“Unknown vessels, this is the Venusian warship Valis. State your intentions.”
“What do we do, sir?”
“Tell them our intentions were to simply visit,” Jake said.
“Venusian warship Valis, this is the exploration ship Repairo One. We simply came to visit your planet; we hold no ill intent towards your people,” the Slothman said, adding in a few more things to try to keep the peace.
“Exploration ship Repairo One, heave to and prepare to be boarded.”
The Sloth looked over at Jake.
“Let's cooperate, cut the engines and extend the docking port. Jo, go meet our guests.”
“Sir, is this a good idea? Can't we just run?” the bear man asked.
“We didn't even see them on our radar, so can you tell me if a fleet of warships is out there with their weapons aimed at us?”
“I guess I can't, sir. But there's got to be something better than letting a bunch of strangers on our ship.”
“There probably is, but I can't think of it right now and we don't have time to think of one.”
Jake got up from his seat and said to the two, “If anything happens to us, you jump to FTL.”
Heathen left the bridge and headed for the airlock. Just as he arrived, the airlock lights began flashing.
“Jo, open it up.”
Jo stepped over to the door latch and began opening it. As the door swung open, two humanoids walked out wearing gas masks on their yellow-coloured faces. While humans had hair, these Venusians had a pair of small antennas. Looking over at Jo, Jake saw his face go red hot. Jake looked over at what Jo was looking at; when the second Venusian walked out of the airlock, she was wearing tight-fitting pants and a boob tube three sizes too small. Jake blushed just as the first man spoke. Jake looked over at the frankly perfect specimen.
“Welcome to the Venusian home planet. May I ask from which number do you come?”
“Third planet from the sun. We call it Earth. Yes, I know ‘dirt’ is not a good name, but it's what we have.”
“That's not bad. I have a friend who named his daughter Zac. Now that's a name no female should have, and all just because he wanted a son.”
“Sir, you shouldn't be talking about my dad that way.” The Venusian male just started laughing as he walked over to Jake, his hand out in the same gesture as humans do. Jake extended his hand as well, and they both shook hands.
“Now shall we get to the reason why I asked to come aboard? It seems that if I’m not mistaken, you are the man that sent that message some days ago, yes?”
Jake looked over at Jo and asked if any messages other than his had been sent. Jo shook his head in response, so Jake began to clarify with the Venusian, but in doing so made it clear Jake was the one that sent the solar system-wide radio message, instantly outing himself as Jake Everval, the man with the bounty.
“Don't worry about your identity; we won't harm any of you,” Zac said before she looked over at Jo. “Why is this man's face going red? Is he sick? Do we need to quarantine?”
Jake laughed, then without missing a beat
replied, “No, this is a common human reaction when they see someone of the opposite sex that they find very beautiful.”
“Oh, I see. So it's a mating ritual. I didn't know humans could mate with other species.”
“Well, we don't know that either. But just try and forget it.”
“How can I do that? Sir, I wish to perform an experiment. Will you be fine here by yourself till I get back?”
“Go for it, Doc; we have some things to talk about anyway, that is, if it's alright with Mr Everval here.”
“Well, that's really up to the man getting experimented on, not me.”
Zac grabbed hold of Jo's arm and dragged him into the airlock, and a minute later the two were gone. “That man is in for it now. Oh, by the way, I'm Admiral Bask of the First Fleet, pleased to meet the man that turned against the system.”
“Thank you, but what is so bad about Jo going with your doc?”
“She has a bit of a reputation when it comes to what she calls her experiments. Let's just say she is very dedicated. But enough of that.I would like to talk to you about cultivation and what energy you cultivate. You do cultivate, don't you?”
“Yes, I do, but could you explain to me more about the energies? I seem to be having some issues with mine.”
“This might take longer than I thought. Shall we go find a spot to rest?”
“Sure, but let me contact my bridge crew first; I don't want them trying to jump into FTL with you aboard.”
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“You have faster-than-light technology?” Bask asked.
Jake contacted the bridge crew, then turned to
Bask. “Yes, we can talk about that later; let's get back to cultivation.”
“Okay, that's fine. There are four main energies, but you only really need to worry about one pair in most cases. But if you're all the way out here, then I'm guessing yours isn't normal.”
“What four main energies?”
“I suppose that's a good place to start. The four are arcane and mana, life and death. Then there are other energies, but they're pretty rare. My guess is you're having trouble with death energy, so you came in to test the waters, so to say.”
Jake shook his head. “Not death, but void energy,” Jake said.
“Oh, that's going to be a hard one.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, you know that void is the absence of anything, yes? So you need to find a location that suits you or find a different method to cultivate it. I hope you are a lucky one with three energies, because you are going to need two opposites like life and death or, at a stretch, mana and arcane.”
“Before I tell you what I have, tell me, why are you helping me with this? It's not like you know me or need any real help, so what's your goal here? I can't figure you out.”
“I suppose that's fair. I was actually told to help you out by the King. He is in the same position as you; the system has abandoned him and all of his people. You see, we cultivated before the system took control. So my guess is, he wants a favour from you in the future to set good karma between you and us. But what I do know is, I will require your assistance in defending this system and my people. Will you help me do that?”
“I will, and as for a favour for the king, I can't make any promises now. If I tell you about my energies or people find out about them, can it be used against me in any way?”
“Short answer: yes, but only when you are above D grade, when you have a functioning core, and how the rules of opisets work. Let's say if your core is mostly using life energy, then an enemy could flood the area with death energy. This will not let your core suck in life energy to bolster your strength; you would be limited to using only the energies in your body. It would be even worse for you if people figured out what your core is. But you won't need to worry about that for a long time. So shall we get to it then?”
Jake took in the fact that he already had a core; he didn't know where it was, but he had one and, by the sounds of it, making one takes a long time.
I should ask some of the hive queens about cores.
“Sure, my energies are mana and arcane, then life and void.”
“That is an unfortunate combination; it's really going to be difficult, if not impossible, to deal with. Usually, I would say use both the arcane and mana to cancel each other out and reap the benefits, but with that extra energy in your body and there being no death for that one, I really don't know. All I can say is, to cultivate void, you need an absence of everything… Sorry, I really haven't heard of this ever happening before; you don't have an opiset, you only have the neutral mana and arcane. Sure, they are technically opisets, but not really… Again, I'm sorry.”
“It's okay, I will continue looking for an answer myself; you have given me plenty to think about. Thank you.”
“I wish I could do more; maybe if I get Zac to help out, we might find a solution, but it's very doubtful.”
“Like I said, you have already helped me a lot. Now let's talk about FTL engines; my guess is you don't have them, right?”
“No, sadly, our scientists haven't made that breakthrough in technology yet. The Venusians have been a space-faring people for a long time, but that little step has always eluded us. Would you be willing to sell us that technology?”
“What would be the payment?”
“I would need to speak to the king on that front. Is there anything you need in the meantime, like weapons, ships, or the like?”
“You would offer me weapons and ships even though we haven't even made a trade yet?”
“Yes, I would. I would have to send my men along with them, but I think it would be worth it.”
“How about this: if you send someone back with me as an ambassador, I can contact my ministers and organise a proper agreement.”
“I like it. I'll send Zac and two of my trusted guards. I'm sure the king wouldn't mind; he did send me his daughter to help her with politics. This will be good for her.”
Jake was stunned; the man that wanted a boy was the king himself.
“That's fine, but I must warn you there isn't much comfort on this ship; it's just a transport ship, not a royal ship. It doesn't even have quarters for the crew.”
“That won't be a problem. Zac is a very curious lady. Just don't become one of her experiments and you will be fine.”
The two talked for two or so hours until Bask got a call from his ship. It seemed the invaders were not the only threat out here; a group of fifteen vessels from Mercury just broke through the Venusians' defence line, so Jake escorted Bask back to his ship and sent his best wishes for his upcoming battle. Moments later, Jo returned looking worse for wear but with a creepy smile on his face.
“Go get some rest, big man; you're going to need it.”
“Yes, sir,” Jo said before limping down the hallway to a bedroom made from old tables and some sheets used as walls. Moments later, Zac and two other female Venusians entered the ship, shortly followed by the sound of the warship disconnecting.
“Lady Zac, I'm sorry I can't offer much in the way of hospitality, but you and your guards are welcome to take the beds opposite Jo.” Jake pointed at the beds running along the wall.
“So we can continue our experiment?”
Jake looked over at Jo, then back at the three ladies. Then, with a smile, he said, “Why not? He volunteered.” The moment Jake started walking away, the three ladies jumped the sleeping man; muffled struggles could permeate the hallway, only getting silenced when Jake entered the bridge.
“What was that noise, sir?”
“You two be careful around our new guest. I think their culture is a little different from what we were used to back on Earth,” Jake said as he sat down and ordered the ship to return to the moon.
The next morning, the ship had begun its journey home, but Jake and the two bridge crew refused to leave their posts, as even through the bulkheads, noise could still be heard. It would only stop for short periods of time, beginning again in full force within the hour. Jake wanted to put a stop to it, but the two bridge crew talked him out of it. “It's better him than us,” they said, and Jake could agree with that sentiment. On the final day of the journey, just as the moon entered sight, the noises stopped.
“Do you think he is okay?” the two bridge crew asked; their faces were as white as sheets after listening to what was happening just outside the door. It seemed that in his struggles on the last day, Jo had made it to the bridge door but couldn't take that extra step to safety.
Jake finally opened the door, Jo's head hitting the floor as it opened. The sight was something to behold; there was Jo, and in his right arm lay Zac, while his left had the first guard, and on top of him lay the second guard, all as naked as the day they were born. Jake lifted Jo's head back up and slid the door closed once again.
“Is he even alive?”
“I don't know, but we can now say humanity's sexual desires have met their match in these people.”
“If even a brute of a man like Jo couldn't handle it, how can anyone else stand up to this?”