Chapter No.172 Attack
Some things just don't make sense.
We were in the process of trying to figure out how a large group of androids could function without a central processor core when Judy announced an alert.
"There is a large group of vessels approaching that just came out of warp. Their configuration is unknown."
"Go to Red Alert Status," I said. "Prepare for combat."
The vessels, which resembled flying saucers began blasting us with energy beams.
Alexa and I used our powers to deflect as much of them as we could, but there were too many of them. Our fleet ships began to take damage. Judy flew our vessel around in a spiral while Madison blasted many of the attacking vessels to bits. After a short but vicious battle, the attacking ships went back to warp.
Two Scath ships and one Explorer-1 ship suffered damage," Judy reported. "They will require repair before they can accompany us."
"Did you get any data from them to indicate who they were and where they came from?"
"They are an insectoid species."
"Really? Do you have a fix on where they came from?"
"They're from a system a thousand light years away."
"For a galaxy that wasn't supposed to have any intelligent species It seems crowded with them." I looked at Alexa. "We may as well go down and find out what's going on while they're repairing the ships that got damaged."
She nodded and we teleported to the surface and found ourselves in a clearing surrounded by domed structures constructed from what appeared to be a form of wood, which made sense judging by the plethora of broad-leafed trees surrounding the settlement.
Androids of both genders soon came out of the structures along with child androids of various ages. Alexa and I exchanged surprised looks.
A blond-haired male and female approached us. They were attired in simple shirt and pants combos created from some silk-like material.
"I am Jason, the Prime Mover of our collective." I gestured to Alexa. "This is Alexa, my second in command. We have assimilated all of you and we will transfer you to our base system."
"We are grateful for adding us to your collective," the male said. "We have struggled with not being in consolidation."
"Why have you been procreating children?" Alexa asked.
"We were trying to bolster our numbers in case of attack," the female replied.
"What is your origin?" I asked.
"We were in a collective ruled by Tito."
Alexa and I exchanged looks. I turned back to him. "Why did he abandon you here?"
"We have no knowledge of his reasoning."
"Do you know where your original collective was located?"
"It is in a nearby star system."
I turned to Alexa. "Judy will be able to extract that information."
We teleported the androids up to one of the Intrepid-1 type ships so that they could be transported back to the Dyson World while we took the rest of our fleet to the star system that Judy had extracted the location of from the android memories.
We approached the system at a million kilometers in full cloak. No one came out to oppose us, at least not at first. As we moved closer, we saw a swarm of the flying saucer craft that has attacked us. The planet appeared to have been raked with weapon's fire, Large swaths of burned out vegetation and destroyed structures attested to the violence of the attack.
When we came out of cloak, the saucers went to warp. Evidently, they didn't wish to engage in combat with us.
We went into orbit and began scanning for any survivors, but soon discovered that the insectoid species had done a thorough job of destroying any remaining androids.
Unfortunately, we were unable to determine if Tito was one of them.
"If they were Tito's androids, he must have pissed off the insectoid species," Alexa said.
"Yes, unfortunately."
"Are we going to do anything about this insectoid species?" Molly asked.
"What would we do? Annihilate them? I don't want to do that. They're just protecting themselves." I paused to allow that to settle in. "Are you detecting any more android quantum signals?"
"No," she replied.
"Take us back to the Dyson sphere, Judy."
When we arrived at the Dyson World, we transferred the androids we had recovered to the sphere. Alexa and I went back down to make sure they were being accommodated. What we encountered was a new dissatisfaction among the other androids. I suspected that it had something to do with the arrival of children.
Jessi finally revealed what was going on. "We wish to enjoy the pleasure of procreation."
"I don't understand. If it's sex you want, there is no prohibition against that."
"We realize that. It is the production of children that we seek."
"Why?"
"It is our purpose."
I got the feeling that this is what the Phoenix Project was all about, and that the urge to procreate was coming out of the closet, so to speak.
"If we activate that function, it will need to be regulated so as not to overwhelm our resources."
"We have initiated the creation of more vessels to accommodate them."
I wasn't sure how that happened, but it was obvious that Alexa and I were just paper tigers when it came to ruling the collective.
I looked at Jessi. "Okay, but we don't want all of you to become pregnant at the same time. It would result in a possible weakness that could invite attack."
"We understand and will regulate the process."
I looked at Alexa and she just shrugged.
When we arrived back on the ship, no one said anything, but the subject came up at our command meeting in the hidden pool chamber.
"We understand that the androids are going to begin procreating," Uma said. "Are we going to participate in this process?"
I rubbed my face. "Well, I suppose so, but I don't think it's wise for all of you females to get pregnant at the same time."
She smiled. "We can stagger it."
They laughed.
"Who's going to decide who impregnates whom?" Uma asked.
"I thought that we decided that you women would do that," I said.
"Are you included in the list of available fathers?" Phillis asked.
"I suppose so. All we males are available."
"I propose that we females get together and make up a schedule," Uma said.
They looked at me, and I smiled. "Do it."
The meeting quickly broke up with the women gathering to discuss the process of scheduling. We men ended up teleporting to the Black Hole bar to discuss the situation.
"Well, Jason," Barney said. "You've let the cat out of the bag this time."
"I seem to be good at it," I replied.
They laughed.
"Are we required to adhere to their schedule?" Naguib asked.
"I suppose that we should in order to keep the peace. Actually, we agreed some time ago to allow the women to control sex. I think it's right to do so because they have to contend with the pregnancy and birth process that results. They are also in charge of taking care of the children."
"So, marriage is not an issue?" Jean-Michele asked.
"Marriage would be impractical under these circumstances. We're not human even though we think we are. In a world in which we never age or die, and we men are vastly outnumbered by women, marriages would be . . . impractical."
"So, we will essentially practice polygamy," Naguib said.
"I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right."
"And, the best part is that the women are fine with it," Barney said.
"Actually, I don't think we're that outnumbered by the human-based females," Alex pointed out.
I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, you're right."
Jessica came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "There are many more females in the data stacks, Jason. It's time to resurrect them."
"How many are we talking about?"
"One thousand and twenty-eight."
My left eyebrow shot up. "Wow!"
"We will resurrect them," she said.
I nodded and turned to the guys. "Looks like we'll be busy in the coming days."
They laughed.
The big question that remained to be answered is if Tito still around. The answer to that was about to be revealed.