several ships and looked at the weapons and sensor systems. It was a very brief but broad overview of military might.

Cassius and Jason’s senior team enjoyed an intelligence briefing, beginning with the intergalactic war and its consequences. They saw multiple different battles between the cockroaches and the other bugs, in space, on the ground and beneath the ground.

They were excited to see a very recent raid on the planets where the mixed human cockroaches were hatched. They also showed the the wife and son of Nazruden the Warrior of the Apocalypse so called father of Nimrod Khong.

They were severely physically and mentally damaged and remained in treatment. The doctors were forming the opinion they were so damaged they were going to be rebuilt as with Jason. The doctors had a further challenge which pleased them: to learn about the physiology of other ancients.

The raiding force disguised their incursion by triggering massive explosions generated by ‘faulty power plants’ of the same kind on the two planets. They removed complete AIs and computer systems. The encryption and built-in booby-traps in the computer and AI systems made it complex even for their technology, and a very slow and extraordinarily difficult process. They captured three thousand of the young humanoid cockroaches in various stages of development as well as their teachers at three different schools.

The Emperor was taken to the television station, along with Robert and Marie. Robert was worrying about Jason, and was delighted to visit the planet and be distracted as was Marie. Many of the crew and Marines were having recreational leave on the planet, and were touring some of the natural wonders. A larger contingent had accepted the offer of training with the bugs and learning to fight as a bug. They were keen to see the weapons used and to be exposed to some greatly advanced technology and methods of fighting. Many of the ship’s crew elected to have training in a similar way on the bug ships. The bug Collective was highly organized and able to cope with massive volumes of bugs. They very quickly and easily organized the humans.

At the television station (holo-broadcast station) the Emperor was introduced to the public. The entire audience was humanoid and dressed in a variety of very extreme clothing and make up. Hats were in vogue, and many men and women wore hats. The Emperor was his charming self. He was not exposed to the same kind of interrogation and rudeness that he would usually receive in the Empire, and he told the host how gratified he was with the interview.

The audience was delighted. Jason had taught them to clap and they clapped excitedly. They also cheered exactly as they had learned. The host began with asking the Emperor about the history of the Empire. As he spoke the host asked if he could project some of the images from the Emperor’s mind. The Emperor readily agreed. They saw very various holograms of the evolution of the Empire, from its earliest stages to the present.

They then went through the Emperor’s early life with his family. The audience was excited to see Jason’s grandfather when he was younger. The host noted how much Jason’s grandfather looked like him. The Emperor was asked his impressions of Charassa. He told how delighted he was with his ability to become a bug. He said he was particularly pleased that he was a praying mantis. He said that on his world praying mantis’s had religious significance in earlier times.

He said humans had not evolved to have any toxins. He said there were several politicians that he believed he would like to grab between his forelimbs and poison them. He said he liked spikes which could inject poison and he really liked having the ability to spray poison from his mouth and backwards from his abdomen.

He said that he had an interest in languages and had been up early in the morning after he had been changed and watched the holo-broadcast and found the language very sophisticated and interesting. He liked the structure of the language, and the fact that it was such an economical and efficient way of communicating. He was learning to use his antennae.

“While it is a pleasure coming to your magnificent planet, it is sad because of Jason’s alarming physical state,” Cassius said. He and Ouma Chatzke had agreed that they would not yet talk about the cockroaches in their galaxy. There were Coven spies in the Collective.

“I faced an assassination attempt which was intercepted by Jason who saved my life; but, the circumstances are still under investigation, so I will say no more at present.” Cassius did not give permission for the images to be shown for ‘security reasons.’

“I had spoken to Jason many times, but all this happened on our first face to face meeting. As his great uncle, I decided to accompany him as a support. Jason was so much like his great-grandfather that we became instant friends,” Cassius added.

The host turned the conversation to lighter matters, and asked the Emperor if fashion was also part of the Empire.

“Fashion has been a great interest of mine over the years. I have met most of the great designers over the centuries, and have been to countless shows.”

It turned out that the Emperor was an expert in fashion, and had a much greater interest in it than Jason. They proceeded through the history of fashion in the Empire. It was an extraordinary show of clothing changing through the ages. The Empire currently had men dressing quite flamboyantly, with colorful clothing and a variety of interesting shoes and hats. Women were wearing more severe clothing. All of this was demonstrated with pictures that were quite outstandingly vivid in the Emperor’s memory as they were stored as images in his crystals. He attended major fashion shows at least twice a year for tens of thousands of years. He had an extraordinary crystal augmented memory. He showed some of his visits to designers and replayed the discussions about the concepts of design and fashion.

At the first break the host told the Emperor that the entire collective had almost come to a halt. It had only happened before with Jason, but replicators had been converted to manufacture dressers throughout the collective, and already the fashions of the Empire through the ages were being tried. He said that the numbers watching were almost the same as during the time that Jason had been interviewed.

The interviewer asked the Emperor what he liked eating. This had become a hot topic throughout the collective, with so many bugs spending time as humans and now searching for appropriate foods. They had been provided with limited replicator recipes from Montgomery who obtained them before he transported Jason the previous time. The Emperor spoke of his friends Robert and Marie chefs from the ship who were sitting next to him and spoke of his great enjoyment of teriyaki chicken and rice that he had tried the previous night, made by Robert and Marie. He said that he did like a variety of foods, but preferred them cooked as opposed to eating replicator food.

For the host this appeared to be an entirely foreign concept. The idea of cooked food had never been part of anything that anyone had heard of to date. The chefs, with the Emperor’s encouragement, were asked to be interviewed.

Robert and Marie, the chefs, of course had extraordinary memories for food and for recipes. Robert also had an amazing sense of smell and taste. Not only were his visual and auditory holo-displayed memories broadcast, but also the smells. The taste component was incomplete, as the bug technology relating to taste did not have the multitude of taste components of humans. The taste spectrum was different in humans and bugs. The smell spectrum of the bugs was huge and superseded that of humans. With taste, it was a little on the other side. Taste also differed enormously between different bug types depending on whether they predominantly ate insects, wood, decaying matter including fecal matter or other food products.

The technicians were very excited to rectify the technological hole. Marie also spoke fluently and easily and showed many pictures of food production including direct heat from barbecues to boiling, steaming, grilling, roasting and broiling. Robert was asked to demonstrate the preparation of his teriyaki chicken. He showed the chickens being grown on the ship, he showed them soybeans and how they made soy sauce, showed them how rice was grown and went through the whole process of cooking the meal. It turned out that it was the most downloaded holo-broadcast ever.

Marie then spoke about baking, cakes and deserts. The images of her outstanding work were impressive and the smells and tastes enticing.

That broadcast also had greater ramifications for the galaxy than anyone would have imagined. The host and the audience were clearly excited.

“Emperor, this is an extraordinary event today. The smells and colors and ideas are beyond imagining,” said the host.

Marie had to explain in considerable detail what all the kitchen equipment was, how it was used, and how it was made. She provided all the considerable detail from her experience with clear pictures of what a cooktop was, an oven, the Empire’s equivalent of a microwave, a frying pan, saucepans, spoons and spatulas and every conceivable type of equipment that they had seen. Marie and Robert alternated presenting, and were almost exhausted with still an hour left of the day. Cassius returned to be interviewed.

The audience was given an opportunity to ask questions. They first wanted to know if they could have the Emperor and chef back the next day. They then asked the Emperor if he would show them how the table was set and how humans ate at the table. He showed a spoon with fork blades in the front and sharpened on one side. He said however when meals were cooked and prepared they used the multipurpose spoon in the left-hand and used a knife in the other. He said cutting with a knife was best done with a dominant hand.

Cassius was then asked why food was cooked. He explained that his ancestors had initially eaten more vegetable matter but if animals were killed the meat of the muscles was often too tough to be chewed successfully by their teeth. He showed the differences between teeth of carnivores, herbivores and humans. He said that discovery of cooking of meat, had led to their ability to eat many more parts of the meat animal, and probably increased the success of humans in the evolutionary sense. He also explained how cooking had reduced the parasite load of his ancestors.

Cassius showed the audience the dining room of the palace, and how the table was set by the palace staff. It was a magnificent room, capable of seating more than a hundred people. He showed the table settings and how it looked in the evening light. He showed the different plates and cutlery for different courses. He showed them the magnificent almost instant dishwashers in the kitchen as well as replicators to give guests custom cutlery with the imperial crest as gifts to remember events at the palace. He showed a close-up of the plates with beautiful edging in precious metals and even jewels and the central imperial crest. He showed them flowers in vases, the decorations on the table and the magnificent chandeliers hanging from the roof. The audience saw the superbly made, subtly colorful walls in laminated metals that shone and glittered.

The next guest asked to see what the palace looked like. The host stopped the questions at that stage and said that that was too long a question, but he would do everything that he possibly could, to have the Emperor and the chefs back the next day. The last permitted question was to the Emperor, to ask how Jason was progressing and what his prognosis would be.

“Jason is in a critical state, so severe that I understand it is even a challenge to some of your technology. I have a great faith and confidence in the skills of your doctors and nurses. We can but wait for them to do their best. We can get Jason back, but we want Jason as good if not better than he was before.

“I have come to admire your people, your culture and your attitudes more than I can say. The effort that has been put into helping us will never be forgotten. I never believed that in my lifetime I would have the pleasure of being a bug and socializing with other bugs. Coming here has been a mixed experience because of the reason behind us coming here. Yet at the same time, it has been an eye-opening warm and welcoming place. You can be proud of your achievements and the extraordinary Collective that has been built by all of you in this galaxy. We will be glad to call you friends and will help you whenever we can without reservation, and to the greatest extent of our capacity.”

The applause was very loud. It continued for a very long time until the host had to quieten everyone down.

He said, “Ladies and gentlemen I am now going to try to ask our very important and very entertaining guests to return, tomorrow. My last thought for today is that I wonder if we cooked some of our food whether it would appeal to us in our bug state?” He did not know how prophetic his words would turn out to be.

The Emperor and the chefs agreed to return the next day, the chefs in the morning and Cassius in the afternoon.

Back on the ship people shared their day. The Admirals and Generals had elected to expose themselves to the educational systems in more detail and then tested themselves in a simulator that made it seem as if one was in the situation that was being faced. It felt as if the entire battle occurred over hours, days or even weeks, but the real-time was minutes. In part of an afternoon they had had the opportunity of being Generals and Admirals in some of the simpler but important battles that were the foundation of bug strategy.

They said that the simulation began with the collection of information exactly as it was currently done, through planning and then the engagement in battle in space, or attacking a planet, on the surface of the planet or beneath the planet. Between each simulation, they were provided with education and theory which would be useful in the simulation. They felt as if they had had the equivalent of a half a year of experience at an extraordinary level in a day. Apparently, all the soldiers and Marines had similar experiences and all wanted to return the next day.

“Andrea, what did you think of the experience?” Cassius asked.

“Emperor, the technology is great and the simulations detailed and well constructed. Some of us are not sure that we agree with the strategy and tactical approaches they have been adopting over the last few centuries. We think some of the older stuff was better. Yet we ask ourselves who are we to judge? We need much more experience to evaluate the systems, and we need more exposure to form a proper opinion. Later we will send some of it to Porquenta and to our own AIs to evaluate. I would also value Jason’s opinion. He is a strategic and tactical genius of the first order.”

Those who had gone touring felt that they had missed out. Tours were abandoned for the next day.

After the evening meal, everyone was so tired that they decided to go to bed early. They were to join their bug colleagues early in the morning for their workouts as bugs and then were to participate in the remainder of the day, except for Cassius and his guards.

Everyone was enjoying what they had seen of the bug martial arts and were beginning to learn how to make use of their unique bug related defensive or offensive toxins. Everyone enjoyed relating to their bug colleagues and participating in games with them. Yet they were not able to compete on even terms as they had a ways to go, but they were a fiercely competitive lot and were determined to catch up as soon as was possible. The economic use of time in learning and in simulations was envied.

Cassius was feeling very much left out and didn’t want to fall behind. He was inquisitive, loved learning and was highly competitive. He rearranged with Robert and Marie to take three quarters of the next day.

He then went to speak to Norbert about what he could learn and do.

“Cassius, I would suggest a set of broad courses to provide you with a robust foundation. I would suggest a history of this galaxy and then a high-level refresher course in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. We will give you a learning machine, so you can continue your studies back home. The learning is contained in a small cube and occurs at night, then you do exercises and sparring in the morning with us,” Norbert suggested.

That was a preview of The Empire Book 3 in the series Warlord and the Multiverse. To read the rest purchase the book.

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