Chapter 184: Chapter183: Beginning…

The new school year came along much too fast. Our vacation was a lot of fun, but as always, there’s work to be done, and decisions to be made.

Goliath, what the military named asteroid 19274, has been hollowed out by nanites into a cylinder-shaped area 75 kilometers x 26 kilometers, which means, it has a huge amount of internal surface area, 7188 square kilometers.

Multiple layers of defense shielding, innumerable weapons both offensive and defensive, power systems, drives, inertial dampers, gravity generators, the command and control section, landing bays, engineering section, and a plasma arc that runs the length of the ship to simulate the sun are all installed. All with massive amounts of redundancy.

Asteroids were converted into topsoil for it. You’d be amazed at how many asteroids it took to make the amount needed for a layer of soil 50 meters deep, not to mention the number of nanites required to do it. A huge factory farm in the US was built, and they grew the worms and other insects needed for healthy soil. Uncountable numbers of trees and plants were required for it. Enough that they alone can provide the oxygen and carbon dioxide scrubbing needed, although there are several backup environmental systems just in case.

Currently, construction crews are busily building the houses and the massive amounts of other buildings needed to make a city. General Chambers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed me that they expect it to be finished within 6 months.

Onto another priority project of mine. Mars, as in, geoforming it. The nanites have done their job of increasing the density of, and restarting, the core. Gravity is a pleasant 0.84 g’s. Have I ever mentioned how amazing nanites are? Trust me, they are. Countless comets and icy bodies have been captured and seeded across Mars, which has allowed the atmosphere to thicken once again. This is entirely due to an extremely large solar reflector that was built around Mars. The planet is rapidly warming up, so now, the average nighttime temperature has risen from -73℃ to a balmy 3℃ and climbing. There are even lakes that have formed, which will eventually become oceans and other bodies of water.

The geoforming scientists’ and engineers’ last report stated they expect the average nighttime temperature to stabilize at around 16℃ in about a year or so. They also asked for permission to stabilize the orbit of Phobos and were given it. You should remember from school that Phobos was slowly spiraling into Mars. The military has claimed Deimos to build a base out of it.

Lone Star station has been completed along with about a third of the orbital ring. Thank God for nanites, they make everything so much easier and faster. Programming them can be problematic, but it’s still much faster than the alternative.

Several hundred Sumo-class ships have been built and sold. They’re busily harvesting asteroids, icy bodies, and comets all while making a tidy profit doing so. Humanity seems to have grabbed ahold of the dream I presented to them with both hands and seem to be relishing the adventure and new opportunities that space offers.

I royally pissed off much of congress when I got back from my vacation and signed a proclamation that I had been thinking about for a while now. It’s something that General Chambers brought up a while back, language. As in, there are far too many. So, after talking to Anne and George, my parents, Jenny, and much consideration, I made learning English a requirement as the language of the commonwealth. Oh, the local languages can still be used, but I’m requiring all citizens to be able to read, write and speak in English fluently. It only makes sense, we need a common language. Can you imagine the headaches that would arise if the military members used many different languages?

Akari had a message from Mirai to come to see her because she wanted to discuss something that she didn’t want to talk about on the phone, even over a secure connection.

So, a week after my return, I finally had a chance to break away and go see her. When I arrived at TGR HQ, Mirai dragged me down to see Dakota. We parked ourselves in Dakota’s office, turned on the privacy field, and Dakota was grinning from ear-to-ear when she told me that she was able to change my nanites to work for men with all the benefits they provide for us. I just about fell out of my seat.

Yes, Dakota and Mirai both have my nanites. For that matter, so does Yui. Once I recomposed myself, I asked her to produce 14 doses of them for me. Then I asked her to develop a variant that didn’t include the longevity coding and asked that they limit the woman to 4 children. We need more people, but we don’t need a population explosion the likes of which have never been seen before.

Back in Mirai’s office, I asked her to bring them to me when they were finished, then ordered Hestia to make sure no more of them were produced without my explicit permission to do so.

Two weeks later, Mirai and Dakota arrive along with a contingent of guards to deliver them. I had the staff assign them some rooms for the night and told Akari to call to have George, Kazuto, Kinji, Jim, Kei, Ryu, Mark, Katsuo, Bob, Hiroki, Hiro, and Dad report to the palace medical office tomorrow afternoon. In other words, the spouses of all the women who have my nanites.

The next afternoon, Dakota administered the shots. Seeing that two were left, Mirai asks, “Who are the last two for?” I smile and tell her, “Dakota’s and your spouse when you finally get married.”

Virtually every continent has at least one ship, drive, and weapons factory along with the five factories in orbit for the larger military ships that were requested. Those factories are churning out Battlecruisers, Battleships, Dreadnoughts, Carriers, and Supercarriers. All the rest of the military ships are being built here on Earth across the globe. The crews for them are already being trained around the world as well.

Plans currently call for 2 supercarrier groups, 5 carrier strike groups, and 10 fast action strike groups.

The supercarrier groups consist of: 2 supercarriers, 5 carriers, 2 dreadnoughts, 4 battleships, 10 assault carriers, 10 battlecruisers, 10 cruisers, 20 destroyers, and 30 frigates.

The carrier strike groups consist of: 4 carriers, 10 assault carriers, 20 battlecruisers, 25 cruisers, 50 destroyers, and 75 frigates.

The fast action strike groups consist of: 2 carriers, 5 assault carriers, 10 battlecruisers, 20 cruisers, 40 destroyers, and 50 frigates.

As you can see, each has quite a collection of firepower. As of this moment, though, we only have enough ships for 3 fast-action strike groups, plus the beginnings of another. It might seem like overkill to have that many ships since Earth is at peace, but as General Chambers pointed out, it won’t be long before the orbital defenses are completed and we begin to send out scouts to other solar systems.

[Friday, August 24]

Today, we spend the afternoon telling the staff what to pack so that we can fly out to England again since school resumes on Monday. Our bags are loaded on the Peregrine for the half-hour flight, and we land at around 9:30 in the morning at Heathrow airport. We’re again met by Jackson and Michael. Once we’re in the SUV, we tell Michael to drop Ryu off and then take us to our school. First, we drop off Ryu, and then we head to our school. Once there, we make our way to the office to check in and get our schedules.

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[Monday, August 28]]

Today marks the beginning of our final year of high school. So, after our usual making love in the morning, we bathe and then soak. After we dry off each other, we style our hair, apply our makeup and then head to the closet to select what to wear. As is normal for this time of year in England, it’s somewhat cool, so for myself, I choose a royal blue, long sleeve, scoop-neck mini dress along with nude, glossy stockings and my white suede thigh boots. Once we’re dressed, we make our way downstairs to the dining room to eat.

Walking through the school gates with my sisters, most of the students don’t react to my presence, other than to smile and wave. The exceptions are the new students. Most of those seem to be at a loss for words and merely stand awestruck when I smile and bid them a good morning as we walk by them to the opening ceremony.

They look to be even more surprised when several girls squeal happily, and call out, “Sora!” I smile brightly and wave to them as they run over to hug me. Glancing around, I sigh over the new students’ reactions to my presence and think, ‘Seriously? I’m not that intimidating, am I?’

Shaking off the thought, I return my attention to our friends. They join our little entourage, and we chatter away about what we did over the summer as we go inside to find seats.

The auditorium becomes quiet as the headmistress walks onto the stage and up to the podium.

“Good Morning, everyone!”

We reply, “Good morning, headmistress.”

“It’s a pleasure to see you back once again.” She looks at me and winks. “I’ve been reminded that while Sora Ueno is our Queen, she expects that all of the staff and students call her Sora.

“…What is so special about success? Many ask themselves, why can’t I be second or third in anything I do? Is it necessary to be successful, always?”

She looks around the room. “…My answer to you will forever be, yes! Success allows you to accomplish your goals in life. Fame may give you notable status, in the short term. In the long run,” she shrugs, “fame is fleeting.

“Now, what is the secret of success? No matter what you define as success, the secret is fairly simple. Patience and perseverance.

“All great leaders have reached their goals through constant perseverance. Scientists never gave up. No matter how many times they may have failed, they stood back up, dusted themselves off, and patiently tried again. There is no shame in failure. Shame comes from failing to try again.

“If you need an example of success, you need to look no further than our Queen. At 13 years old, she inherited a rather large sum of money and owned a multi-billion dollar corporation. She could very well have sat back and lived however she wished with the money she already had. As you already know, she didn’t do that. Her corporation developed a treatment that is helping untold millions of women around the world become fertile again. She created a new corporation which has led to revolutionary technologies. That led to the creation of a coalition of nations to take us into space and save our planet. Her inspiring leadership has turned the world as we know it upside down! Then, at the demand of that selfsame coalition of nations, she became our Queen at 16 years old. Let that sink in for a moment. 16! Years! Old! …Never once did she falter in reaching for her goals. When she achieved them, she set new ones, sweeping all of us along with her in sharing those dreams. And, what dreams they are!

“I once asked Sora why she pushes herself so hard. She told me that she had read a quote from Aristotle, which she always keeps in mind. ‘Anything well begun is half done.’ I have to agree, and there’s no denying that anything that is started with a positive, can-do attitude is already well on its way to being accomplished. Believing that something can be done is the first step in accomplishing it!

“So, with that said, as you all enter your classes today, make a list of even the smallest ideas that may lead you along the path to success. Persevere and give your all in everything you set out to do. If you give it your all, whether you achieve your aim or not, you’re a success. We’re here to give you the tools you’ll need along that path.

“Your teachers are the very best, and we will push you to reach farther than you ever thought possible. No one ever said that things would come easily, but if you believe in yourself and persevere no matter what, then you can succeed. I want you to remember, none of you would be here if you weren’t the cream of the crop. We do not waste our precious time by admitting slackers, no matter who their parents may be. Each and every one of you have proven your potential. I’d love nothing more than to see every single one of you surpass the extraordinary potential you’ve already shown.

“I wish you all a grand and successful year. You’re dismissed.”

Everyone claps as she makes her way off stage. Getting up, we head to class with our friends, chatting along the way. Once we arrive, several others we know come over to greet us, and we talk until our instructor comes in. We take our seats, and she introduces herself, “Good morning. I’m Anastasia Keller. I’ll be your calculus instructor.”

Class is short today since all it consists of is receiving our laptops and digital school books.

Once we pick up Ryu, we return to Kensington Palace to find a rather impatient-looking Akari waiting for us at the entrance. Getting out, I wave at her and walk over.

“Sora, the Chinese Ambassador has requested a meeting.”

All I can think is, ‘Crap! There goes my plans for this afternoon!’

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