Part 13 Search and Destroy

Synopsis: Jason as prime mover of the android collective has acquired powers and has allowed Alexa, his second in command, to have them. Together, they have thwarted Tyco's attempt to destroy Jason and take over his collective. A crack in Tyco's defense had appeared in the form of a revolt by some of his androids. This is Jason's chance to end Tyco's influence forever. Will he succeed?

Chapter No. 120. Antibody.

It's a big universe out there.

When I came onto the command deck the next morning, Molly had some good news to report. "I've adjusted the antibody code to go through all of our positronic brains and destroy Tyco infections."

"How has it worked so far?"

"It has destroyed the infections in every one of us, including the new android additions."

I smiled. "That's great news!"

"I wouldn't get too excited about it just yet. I'm not sure that it's able to prevent further infections. I think that the Tyco code is able to acquire resistance just like any virus."

"You need to adjust the programming of your antibody code to change with it."

"I'm working on it."

I stood up. "I think I'm going to go for a swim with the guys. Let me know if anything happens."

I went to my quarters and was entered the pool from a private entrance off my spacious bathroom. Alex, Vince, Barney, Frank, Evan, Louis, Marty, Conner, and Dale were already there.

They applauded.

"We're happy that you could join us peons, Jason," Barney said. "It's not often that we can be together without the women."

I smiled. "If you think this is a way to escape their attention, you're only fooling yourself. They can easily watch us."

"Big deal!" he replied. "They already know what we look like."

"As we do with them," I said, grinning.

Barney waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "You've seen one, you've seen them all!"

We all laughed.

The funny thing about this is that female androids were in attendance to help us when we undressed and showered. They stored our clothing in lockers and provided us with towels. They also watched us dive and swim. None of these androids are the original human Space Command versions, but we all realized that they were once human women. Did they get sexual satisfaction from it? If they did, it wasn't obvious. They didn't show any emotional reaction. That would not have been the case with the women in command positions. They would tease us.

But that's not what happened when Alexa and Molly came into the pool chamber. They looked as if they were unimpressed.

I walked over to them. "What's up?"

"We think we've discovered another possible intrusion into our collective," Molly said.

"I assume by the fact that you came here that it's something you don't want anyone else to hear."

Alexa looked around. "Yes, but maybe this isn't the best place to be discussing it."

"Where would you suggest?" I asked.

How about out in one of the grain fields on the agricultural deck?" She said.

I thought about it and we were there, but they didn't act impressed.

"What we've found by questioning these latest androids is that they came from a parallel universe," Molly said.

"Yes, that would explain why we haven't been able to locate their base. Did you find out which universe they came from?"

"No. They really don't know. It could be any one of them."

I thought about it for a moment before replying. "The only way that we'll determine what universe is by placing probes with entanglement communication systems by all of the portals that the Roamers have discovered."

"That's going to take some time to not only manufacture the probes but to take them to the locations," she said.

"I think we'll go back to Earth. I've been working on the plans for a new ship. I've already informed our other ships there to prepare for building it."

"Why do we need another ship?" Alexa asked.

"I want us to have a larger vessel so that we have plenty of room. I also have an idea to make the Warp rings take up much less space. It will allow us to expand the new vessel."

"I'd like to go over your math," she said.

"It's in the Explorer-3 file."

She nodded.

"I'm going back to the pool."

I teleported back and found the guys milling around.

"What's happening, Jason?" Barney asked me, not showing any signs of panic.

"Nothing serious. They told me that the newly assimilated androids came from a parallel universe."

"Are we going there?" Alex asked.

"Not yet. We don't know which universe they came from. I want to build a larger ship before we go off to another universe."

"Why do we need a larger ship?"

"We're gaining in population, especially if we reproduce."

"If that's the case, why don't we settle on a planet?" Vince asked.

"Planets are not stable, at least over the long course. Their stars eventually die and destroy them. They're also vulnerable to all sorts of life-ending catastrophes like gamma ray bursts, volcanic eruptions, climate change, and asteroid or comet collisions. We could mitigate some of these, but the stellar life span problem is not solvable. Living on a ship takes care of all those problems."

"There are times that I wished that we were living on a planet," Alex said. "There's something to be said about living in the wild, so to speak."

"There might be a way to allow us to experience the wild. We could institute shore leave, a practice that goes back to the sailing days."

"What planet would we go for that?" Marty asked.

"It could be Earth, or any planet that is Earth-like. I'll bring that idea up after we've built the new ship."

That seemed to satisfy them. I realized that the idea had some problems connected to it. One, is the possibility of being trapped on a planet. The other would be the possible spoilage of a planet's Eco structure.

The next day we returned to Earth and joined up with all of our other vessels. When we approached Helios Station, we saw that the framework of the new vessel was already under construction.

"Wow!" Alex said. "That's huge."

"Actually, It's not wider. What's different is that it's longer and has more decks."

"What about the warp rings?"

"We've incorporated them into the vessel's outer skin. They will only appear as bulges in the middle of the vessel."

"How do you know that it'll work?"

"The math seems to indicate it will, but we'll find out once it's built."

"This will definitely bolster our fleet," Vince said.

"It certainly will," I said. "We'll have four Explorer-1 ships, one Explorer-2, the new Explorer-3, six Scath ships and twelve Myst. Unfortunately, we'll have to leave some ships here near Earth to protect it."

"Have you given any more consideration to allowing shore leaves?" Alex asked.

"Yes, but I think it's something we all should discuss."

"Shore leaves?" Marie shot back at me. "Is this Star Trek?"

"Not really. The guys brought up the idea and wanted me to consider it. I don't see why it wouldn't be okay, but there is always the chance that people could get caught on a planet when it was under attack."

"if we allowed it on Earth, we would certainly have the power to deflect any attack, at least while we were here," Margaret said.

"Yes, I agree, but there is the chance that we could affect Earth's Eco system."

"I doubt that we would do any significant damage to what constitutes a planet recovering from an extinction event."

I smiled. "Yes, you're right. We'll discuss that at our usual gathering."

I turned to Alex. "You, Molly and I will be doing the main assembly of the new vessel's engines. I want to make sure that there is nothing going into it that isn't in the plans."

They didn't object.

That evening after supper, we gathered in my living area to discuss the idea of shore leaves.

"I think that somewhere in what was once Europe would be a safe place to enjoy Earth," Margaret said. "There is little in the way of dangerous animals or plants there. The humans we've inserted onto Earth haven't wandered that far as yet."

"How far have they expanded?" I asked.

"The ones on the Hawaii islands have joined and have expanded to some of the other islands, but most of them are on Maui. The California humans have expanded up and down the West coast of what was America. The African humans have only expanded in the region of the Congo."

"What is the status of the European area?"

"It is among the last areas to recover from the asteroid collision event. However, there is some recovery along the Mediterranean shores, especially the French Riviera. The Cannes area is not too bad. The good news is that the climate is mild most of the year."

"Okay, create an explorer group to check it out."

I had a hunch that Margaret already had a group in mind.