《Kia's Biehshah Gift [Fall 2024 Royal Road Writathon]》
Chapter 1 Failed Again
No jam? I got the empty jar and scraped it with my last piece of bread. Hard to face retail on a nearly-empty stomach.
My phone startled me and I dropped the jar. Which shattered. My thumb hit the wrong spot and hung up on the caller¡ªmy boss? Uh boy. It¡¯s 8 am already? But I had to laugh at that stupid picture with her mouth open. Her daddy¡¯s money helped her start Crafts Anonymous. Customers evaporated during COVID. Except people who don¡¯t like masks. Fusses when I wear mine.
It rang again. ¡°Hey, Pat, what¡¯s up?¡±
¡°You got a lot of nerve hangin¡¯ up on me! Didja know I was callin¡¯ to fire ya?¡±
¡°Whoa¡ªwait¡ªfire me? Why?¡±
¡°You worked for Betty last night knowin¡¯ you¡¯d go over 40. We don¡¯t pay over¡ª¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t go over¡ª¡±
¡°¡¯Cause you worked for Tom Saturday!¡±
¡°Pat, Kathey begged me to come in ¡®cause she couldn¡¯t¡ª¡±
¡°Kathey¡¯s just the Night Manager. I own this company. And, I say, you¡¯re fired.¡± Click. And, my job at Crafts Anonymous is now history. For working when they needed me? Like I need a third job, anyway? Tomorrow, I¡¯m working all day at Jason¡¯s Hardware.
I went and splashed some water in my face. That lifeless brown hair¡¯s getting a bit of silver at my temples. Still look young. Only 32. But, dark circles under my blue eyes make me look older. What I¡¯d give, to just slow down and go on a nice date with someone. In my dreams. These jeans are too tight because I gained weight over the holidays. Exercising makes my back hurt worse.
Since I had time now, a whole day, I¡¯ll watch some SETI news. I put on CNM.
¡°It started early, before sunrise. First, a sequence of prime numbers. Then, they started sending a treaty for the UN. It appears the aliens want Earth to join a trade network covering seven galaxies. Here¡¯s Marty Essenger to tell us all about it. Marty¡ª¡±
My phone rang again. ¡°Kia, I need ya. Nancy came in drunk this mornin¡¯.¡±
I rolled my eyes. ¡°Kathey, Pat just fired me.¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m rehirin¡¯ ya¡ª¡±
¡°She says I¡¯m over 40 this week as of last night.¡±
¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m havin¡¯ her business when William gets done. Hear that?¡± I heard vague male yelling.
Last time he did that, he didn¡¯t offer to buy it for her. ¡°You know she¡¯ll tell his wife if he gets it for her, don¡¯t you?¡±
Didn¡¯t wait for her to recover. Hung up. Like she would sell to him. Waiting for the fella with the thick Indian accent to offer her more money. I think he¡¯s about done with her games. I¡¯m done with my little soap opera job. Just, done!
I turned off an ad and looked for another story. More political mumbo. My tummy¡¯s rumbling.
Maybe there¡¯s something under that ice in the freezer. Hmm. Corn dogs? Why not?
I put one in a dish and ignored the ice crystals.
My phone rang. Again? Oops, Carla! ¡°Hi, how ya doin¡¯?¡± What I wouldn¡¯t give to be thin as her.
¡°Don¡¯t how ya doin¡¯ me, kid. Yer in trouble.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°You closed Tuesday, right?¡±
Tuesday. Oh yeah. Bowling alley snack bar. ¡°Yeah, I did.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t care to tell me about the leak in the sink?¡±
¡°There wasn¡¯t any leak¡ª¡±
¡°We had to bring in a company to deal with inches of water. Storeroom got soaked. Charlie wasn¡¯t happy. You¡¯re fired. Charlie¡¯s lawyer will be over to your apartment today. Don¡¯t leave.¡±
I stopped the microwave and put the corn dog in the freezer. Leaned against the fridge. Lawyer? Can they prove that¡¯s my fault if it happened after I left? Then Randy¡¯s words came back to me.
I don¡¯t get mad, Honey, I get even.
He¡¯s had it in for me ever since Charlie gave me the job that he wanted. His girl¡¯s the bowling alley mechanic. Did he do something? He was still cleaning up when I left.
What to do? Who to tell? Then a rumble behind that freezer door, and the motor stopped. I jerked it open. Steaming! Glass all over the ice. Thought it couldn¡¯t be¡ª
The doorbell. I sighed. I¡¯m dressed.
¡°We¡¯re here at SETI and there¡¯s excitement in the air!¡± My phone started playing and I stopped it.
Opened the door.
Two men in white suits and diagonal sashes filled with pins! Lawyers? ¡°Look, I think I was framed! I wouldn¡¯t leave water running when I close up!¡± I lost my cool.
The men took my arms. ¡°Oh, we aren¡¯t here to¡ªwhat is wrong, Miss Garfield?¡±
Wasn¡¯t going to¡ªbut another man in a blue suit put an envelope in my hand. ¡°Sign here, please.¡±
¡°Excuse me, what is this about?¡±
¡°Charlie¡¯s Lanes is suing Miss Kia Garfield for destruction of his property. They believe she cut the drain pipe and left water running overnight¡ª¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that! Randy threatened me! He was there Monday when I left at 6 am¡ª¡±
¡°He has a job at Crafts Anonymous and they verified, he was there from 4:30 am cleaning the store.¡±
¡°What?¡± I didn¡¯t think Pat would stoop that low!
The silver-haired one on the right kept talking. ¡°How much are these damages?¡±
¡°So far, $5000, but they¡¯ve only gotten the plumber¡¯s estimate and they¡¯re not through with the inventory.¡±
¡°My company will pay for this. I hope you will investigate this further. Perhaps someone at Crafts Anonymous is not being honest.¡±
The man sneered. ¡°From a man in a white suit? Honestly.¡±
He handed him a business card, and the weaselly lawyer paled. Real lawyers don¡¯t do courier work. That business card had a hologram of a garden that shone in the bright morning sun. Didn¡¯t know they could do such realistic ones!
Silver hair struck a dramatic pose and pulled out a wallet. ¡°Here is my UN ID which gives my title as diplomat. My Georgia International Driver¡¯s License. My wallet Passport. I am learning about Georgia State Law from our lawyer. Here is his business card. He will be in touch. My government will pay for all these damages, but our lawyer will investigate.¡±
The man took the business card and left, fast! I was a sobbing mess!
¡°Oh, let me introduce myself. I am Irdaktin, Diplomat Of Biehshah. Here is my friend, Der, also Diplomat Of Biehshah.¡± He pulled a pristine, white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped my face. Great, even my mascara¡¯s running. Drips on my green sleeve made me cringe.
¡°Thanks! I¡¯m Kia.¡± Can¡¯t curtsy in blue jeans. My, he¡¯s handsome! But a diplomat? I¡¯m competin¡¯ with teens for jobs because my degree in Music with a concentration in singing wasn¡¯t practical, since I didn¡¯t make the cut at Julliard. I sighed. He¡¯ll probably marry a princess.
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A cold breeze made us all shiver. ¡°Won¡¯t you come in?¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
I led them into my tiny studio with three folding chairs. So embarrassing! Had to move my basket of laundry to fold.
The silver-haired one with the huge brown eyes took it. ¡°Where shall I put this, for you?¡± Irdaktin. No last name? He doesn¡¯t look like a person from India. But, how would I know. anyway?
¡°On the floor over there¡¯s fine! Thanks!¡±
They both waited for me to sit first. Both of them, very athletic. Der smiled at Irdaktin. But he smiled at me. ¡°We wish to offer you a job. Do you think you would enjoy the medical field?¡±
¡°Medical?¡± I took care of Mama until she passed, of cancer, and thought about becoming a nurse. But Dad remarried and they moved to Mexico. So I had to move out, and couldn¡¯t afford an apartment and school. Had a scholarship in music so I finished my degree, since I just had a bit left. Didn¡¯t really know how to get a singing job except in a bar, and I don¡¯t¡ª ¡°I might be interested. But how did you find me?¡±
Irdaktin took my hands. The white walls of my apartment faded away, replaced by a red one.
People here were lying in white-robed healers¡¯ laps, not standing.
¡°Kia, you cannot enter Rin¡¯s Ennead. She has not the experience to teach you. When you shared with Patran, I heard also. Patran thinks he is stronger than he is at times. He was a slave. Once, he was a Master Healer of great skill.¡± Shas reached a twin-fingered hand to touch Patran¡¯s silver curls. Another healer held him, sleeping. He thought I had potential as a healer. That skin was orange before he tried to teach me, now it¡¯s yellow. I felt awful! ¡°Now we must stop him when he attempts beyond his strength. Daughter, I grieve, but if Patran cannot teach you to control your telepathy, I cannot. No one can! Despair not. Molly always needs healer helpers.¡± Kia flunks another kind of job. Patran tried to teach me how to heal Earl¡¯s bruised twin-toed feet, and my telepathy hurt him, and the old healer, too.
After that, I was scared to touch anybody. Earl woke up and didn¡¯t remember me. He seemed happy to let Shas care for him. They wouldn¡¯t let Patran heal anyone and I worried.
I walked around the ship. A beautiful red hull with rainbows in it curved over me. When I first came aboard, I enjoyed the springy feel of the floor under my tennis shoes. Will I be as much of a failure here in space as I was on Earth? Stars outside that hull didn¡¯t seem as welcoming, now.
All of these tortured people! I felt unsure of my healer helping skills. Didn¡¯t want to talk to anyone.
On the other side, two Biehshah and five Bisillips huddled together. The Bisillips didn¡¯t try to talk, just looked down. Like walking green skeletons, half my width and bald. One Biehshah lay moaning on his back. The other held a hand on his curly, blond head. They were both yellow. Large men, as most Biehshah were, with bigger eyes than us but pretty Earthan-looking, except for the golden yellow skin. The sitting one had bright blue eyes that seemed to glow as he stared at me. ¡°Mesta ranarishmech! The answer to my prayer!¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡± I looked behind me. Nothing except a bunch of Thordes. The purple men smiled.
His five-fingered hand pulled at mine. ¡°Your mind is strong! I beg your forgiveness, but my brother dies, and even the Zheien healers cannot assist me because their minds are not in sync. Yours is in sync.¡±
¡°It is? You¡¯re sure I won¡¯t hurt him? I already hurt two Zheien today¡ª¡±
He patted my hand. ¡°We have different gifts. I wish to give to you. Help me heal my brother and I will make of you a great healer!¡±
¡°I¡¯ll help! What do I do?¡± Oh, how I wanted to believe him!
Slowly, he pulled my hand to his brother¡¯s head. Ow! He hurt! ¡°Leave your hand on top of his head. I will add mine and help you. He needed so much healing in the night, I exhausted early. We have three brains. There. Do you feel the three pullings?¡±
I started to tell him I didn¡¯t understand, but I did feel three distinct¡ªalmost magnetic¡ªtugs at my fingers.
¡°Pull the forces together. Quickly!¡±
Closed my fingers. Thought they¡¯d pass through, but energy connected. I heard musical notes. A symphony of sounds and voices. The sound mesmerized me.
¡°Are you harmed? Novas! Let me bring one of the Zheien for you¡ª¡±
I wanted to tell him I wasn¡¯t hurt, but I couldn¡¯t take my mind off the music. Part of me sang along with it.
I gasped! The four walls of my apartment came back. ¡°SETI¡ªyou¡¯re from out there?¡± I waved my arm out and felt dumb. Friends say I¡¯m too dramatical.
Irdaktin stood. ¡°Yes! Our star, the Alb System, is out there!¡± He pointed to the bathroom. ¡°I am from Biehshah, and once I saw this memory, I had to come find you. In this other future, you had healing for us that our greatest healer, Tenadu, does not know.¡±
¡°I did?¡±
¡°He waits on our ship! We wish to take you to him, to learn healing.¡±
His hands went cold in mine. I rubbed ¡®em. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±
Der giggled. ¡°This was easier than I thought!¡±
I laughed. ¡°I always wanted to be an astronaut!¡±
With a smile, Irdaktin gave a graceful wave. A green swirl of light appeared, and the middle showed a crowd on a red-violet ship. ¡°Here is a dimportal. Walk with me, Kia.¡±
He led me into that green swirl. The crowd moved so we could get in. Like that red ship, but red-violet. I saw tree limbs above us. Inman Park? We¡¯re in a yard there?
Tenadu ran to us, bright blue eyes wide. ¡°Oh, Miss¡ª¡±
¡°Call me Kia! I¡¯m ready to learn healing!¡± I pumped his hand.
He laughed. ¡°I am ready to teach you. First, you must have an aandat. Ir, did you show her memories?¡± He smoothed his blue robes.
¡°I showed her you. Did you give her an aandat?¡±
¡°No. How did she get it? Perhaps we must begin where all Earthans begin, yes?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Irdaktin looked around. We felt rumbles. ¡°Oh, no! We offended our Zheien friends¡ª¡±
One of the twin-fingered men put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Dear friend, we are ne offended, but merely¡ªne accustomed to speaking of them.¡± He turned orange in his face. ¡°All of us will need to learn to speak of them, so Earthans may.¡± The man smiled.
Then all of the twin-fingered ones¡ªin a rainbow of skin colors¡ªsmiled. Purple men and women with five fingers like me. Pink ones with eyes that turned light. And fire-engine red ones with four fingers. Wow! I felt like I¡¯d stepped into that cantina in Star Wars. Without booze. Nice!
Tenadu looked down and Ir had a grip on my hand. ¡°My son, should you hold her hand? Be careful.¡±
He held my hand against his chest. ¡°I want to marry her, Ten!¡± Memories flooded me. We got married in that other future. His people wanted him to know me 5 years before courting!
The healer fella gasped! His yellow skin paled! ¡°You must not speak¡ª¡±
Another yellow fella marched over. Had a lot more pins on his blue robes. ¡°Irdaktin, you are of Leheren. I can have you Excluded for this! Drop her hand. How do you know that any Earthan will want to have a 20-year courtship with you?¡±
Tenadu took my hand out of his and put his hand down.
¡°Because I saw our future together! We married in the Rainbow Unwell Colony¡ª¡±
¡°Which does not yet exist! I warn you¡ª¡±
¡°I moved my house to Ye~ Zheien Colony this morning. Ryonne~ made me a citizen of his colony¡ª¡±
¡°This is madness! No Biehshah can survive¡ª¡±
Ten men stood with him. ¡°See my friends, who also moved their houses! Many are already Excluded and work in Siotu for ScSv. They now work in Ye~ ScSv.¡± He shook all over. ¡°More die in Leheren than any other prov of Biehshah, because of changes, because of our many rules, and more are Excluded from there than any other. Your governance, Garat, kills us. No one dies in Jujujean, from a change in the weather, or a birth, or a death. This colony will be New Jujujean. I will welcome all of the Excluded, from any prov, and I will not Exclude anyone.¡± He shook all over.
Memories flooded me, of our marriage, how happy we were in Jujujean of Rainbow, our own little paradise on Alb Seer. But, Ye~? Where¡¯s that? And I haven¡¯t learned healing yet! Irdaktin sweated.
Other Biehshah stood by him and frowned at Garat. ¡°Then, all of you can join his colony and die there! I will Exclude all of you!¡±
A Zheien walked to him. This one had more pins on his sash, a much younger man, but confident. ¡°Friends, what is wrong?¡±
Ir took my hand. ¡°Theapet, I witnessed 30 marriages this morning, between Zheien and Earthans, between Thordes and Earthans, Elshars and Earthans, and I am one of two Biehshah who witnessed a prophecy of his marriage. I love Kia! I hope she loves me! I want to marry her, and Ten believes we shall die if we do not, and Garat wants to Exclude me for it!¡±
This Zheien¡¯s anger rumbled on me. I shook with it. ¡°Gar, surely you know that we nae marry lightly. Like you, our emotions can cripple one. Irdaktin served years, faithfully, and saved millions in situations few Zheien could survive. Will you forget, because he wishes to marry?¡± His bright blue eyes filled with tears.
¡°He knows our rules, and he has broken 27 of them with this foolish notion! I do not believe he will die from waiting. Zheien are different.¡±
Ten pulled at Ir¡¯s arm. ¡°My son, I am your healer. I do believe you. Be calm. Drink this.¡± Handed him a blue-green milkshake.
He startled, but tasted it. Downed it! Smiled.
Garat didn¡¯t. ¡°I wish to speak with Ryonne~.¡±
Theapet frowned. ¡°He left the ship. But, his father is here.¡±
¡°Yes, I wish to speak with King Eanne~.¡± Garat snapped into an exaggerated, rigid stance. Like military, but rigid-er. His expression with his lower lip poked out reminded me of a 4-year-old.
A stately man with silver curls to his shoulders came. Even more pins than Theapet had! He bowed low, one leg far behind him. ¡°Garat, you ask for me?¡±
¡°Why did you create a Biehshah colony without asking our leaders?¡±
¡°I did not ask, but Ry¡¯nao requested the space, and we provided it. I serve our Emperor, and I hope you do.¡±
¡°We are not part of the Unified, and I do not consider any leader other than ours. We are independent. We gave you protection from pirates that Theaspaura asked, but I am tempted to have it withdrawn from your world if you allow these Excluded ones to settle there. I have much influence on our Council.¡±
Chapter 2 Risky Wedding
Eanne~ paled. ¡°Perhaps I should request Emperor Ry¡¯nao to speak with Leader¡ª¡±
¡°Enough of this! I sent ships to retrieve the houses of Biehshah moved to your world, and any who are Biehshah.¡±
¡°Pardons, Garat, but you cannot. They are citizens of the Alliance, and have rights to emigrate.¡±
¡°All must return!¡±
¡°And you plan to move them to Siotu, where you move all of your enemies? I asked of Theas this morning. He told me he sent a diplomat to Leader Suan and he promised not to retrieve them. Even his lawyers agreed, once a Biehshah wishes to leave his home, he cannot be forced to return. This is only valid in the treaty Fhiah signed with Biehshah, not for any other world. Leader Suan wishes to use Siotu for mining and tires of the expense of maintaining many healers there. He accepted my offer to take all of them, and any others who wish to leave Biehshah. Apparently many Excluded are very unhappy at home and eager to join my colony. We welcome them and their many healers.
¡°But, I warn you, we will ne allow any automated ships to take Biehshah. We saw what happened in another future¡ª¡±
¡°Other future? There is only one, and it has not happened yet!¡± Garat stomped his foot. Startled as it bounced! I stifled a grin. Mirth left fast when I remembered that tiny ship they wanted to stuff my husband and Der into! It had arms and almost clamped pincers on them! Garat sent that thing.
Eanne~¡¯s golden eyes stared into his bright blue ones.
Garat¡¯s eyes opened wide. He paled. Sighed. ¡°My prov will be empty soon, because of this. What you are doing, Irdaktin, is wrong.¡±
¡°You are a healer. Did you become one to save lives? This new colony, my work, will save lives. You saw it.¡±
He glared at me. ¡°And you think this Earthan, who doesn¡¯t even have telepathy, can help you with this insanity? I will watch. And when they die, I will speak to our Council.¡± He walked to another part of the round ship. All the Biehshah stayed over here.
Irdaktin looked sad. ¡°Friends, you will sleep by him, so he won¡¯t die?¡±
They nodded. One sighed. ¡°If there are any he did not Exclude yet.¡±
Der smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Pirad has clones that will sleep with him.¡± They all smiled. Bisillips are cold. Biehshah are warm.
Theapet hugged Ir. ¡°My friend, will you be all right? You are cold!¡±
¡°Help me marry my maiden?¡±
Eanne~ came near us. ¡°I am happy to do this! Irdaktin, take her right hand in your right.¡±
He did, and waved a soft, lacy white wedding gown on me! Held out a necklace with stones of every color I¡¯d seen, and more! ¡°This is for you, my love! These are memory-stones. Merely think to them to record, and they will store memories of our love.¡± He smiled.
I did, too.
Ir looked so handsome in white. His tie was emerald green, my favorite color!
¡°My son, give your names and titles, and mention the Ancient Protocols of Bisillipia¡ª¡±
¡°Bisillipia will not accept it!¡± Garat scoffed.
¡°Zhea~ and Ye~, then, and Atlanta.¡±
I tried not to giggle. Ancient Protocols Of Atlanta!
Ir knelt. ¡°I, Irdaktin, Master Diplomat Of Biehshah¡ª¡±
¡°You are not!¡± Garat scowled.
Eanne~ frowned at him and he vanished! ¡°My son, in the Alliance, once given, a title cannot be taken, for it is earned. Your Alliance and Unified records yet show it.¡±
Poor Ir sweated. His bronze skin turned darker. ¡°¡ªwish to recite this Petition Of Marriage Without Courtship, for I fear my health fails.¡± Now I worried! ¡°Cesarae, what is your full name?¡±
¡°Kia Chevrolet Garfield.¡± I hated my name until Mama reminded me that Kia is a girl¡¯s name, not just a car. She was asleep when they brought the birth certificate in and Dad filled it out. He always thought it was a good joke. I¡¯d never name a baby after cars! The Garfield was a car made by a tiny company that repaired them, between 1904 and 1905. They only made a couple hundred, so nobody knows about that.
¡°Kia Chevrolet Garfield, Biehshah Healer Of Earth, I love you very much and want to marry you! Will you marry me, Kia?¡± Now he trembled so bad, Ten grabbed his arm.
I rattled off our names and titles. ¡°Yes! I love you, too, Ir!¡±
¡°Oh, I am the happiest¡ª¡± Ir fainted.
I cried! Ten ran us into a bedroom and twenty people laid around us! He dragged us into the bed. Put Ir¡¯s head into my arms. ¡°What can I do? I don¡¯t know any healing!¡± My husband¡¯s cold.
¡°You remember healing! Follow me.¡± He put my hand on top of Ir¡¯s. I felt the tugs of his three brains. My virtual fingers weren¡¯t there, but Ten laid his hand up there. I wanted to feel that music, more than I wanted to breathe! I remembered.
Another healer ran in. Dumped a white Tessite aandat on my ankles. It flowed up.
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Ten looked horrified. ¡°Kia¡¯s telepathy will be very strong! She didn¡¯t have a white one!¡±
The old Zheien paled. ¡°We only have white! I will try to heal her, if she has need, Tenadu. Brother, I am sorry!¡±
¡°We need her. I hope no one is injured before she has¡ªKishmernae fei! She has!¡±
As I remembered, the orchestration, the emotion, all of it, Ir¡¯s breathing slowed. He stopped sweating. Ten sang and I sang harmony.
I felt the tingle, in my ears, in my head. Music began. One of the diplomats had a headache. Ry¡¯nao gave me the Diplomatic Link in that other future so I could help our diplomats through it.
Garat? No wonder he¡¯s grouchy. I put a virtual hand on his head. He mentally glared at me. But, I let the music build. He got the blank stare. Zheien grabbed his arms, but they started dancing. Orchestration swelled. Ir sang harmony and I sang better than when I performed at the Rialto!
But, the music reached far beyond the ship. Down to Grady Hospital, other hospitals, I felt people wake up from comas! Happy doctors and nurses got a bit overwhelmed! One lady, they just pulled her plug and she woke up! People fresh from accidents in the ED healed up. A frantic couple with a baby who wasn¡¯t breathing¡ªshe took a breath and sat up, laughing. They all listened to the music. Some heard it as a heavenly choir. Others, as a symphonic poem. Just as it happened in Rainbow, it happened here, now!
Garat¡¯s headache stopped, and the symphony wound down. He blinked and ran into our room! I braced for holy heck. He took my arm against his forehead. ¡°Oh, I am sorry! I will never Exclude anyone. You are all un-Excluded! I did not believe this kind of healing could be. I was wrong. Please forgive me, Ir. And, Lady Kia, please forgive me.¡±
Ir smiled at him. ¡°I forgive you, Garat.¡± Biehshah aren¡¯t anything except good-natured.
¡°I forgive you, too. Teach me some healing sometime?¡±
He looked aghast! ¡°What can I teach you?¡±
¡°How do I apologize, for causing such a commotion?¡± I wanted to get off to a good start in my new job.
Garat sighed. ¡°If you truly wish to know, lift an arm to my forehead. But I will not accept it. I was in the wrong.¡±
I lifted my arm¡ªupper arm, this time¡ªto his forehead, and he did the same to mine. Expected his sweaty underarm to smell, but it wasn¡¯t yucky. More like cumin. I felt for him!
¡°Garat, you and your family are welcome in my colony.¡±
He smiled. ¡°I will stay in Leheren, but I wish all of you well.¡± Just like that? Then he left and talked to Eanne~, who looked a lot happier. He put his upper arm on Eanne~¡¯s forehead, quite a reach for him. Eanne~¡¯s tall.
I hugged Ir and he gave a sigh and fell asleep. Ten put a hand on his forehead and smiled. ¡°Kia, already you are a great blessing on our people.¡±
I sighed. ¡°My life is such a mess! How can I make enough trade to pay you back for a lawsuit?¡± I got teary again.
Tenadu hugged us. ¡°Do not worry about it! What is a law-suit?¡±
Ir frowned. ¡°Her employer had a disaster and wants to blame her! I do not understand this, but Tan Links can help.¡± He looked towards the door.
A blond-haired fella with blue eyes ran in, in a navy pinstriped 3-piece suit! ¡°Hallo, I am Tan Links, and I am a lawyer. How may I help?¡± He looked Earthan.
¡°Hi, my company wants to sue me because they had a flood. Someone cut the drain pipe and left water running overnight and they say I did it, and the fella has an alibi¡ª¡±
Mr. Links paled and rubbed his face on the left.
Ten gasped and put a hand on my head. ¡°Ir, her telepathy is hurting her lawyer!¡±
He put a hand on my head and Mr. Links stopped rubbing his face. ¡°We need a healer!¡±
A Zheien ran in. ¡°I can heal an Areonian¡ª¡±
¡°Not now, Pas. The lady is upset! I must help her!¡± Mr. Links shook all over, but he frowned.
This healer held his head gently. ¡°My son, I am Pie, nae Pas. Is Pas your healer?¡±
¡°Ya, he heals all of us from Areon. I feel besser now. Miss, did someone serve papers on you?¡± He looked really pale!
¡°Healer, my telepathy¡¯s very strong! Did I hurt him?¡±
Mr. Links laughed. ¡°I am all right! Earthans do not have telepathy! My head hurts sometimes, anyway. What is your name, Miss?¡±
I waved up my Alliance record. It showed me as Kia Chevrolet Garfield, Biehshah Healer.
He stared at it. ¡°This cannot be right! I did not ever see this title on anyone but a Biehshah!¡±
Pie¡¯s red-gold eyes opened impossibly wide! ¡°Daughter, you can nae attempt to heal a Biehshah, you cannot survive¡ª¡±
¡°She did! Healer, I am Tenadu, Master Healer Of Biehshah, and Kia has a miracle gift! She healed Ir just now. Did you hear her music?¡±
The red-haired healer, an orange fella, paled white as me! ¡°You did this, Daughter? May I see you?¡± He reached a shaking twin-fingered hand.
Ir blocked him. ¡°My friend, I fear for you, if you try to touch her mind! I never felt a mind this strong. Perhaps the last time I spoke with a Zbbat. Maybe ten Zbbat.¡±
¡°Ten Zbbat? Pirad!¡±
A Bisillip came running. Oh, I know him! ¡°Hi, Pirad! Will you see if this lawyer¡¯s okay?¡±
Bisillips are half a wide as we are, with huge yellow eyes and irises with three sets of orange pupils. His flew apart in his green irises! ¡°Kia! Pie, warn all of these healers not to touch her! If she needs healing, I must do this! What did you do, Brother?¡± He looked at Ten.
¡°Ir merely brought her to the ship. Garat threatened all of us with living perserrat, but Eanne~ saved our colony on Ye~, and Ir needed healing after he married her, so she remembered how she healed after Jot had terminals and a rogue gave her healing, and Sun brought her an aandat¡ª¡±
¡°An aandat! All of them have white Tessite! This is terrible! An Earthan cannot survive it! And she healed him? Why did no one tell me?¡± Pirad clicked his face into frozen horror! It took every ounce of my self-control not to giggle!
¡°She healed him! See for yourself!¡±
¡°And, you created a colony on Ye~ and offended Garat, as powerful as he is? He can ruin Ye~ and all my plans are nothing!¡±
Tenadu waved up a blue-green milkshake. ¡°Drink this, Brother.¡±
Pirad clicked his face into an expression of utter disgust! But he downed it. ¡°Do you know what happened this morning? Satauuver came to this ship¡ªoh, you made jargus pleasant! I feel happy cool in my arms!¡± That disgusted expression clicked into a happy, too wide smile! I laughed.
Ten went white, like healer robes bright white! ¡°Satauuver! He knows we are here!¡±
¡°He is dead, Brother, his Collective executed him! But Ray is here and she healed the Aryllans!¡±
¡°Does Garat know?¡±
¡°I do not know if Garat notices anything without a lawyer!¡¯
¡°I am a lawyer, Pirad.¡± Mr. Links blinked at him.
Pirad put a hand on his forehead and white light flashed. ¡°I am happy I saw you before you died! Lie on this bed and sleep!¡±
He got on the bed¡ªit¡¯s plenty big enough¡ªand snored. Pirad jumped on him and straightened his arms and legs out.
I cried. ¡°I hurt him?¡±
Pirad clicked his face into an exasperated expression. ¡°Kia, I need to teach you control. Somehow. Come to my lab. I must reclone you now. Ir, I can reclone you, too, if I can get Garat¡¯s permission¡ª¡±
Chapter 3 Pirad Vs. Garat
Garat came in. ¡°I need that lawyer. Why is he sleeping? How long do sleep, anyway? Pirad, you may reclone any of us you wish. I will give you materials. I just spoke with Minister Suan and he will allow us to have clones. I showed him the memories Eanne~ shared with me. In the New Healing, we may do a lot of things we feared to do¡ª¡±
¡°Eriganh and Rentappenen are still a threat¡ª¡±
¡°But, if the New Healing is begun¡ª¡±
¡°We are not supposed to be discussing this!¡± Pirad clicked his face into frozen dismay, but he planted his foot on Garat¡¯s left knee, with a pop!
¡°But, how are we to make any decisions regarding this New Healing, if we cannot discuss it?¡± He stomped his left foot so hard, he bounced off the ceiling, then the floor, and Pirad yanked him down.
¡°We cannot!¡± He put his elbow on Garat¡¯s right ear.
¡°I say we must!¡± Garat pushed Pirad¡¯s neck down. The scuffle brought them into the main area of the ship. Ir and I followed.
An Elshar laughed. ¡°Must you wrestle? An Elshar can argue without those ridiculous¡ª¡±
Garat snapped into standing with one arm at his side and the other pointing at the man. ¡°I need a TS Inspector!¡±
An Elshar in black robes strode to them. Glared at Garat. ¡°I am a busy man¡ª¡±
¡°He interrupted my trade!¡±
The blond-curled Elshar glared at the other Elshar, whose eyes turned black. ¡°Are you mad, to dispute with a Biehshah? Do you know how many lawyers this man, Garat, Minister Of Leheren, has at his call? Do you know he is a minister of Biehshah Council? Wave up your trades!¡±
The man did. Inspector looked at his screens of trades, a lot of them. ¡°I do not see a trade with Garat.¡±
¡°I do not trade with Biehshah!¡±
¡°A master trader would.¡± He sniffed.
But, I recognized the man from when Ir got hurt on Columbia, one of the Earthan Colonies Earth¡¯ll have later. ¡°He intoxicated Nirpam, Diplomat Of¡ª¡± Where was he from?¡±
The Inspector glared at me. ¡°Pah, an Earthan! If you are to address me about a dispute, do you know who is involved? Do not bother¡ª¡±
¡°Andrisch, I am Nirpam, Diplomat Of Escet Vu.¡± By him was his Thordes buddy, Rishan, who was also with him that day. His blue skin paled to white, and his blond curls jiggled by his ears. He¡¯s even younger than he was when this happened. ¡°He intoxicated me in Prov 41. I sat with my healer 4 months. See my memories. TS could nae find him when we filed our case.¡±
Andrisch waved and studied a screen. ¡°Your healer told me you could not remember who attacked you. Injuries can confuse a man, he said.¡±
¡°See my memories.¡± Rishan stared at the Elshar. I wanted to show him, too, but Pirad blocked me. I might injure him, and even Ry¡¯nao couldn¡¯t save me from Ih Esta if that happened! Elshar trader police!
But, Andrisch waved up another Elshar¡¯s hologram.
They stared at each other, then this older Elshar glared at this one. ¡°Dirisch, you are a slopfah! I dismissed you from the Council Of Prov 9 when you tried to take slaves. Inspector, see my memories! I will not have this man leave where he stands.¡± You know it¡¯s bad when an Elshar compares someone to a living toilet.
They stared at one another a long time.
Poor Nirpam dripped green sweat stars on the red-violet floor. If he collapses before they finish, they lose this case! Ir trembled and got cold. The Zheien¡¯s affecting him. He sweated, too.
Finally, Andrisch nodded. Pointed at Nirpam. A shower of terminals made a cloud around his hands, rolled up in front of his chest. He didn¡¯t wave to put them in his holdings. His blue eyes stared in front of him.
¡°I find in your favor. And, you, Dirisch, will not see your home.¡±
A man dressed in white went to him. Dirisch stood in a puddle. That shocked me. The man stuffed a handful of leaves in his mouth. He simpered. Gasped. Went stiff and fell. A vaporizer ran. I thought he just ran hygiene, but when the light faded, there were¡ªhis trader robes and peasant clothes they wear under ¡®em. Clean floor. I felt sick! Ir put his arms around me, but he¡¯s cold, too.
Andrisch and the white robe went into a room.
Rishan grabbed Nirpam. ¡°I need a healer!¡±
¡°I will see him, DS. Be calm.¡± A blue healer put him on his lap.
¡°He gave him fostok, hyssdia, and overdoses of yllis and vek ea.¡± I named off herbs I never heard of, and the healer carefully noted each one.
¡°Novas! When was this? He was with me! Healer, he was always with me!¡±
¡°He put lu sig on you. Heden had both of you, but Dirin stole you. He used you to steal slaves.¡± I saw more, but I couldn¡¯t speak it, in the Diplomatic Link, that¡¯s like shouting it to an auditorium filled with people. Who¡¯s telling me about this? And who¡¯s blocking me?
Pirad put a hand on my forehead and an expression of shock and dismay clicked onto his face. ¡°Opseh Wenh Cet. You should be more careful, in an Earthan-Ty¡¯nirrhan body. Teach him a lesson, Kia.¡±
He showed me what to do. I sent a surge down to him. I killed him?
Ry¡¯nao, Emperor Of The Seven Galaxies came out and put his hands on my head. ¡°Kia, stop now. Keep your telepathy here, on our ship. Pirad?¡± He had fire-engine red skin and no thumbs, because he¡¯s Xchou. A very pristine gray uniform with drapes for a belt. Ir said I should bow, but everyone looked at Pirad.
¡°We are safe. Garat, I cannot protect us if you do that again!¡± He had the frozen dismay on his face.
Garat was really angry, but turned and strode to his room. Waved a cloud of terminals to his staff, who got busy sending slaves to Alb. To a lot of Rainbow colonies. Wow.
I felt shaken, but Ir kept his arms around me. I killed a man!
Ry¡¯nao hugged me. ¡°Kia, we are at war. You saved many lives with this one act. Later, I wish to discuss this with you. Ryee, we are due at the UN.¡± He walked to a couple and they ported away. Wow! I met him in Rainbow¡ªand that couple, too.
An Earth lady ran to another one. ¡°Oh, Regina, I¡¯m so glad you came!¡±
¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I was stupid! Can you ever forgive me, Adelle?¡±
¡°Yes! Regina, meet my new husband, Pie!¡± Oh, that red-haired healer. I saw him in Rainbow, and her, too.
She hugged him, too. ¡°I¡¯m staying. When you go offplanet, I¡¯m coming! Is there a Biehshah Colony? Will Lisen be there?¡±
Just then, a purplish-pink skinned man ran over. ¡°Regina!¡± He knelt and pulled out a ring! Ir got a shocked, but happy expression.
She smiled really big. Pulled at her dark curls.
¡°Serena Regina Marston, Programmer Of Earth, I love you with undying love, with love that shakes me, that I wish with all my heart that you would accept my Petition Of Courtship, by the Ancient Protocols of Zhea~, Ye~, and Atlanta! I, Lisen, Diplomat Of Biehshah, Kehnaren, will you marry me, Regina?¡±
¡°Yes! I, Serena Regina Marston, will marry you, Lisen, Diplomat Of Biehshah!¡±
Another Biehshah with yellow skin¡ªoh, that¡¯s Tenadu¡ªgasped and ran over to him just as he fainted! He poured several drinks down him.
Regina cried. ¡°Is he dying?¡±
¡°Do not touch him! I have to heal him!¡±
¡°What is going on here? What is this?¡± Garat picked up the fallen ring with a scowl.
¡°Lisen recited courtship to this woman.¡±
¡°Did he consult a lawyer first? A lawyer in Kehnaren?¡±
A Thordes fella kneeled by him. ¡°He said he¡¯d have to correspond with her for a year by poetry first, then court her for seven years. So he moved his house to Ye~ this morning, to the Biehshah Colony there.¡±
¡°What? Another Biehshah marriage! What foolishness is this? Any sensible man will court a lady, not rush her into marriage!¡±
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Regina sobbed. ¡°But, I love him! I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair, to have to court for seven years! We remember corresponding and sharing poetry for a year before I met him. Doesn¡¯t that count?¡±
Pirad came back out. Frowned at the man. ¡°Garat, this is none of your concern! Lisen moved! He is now a citizen of Ye~. If you have a problem, go see Eanne~ or Ryonne~. Ten, how is he?¡±
¡°Maybe you should look at him. If Garat does not stop, he will die!¡±
Pirad put a hand on his head. Frowned.
Regina cried, loudly, and Zheien gathered around. Rumbles shook us.
An orange Zheien, sash bursting with pins, came. He had long, silver curls. ¡°Garat, may we discuss in my office?¡± He held out a twin-fingered hand.
Garat put the ring in it. The official handed it to sobbing Regina. ¡°Lady, I shall do all in my power to help you and Lisen. I am Eanne~, Elder King Of Ye~.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± She took the ring and put it on. Perfect fit.
Lisen groaned.
A man brought a large group of men and women to sit against him. His purplish-pink skin got more purple in it.
Tenadu put his hand in hers.
¡°Regina. Did I finish?¡±
¡°Yes! We¡¯re engaged!¡±
A voice came from his pocket. ¡°Petition Of Marriage recorded on Zhea~.¡±
¡°M-Marriage? But I recited Courtship!¡±
Eanne~ gasped and held him up. ¡°My son, you meant Courtship? O, I am sorry! Even I can ne change this.¡±
¡°See this foolishness? His prov would not even accept Courtship, and now he has a marriage he does not want!¡± Garat plopped both hands on his hips and turned sideways.
Lisen stared up at him, blue eyes wide. ¡°I did not say that! I want to have Regina as my wife, if she is not unhappy¡ª¡±
¡°Lisen, I love you! I want to be married! I do!¡±
He smiled, big, and sat up.
Tenadu held his shoulders. ¡°Do not exert! Let me carry you to your room. All of you, come with us!¡±
All the huge group got up.
Garat frowned at them all. ¡°You are all foolish!¡±
One came up to him and slapped his elbow on his shoulder. ¡°You are foolish to leave your lady crying. You know she still loves you, do you?¡±
Garat¡¯s yellow skin paled to white! ¡°She does?¡±
¡°She waited six months for you to answer her Petition Of Apology¡ª¡±
He frantically waved through pages of documents. The man smiled at Ir and ran after Regina and Lisen.
Adelle put a hand on Garat¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Maybe you should write her a love poem. And give her some roses, or whatever kind of flower you fellas give a lady.¡± She had pretty blue eyes.
¡°What does this gesture mean?¡± Garat looked from his shoulder to Adelle.
¡°Well, you seem to really like your lady, and I¡¯m rooting for you. I hope she listens. I wish you good luck in your romance. Here on Earth, next month, on February 14, it¡¯s Valentine¡¯s Day. It¡¯s a holiday a lot of countries on Earth celebrate, for people in love to give each other Valentines, cards to show they care. Or just to give to a friend to show you care.¡±
¡°Really? You, here in the United States, have a special day devoted to love?¡± He smiled.
¡°Yes! So, Happy Valentine¡¯s Day early, Garat! The world loves lovers.¡±
He found that document and wrote something. A very long document. Adelle walked away and left him to it. They lived in MarKu, Rainbow¡¯s largest sub-colony. Yeah.
We went to Pirad¡¯s Lab. I just tried not to think. Rentappenen knows. He saw me kill Opseh Wenh Cet. In the other future, Ray killed him. I didn¡¯t look towards her room. She¡¯s there, and she felt this, too.
Lun Wenh Cet and Rahn Wenh Cet are waiting for that to happen again. Deb, Greg and Briahh trembled as we passed into Pirad¡¯s Lab. How many other diplomats are in that outer room there, with someone watching through them?
Ry¡¯nao, Emperor Of The Thirteen¡ªno, the Seven. Adia didn¡¯t fight Eriganh yet. He hugged me. ¡°Kia, don¡¯t worry about that. Let me worry about that. Once Pirad reclones you, you¡¯ll be able to control your new abilities better. Do you have a Cube? A Collective?¡± His red-violet eyes studied me. That red skin of his is pale. I felt his four-fingered hands on my shoulders, tapping. He¡¯s Xchou and they tap. Wait, didn¡¯t he have gray curls? This man¡¯s young with brown curls!
I looked, then laughed. ¡°No, it¡¯s just me. Deesamor rogues. I¡¯m glad Pirad knows how to make ¡®em work for us!¡±
Pirad¡¯s mouth dropped open, with a pop! ¡°I cannot control Deesamor rogues! We thought Deesamor was destroyed!¡±
¡°No. Deesamor, Fereshah, and Elshar Hubs are hidden, with all of their worlds. You just need to find Sophie so she can heal Elshar Hub on Utus. Find Anna and make Ahstam 257, so he remembers where Fereshah Hub is and you need Sybil to wake it up. Torie knows how to unlock Deesamor and it¡¯s on Gowa. Flora knows about Lidara and she revived the irhae so 10 Hubs there, copies of Elshar, Deesamor, Fereshah, but they won¡¯t have the worlds. The others, Jain, Chor, Dosilian, Xchou, Aryllan, Lerk and Laruu, they have worlds! Then, you¡¯ll have enough armies so Ray can defeat Rentappenen. And, oh, yeah, we need Pinda. He¡¯s on an Areonian ship and he¡¯s just pretending to help Rentappenen. Deb knows where the half-Ty¡¯nirrhans are, but there¡¯s one that¡¯s Areonian-Ty¡¯nirrhan. Find her and you have a lot of ¡®em that Pinda gathered.¡± Who are all these people, and how do I know this?
Ry¡¯nao paled to white, bluish-white! Ket caught him. He¡¯s Elshar, but knows Xchou healing. Surely I¡¯m not hurting him, am I?
Pirad clicked his face into a dismayed expression. ¡°How do you see this?¡±
¡°You need Sara for Cevit Ion. He needs to find her now!¡±
He ran in. ¡°They are all on the ship!¡±
That white walrus fella popped in. ¡°Good ideas! You better hurry!¡± He vanished. I still felt his huge, purple eyes on me.
Pirad pulled me with him and plopped me on a hard table. ¡°Ir, lie on that one. Briahh, Greg, help me!¡±
They came running, and we shared memories. Some of the people were already sharing memories. I watched my entire life.
While I did, Pirad offered me choices. Clones of me appeared. But, he couldn¡¯t make them live. I shuddered. Every choice Pirad gave me, there was a reason it wouldn¡¯t work. Rentappenen is watching me! He wants me to flub and hurt someone. He¡¯s using me as his weapon!
But, that works both ways. I messed up some of what he was doing. Pirad begged me to stop! But, someone else taught me fine control over this new telepathy. I shuddered. My human body shouldn¡¯t be able to have this powerful telepathy. My cloned sisters died of brain damage. Whoever¡¯s helping me can¡¯t save them. Only me. I saw him. Green, and small like goblins in Halloween flicks. I shuddered.
People argued that I shouldn¡¯t let him help me. His people destroyed entire civilizations. Like I have a choice about this? He¡¯s almost as powerful as Rentappenen.
¡°Granny taught me how to love. She says I should ask first. So, I¡¯m asking. I can make you into a weapon to stop Rentappenen. When he made me do that, I didn¡¯t have choices like you do. I¡¯m not a slaver like him. Do you want to fight him?¡±
¡°Of course, I want to fight him!¡± But, Ray¡¯s supposed to do it!
Ir sat on a cube beside me. I looked down at it. ¡°No cushion? How long you been sitting on that thing, Ir?¡±
He giggled. ¡°Only two hours! It¡¯s only 11:20 am. The day is young! Oh, my beautiful love! Let us go find your relatives!¡±
I sat up and hugged my handsome husband. His bronze skin had rich color. And, his brown eyes looked good against it. His silver hair¡ªmaybe platinum blond. Yeah. He looks young.
Ir took me off the table. ¡°Did you have a bad dream, Kia?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m talking to someone. He¡¯s going to help me¡ª¡± I saw the dismayed expression on Pirad¡¯s face and shut up!
¡°Tell him no!¡± Pirad had all three sets of his pupils spread to the edges of his green irises! I never saw a Bisillip so upset! Ten ran to him and poured lots of drinks down him. I don¡¯t think he felt it.
But the goblin wasn¡¯t there now. I shuddered. Rentappenen is scared. I felt that before I shut him off. I can do that? Dromie taught me how to hide from him. He can still kill me, with a thought, if he can find me. He knows where this ship is¡ª
Pirad t0ld me don¡¯t think. That¡¯s how he can find me. He stared at me.
Ir stared at me. Twenty pairs of eyes also stared at me.
Zheien ran for Pirad¡¯s Lab. I felt their rumbles before they got near us. What¡¯s scaring them?
Mama used to say, when we had a bad thunderstorm, sing and it won¡¯t be scary.
I sang Amazing Grace. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t sing a religious song unless it was for a church group because people are so polarized these days. But, I sang, and Zheien got this blank look. They smiled and started dancing. That¡¯s just natural for them, to dance when they feel happy.
Ir put me on my feet and waltzed with me. Amazing Grace is not a waltz, but we made it into one. Harmonies laced with the taste of ice cream in a thousand flavors. Every Bisillip and Biehshah on the ship listened, and even Pirad clicked his face into his smug expression.
Somewhere between the notes, Pinda came into the lab. Black fur and prick ears like a surreal cat. Laruu. He¡¯s Laruu. With an expression of shock, he walked towards me. ¡°Dromie did that? Maybe I misjudged him. Will his people help us if he brings them back?¡±
Ir and I danced, and he danced along with us, and Ir didn¡¯t see him. No one else saw or heard us. ¡°He said Granny taught him to love.¡±
¡°Hm. An Earthan. I guess my Gifts are doing some good, after all! They found you. But I didn¡¯t think an Earthan could be improved. Let me see what he did, will you?¡± He planted a soft paw on my forehead. I stumbled, but Ir held me up.
¡°Are you tired? Oh, I¡¯m inconsiderate!¡± Ir stopped dancing. But I couldn¡¯t walk with him because Pinda stood between us.
Ir frowned. ¡°Is something wrong, Kia? Cesearae?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m doing something.¡± Rather, Pinda has this look of concentration and I don¡¯t want to interrupt.
He vanished. Not the roar of a dimportal or a swirl of green light, just¡ªlike gone!
Pirad came over. ¡°You should not talk to him!¡±
Garat ran in. ¡°Who? Will you tell me what is happening?¡±
¡°No! You are going to kill us all! Stop it!¡± Pirad stuck an elbow on the side of his neck, like a karate chop on a statue.
Garat looked shocked. ¡°Me? I am not doing anything that could possibly¡ª¡±
¡°If you talk to the wrong faction¡ª¡±
¡°I am not talking to anyone but my ministers!¡± He looked indignant.
Pirad took his elbow off and stared at me. ¡°Who did you talk with?¡±
¡°Pinda.¡± My lip quivered.
Ir looked very confused. ¡°Pinda was here? I would very much like to speak with one of¡ª¡±
¡°Think like an Elder, for once in your life! This is not a diplomatic mission! It is the life or death of the Padrisa!¡±
My husband gasped and put a hand over his mouth. Of all the hundreds of gestures Biehshah and Bisillips use, that¡¯s not one of them!
Pirad jerked his hand out and put a milkshake in it.
¡°The Padrisa?¡± He had an expression of utter shock!
¡°Drink this.¡± Pirad upended the glass. His spindly fingers pointed out.
Ir took my hand and led me out. I didn¡¯t think. What¡¯s the Padrisa? I whispered it telepathically.
You know it as the Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies. We only have contact with thirteen. Pinda¡¯s people¡ª
Stop it! Pirad¡¯s voice made us both jump.
I wanted to ask more questions, but no. Zheien rumbles followed us to our room. Normally, Ir would apologize to ¡®em as we walked past, but he almost ran to our room.
Chapter 4 Wedding Night? Uh, No
All the Biehshah including Garat piled onto our bed. Garat, too? A Zheien healer ran in and carried Mr. Links out. The Areonian lawyer was still asleep. Regina held Lisen and two of them carried them onto our bed, too. She smiled at me.
Our Biehshah were every color in the rainbow, all of them so pastel they were nearly white. Garat, for once, didn¡¯t say anything but slapped his forearm across Ir¡¯s forehead. Der giggled. Garat perched his fingers on top of his head and Der shushed it. I¡¯d seen angry parents do that if a child wouldn¡¯t stop something. Maybe twice in 30 years of our colony! Kids don¡¯t misbehave like Earthan kids do. Then, Garat sighed and put his other forearm across Ir and I to put his wrist on Der¡¯s forehead. His arm trembled.
But, I learned how to just stop thinking about things. I concentrated on Mama singing Amazing Grace. How I missed her! It¡¯s been a lot of years.
Reliving my memories of her just made me grieve. All these years, I just kept busy and made jokes. Now I¡¯ve got a husband. Those years in Rainbow, there was Suma The Rainbow Therapist. She helped me realize that you can¡¯t put off grief forever. What would she think about me killing that Ty¡¯nirrhan? That didn¡¯t happen in the other future!
When Ir came back nearly dead and Der died, he realized that he wasn¡¯t in touch with his griefs, or his loneliness, or anything negative. Der got hurt a lot more often than he did, so he took care of his friend. They went on 3800 years of missions.
My husband and his friend are 3823 years old. When they were born, that was 1800 years before Jesus was born. I never could picture that. Easy to look at my husband¡¯s young face and see someone who¡¯s 32 like me.
¡°Ir, do Biehshah die?¡± Of course they do, that¡¯s a stupid question. People died in our colony in Rainbow, though Pirad could usually bring ¡®em back¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t bring Der back for a couple years.
His sorrow hit me like a brick. ¡°Kia, I saw thousands of us die. Most of my friends, because of missions.¡±
Garat sighed. ¡°I lost my wife when I was young, and three of my sons. That is when I decided never to leave Leheren. But other family died. Friends died. Nothing I did, all the rules, all the laws, nothing worked. That¡¯s why I thought I could not love again.¡±
How hard that would be! I never had responsibility¡ªbut I did in Rainbow. That fear of not being able to heal someone. We almost lost the entire colony, lots of times, because someone got a minor injury like a skint knee, but they got scared. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Garat.¡± I put my forearm on his head, and he held it. I got teary.
¡°It is the price of having long lifetimes. All of us suffer it. We should work harder and not speak of this. I have work¡ª¡±
He sat up and I held his arm. ¡°Suma said you can¡¯t hold it in forever. That it¡¯s better to talk things out.¡±
Garat looked at my hand holding his arm. Then at me. An expression of utter anguish contorted his face. ¡°How to speak of this emptiness, this void! She was so beautiful, she who spoke with softness, the touch that healed me when I came exhausted from arguments, the arms to cool my anger, the¡ªhow does one bear it, the grief, the depths of my sorrow?¡±
I felt rumbles like an earthquake, then a horde of Zheien climbed up on the bed with us! Everyone hugged, then all the twin-fingered people waved up flat cakes of bread. The one next to Garat was the diplomat who helped Earth join first the Alliance, then the Unified, 3 years from now. Ryonne~. Wow!
Garat looked from the platter to Ryonne~ eating it. Then I felt rumbles of his sorrow as he shared a memory with Garat. Who leaned his head against the orange Zheien¡¯s shoulder. I didn¡¯t hear this telepathic conversation, which took place at many times Earthan speed, but I felt his relief, and Garat¡¯s. Zheien do a Remembrance ceremony, and they did in our colony in the other future, too.
¡°Friends, all who live have sorrows. I have many, and because of your longer lives, you have more. Please, when you have sorrows, let us share them with you. Sharing gives strength, ea?¡± Ryonne~ had a cake of yellow sparkles on his cheeks. His huge golden eyes looked more yellow with those powdery tears. I felt bad for him. He¡¯s 22? How does someone so young have sorrows like that? But, I was 22 when Mama died. Yeah.
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Ir put a hand on his arm. It wasn¡¯t a Biehshah gesture, but more like I saw Zheien act. ¡°Sharing our sorrows does give us strength. In my colony, I will not forbid any of you from visiting Zheien friends, and Zheien are welcome in my colony. In the future I remember, we took much comfort from it. I learned not to busy myself with work, as Pirad and Kirnonos taught. I think we were happier.¡±
All the Biehshah around us nodded, except for Garat, who looked very surprised. ¡°You did not die?¡±
Ir laughed. ¡°No! Our Zheien friends helped us, and Kia kept us from dying. Pirad found ways to help and he brought back most of those who died. I think now that he has Briahh and Greg, he will find more ways. Leader Suan saw my memories, and even he changed his mind about the value of clones and recloning.¡± Ir smiled.
He went to Leader Suan? That was when the Yeff arrived because Ye~ moved their star system, which includes Areon, to Alb. During their Wedding Festival Adia, his new wife, asked people to come to Earth with them. Ir was one of the people hoping to congratulate them because he served missions with him. When he got at opportunity, Adia showed him his future and he got Der to come, to find me. They were on their respite from missions to get ships from the War. Wow. Love this mindlink we have! Instant communication!
I looked outside and the sun¡¯s still high in the sky.
¡°Will you be well? I must accompany Ry¡¯nao to the UN for more meetings. My host is yet there and needs me.¡±
Garat startled. ¡°You are a clone?¡± His bright blue eyes looked Ryonne~ over.
Ryonne~ smiled and nodded. ¡°There are many of us, for there is much work to prepare Earth. We had to make more of us than at first we thought needed, for slavers arrive in large numbers.¡± He frowned and it rumbled.
When he and Adia got stranded on Earth, that¡¯s 3 years from now, we didn¡¯t get a lot of slavers for years! What¡¯s different this time? Then, I recognized the house across the ship, outside. That¡¯s where Adia and Eriganh fought intergalactic war! It was all over the news, but not a single blade of grass died. This man had to meet with government officials all over the world, and he looked a lot older. But, he¡¯s the same age. I¡¯m 18 years younger! How does that work?
Garat nodded. ¡°Pirad disagrees with my methods. What do you think? Are you as skilled as your host?¡±
He frowned. ¡°I am ne an Elder with centuries of learning, as you.¡±
¡°Your host survived four years of the most difficult missions in the Thirteen! And you are a very fragile species! Most Unified Diplomats do not last two years and are much older than you. You do not hold a Cube?¡±
The man turned very orange in the face. ¡°We have ne contact with the Council. Pirad told me ne to discuss.¡±
Garat thwacked his own left ear and left.
Ryonne~ looked puzzled. ¡°Did I offend him?¡±
Der laughed. ¡°We do not use that gesture often! He is embarrassed that he mistook you for an Elder.¡±
Ir¡¯s face turned orange in his cheeks. ¡°My friend, he is. All on this ship are Elders because Molly declared them with the title. Garat knows this. I do believe that he acknowledged that you have greater wisdom than he has! If I am correct, that is very surprising to me! I do not know all gestures of governmental officials, however. Whatever he meant, he did not mean you to find out.¡± My husband smirked. He opened his brown eyes wider, like Zheien do.
¡°I am sure he ne meant that.¡± Ryonne~ stood and straightened his sash. Others moved so he could jump across the bed. ¡°Call on us, if you have need.¡± He bowed, then left.
Der giggled. ¡°He is such a modest man! To extremes! I¡¯m still in shock that Garat admitted he doesn¡¯t know something!¡±
¡°I think our minister is in love.¡± My husband winked at me.
¡°Maybe we can help him with her!¡± I rubbed my hands together.
Ir shook his head. ¡°There is no help for him. I hope he finds his way.¡± Every one of the Biehshah in our room turned towards the hull looking into the street. Ir shrugged and did the same. ¡°We have a colony to lead.¡±
I gave my husband a hug. If he has to have this crowd around all the time, when do we ever get any private time? It felt so weird to be married, and no wedding night? Maybe when we get to Ye~. In the other future, it worked out, and Ir didn¡¯t need bed buddies because we had our colony near us. It will work out in this future, too. What about Serena? Can she handle being married to a Biehshah? I didn¡¯t remember her being in our colony. Tricia, who married Pirad, couldn¡¯t talk to her relatives because her telepathy was so strong! Zheien couldn¡¯t help her and neither could we. Tricia also got exposed to Deesamor rogues. Names and faces kept popping into my head.
¡°Oh, we need to find your relatives, Kia! Shall we port to Mexico?¡± Ir lifted his hand to get a portal ready.
Chapter 5 Finding Relatives
Ten grabbed Ir¡¯s hand! ¡°There are slavers waiting to snatch you! Theapet offered to help us with this.¡±
The young prince ran in. It shocked me to see him with jeans and a DS blue jacket. The bright blue wouldn¡¯t attract attention since a lot of sports teams have that color. Our jeans were the same light blue denim color. Hoped his were softer! Zheien skin is delicate. ¡°I am ready to go with you. We can use holos, so we stay on the ship in safety.
¡°Kia, how will your father react? Does he know of SETI?¡±
I laughed. ¡°Daddy¡¯s obsessed with antique cars! He has the largest car lot in Mexico City, so I don¡¯t think he even watches news.¡± They all had blank looks, so I waved up several car sites and let ¡®em read. Diplomats love to learn about new things. Ir helped me touch their minds through my Diplomatic Link so I could join in the convo without hurting anyone. The Diplomatic Link is a huge telepathic space that all diplomats join in. They can ask a question and get an answer from an expert, in secs. If they need help to pilot fast, translate a language, or research trades a planet needs, someone can do it for them, if they have time. A lot of diplomatic work is long, boring days of travel so the most common needs like piloting are easy to find an eager helper. Obscure languages and trades can be harder. Ir spent hours and hours explaining this stuff to me after he came back from his mission hurt. Ry¡¯nao introduced me to him through it.
In the time I spent remembering how I used the Diplomatic Link in our future colony, they learned everything the Internet knew about antique cars. Ir learned it first, then helped Theapet with basic facts about Daddy¡¯s car business. They¡¯d done this a lot for missions they had together.
Theapet¡¯s only 15? He just graduated from Sigan Mas in Diplomatics, and he did it in one year. Most diplomats take four, but Ir explained that First Princes have a lot of enemies, so Zheien do that. The First Prince Of Fhiah is orange, but his cheeks turned darker when he heard Ir explaining things. Now Ir got a bit orange in his cheeks, too.
I laughed. ¡°First Prince Theapet, I guess you¡¯re very good at evading slavers! I¡¯m glad you¡¯re going with us to get my father and stepmother.¡±
He didn¡¯t smile. Pulled at his dark curls, bright blue eyes wide. ¡°O, I shall try to protect them, but slavers watch them. Please, Ms. Garfield, speak quickly!¡±
That made me nervous. I called Daddy¡¯s number. He didn¡¯t pick up.
Our holos ported to Mexico City. The map showed this street as Bulgaria. What? It had a lot of car parts dealers. A tiny lot between a battery place and a car parts place had Garfield Vintage Cars with daddy¡¯s Garfield car logo that he drew. He¡¯s not much of an artist, but he can make any old clunker run.
We walked between a mix of 1920¡¯s Model T¡¯s to sports cars from the 70s on the lot. I wouldn¡¯t know a valuable antique car from a junker, so I paid more attention to the crowd at the door. This felt like I was really, physically there.
Theapet and Ir talked to people in a steady stream of fluent Spanish. It sounded pretty, but I couldn¡¯t speak anything but English. I¡¯d never been down here. Every time Daddy offered me a trip down, my stepmother, who is Hispanic and barely speaks English, had an urgent need for the money from one of her relatives and Daddy would let me know he had to postpone the trip. Well, relatives do come first. They seemed to really love each other on video calls.
That office was locked. This time of day is hot, even in January.
Ir got my attention. ¡°They say he didn¡¯t come in today. Maybe he is at home. Should we go there? Theapet has a car for us.¡± I looked where he pointed and a purple limo had a crowd around it.
¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± We got in and the drivers handed out snacks until the crowd left. Then we pulled out into the most horrific traffic I ever saw! But, we ported and left the Thordes drivers to deal with it.
We appeared inside an abandoned building not far from my parents¡¯ home. Came out on a side street. That limo waited, so we went over a few streets.
Daddy¡¯s house was a bright orange one-story home in a row with each one a diff color. He and my stepmother were loading bags into the open trunk of his 70s sports car that was that awful greenish-gold color. I didn¡¯t like this car because of the black, hard seats. The back seat got uncomfortable on long trips. Mama hated it except for driving it on curvy roads up near Whitepoint in the Georgia mountains. Then, she got cancer and I lived with them taking care of her until I won that scholarship. Mama insisted that I go to Atlanta with my five roomies and live my dream. Daddy got her a live-in care aide, and now Camila is my stepmother.
Daddy looked older these days. His silver hair still had a good bit of black in it, and he looked good in his jeans and long-sleeved tan shirt with lapels. Camila wore a colorful dress with short sleeves that set off her long, black waves. ¡°Well, you finally came to see us? How is it now family is important to you? Did they love your voice at the Met?¡±
Daddy frowned at her. ¡°Cam, I told you how Maria wanted Kia to finish her degree. It was her last wish¡ª¡±
¡°You were not there when she cried because she missed Kia! I was the one who took care of her because her daughter was too busy to come.¡± She tossed her head and those beautiful, black waves floated behind her shoulders.
I felt awful about that, but Whitepoint is three hours from Atlanta and I had weekend recitals and performances to help me pay for my rent. By the time Camila entered our lives, Mama¡¯s mind was going from all the chemo and the pain meds. She forgot things I told her. Daddy was off at car shows trying to cover the medical expenses.
Ir put his arm around me and just listened while Camila vented. There wasn¡¯t much room for trying to explain my fella to them.
Daddy defended me, but Camila got mad. ¡°I want them to leave! All she wants is money from you!¡±
¡°Now hold on a minute! Kia never asked me for money. You ask me for money¡ª¡±
¡°Because my parents are starving! Now let us go with this food and save lives!¡±
¡°Do they need more? We can provide all the food they need.¡± Ir held up his hands.
Camila blinked her dark eyes. ¡°So, you came to help us?¡±
¡°Yes! How much food do they need?¡±
¡°More than will fit in that limo. Our whole community had a mudslide and people need help!¡±
Ir and Theapet got into a long discussion in Spanish. Daddy looked as out of the loop as I was! He depends on Camila to translate a lot of his work transactions, even though they¡¯ve been here since 2019.
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Theapet took out a cellphone and made a call in Spanish for their benefit. Ir told me he¡¯s sending a semi to Chilcuautla where people are still cleaning up. Most of ¡®em are still living in shelters while they rebuild.
We got in the limo and followed my parents. I shook my head. ¡°She doesn¡¯t believe that semi of food will be there.¡± Traffic was really bad here, too.
¡°Oh, we have a construction crew and building supplies, too! Theapet wrote a prog to simulate them. His wife¡ª¡±
¡°Whoa, wait! He¡¯s only 15 and he¡¯s married?¡±
Ir laughed. ¡°His wife is 18. That¡¯s legal age, isn¡¯t it? Ah, love is wonderful!¡± He got all poetic.
I giggled. ¡°Well, yes, it is! But Zheien can get married at 15?¡± Then I thought about it harder. If they shared a mindlink because they had one in their future, he¡¯d have to marry her. People talked about how long they knew each other and Zheien princes have very long courtships. Ir and I knew each other telepathically for months before he came to Rainbow.
¡°Zheien have short courtships. Even Zheien princes can court after six months, then court for six months and marry. But King Theaspaura couldn¡¯t let his son die, now could he?¡± Ir threw his arm over his eyes!
I pulled it down. ¡°You¡¯re right, Ir. It just seems weird to me they talked about so many marriages today, and the ship¡¯s just been here today, right?¡±
¡°Yes, but they all saw their futures. But, you need to think about your stepmother, don¡¯t you? She hurt your feelings. I want to help.¡± When he kissed my forehead, it touched my heart, and I felt the tears well up.
I looked at the empty seats. ¡°That¡¯s why Theapet¡¯s not here?¡±
¡°He¡¯ll come back before your parents get there. Kerjie has relatives, too.¡±
So many Earthans on the ship! They all probably have situations like mine. I nodded. ¡°Will they all go to Ye~, or will some go to Alb Seer to Rainbow?¡±
My husband laughed. ¡°There are 25 worlds in Alb, and more coming! All of them will have little Rainbow colonies. But no one will live there. All the worlds except Alb Seer have Earthan Colonies. Earth also has plans for 50 Earthan Colonies that are not in Alb. Anyone who needs healers will go to Alb where life will be easy, as Jujujean was in Rainbow.¡± That¡¯s what we called it.
¡°That many! So will the 50 Earthan Colonies be like Luna, Mars, Columbia, Waf and those other places?¡± I couldn¡¯t keep them all straight once we left the solar system.
¡°Yes, but we hope the UN will not allow slavery. Diplomats showed them what a disaster that was! Some Elshars want it allowed, but so far, people like the idea of not letting slavers get a foothold.¡± Ir stretched his long legs out. Plenty of room in this thing.
¡°Are you tired? If you want to take a nap¡ª¡±
¡°I¡¯ll sleep later! Kia, you still aren¡¯t talking about your feelings, Cesarae.¡±
I sighed. ¡°Old habits are hard to break. After Mama died, I just didn¡¯t. Daddy didn¡¯t want to talk. He¡¯s kind of like me. And, he had Camila to talk to and I was away at school. It¡¯s awkward. I didn¡¯t have to deal with her in Rainbow because they died in a mudslide¡ªin January. Oh, no!¡± That was 2022. I was working my 3 stupid jobs, and Charlie sued me, and I went bankrupt. I didn¡¯t even know Daddy and Camila were heading up to Chilcuautla, but that was where they died. Nobody could tell me much. It didn¡¯t make the news, I just got a phone call from one of Camila¡¯s relatives who didn¡¯t speak much English. She asked me to let her come stay with me, but I couldn¡¯t get anywhere with our government about it. If it had been Camila, maybe. I felt awful and I wanted to help, ¡®cause she was very nice. Her little sister. I always wanted a sister. But I guess she¡¯s my step-aunt. ¡°Ir, we have to do something! They died on the way up here!¡± I looked out the window and we were on this winding, curvy road up in the mountains. A very narrow road.
Theapet popped back in. ¡°We can protect them¡ªejis!¡±
Rocks pelted our cars! Daddy swerved, but his car stopped. A rock as big as his hood rolled off! Was that it?
We all got out. Camila screamed as a rock barely missed her!
Theapet waved, and green portals went off everyplace! We appeared on the ship with about 25 surprised people! They all spoke Spanish, but Theapet held his hands up. Now he appeared orange and his hands, twin-fingered.
Camila clung to Daddy and cried! ¡°What will we do? My family is still up there!¡±
An older couple and a teen ran to them. They all spoke rapid-fire Spanish and laughed and cried, and all the others hugged ¡®em, too! More people ported in with diplomats!
Ir smiled and joined in on the explanation. A lot of them asked him questions instead of Theapet. Well, that bronze skin did look rather Hispanic like a lot of them. A few, like Camila had light skin like me, but one family was very dark like a Black family, but without big noses or basketball-player height.
Diplomats waved and they had little holos of things. Pictures. Kids¡¯ toys. Furniture. Not a whole lot of possessions, but they sure were happy! Nothing was broken or stained.
¡°Eap has progs that others wrote to track DNA. If the people touched things, they come to the one who touched them the most. They¡¯re very happy, Kia! Many of them wanted to leave but didn¡¯t have money to move.¡±
Theapet waved and holos of all 25 worlds came up. Diplomats from all over the ship came over to explain different ones, in Spanish.
One big orange one caught my eye. ¡°That can¡¯t be MarKu, can it?¡±
Ir was explaining, but one of the orange Zheien answered me. ¡°Eae! Queen Adia saw the destruction of our colony, but we moved him and Ea~ here. You remember many sub-colonies in Rainbow, do you? They are all here, and some that were nae there like Hearhh and Lisbaar.¡± He left to answer more questions, and people went from one holo to another to ask questions about them.
We had a lot of MarKuan friends, because they had the largest colony. Slavers took 70 decillion people from there, in a day. Earth only has 8 billion people.
Since Ir was answering questions about Ye~, I went over there and I heard what he said in English. ¡°Ye~ was very hot, but they terraformed it to be bigger and added an ocean. So anyone who wants to live by the ocean¡ª¡±
¡°But, are there hurricanes? I don¡¯t want to live where they are! Or tsunamis.¡± One lady wiped a tear away.
¡°No, there are no natural disasters. No thunderstorms, unless people like them, and those who are afraid will not see them. Those who like storms cannot be hurt by them. No hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, lightning, earthquakes, or pollution.¡±
A man got big eyes. ¡°Is the water safe to drink, or swim in without getting sick? What about algae blooms, or manta rays? Sharks?¡±
¡°Animals there are safe. Those that like people will come close, and those that don¡¯t will stay away. Progs keep any from biting or stinging. People can¡¯t hurt them, either.¡±
¡°But, I like to hunt! Can I hunt?¡±
Ir looked uncomfortable. ¡°You will have to ask King Ryonne~ if he will allow that. Holograms of animals can simulate hunting, if you like.¡±
His wife frowned. ¡°What will we eat, if we cannot hunt? Food is expensive!¡±
My husband waved up a menu. Like a restaurant menu, but this was as wide as me with both arms out! ¡°All the foods you want are on your menus. These are your terminals.¡± A wave, and we all had green cubes. Unified terminals! That¡¯s better than the little coins the Alliance gives you because you don¡¯t have to pay to store your stuff! We had those in Rainbow.
¡°There are no prices.¡±
¡°All the worlds of Alb agreed to provide food, education, clothing formers, storage for anything you want to bring with you, and you may work at whatever job you can imagine. Anyone who is unable to work may have a healer to live in their home, and homes are included also.¡±
I realized someone else was teaching Ir about all this stuff. The Biehshah weren¡¯t trained on how to talk to us or provide terminals. Most of them were going to talk at the UN to officials who already knew about this. Or work on treaties or trading concerns.
Like in Rainbow, we could have a house, but I was happy with our colony, a building with a lot of beds. All of our people were sick and I did a lot of group healings. We slept with our unwell but had private time when we wanted.
Chapter 6 Garat Offends MarKu
Camila walked over and I braced for her to chew me out again. But she threw her arms around me and cried! ¡°I treated you horribly, but you saved our people! You brought us help! All of us wanted to move someplace safer, but we could not afford this, so we just worked and prayed for help. You are the help God sent to us!¡±
I hugged her back. ¡°I¡¯m happy for you, but I didn¡¯t bring anything! Ir and his diplomat buddies did that.¡± With a wave to Prince Theapet, I laughed. ¡°I¡¯m just glad we came to find y¡¯all today! Ir and I got married¡ª¡±
Daddy startled and glared at Ir. ¡°Why didn¡¯t she mention you when I called her yesterday, if you were planning to elope?¡±
¡°We saw our future, today.¡± Ir spread his hands out wide. They trembled. I worried!
¡°That¡¯s impossible! Where are you from, anyway? Mexico? Or further south?¡±
Ir laughed and waved up a holo of Biehshah. ¡°Here is where I came from. Biehshah is a planet in the Alb System. But we will live in our new colony on Ye~, near the Earthan Colony there.¡± The holo of Biehshah vanished and Ye~ came up.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not going home?¡± Daddy frowned.
¡°I created a colony to save our people who are sick or Excluded. My people want Siotu to have automated mines and they are tired of paying for healers.¡± He looked pale.
Der stood beside him. ¡°I would never Exclude anyone.¡±
Garat came over. ¡°I am sorry I Excluded you, all of you. I will never Exclude anyone again! But Leader Suan is very happy to reclaim Siotu, since all of them went to Ye~. Their scientists want to create mines there for shipbuilding materials. My traders already found markets for the waste minerals.¡±
Ir paled more.
Now Eanne~ came over. He¡¯s Ryonne~¡®s father. ¡°Gar, M¡¯Naga already found markets for all of our output.¡±
¡°But, it is only fair that Biehshah has trade from their skills, as they give to us from Siotu.¡± Garat put a hand on his hip.
Eanne~ paled. ¡°Surely you ne expect them to give an Alliance share to you, when your governance nearly killed them!¡±
¡°They are still Biehshah. Of course they will choose Biehshah for their 10%!¡±
Ir stood with his legs apart, like he did to give that lawyer his cards. ¡°Surely you know, Unified worlds only require 9%. Ye~ is Unified.¡±
¡°Biehshah is still Alliance, and we require 10% of all our citizens!¡±
Ten ran up and poured 4 drinks down my husband. He glared at Garat.
But Eanne~ looked exasperated. ¡°They are now citizen Ye~ and I ne require a share of them, at all!¡± He spread his twin-fingered hands wide.
All our Biehshah looked very happy! They raised both hands in the air! I guess that was kind of like Zheien wave to cheer, except they don¡¯t do a frozen arms-up.
¡°No share of all that trade? How does your kingdom survive with only 2500 people? And a third of them are former slaves who cannot produce!¡± Garat stood the same way Ir did, but with his feet further apart with one in front. And, a sneer. ¡°We have 8 decillion.¡±
Eanne~ waved with a jerk. Biehshah rotated. A graph in Biehshah totally lost me. ¡°Here is Biehshah trade. Leheren takes 90% of your people¡¯s trade, and Leader Suan is unhappy with it. Theaspaura, King Of Fhiah, is working to convince him to take equal shares from all provs¡ª¡±
¡°But, if he does that, we will all starve, because Irdaktin¡¯s colony will take most of my prov!¡±
Camila marched over to him. ¡°So, you are rich and you do not care about poor people? You deserve to starve!¡± She turned on her heel and went back to Daddy, who shrugged at me.
Garat watched her go. He put his feet together. That¡¯s like sagging shoulders on us.
¡°You are welcome to emigrate to my colony, Garat.¡± Ir smiled.
The Minister Of Leheren glared at Eanne~. ¡°I will remember this, and my traders will.¡±
Another man I saw in Rainbow strode over to him. I almost didn¡¯t recognize him. In Rainbow, he sweated all the time and his skin kept the light orange of a sick Zheien. This man had deep orange skin and brown eyes that had the wide look. ¡°Garat, my traders will remember your words this day.¡±
Garat stared at him. ¡°First Prince Goes? I did not know you were here!¡±
¡°I am here to represent MarKu to Earth. I thought Biehshah to be more civilized, perhaps. All of your people who visit me are polite as Irdaktin. Is this true, that you leave certain provs to starve while Leheren prospers?¡± His anger rumbled on me!
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¡°No one starves on Biehshah. Leader Suan is a good leader.¡± His voice didn¡¯t have the confidence¡ª
¡°You implied that Eanne~ does nae know how to govern his kingdom. Do you know how all Zheien kingdoms respect Ye~ because he comes from our king¡¯s prov? Are you aware of how many Unified diplomats served from Ye~, from his founding? I have talented diplomats, and my fae before me, but Ye~ has more diplomatic talent, trading skill, and scientific discoveries than any Zheien world save S¡¯ai! You lived many lifetimes and surely met some of these.¡± His anger rumbled louder.
Ryonne~ walked over, and diplomats gathered to listen. ¡°Goe, have you a dispute with Minister Garat?¡±
¡°Minister Garat insulted your kingdom, and I would remind him that MarKuan trade is yet to be established with Biehshah because of Leheren¡¯s insistence that he takes a share of trade and goods before they reach other provs. I will speak first with Irdaktin, Governor Of Biehshah Ye~, after we establish Earthan trade.¡± He bowed to Ir.
Ir paled and bowed low to him. I tried, and Ir got in my mind and urged me to go lower.
Goes startled and grabbed my shoulders! Oh, my back hurt! He pulled me gently up and that red-haired healer came over. Then he locked gazes with Garat again.
Garat bowed just as low as Ir did. ¡°If it offends you for Leheren to take trade, I will no longer require trade to pass through Leheren first. But Leader Suan will need to approve this.¡±
¡°Theaspaura, King Of Fhiah, informs me he is in Leader Suan¡¯s office now. I would like to bring this matter before him. Eae Biehshah Suan.¡±
Garat sat on the floor so hard he bounced! Then sat still.
A holo formed of two men and several Thordes diplomats. The purple men jumped up and bowed.
The Zheien had dark brown curls like Goes¡¯ but red-gold eyes. He rose and gave a graceful bow, but lower than Goes bowed to him. ¡°First Prince Goes! I am honored that you wish to speak with us! And Minister Garat Of Leheren! Leader Suan, is there something you wish to discuss together?¡± He rose.
Suan had green skin, a very bright color. And deep green eyes. He gave a dignified nod. ¡°Garat, is there something I should know?¡±
Garat sprang up and bowed to him from the waist. ¡°Yes. First Prince Goes is unhappy that Leheren takes a share before other provs. He wants to open trade with Irdaktin¡¯s new colony before us!¡±
Suan frowned at Garat. ¡°I see. This is why Theas wishes to negotiate trade with all our provs without going through Leheren first. I granted permission for this new colony and already many ships fly to Ye~ and houses move. It worries me, how Irdaktin expects to keep them all alive, but they are citizens of the Alliance and have rights. Some of us feel the Alliance is not important because we remember other councils and higher levels. But, Garat, we live on this level and must participate in this governance.¡± He sighed.
¡°There are higher purposes than what we know. Many other worlds make preparations to move here. You worry there will be lack of trade because a few Leheren wish to move. With many more trading partners coming, we of Biehshah have nothing to fear. Let any citizen of Biehshah who wishes to join Biehshah Ye~ go. I think there will not be too many. Even if half of Biehshah moved, trade will continue and Biehshah and Biehshah Ye~ can both prosper! Do not let fear rule you. King Nonosuan let me lead you to Biehshah, a new world with unproven properties, and we prospered. Now Irdaktin wishes to lead people to Ye~ and I know Eanne~ will care for them.
¡°We do not have a problem. Garat, I expect that you will cooperate with Zheiea. I will settle this matter now with a treaty to be prepared between all worlds of Alb. All provs of Biehshah will give equal shares of 10% to be put into the general Biehshah account. When we have needs, we shall draw from that account according to needs of individual provs. I will not require trade of any Biehshah citizen who emigrates.¡±
¡°But, Suan, I cannot provide services without trade¡ª¡±
¡°You have traders. Leheren attracts skill. Other provs will always have those who want to move there, to have access to Leheren¡¯s market. Let any who are unhappy emigrate. All provs, as of this day at sunset, will share trade equally and contribute the same percentage of their trade, those who choose to stay on Biehshah. Let any who are unhappy emigrate. Will you do this, Garat?¡± Suan¡¯s deep green eyes stared at Garat.
Who bowed, keeping his eyes down. ¡°I will, Leader Suan.¡±
¡°Good. We have an understanding. My diplomats will compose a fair treaty. We will continue to discuss trade in the Alb Council to consider this. Theas, any provisions you wish to add, I will hear them in the Biehshah Council when Garat returns.¡± He kept watching Garat.
Ir seemed surprised that Garat stayed put.
Suan looked at us. ¡°Ir, bring your wife to meet me.¡±
Ir held out his arm and I put my hand on it. Like ice! I worried. Gracefully, he walked me over to the leader¡¯s life-sized holo.
Suan took my hand. ¡°It is¡ªunusual that you had to marry quickly, but there is one other Biehshah who also had to do this. I also saw my future. We had prophecies of this time and I consulted with the Ancient Databases. The New Healing is unfolding. Theas founded Rainbow Colonies, and I agreed to one here on Biehshah. We require a clone for it. Lady Kia Chevrolet Garfield, I wish to ask you to clone yourself, so we have your healing skills. My diplomats tell me you have a Gift, and I wish to have it here where it is badly needed. Pirad and Kirnonos also agreed to clones for it.¡± One hand pulled at my long, light brown hair.
¡°Sir, Pirad could not clone me. They died, Sir.¡±
He nodded. ¡°I think when the War ends, he will be able to do so. I give permission for Pirad to clone any of you who wish clones. Many had fears when Deesamor fell, but i never believed that cloning was the cause. It is time we leave our childish fears and enjoy the benefits of cloning and recloning.¡± With a wave, he looked at each Biehshah face. Only one was green like him. ¡°Tak, will you reconsider? I am lonely here without you.¡±
That one bowed, keeping his eyes on him. ¡°Father, these people need my skills. I will clone myself and send him home. Perhaps you and Mother would enjoy some younger clones as well.¡±
He smiled, for the first time during this whole discussion. ¡°I would like that very much. Many of us wish children we cannot have. We have to marry Bisillips to reproduce more often than not. Pirad solved many problems, and I was foolish not to admit it. Today I will be a wiser leader and make changes we needed from the time I led you all here. Our children will see a brighter future and lead us into it.¡± He sat down.
Theaspaura smiled and took Goes¡¯ hand. ¡°Goe, it is very well to see you today. Is there anything you need? Or you, Ryee? Ean?¡±
Goes smiled and bowed again, then all of them did. They all bowed lower to Ryonne~. Ir told me that¡¯s because he¡¯s 2nd in command to Emperor Ry¡¯nao. Holy cow!
Garat went to his room and several of Pirad¡¯s clones went with him. Not one of the Biehshah moved.
Chapter 7 Celebration
Ir noticed people gathering around a table with baskets. ¡°Cesarae, there are delights on that table. Want to celebrate our wedding?¡± He changed my jeans to my beautiful wedding gown. I smiled. ¡°How about just a dress?¡±
He waved an emerald green ball gown on me and danced me off the huge bed. Lisen waved a hot pink one on Regina, who smiled.
I expected Ten to fuss, but he came with us. ¡°I wish I had a lady friend.¡±
Der put a hand on his shoulder, and he startled. ¡°Oh, all these Zheien are affecting me! What should I do, Ten?¡±
Our healer laughed and his blonde curls waved. ¡°It is not only Zheien, but 3 of us are in love! Think of when we first came to Biehshah! All of us worked so we did not think! The first thousand years were very difficult, but not as much as when Fhiah came. Istensimah horseae! But their trade, and their friends¡¯ trade saved our colony from starvation, when many of us thought to go back to Bisillipia. A few did, and died on the journey.¡± He looked sad. ¡°I will take Zheien over Bisillipia. Their foreign customs will not hurt you, Der. When we have our colony and our customs, as we did in Jujujean Rainbow, we will all be fine.¡± He smiled at Der, who brightened up, and Ir.
My husband led me dancing through the portal and Zheien who watched us tingled on us. Everyone loves lovers, as Adelle said. We weren¡¯t the only ones dancing. Several Thordes had instruments like a wind quartet and played waltzes I¡¯d heard. My tummy rumbled. That reminded me of my corn dog disaster. ¡°Oh, Ir, I broke the compressor in my refrigerator in my apartment!¡±
¡°I fixed it. That¡¯s what husbands are supposed to do, aren¡¯t they?¡± A wave, and he twirled me to a stop by the refreshments.
Things I hadn¡¯t seen since I was a kid floated in front of me. Daddy came over with a smile. ¡°Oh, you have pictures you took of Maria. I don¡¯t have any of those.¡±
I waved copies to him. For a while I had his old instant camera and took pictures. The toilet overflowed and I had my photo albums laid out on the floor because I was rearranging them and they all got ruined. How I cried! Now I have ¡®em all back! ¡°Thank you, Ir!¡±
¡°Feeling your happiness is all I want, Dear.¡± He kissed my forehead.
¡°Have you tried these pastries? How do you tell which is which? I got a really hot one! You know I love spicy but this was like that stuff I tried in that contest once.¡± My father grabbed his stomach.
¡°Oh, yes, you had to go to the hospital!¡± Camila grabbed his arm. But they laughed. Several Zheien were looking for healers, but stopped when they saw Daddy wasn¡¯t sick. I gotta warn them.
Theapet and Kerjie came over. ¡°I can show you how they taste, if you like.¡± Several Zheien did low bows so he had to stop and return ¡®em. Kerjie tried not to grin.
An older lady came over and tried to bow, but a Zheien stopped her. ¡°Lady, if there is pain, nae bow!¡±
¡°But my daughter¡¯s the First Princess and I have to learn a bunch of stuff!¡± She looked exasperated.
Theapet took her arm. ¡°Mea, I nae expect you to learn all in a day! Kerjie learned well of us, but many Earthans have difficulty with our protocols. Nae fear to offend me. I feel your respect. Today is the happiest of days, for I have my love beside me.¡±
All the Biehshah smiled huge smiles at Ir and Lisen, whose pinkish-purple face got purple as a Thordes. A yellow man with bright blue eyes stood by him. On his other side was Regina, who had dark curls to her collar and blue eyes. His were deeper blue but almost the same shade as hers. They held hands, but he trembled. ¡°Regina, did you have enough pastries?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t want to eat too many. You didn¡¯t have one, Love.¡±
¡°I will eat one¡ª¡±
The yellow one held his wrist. ¡°Li, you can lose more telepathy. I cannot heal you if you lose any more, and I do not think Pirad can.¡±
¡°But, Regina wants me to eat, and I want her to eat more¡ª¡±
Regina grabbed his hand. ¡°You don¡¯t have to! I didn¡¯t know it would hurt you!¡±
¡°I have to teach you about us. I am Tanamar, and I am Lisen¡¯s healer. We only drink things, and water is like your junk food. But I am moving my house to Ye~ and all of my patients want to come. Minister Zed approved it¡ª¡±
¡°Minister Zed taught me to eat with people.¡± Lisen smiled.
¡°If you think much about that, you will be ill! You are a trader now. Traders do not have to eat with people. Drink this. Tenadu is a great healer, and he even made penarat taste good!¡±
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Lisen made a face. ¡°Penarat smells like what Regina cleans her windows with! I want to taste something she drinks.¡±
I saw a lot of this in our colony. Former diplomats who got brain damage and were Excluded because they couldn¡¯t follow the customs. ¡°My son, I am your governess. Please, do as your healer says. If he thinks you need penarat, you should drink it.¡±
His blue eyes had a blank stare. ¡°Yes. You are Elshar and I should do what you say.¡±
Oh, my! But Tanamar just poured the blue-green stuff down him, followed by several other drinks. Regina looked worried.
But Lisen smiled. ¡°Oh, I feel better. Thank you, Governess!¡± He bowed, but kept his eyes down.
That¡¯s not how people bow in the Alliance. Slavers punish people for keeping their eyes up. ¡°You can look at me while you bow. We are equals.¡±
¡°Equals?¡± He looked up, but trembled harder. ¡°You will not hit me if I look at you?¡± He glanced at Ir, who put an arm on his forehead. But, he watched me.
¡°We don¡¯t hit people in our colony. All of us are equals there, right, Ir?¡±
My husband smiled. ¡°People are free in our colony to do as they wish, as long as no one harms another. I made simple rules like Queen Molly made in Rainbow.¡±
Lisen smiled, big. ¡°Queen Molly taught me her rules. I liked them. Regina, can I get anything for you?¡± He shook harder.
¡°Now that you and I had something to eat, let¡¯s go lie down for a while. Think some friends would come with us?¡± She didn¡¯t look tired, but worried.
¡°I wanted to¡ªif you wanted¡ªpeople are dancing!¡± He looked very sad.
Tanamar pulled at his arm. ¡°Rest now, and you can dance later, my friend. I want to heal you a little more. Pirad will come. Did you ask him if he wanted some of your flowers?¡±
He smiled and waved up a bouquet for delighted Regina. ¡°These are for you, my love! They are almost as beautiful as you.¡± Lisen recited poetry as they walked. Regina started for the room with their picture and a background of a pretty place with a village and farms. Ir told me that¡¯s Biehshah. Lisen is from a small farming prov called Kehnaren. They don¡¯t have a lot of rules there, and Lisen was their only diplomat. An Elshar thought it would be funny to get him drunk, but it hurt him, and now he¡¯s a trader. Some of them hurt Zheien that way, too. Stupid way to lose your job from someone mean.
Tanamar got Regina to come with them into our room and half the Biehshah went with ¡®em.
Eating something would hurt your telepathy, Ir?
There are things we can do to prevent that, but if Lisen was impaired, he might forget to protect himself. Elshars like to have fostok. If they uncap it, just the smell relaxes them. That doesn¡¯t affect us, but if a Zheien or Thordes is there, it affects them, and then we are affected. My husband shuddered.
Then I got scared. Will we have to go on missions, Ir?
No. Leader Suan said the Alb Council decided, any diplomat who becomes a colony leader will not go on missions. I have clones who agreed to do that and all of them have my skills.
I hugged my husband and struggled not to cry, from sheer relief! Then, several of the diplomats shared how things tasted. Thordes and Zheien can share with us without hurting themselves, but we can¡¯t, unless we use the Diplomatic Link. Ir helped me show them what a cream-filled and a custard-filled doughnut tasted like, with various toppings. But I tasted one and a warning came up. It was a Mexican pastry with jalapenos in it. Zheien bite something and share. A Thordes didn¡¯t get a warning so I passed it to him. Not a fan of spicy or savory sweets. She loved it! But she had to walk around to find another Thordes who could eat that one. He passed it to an Elshar after his taste.
We ate and danced and ate some more. But I found someone wrote progs like we had in Rainbow, and I could activate them mentally while Ir and I danced. One was a gradual weight-loss thing to make what I ate have less calories. Eat what you want, but sugar gets replaced with echtu, a Zheien grain that tastes sweet. That makes it less calories, but I like it better. Other Zheien or even Thordes foods can sub for fats without changing the taste. Love this tech!
The ship had diplomats, traders, scientists, and even artisans who made things to trade. While we danced, I looked through my possessions, which Ir got from my apartment. We even simulated a visit to my apartment manager to let her know I was leaving. I had a month-to-month because in three months, she had a tenant moving in. There wasn¡¯t anything affordable and I ended up in a roommate situation. Kathey and Ophelia. Boy, I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t have to live with them! Most of the people I went to school with seemed nice, but I either worked for or with 6 of the meanest¡ª
¡°Hey, Kia!¡± I dreaded seeing him, but I turned around. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m really sorry I flooded Charlie¡¯s Lanes. Your diplomat got me out of hot water! Can I live in your colony, and will you give me a job?¡±
Ir glared at Randy. What a lotta nerve! ¡°I am governor of Biehshah Ye~, and no, you may not live there or work there. You are only interested in wealth and power, so you befriend anyone with either.¡±
Eanne~ strode over. ¡°Normally, we welcome Earthans, but since I know of your situation¡ª¡±
¡°Hey, I was apologizin¡¯! I play lead guitar and my buddies think I¡¯m pretty good! Zheien like music, don¡¯t they?¡±
He frowned, and it rumbled on me. ¡°You practiced dishonesty and sued Kia. She is interested in saving lives. I cannot speak for other Zheien colonies but you are ne welcome in mine.¡±
An Elshar came over. ¡°If you are willing to change your ways, you may live in Earth Samar Thaae. But you must agree to run these monitoring progs.¡± Siasch taught a lot of people to trade in Rainbow. We traded a lot with him.
Then, Pat, Kathey, and Carla came over. I just wanted to leave! They all wanted singing jobs in Earth Ye~. Eanne~ turned them all down, so they talked to Siasch, who let them all go there.
How far away is Samar Thaae from Ye~?
Four minutes, but do you know about the abuse prog? If you wish not to see them, this is how Eanne~ stopped Garat from interfering with our wedding.
He showed me and I set it so I wouldn¡¯t see them and they couldn¡¯t see where I was. Hooray! Living near an honorable Elshar or maybe Zheien and Thordes might change them, but I didn¡¯t want to be around for it. Unfortunately, since my husband¡¯s a diplomat, we don¡¯t get a break from Garat if he¡¯s in a bad mood.
Chapter 8 Marriages On Adias Ship
We kept watching marriages. Mostly Thordes and Zheien, but a lot of Elshars, too. I mostly knew Biehshah and Bisillips in Rainbow, not Earthans. But I was scared to talk to anyone much there except our colonists and Ir.
Daddy and Camile talked with us for a while but needed healing. I thought I learned how to control my telepathy! So frustrating!
Across the ship, Tan Links was explaining stuff to a group of Earthans. At least he¡¯s okay. He sure trembles a lot. Did he do that before I hurt him?
But my relatives all seemed okay. Areonians went through a lot of stuff. I heard diplomats helping ¡®em through my Diplomatic Link. It¡¯s like being permanently in an auditorium where you hear bits and pieces of people¡¯s conversations.
¡°Kia, are you happy?¡± Ir¡¯s brown eyes studied me.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m happy! It¡¯s just¡ªeverything¡¯s kind of overwhelming! My life is different now. I¡¯m not complaining, but I think it¡¯ll take a little time to get used to everything.¡±
¡°Can I help?¡± Everything¡¯s different, but my husband¡¯s different, too. He talks more. His thoughts are in my head more. And, he¡¯s so eager to please me. Even more than he was¡ªbut, it¡¯s my first day and I¡¯m being stupid.
¡°Just give me a hug!¡±
He did, and I put my head down on his chest and just wished I could turn my brain off. ¡°When do we leave Earth, Ir?¡±
¡°Tonight. Our work is done. I thought we would speak at the UN, but Ten thinks it is too much for all of us, to try to speak to Earthans. All of us are having trouble keeping our telepathy out of Earthan minds. I am not hurting you, am I?¡±
¡°No! Your mind feels good in here!¡± I looked up and Ir had fear on his face. ¡°You sound like me! I can¡¯t even talk to Daddy because I gave him a headache. He contacted all our relatives, Mama¡¯s, too, and some of ¡®em said they might want to come. What if I can¡¯t talk to any of ¡®em?¡± Did I ever? Maybe before politics got so crazy. Half of ¡®em are still mad because of how I voted in 2020. Or what I said about voting in 2024. Now none of that matters!
¡°Do Zheien vote?¡±
Ir laughed. ¡°Zheien agree on everything! They don¡¯t need to vote. They have councils like we had in Jujujean, 9 people who have councils of 9, so everyone who lived with us had a council member to speak with if they had a concern. It¡¯s not like Biehshah where we feared to disagree with anything.
¡°Der and I talked about a lot of things while we sat on ships, trying to help people with their problems. We couldn¡¯t help ourselves. But, we helped other people find points of agreement. Ironic, isn¡¯t it, Kia?¡± He shook his head.
But Der laughed. ¡°Friendship saved our sanity! Whenever we got upset, we found a friend to talk to, and that helps a lot. Elshars plot to kill their leaders and take over. We just grumble about our rules and lives and really don¡¯t do anything about them. Your colony idea is giving people hope, Ir. We don¡¯t have to complain in private. Each of us will have a voice, just as we did in Jujujean Rainbow. I will stay here and convince people to join the Alliance and the Unified.¡±
Ir got an expression of pure horror! ¡°You must come with us! I name you Council Minister Of Biehshah Ye~!¡±
¡°Dear friend, we must have diplomats to establish our trade!¡±
¡°Surely one of your clones might choose¡ª¡±
Der looked down. ¡°All of them wish to work in Alb. Three are going back to Leheren to work for changes.¡±
My husband hugged Der and wailed!
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¡°Dear friend, please do not get upset with me. I will miss you.¡± Der hugged him and moaned.
Eanne~ came running! ¡°What is wrong?¡±
¡°Der is staying on Earth! He will die unless many of us stay, too!¡±
He hugged all three of us! ¡°Friends, you had injuries on many missions. None of us can stay. Cevit Ion gave a speech at 3 this afternoon stating this. Der, you had many more than 2 injuries¡ª¡±
¡°I am able to do this for my friends! Our colony needs trade!¡± He shook all over.
Eanne~ picked him up and sat on the floor holding him. Hummed. Slowly, Der calmed down. ¡°Listen to me, my friend. I have many diplomats who will stay, and Theaspaura has many more, and Herda sends many from MarKu. All of them can speak for Ye~, and for Biehshah Ye~. We shall negotiate many treaties together.
¡°Ir is wise to give you a position. All of your colonists may have positions on Ye~ that ne require travel. Friends, you suffered enough! As citizens Yeff you are mine and I will ne send you, any of you!¡±
Lisen came running. ¡°But, I must trade, and travel is part of it, my liege!¡± He hastily bowed.
¡°My son, sit by me. You may trade, but only as your healer wishes. He stays by you.¡±
Tanamar nodded as he sat by them. ¡°I can travel with you to worlds in Alb. Short trips are good for you, in small markets.¡±
¡°I have many traders who enjoy trading artworks and wish to learn plants trade and foods. You are very well with these and they can learn from you.¡± Eanne~ stroked the back of his blond curls.
¡°They will have harm from my telepathy.¡± He sighed.
¡°My son, your telepathy is about the strength of a Zheien. We can ask Pas, but I think he will say you and they are safe. I learned fine control over my telepathy in Deesamor centuries ago when it was new, and I can help you if it strays.¡± The healer smiled.
Then Lisen smiled. ¡°If I won¡¯t hurt them, it would be nice to tutor people again. I did that when I was young.¡± He sighed. Biehshah don¡¯t do that except when reciting dramatic poetry.
A slight frown on Eanne~¡®s face told me he noticed. ¡°All the Alb Council discussed long, and I agreed, we must change how we work. During this long War, we learned to use all of our strength in every task. Now, we decided to be wise and tell all of our people, we must learn ne to injure ourselves in overwork. It is well to work hard, but ne to forget to rest and enjoy our families.
¡°You are married now, Lisen. Remember to enjoy time with your wife. Make time to sit and discuss these things that attract us to one another. You have memories of Rainbow, but you must make the memories of now.¡± His golden eyes filled.
Lisen blinked his blue eyes. Biehshah don¡¯t really need to blink, they just copy whomever they¡¯re talking to. That wasn¡¯t what Eanne~ was doing, and Tanamar frowned slightly. ¡°Should I learn more poetry? What pleases an Earthan?¡±
Eanne~ smiled. ¡°You will need to ask her what pleases her, and tell her what pleases you. In this way, you can find the things that please both. My wife Pa¡¯isha enjoys dancing in festivals, but she tires quickly, then we walk among displays of artisans. After this, she will watch demonstrations of Thordes trade while I will learn a new language. We leave the festival with much to discuss in this way. Other couples choose differently. My new sae, Adia, stayed near my bae the entire time of their wedding festival but they only had 2 hours before coming here. Like you, they are learning one another.¡±
¡°How long does it take to learn? I never married, I only worked.¡± With a voiced sigh, Lisen rubbed his ear. That¡¯s not a Biehshah gesture.
¡°I am still learning about my Pai. We change over time and must learn the changes. And, is impossible, I think, to learn all of another person.¡±
That¡¯s true. I liked what he said, but I kept getting distracted.
One of the marriages now taking place was Laura Martin and J~oie. All the Yeff gathered around. I saw a lot of them when I sang group healings, but with older faces. They all looked so young and round-faced, even King Ryonne~ and Adia.
Eanne~ excused himself and ran over there. His wife and kids greeted him with hugs. Nine kids, along with J~oie and Ryonne~ to make 11. I didn¡¯t see all of them in Rainbow! But we never went to Ye~.
Five girls younger than me got married, one at a time. Molly helped them, and she¡¯s little!
Across the ship, I saw more and more Earthans coming in, feeling that awe of standing on a spaceship, gawking like tourists. Did I do that? The sun got lower and shadows, longer. My legs and my back ached from all the dancing, but it was too much fun and worth it.
Then a red-haired girl came in with jeans torn at the knees. Molly ran over to meet her. Something about her bothered me. All these Earthans, and she was the only one I just felt was out of place somehow. The feeling grew that something isn¡¯t right.
Chapter 9 Somethings Wrong
More people got married. We all watched. Ir kept an arm around me and I kept my hand on his. That felt so good, that his hand stayed there except to stroke my fingers or give a squeeze. When I was goin¡¯ with Randy, his hands constantly annoyed me, wanderin¡¯. I enjoyed my husband¡¯s arm across my back. Not heavy. He smells good, not sweaty and insisting on a hug before he hit the shower. I shouldn¡¯t be doin¡¯ comparisons, but I couldn¡¯t help it.
In Rainbow I could always cry on Ir¡¯s shoulder when things didn¡¯t go right. Best listener ever! He always said what I need to hear, even if it was something I needed to change. Mostly, he saw my talents and reassured me they were enough. That¡¯s all I ever wanted.
Daddy never had much time at home, so he felt like he had to find all the things I did wrong and correct ¡®em all at once.
Mama was patient and kind, and let a lot of things go. If she got upset, it was big. My mother was an expert at knowing when I was beating myself up and getting me to ease up. Concentrate on next time, she told me. You can¡¯t change this time, but you can make it better next time.
It dawned on me that our colony is all next time. We can change some things to make it work better because it¡¯s our next time.
But what about Adia, what about Ray and Rentappenen, is there anything I can do about that? I wasn¡¯t there, so I didn¡¯t see it. They are the ones who have to tackle those next times.
Pirad brought a bunch of Bisillips to meet that girl with the two red braids. Why her?
Molly found a friend and talked to her. A bunch of young people ported in together.
Ir said, ¡°Kia, soon we will get on the ship. Is there something you want from Earth? Our Yeff friends will buy anything you want.¡±
I shook my head and held his hand up. ¡°You¡¯re all I need. In Rainbow they had things from Earth in the market. I never once traded with ¡®em.¡± Sometimes I did that, once I learned not to hurt people with my telepathy. I did learn, didn¡¯t I?
Molly fell and Binneas caught her! What¡¯s wrong with Molly? Something just happened. I felt it! People are staring at ¡®em. But I noticed that Ray startled in her room as she¡¯s trading with her husband, Asha. He¡¯s Elshar Zheien and yellow like my husband. In Pirad¡¯s Lab, Deb, Greg and Briahh startled. They work in there now. Deb delivered babies in Rainbow. When I killed Opseh Wenh Cet, she was in there with me. His clone¡¯s trying to get in my head, right now!
Suma ran out of her room to Molly.
But Goes came with Penny and Molly ran over there, so she must be okay. They got married and every eye on the ship was on ¡®em.
I looked over at Ray. She looked scared, and so did her husband. They¡¯re trading with an Aryllan, they are gray-skinned. Scary! But his fingernails weren¡¯t long. That¡¯s all people talked about¡ª
Those beady black eyes fixed on me.
I heard a voice that chilled me. Where is she?! I will find her! A male scream startled me!
I looked up and saw the red-braided girl. Thin. Sweating so much, like rain on the red-violet floor. She smiled at Ray and vanished. No portal?
Adia is crying on Ryonne~¡¯s chest. He¡¯s unconscious. Pas, their healer¡ªhe¡¯s crying, too! What just happened? Ry¡¯nao picked Ryonne~ up and Pas carried Adia. Binneas helped Molly up. Our eyes met. She¡¯s scared.
Ray and Asha finished their trades and Pirad ran in there. I shouldn¡¯t be staring. Am I thinking too loud?
Another Adia and Ryee went to Laura and they ported. I saw them appear on the porch of that house.
Ir and I looked at each other. ¡°What is wrong, Cesearae?¡±
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¡°Something is, but we can¡¯t talk about it.¡± I felt jittery.
Ir just hugged me.
Molly went to Ry¡¯nao, our emperor. He turned white and Ket pulled him into his room. Whatever it is, it¡¯s bad.
Molly showed everyone her wedding and we all listened. People on the ship waved their arms. Good distraction. But she¡¯s on Ry¡¯nao¡¯s bed holding his hand. Others see her out in the middle of the ship. Am I supposed to be able to see¡ª
Pirad¡¯s still busy in his lab. Lots of people sharing memories to those purple cylinders.
Lots of Zheien helping Earthans do that. I had it easy because it was quick.
Suma has that white walrus with her. Who¡¯s he? And hundreds of Thordes who are not in DS uniforms just ported on the ship!
Ryonne~¡ªor one of his clones, explained the 25 worlds of Alb to that bunch of Earthans.
What am I looking for? I watched one group and another, nothing weird or dangerous. Lots of people had clones who ported.
Theapet met with Suma and the white walrus and Theapet waved up an official document. Molly nodded at him so it might be her Rainbow charter. But they said they already created Rainbow on all those worlds, didn¡¯t they?
It is to make Molly queen. She must have 100 followers, so this is the document for her names.
Oh.
What are we watching to see?
I wish I knew! It¡¯s driving me crazy!
Kirnonos and the walrus argued and the walrus ported away. What¡¯s that about? A bigger walrus stood by Suma now. Ry¡¯nao was with ¡®em and it wasn¡¯t a pleasant discussion. Pirad, Kirnonos and Taredias with some other Bisillips. They went back in Pirad¡¯s Lab. Ry¡¯nao went back in his room and Ket walked with him. That¡¯s not good.
Laura came back with some upset family. I didn¡¯t want to watch that.
Someone got arrested outside Laura¡¯s house. Who?
A Zbbat grabbed an Earthan¡¯s hand across the ship. Everyone said they could kill without meaning to, but this one drooped. Molly had a Zbbat healer who did that when people were scared so they¡¯d know he was friendly.
In our room, Lisen sat up and his healer made him lie down. He wouldn¡¯t take his eyes off the Zbbat. I¡¯d seen that terrorized stare on Zheien, but never on a Biehshah. Maybe that¡¯s why he¡¯s not a diplomat, because a Zbbat hurt him.
You are right, dear wife. That one was a slaver, and hurt him. Many of us, Biehshah and Bisillips, become slaves because of Zbbat, but today we have a treaty stating Zbbat and Esteerrians will not take slaves now. That is Liz, who convinced Tch¡¯Lantserah that slavery is wrong, and now he wishes to speak with her. He is king of all Zbbat, and with them is Lyyyrah, King Of Esteerr. I spoke with both of them, on many missions. And their fathers. Today is a historic day! Earlier Aryllans gave up slavery also.
Really? Where was I?
In the shower.
I startled and looked at him.
I didn¡¯t see you! The server said there was high humidity in the room with you and suggested that you took a shower.
I laughed.
But I still had that creepy feeling. Not about this, but about whatever has Ry¡¯nao worried.
Liz was hugging Zbbat and Esteerrians. Wow!
Another Earthan ported in and one Zheien carried another, and Pas, that bald healer, ran to ¡®em. Pas came to get a lot of Zheien who wandered into our colony when I sang mass healings. Some got scared because they didn¡¯t remember coming. Pas looks a lot younger now, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t recognize him. I remember a lot more stuff than I did even an hour ago.
Outside, the full moon began to shine through trees.
Ah, romance is near, the moon that shines the yellow light of love, the rabbit that watches over Earth, the¡ª
Rabbit? I blinked at my husband.
Koreans see a rabbit in the moon.
Oh. We usually say the man in the moon here.
I felt Ir¡¯s embarrassment. Oops. But a rabbit¡¯s more interesting than a man¡¯s face. I did like rabbits a lot.
Ir smiled. Good. I have lots of them in the pet room. His mind guided me to a huge room with cows, horses, dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and smaller pets! I smiled.
But that uneasy feeling stayed.
¡°My love, people are boarding the ship.¡±
¡°I¡ªcan¡¯t.¡± Ir pulled at my arm but I planted my feet down.
I heard the whoosh of a dimportal and traced it to my Diplomatic Link. But someone else heard that¡ªthrough me!
¡°I have to warn Ry¡¯nao!¡± I bolted towards his room.
Chapter 10 The Fight Begins
A man screamed for help down the Diplomatic Link. ¡°Help us! If Rentappenen takes over Ry¡¯nao, thirteen galaxies will be in his control!¡±
All the Thordes stopped arguing and got that stance, like they¡¯re all ready to fight! Molly startled. Deb ran out of Pirad¡¯s Lab, and so did everybody else!
Suma and Ray came out, too. I ran over there. All our Biehshah startled and came out, too.
Ry¡¯nao came from Pirad¡¯s Lab into the main room of this red-violet ship. Fell into Ryonne~¡¯s arms! ¡°Ket! No¡ªSuma!¡±
She came, with that giant walrus!
Ket¡¯s Elshar eyes were black.
¡°Ray!¡±
People gathered around him as he fell to his knees. Ket put him on his lap. Wept.
I ran over there and Ry¡¯nao put his hand on my head. It trembled. But then, I knew things.
Snafanas is an Aryllan slaver who¡¯s attacking. Ilios, this is Ry¡¯nao¡¯s son, who called for help! His telepathy killed Snafanas. Then he reached for Rahn Wenh Cet. Molly helped him. But I got in there and fried him and his other son, cloned son Lun Wenh Cet.
This is war! They are attacking my emperor!
Ir got in there with me and helped me fight with his telepathy! As I followed others, I saw Ty¡¯nirrhans and tagged Deb¡ªshe¡¯s as strong as me? She got them, too.
Sara, Cevit Ion¡¯s new wife came. She can see the slavers. Hundreds¡ªno, thousands of ¡®em! How can all of us fight so many? But it made me mad. Rentappenen¡¯s going to lose because Ray killed him in the other future, so I poured healing into the Link.
The music built. Ice cream flavors¡ªas if I were eating it to fuel myself, and gave that experience to every person on Ry¡¯nao¡¯s side! Everyone got stronger telepathy.
I sped us up. Or maybe someone else did. We formed a single mind, directed by Ry¡¯nao.
So many minds! We just sought out slavers who were attacking and killed them, one by one, but fast!
Azure, that¡¯s the red-braid girl, she spoke. ¡°I want to help, but what can I do? A time bubble! I¡¯ll gather all our selves from now until the Final Battle and use us all to fight him! He can¡¯t switch timelines fast enough to avoid all of us!¡±
But, suddenly as it began, I stood on the outside watching my legion of selves fight, and I couldn¡¯t?
People acted normally. Except for Deb, who clung to Greg¡¯s arm and Briahh hugged both of them. Suma wasn¡¯t here! Her husband¡¯s gone and his brother, Doug is crying. Another Ket¡¯s in there with him with the black marble eyes. People ran in Doug¡¯s room and Suma and her husband fell out of the ceiling, and that walrus is there now. Everyone heard Suma¡¯s screams! Molly ran in there.
Sara and Cevit Ion went in there, and Ishmarel and Alice who rule Zheiea. An Earthan¡¯s Queen Of Zheiea? After Ry¡¯nao touched my head, I know all these people. I knew of them in Rainbow! All of me shook.
Ir pulled at my arm. ¡°We have to get on the ship now, Kia.¡±
¡°But, we were¡ª¡± Ry¡¯nao was lying on his bed with Ket looking worried beside him. Molly still sat there, holding his hand. She looked at me, green eyes wide like a Zheien. Go get on the ship. We can¡¯t do anything now, but our selves can.
I saw that battle, too, and walked around Ry¡¯nao on the floor and Ket and Suma and the walrus, who took up a lot of room. Others walked through them like they weren¡¯t even there.
Ir let me guide him around them. One grumpy Elshar opened his mouth to say something and that TS Inspector went over to him.
Daddy and Camila ran to us with a whole bunch of relatives, but Daddy gasped. ¡°Kia, did you do something to your hair?¡±
I blinked at him. So tired! ¡°No, why?¡±
He pulled at a handful at my temple and the part hanging out of his fist was silver. What?
I grabbed two handfuls of my hair. Silver streaks went all the way to the ends! ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m Mrs. Fantastic now!¡± I laughed. Nerves.
Ir thought my reference to the popular comic book was hilarious, but they missed it.
¡°So, you used your terminal to change your hair color?¡±
¡°No, I haven¡¯t had time to fool with it!¡±
¡°You¡¯ve been watching a lot of marriages, like we were. I had time to learn things.¡± Daddy smiled.
I¡¯ve been using my terminal a lot, but not for that! I just dropped it. But when I tried to use my terminal to color it like it was, nothing happened. As if my terminal couldn¡¯t see a difference.
Once we walked past the Battle Of The Cubes, my mind still stayed locked on it. I felt bad about just deserting my friends to go to our colony. Yet, our colonists need Ir and I.
When we started to sit down with Daddy, Camila and all my relatives, a bunch of Biehshah asked us to go with them to a room, so I didn¡¯t sit down.
Daddy got up off the springy orange floor. ¡°You¡¯re not sitting with us, Sug?¡±
¡°Ir¡¯s starting a Biehshah colony and we have to organize our government.¡¯
¡°But, it¡¯s after business hours! Can¡¯t you do that tomorrow? A lot of my employees are here, but I gave ¡®em a few days off to get used to a new planet! You should do that, too.¡± He frowned.
I got irritated. ¡°Daddy, our people can die when they get upset! A lot of ¡®em are worried about how we¡¯re going to run things, where they can put their houses, and we need to sit down with them now.¡±
¡°But you could¡¯ve done it earlier when you were watching weddings, if you knew this was an issue.¡± He frowned at me.
I never know what to say to him!
Ir came back and held out his arm to me. ¡°Mr. Garfield, my wife has a Gift that we cannot speak to you about. There are things more important than our colony, that affect a far wider area. Please, let us work now. To talk about these things endangers our galaxy so we need to go to our meeting.¡±
Daddy looked very surprised and closed his mouth.
We walked to our room where all our friends waited on our bed. Regina looked very confused. ¡°What¡¯s all this about?¡±
Lisen sighed. ¡°There are secrets we must keep, and I am very sorry. Merely to speak of them endangers thirteen galaxies. Ir, tell us about our new government. That is safe to talk about. I wish I had the skills I lost! Perhaps I am no help to you.¡± He looked down.
Ir frowned. Looked around at 157 faces. ¡°Friends, do not think that you are no help in my government, because you are. On Ye~ there are 1611 of us who were Excluded or unable to work or even who hope for a happier life! More wait on Biehshah to see if we can live. I need every one of you to watch over each other and help everyone adjust. Today, I will name 9 of you and a council leader to make sure everyone in our colony has a voice. Der, Council Leader Of Biehshah Ye~, knows of my plans for you and before we begin, we have to know how everyone feels. My plans need to transform into every colonists¡¯ plan!
¡°Lisen, you are friends with Zed Tes, Minister Of Kehnaren, who stayed, who is friendly to us. Now that our trades do not have to go through Leheren, maybe he will agree to trade with us. All the other provs love to trade there so we can get things to remind all our colonists of home. I name you my Trade Leader.¡±
That made Lisen very happy. ¡°I will serve you in every way I can! Zed already promised to trade with us.¡±
Beside him was a mauve-skinned man in purple. ¡°VW, I want you to lead our Science Council. We will work in the Ye~ Science Council building, but will have separate facilities for our research that might harm Zheien. Ye~ has many goals that are the same as ours, so we can work together if we can solve the telepathy problems.¡±
He made a gesture from his head outwards. ¡°I spoke with Pirad and he altered me so I will not hurt anyone. He can do this for any of us who want it. Chor telepathy. My telepathy is far stronger than I dreamed, yet my control over it lets me touch Earthans without harming them! He said he gave this to Queen Molly, too.¡±
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Chor telepathy was one of the things he tried to give me and it didn¡¯t work.
Pirad gave it to me, Cesearae, and I am helping you! You talked to your parents and didn¡¯t hurt them.
Oh, thanks, Ir!
A lot of them said they¡¯d go see Pirad. Ir named council members and some would represent both a function and provs people came from. Lisen will oversee trade but also help people from Kehnaren. Der will help people from Leheren. VW represents everyone from Siotu, that mining prov. But, like Zheien council members, VW¡¯s wife will also help him equally. I liked that idea!
¡°Tenadu will be our Healer Leader.¡±
His blue eyes studied me. ¡°Should Kia be Healer Leader? She knows a lot more than I do.¡±
I laughed. ¡°My friend, you can teach people how to heal, and I can¡¯t. I wish I could.¡± It made me sad that all my sisters died. Rentappenen did that. Oh, how I wanted to just blast him out of existence like I did Opseh Wenh Cet and his two top clones!
Zheien startled and ran in here! Oops.
¡°Friends, why this upset?¡± Goes, First Prince Of MarKu spoke to Ir.
¡°My wife got angry, but she killed the Wehn Cet slavers! Let us think of happier subjects.¡±
Across the ship, in Pirad¡¯s Lab, Greg Wehn Cet startled with two cylinders in his hand. Got this huge smile and looked at his wife, Deb. She smiled, too.
Goes noticed and he smiled, too. ¡°Are their slaves free, then?¡±
I started to say I didn¡¯t know, but an answer came from that goblin. ¡°Dromie sent them all to Alb. Most of them are in Rainbow MarKu now.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but look into Adia¡¯s Ship, now nearly empty. In the middle of it stood Jarfus, that giant white walrus, who raised a flipper high at me and tipped his hat. Pinda pumped his fist! Then they and my other friends lost their smiles and concentrated on the Battle Of The Cubes. Each of them had a legion of their own with specific goals and Dromie has an army, too. He¡¯s bringing weapons of Lisbaar to life in those vast arsenals, and most of them are deciding they want to fight Rentappenen. I couldn¡¯t imagine our supply of atomic bombs waking up and deciding to blow up a country! But that¡¯s what Dromie meant when he could make people into weapons. Will I blow up and hurt my friends?
¡°No! Only weapons made to blow up will explode. You are my Gift to the Biehshah, but they don¡¯t know it. Irdaktin already knows it. Don¡¯t tell them. Let them find out, after the War ends.¡± I saw him on Lisbaar with an army of people like him darting about. Rentappenen¡¯s armies of troops with weapons fighting people of a lot of diff species. But every time a goblin ran past, the weapons they held came to life and became people. Some of them fought when the person told them, but most turned on ¡®em!
I¡¯m glad that was just a second or two. Nearly lost my lunch!
Deb ran in and put a hand on my head. Made me lie down. ¡°I can¡¯t heal you?¡±
Ten pulled her hand off. ¡°She¡¯s a new species. None of us can heal her!¡±
¡°Why would Pirad do that to her?¡± Her brown eyes opened wide.
¡°Pirad did not do that! She has a Gift. Do not speak of it again.¡± Ten shook all over. I hummed and the orchestration built, but I stopped. Just that was enough to make me feel better, and everyone in our room.
She burst into tears and Greg ran in to hold her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Sweetheart?¡±
¡°We can¡¯t even talk about it!¡±
I put a hand on her shoulder. But, I didn¡¯t feel much like an Earthan any more. That scared me. I¡¯m a new species? Is that what that Deesamor rogue in Jot¡¯s terminals did?
Ten¡¯s brother Jot shook all over. He¡¯s the one who got terminals meant for a Zheien. Which Zheien? Ten and Jot stared at each other. We were all on that ship going to Rainbow when I found out my plans to be a healer wouldn¡¯t work, but Ten said he needed me to help him heal Jot. I held Jot¡¯s hand and hummed. Then I saw his mission that got canceled. He was on his way to Ctral to meet with Opseh Wehn Cet when he got diverted here. Peatabus, our 1st Galaxy Minister was piloting his ship there with Jot on it. He was the one those terminals were meant for, but he got another set and they let him go. Because he married an Elshar lady slaver, a prov in Fhiah grew contaminated crops. That was the other future. Fhiah caught the lady¡¯s crooked brother and he had an encounter with a TS Inspector that had a fella in white like the one I saw.
Peatabus, one of the yellow Zheien, ran to me. ¡°Kia, you see things I cannot! Am I compromised? I had several missions to Ctral recently, for we need ships and they have many!¡± He pulled my hand to his head.
Ten jerked me back! ¡°Use your Diplomatic Link to touch her, so you do not die, Minister!¡±
All the diplomats, about a third of our room, gasped. You¡¯re not supposed to mention the Diplomatic Link to anyone who doesn¡¯t have it! Ten has it and should know that!
But I looked at him through it and found something. I brought Pirad and showed him.
Pirad clicked his face into an enraged expression. ¡°Bour Wenh Cet! Get him, Kia!¡±
I sent a surge through Peatabus expecting Pirad to protect him. Bour Wenh Cet died.
Peatabus had a convulsion and everyone got upset! I tried to do a mass healing and I couldn¡¯t! Just a little orchestration that calmed our people.
Pirad couldn¡¯t help Peatabus.
A girl ran in and put her hand on the left side of his face and hummed. His body went still. ¡°Gosh, what happened to him?¡±
Pirad scowled at her. ¡°Never touch a galactic minister! If I had not been touching him you would be dead and I cannot prevent it!¡±
Deb hugged her. ¡°Pirad, Belle¡¯s only 12, she doesn¡¯t know what a galactic minister is! I get confused about all the DS things, too, because Berto wears red-violet and he¡¯s not a galactic minister.¡±
¡°She is a healer and should know to check the Alliance record before touching a person!¡± Pirad¡¯s chest heaved.
Ten poured several drinks down him. Belle sobbed. A couple ran in. ¡°Pirad, I think you should apologize to Belle. I will bring one of Pas¡¯ clones to stay with her from now on. That should satisfy your concerns, I think.¡±
Pas ran in, one of the old, grandfatherly bald ones. He led the trio out while Pirad still worked on Peatabus. I felt horrible!
Pirad carried him out and a crowd followed them, including his weeping healer.
Ten hugged me and Ir. ¡°Kia, you did what you had to do. Any galactic minister knows he might die in his work. He asked you for help. He had terminals.¡±
They put terminals in his head? Oh, that made me mad and five of the top Wenh Cet scientists fell over dead! Their research spoiled. It¡¯s all algae made to store data.
Several Zheien and Thordes startled on the ship and their healers grabbed ¡®em. Pirad noticed and white light flashed. Nobody startled but their healers, who held sleeping people now.
I saw a red glow around some of the yellow Zheien in a group watching Goes, who got up to speak. Something blocked me from asking Pirad. Oh, he¡¯s got a new prog to warn us about higher-level things. Shouldn¡¯t he know about that? What I did won¡¯t work on them. Dromie sighed. I¡¯m working on it.
He distracted Rentappenen, but he can¡¯t keep doing that. Pirad¡¯s recloning Peatabus but he¡¯ll have to leave his position. His clones died. Cevit Ion has a clone who married a clone of a librarian. He¡¯s going to be 1st Galaxy Minister now. Cevit Ion who married Sara the Link Expert is on this ship going to Elshar Zheiea.
Like many of us, Kia, he had too many injuries. Most of the galactic ministers had to let their clones take their posts. Ir looked very sad. I think it is harder for a Zheien to do that. Younger people have not seen as many changes in their lives as we have, and species like us.
Greg led a revolt against his father and the Ty¡¯nirrhans almost fell. We thought they all died, but there are 88 of them on this ship that came to Earth. Others moved from Areon to a new colony, Ry Pethe, which is also on Ye~. They will need our help, Kia. We are 3800 to 4800 years old like they are.
I wondered how Deb felt about this, but we can¡¯t talk about it until this mess is over. I hugged Ir. ¡°Did we assign all our council members?¡±
Ir smiled. ¡°Jot, I assign you to our council to help Ten.¡±
Jot lost his worried expression and smiled. ¡°Glad to help with the colony! I will do all I can to get herbs and live plants for our healers. I know Siotu needed them badly. I could get all the plants they needed, but Leheren stopped them and diverted them, and they reached Siotu dead!¡±
¡°Be happy, Friends. We will have beautiful gardens. See our land!¡± Ir waved and a holo of purple Ye~ zoomed in on a huge lake with square buildings with mosaic tiles. Almost looked like ancient Greece or Roman architecture with terra cotta roofs. But each roof had a mosaic.
Healers¡¯ houses had a person in a bed with a healer¡¯s hand on their head. Most of the healers had cobalt blue robes.
Government buildings had orators speaking to small groups and all of them wore neon green robes. Garat was wearing a white diplomat¡¯s uniform on the ship.
A blue building was DS blue and had diplomats in white and that shade of blue around a table.
But all these buildings had smaller ones on the lake itself. Huge tropical-looking gardens almost hid them.
¡°There¡¯s my house!¡± Der leaned forward and the view zoomed in on a house with big cracks in the mosaic tiles showing a family. ¡°Oh, it needs repairs! I will have to trade very hard¡ª¡±
Ir waved and it all looked new! ¡°Repairs are easy in a Zheien colony! No contracts to try to attract an artisan. This is a temporary repair until the Artisan Council can decide how to fix it. Repairs are included in our¡ªI do not know how to express this. In the Alliance, we must trade for everything. In a Zheien colony they provide housing, healing, education, food and clothing formers. If we want to trade for a present for a courted, then we still have to work hard to provide jewelry or rare flowers, but we will not have to petition a Courtship Minister for permission, or what to get her!¡±
All the men stood and cheered, and all the women looked very happy!
One man waved and the holo zoomed in on a fallen-in house. ¡°I think mine is too broken for repairs. How do I start over?¡± He looked very sad and threw his arm over his forehead.
¡°Oh, look! I just repaired it! You can live there while the artisans look at it.¡± With a gesture from his forehead to the house, Ir smiled.
The man peeked at it, then threw both arms up. ¡°Meshanaforuun tead! You did a miracle! I can see my dear wife again!¡±
¡°Now that we can ask Pirad to help, maybe he can reclone her for you.¡±
¡°I will port to Ye~ now!¡± He opened a white portal and whooshed away! So did about 15 others!
Ir giggled. ¡°Any of you who don¡¯t want to wait, you may go! Our business is concluded, and there are healers for all of you!¡±
Half the room went! But the others were eager to go, too, and so was Ir.
Der held his arm. ¡°Can we go, Ir? I want to see my house. I want to know if my family things are there.¡± He shook all over.
Ir hugged him. ¡°Dear friend, let us go! This portal will only take a few mins.¡± He hugged me against him and whoosh!
Chapter 11 Portal Home
The white light was too bright to see through. But as we shot in the direction the ship went, the light faded. We stood on a very dim white platform moving through a sea of stars. At first I didn¡¯t notice a pattern, but then I spotted Orion. The Big Dipper. Cygnus. I only knew those three constellations, but Ir pointed out all 88 of them.
¡°We don¡¯t have enough stars for constellations on Biehshah¡ª¡± Ir swept an arm out.
¡°But Zheien see Mother and Babe, as long as they have two stars in the sky!¡± Der laughed.
Ir laughed louder. ¡°I am happy Garat didn¡¯t Exclude you for knowing that!¡±
Der shoved him. ¡°He couldn¡¯t anyway! I overheard a Zheien talking about that when he showed his Earthan girl in Rainbow. The Rules Of Learning say nothing about hearing conversations, if you happen to be nearby and they speak aloud.¡±
¡°That is true. I learned much by listening. But Zheien have major telepathy. They have to block everyone¡¯s telepathy. So you can hear a lot in a Zheien colony¡ª¡±
¡°They think it¡¯s rude to listen! You didn¡¯t know that?¡±
Ir turned orange in his cheeks. ¡°I know it, but I get tired and can¡¯t block them.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why you need to ask me to help you more often! You¡¯re tired now.¡±
¡°I¡ªdidn¡¯t ask because I wanted to learn things. But now, I can just ask them. You¡¯re a good friend, Der. Please, help me. Oh, we should go to Fhiah first. Theas has a festival and he expects us to come.¡±
Ten put an elbow in his ear. ¡°I think all of us should go home and rest. Der, you are not tired, but the rest of us are. Will you go to Theas? That festival will be 81 days, so we can go tomorrow.¡±
¡°So many days! Why?¡±
Ir laughed and brushed Ten¡¯s arm off. ¡°To celebrate 25 worlds coming to Alb, and a lot of Fhiahans saw their futures and married, including his son! There are many things to do in Fhiah like riding through provs and enjoying different customs, as we did when we first settled Biehshah. I wonder what there is to do on Ye~? The last time I visited there were only two cities. Oshfah is where the Yeff live. Noh~La has lorg~ farms.¡±
¡°Ugh! A lorg~ bit me and Bekshay apologized for an hour! It hurt until I went home two weeks later!¡± Der rubbed his right upper arm.
¡°At least I had persseppa to put on it.¡± Ir rubbed it, too.
¡°It helped, but Ten had to force regen on me! I don¡¯t want to go near lorg~er!¡±
I raised a hand. ¡°What¡¯s a lorg?¡±
Ir laughed. ¡°You have Great Danes. These are all black, and twice that size. Llsam visited Earth about the time you had pyramids and he found wolves. People never liked them so he collected many. He traded them to Bisillipia and scientists modified them into lorg~er. Aurelonans raised them for meat. They traded them to Elshars. The Mesapan Elshars decided they liked their fierceness so much, they transformed their people to look like them!¡±
¡°That¡¯s where the Mesapans came from?¡± Der made a face. ¡°From Elshars?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t dare tell you when we visited Mesapa. E¡¯jark was offended enough when you asked him about that statue in his cave.¡±
¡°They live in caves?¡± I blinked at Ir.
¡°No! But I never saw the inside of a Mesapan house, even when I visited them when they looked like you. Mesapans use caves for meetings because they feel you are not worthy to set foot in their houses! They want to control their spaces. Oh, my! There are Mesapans on the Yeff ship!¡±
All of us looked where he looked. A group of nearly 50 sat in a pretty emerald green ship that made a room. ¡°It¡¯s just flying alongside us, isn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°No! Traders combine ships to fly together, to fool slavers.¡± I realized, we¡¯re seeing it because of our telepathy, not because our portal is anywhere near it. We¡¯re almost to Alb, and the ship just reached Earth orbit.
There¡¯s a ship with slaves on it almost to Earth, and they are going to ¡ª
Where is she?! I will find her! A male scream startled me!
Ray traded with an Aryllan for those slaves! A wave of red light passed over Saturn and its moon Titan, and that ship took off. The red wave destroyed Titan, then Saturn blew up, and the wave headed towards Earth!
But Azure, that red-braids girl, she stopped it and the wave went backwards, leaving Saturn and Titan intact.
Eriganh did that, the fella Adia needs to fight! His temper tantrum destroyed half his Cube¡¯s Collective! And those slaves that escaped, they are coming aboard that ship, the Elshar Zheien¡¯s ship. Goes¡¯ orange ship is part of it.
¡°Ir, we have to go back!¡±
He startled. ¡°Back to the ship? But we¡¯re to Ye~ right now!¡± Our portal flew down towards that lake we saw.
¡°I have to heal our people! There are hundreds¡ª¡±
As we got near the ground, bodies appeared under us and Ir had to swerve away from the lake! Biehshah and many Bisillips laid on the purple sand. I did that? It wasn¡¯t a portal. They just appeared, like Pinda.
¡°Is this them, Kia?¡± Ir¡¯s arm around me trembled.
¡°It¡¯s them! You can land now.¡±
Ir pulled on the lip of the portal and sent it below all of us into the sand. We all ran to people lying there. Ir gasped and ran to our right!
Or we tried. Both of us shot up into the air and floated down! People in stasis are fragile, so he ported us kneeling beside an older couple. ¡°Father! Mother! You are home. You are safe.¡± He ran a prog to repeat it. Stasis is cyclic. People hear bits and pieces when stasis gets shallower.
Slavers made it that way centuries ago to torture Bisillip and Biehshah enemies. Zheien invented a deeper stasis they felt was kinder, so they wouldn¡¯t know what was going on in case slavers were trying to drive them insane. Zheien don¡¯t last long in stasis without going insane, no matter how deep it is. Pirad found ways of taking people out, and he removes memories of stasis so Zheien don¡¯t go insane. Insane Zheien are not useful to slavers, so they use the deeper stasis for them.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I held my husband and tried to build up my orchestration for a major healing. Ten held my arm until I looked at him. ¡°Kia, you cannot. You are tired. Go to your house and sleep first, then heal them.
¡°Will they be okay? Zheien have nightmares from just hours in stasis¡ª¡±
¡°We are not Zheien. People recover from it in time. When the War ends, you can heal them, but not now, not when we are all fighting¡ª¡± He used that left ear-flicking gesture. ¡°I should not speak. Kia, go rest, please.¡± He held his forearm on my forehead.
I held mine on his, an apology for not thinking before¡ªbut I really didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be talking about that, anyway. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±
Bisillips came from our colony in large numbers. Laid by everyone. They¡¯re cold anyway, so being near someone in stasis won¡¯t give them frostbite. It¡¯s actually good for them. Maybe they¡¯re related. All Bisillips and Biehshah are, to some extent. Their long lifetimes make for big families.
Ir helped me up and kept me from shooting up six feet, and I realized he used a containment to keep us from stumbling. I still felt light, but able to walk without hopping around like I had to do in Rainbow. I smiled at him.
It bothered me that so many of our new colonists laid there in stasis, but I have to be practical about this. It¡¯s wartime.
With small hops, Ir led us around our frozen colonists and a prog hid them behind a rock formation. People in stasis are fragile. The Bisillips lying with them won¡¯t see the rocks, but they are actually containments to keep anyone from falling on them.
Time to think about other things. ¡°Ir, how do containments work? When I read reviews of science fiction books, people often say force fields or things like that don¡¯t work by the laws of physics.¡±
He laughed. ¡°Containments work because we found ways of swapping particles. What you call atoms work because there is plenty of empty space for particles to move in. But there are also forces which don¡¯t need space. They work together so we have plasma, gases, liquids and matter. But there are smaller particles. Your physicists are correct when they say the laws of physics do not apply when particles are small enough, but we can swap particles between the plane where laws of physics do not apply and where they do with tiny dimportals. We can change conditions in the area covered by the containment with motion of each particle so it stops a particle in the being moving. Earth does not have this technology, but Elshars do, and we improved it. Elshars do not understand it because they have it from Lerk abandoned worlds. But we helped the Lerk create it and we understand it.¡¯
I sighed. ¡°I guess that¡¯s why I never decided to major in chemistry or anything that heavy. I like science, but I¡¯m not good at it.¡±
¡°If I taught you, I think you might like it. People can learn without tests or judgments of skill.¡±
We passed through a garden and he picked several flowers for me. ¡°Oh, I never saw any of these in Rainbow!¡± They smelled heavenly!
¡°The Alb Council asked Biehshah to let us bring plants we export to V¡¯chsan and make them available to all worlds of Alb so they can pay for their moving.¡±
The garden had a path through it with every kind of flower elsewhere in it, also within picking distance. Holos above each flower gave information about which were okay to pick and which would bear fruit and when. Some plants were very small and some towered above our heads! The trees were all away from the long path.
Plants thinned out near the blue water. Even in the thickest part of the garden, we could see the pink sky. No clouds, just two suns, one blue and one red. And three moons. ¡°What are those moons called?¡±
¡°The blue one is Areon and it¡¯s the planet the moons orbit. Ye~ is a moon, and so is Tri~e, the yellow one. The light blue one used to be Beautiful when it had the Areonian colony, and the A¡¯laf colony, but it¡¯s empty now. One Zbbat attacked it and killed everyone. So sad!¡±
¡°That is awful!¡± To our left was a place with little wooden buildings. I saw a wooden sign with Bremen on it. ¡°That can¡¯t be German, can it?¡±
¡°You are looking at part of the Areonian Colony! It has two cities, Bremen and Stuttgart. People speak English and call it Areonian. But they came from Earth in 1764 from a sinking ship!¡±
That sounded interesting! To the right, there was empty land, but a sign that said Ry Pethe. ¡°What¡¯s that? Are they going to build something there?¡±
¡°Ry Pethe is where Greg¡¯s people will live! There are homes underground, but some people might want houses. The ones who came from Areon didn¡¯t want homes like they had, so they made different ones until Greg Wenh Cet comes. A few live in the Areonian Colony.¡± When I looked closer, I noticed little entrances with ramps down.
¡°Where¡¯s our house?¡± I looked straight ahead but gardens made it hard to see past a bakery right ahead.
¡°We are behind this bakery. Are you hungry?¡± Ir smiled.
¡°But, Biehshah don¡¯t have bakeries, do they?¡± A Zheien smiled at us, holding a platter with pastries and shakes.
¡°We have one because we expect many visitors! Fahnar lived as an operative on Esteerr for a year, so he knows herbalry and baking for many species. Hello, Fahn! Here is my wife!¡±
He bowed but held the tray steady. ¡°Lady Kia! I hope I have your favorites, but if I do not, I will make them!¡±
In the center of his tray was Japanese Fruitcake, my absolute favorite cake! I picked up a slice and gobbled it. ¡°Mmm! This is perfect!¡±
Ir had two shakes. ¡°Your opennarranhan is wonderful! I really needed some!¡±
¡°Ten always makes good suggestions. Now that we have trade with Areon, I can make many things with milk.¡± His delight tingled on me.
¡°Oh, but when Earth trades with you, you¡¯ll have a lot more!¡± I thought of cheeses, yogurt flavors, and all the foods we eat with dairy in them.
The man¡¯s yellow eyes opened very wide! ¡°O, I hope the Alliance Treaty passes! Our Earthans will need many ingredients when we have festivals. I sent much this day already! Sun1 is almost set and Sun2 will soon.¡± The red one sat on the orange mountains and long shadows had two angles. I expected it to be dark red, but it was almost pink. The little blue one was higher, but not by much.
Short sleeves kept me cool. ¡°Is it always this warm?¡±
¡°We are still learning about changes to our world. I was very uncomfortable to have a shop near water until I tried bathing. My healer went first and needed his healer!¡±
Then I remembered that people had to be careful near Ryonne~ that they didn¡¯t touch him with sweaty hands. ¡°Water hurts you?¡±
¡°O, not now! I can bathe in wet sands and is pleasant. Our sky has more stars. We only had 4 in the Seventh. Here in the First, we have 22!¡±
I looked up and the suns set already. ¡°Sunset is quicker here than on Earth. It¡¯s dark already. How long are days here?¡±
¡°Nine hours.¡±
Ir looked uncomfortable. ¡°My friend, Earthans measure time differently. On Earth a day is 24 hours. Here it is 22, so a bit shorter, but sunlight is always 11 and night, 11. There are no seasons on Ye~.¡±
I frowned. ¡°No seasons? Do trees lose their leaves? Will there be rain?¡±
¡°Late at night, friends say there is mist and some stay up for that because it¡¯s pleasant for us. But there won¡¯t be rain like on Earth, or snow. There was snow Sunday before we came today, and I think some of us might have died! Der and I lost a friend on Esteerr because it rained. The sameness here will help us, Kia.¡± He looked a bit worried.
I smiled. ¡°It might be nice not to have weather surprises. I sure won¡¯t miss thunderstorms, or getting wet because I didn¡¯t bring an umbrella!¡±
Fahn waved up an emerald green umbrella without a handle that floated above my head. ¡°Areonians call this a ¡®brella¡¯. They use them when they must walk in rains. There is so much rain on Areon, it only stops for 20 min twice a day! People there tell us because of rains, they have beautiful flowers. Many flowers you see in gardens are from Areon, but they ne grow big. Areon has ne trees, but flowers as large as they are.¡± He waved up a holo. Some looked like thornless roses, tulips, sunflowers and irises! But as tall as pine trees! Blooms were over people¡¯s heads for the most part.
¡°Wow! Did you do okay there, Ir?¡±
He smiled. ¡°Yes! I knew of the 20 min pauses in the rain, so they did not surprise me. There are no storms there. Progs collect energy. We do this in Minharha. Rain is scheduled. I do not go to Otarpahanahn, near our ocean. Rain can surprise us because it takes too much energy to control weather there, though now that we have the Nefcot Ring, everyone can use as much energy as they need.¡±
¡°Earth agreed to let them activate it?¡± Earth argued a lot that it would take our resources, as if Earth owned the Milky Way Galaxy!
Ir looked anxious. ¡°Earth did not know about it before we activated it.¡±
¡°Good!¡±
He relaxed. Those brown eyes still watched me.
Chapter 12 Biehshah Ye~
But looking around this peaceful place, I didn¡¯t feel like I was really a warrior. People planted flowers by their front doors, or inspected cracks. How do houses get cracked in a containment? That really bothered me. Most people had happy expressions as they greeted friends or moved something around. For the most part, they carried things rather than using a containment to float them. Biehshah are very strong, so they won¡¯t hurt themselves. Der had a house on our left and put statues of his family standing at the corner nearest us. He carried them over and rearranged them as we walked. On the right was Lisen and Reggie talking about which flowers they might want.
Walks had tiles in them that told stories. This walk led to our new house and Ir read them off. ¡°Here is my family, Kia. My parents wrote this as they traveled on the ship from Bisillipia to Biehshah.
¡°We left at 14th moon. Pilots tell us we will only travel a day, so most of our friends are also making tiles for our new walkways. We hope our children will enjoy them. Our first tiles show our home in Leheren. There all is green obsidian buildings. Gardens are a long walk away. Our colony is planned so we have flowers all around our homes and big gardens to enjoy along our walkways. We are carrying all varieties of Biehshah flowers and many of Aryll as well. Zheien and Xchou are also generous with flowers, so Daklanm is painting flowers while I make the story and arrange them. Holos will be expensive, so art adds color and poetry for our eyes.
¡°Our house must also be simple, but we decided to build a new one since reminders of home are so very unpleasant. Many with us want new homes. We tired of living in buildings with the only windows in the top to show us only moons. These homes will have large windows to let in the light. How we changed, and we now enjoy more light on our soft skins. Warmth was very unpleasant to our hard bodies. These new ones are soft, and warm. All of us enjoy this newness. Those who did not changed back to their familiar.
¡°We are the new colonists with much hope for this home under a warm sun.¡± The last tile had a yellow sun in a blue sky.
¡°Biehshah looks like Earth, a little. Does it feel as weird to you as it does to me, Ir?¡± All the beautiful tiles led up to our house, about the size of Daddy¡¯s 1200 square foot house in Clarkston. He didn¡¯t like all the repair bills there.
¡°It does. I am trying to ignore that. Skies should be blue, but I saw many places in my travels. I will get used to this.¡± The house was sand-colored except for the tiles that made a portrait of his parents and him as a baby. He had platinum blond hair, even as an infant. His deep green coveralls were like baby clothes I saw in our colony in Rainbow. Stretchy, soft stuff except for the rubbery shoes. They both had the bright blue eyes many Biehshah have, like Ten.
Ir pushed the front door open. Inside, there was a single room with a double bed. Just like our room on the ship? ¡°Kia, I left room for you to put anything you want, or I can trade for things for you.¡±
¡°I want you to put things in here, too. I can always rotate things out if I want something new.¡± It felt odd not to have a kitchen or a bathroom, but I don¡¯t need ¡®em now. My aandat will keep me clean. I can wave up food in our menus.
¡°Put your things first, then I can add something from mine that you choose.¡±
¡°Ok.¡± I looked through my stuff. Folding chairs? No. They had Trintiy Baptist Church in spray painted letters in black on them. One had a church bulletin taped in a pocket under the seat from 1955 and it was typed with plenty of errors. The letterhead of the church was misspelled that way, too. ¡°You can trade these. Someone who went to that church might want them.¡±
That expression almost seemed disappointed. ¡°But they are from the day we met.¡±
I hugged my husband. ¡°I have you! And Biehshah remember things even better than Zheien do! You¡¯ll remember every detail of telling me, Yes, I¡¯m from out there! and pointing to my bathroom!¡±
He laughed. ¡°I pointed to the horizon because Biehshah was rising!¡±
¡°Oh.¡± I giggled.
But I didn¡¯t have anything I thought matched the sand-colored walls, which were bare. I had some paintings I did in high school that weren¡¯t very good. One was a forest and I didn¡¯t look at a forest picture to get it right. Another was a giraffe and he was very short-necked for a giraffe, with too-short legs and I put him in the wrong biome, anyway. The third one of Granddaddy¡¯s house¡ª
A knock startled me. There in our open doorway stood Mama! I stared at her and thought surely this can¡¯t be her, but she ran in. ¡°Kia? When did you get so much silver in your hair?¡±
I hugged Mama and we cried and Ir waved up a soft sofa like I always wanted, emerald green with flowered square pillows.
Her hair was still light brown like mine used to be. ¡°Mama, how did you get here?¡±
Those blue eyes, the same shade as mine, blinked at me. ¡°Where¡¯s here? And whose house is this?¡±
¡°This is our home, Mother! I married Kia and we live here in Biehshah Ye~. It is a moon of Areon in the Alb System.¡± He waved and a model of Alb appeared. Alb is a star cluster. Oh.
Mama startled when he waved that up. Looked at my husband, who sort of looks tan, then out of the big window past me on her right. ¡°The sky¡¯s purple! There¡¯s 3 moons!¡± She shook all over.
¡°I will get you a healer, Mother!¡±
Before I could blink, an orange fella in white robes ported in and bowed at the waist. ¡°Mrs. Garfield, I am Gio~, and I know healing for an Earthan. May I touch your head?¡±
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She looked at his orange skin and twin fingers. ¡°You¡¯re an alien? Can you cure cancer? Maybe you already did, ¡®cause I don¡¯t feel very bad.¡±
¡°Ea, we can cure cancer and many other ills of Earthans. May I touch your head?¡±
¡°Okay.¡± Her blue eyes studied him.
He spent a few minutes looking over her points and I shook. Ir held me. Mama saw that and smiled at us.
The healer smiled, too. ¡°I find ne cancer or any other unwell with you, Lady. Shall I bring your husband?¡±
¡°Yes! I want to see Chevy.¡± She cried.
Their holo came up and Daddy stared. Let go of Camile, who startled. ¡°You cannot be serious! You cloned her?¡±
Mama bristled. ¡°Camile, I¡¯m not a clone! What¡¯re you doin¡¯ hangin¡¯ on my husband¡¯s arm like that?¡±
Daddy frowned. ¡°How¡¯s this possible! I saw them bury your casket in Whitepoint Cemetery! That¡¯s¡ª¡± He waved up Mama¡¯s headstone. There was a hole with red mud.
Molly leaned in the doorway. ¡°Oh, my! Mrs. Garfield, I woke you up, but you were asleep and I had to heal someone else. I¡¯m sorry! I came as fast as I could!¡± She pulled at a red ringlet. Binneas was there with her.
¡°You can wake up dead people? But, Pirad said he couldn¡¯t!¡± He looked at Camila, who sobbed. ¡°Oh, honey, Pirad can make clones of me¡ª¡±
Another green portal roared. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m your uncle Chase! Camile, I know I¡¯m just a clone but I have all Chevy¡¯s memories an¡¯ you called him Chase anyway. If you want me.¡± He walked over to her but she backed against the wall.
Molly ran to her and grabbed her arm. ¡°Clones are like twins! If you had twin babies, you wouldn¡¯t be scared of one because if they¡¯re identical, they¡¯re like a clone of each other, would you?¡±
¡°Twins are not made in a test tube!¡±
¡°Actually, some multiple births start out in a petri dish, then they transfer the embryos, so you could say that. People who did IVF like that mom on reality TV with 8 kids¡ª¡±
¡°It¡¯s wrong! I would never do that! I¡ª¡±
Uncle Chase cried and started to walk out. I grabbed his arm. ¡°I always wanted an uncle. Daddy said he wished he had brothers, when Mama died.¡±
Daddy grabbed his arm, too. ¡°And, I am glad to have a brother. Don¡¯t cry.¡±
¡°It¡¯s like losing her twice! I can¡¯t stand it!¡±
Mama got mad. ¡°Everybody hold it! Let me understand what¡¯s going on, here!¡± She held her arms up. ¡°I died? I don¡¯t remember much about that. I woke up in this green place and snuck out because I was scared, then a nice lady showed me where you live, Kia, and I came here. My husband remarried my care aide because I died. Now, Camila, you can¡¯t have my husband! We¡¯re still married, aren¡¯t we?¡± She looked at Daddy.
He came over and hugged her. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re still married! Nobody told me they could bring you back!¡±
I looked at the Queen Of Rainbow. ¡°Nobody told me Molly could bring people back from the dead! All the healers in Rainbow said it was impossible!¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m a clone of Molly, so I¡¯m Maggie. She went to MarKu to live. My husband Ben is a clone of her husband. We have their memories and we¡¯re very happy together. It was a shock to wake up and be told I wasn¡¯t her. But, another of our sisters who¡¯s living our Molly life at Emory, went to a hospital and woke up a person who just died that they couldn¡¯t bring back, and healed her. Then she felt sorry for a couple whose baby died and she woke him up, and he was in the morgue at a children¡¯s hospital. So she woke up every person in that morgue and in the first hospital¡¯s morgue. Some of those people are here in Rainbow.
¡°But, Mrs. Garfield, you¡¯re the first person who was actually in a grave someplace. Briahh wrote a prog to help Deb retrieve people from gravesites because a lot of people from Ry Pethe are here. They came on the ship with you. But, his prog misunderstood and brought bodies from graves with DNA of people here. I¡¯m afraid we had to send all the ones who weren¡¯t Earthan-Ty¡¯nirrhan back except you. I tried to wake them all but you are the only one his prog reconstructed. I was worried you wouldn¡¯t have any memories at all! Molly on Earth was only able to wake people who had been embalmed, not who were already buried. The Earthan-Ty¡¯nirrhans weren¡¯t decomposed because of how they do burials. Yours wasn¡¯t.¡±
When she said Earthan-Ty¡¯nirrhan, Camila paled. ¡°I did a ceremony. Were there others?¡±
Five of her relatives were half Earthan-Ty¡¯nirrhan, like her! Several people came and took her with ¡®em. One had a very Aztec outfit, and two others were in worn peasant clothes. The two others looked like a man and a woman dressed in the 40s. Daddy and Mama dressed in outfits like that to have pictures made of a 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt, a very futuristic looking car. Uncle Chase walked after them.
That healer, Gi~o, changed their records so Daddy was married to Mama again. I hoped Camila would accept Uncle Chase!
Maggie started to say something but a healer¡¯s holo called her back to Rainbow. ¡°Oh, Kia, all the Biehshah have to sleep in Rainbow with me tonight.¡±
¡°But, we just got here! Can¡¯t we stay in Ir¡¯s house?¡±
She frowned. ¡°I won¡¯t make you, but you should know that a lot of Zheien got sick Monday night on Elshar Zheiea after the first night of the Alb Festivals. Every Zheien king is suggesting that all Zheien sleep in Rainbow until their healers release ¡®em. I¡¯m following suit. Last night they all slept in their healer¡¯s chambers, and people still got sick.
¡°Ir, I don¡¯t want to gamble with your people¡¯s lives. Please, ask them all to sleep in Rainbow. It¡¯s your colony, so do what you think is best, but I think Rainbow is safest for a few days. Zheien colonies die sometimes from the newness of a different home. Nobody but healers knew about that until today when Pas¡ªhe¡¯s the master healer here¡ªmentioned it to King Ishmarel¡ªhe¡¯s King Of Zheiea, all 800,000 Zheien planets. He and Elder King Marel¡¯vanrah asked all Zheien kings of Alb to do this. Thordes leaders also think it¡¯s a good idea for their people. They lose new colonies occasionally, too, and everyone thought it was just the usual dangers of starting a colony.¡±
Ir looked at me. ¡°Kia, I think we should ask our people to do this.¡±
¡°I agree! Grab ¡®em with your telepathy and let¡¯s go!¡±
He giggled at the way I put that, held his arm out, and we looked at Mama and Daddy.
¡°Where are we going to sleep? Should we go with you?¡± Daddy blew his nose.
Gi~o offered to design a house for them in the Earthan Colony.
¡°We can¡¯t live next door to you?¡±
In all the years we had the Jujujean Colony, the only colonists we had were people married to a Biehshah or Bisillip, only 3 of us. Now, it¡¯s 4. I didn¡¯t think of a reason not to say yes. Telepathy¡¯s not limited by distance. ¡°You can live next door. Maybe they can juggle the houses.¡± I laughed.
¡°O, I asked of those near you. Lisen and Reggie can move to the next place, and VW and Veliatsheene were agreeable, as were twenty of your neighbors.¡±
I felt a little guilty, but Ir reassured me. With tech, it¡¯s easy to move a house.
Camila¡¯s relatives made a copy of their neighborhood in a new city in the Earthan Colony. As we walked down the path by Ry Pethe, they had some Earthan homes up, but we could still see the colorful oranges, yellows, and pinks of their walls through the trees.
We walked behind the shops. Earthan Colony had a replica of the entire Beltline, according to the map! We¡¯d be walking for several hours to reach Rainbow! ¡°Ir, let¡¯s port!¡±
Chapter 12A Graphics Break!
This picture from Pexels.com shows Kia''s frustration perfectly. Photo by Keira Burton. This actress really fits my character.
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Irdaktin giving his ID to that weaselly lawyer. This character created in DAZ Studio by Dannis Cole.
Kia''s mood board made on Canva from template
Kia''s backstabbing friends from high school and college.
Chapter 13 Rainbow Ye~
We came out of the portal on the Piedmont Park side and I saw a giraffe eating the tops of several trees. Rainbow had an elephant in the other future. There were all sorts of wild animals around, and people interacting with them! ¡°Ir, is that safe?¡±
¡°O, we have progs so those that wish contact with people have it, and those that ne are hidden. They control this. I am Oesha, Leader Of Ye~ Science Council, and I walk to see to them.¡± This fella had ScSv purple on and VW walked with him.
¡°Ir, you must come soon to see them! Diplomats rescued many animals from cruel owners that animal rescue agencies wished to help but had no resources. We let them know of our ability to help and they came with us on the ship. Some workers also came.¡± Several Earthans with purple uniforms already stood with some animals who got visible when they came near. A lion swiped at one of them from her back but the paw stopped and he startled. The lady frowned at him. ¡°Sit and I will give you your treat!¡±
He sat and she held out a steak. With the same paw he gently clawed it into his mouth.
¡°Good boy, Marcus!¡±
I laughed. Several cubs chased each other near the pool. All the lions, tigers, elephants, apes, bears and even the giraffe had aandats. No messes! Many of them watched us. I¡¯ll love having them for neighbors!
Oesha watched them, blue eyes merry. ¡°They are very happy here, and can roam where they please!¡± A breeze ruffled his brown, straight hair. He¡¯s shorter than Ir.
VW giggled. ¡°I wish to pet one, if he¡ª¡±
A Capuchin monkey darted out of some bushes and ran to him.. All of us petted his head and he closed his eyes. An elephant came close and sniffed my hair with his trunk. Then more Capuchins and that giraffe came over to check us out. Also a herd of deer. Other people came over to pet them, too, but I was too tired for much of it. Ir noticed and we said goodbye.
Most of the Yeff were in the purple building, so we went there. Be~saech followed Pas to people writing progs for him. He smiled often when he finished a prog. Most of ¡®em were sleeping, but several Earthans had worried faces. A Black man in DS blue went from person to person reassuring them.
Ir went to a Zheien with dark curls. ¡°Se~spea! Are you well?¡±
He smiled and hugged us. ¡°I am well, merely weary. Did you see your home? Many have cracks, and our science council ne knows why!¡± His gray eyes opened very wide.
My husband sighed. ¡°I am sure this happened when Garat Excluded us. By our traditions, when one is Excluded, those who agree with it damage the person¡¯s house, to show their support. Garat has many friends.¡±
¡°This is terrible! By Alliance rules, a trader can ne damage another trader¡¯s items!¡±
¡°Bisillipia is exempt from this because of our traditions. TS Inspectors on Bisillipia and Biehshah will not enforce it. Our items can go to the person who Excluded us, but because Goes complained, we have all. Der repaired his home.¡±
Se~spea hugged Der. ¡°You are cold, my friend! Please, sit with me? I am very sorry you had these trials.¡±
Der laughed. ¡°We are free! I have my family¡¯s items and my house, and Ir has all of his. Since Ir married, perhaps I have hopes. Kia, I saw Inanarur among the rescued. Before she vanished, I thought to marry her. She is a very skilled trader and loves to travel.¡± His green eyes had the dreamy look. Hope I can heal her!
An Ishah pulled Se~spea back to his leiwege as all of our Biehshah laid around us. ¡°All of you are weary. Please, rest. Diplomats came to watch so we are safe.¡±
¡°To watch? Should we be worried? I looked out of the open doorway and saw people coming in to lie on beds, and bakers with trays, and in the distance, graceful dancers floating around Oshfah, the main city. Oshfah and Rainbow both had nine buildings each with nine sides. Buildings in Rainbow had seven. Oh, because they came from Zhea~¡®s main prov of Ye~. It has nine sides on buildings, too.
Se~spea frowned. ¡°An incident happened in Fhiah. Molly had warning and saved many acrobats performing! Goes fused his engines when he took his MarKuans home! Most already left, but they met with Theaspaura. Now all of us have diplomats to watch while we sleep. We ne know who attempted harm there! But ne had injury. Father Of All helped them.¡±
I nodded. Ir held me tight. The feel of his strong arms calmed me down.
During the festival, I got that uneasy feeling again. Even the beautiful music and getting to try various musical instruments and sing with artisans didn¡¯t make me feel better.
We ate lots of pastries and I sang my heart out. People enjoyed it. Every time I sang, someone came up to thank me. ¡°I had great mind pain, but your singing helped me! I am T~o, Master Scientist Of Ye~.¡± This big fella kept rubbing his brown eyes.
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Oesha ran to him! ¡°T~o! I am happy to see you on your feet, my friend!¡±
¡°I came to find Ean. Where¡ª¡±
Eanne~ startled and ran to him. ¡°Pas! Come to us!¡± He made T~o sit down and held him in his arms. At least, his upper half. Both of ¡®em are big men.
Pas ran to them, white robes flared! ¡°T~o, are you unwell?¡±
¡°I think I was! I dreamed I was a servant in our liege¡¯s house! But, Ean has dark hair. So does Se~spea. Did we just come from Beautiful?¡±
Eanne~ got his attention and stared at him. Oh, they¡¯re sharing memories. ¡°Was I so mindless, when I woke from regen?¡± He cried!
All the Biehshah wailed. I sang, and Molly¡¯s friend Angel sang, too. Oh, one of her clones. My orchestration built faster with her harmony. Wow!
My healing spread out like a ripple in a pond. A male scream startled me! An Elshar fell and healers kept marching towards me. Another Elshar tried to port and nothing happened. He just waved again and again until he fell.
Our Biehshah thawed and got healing. Ir gasped and ran to his parents! Other Biehshah had happy reunions. Der went to a lady and held her while I kept singing.
But I was just getting started. Ice cream flavors became more intense. All over Alb, certain Elshars fell. Why Elshars? They weren¡¯t. Dosilians. They look Elshar but the telepathy¡¯s stronger than 20 Zbbat. It didn¡¯t reach to Elshar Zheiea. Or Escet Vu. Why?!
All of our Biehshah got healed, and some Bisillips in Kirnonos¡¯ Lab he couldn¡¯t revive. Lots of people in 23 Alb colonies but for those two. I heard male laughter and shuddered. This one wants revenge on me. He didn¡¯t get it.
People laid down on the beds and went to sleep. Healers carried all the Biehshah in here and Ir held up his arms for both parents. Then I had to sleep.
The next day we went in our green Local Trade Building. All our Council was there around a round table. Eanne~ also sat there but Pas and T~o stayed by him.
Ir stood. ¡°Friends, is everyone happy?¡±
Der laughed. ¡°I never heard that question in any meeting of my entire life!¡±
With a flick of his left ear, Ir laughed, too! ¡°Never in any meeting with Biehshah or Alliance Councils!¡±
Other people nodded. VW stood. ¡°I spoke with all of my scientists. We are all happy to study whatever pleases us! We had three marriages in our Siotu Building! Five ladies are expecting, including my Veliatsheeine!¡± His blue eyes looked at her and she blushed. Another yellow Biehshah.
Many other Council members talked about marriages and pregnant ladies.
Ir smiled when all 9 gave their reports. ¡°Our colony is growing! This morning, I received 25 requests for people to emigrate here, and this will add 59 people to our 217. They are bringing their dead in stasis. We hope Kia can heal them tomorrow.
I giggled. ¡°I can do this every day! We¡ª¡±
Pirad appeared in a white portal! ¡°You must not speak of this! None of you. I am here because my clone died.¡±
Their shocked faces echoed mine. I closed my mouth, ¡®cause it looked dumb. But Pirad got in my face. ¡°Do not heal anyone until the War is over. I have important work and you must not interrupt it again.¡± He waved up a portal and left.
His clone died? The dismay on everyone¡¯s face got me. ¡°Listen to me. We got this! All of us are working hard. We can¡¯t talk about it, but we are winning¡ª¡±
That goblin appeared on our table and he pointed to Der. ¡°Talk to Pernorit. You can convince him, you and Irdaktin.¡±
Ir spread his arms out wide. ¡°We cannot go to Kajar! There is no contact¡ª¡±
¡°Der knows a secret. Make a Kajarian clone of him. He trained for this many centuries ago.¡±
Der looked at Ir like huh?
Dromie gave every one of our Council members an assignment. ¡°VW, you and Velieasheeine found ashpanfeere in this mine.¡± He pointed to our new mining operation far beyond our colony.
¡°No! I will not¡ª¡±
¡°Do you think Rentappenen will hesitate to use it? You can make the first remedy for it, if you follow this routine.¡± He gave him a burst of complicated instructions.
Then, VW smiled. ¡°How I wanted to do this, when we were on the 3rd! My cesarae, let us go now!¡±
With them went 15 eager scientists. Ir frowned. But all of our people ported away, including Der¡¯s clone, who smiled at us before taking a white portal. Wait a min. Kajar, where Eriganh is from?
Dromie hopped off the table. ¡°Pirad is doing good work, but we can do more to help people he gave Cubes and people Pinda gave Gifts. Don¡¯t worry. Any who die, it is an honorable death. My people already died a cowardly one. This time, we will be honorable.¡± His neon green skin almost glowed. That mouth full of flat teeth made his smile look menacing. But, his huge blue eyes somehow gave him a cute appearance, as did the three-fingered hands clapsed over his chest as he looked up. His rounded shoulders suggested humility. Maybe he was three feet tall.
Ir frowned at him. ¡°You should go kill Rentappenen like you should have an eon ago.¡±
He sighed. ¡°Ray has to do it. Councils and their Rules! Garat convinced¡ªbut you know about that, when you were on the 2nd. Wally convinced the Padrisa Council when he was scared of Rentappenen. We are all scared, but if we do not fight, we will lose. We will fight, and if we lose, we will have honor in our death. If we win, I think the Padrisa might listen. Not to me. You will speak to Yamotatan. He liked your father.¡± He vanished.
My husband sat on the floor! ¡°I do not know how to address a being like Yamotatan!¡±
His father sat by us and his silver hair fluttered. ¡°Ir, you were small when I went to the Padrisa Council. Their representative gave me The White Lens so I could communicate. I nearly died, even with the Lens. You were never as strong as I, and I am not strong now. When I came back, I buried the Lens in Siotu, deep in a Tessite mine. When the War ends, we must try.¡±
Ir trembled, and I held him. The War isn¡¯t all we have to do? Now I shook all over.
That fella on Esta Faho laughed. Esta Faho¡¯s people may be on Elshar Zheiea, but I saw that weapons facility in a low black cube. Near it was a glass building. That fella¡¯s in a ship vacuuming up 5th level poisons from the ground. There¡¯s the stuff that poisoned K¡¯hasa Zha in the future, and he¡¯s planning to poison the bathing muds of all the Zheien there!
The War won¡¯t end this. I felt cold.
Chapter 14 Directing War
Der saw someone walking towards him. ¡°Inanarur!¡± He got up and ran to her.
She wore cobalt blue trader¡¯s robes and white under them. ¡°Oh, Der, Shanalai said you wished to marry me! Is it true? Mechsheritatudeis, is it true?¡±
He knelt with one leg behind him. ¡°Inanarur, she whose footsteps grow flowers, whose voice calms storms, I wish you to be my cesarae! Inanarur, Master Trader Of Biehshah Leheren, I, Der, Diplomat Of Biehshah, wish to marry you by the ancient protocols of Bisillipia, Biehshah Leheren, Ye~ and Zhea~! Will you accept this Petition Of Marriage Without Courtship from me?¡±
She trembled and her brown skin faded to gray! ¡°Yes! The wish of my heart is to marry you, Der, Diplomat Of Biehshah! I, Inanarur, Master Trader Of Biehshah, wish to marry you!¡±
A healer jumped from a green portal and grabbed her. ¡°Drink this!¡±
She looked at Der, blue eyes wide, and gulped it. Then he gave them a white flower to sip from.
Ir smiled, but looked sad. ¡°We didn¡¯t have¡ª¡±
Ten ran us one and we enjoyed it. Oh, it was sweet as honey but flower-scented.
As Der recited a beautiful poem, a lady came to us. Bowed at the waist. Her accent was faintly German. ¡°Kia, I am here to warn you. I am Elisabethae, Host Of The Green Cube Of Questions and Yamotenanten, Council Leader Of The 5th sent me to you.¡±
Ir gasped and bowed low with one leg behind him.
She frowned at him. ¡°I did not come to you! Your foolish people let Rentappenen come to power by giving Opseh Wehn Cet a Cube!¡±
¡°Pirad wished to help the Ty¡¯nirrhans with their new colony¡ª¡±
¡°Could he not predict what he would do with power? He enslaved half the Wausen and forced them to help Rentappenen. Then he allowed Rentappenen to create a cube with the power to change histories.¡±
I didn¡¯t see what Ir could possibly have to do with that¡ª
His father stood. ¡°I opposed them. All of us who are now Biehshah, and fully half of the Bisillips, opposed slavery. I will not take the blame for the foolishness of our people!¡± He shook so badly, even his silver hair jiggled.
¡°I said, I am here to warn Kia, not you, Tanirpahadachan! She holds the Emerald Cube Of Newness. It is a weak Cube, but has hidden power. Yamotenanten hid a Green Lens within it. But you must travel to Siotu and get it. No Biehshah must know. I am to take you there.¡± Her blue eyes seemed to drill into my soul.
Ir grabbed my arm. ¡°I must go with my wife!¡±
We appeared in a red desert. A very hot desert. The sand hurt my feet through my tennis shoes!
My husband waved and I wore a heavy red uniform, a dark, dull color, almost brown. The sky had dark clouds.
Elisabethae pulled my other arm. ¡°Watch the machines.¡± I looked where she pointed. Diggers sliced through rock in a mountain straight ahead.
¡°There is no way for us to pass!¡± With a gently pull, Ir held my arm against his chest.
¡°I can do this.¡± Her voice didn¡¯t sound very confident, but she pulled me behind her and ran towards the machine. It towered over us!
Her run took us in kind of a zig-zag pattern as the machine zapped and rock fell! Heavy thuds against my uniform hurt, but didn¡¯t stop me.
Finally there was an opening and we ran for it! A surprised scientist stood up. ¡°Ir? How did you get past my mining machine?¡± This fella had pink eyes. Hard to tell past the helmet.
¡°This is my wife, Kia, and¡ª¡± Elisabethae wasn¡¯t there! Ir lowered his voice. ¡°You will not tell anyone we were here, will you? I cannot explain.¡±
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¡°For the Emperor?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°I support Ry¡¯nao. No one is here but me. I will erase you from my recording. Do you need my assistance?¡±
Elisabethae¡¯s voice echoed in my mind. Ask him to take you to section dorna. ¡°We need to go to Section Dorna.¡±
The man startled. ¡°I do not have permission to go there! You cannot go!¡±
I bristled. ¡°We¡¯re tryin¡¯ to save 13 galaxies here! You gonna argue with Yamotenanten?¡± Oops.
I felt Rentappenen¡¯s black eyes on me, black, beady eyes since he¡¯s now half-Earthan. His fear. An earthquake started but we appeared in a rock room. Without that scientist!
¡°That was convenient. Take your Cube.¡± She pointed to a bunch of skeletons with their bony hands around it!
¡°You didn¡¯t save him?¡± I looked up from the Cube and she was gone!
I leaned down and grabbed it. Green light flooded the cave-like room.
Men ran in, with weapons! Elshars are here? No, Dosilians!
Green light zapped them, but more came! I hugged Ir against me. ¡°I want that scientist! Get us outa here!¡±
We appeared back where we were by Ir¡¯s daddy. On the floor of our Council Building.
Dromie sat by us. ¡°Who¡¯s he?¡±
That scientist was lying on the floor, groaning. I waved his uniform off and he had ScSv purple. No time! The orchestration built and Angel ran in. Got sick! I need her!
But, she waved hygiene and sang. At first, my buildup took forever but the green cube in my hand glowed and it was ice cream flavors that were green. Pistachio. Mint chocolate chip. Lime sherbet. I tasted ¡®em in succession.
The poor scientist¡¯s legs popped, then his arms, and his chest and neck! Finally, I got all of him healed and he laid there sleeping.
Ten ran in. ¡°Rachanar? What happened to him, Kia?¡± Behind him, a bunch of Zheien startled and looked around. A bunch of our colonists explained my healing.
¡°He was in an earthquake, in Siotu¡ª¡±
¡°You went to Siotu! Why?¡± Carefully, Ten pulled him into his arms. ¡°I must treat him for poisons. Did his family come also?¡±
I couldn¡¯t answer any of his questions. ¡°Ten, Pirad wouldn¡¯t want me to talk about¡ªoh.¡± I waved for the Cube to go in my pocket in alt storage like Ir showed me.
Ten saw it and his yellow skin went white! ¡°Councillor Kia! Pirad has plans for you, then?¡±
The voice that came out of me was booming, and a bunch at once! ¡°Silence! Rentappenen is watching, do you not know this?¡±
Suddenly, I barked orders to people. We ran out and I grabbed one Biehshah and another, and green light directed them to a person, or opened a portal for ¡®em! Sent 45 of our colonists in portals to other planets! The most shocking thing was, they saw that green light and went!
But we went straight for the Areonian Colony. I pulled people out of the festival and got them to port to Council to wait for us. There were 15 in the festival and another 37, 17 in Bremen and 20 in Stuttgart.
They all looked scared. When the last girl ported, we stepped from a green swirl to the doorway of Council.
People quit leaning on the table with guilty looks.
Ir looked to me to address them. ¡°I am shielding this room. All of you have Cubes. Will you all fight Rentappenen? I gave Cubes and Gifts to 59 of our Colonists, and all of Biehshah is getting ready for this war!¡±
A man threw his hands in the air! ¡°I don¡¯t want this Cube, and it¡¯s not my fight! We just had a revolt on Areon¡ª¡± His voice choked off as another man pointed to him.
¡°You are not Areonian! A spy, here to fight us!¡± Blue light, and he vanished! ¡°Be wary, he was Dosilian!¡±
The others just looked scared. ¡°We cannot see them!¡±
¡°I can. I am Cunigundae, Host Of Blue Cube Of Secrets. I can find them, no matter how well they hide! Kia, want me to organize these children? I am a Luruu Observer, but our people were destroyed by him!¡± He pointed to Dromie, who hung his head.
¡°Now I know how wrong I was. A family on Earth showed me what family means. My people learned from me. I gave weapons choices when I made them alive, and most of them are fighting with us. If you will let me make your Cubes more powerful¡ª¡±
¡°You will take it! I will not listen. All of you, we need to go to these festivals and find our enemies. I¡ª¡±
I put my hand on his shoulder. ¡°Dromie¡¯s people are going to help us win. All of you, let him do this!¡± It wasn¡¯t my voice, but my Cube¡¯s.
All of them let him make their Cubes into Lenses. I felt Yamotenanten¡¯s shock! He didn¡¯t know Dromie had that kind of power! He¡¯s from the 15th Level?! Yamotenanten is from the 5th. The Imwa, Wally¡¯s people, are from the 6th but some of them rose to the 15th. But, part of this is because Rentappenen, Eriganh and Satauuver broke the rules. We are supposed to stop them before they take over the Padrisa. But to do that, we¡¯ll have to break the rules. That¡¯s why we have to go to Yamotenanten when it¡¯s over. There will be penalties! That¡¯s why Pirad didn¡¯t want Dromie¡¯s help.
This is an intergalactic mess! Well, I¡¯m the Queen Of Mess! Let¡¯s go.
Chapter 15 Acting Normal
We went back to the festival. After all that, it was really hard to enjoy things.
Camila found us at the musicians with Angel singing ¡°Sempre, Fidele¡± because she wanted to learn it. Camila joined in and what a voice! She sang alto. I had a descant with my 1st soprano voice and Angel, who really could have taken the descant, sang 2nd soprano.
But Uncle Chase was with her and sang bass. I didn¡¯t think Daddy could hold a note in a bucket, but he sounded like an opera singer!
After the song, she pulled me with her. ¡°Oh, you sing beautifully, Kia! I hate to bother you during the festival, but our people need some help organizing their government. You two are good with such things, yes?¡±
So, we went. A lot of it didn¡¯t make sense to us. Mexico City had a lot of corruption in its government, though superficially, it was very similar to Atlanta. Ir insisted they follow the pattern Zheien use, with wives equal rank to their husbands, and the men mostly argued against that. They also didn¡¯t like the abuse progs, as a group.
I talked to the women, or tried to, and they got glares from their husbands so I waved up private containments. Not one would talk to me, with or without Ir present. Scared. Many of them had scars on their arms or faces. Oh, that made me mad.
¡°Listen to me, all you men! Women are equal in all of Earth Ye~. If you don¡¯t like it, you can talk to King Eanne~ or Se~spea, Council Leader. They will also tell you that abuse progs will run. The Alb Council agreed to it and any world of Alb will tell you the same thing. Abuse is not tolerated here.¡± I waved up a display, in Spanish, of the number of times it had gone off in the last 3 days. Many of the men got upset. More like indignant.
Se~spea ported in. He¡¯s very short, but had the cobalt blue master trader outfit and the red-violet uniform underneath that all the Ye~ Council members wear. He glared at the men and his anger shook the room so the chairs rattled! Their council chamber was a conference room with hand-carved wooden chairs, so quite a racket! ¡°All of you, I gave you permission for your city. But I see Kia¡¯s report of your cruelty. No group in our colony may openly abuse anyone. If you can ne follow our governance, you may leave. I warn you, any Zheien colony will have similar rules to ours.
¡°If you think Samar Thaae, D¡¯gharr or D¡¯sharr will allow you, they also agreed to our rules.
¡°Even the Earthan Colonies Authority agreed to them. I see that none of you meet their educational or skill set requirements. Education is offered to you here if you can follow our rules. Otherwise, your only option is to go back to Earth, but I warn you, if your wives and daughters do not wish to accompany you, you can ne force them to leave with you.¡±
Some of the men got angry and left on foot. No one left with them who were female. Not one. I smiled.
The others asked some questions and one offered Se~spea a bribe. He ported him just outside the door and answered another question about trade with Mexico City.
Camila smiled at me and Chase did, too. Se~spea turned to them. ¡°I wish you both to be Governor and Governess Of Mexico City Ye~. Thank you for bringing Kia and Ir, and I am happy I resolved your dispute.¡± But he said it all in Spanish.
My stepmot¡ªaunt curtseyed in her colorful Hispanic dress. ¡°I am very happy to serve! There will be changes in this council and I will speak to all of our women. They are inspired by my daughter, Kia.¡±
I smiled at her. Having two mothers is a pleasant idea.
We went back to the festival and watched Doug reciting a poem.
He saw us and finished up. ¡°Irdaktin and Kia! Here is a poem for you.
Kia was a cashier at three different jobs
Oh, how busy her Earthan life was!
Then a jealous co-worker decided to sabotage
The drain pipe at Charlie¡¯s Lanes.
At Kia¡¯s door were Irdaktin and Der,
Diplomats in white, standing there
When Charlie¡¯s Lanes¡¯ lawyer gave Kia his folder
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And Irdaktin all payments offered!
Kia then saw her future and oh!
Saw their marriage and love so
They came to Adia¡¯s Ship and Garat said no!
But marry, they did, which made them both glow.
Now on Ye~, Governor and Governess
They rule Biehshah Ye~ in fairness
No more will Kia work at harsh jobs
Unappreciated! Their people have happiness!
He bowed and his wife Jen made cartoons of my coworkers with Randy cutting the drain pipe with a devilish expression! I laughed!
Doug waved a copy to our terminals.
Ir bowed to him at the waist and Doug returned it. ¡°Thank you for this poem! I am happy that you remembered my dear wife so! Doug, I did not know you were a poet, but it seems Ye~ made you one! I knew you as a trader, but you saved Der and I on at least 5 occasions.¡±
Doug¡¯s blue eyes turned darker blue. ¡°I just put you on your ship. I did not know how to help you.¡±
Der frowned. ¡°You knew to keep us together! I am sure lifting us like that hurt your back. Many traders laughed at you, and at us because in our fright, we clung to each other! Despite that, you risked carrying us to our ship, and in Prov One the Spaceport is deadly without carrying someone! We are very grateful to you. Now you have safe work and that makes me happy.¡±
¡°Oh, I had friends who distracted our enemies. When I heard you brought your people here, Irdaktin, I wanted to write a poem to commemorate it. Then Jen told me about Kia.¡±
Jen smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve had so many awful jobs, but I never got sued! Aren¡¯t you glad to be here where nobody¡¯s jealous and everyone¡¯s nice?¡± Her brown eyes opened wide like a Zheien¡¯s. Most Earthans don¡¯t do that¡ªyet.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m very happy to be here!¡± You just don¡¯t know what I just had happen today. Inside, I laughed.
Ir took Doug¡¯s tri-fingered hand. ¡°Did you decide to be Ishah?¡±
¡°I was half-Ishah, but Ket said I¡¯d be healthier as an Ishah. He¡¯s right! My bahie did that, too! George takes good care of us. I wrote a love poem for him and Deci, she¡¯s from Earth, too!¡± He switched from Elshar to English with a heavy Elshar accent after Jen talked to me. Funny!
I held onto my husband¡¯s hand. How many times did he nearly die, anyway?
Cunigundae dragged that girl Elisabethae to me just as Ir¡¯s parents put a hand on his right ear. They want to spend some family time. ¡°Tell this girl she does not need to hide! I cannot do my work for her.¡± He left.
She looked down at her feet. Her outfit looked German with embroidered flowers on her red dress and shoes.
¡°What are you afraid of, Elisabethae? Can I call you Liza?¡±
Her mind barely touched mine. Ry¡¯nao! I helped¡ªhim¡ªdamage his Gray Cube Of Knowledge!
I am afraid¡ª
You agreed to help in the Battle Of The Cubes. This is part of that! We have to fix it!
Liza pulled her blue eyes up to mine, full of tears. I will help.
Our Cubes glowed green and I saw Ry¡¯nao. They are still fighting on the ship. His sorrow nearly floored me, that many of our copies are dead and more are dying! He laid in Ket¡¯s lap and the frazzled healer kept feeding him. He¡¯s thinner than he was when we left! While skin had no pink, no hint of the fire engine red it should be.
I felt such despair, I launched into Sempre Fidele a cappela! Angel startled and ran to me to harmonize. Chase and Camila sang, too. People stopped dancing to sing with us. Do they know what I¡¯m doing? Many were Biehshah.
Liza sang, too, but her voice had bells in it. Many harmonies came from her and her Collective. As she sang, she asked Ry¡¯nao¡¯s Collective how we could heal what she did, and people in my Collective got knowledge to heal it! I sang, and Pirad startled as people he was trying to heal got full healing.
Suma came running! She had been sitting by her husband, Ni¡¯olmai who got hurt when they went to help the Imwa. He got healing and ran to us. They sang, too, and yellow energy swirled around our green, hers light and mine, dark! My healing got better!
We healed Ry¡¯nao and every one of people¡¯s otherselves in the battle. Dromie appeared and changed me to heal better! He offered it to Suma but that walrus fella was afraid.
My Collective uses fear. Tell me of your fear!
That being will be the death of your civilization! We trusted him¡ª
I want to fight Rentappenen and my people want to be free! Your people changed your mind about him, too! Dromie shook a gnarled finger at the walrus, who got a shocked expression.
Wally does not trust you, but I think we have common ground here. I will watch what you do. Suma, let him improve you. Give Liza your fear and let him!
Dromie raised his arms and vanished. I felt the difference in my healing. People Pirad hadn¡¯t tried to heal yet in the vast Burial Chambers Of Zhea~ rose and went to their cities, all over Zhea~. Zheien danced and found their loves, their families, and happiness tingled on me!
People all over the Alb System¡ªexcept for Escet Vu and Elshar Zheiea! Mican laughed. His Black Cube Of War can block healing.
So I kept on and poured it into Ry¡¯nao. He channeled healing down his links and diplomats rose to finish treaties. Elshar¡¯s people in stasis rose. The whole planet that Heden took for slaves came back from stasis of death to fight again! Some of them went to Elshar Mashai to chastise their leaders. Their Council had better intentions when they settled that star system.
Deesamor also woke up and fought with slavers. Their scientists never intended to make all 900,000 Aryllan colonies into monsters. Now they are like Zheien again and their armies are helping worlds of Deesamor, a multi-level place of science like Sigan Mas is for education.
Another multi-level place was Fereshah, which taught healing and diplomacy, and people found old enemies among their worlds, too.
Pinda startled. ¡°Now we have troops to fight Rentappenen¡¯s legions! I woke our ten hubs from Lidara! Marin Mar¡¯s people released Deesamor and Fereshah and Elshar, but you healed them all!¡±
No one heard him but me. I fell into Ir¡¯s arms and all the music stopped.
Intergalactic Battle [incomplete! Spoiler Alert!]
Through him, I saw his slave lords. I zapped all of them who willingly helped him. I can tell! I can hear intentions!
Ry¡¯nao ran to me and put a hand on my head. I was scared he¡¯d get hurt but novas! His telepathy¡¯s a lot stronger than mine! He saw all the people I zapped, and he got their memories. Saw their plans.
An Elshar healer gasped and put both his hands on Ry¡¯nao¡¯s head! ¡°You can¡¯t fight Rentappenen! Pull out!¡±
¡°Get Ray,¡± he whispered.
Ray ported in and put her hands on his head.
¡°Suma¡ª¡± a whimper.
I kept attacking and there were more to replace all that I felled! I sweated.
Suma and a walrus? And a horde of surprised Thordes appeared! They felt it and stood ready to add their telepathy.
¡°What are you waiting for, Christmas? Attack Rentappenen!¡± The giant white walrus was shouting!
¡°You¡¯ll kill Ry¡¯nao!¡± A Thordes I knew in Rainbow, Mike, put his hands on Ry¡¯nao¡¯s head, too. Then held him up by his shoulders! We¡¯re losing!
But, a girl with red pigtails appeared. Who¡¯s she? ¡°What can we do, Jarfus? I can pick an earlier time, but so can Rentappenen! Suma, heal them! Jarfus, protect Suma! We need¡ªI know¡ªGedda Dier has a Cube! Wake her up, Gierdre!¡±
I heard a voice in the Link. ¡°We can¡¯t get down there!¡±
I followed it. Big guards with Ty¡¯nirrhan telepathy¡ª ¡°Deb!¡±
She came running and I took over their bodies while she directed their telepathy down to Rentappenen! Gierdre ran down there and found the right pile of slime. An aandat with Gedda Dier¡¯s intelligence. Immediately, she came to life. ¡°We are being attacked! Now! Against Rentappenen!¡± But her armies weren¡¯t there. This world is Elshars, mostly. But they got everyone to run down into the biomes and let the slime wake Gedda Dier¡¯s army!
On Rhaech, weary Kenneph heard this in his Diplomatic Link. He was in a meeting with the Ulukai Council, made up of leaders of the 50 worlds. They were meeting to hear his arguments about the Nutrition Treaty. Wondering where Moeh and Dachsah, the two main leaders of half of Rhaech, were. They are here, on Earth. I showed Andrisch where they were and he ported them on the ship. White Robe gave them quick justice.
He showed Perach and Janmie, the two Ulukai leaders, that they now had control of all of Rhaech, and the other half of the worlds. ¡°It is time we signed this treaty! Ronda, you helped us. Now, we have agreement and will sign.¡±
Kenneph used the ceremonial chalk, and gave a long speech as he drew complicated symbols. They signed, all of them.
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But, I showed them Rentappenen and where his Collective is. On Rhaech?
Ulukai mounted beasts of every description and their armies ported to Rhaech. With the signature, they activated the new Hub and new progs. More armies came. They ran down into tunnels long unused from mines and found the chamber. Fought with guards.
Rentappenen lost men like water, but more came to replace ¡®em.
I reached, and kept reaching. Ray knew places I could reach. So did Suma. And, this girl, Azure, directed us all! Rentappenen is using all his strength up.
But, the timing is wrong! Ray¡¯s supposed to defeat him after Adia defeats Eriganh!
And, the date changed. January 31. The Unified Treaty¡¯s been signed. Adia feels uneasy. She and Ryee and Laura go for a walk. That yard I could see from the ship!
Eriganh is waiting. Adia raises the White Cube. Ryee helps her but Eriganh attacks her. Not yet.
Ry¡¯nao is losing strength, but he smiled. He knows.
Suddenly, Eriganh panics and loses his hold on the Red Cube! It smashes into the White Cube, that also flies from Adia¡¯s hand. Diplomats, traders, scientists, they are all plastered to that side of the ship, watching the 300 year war come to an end, in the yard of a nurse, Laura Martin. She¡¯s holding Ryee.
The fireworks are over. Ray takes the Red Cube. Adia¡¯s clone takes the White Cube Of Light. It¡¯s spent, but everyone left in it, they are targeting Rentappenen.
The Red Cube is spent, but its Collective wants to fight Rentappenen, too.
They¡¯re bringing Adia and Ryee in. They put Adia and Ryee on a bed and Ry¡¯nao is holding Ryee, but he¡¯s here, in the middle of this ship, we¡¯re frozen in time, Azure¡¯s stretching out time so we can do this! I sang louder. Orchestration built so thirteen galaxies heard the music! Sang with it. Telepathy of worlds too numerous to imagine, not in my little mind!
Slowly, the other hosts of the weaker Cubes rise up. The Time Is Now!
I sang. Orchestration built. I healed members of all these weary Collectives! Suma¡¯s healing heals all of most of the species, but I healed the Bisillips, the Biehshah, the Hidden Elders of Cubes I didn¡¯t know the names of, Rentappenen didn¡¯t know about them!
Deb reached through and sent a final surge of telepathy to get Opseh Wenh Cet¡¯s Collective. He had one? He wasn¡¯t ever supposed to rise to Councillor! That¡¯s Gedda Dier¡¯s Cube! She took it back!
I sang, and the music swirled, and all the dead people of Earth rose and lived. It¡¯s not the Resurrection, oh, no. They¡¯ll live for a time and die again. But, that¡¯s not for me. That¡¯s not my doing.
Civilizations long dead rose again, all over the Thirteen, the damage Eriganh, Satauuver and Rentappenen did, that the Gray Cube that Ry¡¯nao has, it stored them for this day, this time!
We are all existing in two planes of time. There¡¯s Suma and Ray, healing Adia and Ryee, while they are pouring energy through Ry¡¯nao, into this void of time and space, putting our universe back together. My mind can¡¯t hold it all! I sing louder! More healing. The music. It¡¯s more beautiful than I ever imagined, ice cream flavors to children, laughing and playing in time, dancing, all the little Zheien children, but Biehshah, Bisillips¡ªand Aryllan children, their songs are healing.
King Wtensau touches Ray¡¯s mind and he now has the Blue Cube. It wasn¡¯t meant to be, but he has it and he¡¯s using it to touch plants all over the Thirteen. Plants¡ªpin dat shea rise up on every world. Their spores were dormant, but an Earthan, Bess, sings with Perretau, and all the plants rise up to choke the wicked and heal the dead, the injured, the weary so they can rise up and fight Rentappenen. This is it. The Final Battle that no one will see, except for me, Ray, Suma, Deb, and Bess. And, Azure.
She gives her final burst of energy. The music reaches its crescendo and lowers in volume, gradually, softly.
¡°Azure! Pirad!¡± Molly grabs Pirad¡¯s arm. He¡¯s hot. ¡°What happened? Ry¡¯nao! What¡¯re you doing out here? Suma? Deb?¡±
Molly has Azure on her lap. She¡¯s spent, healing Ryee and Adia. None of the healers on this ship have anything left. My music is fading.
I put my head down on the soft red-violet floor. Ir holds me. ¡°Healer. Please. For my love.¡±
The music stopped. People are around, but I can¡¯t open my eyes. Sleep. Gotta.
Friends Gather [incomplete, Spoiler Alert, Ending Chapters!]
I gasped and sat up! Ir did, too! All around us were worried Biehshah and Pirad, Taredias, and Kirnonos. Tenadu made me lie down. ¡°Friends, we made the New Healing. It is done. Now we need rest, all of us! Pirad, do not be foolish.¡±
He laughed, and it clicked. ¡°My plan worked, do you see? I made Cubes and hid them! Rentappenen did not see it.¡±
Deb came in crying.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Gedda Dier died! Lisbaar is gone! They helped us, but they died doing it!¡±
Every one of the Biehshah looked puzzled. Except Ir. He remembers all of it. He¡¯s crying because Deb is crying.
Greg came in. ¡°My Sweetheart, what is wrong?¡± He hugged her.
I hummed. I know how to heal Ty¡¯nirrhans, now, but I don¡¯t have much.
There are 73 of ¡®em. All are on Ye~ except for Greg, Briahh, Roger and Judy, Sika and John. We¡¯re going home.
Molly came in. ¡°Deb, what¡¯s wrong?¡±
¡°Gedda Dier!¡±
¡°I know.¡± Her voice broke. ¡°Gierdre, too. But Ronda, Jonnev, Cornelia and Marc¡¯s clones
brought Kenneph back! Salla has him back, safe on MarKu.¡±
¡°Azure?¡±
Pirad sighed, a moan like fingernails on a blackboard. ¡°I tried, Kirnonos tried, and Taredias, too. We cannot reclone her. We saved her intelligence in a biome. It was in my lab in Antarctica. My lab is destroyed, and all of Azure¡¯s family. Rentappenen gave her too much power, for an Earthan, but we knew she could not live.¡±
That giant white walrus waddled in with Mike and Mica, his wife. ¡°Who is Azure?¡±
The walrus blinked at Mike with his purple eyes. ¡°Who is Azure, you say! She saved us all! She saved Ry¡¯nao! Azure used the talents of all of us, and every Councillor on the Council. Wally said we could do it. He said so, and we did! Don¡¯t cry. Pirad. Here is Azure. You can¡¯t reclone her, but I can clone her.¡±
He waved a flipper, and she appeared. Looked at her feet. ¡°I¡¯m alive? But, that wasn¡¯t supposed to¡ªWally! You grew up!¡±
The walrus laughed. ¡°I am not Wally, I am Jarfus. Wally left, but look who just got here, too late for the party!¡±
Purple light shone and left a man with constantly changing faces. ¡°Molly! I am Wslarc, Rainbow Councillor. Where shall I put my Collective? Where is your colony?¡±
She clapped her hands and her green eyes sparkled. ¡°Jarfus, he¡¯s not too late, he¡¯s right on time! You can put it on Alb Seer! Fhiah decided not to have an Earthan Colony, but¡ª¡±
¡°Where will you live?¡±
¡°MarKu!¡±
¡°Then, I will be MarKu¡¯s Councillor. Oh, you have the Rainbow Council building. I will put our Collective underground, there.¡± He vanished.
¡°I¡¯m so glad we didn¡¯t get Kieta!¡±
Another light, a white one, shone and left a lady. ¡°I suppose I am a disappointment to you, but I have been sent here also. Since you don¡¯t like my decisions, where do you want me?¡±
Pirad frowned at her. ¡°Much of this mess is your fault. Did you send Wally?¡±
She laughed. ¡°No. Nobody sends Wally, he sends himself! And, he left this Jarfus for Ye~. I suppose I will go to Antera. They will not mind my decisions.¡± She vanished.
Molly looked at Jarfus. ¡°I think they¡¯ll love you on Ye~. They deserve a nice, polite Councillor.¡±
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Jarfus waved, and wore a top hat and jacket, in white. ¡°Then, I am happy to go there. Where is Suma?¡±
Molly sighed. ¡°With Adia and Ryee. I just left to stretch my legs. And make sure everyone¡¯s okay! Kia, are you all right?¡±
¡°I¡¯m tired, but I think I should be, after all we did! You should look at Azure, though. Sit on our bed.¡±
She climbed up. Shivered. I waved a hot blanket on her. Molly looked at her and got teary.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m not dying, but it feels weird without my Collective. At least we can talk, when we¡¯re not out there.¡± She looked at the crowded open space.
¡°We still have to be careful, don¡¯t we?¡±
¡°Not about upper level stuff. Just our level stuff.¡± She smiled. ¡°Where will I live? I don¡¯t want to live on Earth!¡± She waved up her Alliance record. It showed a dot for her in a cemetery! She paled.
Pirad shook his head. ¡°When I could not reclone you, I put your body next to your parents¡¯. Your Alliance record is still tied to you. I think you are not tied to a particular time or place. But, I think you should live in Alb.¡±
¡°You could live in MarKu. That¡¯s where I¡¯m going to run my Rainbows from.¡±
¡°You could live in Ye~ where Jarfus went.¡± Suma came in. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s all right that I let King Wtensau have the Blue Cube?¡±
¡°Look what he did with it! Now we have little pin dat shea spies everywhere, to make sure slavers don¡¯t get a foothold! Where did Bess go? Maybe we should ask them to move Aryll and Abyll to Alb. It would fit!¡±
Molly asked. ¡°I¡¯ll ask King Wtensau. We have Ponyll, though. And, I want Minaria. Ye~ sent King Ea~ and half of Ye~¡¯s Burial Chambers there¡ª¡±
¡°Why?¡± A young man ported in and held Azure. ¡°Oh, Az, I thought I lost you!¡±
She giggled. ¡°Jarfus brought me back, but I¡¯m a clone. I missed you. But, what¡¯s Minaria?¡±
¡°You need what they have. We can¡¯t make you healthy, but Poppa and his furry healers can.¡±
¡°Oh, Ahstam knows them! Yes, we need to move there. Let¡¯s go now, Hon!¡±
Ray came in. ¡°Azure? Didn¡¯t I just see you..?¡± She pointed into the big room.
¡°Pirad says¡ªwell, look!¡± She waved up her Alliance record. It had her death date as today.
Her husband gasped. ¡°Let¡¯s go to Poppa now!¡± He waved up a white portal.
Molly sighed. ¡°It won¡¯t be the same here, without her. And, I¡¯ll miss Doug, Jen, and especially Ron, being in MarKu.¡±
¡°Aww, it¡¯s only a 4 min port to any world, to check on your favorite people.¡± Suma smiled. ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll let me stay close to Ryee and Adia, so I can update you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m worried about Ry¡¯nao! Will he go back to Vohl? It¡¯s so empty.¡±
¡°No, he¡¯s going to Ye~ with us. Ket has to stay near Doug and Ron. His wife¡¯s glad he¡¯s finally going to let his clone rule the Thirteen.¡±
¡°He agreed to that?¡± Molly smiled.
Suma sighed. ¡°We can¡¯t heal what Rentappenen did. All of us tried.¡±
I blinked at them. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I get hurt? I was in there with him!¡±
They all stared at me. Suma shrugged. ¡°You should be dead.¡±
Deb shivered. ¡°Check your Alliance record.¡±
I waved it up. Kia Chevrolet Garfield, Biehshah Master Healer.
Molly laughed. ¡°Did your dad name you when Mom wasn¡¯t looking?¡±
¡°Yep! Anyone Earthan that sees my record¡¯ll laugh, too! Glad I¡¯m not a trader!¡±
Ir giggled. ¡°No, you¡¯re just a diplomat¡¯s wife! A very talented¡ª¡±
¡°You mean, Biehshah Colony leader!¡±
¡°Yep, you are Queen Of Biehshah Ye~, and Irtakdin , you are King Of Biehshah Ye~!¡±
Our records came up with the new names. ¡°We didn¡¯t have that in the subcolony!¡±
¡°Oh, Eap wrote the Rainbow Charter this time. We got fancier, since we grew up!¡±
¡°Well, when do we go home?¡±
Molly sighed. ¡°Aunt Meg wants to have that meeting tomorrow night with the Pruitt Association, so I guess I¡¯ll go after that. Goes and his family are waiting and they¡¯ll take me home. But the rest of you¡¯ll probably leave today, won¡¯t you?¡±
Pirad nodded. ¡°Now that there are embassies, the diplomats staying can work in them instead of this ship. I can use a white portal to get them home faster.¡±
¡°I think all the Earthans want to watch the sun come up tomorrow morning.¡± Molly smiled. ¡°Lots of people are planning to get a little sightseeing in today, now that slavers aren¡¯t out in force. Look.¡± She waved up a map. Lots of black dots. She frowned. ¡°They¡¯re still swarming Earth?¡±
¡°They sure did in the last future.¡± I sighed.
¡°I wasn¡¯t here for that. Greg and I left Earth¡ª¡±
¡°Did we?¡± Greg frowned.
¡°Don¡¯t think if it hurts, Sweetheart.¡± Deb looked worried.
¡°Come over here.¡± She helped him sit on the bed. I hummed, and found some stuff to do. I built up the orchestration, but it didn¡¯t do much. At least, I couldn¡¯t tell on my end. ¡°Now, think about something that used to hurt.¡± I mentally crossed my fingers.
¡°I grew up¡ªDeb! I remember home! My parents were Fio Min Re Sar and Ig Ora Pan Ab of Liminieria, Ctral. Briahh, Sika and I lived there, but their ship was taken. What happened to them?¡±
A holo came up. They looked like us! ¡°Fiomin! Look! Are you¡ªyou can¡¯t be¡ªGreg, can you?¡±
Briahh ran in, with Sika and John close behind. Sika fell on the floor, crying.
Her mother fell on it beside her and her father. They were blond and blue-eyed. All of them hugged. She put her hand on Greg¡¯s head and wept. ¡°Oh, they hurt you! They changed us and sent us to Areon, but healers saw that we were changed¡ª¡±
¡°Areon?¡±
¡°Yes! After Adia saved us, we were afraid to live there so we live on Ye~ now. Bremen Ye~. There¡¯s a Ry Pethe colony, too, but we¡ªwe lived on Areon so long¡ªhow did you find us?¡±
Deb¡¯s parents ran in and got down there, too.
I hugged Ir. We¡¯ll be on Ye~. Maybe I can find others¡¯ parents, too.
Visiting Ryee, Adia and Ry鈥檔ao [incomplete, Spoiler Alert! Ending Chapters!]
J~oie, he¡¯s First Prince, he came in. ¡°Friends, will all of you come to Ryee? He will ne rest until he knows all of you are safe!¡±
We all got up. Deb and Greg, Briahh and Constance, and Roger and Judy promised to visit when we got back to Ye~ and closed their holo. Deb¡¯s parents hesitated. ¡°Should we stay in our room while you visit?¡±
¡°Please, come. Ryee worries for all of you!¡±
Ir kept his arms around me. I wasn¡¯t too steady when I got up. I hope I can still heal people! But, I just healed Greg. Might take a little time before I do group healings.
Suma and Neal went, and Jarfus, and Mike and Mica.
Ray and Asha came, too. Asha was pale.
We went in Ryee and Adia¡¯s room. Their two sets of clones stayed outside to fend off visitors and wish anyone who asked about them well.
On the red-violet bed, Ryee and Adia shared a leiwege, and on Ryee¡¯s other side, he kept an arm around Ry¡¯nao. Laura and Ket sat at the head of the bed behind them, ready to sing healing. Laura¡¯s apprehension made me a bit nervous. She felt like we were too much.
The way Ryee shook, I think we were.
Molly got up there first. ¡°¡¯Ao, how¡¯s it going?¡±
He chuckled. ¡°I am happy that my brother can take care of things. My wife is waiting¡ªwhere, Molly?¡±
¡°On, Ye~. Your room will be where it always¡ª¡±
¡°No. Cev has it now. No, my brother. Which is it?¡± His eyes teared up but it wasn¡¯t Tessite crystals, just wet tears.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Peshana will be waiting.¡± Molly wiped his face with a white cloth. It steamed.
¡°Yes. I hope we don¡¯t keep her too much longer. She always smiles and has flowers. All of our favorites.¡±
¡°She sent some. Here¡¯s an oisonoos.¡± Molly pulled a red one with ragged petals from a vase and tucked it in his collar of his red-violet gown.
He sniffed it with a smile. Then, looked at me. ¡°Kia. Because of you, I am alive. Come.¡± His hand didn¡¯t move.
J~oie lifted me up and I took his hand. So cold! I was careful not to try to touch his mind, but let him touch mine. That was fine. His telepathy strayed.
¡°Thank you for saving me. My men. You healed so many of my¡ªdiplomats. Ryee. Is Ryee all right?¡±
Ket put Ryee¡¯s limp fingers in his. ¡°He¡¯s smiling.¡±
¡°O, I am well enough. Liege.¡±
¡°Liege? No. Just, ¡®Ao now. I¡¯m retired, as Laura would say.¡±
¡°A well-deserved retirement! Rest up, and soon we¡¯ll have to tie the dornas to keep you off!¡± Laura giggled.
He chuckled.
¡°Ir, are you all right?¡±
He smiled, big. ¡°I married Kia! Der and many of my friends stay with me. We will go to Ye~ together. Narai brought VW and Veliatsheeine, and she healed when Kia helped fight Rentappenen! Her healing reached Alb and did miracles!¡±
¡°It did?¡± Seems like I¡¯d remember that!
¡°Are you all right¡ªKet!¡±
¡°¡±Ao, I can¡¯t look at her. Pirad has to¡ª¡±
¡°I will see her.¡± He put a hand on my forehead. ¡°She is healthy. I put Ty¡¯nirrhan, Chor and Dosillian in her.¡±
¡°Did Gen and Noka move to your colony?¡±
¡°Yes! Already they learned to play Oae Pae!¡±
He laughed. ¡°Oh, I want to see that! Do you play, Ir?¡±
¡°I want to learn.¡±
¡°Is Doug busy? He worries so much. Is Jen too shy to come see me?¡±
¡°¡¯Ao, they are on Ye~ with Ron. We sent them home. They recite poetry on the commons, every day.¡±
Those red-violet eyes filled. ¡°But, Ket, Doug needs you!¡±
¡°Oh, he is all right¡ª¡±
¡°After terminals?¡± He cried.
¡°Pirad helped him. He had the aches for a few days, but he is reciting his poetry on the commons. Pas can help him, and Ron. There are enough Earthans in the colony that Doug and Ron can visit them all every day, and Doug is writing so much poetry, he can¡¯t recite it all!¡±
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¡°Is Jen all right? And¡ªand¡ªRon¡¯s lady?¡±
¡°Jen has her brother and his wife there, and she¡¯s happy. Vonne is Ron¡¯s lady, and she loves the B~ea~! They changed to be softer. I think you might like one.¡±
¡°Oh, I would like a pet. I think I want one of¡ªLaura?¡±
¡°Mama has horses. You want one? She has babies. Pirad can grow one, whatever breed or color you want.¡±
Ry¡¯nao smiled.
Then looked at Suma. ¡°Are you all right, my dear? Ni.¡±
They took his hands. He startled and looked at Neal¡¯s tri-fingered hand.
¡°Oh, Doug and I are fully Ishah now. We were always half Elshar, but now we are healthier. I think I¡¯ll be Zheien next!¡±
That got a smile.
He looked at Deb. ¡°Are you and Greg all right? You fought so hard, all of you!¡±
Greg held his hand. ¡°Oh, I should bow. I don¡¯t know which rhythm¡ª¡±
¡°My son, you are different. Don¡¯t worry about rules. I¡¯m retired. I don¡¯t have any. I like Zheien customs. I moved my house to Ye~. Yeff are my favorite people. I couldn¡¯t have a favorite, as Emperor. Now, I can think as I please.¡±
He still watched Deb. She smiled. ¡°I think we will all enjoy living on Ye~. We found Greg, Briahh and Sika¡¯s parents in Bremen Ye~!¡±
¡°Oh, I¡¯m glad! Are they good people?¡±
Greg smiled, big. ¡°They are kind. I remember them, ¡®Ao. Father taught me to¡ªnames of flowers. And, Be~a. I wanted one to fly me around, but Father was afraid I¡¯d get hurt. So he put me in a flower and swung on it so it was like flying, to a boy. Once, he lost his grip and off I went! Into the next flower! Father climbed up and cried, because he expected that I was hurt! I laughed and he carried me down. Mother cried until she saw I wasn¡¯t bruised. We will visit, and I must remember not to use shortened words.¡±
¡°I am happy for you, Greg. You suffered so, when you couldn¡¯t remember.¡±
They moved so he could speak to Ray. ¡°I was so surprised when you defeated Satauuver! Did I ask you if you were hurt?¡±
¡°I did not get hurt. Asha was worried, and healers saw him. Everyone is happy that Aryllans love to trade flowers! All the worlds of Alb have new foods that are safe, and new flowers and plants! This is for you.¡± She gave him a shriveled plant in a tiny pot that floated.
Helped him lift his hand to it and a finger stroked it. ¡°Oh, a pin dat shea? Thank you, Ray! I wanted one for years.¡±
¡°This one knows you should not share memories yet. She will listen. We gave her lots of love, and Bess picked her out for you. She was on Earth, hidden in a magnolia seed.¡±
¡°In a magnolia? I did not know Earth had pin dat shea.¡±
¡°I think Pirad did it.¡±
Pirad laughed and all of him clicked. ¡°No, I did not do that! I am not sure how that happened. Azure said Llsam used what he thought were dead pin dat shea in his terminals and that he died on Earth and somehow they grew. I cannot imagine that.¡±
Azure¡¯s voice came from the plant. ¡°No, he got hurt, after he made himself Earthan. On Tessa, he fell in a field of them, and almost died, in his Areonian form. But a baby, this baby, helped him live. When he did die on Earth and she could not revive him, she hid in a magnolia seed. There was no one to love her. Until Bess and her family moved to the house.
¡°Bess sang to all the trees, every plant in the yard. She helped with the family¡¯s import business. Her plants grew better and she said it was because she sang to them. So her family started singing to their plants.
¡°Now we know this pin dat shea heard her and woke up, and taught her plants to grow big. Plant her in your garden, and all of your plants will also grow big. Bess has others to help her, because there are many on Aryll and Abyll.¡±
Ry¡¯nao smiled. ¡°Imagine that! I miss Llsam. Maybe this baby stored his memories, Pirad.¡±
¡°Wslarc might be able to read them so I can collect them. I want to try to reclone him.¡±
¡°Asha¡ª¡± His eyes closed.
Asha took his hand and stroked it. ¡°O, he is weary. Perhaps we should-¡± He started to let go.
¡°Cev! I can¡¯t last!¡± He looked up and Asha stroked the hand that clinched his. ¡°Oh, sorry. Dreams.¡±
Cevit Ion ran in and took his other hand, over Ryee. ¡°Are you well, ¡®Ao?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not well. I mistook Asha¡¯s hand¡ª¡± He sobbed.
¡°Should I take you to your chamber?¡±
¡°My ship. I want to go home!¡±
Ket got up. ¡°I¡¯ll give manual calcs¡ª¡±
¡°Dear friend, will travel so soon frighten him?¡±
¡°No. I think he¡¯ll rest better knowing he¡¯s leaving.¡±
¡°We can use a white portal and arrive in an hour.¡±
Ryee watched them leave with tears in his eyes.
¡°Wanna go with ¡®em?¡± Molly stroked his dark curls.
¡°I wish to go home¡ªo, friends. Let us speak first. Ea. Ba, ne let me forget¡ª¡±
¡°Ryee, you asked for these friends, but Ry¡¯nao wished to speak first.¡±
Molly smiled and put my hand in his. I didn¡¯t expect it to be colder than Ry¡¯nao¡¯s! ¡°Here¡¯s Kia and her husband, Ir.¡±
¡°Kia! Are you harmed?¡±
¡°I¡¯m all right. Pirad saw me. He gave me good protections¡ª¡±
¡°Pirad, are we safe?¡±
¡°Yes! I was worried, but now it is over. Eriganh is¡ª¡±
Laura shook her head!
¡°Ay! Are you well? I can ne¡ª¡±
¡°Love, I am beside you. Feel you my hand?¡±
He pulled, then startled. Felt it. Five fingers. Not the Zheien twin fingers or the deep orange skin I got used to seeing! ¡°O, were you unwell, Love, to wake so?¡±
She sighed. ¡°I have less pains. Pirad made me Elshar, if you can bear¡ª¡±
¡°Love, your hands are well for me. You sound as if is a trial, to hold your gentle hand. She is cool on me.¡± He held it against his face and closed his eyes. ¡°O, ne sleep. Jo.¡±
He reached for Ir¡¯s hand. ¡°Here is Irtakdin . He married Kia.¡±
¡°You married her? Garat was most upset!¡±
¡°I convinced him, and your father did. When¡ªbut an Elshar insulted him and he called Andrisch¡ªagain. But clever Kia recognized him and when she tried to give his name, Nirpam, Diplomat Of Escet Vu, he saw her and remembered torture from Dirsch. Andrisch found in his favor and this was Dirsch, not one of his clones! It upset Opseh Wenh Cet enough that we saw that he was watching, and¡ª¡±
Laura shook her head.
Ryee cried. ¡°Nirpam? O, I wept when I knew he was with his healer!¡±
A blue-skinned healer ran in carrying him. ¡°Here he is. We were about to leave for a mud bath.¡± Oh, a holo. They are on Escet Vu.
Ir took his hand very gently and put it in Ryee¡¯s but held on. ¡°Dear friend. I think he had terminals from most in Escet Vu.¡±
¡°Kia save me. I had¡ªterminals. Lasted.¡± Nirpam got a huge smile.
¡°O, I am sorry. Such a trial! Nir, rest long. Is your respite.¡±
He giggled. ¡°My fae and meae wait, on Escet Vu! We missed. Long, Ryee. Ovid, run! Respite!¡± A sigh, and he fell asleep.
Ryee stroked his hand. ¡°Ea, is very well you have family.¡±
Ir put his hand across his middle. ¡°Yes! And, home. Be well, Ovid.¡±
¡°I am happy. May your recovery be short, and your rest, long, Friend.¡± He carried him out. I¡¯m glad he survived that! He was still connected when Opseh attacked, and I killed him through poor Nirpam! I shuddered.
Ryee鈥檚 Kids [incomplete Spoiler Alert! Ending!]
¡°Deb.¡±
She rubbed his hand. ¡°Hi.¡±
¡°Viad.¡±
¡°Oh, let me go get him! Pirad grew him a bit so he¡¯s on solid food. He can eat FFbah now.¡± She ran out.
Ryee cried and Adia cried. I felt awful! They had to leave their kid to go fight intergalactic war?
But she ran a baby to them. Dark curls, a full head of hair. And he opened blue eyes. Smiled. Maybe Zheien babies smile earlier.
Adia stopped crying.
Ryee groped for Deb¡¯s hand. ¡°O, help me!¡±
¡°Here¡¯s his hand¡ª¡±
¡°My touch is ne gentle!¡±
¡°Just hold still¡ªsee, he can grab you!¡±
¡°His shoulder!¡±
She helped him feel of one shoulder, then the other. ¡°See, his shoulders are fine. What?¡±
¡°How long before we must lose him? O, Father Of All, help us!¡±¡¯ His anguished face got me.
¡°Ryee, he¡¯s healthy.¡±
¡°Healthy? But, shoulder or heart¡ª¡±
Laura held his head. ¡°Buddy, Pirad fixed the Yeff. No more heart defects. No more shoulder defects. Feel that?¡± She slid her fingers around his right shoulder and pressed.
He opened his orange eyes wide. ¡°Ne pain? You pressed, and I have ne pains? My bae is well?¡±
He looked at Deb, who nodded. ¡°Yes, Viad is healthy! He¡¯ll live as long as you!¡±
He pulled her hand up to Adia¡¯s. ¡°Will Ay live?¡±
¡°Yes! When she ages some, Pirad can reclone her. You¡¯ll both live long lives. So will your kids!¡±
¡°Suma?¡±
She took his hand. ¡°Hi, Ryee.¡±
¡°Is Ni well?¡±
¡°Yes. Jarfus seems to understand us even better than Wally¡ª¡±
¡°Jarfus?¡±
That giant white walrus galloped in and clambered onto the bed. His tail-flipper shoved me, but he reached over with his flipper and put me back on my leiwege. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m dreadfully sorry! I guess I¡¯m a bit clumsy when I¡¯m not on ice. I keep overcompensating!¡±
¡°You live on ice?¡± I giggled.
¡°Mike and I are from Maira! I love the ice, but comfort progs work. I would enjoy sliding on this eaezhfee if the ship weren¡¯t crowded. Someone said Ryee made an ice skating rink! I would love to try it! I can carry many children on my back, if I can learn not to be clumsy.¡±
¡°We can do that with progs, Jarfus.¡± Deb smiled and brought up a prog screen.
Jarfus learned to do it, too, but he did a lot more lines. Deb watched with a smile.
Ryee watched them with a frown.
¡°What¡¯sa matter, Buddy?¡±
Ryee sighed. ¡°How long before I recover?¡± His orange eyes filled.
¡°You can get up and walk around, it if doesn¡¯t make your head hurt worse. Jo, how long before we leave?¡±
¡°We can leave when we wish. Molly, I advise that you go to Goes¡¯ ship before we lift, though.¡±
¡°I could go with you and fly back. I think Ben would like that a lot! Want me to go, too, Ryee?¡±
He tried to grab her hand and she moved it closer. ¡°I¡ªam sorry.¡±
¡°Ryee, you got hurt. It¡¯ll get better. Just rest a lot. Okay?¡±
¡°We need to go home. Strengthen me? I wish to speak to our team before we lift.¡±
¡°Okay.¡± She touched the back of his head and hummed. ¡°I wish Angel was here. When we get home, I¡¯ll get Mark and Toni to bring her. When she sings, mind pain leaves!¡±
¡°I ne wish to cause her pains! She is young for healing¡ª¡±
¡°She doesn¡¯t use it! She just sings, and all the Zheien stop having mind pains. She doesn¡¯t get any, and she loves to feel useful! Using her gift makes her feel good. It¡¯s hard for her, ¡®cause I learned healing at 12 and Belle can stop seizures at 12, and Belle can¡¯t even use her telepathy without a headache. That¡¯ll get better with practice, but y¡¯know, at 12 you want to do things!¡±
Suma smiled, big. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s got no tummy-aches, and no headaches at all since she stopped worrying about trying to excel at something, anything. Now she feels competent.¡±
¡°O, I am happy. I wished to speak, but others needed me, and¡ªea.¡± He got tears in his orange eyes. How would that feel, to be Ry¡¯nao¡¯s second in command? Or king of even a small colony like his?
¡°Don¡¯t worry. That¡¯s why we¡¯re around. To tell you the good stuff.¡±
¡°Good stuff?¡± He rubbed an eye.
¡°When people make progress and they¡¯re happy. That¡¯s what matters. People are happier because the 300 year war is over and they can get back to normal.¡±
Ryee hugged her. ¡°Molly, I worry for you. Your kingdom is large. Ne forget to have enjoyment.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, my friend. I have Suma to tell me, ¡°Hey, time to slow down and smell the roses. So, I take time to do that, every day. Sometimes, it¡¯s a literal rose, or just a walk with Ben, or carving with Sam, or singing with Angel. She¡¯s still giving me voice lessons. I listen better now that I¡¯m 18.¡± She laughed.
¡°But, Molly, you are 12. I asked of King Theaspaura when you wished to marry.¡±
¡°Azure made me 18. Mom can¡¯t bug me now, though she sure gives enough interviews. I¡¯m glad I have good friends like you and Angel!¡±
She¡¯s 18, and she was 12? Would I want to do that? But I¡¯m not¡ªI¡¯m just queen of a subcolony. That¡¯s not hard. She has 25 worlds. 25 Rainbows. 24 Earthan Colonies in Alb. There¡¯ll be others. That¡¯s a lot!
At sunset, we ported to the flat top of the saucer-shaped ship and watched the sunset with most of the other Earthans. It was an exciting event for me. For Ir and Der, too, though they didn¡¯t get ¡®watching¡¯ a sunset.
¡°Do moons rise?¡±
¡°There¡¯s only one, and there it is.¡±
I waved up a star chart. But, we didn¡¯t stay long enough for it to get completely dark before we had to go in. I took a holo. Enjoyed the pink skies.
We ported down to the main part.
We all boarded the red-violet ship. Adia and Ryee looked exhausted, but they waved on their formals.
Ryee spoke first. ¡°My friends, we shall go to Fhiah first, then other ships wait to take all of you to your colonies. Our Elshar Zheien, Ranh Estar, and K¡¯hasa Zhan friends shall travel with Cevit Ion on his ship. Our Escet Vuan friends are on V~as Das¡¯ ship. Our MarKuan friends are on Goes¡¯ ship, and he asks all who are of MarKuan Earthan Colony to join them now. I wished to speak with all of you before you left. Molly, please come.¡±
Molly went to him in the middle of the huge ship. Bowed low, and he returned it.
¡°I wish to thank you for our healing! Because you taught Pirad much, he was able to wake all of our dead in Burial Chambers! All of Ye~ are grateful to you, and I wish to present you this medallion, which J~oie carved this morning. He is a miracle operative, to produce such fine work on short notice! J~oie, will you give her?¡±
J~oie waved on his formals and came up. Smiled. Like his ba, he had curls to his collar, but they were auburn and Ryee¡¯s were dark brown. Both brothers had those sunset golden eyes but J~oie had to bend down further to give Molly the carved disk like a giant coin in red-violet, their family color. She¡¯s so short! A coin a foot across! It¡¯s eaezhfee, the same stuff the ship¡¯s made of, with colors they get from heating it.
Beautiful work! It had a portrait of her smiling, and portraits in a ring around her showing Ryee, Adia, J~oie and Laura, then all of their family members including Vonn, Tan and Sara¡¯s and Derees¡¯ kids, the Pedersens, and everyone on the ship! Even Ir and I, Suma, Deb, and Bess, the one who gave the Aryllans magnolia seeds from her yard. They saved all the Aryllan worlds. I¡¯m glad they¡¯re like Zheien again.
¡°Oh, thanks, J~oie! I will treasure this always!¡±
¡°Will you speak, Molly?¡±
¡°Of course! I¡¯m sad that we¡¯re all going our separate ways, but I¡¯ll be sure and visit all the colonies often! Thank you all for being my friends! Remember to always rest when you¡¯re tired and see your healer if you don¡¯t feel good, and I¡¯ll be happy! I want to thank my mother, Fern Brown, for becoming a healer helper! Welcome to the crew, Mom!¡± She startled, and waved to everyone. She¡¯s a holo, too. Most of the Earthans left on the 19th because so many slavers were around. Lots of diplomats are going to Goes¡¯ Ship before we leave because they¡¯ll still have to work here, or to the embassies.
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Everyone on the ship waved their arms, even the Earthans and Elshars!
Ryee rubbed his eyes, and people gasped! Eanne~, his father, motioned to Pas, who carried him, and Mehrna carried Adia to their room. They all expected a long speech. J~oie and Laura went with ¡®em. I wondered how bad they were. Amazed that they were able to get up there and Ryee spoke well.
Eanne~ spoke about Ye~ for a while, then the other kings gave speeches of gratitude for working together. Goes went first, and Javin, his Leader Of Council, coordinated all us Earthans in moving to our various groups after he spoke. His wife, Evie looked very happy. Natamian, Planetary Minister and his Earthan wife Genevieve talked to everyone. So did Indoe, Third Prince, and his Earthan wife Liz. She¡¯s a healer.
Each of the fifty colonies of Alb had someone to take all their folks, but most of ¡®em stayed in this main room. The ones bound for other worlds stayed on our ship, too. Some of those were moving to Alb. We¡¯d be traveling together to Fhiah to be officially welcomed by King Theaspaura, with a festival! Oh, they combined all the ships flying together into one virtual space.
So, we get to see Alb Seer, then fly home to Ye~. I felt tired, but we can nap on this ship.
Suma, Deb, Liz, Evie and Genevieve sat with us with their husbands. Maybe I won¡¯t nap yet.
Suma hugged Neal. Their walrus friend went around talking to people. Everyone acted like that¡¯s normal. I found it amusing.
¡°Oh, Wally made himself look like that because Molly thought he looked like a walrus, so she pictured a cartoon she saw as a kid. That¡¯s where the top hat and jacket came from. Jarfuses are a real animal on Thorde, but they¡¯re actually an intelligent race sent there to observe Thorde. Wally left him to observe and he went back where he came from.
¡°But, I¡¯m just glad it¡¯s over! Neal and I can be healers in Ye~ and just do normal stuff. Besides living with a talking jarfus!¡±
I laughed. ¡°And Ir and I have big plans for our Biehshah Colony. That¡¯s what we did in the other future. Anyone who isn¡¯t happy on Biehshah can come to our colony! No more 20 year long courtships!¡±
Then we had to do a lot of explaining. Tan Links, that lawyer, joined in. He fixed my legal mess. They repaired all that water damage, and the bowling alley made a fortune when a trader offered to trade the mess with stories of how things got ruined. They even traded the dirty water! Randy would¡¯ve gone to jail, but by the time his court date came, they had progs for inmates so they couldn¡¯t commit crimes. The creep got rich trading his story of revenge and how he got caught, all in acted-out holos. He even made holos of what jail is like and traded ¡®em. Now why couldn¡¯t he have done that on YouTube instead of trying to get me in trouble? Revenge is stupid.
Deb smiled at her parents. ¡°I¡¯ll be delivering babies, Greg and Briahh¡¯ll be helping Pirad, and my parents will write progs. My grandparents are learning healing with Pas while Adia and Ryee are taking a nap. My granddaddy¡¯s a doctor and my grandmother was a cook, but she always wanted to go to med school. Now she can work with Granddaddy!¡±
Genevieve laughed. ¡°I was in school doing graduate chemistry and had classes with Briahh and Greg. Nat is Planetary Minister, which means we¡¯ll travel all over MarKu, and I can do research on the Science Council as we travel! It¡¯ll be a great opportunity to study MarKu¡¯s wildlife!¡±
¡°O, I will enjoy your company as we travel, dear wife.¡± He put his arm around her.
¡°Well, I¡¯m Liz, and I¡¯m a healer. I¡¯ll be working in Rainbow MarKu.¡±
Indoe laughed. ¡°And, my dear, modest wife declines to mention that she convinced Esteerrians and Zbbat to give up slavery¡ª¡°
¡°Oh, the diplomats did that! Ryee and Adia¡¯s clones did that!¡±
¡°By showing King Lyyyrah of Esteerr how you ran to King Tch¡¯lanterserah and spoke in Zbbat to try to distract them¡ª¡±
¡°Because you told me what to say¡ª¡±
¡°After you practiced with King Eanne~ to learn of them because I had a mission to Esteerr! You saved the Yeff, in the other future. She showed King Lyyyrah this, and he remembered how he decided against slavery. If nae for you, he did nae.¡±
Wow! I¡¯d never be brave enough to run up to a Zbbat, unless it¡¯s Molly¡¯s Zbbat clone! They can fry 20 Zheien at once, and they were doing it? She wanted to catch ¡®em before they reached the Earthan Colony, so Earthans could escape.
Evie sighed. ¡°All I ever did was find a recipe to make pumpkin pies out of the blue pumpkins on MarKu. And, Shannon and that lady cook helped me do it. That hasn¡¯t happened yet.¡±
¡°Dear wife, your ideas are already prospering MarKu! I showed our Science Council, and here is your pumpkin pie!¡± He waved up servings for all of us. Blue pumpkin pie! And, it¡¯s delicious. ¡°Only you could find a use for a weed that grows all over MarKu! And, you contributed many ideas for garbage refining in the UN, also!¡±
Soon, we landed, but we didn¡¯t see Ryee or Adia at the festival. J~oie and Laura talked to the royalty. We found a corral and they let us ride dorna all over the festival. Ir found he could direct his to do dance steps, and he danced on her back. Oh, we laughed!
Der had his walk upright and dance. Dorna can easily do this in light gravity.
Ten just rode but enjoyed our antics.
We watched so many demonstrations of fascinating things, like how to make festival pastries, but I was just plain too tired.
Ten carried me when I got tired of riding, and Der carried Ir.
We ported high about Fhai and the Barrens. Rainbow is there, but just seven solid color buildings in a circle. No Earthan Colony, playground, the area where people had Perpetual Snow. Although we did stand on the Rainbow Bridge, a rainbow walkway over a creek made of eaezhfee like ships.
After about an hour, our ship to Ye~ was ready to leave.
This one was smaller. J~oie stood with Laura at his side. ¡°My people, we go home. Ne worry for Ryonne~ and Adia. They are unwell, but with time, perhaps they have more healing. There are many of us in our family to share the Reign. On our arrival you hear King W~Via, who shall speak to us.¡±
We sat with Suma and Neal, Deb and her family, Greg, Briahh and Constance, who held a cute baby, Roger and Judy, programmers, and Tan Links. And, Jarfus.
¡°You¡¯re Areonian, right? Do you know Fio Min Re Sar and Ig Ora Pan Ab?¡± Deb and Greg watched him.
He waved up a screen. ¡°Oh, Fiomin Resar and Igora Panab! They were in the hospital. I tried very hard to get them out. When I left Ye~, Pas had to keep them in Rainbow Ye~.¡±
¡°Why were they in the hospital? Are they okay?¡±
Tan¡¯s lips quivered.
¡°Are you close to them?¡±
¡°My dear¡ª¡± His voice broke. ¡°The hospital on Areon was a place of¡ªexperimentation. An enemy put my wife and I there, before we married. Pas healed us, all of us, but we are not as we were.¡± He frowned at his quivering hand.
Deb took it and rubbed it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Want me to look at your file and see if I can help this?¡±
He shook harder. ¡°Healing¡ªis difficult for us.¡±
Greg took his other hand. ¡°I was afraid of healers. When we lived on Areon, things changed. Emotion Detectors. I can remember when we could laugh, or cry, and no one thought anything. But they put devices outside workplaces that fussed if you did that. Then, they shocked us. After a time, simulants came and took us to be interrogated.¡± He shivered.
¡°I didn¡¯t know they did that to you! Oh, Greg!¡±
¡°Then, you know what it is like! Healers told us, stop begging people to take you out! I will sedate you!¡±
Deb gasped. ¡°They forced herbs on you? None of our healers would ever do that!¡±
¡°I fear it!¡± He cried.
J~oie came over. ¡°Tan, be calm, my friend. If you ne wish herbs, we will ne. But, there are helpful ones. Les nort is a mild herb that barely affects¡ª¡±
¡°You are Zheien and I am¡ªclumsy.¡±
¡°My friend, we can use a containment. Ne this fear. Wish you for me to show you choices?¡±
¡°They¡ªinvaded¡ªmy mind while using Kajarian weapons on me. It is hard on Zheien to see things like that!¡±
¡°You can show me. I can handle it.¡± Deb rubbed his arm and his hand.
¡°I fear, and my telepathy hurts. I cannot control. I should be able to control it! My poor Lili!¡±
I slid over there. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry I hurt you! I couldn¡¯t control my telepathy before Pirad recloned me. It was too strong, but it has to be to heal Biehshah. Pirad gave me control, so I can, now, but I still can¡¯t touch¡ªwell, I¡¯m scared I can¡¯t touch gently. I can listen and keep it out of people¡¯s minds.¡±
He held my hand. ¡°I¡ªPirad helped me. He stopped when I had fear. I needed healing, so I am not sorry you hurt me. I am sorry I did not come back. I should have. I meant¡ª¡±
¡°It¡¯s all right. It¡¯s been crazy, on Earth. Can Pirad help you? Or, Suma? She helped a lot of people in Rainbow. I went to her a lot and realized a lot of times I messed things up on the job was just me not noticing people who might not have good intentions. I assumed things were my fault and tried to fix ¡®em and just made it worse.¡±
¡°I am very frustrated that I was not able to do much for anyone I tried to help.¡±
¡°You got Kisu out of jail! He was dying!¡± Deb smiled.
¡°I am happy that worked. But, so many young ones in horrible homes! I wish they could all have Zheien homes with love. Gierdre is still in her home, and her father¡ªhe cannot criticize, but he is there and she tenses.¡±
¡°Gierdre died saving Gedda Dier¡ª¡± Suma looked sad.
¡°That was her Xchou-Ty¡¯nirrhan clone, not her. She¡¯s¡ª¡± Molly stopped at Tan¡¯s horrified look.
¡°They sent a child, to that place?¡± Tan cried.
J~oie sighed. ¡°If she had not gone there, Rentappenen would have destroyed our entire tech level, and three levels above us. What choice did Ry¡¯nao have? When he knows how many died, I fear for him.¡±
¡°I understand. It is a fearful place, that we depend on children to do this work. Molly is older, but her mind is 12. Belle is 12, and she can stop seizures that no other healer of any age can. But I cannot bear to see people having them. So many times, they tied people to the bett and I was sedated. I could still hear.¡±
J~oie put him on his lap. ¡°Rest, my friend. It is safe here and on my world. Progs run to protect you and Lili. And, you have Vonn and Sara and Derees.¡±
¡°I miss Vonn. He helps us a lot. We offered our home several times. Young Azure wanted to come, but she died.¡±
¡°She had clones¡ª¡± Suma stopped at Deb¡¯s look.
¡°They all died in Antarctica in Pirad¡¯s Lab. He made one clone, but she went to¡ªwhat¡¯s that place?¡± She waved. ¡°Oh. Minaria. I wish they¡¯d move it to Alb!¡± Molly frowned.
¡°That is where part of our people went. King Ea~ reigns over Ye~ Minaria. We have diplomats there, whom I can ask. Tan, can I do anything for you?¡±
¡°My liege, there is no comfort. Memories torture us. I think it is so for all of us from the hospital in Eicken. Pirad has help for us, when we can overcome our fear of his treatments. I worry that I am trained, and perhaps, I will do something terrible, like hurt Lili.¡±
¡°Our progs prevent that! Ne this fear.¡±
¡°I remember Fiomin. He came to me. He worked in Fuels. Co-workers upset him. There was an accident in his lab, and I went to him in the hospital. He begged me to see to his wife and children. I went to their deciplex. Security took the children to the school and his wife to the hospital. I filed forms many times and no one would act. Our government was always slow in legal matters.
¡°Finally, I checked your ages. You were not children. The forms were falsified. I realized you could not be in the school, that they must have sent you to Academie Praetoria.
¡°I got a permit and went there. Found you three enrolled. But, when I went to your advisors, they said you were with Healer Ufir. So I went there. He said this, he said that, but I could not convince the man to find you.
¡°When I went back to Areon, I went to Lili. I told her we must somehow leave. But, Citsa found us together and we woke in the hospital. Oh, I am sorry. I could not get your parents out. I could not help you.¡± He sobbed.
Greg hugged him, and J~oie, too. ¡°You tried! I hoped, for so long, that someone would look for us. And, you knew my parents. They are in Bremen Ye~. We spoke to them. They want to see us. Teach us how to speak, so they will like us.¡± He trembled.
¡°Oh, you are polite. This is all. In Bremen, there are many like us, who either had time in the hospital, or with DF, or slavery. All we wish is a kind voice, and friends.¡±
Sika and John, and Greg and Briahh, all wanted to be friends.
So did Roger and Judy. But Judy took Tan¡¯s hand. ¡°Did you know us, in Areon? How did you find Greg, Briahh and Sika¡¯s parents?¡±
¡°I did not find them. Greg named them.¡±
Greg smiled at me. ¡°Kia helped me. Maybe she can help you. It doesn¡¯t hurt any more, to remember.¡±
Sika gasped. ¡°It does not? Please, help me!¡±
I ended up healing all of them, Briahh, Sika, Roger, and Judy.
Then Roger and Judy remembered names. On Areon.
Tan looked them up. ¡°Oh, Liam Gelb. His wife died, and he remarried, Nell. He had Roger and Judy, ship techs who died at 16 in a ship explosion, while they tested it. And, you look like them! Oh, he will be so happy that you live! He is Queen Adia¡¯s uncle on her mother¡¯s side. We are landing!¡±
Ye~ At Last [Spoiler Alert! Last Chapter Incomplete]
We got up. By this time, I was really tired, but we followed everyone out.
Tan waved up Greg¡¯s parents, and Roger¡¯s.
Liam Gelb saw Roger and Judy, and he grabbed Nell¡¯s arm. ¡°Nell! Roger! Judy! My children come!¡±
Toras, his healer, was Yeff. ¡°O, I am happy! Let me carry you! Netalta, Sian, will you carry the others?¡±
Nell laughed. ¡°I can walk, to see our children!¡±
¡°If you conserve your energy, you will last longer before you must rest.¡±
She sighed. ¡°Oh, all right!¡±
Sian, the lady, carried little Lianna. ¡°Oh, I so wished for sisters and brothers! Are they little, like me?¡±
We ported into Bremen. It was a little German village, but the wood of the houses looked plastic. It had beautiful carvings with colorful paints that matched the flowers that grew everywhere in lavender sand.
Roger shook all over. ¡°Father. I am sorry we stayed away. S-slavers¡ª¡±
¡°Slavers! Come to me, both of you! Oh, I prayed for this day that you came back to me! My children!¡±
Judy hugged him, too. ¡°Y-you¡¯re not angry?¡±
He kissed her forehead. ¡°Nein, I never was angry with you! Roger you always obeyed me. I knew you would come back when you could!¡±
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Lianna hugged them, too. ¡°I wished for little children, but you are very nice! I am Lianna.¡±
Roger got down on the sand and put her in his lap. ¡°Oh, you are just as pretty as I remember you. I promised to take you on our ship, when I had a free day, but we worked longer and I could not. Now I work writing progs, so I can stay with you, and so can Judy!¡±
Tan laughed. ¡°I am so happy that you have your family. Oh, here comes Fiomin! And, my brother, Vonn! He has his dearest friend, Derees and his wife, Patasia with him!¡±
They came running, but Derees had all three boys in his arms. They giggled.
As they got closer, Judy paled. ¡°Rees? Oh, Rees! Roger, my brother, Rees!¡±
Derees gasped. ¡°Judy! Tasia, here is my sister! I thought she died, testing ships with her husband! Roger, you are here, too!¡±
Everyone hugged everyone and it was so happy!
Then Greg¡¯s parents came and hugged everyone! Deb and her big family were delighted, and there were lots of kids. Vonn and Sara had Steven, Brett and Mandy. Derees and Tasia had Puret, Donn and Wisper, all boys.
Fiomin Resar had blue eyes and blond hair. His wife, Igora Panab also had bright blue eyes and blond hair.
Greg looked down. ¡°Father, I am sorry.¡±
Fiomin petted his hair and hugged him. ¡°It is like seeing a ghost! Oh, come, Briahh and Sika! I love you all. Nein apologies. You did nothing wrong. They took you. I wanted you, but they took me and my Ig. Now we are together, and who are these fine ladies?¡±
¡°This is Deb, my wife! Her parents, Esther and Nathan Bruce, and Esther¡¯s parents, Kameron and Vicki Robinson. Kameron is a doctor. Vicki is a chef and learns healing. Nathan and Esther are programmers. I teach chemistry and so does Briahh and Deb is a healer. Constance is a scientist and here is their baby!¡±
Chapter 16 Pirad鈥檚 Upset
Our families stuck like glue to both of us when we went in the festival again. I went to the musicians and Pirad came. ¡°Do not do this again! I cannot hide all of us!¡± He ported us to our empty Council chambers. Our families didn¡¯t come.
He looked at Ir¡¯s daddy. ¡°You did this! Tanirpahadachan, how many Cubes did you make? All of them are faulty!¡±
Elisabethae, Host Of The Green Cube Of Questions, just looked at her hands, clasped on her middle.
Cunigundae, Host Of Blue Cube Of Secrets scowled, and his eyes got multicolored irises! ¡°I grow impatient with your approach! He would not make Cubes, so I did! I am Cunigundae, and I hate Opseh Wenh Cet!¡±
¡°He¡¯s dead, and Rahn Wenh Cet and his other cloned sons Lun Wenh Cet and Bour Wenh Cet!¡±
¡°They may be dead, but their scientists¡ª¡±
¡°I destroyed their facility!¡±
Pirad got more upset! Ten ran in and poured drinks down him like mad! ¡°Show me what you did, all of you!¡±
All three of us did, and that white walrus came with Suma and Ni¡¯olmai. He¡¯s Ishah, too? I remembered him as Elshar in Rainbow, but with tri-toed feet¡ªthat¡¯s an Ishah trait.
Suma added what she, Neal and the walrus did. ¡°Jarfus said we needed to help them on Lisbaar, but it blew up!¡±
Pirad clicked his face into an expression of utter dismay! ¡°Your interference will cause a trial for us all in the Padrisa! Dromie knows this!¡±
I slapped my hand on the table. ¡°If Rentappenen wins, we perish, the Thirteen perish, and hundreds of thousands of galaxies in the Padrisa! Dromie brought them all back!¡±
Pirad fell on the floor! ¡°He brought them back! Does he think that will save him from their judgment? Laws of the Padrisa are absolute! If they destroy the Thirteen¡ª¡±
Dromie appeared. ¡°So little all of you know! The Thirteen will not be punished. My people will. The Thirteen is like a flea to the Padrisa, except for Rentappenen. He went to the future and destroyed the Padrisa, and I helped him because I feared him. This battle is worth dying for, and I brought back every world I destroyed. They are now angry with Rentappenen. Because I went there, he can¡¯t. Every time period I visit, he is blocked because Cube have limits that Lenses don¡¯t and I have the Lens Of Many Colors!¡±
¡°That will not save you¡ª¡±
¡°Did you hear me, Pirad? Some things are worth dying for. My father is our king and he agreed.¡± The little goblin hugged him.
That shocked Pirad. ¡°Your people evolved!¡±
¡°Yes, we did. Despite the Padrisa, which fears us. But we will submit to their Council. They can destroy us, because we will allow them to punish us. But first, we will restore what Rentappenen destroyed. If we die doing it, that does not matter. We died many times and Rentappenen brought us back to die again. He does not care who dies, because he wants power.
¡°I had power, that I killed my father to get, but it was empty. I see now, that we are a foolish people that only came to destroy, because we were mindless weapons. We are now sentient, and we want to choose things.¡± He spread his arms wide.
¡°I saw people who are loyal to Ry¡¯nao, and I became loyal to him. Pirad, you did not plan for anyone to help you. Did you not think the Bisillips and Biehshah have friends, to help you?¡±
That walrus waddled to Pirad. ¡°Dromie¡¯s people decided to help, because of an Earthan. I decided to help, because of a Thordes. Wally changed his mind about Rentappenen because Suma loved an Elshar and gave up everything for him. Our Imwa are observers. Never did we see people like your Earthans, and they are influencing the Thordes.¡±
Pirad shook his head. ¡°I would say the Thordes are influencing them, but yes. There is a reason the Council chose Earth to be the Final Battle to end the 300 Year War. I do not like the fact that Pinda gave Earthans Gifts, and all of this happened because of him!¡±
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Pinda came in and licked a paw. Smoothed his pricked ears. ¡°Rentappenen carefully laid out plans, but these Earthans are unpredictable. Cunigundae was on a ship that Llsam saved and brought to Areon. He and Elisabethae were on that ship. Without their research, aandats would not be on so many worlds saving lives, would they? Adia is Areonian. Did the last holder of the White Cube Of Light use it for good?¡±
With a pop, Pirad shut his mouth. ¡°I withdraw all of my objections. Perhaps I like things to proceed according to careful planning myself, but I am smart enough to see what you are doing. Do not speak of this when I am not here. I cannot keep us hidden¡ª¡±
The blue eyes of Cunigundae stopped him. ¡°I let Dromie improve The Blue Cube Of Secrets. I cannot see Rentappenen, therefore he cannot see any of us.¡±
¡°You cannot be sure¡ª¡±
¡°I can.¡± Elisabetha¡¯s blue eyes had fear in them. ¡°We fear what we cannot see, what lurks in shadows. Fear questions everything, all our beliefs, our skills, even our very existence! Ry¡¯nao taught me that courage is not lack of fear, but acts despite fear. I fear Rentappenen and that fear makes The Green Cube Of Questions more powerful than I knew. Rentappenen, for the first time in his long existence, has fear that he cannot win. He bluffed Dromie into thinking his people were not powerful enough to fight. Now they see the successes of their fight, and those they brought back. Rentappenen now knows the terror of failure, and Eriganh destroyed half his Collective because he forgot to control his anger. His Collective is becoming unstable, but so is Rentappenen¡¯s. I showed his points of weakness to Ry¡¯nao.
¡°But, Ry¡¯nao showed his fear to me and now my Cube has the combined fear of his 13. Many are afraid. Cunigundae cannot hide this fear. Eriganh¡¯s anger is contaminated with it. Suma cannot heal it and Kia cannot use The Emerald Cube Of Newness to combat timelines that Rentappenen feels no newness within.
¡°Many of his troops are new to battle. Kia, once your Cube is not new, you will lose power. Experience is your enemy.¡± She pulled at a blond curl on her shoulder. ¡°This frightens me. You can only help me while my Cube is new to me, too.¡±
But, I healed Ry¡¯nao. He¡¯s over 300 years old and he¡¯s had his Gray Cube almost that long.
¡°I can remake your Cube, Kia. This will break many rules that bind us. But it will help you keep Ry¡¯nao alive, and we can all win this Battle Of The Cubes.¡± Father smiled at Ir. ¡°Bring me Earthans with Gifts. You can see them. Pirad made Cubes and threw them into the cosmos. I can make Cubes for individuals, to use their traits wisely.¡±
Pirad ported Girdre, whom I¡¯d seen at the festival playing an ethnic stringed instrument. She appeared in front of us and startled. ¡°Pirad? My Ty¡¯nirrhan-Xchou sister died on Lisbaar. Do you need to make another one?¡±
He clicked his face into a surprised expression. ¡°If she would comfort you¡ª¡±
¡°There¡¯s someone else who misses her more. I didn¡¯t think you needed me for this, so is there something else?¡±
¡°You were DS and told Ry¡¯nao you are loyal. There is another fight.¡±
¡°A fight? I was a biome tech!¡±
¡°You know how to disable biome installations. Let Tanirpahadachan give you a weapon.¡±
She looked scared. Elisabetha grinned. But Father took her hand. ¡°I want to make a Cube for you. Tell me about yourself.¡±
Girdre looked down. ¡°All I did was get hurt doing my job, and the slime I fell in had Gedda Dier¡¯s mind in it. I felt smart while she was part of me. I¡¯ve never been smart, or good at anything.¡±
¡°You play that instrument and I really enjoyed it!¡± I smiled at her, and that got a bit of a smile.
¡°I¡¯m better at music than I was in DS.¡±
¡°Some of Rentappenen¡¯s enemies are inspired by music, and some of his facilities are vulnerable to certain sounds. What is your favorite color?¡±
She thought a minute. ¡°Red, like people of Lisbaar.¡±
He waved and put a cube in her hand. The color of blood? ¡°This is the Red Cube Of Inspiration, and you will use music in the Battle Of The Cubes! Meet your Collective!¡±
A building of cubes appeared on the border with Ry Pethe. People came out to stare at it! The red in the cubes made orange shadows like fire.
Gierdre startled and her double walked out of her. ¡°Where¡¯s this?¡±
Another stood there. Ten. Twenty!
¡°All of you, go that way! There is your building, but if you do not want to fight Rentappenen, go to any world of Alb you like!¡± They all ran for it! In the other future, a lot of her clones volunteered for Rainbow¡¯s Collective.
One stayed with her and she was red. ¡°I¡¯ll be your sister.¡±
A Zheien ran in and they all three went back to the festival with two others and two of her cloned sisters. Oh, her DS Team.
Pirad brought another Earthan, and Father frowned. ¡°This is too slow!¡± He used his Diplomatic Link to speed up the process. Another lady who was in Diplomatic Service, or DS, in the other future.
They kept appearing and Father worked faster. Buildings of Cubes appeared on various worlds in Alb near the Earthan colonies, depending on whose husband¡¯s world or colony. Some went to every world of Alb except, of course, Escet Vu and Elshar Zheiea. Mican makes me mad!
We built an army of Earthans with Cubes, right there on Ye~.
One of Ryonne~¡®s clones and one of Ry¡¯nao¡¯s came to the doorway, and Ry¡¯nao strode in. Saw Father give an Earthan a Cube with a surprised look! ¡°This is what I felt! But I warn you, Rentappenen can see it.¡±
¡°I am Cunigundae, Host Of Blue Cube Of Secrets! I can hide all of us from him!¡± That man pulled at a blond curl.
Ry¡¯nao paled. ¡°Rentappenen let you think he cannot see it, but I hear echoes. He knows!¡±