END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3 (62 page)

By the time the Healer had arrived with hover carts, and a recovery team, the first of the two tubes was beginning to move from its location and the top
was starting to open. By the time the first one was fully open and the male inside became clear, the second tube had begun to open revealing the form of a
tiny female.

After a few minutes the recovery teams had both beings covered in med lab tunics and eating the chicken noodle soup, so Jon asked them, “Who are you two
and how long have you been in there?”

The female spoke first. “I am Queen Dalia. The last Queen of the Umin. That great giant over there is my mate, King Eoin Conal.” Jon could get a good look
at her now and she was almost a twin sister to Satrina with the same golden red hair, emerald green eyes and tiny pointed ears. Jon could faintly make out
what had once been a nasty scar that ran across her eye. It was the mark that had once been used to lay claim on a female who belonged to the sex slavers
of the ancient Lexonian criminals.

Jon's massive saber-tooth took that moment to appear from the shadows and stride up to the Umin Queen. “Well hello my beauty.” she said as she reached out
to scratch him behind his ears. “You have been a good tiger and have guarded your charges well. Your mate awaits you on your new home world.”

“This stuff is very good. What is it?” the Umin King asked.

“Its called chicken noodle soup.” Jon told the Warrior who was as tall as he with the same midnight black hair and intense blue eyes. “Our ship's cook
makes it fresh everyday. We still haven't learned what a chicken noodle is. He uses one of the small fowl that are grown for their eggs and their meat to
create the soup. I've heard your voice before, haven't I?” Jon's mind was in a frenzy. How was it possible that the last King and Queen of the Umin race
were standing before him having just been recovered from healing tubes? How did the Queen seem to already know about Talga and not fear him? Hadn't the
Umins all been killed by the machine race many thousands of cycles ago?”

“Are you the Warrior I had to warn not to use my ship for the wrong reasons?” the revived King asked.

“That was you?!?! How can that be?!?!?!” Jon was now totally confused.

“It’s too complicated to tell you. Its the tubes and our connection to the ship as its builders. Once when our race was strong, we could communicate across
the vastness of space that way. I could call out across many systems to talk with anyone whom I needed. Once I could direct entire fleets of our ships from
Haven with only my thoughts. Now we need to use the dreams of others to speak and then only while in the aging chambers.”

“Who is in the other chambers?” Jarrieal asked.

“Those hold the rest of my crew.” the Umin King said. “This is my ship, and I'd like to have it back.” Looking to Jon he finished, “You have finished your
work now and no longer need it. We must still find a place to finish our work.”

“What work?” Satrina asked. She was finding it hard to believe that sitting in front of her were two of the ancients who looked exactly like her and her
giant warrior.

“Where am I to send my crew?” Jon asked. “This ship has become our home. Why should I accept that you built it and I should just hand it over to you? This
ship can still destroy entire planets! Its far too powerful to just hand over to the first one who says it belongs to them.”

“You have seen the picture from the cave. The one that changes to reflect the rightful owner of the ship. Look at it now and you will find myself and my
Queen.” The King told him. Jon didn't need to look at the painting of the Umin King. He had already seen the painting he kept in his office change several
days ago and kept the knowledge to himself.

“We will take you to a planet that is well hidden, but still close enough for your slipdrive ships to travel to with ease. We will also give you the gift
of our jump drive so you can create new engines for your ships. The planet once belonged to our people and was called Lifegiver because all who drank of
its waters lived long and healthy lives.” the Queen told him. “It was her supply of those waters that kept my sister alive long enough to give the history
of our people to a mated pair on Haven over two hundred cycles ago. You will find that it is very much like your Haven. Once there your tiger will finally
find his mate. He's waited for her a very long time as he faithfully followed my command to protect you and the tiny ones. You will also find many more of
our technologies that will help you to get your lives started there. We will stay to teach you their use.” she said as she pointed to the children.
“After all these many times in sleep, we are in no hurry to complete our mission. The sight of the young at play brings pleasant memories to my heart of
the children of the Umin.”

“What would your mission be?” Phillie demanded.

“The same as it has always been furry one.” The Queen lovingly told her, using a name that only Phillie's own mother had used when she was little. “We
travel the stars seeding the planets with new life.”

Satrina spoke to Jon, “Its alright my giant. You have ended the pirates and we can sit back now to raise our younglings on a planet where they can feel the
sunshine on their faces, the breeze in their hair and the summer rains on their skins just like we've talked about. Maybe it will even have a forest with a crystal lake where we can build our home. Whatever still needs to be done can be done with just the other ships in our fleet. The four Destroyers can easily patrol the rim and keep it safe.
The Carriers and the confiscated Haulers can easily keep the needed supplies flowing. It is time for you to rest my Warrior. Stay at home with us and run
your businesses from there.”

“I'll trust you my tiny tigress. I'd like to be able to sit by your side and enjoy our younglings before they are all grown up.” Jon told her before
leaning down to kiss her lips.

“HEY! STOP THAT NOW!” the Umin King demanded. “Have you no mercy on a male who hasn't kissed his own wife in as long as I have not? I could not even hold
my wife close.”

“So?” Phillie asked. “What's stopping you now?” and she reached up on her toes to kiss Jarrieal who picked her up to hold her to him in a loving hug. They
were finally going to stop having to go around killing pirates. They could start their own repair business and become known as the shop that developed the
jump drive. Her heart was filled with great joy.

“Yes, what is stopping you?” the Umin Queen asked only to find herself swept up in her Warrior's arms where she was deeply kissed for the first time in
many, many times!

Jon turned the ship over to the newly awakened crew of Umin survivors and he moved all of his and Satrina's things over to Defiance. Everything that the
humans who had escaped Earth's destruction had left on the ship was transferred from Leviathan's cargo holds and was loaded into Jon's fleet of Carriers.
True to their word, the Umins had shown Jon's people how to bypass the Umin genetic locks, which would allow them to use everything that remained on
the planet once called Lifegiver. The Dragon Ship that Jon had taken as his own was given to him and sat now in its new berth onboard Defiance. Sitting
beside it were the other four Dragon ships and crews were competing to be pilots. Jon had offered to give one to each of his personal flight team, but none
of them except for Jarrieal wanted to be a pilot. Phillie had been given a complete set of plans, and instructions on their care and maintenance along with
five of the repair drones to keep them in perfect condition.

“Its my gift to you Youngster, as are the Dragon's Breath and the armor.” King Eoin told Jon. “Galaxeia will build me more if I ever need them again.”

The secret of the healing tubes was taught to Healer Hukor. As several of the tubes were manufactured by robots that had been hidden in Leviathan's
Engineering section and installed in each of the medical labs on every ship in Jon's fleet. The special ability of the tubes to repair even Jon's nearly
severed spine was in the water that the tubes sprayed over the occupants. Water that came from the planet they had been given for their new home. Given
enough time, the tubes could heal anything. They could even replace missing limbs with healthy new tissue and reverse the natural aging process. As the
surviving Earthlings had already learned, a person could enter a tube in old age and emerge several cycles later in their prime cycles of life.

The rest of his crew spread out into the other ships that were being held in Leviathan's cargo bays, while Phillie and a team of Umin engineers converted
the ships engines from simple modified slipdrives to fully functional jump drives. Thereby greatly increasing the effective range of each ship. When the
drives were ready and the Umin crews were all back onboard the Leviathan, Jon received a call from the Umin king.

“Hey Connell, are you ready to start your new life on the planet we're giving you?”

“I believe so your Majesty.” Jon replied.

“Good, I'm sending the coordinates to your Navigation Officers now. Once you get there you'll be able to find your way to the outer rim worlds. You'll find
many of our old factories that are still fully functional. Just make sure you are careful using some of the things they will make. I'm having your ships
pushed out into space now Connell.” The King paused. “Farewell my human descendant. You and all of your kind have done an excellent job with what we've
given you. Remember to always rule over your people with love and kindness before resorting to battle.”

Jon had gotten up to the bridge while the Umin King was speaking to him and now he stood looking out at space and seeing Leviathan far off to one side,
while his own fleet of Destroyer and Carrier class ships were floating free in a perfect formation to the massive ship's left side. He could see that the
once proud symbol of the nation that had sent the last humans out into space had been removed from the bow of the Leviathan. That stars and stripes flag
was still proudly displayed on all of Jon's ships, so it would never be lost. Phillie had even found a way to put one of the real flags on a mast outside
the security ships hulls and make it stay extended as if being blown by a strong wind. Jon thought it was a silly thing, but it did give his ships
something that no other ships in the galaxy had.

“Good-bye my children.” the voice of the Umin Queen said, as there appeared a brilliant flash out where Leviathan had been floating just a second ago.

“They're gone, Jon.” Satrina softly said with a tear in her eye. “I shall miss them and their ship and all the good we brought to the rim worlds with her.”

“We'll keep on doing good things out here.” Jon assured his mate and pulled her into his lap. “Nav,” he called out, “Have you plotted a course to the
coordinates the King gave us?”

“Yes sir.”

“Very well, check with the other ships and lets go see our new home.” Jon ordered.

Deep out in space, bright flashes of light were all that remained of the small fleet of converted military vessels and captured pirate Haulers. In less
than a second, they reappeared in orbit around a lush green planet where the crews began reclaiming the ancient Umin cities as their own. Talga ran off to
roam the dense forests and was soon united with his promised mate. The wild cats on this planet were not as large, nor did they have the razor sharp fangs
of the tigers on Haven. Soon the name of Talga had spread across all the land and the wild cats chose him as their pride leader. His first orders to the
wild beasts were that they should guard the new beings that had come to live on Lifegiver with their own lives. This would be their new home and the big
cats swore to protect them.

Jon and his teams continued to patrol the rim worlds keeping them safe from evil males and criminals. The Peacekeeper forces built new training facilities
along the rim where recruits were sent to train in ground tactics. Once each cycle, representatives from all the rim worlds met on Lifegiver to discuss the
needs of their worlds and resolve issues between them and the central worlds. Within five cycles, Jon was finally able to take off his armor and
concentrate on his shipping business from his home office in the basement of the “A” Frame house he and Satrina had built near a crystal lake high in the
mountains. Satrina opened herself to Jon's seed on the night he announced that he would not be commanding Defiance on patrol missions again and in due time
presented him with another set of twins. They were named after Satrina’s father and mother in order to honor the King and his Queen.

Phillie wasted no time in getting many of the Umin factories working again. The products made by them became the most valued in the galaxy and were always
in high demand. Jarrieal continued to fly with Jon until he too had finally had enough of battle and he settled into the role of mechanic's helper with his
mate. They both lived long, happy lives and together had three more sets of twins. Jarrieal promptly spoiled each of the eight younglings terribly.

The Dragon Ships continued to be a part of the Stars and Stripes security forces and only the best pilots were selected to fly them. It was considered to
be a great honor to wear the golden Dragon wings, which signified that a pilot qualified to fly one of the ships. Pilots were known to continue to wear
their wings even after retirement from the service and adopted the phrase, “Once a Dragon, always a Dragon” as their own.

King Le'puix stepped down and handed the throne over to Zeprik who ruled the Lexonian people fairly with Queen Jellio at his side. They were loved by their
subjects and when the announcement of the birth of their first born was made, the people themselves arranged for a huge celebration that spanned even the
rim planets reaching as far out as Lifegiver.

Through several generations, the names of the original crews from Jon's fleet became legends. The people of Lifegiver continued to fight against evil and
to keep the rim worlds free. Even when those planets that once were little more than starving colonies had become thriving city-states under the rule of
the Lexonian King, the descendants of Jon and Satrina continued to rule in the King's name. Above all else, they made sure that the people were protected
and cared for as only a kind and loving Warrior King can do.