The next day I opened my eyes with Vicky yelling at me in my head to get up. Her and the triplets were in my room waiting for me. I moved bodies and got to my office. "We detected a new signal and I don't recognize them," Vicky said. A jumped in "we picked up what looked like a battle on the edge of our sensor range". I looked at him "how bad of a battle". "I caught 27 shots fired, I'm assuming there were more though. It's 450 AU from earth so it's just a quick jump". I smiled "Vickey is there anybody in transit to earth".

"No sir" I smiled "let's do it, shields up,weapons up, cloak engaged and jump as soon as you can".

I went to the bridge and as soon as I sat we jumped to less than 1000 km away. There were pieces of the ships everywhere. "Vicky go after the computer and get what you can" she nodded. The largest ship was a cylinder with one big engine on the back, It had no windows. "What can you tell me?". A looked at me "I'm showing no life signs anywhere sir, the large ship has decompressed and looks abandoned".

"How many ships were here". B stepping in "I'm estimating there are 3 ships here sir but no idea who was attacking who".

"Send a drone to scan," he nodded. Vicky turned to me "sir I have the computer and this is a slave transport vessel. It seems we happened across a beef between clans. This was the equivalent of a drive by shooting".

"Make sure we leave no evidence of us being here". Just as I finished, the video from the drone popped up. It was built like a mobile prison, there were cages and chains everywhere. It looked disgusting and I was glad lol I wasn't there to smell it.

"Do we have all the navigation information". She nodded "I downloaded it all so we can sort through it later". I nodded at that and looked through the eyes of the drone. I took control and went around the ship. The breach was in the nose leaving the ship whole for the most part. I looked in quarters and they didn't reveal much until I came across what I assumed was the captain's quarters.

It had a galley and it was nasty with chunks of flesh frozen to the counter. I opened the drawers and saw weird looking utensils and what I would assume was a plate. I saw what looked like a cooler so I opened it and there it was.

A human foot in a glass case "Vicky grab that and get it back here". She nodded "C scan for any other remains" another nod then he looked away for a second. "I'm picking up 12 different species, none of them human".

"There is nothing here but death" I said and the others nodded. "Recall everything and make sure there is no trace of us here. We aren't ready yet for them to come snooping. Finish your scans and let's go home". We did just that.

The foot showed up on the bridge "what can you tell me Vickie".

"Male, 32 years old and he had nanobots, But they are nothing like ours. He has been dead for at least a year. I'm not sure I want to know why there are bite marks and gnawing on the bone. I'm checking their files on the foot and he was classed as a great warrior that was barely defeated in hand to hand combat in an area. This is a trophy, to ingest the enemy you gain his power. That's nasty".

"Can you get a clear DNA profile, we might be able to give some family some closure".

"Running it now" she retorted. "His name is James Hollower and he disappeared 15 years ago from a state park".

"This is a mystery for another day, put this in stasis". She giggled "I will put it in with your body".

"You kept it?" I looked at her. She shrugged "what else was I going to do with it so I used it to calibrate the medsbeds and stuck it in the freezer". I shook my head. "Are we done for now getting nodds I went to the shower and let the jets beat away the stress of the morning. Lisa met me at the door with a lick that melted the rest of them.

We got to the kits home to discover they had discovered jello and were having a ball. I sat and enjoyed the show with Lisa in my lap.

I checked in with Sandy and got pulled into a debate with a military guy over the safety of my equipment and I could be helping in other places. I told him it takes time and staffing and I'm working on both as we speak. Sandy informed me that she would be done in about 20 hours, that made me smile. Another 3 candidates were poached from the locals for me to meet, which made me happy as well.

"I'm going to leave it up to you when you want to start branching out". She nodded in agreement as she ate. "I will let you eat in peace" and I dropped the line.

Lisa licked my nose and cuddled into her spot. "Vicky feel free to do some hacking and find out what they know so far". She nodded "what agency". I smiled "all the lettered agencies".

She looked like a kid that was given the keys to the candy store.

I needed to eat so I got a club and fries and returned to my spot. I realized I forgot a drink so Lisa jumped up to get it for me. She handed it to me "thank you baby" she looked at me like I had 3 heads and I laughed "sorry it's a term of endearment here, I will stop if it bothers you".

"No it was just odd" and she sat "ok good because I do it a lot" she snuggled closer.

I finished eating watching the kits and their jello when Vicky appeared. "Sir, could we have a few minutes of your time? '' Lisa and I went to my office B spoke first "the ranger is ready for her maiden voyage, are there any spots you want scanned first". I smiled as a hologram of the ship came up "actually yes the spot where the kit's appeared let's see what we can turn up". He nodded "Vickey has all the scans of their vessel so that might shed some light, Gar said they had a prototype energy source, When do we launch?" B giggled "already done, halfway to target now". I shook my head and laughed. "Sir there is something there but it's just gravitational. It's almost like a scar that's healed".

"I thought we might have gotten some answers. Guess not. Leave a drone and scan it constantly". He nodded.

Vicky looked at me "they don't know much beyond what you told them. There have been a few calls to the Canadian military asking if we were with them". I laughed at that "they want your tech and are all scrambling to get any info they can. The FSB and British Intelligence has classified you as a threat so be aware of that. I've melted down 7 bots so far, they are persistent I will give them that".

"All they see is new war toys. I think allowing the bots to defend themselves and just not go blindly is due. I will have a chat with the brass and let them know of the new settings".

I booted up my VR and sure enough there were a few waiting for me. "Aaaa gentleman, just the people I wanted to see. It seems you keep taking my bots and I keep melting them down, that comes to an end now. From now on my bots will fight back to avoid being removed from this site and they will protect my crew. You may want to pass that up the chain before someone gets hurt. There that was easy, you don't touch my toys and I won't touch yours, agreed".

They nodded because they were both on the phone, I'm assuming with the higher ups. I left to find Sandy finding her at the corner of the windows watching me. She was giggling when I got to her "I love the way you deal with them you treat them like little kids" I laughed "well they act like it, they just want new toys. How are things here?"

She smiled huge "we will be pulling out today and I can't wait for the next. I will never tire of the old walking again and kids healed of something they don't even understand. Thank you, I couldn't even imagine this before I met you". I smiled "there is no need to thank me you earned it. Are you going to take time off or get ready for the next storm?" She thought for a second "probably not, the job is low stress when you do nothing but improve lives".

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"That's true" I giggled "I will let you be then". I turned to see the brass waiting for me at the conference room. "Why is it you won't share all of your tech". I looked at him "I will but that takes time. I'm here to help the people not the military so don't hold your breath on getting it too soon. If pushed I WILL push back and trust me that a fight you can't win. That isn't a threat or a challenge, it's just a fact. Now is there anything else". They shook their heads so I sat and powered down.

Nose lick achieved I went to see Becky, I think we need to step up the game. I found her in her apartment so I asked her to join me in the communal area. We discussed the interview and the website she is now running. "Vickey is hosting the site on one of the satellites so they can't trace or hack it".

Vicky appeared " I leave you alone for 5 minutes and you challenge someone to a fight. That took about 10 min to get back to their HQ and now all the chatter is about how powerful you are" she shook her head at me. "Great, I need to keep my mouth shut". She laughed "no this will work. At least they should back off for a while".

"Well I've been saving this for an occasion like this, I have plans for battle armor for you". I looked at her "what am I going to do with that". She smiled "you know a show of power is going to happen we may as well be prepared. I'm making 5 units for you and they will be connected to you through your nanobots. I figure 5 of them could easily take over any base on the planet. With the new shields they could nuke you and you won't even notice outside of the light show. These units are used for planetary defense and can function in any environment. Trust me sir you will like these. I will start construction now as your personal ones take a few days each to produce".

I just looked at her, not sure what to say. "It will come to a time that you will have to protect those in your charge" I nodded at that "ok fine" she jumped and clapped, I just laughed.

Becky thought this interaction needed to be recorded, I suppose I should get used to that. "I can't release it yet but it's good to have a backlog so get used to it captain". Captain, I suppose I need to get used to that too.

Vickey and I were walking away when I asked her about her moon base. "It's coming along slowly, I keep changing my mind. I like what we have and I like having a community over a city".

"We may need a second one soon for medical staff". She nodded "they may need their own station someday".

"A good idea for down the road"

The kits came running to me, it seems Kim gave them a mission to find me. They climbed on me for the ride back to the kit home.

Kim met me at the door "don't put too much effort into finding out home, I know I'm in no hurry to go back". I smiled "even if I found it this is your home now". She hugged me "I know but still no hurry captain" she winked. I chuckled and shook my head "I suppose I may as well get used to that from now on". Lisa came to me "you command a powerful starship. You are the captain, so get over it". I smiled "finding your home is just a mystery I'm trying to solve".

Vickey appeared "sir Sandy is due in a few minutes and she has some new recruits if you want to go greet them". I nodded and looked at Lisa "wanna go shock some people". She giggled "sure as long as you are there". She cuddled to me and then we were off.

We watched the ships land and there were drones waiting to resupply and clean the ship. Sandy and her crew walked towards me "we only lost one bot this time, nothing after you let them defend themselves" she said with a hug. Her crew of 3 has grown to 6 so she made introductions. They seemed ok but shocked by Lisa. I took them to their new quarters and they were happy with them.

Back at the kits I saw Kim run by chasing a kit that was giggling and holding something. She was yelling something about growing up in a closet. I started to laugh because all I heard was my mom coming out of her mouth. I got yelled at for not helping.

I grabbed the instigator and picked her up for a nuzzle when she whispered in my ear that she was bored.

I went to sit on the sofa and called them to me. "Are you all bored?". They all nodded, I looked at Kim for morale support getting a shrug.

That's when B spoke in my ear "May I suggest something". I smiled as he appeared "sir based on the kit's intelligence I would suggest flight training the same as your granddaughters. They can build as a team and get out some of that energy". I just looked at Kim and Gars' shocked looks, they were muttering something about babies flying. I picked up the male "do you want to try it first". He nodded at me "ok let's go give this a try".

We all went to the flight deck and B was waiting beside the grav couch. He already had a little flight suit for him "the suits make the connection increase". Kim helped the male put on the suit and the girls were pulling at it. He looked so cute standing there all prowd. He got in the grav couch and the little ship attached to it rose up. It did a flip then a spin and a wobble then redocked. The male jumped out before it was completely open and ran to his sisters. They talked in their little pixie voices in hushed tones. They all looked at me and smiled and that was my answer. "B start on the pods and flight suits right away please", He smiled and nodded. I looked at Kim and Gar "you ok with this".

"I gave up on figuring them out days ago," Kim said with Gar nodding.

We made our way home with the kits huddled and talking the whole way. Kim looked in shock and Gar was no better.

"I'm sure they will get bored with it in time, we just have to keep it fun". They nodded.

I sat on the sofa and the kits came to me one by one for a hug and I accepted them all. I looked at them and wondered what being a parent to a little one again would be like. It actually scares me but I can't tell Lisa that. She thinks I'm going to have a huge litter of beautiful kids.

"You will do fine. Look at you with the kits and they aren't even yours" Vicky chirped in my ear. Lisa came and sat beside me and grabbed my arm "I feel longing and fear from you". I smiled and kissed the top of her head "I'm just wondering what being a father again will be like". She looked up at me "we will adjust and you will be a perfect father". She started to purr and my fears melted.

B showed up with 5 more flight suits "the flight simulators will be done in the morning, I have to custom build them for them". The kits looked soooo cute in their little suits looking all snappy. We took the time to take some pictures and the kits hammed it up. We were all laughing when Vicky asked for me to go to the office for a minute. Once there I saw a hologram of a mechanical man about 6 meters tall. I had to laugh because it looked like the hulkbuster from the movies.

"This is one of the most advanced things I've designed to date. Once inside you are protected and have food and water for up to a month. You have 20 drones that give you real time data of the battlefield and material collection. You can jump 250 yards or use it like a battering ram combined with your shields. There are rail guns on each arm and shoulder mounted missiles and the best part is they generate their own ammo". I looked at her "that's quite the piece of kit, do I have to be in it or can it be done remotely".

"You have the option of direct control, brain interface or remotely. The other 4 can be autonomous or under your direct control".

"Well let's make them and hope we never need them" she nodded.

I got up and when I walked by the door I saw someone at my quarters, it was my niece.

"Hello Shauna" and walked towards her open-armed. She hugged me and looked up "I don't think I will ever get used to this".

"Yea I've been eating my veggies" I chuckled. I saw Lisa in the doorway and she came to me "Have you met Lisa?". "Only in passing hello it's nice to meet you" Lisa smiled "it's a pleasure to meet you" then licked my nose.

Shauna got an evil grin "aaaa she is the one Shelly is talking about I was warned his heart got claimed". She smirked at me "I'm not complaining in one bit" I said to her smiling. The kits came out and had no fear of Shauna so she became a climbing frame and she was giggling the entire time. We went back to my quarters and spent the rest of the evening catching up. Her and Lisa hit it off and I got left out of the conversation on more than one occasion.

"Where are your kids?".

"They are visiting with Shaun's grandson, they don't get to see one another very often".

"That will change now". She smiled "I always said it would take quite a woman to reel you in" she laughed "I just had to look on another planet to find one" I laughed and hugged Lisa. It was nice seeing Shauna, I feel closer to the nieces and nephews than my own siblings. We talked until it was time for her to leave and we called it a night.