Justice Corp: Gamma (The Golden Knights)

by shenandoahok

Jimmy McGinnis builds the Golden Knights, and takes on an old evil in the universe: The Green Lantern Corp. In the process, he searches for the traitors in his organization who handed over pertinent military secrets to Moxia, and tries building powerful Battlecruisers to stop his fleet of Demon Class Ships, Warbirds and Parasitic Vessels. (Read Justice Corp: Gamma First)

1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Niona walked into the Demon's cafeteria with a poster of her beloved sister, stuck it on the wall, and then looked it over for a second. It was partly crowded with Jimmy and T'Nalia watching her from the other side of the cafeteria. She handed the posters to several of the Classmen to hang throughout the ship with her sister's digitally aged picture on the right side. The woman in the poster was a Neonotium with orange hair, a green visage, and her name was Eoni Iobi. She had been missing for a number of years, at least since Niona was the age of nine. When Jimmy saw the photos posted on the ship's walls, he looked at them with a grimace, and asked Niona, "Do you think hanging those up will work?" He knew more about her sister than he let on, but couldn't tell her what happened to her. Due to the previous timeline, Jimmy had involved her sister in several nefarious situations, and because of her empathic abilities, he employed her services because he understood what he had done.

"I haven't seen her since my ninth birthday," she said. "My father, Prince Iobi, asked me to spread these around the universe." She watched Jimmy closely for a moment, and then stood in front of the poster with her arms folded. She made sure it was straight on the wall, and once she assured it was straight, she turned to him, and smiled.

Jimmy squirmed at the sight of her sister plastered on the wall and then said, "We've only been back on Doraxia for a few weeks." He placed his right arm around her for a moment. "Soon, we'll have a fleet of ships patrolling all over the galaxy, and if she's out there, we'll find her." He knew exactly where she was located, and from the way she advertised Eoni's status, he feared it would blow her cover; but at the same time, he couldn't allow her to know what he knew.

"I just ask the Laws of Reason that she's okay," she said with a smile. She looked somber and prestiges-and royal like, and because of that, he placed his right hand around the back of her neck, and pressed his forehead gently against hers. "I miss her so much, General. That's the reality of it."

"We'll find her," he said softly. He could feel Niona's hurt. The idea that her sister had been missing since she was ten-years-old cut her deeply. "If she's out there…"

"Can't you use your powerful mind…?" She asked. Placing her right hand on the side of his temple, she smiled softly. "When I saw you train Tina how to be a Lantern from forty light years away, I'm sure you could detect Eoni anywhere. Your mind is stronger than anything I've ever experienced."

"I don't feel her presence at all," he said with a grimace. He couldn't detect her because she was located on the other side of the Denison Barrier. The entire barrier stretched thousands of light years, and the radiation in it blocked all communications and telepathic thought. "I can feel your other twenty-eight siblings, but…," he said.

"Then maybe the Laws of Reason are unreasonable in this case," she said with a brittle voice. "Maybe she's gone."

"Colonel, that's not how we think," he said. For a moment, he thought she was manipulating him to open his mind to her. "Don't lose hope. If anything, she's farther than my mind can reach. Across the Denison Barrier."

She smirked. "In a Neonotium ship?" She asked. "Her conveyance only traveled at warp three." She shook her head in disbelief, and then said, "It would take twenty something years to travel out of your reach."

"Wasn't she a Sapphire?" Jimmy asked. He realized immediately that he should have walked away from the conversation because he hated lying to her. She had a way of prying information out of him, and he needed to be extremely careful with his words.

"True. But she had disappeared by the time the Sapphires found me," she said.

Jimmy knew the only reason the Sapphires found her was because he told them where to look, but he'd never tell her that. Specifically, he talked to an evil Sapphire named Perilous Pearl, and he promised to pay her thirty million dollars in gold to save her life. It happened when he was around twelve-years-old, and he had a telepathic connection to her. After Niona hooked up with the Sapphires, Pearl tormented Niona, and he promised her if she touched her one more time that that he'd cause her to have a brain bleed. "Maybe she's working for the better good, Niona. It's possible." Jimmy thought back to when Niona came aboard the Demon, and he came into her hovel after Su'Ra, his wife, went to sleep. The telepathic length he had with Niona kept breaking because of her horrid memories of how Pearl tortured her.

"What are you doing, Jimmy?" Niona asked. "We need to discuss sexual guidelines, marriage, and everything with Su'Ra before we engage in coitus."

"I'm not here for that," he said softly. "I do love you, and that's why I'm here." He grabbed a hold of her, and went deep into her mind, mapped out a set of new memories, and trained her in the ways of the ancient Lanterns. He was in her room for nearly two hours constantly filling her head with fighting techniques of the ancients. It was his ring that gave him the abilities to imbue her with powerful fighting skills. Once he finished, she believed that Pearl taught her, and by doing that, he was able to keep a constant telepathic connection with her.

Niona paused for a moment, and thought back to her sister. "Huh. Eoni left abruptly in her conveyance," she said. "Father didn't upset her or anything like that. She wasn't estranged from the family or anything. It makes no sense." She cried for a moment. "Maybe somebody will recognize her from these fliers."

Six years later, Terry, Jessica, Vivian, T'Nalia, Raydon, Blake, Little Terry, Niona, Karen, S'Rae F'Nare, and John sat in the audience at Glassco University on Doraxia to watch Jimmy receive his doctorate in Transwarp Theory. A young woman in plain, Doraxian clothing named CheCha T'Naga stood in the crowd, and Jimmy looked over at her several times. Jimmy directed her with his telepathy to move closer to his wives, and ensure they were always in her sight. When Jimmy walked across the stage, T'Rolo placed the beret on his head, and he was holding Little Terry in the process. People from the crowd screamed, "Doraxia loves you, General."

Jimmy waved at his two wives: T'Nalia and Niona, and Little Terry was smiling wildly. He then said, "I love you back, Doraxia." The crowd cheered so loudly that it drowned out the speaker. Since Little Terry was half Neonodium, holding his son while receiving his doctorate was a tacit show of support for his wife's people. It must have been more than one hundred graduating with different types of degrees, but only six people in the Doctorate programs were in the audience. T'Dank and T'Nalia, Jimmy's father-n-law, was in the audience too, and even though all he needed in the audience was the exact people who came, he couldn't help but think about the real Superman. He didn't even know the real Superman, but he thought there was a connection with him. In the year twenty-twenty-five, the real Superman disappeared and the imposter took his place, and now Jimmy felt he might have been captured. He had John Diggle and his father, Terry McGinnis, keeping their ears close to the ground for any clues of the Man of Steel.

In the other timeline, the General had a total of ten wives, and Niona knew of them all but one. His first wife was T'Nalia, and the Lantern's murdered her. Niona was his second wife, but their wedding was a clandestine affair in the last timeline. He didn't engage in coitus with her until after she turned forty-five, but they made love on a telepathic level. His third wife was Checha, and they had four kids. Now, Niona, Checha, and his fifth wife, S'Rae F'Nare all knew each other, but when it came to his fourth wife, only Niona knew her, but she didn't know her sister, Eoni, was alive. He kept Eoni far away from his other wives unless she was in disguise. When Jimmy received his Doctorate, S'Rae F'Nare was eleven years old, and had started her third year of Officer Lantern School. She was a stowaway on a Peridian vessel when the General discovered her on his honeymoon with Niona. The precocious child's telepathic and empathic abilities were so strong that she had vivid memories of the previous timeline, and immediately bowed before Jimmy as soon as she saw him. Meanwhile, she sat with Jimmy's family quietly watching the ceremony.

It was two years (six Earth years) after the liberation of the Earth from the Kryptonians, and General T'Mcginnis had manned warships actively protecting Doraxian space. It was a glorious time for Jimmy and his family, and for the Federation of Yellow Lanterns. Jimmy referred to his individual Lanterns as Golden Knights. The first three thousand recruits graduated from the school, and many of the Sinestro Corp had applied for a position in the Yellow Lantern Corp.

"You are my first Knights. We will bring a new era to the universe. We will bring about a safer universe," Jimmy said as he stood on stage in front of a sea of men and women dressed in gold and black.

The crowd of intergalactic cops dressed in their honorary suits gave him a feel-good feeling that he couldn't shake. The black and yellow uniforms stretched over the entire campus, and Jessica, Vivian, Tina, and Irita were all in the first graduating class. He had ships for Jessica, Tina, Irita, and Vivian, but when it came to his former Sinestro recruits, he had an immediate distrust of them, and he tried to judge them on their merits, but he struggled with it. When the graduation ended, the city of Glassco held a huge event for the advent of the Yellow Lantern Corp. It was a block party that covered the entire downtown area, and it was also televised. Checha T'Naga wore black glasses, and she walked behind Jimmy's family the entire time. She was inconspicuous because none of her movements or dress were flamboyant. Jimmy and T'Nalia stood in the center of the city in their Yellow Lantern attire, and Niona gave him away to his first wife; they married for the second time in front of millions of people, and Niona stood on the other side of Jimmy. When T'Rolo asked T'Nalia if she took him as her husband, she walked over to Niona, and asked her permission to share her husband, and Niona said, "Yes." When T'Rolo asked Jimmy if he wanted to marry T'Nalia, he turned to Niona, and asked her permission if he may take another wife, and she said, "Yes." The same thing happened except in reverse when Jimmy married Niona on Neostar.

Jimmy and T'Nalia took another honeymoon on the Miritic Moon approximately seventy-five light years from Doraxia, and it was a secured room away from the normal guess. Her parents had Raydon and Blake, and they were busy learning about the Nalia family history, and Jimmy felt good that his sons would be entrenched in knowledge about his wife's family. He knew a lot about Superman's history, but that wasn't necessarily the history he wanted to tell them. Terry was reticent when it came to his parents, and Jimmy only knew the basics.

Niona was temporary commander of the Demon, and she helped with the cost of the honeymoon. It was tradition that the other wife paid for the expenses of the new wife. It was crazy because Jimmy and T'Nalia were already married, but the first wedding was done secretly, outside the eyes of the public. People who weren't familiar with the polygamous marriages on Doraxia might be under the impression that wild threesomes took place, but that was far from the truth. Niona had slept in between Jimmy and T'Nalia on several occasions, but they were strictly platonic gatherings. Jimmy had a strong, independent sexual bond with both women, but when it came to the two women, it was unwaveringly platonic at all times. When it came to T'Nalia, Jimmy loved her with the passion of his heart first, and then the mind. But when it came to Niona, Jimmy loved her with his mind first, and then the heart.

"Jimmy, you have to write a better SOP on the trans-warp tech," she said. It was more like a mumbling because she was busy trying to find her black bathing suit. "We can't let that tech get into enemy hands." She rifled through her suitcase for her black bathing suit that Jimmy liked. "Found it." She held it up for Jimmy to see.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled off his pants, tossed them in the middle of the floor, and then sat back on the bed. "I have forty pages written about it, and I'd like you to review it," he said, "my thesis is all theoretical," he said, "I didn't want the applied concepts of trans technology published. I didn't think about the ramifications of the tech during the design phase."

"The Universe isn't ready for such technology. That's for sure," she said, "I'm not sure if we're ready for it."

Jimmy lay in the middle of the bed, and watched his first wife put on her black bathing suit. "The Council of Science will have to know about the tech at some point," he said. "It's Top-Secret, and all my majors and intelligence officers know it's not to be discussed. I didn't tell Major T'Dank about it, but Captain Jade knows. The first generation of devices allows for a ship to hop fifty light years."

"Honestly, I never imagined you'd build something so useful," she said, "Niona and Jimmy dropped Captain Jade off on The Blue Dragon patrolling over Praxis like an hour after the wedding, and back in less than half a day. "Su'Ra T'Nalia shook her head in disbelief. "I still can't believe it. Jimmy, you've single handedly pushed Doraxian space technology hundreds of years ahead."

"My Second was so mad that we tested the first device on her rinky-dinky ship," Jimmy said. He smirked for a moment. "It came back smoking."

Su'Ra laughed. "By the way, I did read E'Da T'Naga's journals. I was dismayed and frightened at his accuracy of our lives."

"I do stay up at nights wondering if my love for you and Niona is written in my DNA," he said, "According to the historical data of my ring, I believe you two are written in my DNA. In the start up to our relationship, I should have dumped you for lying to me about my Destroyer ring. Every time I wanted to leave you alone, your tug on my heart grew stronger and stronger."

"Niona said the same thing after you blew up all those Battlecruisers. She tried to hate you for it, and she couldn't. I went through the same pain when I tried to break up with you." She grimaced. "You know your Lieutenant Colonel cried for a week when you tried to give her a ship? Even after you guys married, she worried you'd give her a ship."

"She's my Lieutenant Colonel, and I was obligated to ask her before anybody else," he said, "I didn't want her to go. In five more years, she has to head the Academy, and she'll be a General by then." Jimmy paused for a moment, and then said, "T'Naga's journals discusses this nexus between us, but it doesn't tell us the source. He states what will be, but not why," Jimmy said, "If I find the source, maybe I'll destroy it."

T'Nalia gave Jimmy a cold stare, and she squinted her eyes. "I'll break your hands if Niona doesn't break them first."

"Just the thought a source of our love exists makes me want to find it, and then hide it somewhere so nobody can ever find it again. It feels so good to love you that I never want it to end," he said, "Do you know we're still having unexpected sex in the weirdest of places after seven years?"

"Yeah. I was there believe it or not," she said, "Sometimes I wonder."

"Okay smart-ass," Jimmy said. Suddenly, Jimmy looked serious; his countenance was completely off, and T'Nalia caught on quickly.

"What's wrong?" She hopped on the bed, put her arms around her husband, and then asked, "Tell me, Jimmy? I see that look in your eyes."

"Your father wants you to head the Lantern Academy," he said calmly. He didn't want to raise his voice and ruin the intimacy in the room, but it was probably too late. It was an important topic, and he knew he'd probably have to resort to the fake vagina that T'Nalia made for him. At first, he wasn't going to pack it, but he knew at some point he had to discuss the reassignment topic. He didn't mind the fake vagina after he had the real thing, but he realized his timing was all messed up.

She rolled off the bed, walked over to the other side of the bed with her arms folded, and asked, "What did you tell him?" Her upper lip was curved downward in an angry manner, but she wasn't upset with Jimmy. She paced back and forth in her spot, and he could tell she was stressed.

"I told him you were best with Niona and me on the Demon," he said. Gently, he held her buttocks; he kept her from pacing, and then she pouted. "But he used the Raydon and Blake argument, Su'Ra. It was a low blow."

She became huffy. "I'm not going to do it, Jimmy. I don't want that assignment so soon. I can bring both kids on the ship. We're in strict administrative roles anyway. I'm representing Doraxia and Niona represents Neostar. All we do is meet and greet and act as dignitaries. We only have to tackle the high ranking administrative actions, but the majority of administrative actions happen at the command level. This really sucks, Jimmy!"

"I can talk to T'Rauna to head the Academy for the next two years," he said, "She might do it. But I can't let a former Sinestro Corp near the top position. "

"That's true, but did you ask T'Dank?" She asked.

"I have a problem with him," he said. "It's his damn nephew."

"I didn't know you when he and I had relations," she said, "It was meaningless."

"I've never cared about that," he said, "I knew about that anyway. My issue is he put his nephew in command of the Blue Dragon. That's why I have my intelligence officer on the ship. That idiot left his bridge unattended twice, and I know he's holding parties on the ship. I should have asked for his resignation immediately, but T'Dank asked me to give him another chance. This nepotism has to end. At least I can prove Vivian and Jessica are worthy commanders."

Jessica was a major in the Yellow Lantern Corp, and she commanded the Blue Hellion, a warship capable of warp five. It had two parasitic shuttles, and two gamma cannons with eight powerful positronic lasers. She had a crew of seventy-five soldiers, and four of them were Yellow Lanterns. The Blue Hellion patrolled Thoraxian air-space, and she had already engaged a Battlecruiser who tried to kidnap Thoraxian citizens. The Thoraxian military had sixteen, elite soldiers from their military serving on the Blue Hellion, and each one of them came with Cobra, retractable wing fighter planes. They tore into that Battlecruiser, and chased them out of Thoraxian airspace. Jimmy inspected the Blue Hellion every couple of months to make sure relations between Doraxians and Thoraxians were okay.

Jimmy offered Niona command of The World Creator, a Demon class ship, but she turned it down before he completed his sentence. The World Creator was a codename the Doraxian people used, but the actual name of the ship was the Demonia. The ship was under a mass upgrade that would set it apart from all the other ships in the fleet. By the time the robots finished upgrading the ship, it would hold eight thousand lanterns, and all their parasites. It would look like a large spider with its babies on her back, and have the ability to deploy almost anywhere in the universe. Unfortunately, Niona didn't want the ship unless Jimmy set up the entire command structure on the Demonia. She wanted to command the Demonia, and run all the executive decisions out of it. If that wasn't the case, she settled for the Operation Officer's job on the Blue Demon, and it was a Colonel's position. Jimmy commanded the ship and T'Nalia was co-commander. The ship had two hundred soldiers on it, but only officers were allowed on the bridge, and they had to be bridge officers. When the ship orbited any planet, the four parasitic shuttles with eight men crews patrolled the area.

Captain Diggle was the pilot of the Blue Demon, and she did an admirable job. Karen was the communications officer, and the youngest person on the ship. She was now thirteen-years-old, and had spent four Earth years on Earth training with a secret society called the Silver Blades. They were a powerful group of women on Paradise Island. They trained her in combatives, bullets and bracelets, and sword fighting. She was now considered an expert.

When Jimmy tried to give Niona her own Demon class ship, it cut her deeply because she wanted to serve under him indefinitely. She pushed her sadness into him with her telepathic abilities, and made him feel her pain. She overwhelmed him with so much grief that he had to sit down in his command chair, and gently massage her on a mental level. "Niona, I had to offer you your own ship before anybody in the Yellow Lantern Corp. You're my Second and Lieutenant Colonel, and I love you."

"It just hurt, sir," she said in a mental whisper. "It felt like you wanted me off the Demon."

"I'm going to be honest with you, Niona," he said, "I didn't want you to take the command. I wanted you here with me until you take charge of the Academy."

Two Doraxian years earlier…

After the Demon returned from earth, Jimmy wanted to have sex with T'Nalia four times in the same night. Their bodies were swirled together in a pool of sweat, and he was interacting with her mind on a telepathic level. He teased her on a cerebral level, and it intensified her climaxes to the point that she blurted out, "Honestly, if you and Niona have a private liaison, I'll look the other way." Jimmy looked at her for a second, and at first, he thought she was kidding, but she never said it was a joke.

He rolled over on his back, and looked at the ceiling of his hovel, and said with a grimace, "It's no secret how I feel about her since you read T'Naga's journals." He lamented. She laid her head on his lap. "Don't you get that I can't lose you and I don't want to lose your trust?"

"For three years you've been pounding this blue girl's vagina into oblivion, and mind fucking me at the same time," she said, "I've given this a lot of thought, Jimmy. I love the sex, but my mind isn't built for the telepathic intrusions."

"I haven't played with the idea of being with Niona," he said. For a while, neither one of them said anything as she laid her head on his upper right thigh. A wife who gave her husband permission to sleep with another woman might be losing interest in him, and he couldn't help but think that way about T'Nalia. To keep his sanity, he tried to find the right words for the occasion. Her head was on his lap, and she seemed to be in and out of sleep. She was completely nude, and he slid his right hand over her head for a moment. Jimmy listed several reasons to not physically sleep with Niona, but the main one was it would change the dynamic of his relationship with both T'Nalia and her. Besides, she was in his direct chain of command, and if anybody found out about it, it could cause a rift in the Yellow Lantern Corp. "Have you lost interest in me sexually?" Jimmy asked. It seemed like the right question in his mind.

"Don't be silly," she said, "I'm all into you. I can't even look at another man sexually." Beat, she rolled over on her back, and then said, "I know there's a struggle inside of you, Jimmy. Some women would be upset that you loved another woman. If I didn't know the reason, I would be highly upset that you loved Niona." She paused for a moment, and looked directly at him. "Honestly, I think you need both of us. If she had died and not me, I think you'd have destroyed Oa in the same way. The nights you need her, go to her, but I know you will always come back to me."

"I need to think about this," he whispered. Her bowl cut had grown out, and he slid his hands through her hair. "What if you want let me touch you like this afterwards? I live for these aftersex moments."

She smiled sheepishly. "We'll be like this until death. Besides, you know how some days you can't be satisfied?"

"Yeah," he said.

"I think Niona is the balance," she said, "You have my blessing to love her sexually."

Two months after Jimmy received his doctorate he attended Vivian's Intelligence officer graduation with T'Nalia, Niona, Tina Diggle, and Jessica, and he had never seen her so happy. They threw her a huge party afterwards, and she barely drank any of Doraxia's good wine. Jimmy kept telling her to loosen' up, but she wasn't trying to act a fool. She attended Glassco University, and sailed through the Yellow Lantern Officer's course, and then she spent two months on Zaar in the Officer's Intelligence course, and Jimmy immediately frocked her to the rank of a major, and now she patrolled Earth. She commanded Annihilator One, a powerful ship that moved at warp eight. It had thirteen powerful lasers, at least two for every region of the vessel. In addition, the ship had one gamma cannon, and as far as the crew, it had sixty-five Doraxian soldiers with sixteen Korean soldiers. Jimmy constantly inspected her crew, and when Vivian asked for Tina to be reassigned to Earth, he told her it was never going to happen.

"I know you think I hate you, Vivian," Jimmy said, "But I don't. Tina's job is on the Demon, and she rolls with me. It's nothing against you, but she's on the big missions. She's my pilot."

"I just miss her, sir," She said.

"You can talk to her during the down times," he said, "Just use the boxes."

"It's different," she said.

"The crew is heading to Brion-Noir," he said, "I will give her a two-week respite on Earth before we leave. She can take one of the parasitic vessels, and visit you."

"Thank you, sir," Vivian said.

"Take care of yourself, Vivian," Jimmy said.

Jimmy wanted Vivian to learn other cultures, and he purposely filled her ship with some Korean soldiers who were on six month rotations. Her mother had come to the United States, but hit hard times, and Vivian ended up surviving in the sewers. He had hoped the Koreans would introduce her to their culture, and give her an opportunity to learn about her people. It was the beginning of her journey in learning about herself.

John Diggle Jr. turned down the opportunity to serve in the Yellow Lantern Corp, and he gave the excuse that Star City needed him. He begged him to keep an ear to the ground for the whereabouts of the real Superman. Jimmy didn't believe he had any business on Earth since the people rejected him after the Kryptonians left. He went back to the Council of Science, and they told him it wouldn't be wise to give Earth warp technology; therefore, he gave them sub-warp technology because their culture wasn't ready for intergalactic travel. Earthlings were petty and full of prejudices, and Doraxia didn't want to take on that responsibility. Some company in Africa and Korea worked on ships that would travel between planets in the solar system, and Jimmy already had plans to terraform several planets that humans could populate. He traveled to Mars with Niona on a parasitic vessel when he tested his transwarp technology, and made telepathic contact with the White Martians. They tried to attack him telepathically, and he nearly crushed them with his powers. He told them that he didn't realize the White Martians existed, and that one day, he'd want to bring them into the Federation of Yellow Lanterns. In addition, he told them about the alien threat in the region, and an alliance between the races was important.

Jimmy and Niona flew the parasitic vessel to Saturn's moon, Titan, and did a survey of it. The report read that the planet had just as much nitrogen as Earth, and had some oxygen too. The ship's computer read that it was the perfect candidate for Terraforming, and Niona agreed with the readout. They sent the data back to the Blue Demon, and T'Nalia analyzed the reading, and she also agreed Titan was a prime candidate for terraforming.

The Federation Uniform was black khakis with a yellow name tag on the right and the Yellow Lantern Corp on the left. They wore berets with black, shiny boots. The officers had their ranks on the shoulders while the enlisted had their ranks on the upper arms. There was a female dress that T'Nalia designed, and it was a plain, black dress with no flare. It had many pockets with the rank on the right pocket, but the name and organizational tags were in the same place. Niona had her sleeves rolled up to the biceps, and her emerald arms were slender and feminine looking. She had a medium sized bust with a small waist. She had solid orange hair pulled back in a ponytail with a small noise. Her eyebrows were also orange, and she talked with an accent, when she did talk. Rarely, did she verbally speak to Jimmy. She only spoke to Jimmy telepathically or she didn't really talk to him at all. Jimmy and her often spent hours talking telepathically, even when they were light years apart.

"You know it's Madi meat and pip eggs the whole time," he whispered telepathically.

"Earth is right there," she said telepathically. "We can get a pizza."

After Karen returned from Paradise Island, she was thirteen-years-old, and in fantastic shape. According to her, she spent the majority of time training on her art, and she was now a master swordsman. Su'Ra brought Raydon and Blake onboard the ship, and they were six and two years old in Earth years, but only two and a few months in Doraxian's years. Raydon was already reading and writing, but T'Nalia kept him studying daily. Niona brought Little Terry on the ship once a week, and then took him back to Neostar with her parents. She claimed it was tradition, but Jimmy objected to it. He felt he wasn't getting enough time with his child.

Captain Diggle sat in the pilot's chair with the Brain Helmet, Karen was on communications, and Niona was the Operations Officer. Her post was watching for alien vessels. The ship had two hundred soldiers onboard, and most were of the Old Guard. . Fifteen Lieutenants were onboard the vessel, one hundred lower enlisted, thirty non-commissioned officers, one General, One Colonel, One Lieutenant Colonel, six Captains, two Majors, and the rest were scientists. Niona was the Commander of the Battalion of soldiers, and T'Nalia Commanded over all the ships between Earth to Praxis. Niona was looking over incident reports, but her Captains were over the companies. There were four units, and each unit had one Captain. Tina Diggle wasn't in command of anything except piloting the ship. The other Captain, Taylon T'Mac was Niona's assistant, and he would come and go on the bridge. Major T'Naga who had an assignment on the Dragon worked directly for Niona.

"Captain Diggle, did you put in your leave?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes, sir," she said, "I leave in a day."

"Make sure you lock the ship down on your mother's vessel," he said.

"Yes, sir," she said.

Niona looked into her visor, and whispered telepathically to Jimmy, and said, "Nothing's out there. It's smooth selling to Praxis. Can't believe Kal-El wants you to be the twin's godfather."

"I know," he whispered to her telepathically. "We'll pay him a visit, but this is a surprise inspection on Major T'Dank," he whispered. "He's not being responsible."

"Can I asked why you put him in command on a project of this importance?" She whispered telepathically.

"It had to do with his uncle," he whispered. "It's nepotism. I'm building a file on his butt because I have reports that he was on duty drunk."

"Oh. I stocked the food, and we have a wide variety of food this time," she said, "We have plenty of Madi meat and pip eggs, but a lot of other stuff too," she whispered telepathically.

He smiled. "We have to take care of Su'Ra," he said telepathically.

Jimmy sent out a mental vibe that tingled Niona's entire body, and she cleared her throat loudly. Everybody on the bridge looked over at her, and asked if she was okay. "Why did you do that?" She whispered telepathically.

"Want to find a closet," he said telepathically, "I was thinking about taking a stroll on the first floor."

"If we do this, you have to keep the telepathic foreplay to a minimum," she said. "Otherwise, I'd have to take the rest of the day off."

"Okay," he said telepathically, "Let's go."

She looked over at him, and both of them walked out of the room.

"I have the bridge," T'Nalia said.

Captain Diggle stopped the Demon half a light-year from Praxis, and Lieutenant Ragis, a young male Doraxian, took the pilot's seat. He was approximately twenty-two, frumpy, and long, black hair. His ears peeked through his long hair. He was slightly overweight, and he was on the overweight program. He wasn't a Yellow Lantern, but an officer in the Old Guard.

"Karen, you have the helm," Jimmy said.

"Thank you, sir," Karen said. She quickly walked over to the Command Chair, and took a seat.

Jimmy, Captain Diggle, Colonel T'Nalia, and LTC Niona hopped into one of the parasitic vessels. A crew of soldiers was about to start a patrol in the other parasitic vessel. All of Jimmy's entourage wore the Yellow Lantern Military Dress Uniforms, and they looked like royalty. Once they arrived at the Blue Dragon, Captain Diggle hailed the ship.

"Blue Dragon, this is the parasitic vessel, Dracunculus. Permission to dock?" Jessica asked. She had a wrist communicator as well as the communications terminal on the vessel. All of the Lanterns wore a communications apparatus on their wrists. .

"Hold on, Dracunculus?" The Blue Dragon asked. "Dock on the north side."

When General T'Mcginnis entered into the Blue Dragon, he immediately noticed the trash on the floor. In addition, the ship's command structure hadn't assembled to meet him at the entrance of the ship. As soon as he walked through the door, he kicked a plastic bottle across the floor, and didn't hide his frustration. General T'McGinnis tapped his wrist communicator, and then said, "Blue Dragon, your command structure had better get their asses down here. NOW!"

"I didn't expect this," Su'Ra T'Nalia said softly. "This ship is a mess."

When General T'McGinnis walked around the main corner, Captain Jade and Lieutenant T'Nary met up with him.

"Sorry, sir, " Captain Jade said with a stern look on her face.

"Get your ass at attention right now, Captain," the General said. "I put you on this vessel because I thought you could ensure this wouldn't happen." He sent out a telepathic message to Private Naga, and said, "Where's the Major?"

She thought, "Sir, he's sleeping with Sergeant Nalia."

"What do you mean, sir?" Captain Jade asked.

The General looked over at T'Nalia, and she shook her head in disbelief. He looked down the hallway at all the trash, and it all started moving his way in a large pile. He used his telekinetic powers to scoop it up into a huge pile, and then dumped it on Captain Jade's head. She tried to hold her composure, but she started to cry. "Don't you cry, Captain. You better not tear up on me," he screamed. "Where the hell is your Major?" He asked.

She was still standing at attention, and then said, "Under the weather."

The General looked through the entire ship, and saw the Major sleeping nude next to Sergeant Nalia. It was T'Nalia's cousin. He mentally whispered to LTC Niona, and said, "Wake up the Major. He's sleeping with T'Nalia's first cousin. I don't want her to see that."

"Yes, sir," she whispered mentally to him. She took off down the hallway.

The General looked over at Captain Jade in the pile of trash, and said, "You just lied to me."

"No I didn't, sir. He told me he wasn't feeling well," she said.

"Lieutenant T'Nary," the General said loudly.

"Yes, sir," he said.

"Grab all your soldiers, and clean up my ship, he said. "Walk with me, Captain Jade," he ordered. Captain Jade, T'Nalia, and Captain Diggle walked into the bay, and the General asked, "What's wrong with this picture?" The General was looking directly at the parasitic ships in the bay.

"Captain, this is unacceptable," T'Nalia said, "Your parasitic vessels are supposed to be patrolling the area. It's in the standard operating procedure."

"I know, ma'am," she said, "I was overruled."

He whispered telepathically to his Major, and said, "T'Naga. I know you're undercover, but why didn't you report to me that they're not patrolling?"

"I just said they weren't performing basic duties," she thought.

"In the future, I want an itemization of basic duties," he said telepathically. He looked directly at Captain Jade, and said, "Overruled? This isn't debatable," the General said. "I'm going to reprimand your ass. I thought I conveyed the importance of Praxis to the Yellow Lantern Corp," he said, "Did I not make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," she said.

"I'm done with you now," he said, "You're a big disappointment. Dismissed!"

Captain Jade took off at lightening speed, and the General saw her through the walls of the ship crying.

The General whispered telepathically into LTC Niona's mind, and asked, "Is Sergeant Nalia out of his room?"

"No. He won't open the door," she said.

"Hold on a second," The General said. He used his telekinetic powers, and the door slid open. He tore the locks out of the door, and everything. "There you go," he whispered to her telepathically.

T'Nalia, Jimmy, and Captain Diggle walked onto the bridge, and it wasn't manned at all. Jimmy walked all the way up to the Command Chair, and placed his hands on it. He looked back at his wife, and asked, "Am I demanding too much?"

"Not at all, sir," she said, "This is obviously a solid case of not giving a damn," she said.

"T'Nalia, stay on the bridge. I need to talk to this Major, and it isn't going to be pretty."

"Are you going to hurt him?" She asked.

"No," he said, "Well. Maybe."

Jimmy walked up to the smoking door, and Sergeant Nalia was still nude in the Major's bed, and he was sitting on the edge of it wiping his face. When Jimmy walked into the room, he telekinetically picked up the Sergeant, and tossed her out the room. She hit the wall, and fell to the floor. He then tossed all her clothes out of the room. "Get dressed, Sergeant. You've disappointed me."

"Why did you do that?" The Major asked.

Jimmy grabbed the Major telekinetically, and tossed him against every wall of the room, and didn't pay any attention to the fact he was screaming. Niona stood next to the damaged door, and didn't say anything.

"I want you to resign your commision immediately," Jimmy said. He stood in front of the Doraxian, and couldn't believe how he became an officer. "You're not military material. I have a thirteen-year-older with better leadership skills than you."

"My uncle isn't going to let you fire me," he said.

"You're having relations with an enlisted soldier," Jimmy said, "That's prison time, you idiot."

"Whatever! My Uncle won't let me go to prison," he said.

"Tell me something? Why aren't the parasitic vessels patrolling the area?" Jimmy asked.

"Didn't think it was needed," he snapped.

"You don't have the discretion to make that decision," Jimmy snapped. "It's a command level decision, and every warship patrols with its parasitic ships."

Jimmy realized that Major T'Dank was a recalcitrant soldier, and depended entirely too much on his Uncle. He walked over to Niona, and whispered to her telepathically, and said, "He's afraid of bugs."

"You can ruin him," she whispered telepathically, "It can cause a form of schizophrenia."

Gently, Jimmy pushed the thought of a bug crawling up Major T'Dank's arm into his mind. He quickly tried to brush it off, but then it crawled up his right leg. When he tried to knock that one off, it fell to the floor, and crawled on his left foot. Even though there wasn't a bug, he felt it when it crawled on his foot. He tried to knock it off, but then he saw two bugs on his left leg. He tried his best to knock it off, but nothing was coming of it. Suddenly, Jimmy made him see three bugs crawl into the room through his open door, and he started screaming for them to close the door. Jimmy and Niona stepped outside of his room, and the Major forced closed his broken door, but the bugs continued to seep into the room. Jimmy imagined one of the bugs crawling on his right ear, and that was when things took a turn for the worse.

"Oh, god! Make it stop," he screamed loudly. His screams were so loud that Niona had to cover her ears. It was a high pitch scream, and it sounded like the imaginary bugs were stabbing him to death.

Jimmy opened the door, and looked at the Major in the fetal position on the other side of the room. He was having a mental breakdown, and then Jimmy said, "I can make them go away, but you have to abide by my rules."

Without hesitation, the Major agreed. "Yes, sir." Suddenly, all the bugs disappeared.

"I'll be back on this ship in a few hours. Your bridge better be manned. I better see some parasitic vessels patrolling, and this ship better be cleaned. Do you understand me?"

He mumbled, "Yes, sir."

"Say it louder," Niona said.

"Yes, sir!" He said.

Later in the day…

Captain Diggle flew the Dracunculus down to Praxis, and Kal-El was waiting for him in the townsquare. When Jimmy saw him, he looked healthy, and he had the twins with them. They had built a few more structures in the area, and it looked like a healthy community. Doraxian scientists walked around the area surveying the land. They had medical facilities set up to help the Kryptonians.

"You've done so much for us, Jimmy," Kal-El said, "You and T'Nalia have saved us from death."

"Thank you. You should see James' and Kara's kid. He's almost five-years-old, and active," he said.

"I think she's reluctant to come here," he said.

"I offer to bring them here for a visit, but I think she's afraid she'll have to stay," Jimmy said, "I keep telling her I'll bring her back."

He laughed. "I'm so happy that we're able to procreate. I'm glad you didn't have to experience life under the shields."

"I can only imagine," he said, "I hope you've documented the horrible conditions, so we can archive it. I believe the Kryptonian plight has teachable moments in it."

Kal-El looked down at his kids for a moment. "I don't want to say the Guardians are bad in every universe, but in the two I've been in, they haven't been good people."

"That's why I put the Blue Dragon in orbit around this world," he said, "I need your people to have a contingency plan in case of an attack though."

T'Nalia, Tina, and Niona walked over, and T'Nalia said, "I'm looking at those caves to the east, and I'm wondering if that could be a fall back location?"

"What's the condition of your exoskeleton suits?" Jimmy asked.

"We have about three hundred functional ones," he said.

"T'Nalia, what's the probability of replicating the exoskeleton tech?" Jimmy asked.

"It's possible," she said. "Kal-El, can you spare a suit?"

"You're willing to make us more suits?" Kal-El asked.

"Yeah," Jimmy said, "The Kryptonians are my people, and I feel keeping you safe is paramount."

Later in the day…

Jimmy's crew flew to the cave in the east, and it was a dark, curvy cave, and Jimmy used his ring for light. Tina walked slightly in front of the team and Niona was to the rear. T'Nalia and Jimmy were holding hands. Suddenly, Jimmy said, "Hold up."

"Is something wrong?" T'Nalia asked.

Jimmy looked to the rear and then back to the front. "There's an additional intelligence in this cave. I feel a powerful mind, and intelligent mind."

"Think we should go back?" Niona asked.

"I think so," Jimmy said. When he reached the entrance of the cave, it closed. It trapped Jimmy and T'Nalia on the inside, and the other two were on the other side of the cave.

"Is this cave alive?" T'Nalia asked.

Jimmy whispered in the mind of the cave, and said, "Release us."

"You're trespassing," the cave said.

"Are you evil?" Jimmy asked.

"It depends. Are you?" The cave asked.

Jimmy sat on the floor, and T'Nalia sat beside him. "What's your name?"

"Stony," the cave said, "I've been around for hundreds of years."

"He must have been an unexpected result of terraforming," T'Nalia said.

"You're not hurting my friends are you?" Jimmy asked.

"No," he said, "There were other humanoids on the planet through the years, but they died out."

"What happened?" Jimmy asked.

"Alien's attacked," he said.

"If there's an alien attack, will you let the people down the hill hide in you?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes," he said. "I'd like the company."

"I'm from a far away planet. How far does your telepathy reach?" Jimmy asked.

"Not that far," he said, "But if you return, we can chat."

"Okay," Jimmy said. As soon as he said that, the cave entrance opened, and they walked out of the cave. Niona hugged Jimmy and T'Nalia.

"I was a little nervous," she said.

"The cave is a good guy," Jimmy said, "His name is Stony."

Back on the Blue Dragon…

When General T'McGinnis walked onto the ship with his entourage, he had the Major and Captain Diggle meet him at the door. She was in her Yellow Lantern uniform, and the General immediately said, "This is a lot better." When he walked into the bay, the entire room went to attention, and then Jimmy said, "At ease." In addition, the parasitic vessels weren't in the bay, and he felt good about that.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier," the Major said, "It won't happen again."

"I'm reassigning Sergeant Nalia," the General said, "I won't tolerate fraternization with the lower enlisted."

"It won't happen again," the Major said.

"I know you're not a Yellow Lantern, but I expect the officers from the Old Guard to be just as sharp," the General said.

The General walked up to a female soldier named CheCha Naga, and asked, "Give me the three general orders?"

"I will use the parasitic vessels to guard the Blue Dragon, and destroy any enemy vessel that tries to molest her."

"Okay. Next," the General said.

"I will obey all lawful orders, and perform my duties in accordance to the corp," she said, "Lastly. I will report all violations of any lawful orders, report the unlawful orders, and uphold the laws of my ship, and use my common sense on anything not covered in my military manual.

"At what point should you attach a parasitic vessel onto the hull of an enemy ship?" The General asked.

"As soon as an act of aggression occurs," she said.

Jimmy looked over at his wife, and said, "She's good."

"Indeed," T'Nalia said.

Niona sent a telepathic message to the General, and said, "She better be good. We trained her."

"Have you applied to officer candidate school?" The General asked.

She looked over at T'Nalia for a moment, and sighed. "I don't have an honorable name."

Niona cleared her throat, and stood right beside Jimmy.

'Your name is an honorable name," Jimmy snapped, "You have the most honorable name in all of Doraxia," he said.

She laughed for a moment, and then T'Nalia said, "You find something funny, soldier?"

"No, ma'am," she said.

"If it wasn't for your ancestor, T'Naga, we wouldn't have these advance military weapons," she said, "He saved our world from destruction. Don't you know this?"

"No, ma'am," she said, "It wasn't taught in school."

"So, you probably thinking we're making this up?" Niona asked. "Your ancestry is a hero to the Doraxian people, and the fact we walked onto a dirty ship earlier hurts our hearts. Don't let anybody disrespect your ship with trash. That goes for every last one of you."

"Yes, ma'am," she said.

"I want you to put in an application for the Lantern Corp," Jimmy said, "In addition, I want you to write a research paper on your ancestor, and you will understand why he's an honorable man and a great scientist." Jimmy walked in front of the other soldiers, and said, "I better not ever come onto this ship again, and it's dirty. Do you understand me?" He ask.

"Yes, sir," the soldiers said in unison. "I will be back next month, and inspect the entire ship. Your hovels better be dressed right dressed." He looked around the room for a moment. "Where's Sergeant Nalia?"

"Here, sir," she said. She was in the very back of the room in her mechanic's uniform. She worked on the parasitic vessels. "Pack your stuff. You're being reassigned to the Blue Hellion."

"Why, sir?" She asked.

"Don't act remedial," the General said, "Get your shit, and meet us on the Dracunculus." He turned to Captain Diggle, and said, "When you leave, take her to the Blue Hellion."

"Yes, sir," she said, "It'll be good to have some company."

He whispered telepathically to Naga, and said, "Influence these officers using what I've taught you. Security is paramount, Major T'Naga.."

"Yes, sir," she thought, "Do I really have to write that paper?"

"No," he said telepathically.

Chapter One

Warbird Down

Sparky Jade didn't sleep well after the General and his wife left the Blue Dragon because of the way he treated her. Ashamed, she placed the photo of her and John Diggle flat on her dresser, and then paused for a moment. She cried for a second, and then placed the photo upright. Another photo of her mother sitting on her grandfather's lap was on the wall over her bed, and she tried her best to keep some semblance of normalcy in her life. She had some pictures of her and Tina Diggle on the wall from their time at Glassco University. The photo of Barry Allen was of him in his Flash uniform, and her mother was wearing a pink dress. She was no more than two-years-old in the photo. Her great uncle, Walter West, told her that Barry, her grandfather, might have been stuck in the Speed Force, but he didn't truly know. She hadn't ever met him, but inherited his superspeed. The photo brought her a modicum of solace after the General scolded her, and she promised herself that she'd be a better officer in the Yellow Lantern Corp.

She felt that he handled her differently than the rest of the crew because he knew her before the madness. He didn't know her on a personal level, but she had seen him around Metro City with his father. The Justice Corp always had Junior members watching Jimmy, and it was obvious that none of them knew his true powers; otherwise, they wouldn't have teased him all the time. He even had Justice Corp members trying to kill him while he attended school, and it always ended badly for the assassin. Even though she was about the same age as Jimmy, she remembered hoping he'd die, and that was before the awful incident on the Watchtower. He often looked as if he were happy in Metro City, but that was usually after he'd killed the assassins. She knew when he whistled a happy tune that he'd just finished killing another enemy.

About two years before the Kryptonian invasion, Doctor Hawkins made her drop kryptonite pellets in Jimmy's backpack in the hopes it would weakened him. It was an incident that replayed through her mind the entire time she was at Glassco University. Once she dropped the pellets an assassin attempted to shoot a kryptonite laced bullet in Jimmy's skull from five miles away, and it bounced off of him as if it hit a solid steel wall. Sparky Jade was about half a yard away when the bullet hit him, and it bounced off Jimmy's skull, and struck another student, killing her instantly. He stood in the middle of the field when all the instructors ran to the girl's rescue, but she was dead. The bullet tore half her head off, and Jimmy stared with his cold eyes. Sparky took off traveling faster than the speed of sound, and when she approached the assassin, his head exploded. His head exploded exactly when she showed up on the scene, and she always thought he did that as a warning to her.

When it came to the incident with the trash, she thought the General put the onus of the trash on her, and what upset her was when he dumped all the trash on her head. It embarrassed her in front of the Command Staff of the Yellow Lantern Corp, but most of all, it made her look like a failure. She realized the General probably had a lot of resentment for her, and the fact she was part of the Justice Corp, an honor the corp never bestowed on him. She knew Superman shot Jimmy's uniform off his body, but at the same time, she thought he had no business on the Watchtower. The Justice Corp Command Staff didn't hide their disdain for him, and every time they had an opportunity to take a shot at Jimmy, they did. If Superman were stronger, he probably would have killed Jimmy, but that was only speculation.

The only good thing about the General's visit was it changed Major T'Dank for the better. He actually reported to the bridge on time, but she didn't know if he actually stopped fraternizing with the lower enlisted. He was insatiable when it came to the Doraxian females, especially the frumpier ones like Sergeant Nalia. She wasn't obese by any means of the word, but curvaceous. If Nalia were any curvier, she'd look like a complete circle. All the Nalia females were wildly curvey, including the General's wife, but she kept it hidden under her ascetic attire. She had learned in her studies that the Nalia clan started the break from the Grays. They were the ones who first dropped religion for science, and started the Gnostics of Scientific Theory. The ascetics greeted each other with, "May all your theories hold up to scrutiny, and if they fail, then may the results lead to a better understanding."

Captain Jade knew the Major's taste because he never talked to the slender, built-like-a-boy girls, or even looked their way. She saw him making eyes at Naga, and from the way she was shaped, she should have known he would. She immediately asked her if something was going on between them. It was obvious that he had made several advances toward Naga because of the way he flirted with her. She was a very shapely Doraxian woman like the General's wife, but when it came to T'Nalia, she was slim-fit and curvaceous. There was a full chapter on the Blue Ghost in the Lantern Curriculum, and it was the most interesting course in the school. It covered in detail how the General met his wife, and they had a tumultuous beginning. On the other hand, watching T'Dank flirt with Naga was an uncomfortable sight, but since he was the Commander, she gracefully looked the other way.

"Are you having relations with the Major?" Captain Jade asked with a scowl on her face. She waited for the young woman to answer, and she didn't expect the truth without some cajoling. They stood in the bay with several, two men fighter crafts specially made for the Yellow Lanterns. There were some lower enlisted soldiers sweeping the bay, and performing maintenance checks on the ships. Naga was a sapphire colored, plain looking woman with a curvaceous body. Make-up wasn't authorized in the maintenance, beige uniforms of the Old Guard, and when Captain Jade saw a soldier breaking the rules, it was in her right to correct them. Naga's ears narrowed to perfect points, and she wore her hair in the ascetic, bowl cut. It was a bowl cut in the front while long in the back, and it resembled Colonel T'Nalia's and the Lieutenant Colonel's hair. Since they were married to the General, it was understandable. Her eyes were spaced perfectly on her face, and she had strong cheekbones.

The General reiterated about fraternization in the Old Guard every time he spoke in front of the school. If a Yellow Lantern Cadre crossed the line with a recruit, it was an immediate jail sentence, and he had a multitude of anecdotal evidence just to instill fear in the hearts of cadre and recruits alike. If he detected a recruit not listening to his no-fraternization rants, he'd just thrust the information into the soldier's head, and put it on a loop.

"No, ma'am," she said with a troublesome smirk on her face. Captain Jade wanted to knock her across the room, because even though she wasn't an empath, she knew a lie when she heard it.

"I'm serious about this," she said with a stern look. "If the General finds out about this, he'll tear up your application to the Lantern Corp. He's a man who believes in consequences."

"I'm not doing anything," she stressed. She had one arm on her hip and the other one to her side. "I promise."

Captain Jade sighed. "Stand at ease when speaking to a superior officer, Naga."

She went to the position of Parade Rest.

"You know he can read minds," she said, "He's a powerful telepath, and he'll scan your brain if you lie to him."

"Can I be honest for a moment then?" Naga asked.

"Of course," she said. "Just tell me the truth."

"The Major and I had relations until the General came," she said. She folded her arms tightly in front of her body, and then said, "The General made him impotent when he probed him. I tried everything under the Doraxian suns to make him hard, and nothing. It was like a noodle."

"I believe it," she said, "Don't ever get on his bad side. It's a good way to die."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"He killed hundreds of people by just being in the same room with them," she said, "He's a dangerous person. Deadly."

"I thought that was all rumor," Naga said, "Myth."

"Nope. If Major T'Dank angered him, then he probably retaliated in the cruelest way imaginable. He read the Major and found out what he cherished, and then snatched it from under him. Don't have further relations with the Major, Naga. Think about your career."

"Yes, ma'am," she said.

Captain Jade sat up on her bed, and thought about General T'Mcginnis for a moment. When he pinned on her Lieutenant rank, she asked him about teaching Earth scientist about warp theory, and building fleets of ships to repatriate the enslaved back to Earth. Repatriating Earth had been on her mind a lot lately because she knew people on other worlds. In addition, she wanted to save as many slaves as possible because thousands of them were food.

"It's not going to happen, Lieutenant Jade," he said. There was no expression on his face when he said it, and at first, she thought the order came from the Council of Science.

"Please, sir,?," She said, "Talk to the council about this."

He paused for a moment, and turned to her, and then said, "I made the final decision not to give Earth the knowledge."

She froze in the middle of the room, and couldn't believe what he said. "Why, sir? Don't you want to repatriate our people?"

Jimmy looked her directly in her brown eyes, and said, "Earth is full of hate, full of prejudice, full of bigotry, and full of racism. I can't allow that to escape the confines of the planet, and infect beings throughout the universe. I'm not the monster, but I came from a planet full of them. Right now I stand in front of you while what used to be the United States is in a Civil War. Thousands have died in Gotham since I left the planet. Do you know why they're fighting?"

"No, sir," she said, "I've been in the Officer Lantern Course for nearly six years."

"White people claimed they needed to purge the shit skins," he said, "They slaughtered men and women praying over the ones who died during the occupation. So, I've cut Earth completely off from the rest of the Universe, and I will ensure their sickness is confined to that planet. The few earthlings that I took off the planet were the ones I loved. Terry and John wouldn't come, but Vivian vouched for you. That's why you're here, even though I know you hate me. I wouldn't have selected you without Vivian begging me. Now, I need you on the Blue Dragon patrolling Praxis. I'll promote you to Captain in six months of taking your post. You'll be serving under Commander T'Dank."

"Yes, sir," she said. She paused for a moment. "Aren't scientists working on terraforming some planets in our solar system?"

"Yes," he said, "I'm looking at three states in the United States of Africa to migrate off world. All the people I move to the newly terraform planets will be men and women of science. If any of them are religious, they won't be allowed to come."

"Aren't you discriminating, sir?" She asked.

"No," he said, "The entire Civil War is based on different interpretations of their Bible. I can't have that on the new worlds. So, now that you know I'm not repatriating the enslaved back to Earth, you never have to ask about this in the future."

She cried a little, and she stood in front of him until he dismissed her. She had faith that he would follow through with his plan to repatriate the enslaved back to Earth, and he even discussed it several times when he arrived. But at the same time, she remembered what the people said after the Kryptonians left. The people wanted to leave with the Kryptonians because they thought Jimmy, a black man, was going to be the one in charge. Even after he told them that he wasn't on Earth to rule, many of the people spat on his accomplishments, and defaced his image. In a way, she enjoyed what the people did to him until she talked to him on the way to Praxis.

Jimmy's wife, Lieutenant Colonel Niona, piloted the Dracunculus, and the General was in the Command Chair. "You know you've blamed me for the Watchtower for twelve Earth years?" Jimmy said. It was a nonstandard question, and Lieutenant Jade didn't quite understand what he was saying. "Have you realized that Superman was a clone with an agenda aberrant to the core beliefs of the Justice Corp?"

"What are you saying, sir?" She asked.

"I'm saying you blamed me when clone Superman tried to kill me," he said, "He caused all the problems, and you're still blaming me. Why is that?"

"Why did you come to the Watchtower that day?" She asked.

"To talk," he said, "I was standing in the bay, and he pulled out a laser rifle. I placed my hands in the air, so he wouldn't tear open my suit. I didn't do it to protect myself. He knew shooting me with a weapon would tear open my suit," he said. "He knew who I was. You knew about me too because they briefed all of the Junior Members about me."

"That's true," she said, "You were already finishing school by the time I was in the seventh grade, but the Justice Corp kept a constant eye on you and Terry."

"Well, the real Superman is somewhere," Jimmy said. "I tried to find Mia Kent, but I can't detect her presence either."

When Captain Jade walked into the cafeteria, she sat by herself, and ate some fried pip eggs, and some golden brown, Madi bacon. She had developed a love for the Madi bacon, and she wanted it every morning for breakfast. She also enjoyed Pytlik milk. The Pytlik was a fat, pig like animal that was used mainly for milk products on Doraxia. T'Nalia's father owned six-two Pytlik farms that supplied milk to the military, and all the ships were stocked with the stuff.

She finished up her breakfast quickly, and when she went to place her tray on the conveyor belt, she saw a Doraxian soldier throw a napkin on the floor. It landed right in front of the trashcan, and he walked past it like he didn't notice it. Immediately, she thought back to the General dumping a pile of trash on her head, and became unhinged on the soldier.

"Soldier, what's your name?" Captain Jade said in a loud voice.

He turned around, and asked, "Me?"

"Yeah. You, soldier," she said.

"Private Nata," he said.

"Bend down and pick up that napkin, Private Nata," she said. He gave her a long stare, and then a yellow hand came out of her ring, and slapped him to the ground. "I told you to pick up that napkin."

He grabbed the napkin, and slowly rose to his feet. She pointed to the trashcan, and said, "Hurry the hell up."

He tossed the napkin in the trash can, but he was insubordinate, so she wrote him up. She had a problem with most of the Doraxian Old Guard soldiers because they didn't have the same training as the Yellow Lantern Corp soldiers. The Old Guard wasn't prepared for the rigors of war, and that was why the General wanted Major T'Dank to resign. The majority of the crew didn't do their before, during, and after check inspections, and some of the equipment was faulty because of it. The ship had eight material replicators, and three of them didn't work, and when she checked the work order on the devices, she couldn't find anything.

She walked on the bridge, and Major T'Dank sat in the Command Chair, and she relieved an Old Guard Lieutenant on communications. She was the Operation's officer, but she sometimes worked different post for the experience. In the back of the bridge was Lieutenant T'Nead, a tall, transgender Doraxian wearing a splash of a peach flavored perfume. She was the science officer and Major T'Dank's assistant. The only reason she knew Lieutenant T'Nead was transgendered was because she accidentally caught her and Lieutenant Dani engaged in coitus in a small room attached to the Officer's Lounge. It wasn't easy to tell that she was once a male because she had a soft, eloquent voice, smooth blue face, and shapely. There wasn't a hint of masculinity in her nature. But when she saw her business dangling while Lieutenant rammed her from behind, she couldn't turn away from it. She had to admit to herself that transgendered sex aroused her, and she didn't know that about herself until that very night.

Captain T'Baze was on weapons, and he wore a specialized Brain Helmet that allowed him to control all the ship's weapon systems. He wasn't a very talkative co-worker, and he was all about firepower. He was the only Blue that she ever met who constantly discussed killing the enemy. It was a rarity that any of them resorted to violence, but they all seemed to fall in line when General T'McGinnis went on one of his rampages. All the Commanders said that he flipped out on them except for Vivian. She was the only ship that met his strict standard, and she knew exactly why. The General slapped a saddle on Vivian's back from day one of the Officer Lantern School, and rode her across the finish line. When she graduated, she said, "Nothing hurts more than the General's love."

"Did you hear that General T'McGinnis is now a four star?" Major T'Dank asked. "He's the youngest General in history. He has his T. He's a Yellow Lantern. He's the General."

"I knew it was going to happen," she said, "Just didn't know when. He revitalized Doraxia's military, and now with all the empires throughout the universe joining the Federation of Yellow Lanterns, he's brought in trillions of dollars in gold to Doraxia."

"I told my Uncle what he did to me," Major T'Dank said with a sigh. The Major was highly upset. "He told me I got what I deserved. I'm impotent now. What did I do to deserve that?"

"Sergeant Nalia" she said laughingly.

"Ha ha. Yeah. I may laugh after the punishment," he said.

"He's serious about that fraternization with lower enlisted," she said, "It's a pet peeve of his, and he'll throw you in prison over it."

"I talked to an old buddy, and he said never fraternize and never touch, look, or say anything negative to or about his wives," he said.

"Wise words," Captain Jade said, "Don't even think about saying disparaging remarks about the Command Staff. I'm serious. Think about this? He told twenty-five hundred Kryptonians they had to leave Earth."

"Yeah," he said, "What about it?"

"Under a yellow sun, they're some of the strongest people in the Universe," she said. "Twenty-five hundred of them obeyed him. One of them has enough power to destroy an entire world. So, whenever I'm about to say something negative to him or his Command Staff, I think long and hard about it because twenty-five hundred Kryptonians chose to do what he said without arguing."

"I just visualized that," Major T'Dank said, "That puts everything in perspective."

"He chose to teach you a lesson, but I must admit that it's a cruel one," she said, "You must have angered him badly."

"Yeah. I used the Uncle-card, and I paid for it," he said. "Oh. I sent Private Nata his extra duty schedule. He's on KP. We can't lose control of our soldiers."

"Thank you, sir," she said. "This ship is our home until we're killed, reassigned, fired, or resign. We should keep it clean."

Later on in the morning…

Captain Jade contacted the Demodectic parasitic vessel for an update. "Demodectic, this is Main. How is it out there?" She asked. "Over."

"Main, this is Demodectic," Private Naga said, "It's all good. Over."

"I think I'm going to patrol with you one of these days," she said.

"It'll be nice to have some girl company," Private Naga said, "These boys are the worse."

"Okay. Y'all take care of yourselves, Demodectic. Main out."

She paused for a second, and then said, "Sarcoptic, this is Main. How is it going? Over."

"It's quiet on our end, Main," Sergeant L'nel said, "That red star is beautiful."

"Yes it is, Sarcoptic," Captain Jade said, "Y'all have a good shift. Main out."

Later in the day…

Captain Jade ate lunch with another Yellow Lantern named Nani Iobi. He had emerald skin and orange hair, but it was cut in a military style haircut. His eyebrows were the same color as the hair on his head, and his eyes were almond shape. He had strong, high cheek bones with plump lips. He was a strong looking Lantern with a wide chest. When she heard his last name, she asked, "Is the General's wife any kin to you?"

"Yeah," he said, "That's my older sister."

"Small world," she said in her pleasant, somewhat flirtatious voice. "She should have had her own ship."

"She doesn't want it," he said, "Everywhere the General goes, you'll see one of two women by his side."

"Tell me something? Why didn't I see that?" She asked. "You're exactly right though."

"I didn't notice it at first either," he said, "But during school, I asked my sister about their relationship."

"What did she say?" She asked.

"Nothing," he said, "We're a race of empaths." He paused. "I realized that my dreams I had as a child about the General weren't dreams."

"Dreams?" She asked.

"Let me put it this way," he said, "He loves both of his wives without question."

"Is he kind of cheating?," she asked. Her eyes grew big.

"No. Not at all," he said, "It's a cultural thing. He loves them equally, and with every essence of his being." He laughed. "We'll never find that kind of love they have if we live forever."

"You don't think so?" She asked.

"My sister stole a ship, joined the Sapphires, and searched for him," he said, "She felt his powers from sixty something light years away. Guess how old she was when she took off?"

"Twenty," she said.

He laughed. "Ten."

"Get out of here," she said.

"I'm serious. She found him three years later," he said. "He told her that he'd return for her, and that she needed to train herself with the Sapphire ring. He found her again after he married T'Nalia, turned her Sapphire ring yellow, and now she's been by his side ever since. They all showed up at my house at the same time, and he recruited me into the Corp."

"You know what? I've never heard him talk to Niona," she said.

"They talk telepathically," he said. "I'm serious. They talk nonstop to each other., but it's all on a mental level"

Captain Jade stood up from the table, and said, "Check your palm computer for the patrol schedule," she said, "The General wants one Lantern patrolling with a parasitic ship. We're on twelve hour rotations."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

"It's a good schedule," she said, "You'll work twelve hours, then you'll be off thirty-six."

That evening…

Naga sat at the ship's bar in the Common Area Lounge or the CAL, and Captain Jade walked over to her, and ordered a drink. Alcohol was a major export on Doraxia, and they specialized in some of the best drinks in the galaxy. She ordered a Booshi; it was a wine made out of the booshi fruit that resembled an apple. It was sweet, but a loaded drink, and one of them was enough to put her slightly over the intoxicated mark.

She knew Naga was extremely drunk because she was nearly passed out with her head on the counter. For the first time, she saw her with a little makeup, and she had on a loosely fitting spring dress. It was surprisingly provocative the way the material attached to every curve of her body.

After only a few drinks of her Booshi, she had already felt a little tipsy. She rubbed Naga's back, and said, "Girl, you okay?"

"Yeah." Slowly, she raised her head off the counter, and faced the Captain. Her breast were full, and her nipples were pronounced. "The General had gotten my head all big when he praised my ancestor."

"Yeah," she said, "T'Naga and T'Nalia help designed all this. We studied them in Lantern School."

She sighed. "My family's name is shit on Doraxia," she said.

"Not anymore," Captain Jade said, "Did you know his first order was restoring your family's name?"

"No. I've been so busy," she said. "They never taught war stuff in school."

"I think they will eventually," Captain Jade said, "I think your ancestor was one of the greatest men in the Universe. He was the lead designer of Demon Class Ships."

"See. I didn't know any of this," she said.

"He lived nine hundred years ago, and he wrote a boatload of journals," Captain Jade said, "It was those journals that ruined him."

"I did here about that," she said.

"In those journals, he talked about General T'McGinnis, Colonel T'Nalia, and Lieutenant Niona Iobi by name. He wrote about their lives in shocking detail. General T'McGinnis told the Council of Science to restore his name because he wasn't a mad man."

"Did you read any of them?" She asked.

"Only the declassified ones," she said, "It's scary stuff because I knew the General before all this, and your ancestor got all the details right. He wrote those journals twenty-seven-hundred Earth years ago."

"I hope one day I can see the honor in my name," she said.

Private Naga slowly stood up, and stumbled across the room, and when Captain Jade saw that, she thought she needed help to her room. She walked up behind her, and put her arms around her. It was a slow night of the week, and many of the soldiers had already called it quits for the day. When Captain Jade and Private Naga arrived to her room, she helped her on the bed, and then stumbled on top of her. It was a bare room, a room with no flare. She didn't have a flower pot or anything in it. There wasn't anything that suggested a family life. Her left knee landed right between Private Naga's sapphire legs, and she felt the warmth oozing from between them. She looked at the Private in her green eyes, and everything told her to leave immediately, but she couldn't. She found her tantalizing. When she was a Junior Justice Corp Member, she had a petting session with another young girl, but she didn't consider herself a lesbian. The next day she stayed home, and Jimmy killed everybody aboard the Watchtower, including the young girl she liked. She was only thirteen almost fourteen at the time, and then by the next day, the entire world was fighting for its life against the Kryptonians. She found herself gently pressing her lips against Naga's lips, tasting her tongue, and feeling her wetness rub up against hers. She barely knew what she was doing; it was all instinctive, and she could feel the surprise rising in her. She pulled off her Lantern Corp uniform, and she stood in the middle of the room naked from the waist down. Her nappy bush was wild. It was obvious that the circumstances of her life changed her priorities when it came to grooming. She slid off Naga's red panties, and her bush looked like a roaring lion. She didn't shave her womanly parts either, but it was the way of things with the lower classed Doraxians. Captain Jade climbed aboard Naga's curvaceous body, and connected intimately in a scissors position. The officer was so aroused by the moment that she unleashed all over the Private, and immediately felt dismayed by the moment. Her ejaculation was premature, and she became embarrassed by her actions because her climax pulled her completely out of the mood. Whatever she saw in Naga at the bar had completely dissipated in a matter of seconds, and she didn't know what to do. The Private was still gyrating underneath her, but the Captain had lost the momentum. There wasn't anything left in her at all. She just wanted to run, hide, and pray that the General didn't find out about her indiscretion with the Private. Slowly, she stood up, and sat on the edge of the bed, and she could feel Naga looking at her.

"You feel ashamed?" Private Naga asked. She rubbed her back, and said, "We can just lay here. We don't have to make a sound." Gently, she pulled Captain Jade on the bed, and she lay in the Private's arms. The room had a chill to it, even though it was exceptionally warm. Naga decorated her room without any emotional attachments at all.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I wanted you so badly that I lost control."

"It happens," she said, "It's happened to me."

Captain Jade fell asleep for approximately six hours, and when she awoke, she was spooning the Private. She admired her beautiful, sapphire body for a moment, and then quickly got dressed. She kissed her on the cheek, and then left out of her room. She headed directly for the bridge, and checked on the morning crew, and they looked like they had a long night. Tired, she headed back to her hovel, and tried to get a few more hours of sleep. It was hard for her because she had violated the General's number one rule, and she didn't have any protection like Major T'Dank. She didn't have a high ranking government official who could save her from jail.

Suddenly, her palm computer ascended to the ceiling, and then an image of the General came out of it. She immediately hopped to her feet at the position of attention, and said, "Sir. Yes, sir."

"Captain Jade, I need you to take a palm computer to the cave to the east of the Kryptonian camp."

"To a cave, sir?" She asked.

"Yes. The cave is an intelligent life form," he said, "His name is Stony. I played some classical music for him, and he fell in love with it."

Suddenly, the image disappeared, and then she thought, "I thought for sure he knew."

The Yellow Lanterns had parasitic vessels about half the size of the parasitic shuttles. They were Jimmy's design that had more maneuvering power, and one of them could easily disable a Battlecruiser. Each Yellow Lantern Officer had a parasitic cruiser, and Captain Jade's cruiser was called The Leech. It had the ability to attach onto a powerful ship or a ship's shields, and completely drain them until the host vessel lost power. Once that happened the parasitic vessel fired a well-placed laser blast into the center of the ship, breaking it in half. The General explained during Lantern School that the parasitic vessels were meant to enhance the Lantern's abilities to battle powerful enemies, but when it came down to the Yellow Lantern Ring, a Lantern was nothing without it. She took her parasitic cruiser down to the planet, and parked it next to the cave. Going inside the cave wasn't an option she had considered. She grabbed the extra palm computer, and it flew into the cave under its own volition. She looked over at the Kryptonians going about their day, and then walked back over to her ship. There were plenty of trees all around the camp area, and some vicious animals lived in the forest according to her palm computer.

Suddenly, she heard some music playing from inside the cave, and she wanted to go see what was in the cave. "Thank you, Captain Jade," a voice in her head said.

"You're welcome, Stony," she said.

On the inside of her parasitic vessel was a set of powerful, black binoculars with the Lantern symbol on them. She pressed them to her face, and looked at a black mark on the far ridge. It appeared to be a laser strike, but she couldn't tell from her position. She pulled out her palm computer, programmed it, and it took off for the ridge. It analyzed the area for about five minutes, and came back with a detail report.

Palm computer report:

The footprints on the ridge were approximately two hundred years old. There were two sets of alien skeletons on the ridge that were hit by lasers. The skeletons were from a humanoid species called the Distortions, a race of metamorphic creatures.

end of report

"Computer, where's the Distortions' homeworld?" She asked.

"Approximately two light years away," the computer said. "They're a treacherous race, and should be avoided at all cost."

Back on the ship…

Captain Jade stepped onto the bridge, took her post, and watched the overhead screen. The planet was a beautiful bluish green, and she thought the Doraxians did a wonderful job on the planet. Stony, the conscience in the cave, piqued her interest, and she wanted to pay him a visit. She smiled for a moment because she didn't know if Stony was a male. She was so caught up in male and female, but one of the first things the General told her was, "The line between male and female or he and she blurred in space." He plainly stated, "A penis doesn't signify a male."

She sat in her chair, and thought about Private Naga for a moment, and wondered in her mind if it was just a one night thing. The entire night happened so fast that she didn't enjoy it on a visceral level. It upset her because she wanted to enjoy it so she wouldn't repeat it. There was something about Private Naga's smell that she found appetizing, and even though she was only a private, she had a way of invading her space that she found admirable. The whole event was a crazy thing to happen because she didn't realize she was attracted to girls like that. She found many women that she admired through the years, but she never pictured herself tribbling with them. It was all new.

After the alien invasion, all the boys she desired who had abilities were pretty much dead. But when she attended the Lantern School for six long years, the General's workload for them didn't give them much free time. The school started out with fifteen thousand beings of all types of races, and three thousand were left in the end. The simple fact that all of the General's recruits made it through the school was a prime example of favoritism, and she realized that in the beginning. There were times when she knew she didn't know the answers on test, but then she'd hear his voice. Vivian didn't agree with that assessment; she said that the General tested her according to her abilities, and every test was a struggle between life and death. Most of the enhanced students suffered a fate that the other students didn't because the General wanted the school to be based on the individual student. After the school ended, she had been deprived of intimacy for so long that she thought she was asexual.

Major T'Dank walked on the bridge, and Captain Jade screamed, "Bridge, attention." Everybody assumed the position of attention until he told them to resume work.

He took his Command Chair, and then said, "Did you enjoy your little trip?"

"Yes, sir," she said, "Did exactly what the General asked, and then left."

"So, I hope you were able to resist Private Naga last night," he said.

She looked up at him from her console, and then stated, "Nothing happened. She's just a private."

"Whatever," he said, "She's a seductress."

"Yeah she is," Captain T'Nead said. "I had a few drinks with her. Woke up the next morning naked in her bed."

"Damn," Captain Jade said. "Are all Doraxian women like that?"

"No," Major T'Dank said. "It happened within the last three months. I didn't even notice her when we first parked here. She went out in one the parasitic ships, got lost, and then when she returned, she became the recreational chick."

"I might report myself to the General," she said.

"For what?" Captain T'Nead asked.

"He probably already knows," she said, "He's a powerful telepath and empath."

"Tell me something?" Captain T'Nead asked.

"What's that?" Captain Jade said.

"Did he train a mentally challenged girl how to be a Lantern from over forty light years away?"

"Yeah. You're talking about Captain Diggle," she said, "She's the pilot on the Blue Demon. When he came to Earth, the first thing he did was make her whole."

"So, it's all true?" She asked.

"Very true," she said, "That's why I want to just tell him truth."

"I think the Council of Science is scared of him," Major T'Dank said.

"I think they know he's pledged his allegiance to Doraxia," Captain Jade said, "Just think about the money and wealth he brought the world. Think about his wife for a moment? She's the Blue Ghost."

Major T'Dank laughed. "He's more Doraxian than me."

"Do you recall him saying, 'What's a T good for if it isn't used to better Doraxia?'" She asked.

"I heard him give a speech on that," T'Nead said. "It was a motivating speech."

"Do you know where he got that saying?" Captain Jade said.

"Where?" Major T'Dank asked.

"From your ancestor, dummy," she said, "If he tested you on that question and YOU missed it, he'd be on fire right now."

"Damn!" He said. "I actually knew that, but I completely forgot."

"That's why the Council of Science gives him what he needs," she said, "He respects Doraxia."

"Sounds like you like the guy," Major T'Dank said.

"It's complicated," she said, "Very complicated."

He laughed. "I'm on hate mode right now, but once he's done punishing me, I think I can learn to appreciate the man."

"Just don't say anything negative about the General around Jessica, Vivian, or any of the Command Staff," Captain Jade said, "They've gone through wars together."

"Do you think he'll mentally probe you for no reason?" Captain T'Nead asked.

"Nope. He can hear a change in your heart rhythm, and know you're lying to him," she said, "Then he'll ask you why you're telling lies." She laughed. "You know T'Nalia was the Green Lantern of Doraxia, right?"

"Of course," she said.

"Do you know she tried to hide Jimmy's Yellow Power Ring when it came to him?" Captain Jade asked.

"I didn't know that," Captain T'Nead said.

"She tried to lie to him, and he told her that she was a liar too," she laughed, "She tried to walk away, and he said, 'Looks like you got your T in walking away.'"

"No he didn't!" Major T'Dank said.

"Yep. He pissed her off so badly that she shot him with her power ring." She laughed for a moment. "Now get this. After that, he looked right at her, and said, 'Looks like the Lantern Corp made a big mistake by giving your ass a power ring.'"

"I'm surprised she didn't break it off," Captain T'Nead said.

"She did. She told him that it would be best if they went their separate ways," she said, "Jimmy cried so hard and loudly, and then T'Nalia cried too. In those days, Jimmy couldn't control his powers, and it would have killed her if she tried to comfort him. She pleaded with him to stop crying, but he wouldn't. The next morning he told her that she was his wife on another timeline, but she had died."

"Wow," Major T'Dank said.

"He was fourteen and Niona was about thirteen at the time. She confirmed his story because she remembered the alternate timeline too," she said, "The guy who designed all these ships wrote all his journals about Jimmy, T'Nalia, and Niona."

"So, did he really kill a Parallax?" Captain T'Nead asked.

Captain Jade smiled. "T'Nalia and Jimmy were in the middle of their spats, when the monster approached. She went out of the ship by herself, and tried to fight the thing. She ended up getting caught in the animal's gravitational pull, but the ship had already retreated thousands of miles away, and couldn't help her. She screamed out for Jimmy, and when he showed up, he was like, 'What?' They started arguing back and forth, and the Parallax was like, 'Excuse me.' Jimmy told him to wait until he finished arguing with his lying girl friend. He eventually asked the Parallax to let his lying girlfriend and the ship pass, but he told him no. Jimmy then told him that he would sacrifice himself for the ship, and the Parallax agreed. Jimmy allowed the Parallax to swallow him while he was screaming, 'Weeeeeeeeeeeee' the whole time. When T'Nalia saw Jimmy go into the Parallax's mouth, she freaked out. She fired a hole right through the beast, and then she realized that it was already dead. When she flew to the beast, Jimmy was lying on his tongue looking up at the roof of its mouth. "

"I don't know if I believe that," Major T'Dank said. "We're talking about a Parallax."

"Ask T'Rolo," she said, "He was the Captain on that vessel. He has video." She paused for a moment. "You guys need to go through the Lantern School."

Major T'Dank laughed. "I have no chance," he said, "None."

"What's crazy is the Sapphire Corp tried to attack Jimmy," she said, "He refused to engage them."

"Why?" Major T'Dank asked.

"He said one day they would make up the New Guardians," she said. "Niona was only thirteen, and when the Sapphire Commander tried to attack Jimmy, Niona stood with him, and bowed to T'Nalia. She told her that she was the wife of the Great Unifier."

"I love the stories about Jimmy," T'Dank said, and then in unison, T'Dank and Captain Jade said, "But not the General." Major T'Dank laughed.

Captain T'Baze walked onto the bridge, and Captain Jade handed him the comm headset. "I'm going to do my rounds."

"Okay," he said.

"Sir, permission to leave the bridge?" Captain Jade asked.

"Permission granted," Major T'Dank said.

Captain Jade walked down the hallway towards the lunchroom when she received a call from one of her Lanterns.

"Captain Jade. This is Lieutenant Iobi. Over," he said.

"Go," she said.

"I just came across a shadow," he said, "It looked like a large vessel about half a light year away, and then it disappeared off radar. Over."

"It might be a glitch with the system," she said, "See if you can replicate it. Out."

The lunch room was almost empty, although Private Naga sat in the far corner by herself. She grabbed a Vinish Steak smothered in mushrooms with some cabbage, and two pip eggs on the side. She had an affinity for the pip eggs after she tried one of Vivian's during the first day of Lantern School. She sat with Private Naga, and she seemed reticent at first.

"Thank you for last night," Captain Jade whispered. "I needed the release."

The young private didn't say anything at first. She tapped her right foot on the ground, and then said, "I don't like being ignored all day. I know you're an officer, but you could have given me a light wave, or even a look of interest."

"I was busy with officer stuff," she said, "You're kind of needy for having so many suitors."

"I see," she said, "You've talked to the guys who dumped their loads, left, and didn't call this girl," she said, "You don't think I appreciated the idle chitchat and being held through the night?" She slammed her hands on the table. "It doesn't matter. I'm just the Blue whore." She hopped up from the table, and before Captain Jade had a chance to speak, she was all the way around the corner.

She was suddenly in front of the Private, and the girl jumped. "I"m the fastest human in the Universe," she said. For a moment, she paused. "Why do we have to do this?" Captain Jade asked. She folded her arms for a moment. "Why can't we toss sheets discretely and quietly?"

"Just don't treat me like I'm beneath you?" She asked. "I deal with this all the time."

"I've never done that," Captain Jade said.

"Just drop by tonight," she said. Gently, she grabbed her right hand. "Discretely."

Captain Jade walked quietly back to the cafeteria, and she didn't know what to make of Private Naga's madness. She immediately recognized her manipulation, but she wanted to experience her one more time, and she didn't know why. For a moment, she thought she should retreat to her hovel, take some sleeping pills, and wake up the next day in her right mind. But at the same time, she had her duties, and if the General had demands, she had to carry out those demands without question. The last time she tribbled with Private Naga it was a one-sided explosion, but on the next adventure, she wanted mutually agreeable climaxes, something that manifested into a positive memory.

Her Yellow Lantern ring beeped three times, and that meant a secure, important message from the General was about to project out of her ring. She stepped into a closet in the lunchroom, and then a three-d image of the General appeared in front of her. He wore the classical, military dress uniform, and he was built like a chocolate superman. "Please note that this is a secure message. If you're not in a secure location, please find a secure location or stop the transmission." There was a two minute pause, and then the General stated, "The Demon is headed for Brion-Noir, a planet on the brink of death. I estimate the Demon will be out-of-network for six-months to a year. It will take the Demon approximately twelve days with the current Transwarp technology to reach Brion-Noir. We have to Terraform the planet Vista Noir, and that will take approximately three months to do. Once we stabilize the newly terraformed planet, we have to transport a sizable amount of Brion-Noir's people to the new planet. This is a safety measure in case Brion Noir reacts badly to the process we use to start the planet's core. If you have any administrative problems, try to handle them at the lowest level in your chain of command. If you can't handle them at the company level, then bring it to Major Hall. Please remember no fraternization with the enlisted. Please remember all procedures, and never relax your guard. We have enemies, and each one of you should be prepared at all times. Lastly, all Transwarp technology is Top Secret. Under no circumstances is the Transwarp technology to be discussed with anybody outside the Yellow Lantern Corp. General T'McGinnis out."

When Captain Jade arrived on the bridge, Major T'Dank was elated over something. He had a huge smile on his face, and she didn't know what was happening. "Why are you cheesing, sir?"

"The General called me up, and said, 'If you want to make it to retirement, you better not touch my enlisted.' I'm hard as a rock right now."

"But did you get the message?" She asked.

"Hell yeah. I'm not stupid," he said. "Damn. All the Doraxian, female officers are sickly skinny to me. Built like boys. Shoot."

"Those ugly beige uniforms are deceptive," she said, "Probably a lot more flesh when they're bare. Besides, a few drinks will liven things up a bit."

"I'm weak for a curvy Blue girl," Major T'Dank said gleefully.

"There's other races of women on the ship," she said.

"Awwwww. You're cute, Captain Jade," he said, "But you're skinny as hell, and you're on the quadruple serving meal plan."

"Ha. I wasn't thinking of me, silly. Besides, you know I'm a speedster?," She said. "It takes ten thousand calories a day for me just to exist."

"I love food," he said, "But damn. I don't think I could eat like that if I tried."

Captain Jade looked thoroughly through her visor, and scoped the surrounding area. She scanned a distance that equated to approximately four light years, and when she calculated the number of planets in that distance, she estimated over seventy-two billion. She couldn't fathom a glitch in the Flea, but it was possible. The Lantern Parasitic Vessels were the first of their kind, and they were equipped with Transwarp technology built into them. The General designed them from inside and out, and built the prototype; therefore, she felt questioning the tech would be disrespectful.

"Major, the sky is clear," she said. "What's the possibility that the Lantern parasitic vessels have a glitch in them?"

"A shadow on the screen can be a million things," he said, "But I viewed the General's specs on ship detection, and his calculations were meticulous. It was the only part of the ship that wasn't classified. Do you know how many scientist scrutinized over his calculations?"

"I don't. A couple?" She said.

Captain T'Baze laughed.

"What?" Captain Jade asked.

"Try tens of millions," he said, "Even Niona's documentation is there. She's an actual genius. She has like eight PhDs, and never uses the T in her name. There has to be something going on outside the equipment. The rest of the ship's functions are so classified"

"Thank you, Captain T'Baze," she said.

"Major, I think we should bring the threat level to heightened," she said, "At least until we can understand the glitch."

The Major leaned forward for a second, and looked over at Captain Jade. "It would mandate three parasitic vessels patrolling at all times," he said, "We're talking about putting extra stress on the troops."

"We need an additional four Lanterns," she said.

"I can run it through Major Hall to put four Lanterns on a temporary duty assignment on the Dragon," he said. "Doraxia has nearly five hundred Lanterns patrolling her."

"How many around Zaar?" She asked.

"The rest," he said, "The Yellow Lantern Citadel and training compound has a constant batch of usable Lanterns."

Later in the evening…

Captain Jade meandered her way through the hallway of the ship, and she was on Private Naga's deck, but she was apprehensive about her next move. All she had to do was knock on the door of her hovel, but suddenly she was overwhelmed with undeniable guilt; it was like a pain of depression that rolled around in her head. She stood against the wall, and tried to push the feelings of regret out of her mind. It was hard for her because the feeling of death increased with each step she took towards the Private's hovel. By the time she mustered up enough strength to knock, she fell to one knee, and cried uncontrollably.

"What's wrong with you?" She said in a concerned voice. "You're crying and sweating badly."

"It's dread," she said, "And self loathing. I can't control it. Go get Lieutenant Iobi," she said with a grimace. "He can undo this."

When Lieutenant Iobi arrived on the scene, the Captain was in the middle of the floor crying. The feeling of dread had overtaken her, and she was inconsolable. He placed his forehead against her sweaty face, and went deep into her mind. Immediately, he pulled away from her, and said, "You need to contact the General."

"What? Why?" She asked in a flood of tears.

"'Cause when I went into your mind, he immediately told me to leave or else," he said, "So, what did you do is all I need to ask at this point?"

"Fraternize," she said.

"So, how did he know?" Private Naga asked.

"He's an empath," Lieutenant Iobi said, "When did he make contact with anybody on the ship who might have known about you two?" He pointed to Private Naga and Captain Jade.

"Oh shit!" She said. She slapped her hands on her forehead. "He probed the Major. Dammit! He had punished the Major, and then he removed his punishment earlier today."

The General pushed a telepathic thought to her, and asked, "Why did you disobey me?"

"I'm lonely, sir," she said.

"You're taking advantage of my good will," he said in a telepathic thought. "If my personal picks aren't following my orders, then how can I expect the rest of the Corp to do so?"

"I'm sorry, sir," she thought, "This ship can use four more Lanterns, and some viable officers in the Old Guard. This is a hardship duty."

"Break it off with Private Naga right now," he said, "I'm going to severe this telepathic link in a few minutes." He paused for a moment. "Captain Jade, we're a nascent organization paving the way for a new world. I implore you to follow orders, and no fraternizing with the enlisted. It causes confusion and confusion lowers morale." He paused.

"Sir, are you still there?" She asked.

"Yes. I see you're thinking about the glitch on The Flea, and I don't think it's a glitch. I will increase the Dragon's staff, and send three Lieutenants compatible with your crazy mind because I want increased patrols in the area too. But let me tell you this: if I catch you lying to me or breaking one of my commandments again, and you know exactly what I mean, I'm passing you over for your next rank."

"You're going to deny me my own command?" She thought.

"Damn right! The Annihilator Two will be assigned to Vega Star in one year, and it will have a full staff of Lanterns, but if you can't act right, then I'll find somebody who can."

"Sir, I can do this," she thought, "Just give me a chance?"

"I'm not listening to your promises," he said telepathically. "Just do what I need you to do. General out."

Suddenly, the weight of pain was lifted off her mind, and Private Naga and Lieutenant Iobi stood over her, and tried to snap her out of the trans. When she stood to her feet, she immediately said, "I can't see you anymore. He won't give me my next command if I keep seeing you."

She immediately left the area, and headed to the Officer's Lounge, and it was approximately sixteen officers in the bar. She decided to stay out of the Common Lounge because she didn't want to be caught fraternizing with the enlisted. In addition, she wanted to reinvent her social life because she felt like sleeping with a lower enlisted was a bad move socially. She still had on her black, utilitarian Lantern dress uniform, and she looked like she was still on duty. What she hated about the whole deal was she could smell Private Naga's sweet scent on her face. It was like she dipped all her clothes in the young Doraxian's fragrance, and it was driving her crazy.

She ordered a red Booshi called Flava Booshi, and it was one of the Booshi flavors that she hadn't tried yet. She took a booth in the far corner where it took a patron extra effort to see her. The fact that the General danced around in her head had her upset, and she felt violated by him. All of the empaths seemed to take liberties with their powers, and it was upsetting. There weren't any known Doraxian empaths, but they were all big in science, even the ones who weren't Ts.

The Officer's Lounge had a display of the Council of Science on the far wall, and then across the room was a display dedicated to T'Nalia, the Blue Ghost of Doraxia. She was somewhat of a hero outside of her Lantern duties. She wondered why she hadn't seen anything of the General since he was at the apex of both the Yellow Lantern Corp and the Old Guard Military. In fact, it was against the rules not to have a list of the chain of command in each company's perspective areas, and she hadn't seen anything referring to the General.

The bartender was Rex T'Levi, and she couldn't believe it took a man with a PhD in Archeology to administer drinks. He had his degree posted on the wall in a gold plated frame. He was a burly man about five eleven, but wide and portly with a grayish beard. His eyes were close together, brown, and almond shaped. He had the narrow tipped ears, and black hair with bouts of gray hairs throughout his head. When he moved out of the way, she saw a huge image of the General. She walked over to the bar, and ordered another Booshi, and saw what it said underneath the General's picture. "You better not have enlisted soldiers in my bar!"

Lieutenant Iobi walked into the bar in a black bodysuit with the Yellow Lantern symbol in the center of his chest. A yellow streak traveled down both arms, and it actually looked sexy. It was the authorized off duty uniform that all Lanterns wore except for Colonel T'Nalia. She wore clothing that broke up the outline of her body, and as far as Captain Jade knew, she was the only person that had that design. She hated the garrison, Yellow Lantern duty dress uniform. It was the exact opposite of ostentatious. There was a new garrison design that the Yellow Lantern Academy will release in twenty-seventy, and she thought it was just as ugly as the current one.

"How are you doing, Lieutenant?" Captain Jade asked. "Slow night?"

"Not really," he said. "I've watched your little girlfriend in the Common Lounge, and I think she's up to something."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"She preys on the officers," he said, "I saw her take Lieutenant T'Nead back to her room."

Captain Jade looked down at her glass for a second. "I can't help but feel a little dismayed by that."

"She's slept with all the bridge officers except for Captain T'Baze," he said, "I'm talking about Captain T'Rove on the night shift too. She slept with him, and he took her onto the bridge."

"Seriously?" She asked. "That's a serious violation." She paused for a moment. "She could be pumping them for information."

"I came aboard the ship a week prior to you," he said, "I saw what she was doing, and I made an attempt to read her mind."

"What happen?" She asked.

"I wasn't able to." He paused for a moment. "It's like she was trained to circumvent telepathy."

"Circumvent?" She asked.

"Yes. I went into her mind, but she redirected me around what I wanted to know, and sent me right out of her head," he said, "I couldn't do it passively either."

"I guess some people know how to block empaths," she said.

"It's true," he said, "But she's the first Doraxian I've met with that ability."

"I wonder if an empath has gotten into the General's mind," she said.

The Lieutenant laughed. "Do you remember the people in Lantern School who went mad?"

"We had freakouts on the daily," she said.

"All telepaths. They were full of hubris because they thought no mind could resist them," he said. He laughed a little. "The General tossed all the telepaths into a room on the first day, and told them to stay out of people's minds. He told us that it was considered an egregious violation of privacy to do so." He giggled. "I already knew his abilities. I wasn't crazy enough to think I had the strength to enter his mind, especially when my sister told me he trained a Lantern who was fifty light years away with telepathy."

"It's true," she said, "She pilots the Demon."

"I met her. She was in my graduating class," he said. "Anyway, can you believe six telepaths tried to enter his mind while he was talking to us?"

"What happened?" She asked.

"He punished them," he said, "He completely stripped them of their powers with a thought. It nearly drove them all mad without that power."

"Did he give it back to them?" She asked.

"Yes. After three months, extra duty, and a two thousand page essay on T'Naga, he gave their powers back."

"Oh. I remember the guys whining about writing the Essay," she said, "I didn't know why."

"See, we're kind of the elite Yellow Lanterns," he said, "There's another batch of Lanterns who have their doctorates, and all they had to do was complete Yellow Lantern Basics, attend Yellow Lantern Officer Candidate School, and take the Lantern Ethics Course."

"I think the General got his PhD in six years, but he took a year off to handle an issue on his homeworld," she said, "I think T'Nalia received a PhD in five years. I'm talking Earth years though."

The next morning…

It was a quiet morning. She didn't see Lieutenant T'Nead, but Private T'Naga sat down at her table. All she had on her breakfast plate was a couple strips of Madi bacon. She had on some black gloves that looked awkward with her beige uniform. She looked serious for some reason. She looked around the room for a moment, and then said, "Be mindful of Lieutenant T'Nead."

"What made you say that?" Captain Jade asked.

"Captain Sparky Jade, I'm going to give you a code, and then you're going to do exactly what I say," she said, "A524134B2."

"Oh shit," she said, "Yes, Ma'am. What's your rank?"

"That's not important." She paused for a moment, and removed her right glove. It exposed her Yellow Lantern Power Ring. She placed the glove back on her hand, and said, "Go to the bridge, and check all systems. Deploy all parasitic ships, and watch for enemy combatants. If you find Lieutenant T'Nead, place her under arrest."