Standing in for Dad

The Buildup and New Beginnings:

During the family breakfast, DC was inquiring of Luna where he might find a wormhole capable ship he could purchase for use in his new trade empire.

Luna looked at him with a quizzical smile and just looked at me with that raised eyebrow I had learned was, a kind rendition of, 'You're the King. Figure it out."

I laughed, "I take it I just need to assign one to him and he can take ownership."

Luna winked and scrunched her nose, "Not even a drop in the ocean of our royal coffers, my King. I would suggest contacting the Skyfire Consortium. They make the best and most luxurious. You can then get a crew together for him."

Atlas spoke up then, "If DC would allow, we grand kids can crew it for him. Save him some overhead."

"Wonderful idea, Atlas. Would it be possible for you to give a call to the head honcho of this consortium for me?"

Within about a minute, while we were sipping our juice, Atlas opened a holographic phone call to the President of the consortium, Poor guy looked to be still in his bedclothes with disheveled hair and rubbing his blurry eyes, "Yes my King! How might the Skyfire Consortium be of service this fine morning?"

"OH! Sir! I am very sorry for waking you up! Should I call back later?"

The fine fellow looked like he was chastising himself, "Please forgive my state of dress, my King! I was not expecting your call."

"No! It was my being inconsiderate, and I apologize. But, now that I have been so inconsiderate to have awakened you, I am sure you would not be able to go back to sleep without knowing the purpose of my call."

The president chuckled. "I nailed that one, eh?"

"Indeed! My King."

"Well, okay then. A member of my family on the Earth side, needs a top notch trade ship capable of FTL and Wormhole travel. I was told by a very reliable source, whom I trust implicitly, that your consortium had the best of the best."

With that, the president puffed out his chest a bit and smiled, "Your source is well informed, your Majesty."

"I will be sure to let the Queen know you appreciated her recommendation. How can we make this deal happen?"

"I can have one of our finest delivered within the hour to your private landing pad, your Majesty."

"Wonderful! Thank you so much! Send the bill to me personally, please."

"Umm, about that, your Majesty. If the Crown were to designate us as it's source for luxury ships and allow us to advertise that, we would love to waive the cost of this ship... and we would send you our very best."

I looked to Luna, any objections, my Queen?"

Luna shook her head, "I see high end negotiations are high among your skills, my King. I agree with your decision. It is done."

The president of the consortium started doing a chair dance, "Well, if the old boy wasn't awake before, he was now. I think we just made his millennium."

I looked to DC, "Be at the landing pad to receive your ship in an hour, old man." I chuckled.

DC harrumphed, "You may be King of the cosmos, my boy, but you can still be out maneuvered by this old man!"

I laughed, "So you think you just out maneuvered me, eh?"

DC came up short and raised an eyebrow, "Oh, that was good! How long did you have this planned?"

"Since before I introduced you to the fruit."

"Asshole!"

The ladies clearing the breakfast table were dropping dishes in their disbelief. Someone had dared to call the most powerful monarch in the known Universe an asshole to his face!

We all jumped at the clatter and, instantly realizing the situation, I laughed, "It was meant to be humorous, ladies. We are family and family has dispensations."

The ladies were now mortified, worried they had made a scene for no reason and had overstepped. Most of the family just smiled and stood up, helping the ladies collect all the broken dishware and cleaning the floor.

The staff were apoplectic now. Our help having escalated rather than calmed the situation. I called them all to me as the family finished cleaning up and gave them each a hug. Ladies, you serve with distinction and the fault for this is ours, not yours. Chalk it up to a cultural misunderstanding that we will all laugh about tomorrow.

Two of the staff were so distraught they were in tears. I wiped away their tears and smiled, "Really, it's okay. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and know your King loves you so much and appreciates your service."

With everything cleaned up, we all sat back down to discuss more family business and the staff collected themselves and quickly left the room.

Luna looked at me with soft eyes and whispered, "Beth was right."

I raised an eyebrow, "About?"

"You are a very special man. Your reaction to their reaction was kind and gentle and understanding. You didn't lord over them, but you met them at their level and you were so unpretentious in doing so. So genuine in your concern for their emotional state. I assure you, the entire palace will have heard about this by the end of the hour."

"You continue to amaze me, my King."

I gave Luna a powered kiss and she swooned.

DC then asked, "So, since you already had all this planned ahead of time, when should I receive my first shipment for trading with Earth?"

Luna was recovering from the kiss but breathed, "Already on the landing pad ready to be loaded when your ship arrives."

DC raised and eyebrow, "No shit?"

Cheech then went over the manifest, "One billion gallons of fruit juice, half in 100 gallon sanitized containers for Jake and the family wine business, and half in two cup containers with the house crest of the growers on one side and the 'Craigg Trading Co.' on the other side with your family crest. To each side is a list of ingredients and the warning to not overindulge and why.

DC then asked, "And what is the cost per two cup bottle to produce?"

Chong replied, "Yeah, about that. The producer was so happy to have a new market they gave you this shipment for free. After that, each bottle will cost you the American equivalent of 10 cents each and the bulk containers will cost you $80 dollars."

DC smiled, and I can teleport the orders after receiving payment terms, so my costs will be next to nothing and I can turn a profit of 65 cents a bottle."

"That doesn't include what you sell me for the other half of the shipment, dad." Jake mentioned through Atlas.

DC nodded, "$90 per 100 gallon container fair?"

"Delivered?"

DC nodded, "First batch is free so you can develop the market."

"Deal. Atlas? Let the boys at the distillery know we are going into the wine business. Have them ready to receive their first shipment of fruit by this afternoon."

Luna smiled, "I know something none of you know."

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

Luna continued, This fruit does not ferment with your yeasts, as it is immune to them. However, our chemists have developed an enzyme that will near instantaneously ferment your entire shipment with a single drop into 14% alcohol by volume as well as age the juice by 25 earth standard years. All you will need extra is a small piece of toasted wood for the enzyme to assimilate those flavors into the finished product. And, the enzyme breaks down into water after it has finished. In a day you will be ready to go to market."

Jake asked, "And how much for the enzyme?"

Luna gave DC a pint sized, black colored glass container with an eyedropper cap, "My wedding gift."

We all then left to go to the palace Colosseum for my demonstration.

0o0

We all were in the royal's box and the place was packed. Many nobles and aristocrats who wielded power within the political spectrum of the empire were present, along with 10 of their hand-picked warriors.

I jumped from the 200 foot high elevated box down into the arena wearing nothing at all accept for my halter containing my two oriental fighting knives. When I hit the ground in a crouch, my landing boomed across the room which was the size of a professional football stadium (Yeah, okay, it was an intimidation ploy. But it worked). I then casually asked the 10 warriors, "Individually or all at once? Weapons or no?

The biggest, baddest elf responded, "No weapons and all at once."

I drew my knives and tossed them, point first, into the floor (it was hard packed sand instead of diamond), moved away from them, and said, "Whenever your ready, go for it."

As soon as they moved I knew they were enhanced. It wasn't anything obvious, just little tells here and there. I smiled as they approached, spreading out to encircle me.

Yeah, like I as going to let them do that.

I moved left as the lead attacker to that side reached my 315 degree relative and I surprised him with a lightening fast and brutal Hatakikomi, knocking him senseless to the ground. Without missing a beat, I then went low and swept the feet of the next one, giving him a swift kick against his shoulder with my other foot as I continued the rotation while pushing against the floor to raise my body mid turn.

That move knocked him face first into the floor and dislocated his shoulder. Two down and 8 to go.

The others had slowed their approach, now a bit more wary. I continued my attack and ran between two others still on my original left and jumped to give each a fierce,split kick to the head. They were both knocked out before they hit the floor.

The six remaining then began to coordinate a bit better, but again, I wasn't going to let that happen. I rushed the right of center warrior and jumped over him, out of his initial reach, but I rolled my body at the apex, just over his head, and slammed the heal of my right foot to the back of his head.

Down to five.

"Fellas, give up now before you get hurt. I am THE apex predator from a class 9 death world where we keep other predators as pets. I haven't even gotten started yet. Think about it: if you could not defeat me with 10, what realistic chance do you now have with five?"

I could see the doubt in their eyes; all except for the lead warrior. He let out a roar and called me out, "Quit running around and fight like a man!"

I looked at him as the other four backed away, "Yeah, I don't fight like a man. I fight like a cold blooded, methodical, intelligent, apex killer. Frankly, if you are the Atraxan's best 10 fighters, I can see why your Queen went searching for a real fighter. But, if you're feeling froggy, then jump!"

Infuriated at my insult, he charged and jumped up, intending to land with a double overhand strike to my head or shoulders. Problem was, as soon as his feet left the ground I moved left, let him land off balance due to missing me with his strikes, and kicked him in the ass hard enough to roll him.

He jumped up and glared. Ok, now he was really mad.

He bull rushed me next, expecting to knock me back with his greater mass and pin my arms to my sides in a bear hug.

Just as he reached for me I fell to the ground, tangled up his legs, and he fell flat on his face as I rolled and stood up.

Now he was mad with a broken and bloody nose.

I looked at him and sighed, "Just stop, please. I don't want to hurt you to prove a point I have already made."

In the backs of his eyes, I saw the recognition and that slowly calmed him down until he bowed, conceding the end of the fight.

"Thank you. I really didn't want to have to put you down for no reason."

I then looked at the nobles seated in their special boxes, "Any other questions you need answers to?"

At that point, the crowd who had been stunned to silence, erupted.

"All hail the King! All hail the King!" began as a repeating chant.

I recovered my fighting knives and the royal booth separated from the upper wall and came down on anti-gravity cyclics, picked me up, and returned to its place. As soon as I stepped into the box, Luna was all over me, showering me with kisses. Her eyes were moist, and her breath was fast and shallow.

She exclaimed, "That was a work of art!" and she then whispered in my ear, "And you really didn't show them anything a spy could use!"

We all had a quick celebration before I began training with Atlas and Apollo for the rest of the day.

They never touched me. I had fully integrated all my upgrades and they just didn't have a chance. My wetware was learning how to adapt more quickly, it also made sure I didn't become predictable, and it countered their attacks in different ways in the true Jeet kune do way.

By the end of the day, I was no longer acting on inputs from my wetware. We were acting and reacting as one entity and I had committed a vast amount of new moves to muscle memory. That was the first time I really felt things coming together.

The next few sessions involved increasing numbers of bots, all at fill contact, all using Goruk martial arts styles... sometimes with human styles thrown in for confusion. I was able to hold off up to 8 assailants at a time and eventually whittle them down to wins; but, after fighting non-stop against 8 to 1 odds for about 7 hours straight, I was just starting to get a bit winded.

I was really feeling good about my chances against Gregoroun... until the bots started cheating. It took me the better part of two days to figure out some countermeasures, but I figured out a workable solution.

Many in the family went to the underwater cottage after giving our newlyweds 5 days to themselves. Luna and I stayed at the palace, along with the SEALs who needed to integrate their wetware and other enhancements, where she started including me in the daily political meetings, including the settling of disputes between merchants, nobles, bankers, and general citizens.

One particular situation caught my attention.

A banker had given an employee a loan on their home for some domestic improvements which were needed due to her getting married. The bank then fired her and demanded full repayment of the loan, which, of course, the late employee could not pay back. The Courts had sided with the banker, seeing it as an open and shut case since there was a written contract allowing the bank to foreclose as it did. The former employee petitioned the Crown to rule on the case.

This case just smelled to high heaven to me. I had the boys do some investigation and when the case came before us, I asked, "My Queen, would you mind me taking this one?"

Luna bowed, "Certainly, My King."

I had the banker make his case, and the young lady who was the late employee make hers. I then asked the banker, what was the cause for firing her.

The banker was a bit stunned at the question, "My Lord? I believe we were just reducing our overhead."

"Yeah, that doesn't wash because you immediately hired someone without experience to take her place. Want to try again?"

"M'Lord, we didn't want to besmirch our former employee's good name, but she was found stealing funds from the bank."

"Really? So theft, then. Yet she had no access to any accounts or assets or exchanged any monies in any way as a result of her position. How exactly was she able to steal from your company?"

"I... I would have to look further into this, M'Lord."

"Good! You do that. And as you are doing that please explain how this exact same scenario has been playing out all across your banking network with employees who borrow money for various things and are then fired without cause. I counted 153 in the last two months. I will give you 15 minutes to give me a good answer."

The woman, realizing I had seen through the bank's machinations, began to silently cry.

After his time was up, the banker offered to forgive the debt. I replied, "Not so fast. You have still not given me my answer about the other 152 incidences across your inter-system banking consortium. I therefore conclude you have been guilty of illegal and immoral banking practices in order to obtain property and assets at greatly reduced prices."

I looked to the head of the Royal Guard, "I decree this man and the entire board of directors be put in chains until all such transactions have been repaid to the injured parties in amounts equal to quadruple the original debts and that each employee be given the opportunity to be re-hired in a similar position they held upon termination and such position be within a reasonable distance from their original place of employment."

"Additionally, all those employees will be paid in lump sum, all back pay and will be rehired according to their pay at termination plus any bonuses or wage increases given to those positions from the time of their termination. This is to be completed before any member of the Board of Directors is to be released from custody."

The banker looked to Luna, hoping for some intervention but Luna was... PISSED! She leaned forward and dared him, "Beg me and find out my response! Please!"

I then looked at the banker who had turned a pale blue and was in deep shock, "And if this Court EVER finds your bank or any subsidiaries guilty of this again, just one more case after this moment, your entire Board of Directors will be imprisoned for the period of 5 years in our deepest, darkest dungeon with no hope of early release."

"Am I CRYSTAL clear?"

"We... we will be in compliance with His Majesty's Decree within the hour, my King."

"Guard! GET THIS PIECE OF TRASH OUT OF OUR ROYAL SIGHT IMMEDIATELY!"

The banker had a worm hole opened up in front of him and he was pushed through it into what was obviously a jail cell and the portal was closed. The Captain of the Guard was immediately relaying my Decree to his jailers and others so they could quickly secure the rest of the Board.

At that point, Luna was so pissed she had the clerk reschedule the rest of the appointments for the next day.

When we were in private I asked Luna, "Are you angry with me?"

Luna was almost in tears, "I did not do my due diligence! I was going to side with the banker and that would have been such a miscarriage of justice! No, Harry: I am angry with myself and with that bank! I will instruct the purser to ensure your decree is carried out to the letter!"

We need an independent audit done of the whole chain of companies and any other company they have done business with. I suspect this goes deeper than just these cases."

Luna agreed, "But who could we trust that could not be bribed?"

I looked to Cheech, "Could one of your boys do that for us?"

Cheech smiled, "Dad, I have just the son for the job. He was just trained on all the Universe's banking and trade laws to help DC with his new venture."

I looked to Luna, "Then the Crown Decrees he have unlimited access to any and all transactions and agreements enjoined by that bank, its owners, and its affiliates?" I asked looking at Luna.

She replied, "Absolutely! We need a message sent throughout the Universe that the Crown has declared war on corruption within the Empire! Umm, but Harry?"

"Yes my Queen?"

"We don't have any dungeons. Just regular jail cells."

I laughed, "Expanded space, I will get some earth pictures of real dungeons and we will make some underneath the jail cells. Make it really scary with torture devices and stuff."

Luna giggled, "Oh, you are so bad!"

I sat down and drew Luna onto my lap and, as we cuddled, my mind kept wondering what exactly was in Pandora's Box: I was pretty sure we had just opened it.

"Love, we need to do the same for everyone associated with the royal house as well. Corruption in a ruling bureaucracy this size is bound to be going on."

Luna began to sob into my shoulder, "How could I have been so naive?"

"It is a product of your planet and culture, honey. You are not a suspicious people by nature. With my planet, species and culture, a healthy dose of skepticism comes naturally as a first line of self-preservation."

Luna trembled in my arms. "Harry, when we first met, I needed you. Then, that quickly turned into lust for you. Now;" she paused, "Well now I am truly learning to love you. Is that okay?" she asked as she looked deeply into my eyes, showing her vulnerability.