Rational Jupiter Ascending!
Jupiter swallowed heavily. She couldn't stop shaking. Adrenaline cooldown sucked.
"I'm probably delusional or dreaming," Jupiter said, "but...those boots? I need a set." She took a deep calming breath. "And a shield like that, if people are going to try to kill me. Or two."
"We're on minimal resources," the buff blond said, "but I'll see what I can get you."
# # #
The flight pack wobbled slightly, but it still kept Jupiter up and away from the battle. An occasional stray shot came near her, but she kept her shield up in her left hand. While her right held a laser gun or plasma emitter or some offworld weapon that looked like a pistol, it was a holdout weapon only. As bad a shot as these aliens were, she was confident that they'd hit her before she hit them.
Suddenly she heard an electronic whine at her ear. "Drop the gun, Princess," a gravelly, guttural voice snarled. She slowly lowered the gun until it pointed straight down – and then fired, turned, fired three more times.
The first shot hit nothing but branches, but it made the hunter flinch. The second shot went wild. The third and fourth embedded themselves in the torso of a heavy serpentine creature with wings. It squealed and dropped out of the tree. Time to change positions.
They held out for the evening, relying heavily on explosives and healing sprays, but even so, Caine was missing several fingers and Stinger was blind in one eye by the time the Aegis cruiser entered orbit.
# # #
"Seriously?! You kill entire planets – you kill a hundred people to give yourself what, twenty extra years? Thirty? How many resources does it take to abduct an entire planet?!"
Titus seemed taken aback. "You take issue with the practice on an economic basis?"
Jupiter grimaced. "No. There's a difference between why I want to stop mass murder and how I'm going to change the system. I understand I've inherited a fair amount of money along with my planet. Time to put it to use."
"What are you planning?"
"When is the last time someone came up with an improvement to Nectar? To how it's created, how it's used?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I honestly don't know."
"Let me guess. The recipes are secret, and the houses have a government monopoly."
"For the past hundred and fifty millennia."
If this society weren't killing billions of thinking beings per day, Jupiter would be cackling and rubbing her hands together. "Care to join me for some market disruption?"
# # #
It only took a few decades – during which seventeen inhabited worlds were harvested, killing over a hundred and fifty billion people – but Jupiter's team of scientists, many of whom were recruited from Earth, had made great strides. And today was the day for the first human test of the revised rejuvenation system.
The nuts and bolts were mostly the same, but the new version of Nectar used a novel combination of revised cloning techniques, DNA recombination, and a collection of pharmaceuticals to produce the base material. Everything suggested it was perfectly safe – there were hundreds of chimps with a new lease on life down in the labs. Secretly, she suspected Titus had already had thrown a cadre of slaves into the rejuvenation vats.
Still, as far as she knew, she was the first human subject. Down under the liquid, an electric tingle across her skin, and back up. Then in front of the mirror.
The lines had disappeared from her face, her skin tightened, her muscles restored their tone. Her joints no longer creaked. As she examined herself, her breathing, which had been slightly labored of late, eased. Her hair was still limp and white, but that would fix itself in time. The diagnostic bracelet on her wrist twinkled blue, indicating good health – it hadn't taken quite that shade in years.
Caine appeared with a dressing gown then. His physiology gave him a somewhat longer life, but he was still showing significant signs of age. "Congratulations," he said. "Have you chosen a name for your new Nectar?"
"Yes," she said, deciding suddenly. "Turmiel. It means royal jelly."
"Appropriate." He seemed like he was about to continue, but thought better of it.
Jupiter sensed what he was about to say. "Yes, it's safe for you. One of the improvements I insisted on. Immortality without you...I'm not saying I'd turn it down," she smiled, "but having you around would definitely be nice."