Chapter 106 If you use a sneezing alien as a vaccination motivator

The meeting dragged on as everyone made their points and explained what had gone so badly under the council. Luke took notes. Then it was off to the offices and his new office. It was large and spartanly furnished. Then he began to visit the military high command, various bases, production facilities, power plants, waste disposal and the megacities.

Very tired, he was dropped off in front of his villa and went inside to wash up, change and eat something. When he came back changed, Ned was sitting on the sofa with Lynx next to him, smiling. 

"Lynx told me you did her during the break?" 

Luke pressed the brew button and nodded, yawning.

"Yep." 

"And that you were forcibly married."

Luke paused, looked at her, then at his wrist.

Lynx grinned.

" I'm going to start a trade division to handle trade with the Alliance and other realms, and I want to put you two there."

"Us? Why?"

He sipped his coffee.

"Well, that's simple. You two know how to screw over other alien species better than I do when it comes to making money, and you're more ruthless than I am."

"Well, I can't argue with that, but with unscrupulous, well, you're a different number."

"What are you going to do about espionage anyway?"

He took another sip.

" Well , I'll use that table there, they can't get in. " 

The doorbell rang, Luke groaned and pressed the record button.

Sarah came in with Peter in uniform BDU.

"Wuhh, pure luxury here," she said.

Luke sat down on the couch.

"That's still within limits."

Sarah came closer.

"Peter, don't get in line."

He came closer, looked around.

"I remember when this was a tourist resort..."

Luke grinned, sipping his coffee.

"So, what can I do for you guys?"

Peter stared at Ned and Lynx, who were sitting there in their original form. Sara nudged him with her elbows.

"Eh. Sorry, this is unusual. Never seen the little bugger before..."

Lynx grinned and showed her teeth. 

"We're here because..." Sarah began.

"You're here because you were with me when I got the call..."

Luke sipped his coffee.

"Okay. And how do you know each other? I mean, I've known Sarah for a while, but I first saw you, Peter, when you drove me to the auction."

"We used to be married," she said.

Peter looked at her.

"Were, according to the records we still are and you said. Let's take some time out and play with a girl like that."

She looked at him.

" The one who dumped me because I'm no longer young and no longer trendy with the latest things..."

"You look just like you used to."

" If you're hungry, there's something left in the fridge."

Liz came in tiredly, wearing a T-shirt that was too big, scratched her stomach and shuffled to the fridge.

Peter looked at Liz with some irritation. 

"And why are you here now?"

"Oh yes. Well, the spaceships will be landing here soon. "

"I thought only one was on the return flight."

" Apparently the other pilots have changed their minds. "

Liz turned to look at them.

" Hello Liz " came from Luke and he sipped his coffee. 

"Luke, what did you actually give Tereen. She crams all the time and I haven't seen that in decades."

Luke grinned.

"Just a tutorial and for her to learn to read a bit of the base system language."

Ned nodded.

"That's important, because that's the language of authority no matter where. There's a species language, but when it comes to authorities, that's the mandatory language." 

"I see. So why is she sitting in front of the TV staring at the alien stuff?"

"Test translator Liz."

She nodded. 

"Liz?" 

She looked at Luke.

"Huh?"

"When I'm away on business, you can stay with Sergeant and Tereen. You know that."

She looked a little torn.

Luke stood up and put his hand on her head.

"Don't worry about it. "

" Luke, what does this have to do with the chips on my head?" asked Sarah. 

" Huh?"

Sarah pointed at Nad.

" They look like us."

" Ah, come from the cloaking chips John uses. " 

" Uh-huh... But they're garbage, Peter and I burnt them out back then."

" Yes, because you used them during sex..."

"Luke's can take it," Ned said with a grin. 

"Really?"

Luke sighed, reached into his pocket, pulled out two sets, stuck them on Peter and Sarah, the doorbell rang and Gills came in as Tereen had let them in.

"Wow, the President's not living badly," came from her. 

"So Sarah, what now?" 

Luke slipped her one too, sat back down and pulled out his cell phone. 

"So. So since I haven't done any tests on humans. What do you want?"

Sarah pondered.

"Oh, like being a guy."

Luke called up the profiles of the three of them and programmed them into Sara.

"Button one normal, button two male version." 

Sarah pressed it and looked at her hands in surprise.

Gills looked at her.

"Oh, you look better as a woman. I know Peter as a woman," he groaned.

"Then you as a guy."

Luke did, what changed was more that the two of them swapped roles.

Luke looked at them both. Gills laughed.

" You look like dad."

"Yes. And you look like mom."

Sarah took on her old form.

"We're brother and sister." 

"Uh-huh." 

" Luke, why don't you put these on?" asked Gills.

" I don't need to, my genes are so screwed up that I can do it too."

" Really? Let me see."

He stood up and took off his shirt, which still showed the scars. 

"Oh, I can see the old scars from back then, but why are you taking off your shirt?" came from Gills.

"Let's see. Liz first."

He shrank to her size and took in her appearance, except for the short hair.

She looked at him, her eyes growing wide. She walked around him searchingly. 

"Can you give me big ones like Jannet?" 

"Sure."

He did. Liz's eyes got even bigger. 

"Damn!" She reached out. 

He turned into Sarge. 

"Shit, but no tattoos why?" 

" Don't feel like it!" 

Liz walked around Luke.

"And what do you look like as a woman, I mean, if sue had had a daughter?"

Luke turned into a woman, looking like Katy.

"Woah, real looker, what about aliens?" 

He shrank into one of Earl's species, then one of Lynx's species."

He breathed heavily.

"And what about Ned's species?" 

"Hmm, yeah, though the buggers have been bred down to fuckmeat."

Ned looked at him doubtfully.

Luke closed his eyes, began to shape himself, growing in height and width, and ended up looking like a muscle-bound mix of Ned's race and a lizard creature. 

"These are guys in your species?" came from Gills.

"Yes. That's what they used to look like. The current ones look more like cute guys. "

Luke trudged over to the sink, choked out a slime bag and changed into normal form.

"Wuhh, that's exhausting," he tapped the bag.

"Ha, there's a whole lot of smoke going in there," he pressed the shredder and the bag dissolved. 

"Well, then, I'd say. I'll change and then we'll go."

Gills looked at him.

"Wait, what did you do?" 

Luke grinned.

" Ned's species can choke the dirt out of your lungs and stuff. So everything out that's been in there since I was eighteen."

Gills narrowed his eyes.

"Why does an inner voice tell me that your transformation isn't just a side effect of genetic intervention?" 

Luke grinned. Gills rolled his eyes.

"I really should have said no when they came with the stacks of papers."

Peter patted his head.

"And now he's president."

Gills grumbled. 

Luke went to change and came back with a suit of Bill's. Gills was gone again. Liz had gone somewhere too and Tereen was having breakfast. 

Nad and Lynx were also dressed in civilian clothes. 

They got in the car and drove off, halfway to the underground entrance Luke saw Katy sitting on the side of the road with a guy.

"Pull over."

The car stopped, he got out and walked towards Katy, who looked at him in panic.

"It wasn't him, it was Liam and his friends. Jimmy was protecting me..." 

Peter and Sarah got out, Jimmy looked at them, he had a split lip and a black eye.

"Shit..." came from him.

"Can you tell Jimmy!" came from Peter.

Luke took a spray from his pocket and fogged them both up. Jimmy looked at his hands in amazement.

"And?" asked Sarah.

"Jimmy sighed.

"Mom ... that was too much, and then the stun guns ... " 

She stroked his head.

"And which Liam?"

"You know him, stupid Liam. Always coming to hit on Katy the last few weeks. Always claiming he was going to be a soldier in the GDF, that he was going to be head mutt and all that. "

Peter looked at Sarah.

"Oh him, Peter, the little Kapersen who always fell on his nose on the street on his bike."

Peter growled.

"Where is he now?" asked Luke.

"He said he'd get through the aptitude test with badges, which is happening now."

"Good, you two wait for a car to pick you up. It'll take you to my house. You can rest there and have something to eat."

"But..."

Luke looked at Katy.

"Tereen's there too. "

Katy nodded.

He got into the car and pressed the tray for the car to pick them up. When Peter and Gilles had got in, the car drove on. Straight to the recruitment center. They stopped and as soon as Luke got out, soldiers came rushing up, the guard stopped and got into position.

"Eh sir... we didn't know..."

" Don't stress yourselves, no more visits in your own interest. Can you show the way to the new ones?"

" Yes sir!" 

With an escort, he was led through the buildings, then landed in the large gymnasium where young men and women stood in a row. An officer at the front seemed to be going through the names. Silence fell as they entered, the soldiers taking up their positions. Luke stopped by the officer. 

"Sir..."

Luke nodded.

" Right, I wanted to personally wish the new guy a good start and another reason."

"Sir?"

"I'm asking everyone except Liam Kapersen and his friends to take a step back."

They all looked at him with irritation.

"Well, let me see what they look like who think they can mug a couple and then come here like it's nothing. So one more time."

The crowd moved so the 7 stood separately. 

"Very nice, thank you. "

"Wha..." one began. A drill instructor jabbed him in the stomach with a baton. 

"Ah, the new instructions are already through. Very nice. So, I had a meeting with high command yesterday to see what's missing where. From lack of discipline to lack of training to poor equipment, a solution was found. The GDF will become better, that they will become better than the corporate soldiers. That it can keep up with the armies outside of Earth. "

He stopped in front of Liam.

"You hurt my little sister, unlike the last ones. Who ended up in the sea with the sharks. Do you and your friends get special treatment? If someone messes up in training, you and your friends get to pay for it. "

"Fuck you ..." 

He got a whack with the truncheon and went to his knees. 

"Liam, I'm your boss. You're the one who signed. Your ass is mine. "

Luke pointed at Peter. 

"He decides when enough is enough." Peter grinned.

Liam jumped towards Luke. Luke grabbed him in a flash and held him up by the throat.

"Tz tz tz, didn't they tell you who I am? What I did before my current job, Liam?"

Liam just grinned. 

"I was a soldier Liam, then a defense soldier and so many years for a company operator and the high command and most of the old officers know that. I even met couples yesterday that I served with. "

"Fi."

Luke squeezed tighter.

" Sir!" 

" Ah, right!" He let go of him, whereupon Liam went down. 

" Like I said, they're getting the special program, please make a note. "

" Aye sir, what reason? " 

" Attack on government and army personnel. "

" Aye sir." 

He watched for a while, had the facility shown to him and then drove to the spaceport where the spaceships were lined up. He got out as the ships were about to land.

"These ... are your spaceships ..." came from Lynx.

"All beginnings are small."

" You can buy cheap ones..."

Luke looked at her.

" Yes. And who's going to fly them, they have to learn that first."

" Hmm." 

Pilots got out of the spaceships and held their hands up in the air. Guards brought them to Luke.

"So?"

" Uh, we surrender. We ... Well..." 

" Good, then you go wash up, write a report, get yourselves checked out."

" And then sir?"

Luke grinned.

"You'll be part of the Earth space fleet again. And now off you go."

The pilot of the last ship reported from the holo.

"Uh... Sir... the..." 

Luke sighed. He walked up to the ship and stepped inside. It was tighter than he had expected. Faces of civilians looked at him. Tightly packed. 

"Oops, get out, get checked out, get a shot and report back."

"But they say the syringe is poison!"

Luke sighed.

"Guys, the injection is for you, so you can survive in space. The aliens don't care, but we do. Especially for those who don't have a syringe, it's deadly."

They continued to look at him doubtfully.

Lynx stuck his head in.

"Wow, what a dump, wonder you got here at all. Wuhh does this place stink, wuhh. The last time I smelled something like this was when I was looking for goods on a slave ship. Wuhh," she held her nose.

"Luke..." She looked at Luke.

"That's it. Come on out, on this planet you'd be locked in a habitat, breathing recycled air and drinking recycled piss all the time. Get yourselves injected at last. You're worse than other species." 

One by one they came out, were taken to the examination area and given an injection. Luke then went to meetings and talks. He had a sofa and a fridge put in his office, where he occasionally took a nap. 

After a hard night's work, he was woken by something warm on his cheek and opened his eyes. Alex handed him a cup of coffee. Luke accepted it gratefully and Alex sat down in an armchair that was part of the sofa. 

"I've seen you've been busy. 

Luke nodded, yawning.

"It'll be a few more years before all the cities are fully sanitized and the programs kick in, but we're on our way."

"What's wrong with them?"

"I got a forced refresh. Had Earl blow his nose in front of them."

Alex laughed. 

"Sue said she made new friends."

Luke lit a cigarette.

"Yeah. Lynx's parents. They want to have a cabin here as a retreat. "

Babsi flicked a stack of files in front of Luke looked at them. 

Luke looked at her. 

"Yeah?" he sipped his coffee. 

"I need you to sign."

"Aren't you going digital?"

"No."

"If I sign them, how do they get into the system?" 

She looked at him. "I scan them in."

" Good." He reached for the first file, opened it. Scanned himself.

"Do you have a pen?" 

Babs groaned, pulled one out of her pocket and handed it to him. 

Luke signed one after the other.

"Luke, what's going to happen to these on Mars now?" asked Babsi.

"I'll leave them there, they wanted to go, have a nice biodome, just no techs and guards."

Alex laughed.

"Even if you go there, there's no cure for the weapons and to advance the infected you'll need Juggenranut Exos from the armor. "

"Then you'll let them die?"

" No. Nothing has come from Mars yet and I only found out when I was brought here from running and they were long gone by then. "

Luke looked at Babsi.

"They've used almost all the Mars missions except the first one to build the biodome. All to fund their project. You can read up on it. Selling the districts is just extra money. So is bribery. The departure there was entered after the record as checking what's going on with the last mission."

He ashed in the ashtray.

Nad gasped for air.

"Uh, Luke..."

"Huh?"

"The monarch is on her way here..."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"For what reason?"

" Well..."

Luke groaned.

" Well when?"

" In three days."

James, as the secretary was called, came in. " Ma'am sirs. "

"Mr. President meeting in room 8 and Mr. Miles your meeting is in the lobby because of the crowds. I took the liberty of having buffets set up in both."

Alex looked from James to Luke.

"Buffet?"

"Goes well and you get more on a full stomach than an empty one."

Alex looked at James. "What's on the menu?"

"Well, we got a few things from the caterers for the catering. A returning celebrity chef who got a job in the building made lassangie and goulash and salad. "

"Sounds good to me. " Alex stood up. 

"Luke after the conference you should go home and get some rest. "

Luke nodded and yawned.

"Good idea."

"Mr. President, I should ask the architects about the Meet & Greet Center, they're having problems with the construction ruins."

"Tell them not to hurry. It's going to be a while before we get the systems in. " 

"Meet & Greet?" Alex looked at him.

"Long term project, facility where aliens can land, but citizens can get there too, cultural exchange and so on. "

"I see you've been thinking about it."

"Yep, I also sent you a list of what you can export if the cargo ships have a refrigeration system. Which worked, Jynx's parents had a refrigeration unit on their ship and took some with them and to mom, she took them for a spin. Stopped as far as the union sector."

He stubbed out the fag.

Babsi rolled her eyes. "The kid, she's already socializing and finding some right away for her swinger tendencies." 

She left. Luke got up and went to his conference, then dealt with a few more requests and beamed home. He sat down on the couch and fell asleep.