“I assume you’ll be keeping an eye on him,” Kal said.
“Yes, I’ve asked ADI to keep him under surveillance. Now, Lieutenant Payne, welcome to the board meeting. Can you tell us how the Paraxean Colony is doing?”
“Thank you, sir,” Lieutenant Payne said. “They seem to be doing well. They’ve finished their main street and have some crops in. They have to wait a few months for the season to change before they can plant the rest of them, but they’re really working those greenhouses.”
“How are their chickens and goats doing?”
“As I understand it, half the goats are pregnant with triplets, the others are being milked. I think the plan is as soon as the pregnant ones drop their babies, they’ll put triplets in the other goats.”
“Put triplets in them?” Admiral Michaels asked.
“They brought hundreds of embryos; that way, they know exactly what they’re going to get,” Lieutenant Payne said. “Now the chickens are a different story. The eggs they brought hatched, and they’re already laying. They’re letting ten percent sit on their eggs, so they get more chickens, and are doing the same with the ducks, by the way.”
“Any problems with tigers?” Liz asked.
“No, the tigers are on a different continent, same with that triceratops thing. Here just a few fox-like animals to worry about. They seem to like chicken.”
Marc laughed. “Thank you, Lieutenant Payne. Moving on, Admiral, how are our allies behaving?”
“We’re still working on the language of the treaties,” Admiral Michaels said. “It’s a good thing I’m commuting from Nice; I’m usually over my foul temper before I get home.”
“I’m sure Pam appreciates it. What is she doing to keep busy?”
“She’s still running the hydroponic farms in Delphi city. She’s set up a lab at the estate we bought; that lets her do a few experiments there. She does a conference call every day, and is constantly on the Comm talking to people. She’s going to try to spend one week a month in Delphi City.”
“Catie, jumpdrives?”
“We’re building the ships. We think the design will be able to move one of the space carriers. Once we’ve tested that, we’ll scale it up to see if we can move an asteroid.”
“That sounds promising,” Marc said.
“Dr. McDowell actually sounds excited.”
“Captain!” ADI interrupted the meeting on a private Comm channel.
“Yes, ADI,” Marc said, raising his hand to tell everyone to pause.
“I have received some new data from the Paraxean carriers. It’s from their previous battle with the aliens. Based on the scans they made of the aliens who attacked them and the scans we’ve made of the aliens approaching Artemis, I’m ninety percent confident that they are from the same civilization,” ADI reported.
“Oh, shit!”
“What?!” Blake asked.
“ADI says that the aliens approaching Artemis are more than likely from the same civilization that attacked the Paraxeans.”
“How can that be? Those locations are over two hundred light-years apart!” Catie said.
“I know, Cer Catie,” ADI said. “But their ships are nearly identical in construction and configuration.”
“Okay, people, we now need a battle plan for when they arrive,” Marc said.
“We needed one before we knew this,” Blake said. “Now, we’re just surer that we’ll have to use it.”
“Daddy, it’s not that bad!” Catie said.
“No? I’ve brought families out here, and now I find out that we’re at risk of a significant confrontation instead of just a minor standoff,” Marc said. “This is really bad news.”
“I’m sure after a few glasses of scotch, you’ll realize it’s not that bad,” Blake said. “Talk to you later, Karl.”
Once the others had disappeared from their HUDs, Samantha walked over to Marc and hugged him from behind. “I don’t want to pile on, but I think you probably need to know, I’m pregnant.”
“Oh boy!” ADI exclaimed.
“ADI!” Samantha protested.
“I know, private information. But I’m going to start planning a baby shower!”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Marc said, trying to keep the shock from showing on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I was waiting for the right time,” Samantha said. “This isn’t exactly the right time I envisioned, but it does seem to be the right time, anyway.”
Marc sighed, “Why is it that every time we think we’re cooking, someone throws a handful of chili pepper into the pot?”
Afterword
Thanks for reading Delphi Federation!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the sixth book in the Delphi in Space series. If you would like to join my newsletter group, click here, Delphi in Space News. The newsletter provides interesting science facts for SciFi fans, book recommendations based on books I truly loved reading, and notification of when the next book in my series is available.
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The story continues in Delphi Exploration. Now the McCormacks will leave the solar system as they search for a home for the Paraxeans. What might they find out there as they look for a new planet, or planets.
Acknowledgments
It is impossible to say how much I am indebted to my betareaders and copy editors. Without them, you would not be able to read my booksdue to all the grammar and spelling errors. I have always subscribed to AndrewJackson’s opinion that “It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one wayto spell a word.”
So special thanks to:
My copy editor Ann Clark, who also happens to be my wife.
My beta reader and editor, Theresa Holmes.
My beta reader and cheerleader, Roger Blanton, who happens tobe my brother.
