“More likely they are in a panic.” Alki said chuckling.“.......That is good in a way, for the known evil is usually better than the unknown and they will be relieved to hear from us tomorrow. If they are as us, their imaginations will have painted ugly scenarios and they must be very worried.”
)
2851
“How do you intend taking it from here?” Seltwe asked.
“It is not so much how they will react, but the way our Inguel Cherinians will. I must not do anything that could make them fear us or alienate them further from their own people.”
“How do you intend taking it from here?” Seltwe patiently asked again.
“I don’t know.” I admitted.
Sam laughed and suddenly most of them were laughing.
“Kyria Maria, coffee please. I think we better take a break.” Alki suggested, still chuckling. “Roberto mou, you haven’t changed!”
The tension had been building up just as it does before an electrical storm and the laughter was the lightning that safely discharged it. It was interesting for me to note that only Sam, Jade and Dommi realised I’d done it deliberately. Now the undercurrent of fear was gone and instead of me telling them what I will do, it will be possible for us to have a more balanced discussion and hopefully find a compromise acceptable to our Inguel Cherinians. That is not as callow as it may at first glance seem; we know that whatever they find acceptable will be for the good of their people, whether their governments like it or not.
As we relaxed, Goldi came to sit on my lap. I picked her up and as she settled against me I felt that indefinable sweetness that mellows me. *My sweet honeybee, you will make me be too nice for our own good. Try to think of something less happy my love.* She looked up at me, her eyes a little sad, but then suddenly she smiled (I think Dommi must have said something to her) and she climbed off, going to Cherine. My poor love just had time to look at me reproachfully before a sweet calmness came over her. Amused I glanced at Dommi, but she just stared back at me blankly, so I quickly glanced at Jade and saw the amusement in her eyes.
Instead of me being aggressive, as I had intended, the others found a way for me to be slightly more tactful. Pleased with the results of our meeting, we returned to our homes. That night I had to make it up to my sweet Goldi, then Cherine and last of all I concentrated on my darling Jade. Worn out and at peace, I lay there looking at my lovely girls and was struck by the irony. Dommi tends to spend her time now mostly as an eleven year old, whereas my Cherine is still keeping her adult age. None of the girls find it strange to lean on Dommi for her mother love, despite her body age.
The Inguel asked for a few changes and then I brought over the officers (I presumed they were officers) from the spaceship. As on the previous day, those who were families arrived with their females and children. The same one stood up as spokesman.
“We do not accept your decisions and consider your actions a declaration of war. We see you have taken hostage citizens of our worlds. We demand you release them into our custody and permit our departure immediately.”
“Why?”
“I do not understand, the answer is obvious!”
“It is? You have just announced that we are at war and then demand we release you. Does your species release prisoners when they are at war? If you have been chosen to speak for your people, you better decide whether you are prisoners, or here to negotiate a peaceful settlement of our differences.”
“What is there to negotiate?”
“You spoke yesterday, giving me your point of view. You obviously did not come to me as an ambassador of your people, since you showed no interest in allowing me to present my point of view. If you have authority to negotiate rather than only deliver ultimatums, I will treat your presence as being one of goodwill, meant to discuss our differences and find solutions acceptable to all of us.”
“Our governments made their decisions, so I do not have the authority to change them. I was instructed to warn you to leave and if you refused, to attack.”
2852
I was about to tell him I would then have to force a change of government, but bit back my answer when Goldi shocked everyone by going over to them and stood by the Inguel in charge. She looked back at me sweetly and I found it impossible to get angry.
“My daughter has not signalled she agrees with you. She stands by you to remind me we are here to find a compromise acceptable to all parties. I suggest you make space for her to sit there with you as she is your strongest weapon at this moment.”
I sat back and closed my eyes, trying to gather my thoughts.
“We have an agreement overriding any dispute that may arise between us. Your ancestors bound all future generations, whether you consider they had the right to or not. Before you answer, consider this. No future generations would have existed if they had not done so. In terms of their oath, strictly speaking, I could be considered your leader. I do not wish to be your leader, I do not have the time nor the inclination to stay here.
The prime obligation your people have, which you seem to have forgotten, is your duty to find a way to prevent fire-worlds destroying all life. Apart from your own preservation, after all the fire-world will attack your worlds too if they are not controlled, you owe it to all other species. Do you dispute that?”
“You have made it impossible for us to assist you. We will do what we can on our own.”
“That is interesting! You are suggesting your people have learnt how to move in time?”
“No. We are saying we will handle the beast in our present.”
“You know that over one hundred and fifty thousand years have passed since I began returning sentient life to the planets your beast destroyed. Are you telling us, with five species here as witnesses, you have decided to allow them to be attacked and destroyed again?”
“We have no alternatives left to us, thanks to your actions.”
Despite Goldi I flew into a rage. Instantly on my feet I stepped up to him, literally shaking with anger.
“How dare you! I do not care if it means every single Inguel dies, justice and honour would demand you place your victims first. If you people had any decency, you would have seen that to be the sole purpose of your existence. To sacrifice your victims because you do not agree with me about Inguel becoming Cherinians will condemn your species throughout all time and your names will be hated by all who have honour and treasure life. I have nothing more to discuss with you. You will take my demands to your governments and do as I say, or else I will use force. Do not even think of tempting me to do so. What I did to one planet I can do to every single one that has even one Inguel on it and leave them for all time in darkness as an example to all who hate life.”
I turned my back on him and walked over to my people, facing them to see if any disagreed. I sensed motion behind my back and felt Goldi being grabbed. I stopped, forcing myself not to react for I would have blasted every single one of them in my fury.
There was further movement, Goldi cried out and then I felt her being taken by other hard alien arms and released. I turned.
“That one no longer speaks for us. If it is your wish to punish him for taking your daughter as hostage we will not interfere and will report the truth to our governments. He brought shame to all of us.”
“What is your name?”
“an-Presus.”
“I have no interest in punishing him. I leave it to your people to act in accordance with their own sense of honour.”
I heard a cry and turning saw a female with child. She clung to the child and it was obvious she was terrified.
“His child and female?”
2853
“Correct.”
I thought quickly, fighting my instincts. I gave in, not liking it. “I’ve changed my mind. I ask that this one with his family be allowed to stay here for a time. an-Presus, I do not intend harming them and when we return from neutralising the fire-world they will be returned to you without your people needing to punish them. Do you agree?”
“The female and child will not be harmed?”
“They will not. You have my undertaking on that. You gave me permission to punish him. If I had demanded his life, would that not have harmed the child?”
“It would.”
“It seems you have found a way to prevent me from harming any of you by sending officers who have children.” I smiled, hoping he realised I meant it in humour.
“I’m in the same position my superior was. We were sent with strict instructions.”
“On our worlds, officers have the right to adapt those orders to suit conditions on the battlefield. Are you certain you are not allowed to?”
“We are not.”
“If you are forced to surrender to me, are you allowed to negotiate the terms?”
“We have never surrendered, not in all our history.”
“You have never had a Robert as your opponent before. You have lost control of your spaceships, you cannot communicate with your governments and to refuse to surrender could mean the death of every single person aboard with the threat that Robert attacks your worlds without your governments having the ability to defend them. Are you willing to risk that rather than make a decision and negotiate?” Alki asked.
“If we may speak Robert. Commander, this is not the first time. The old ones in the dark universe, they surrendered to Robert.”
an-Presus shrugged and stood a little straighter. “It is not of importance. I am here, they are not. If they are displeased I will accept responsibility. What terms do I offer to our people on your behalf?”
“None. I did not intend to place terms or conditions at this stage. I only wished to put forward our arguments for them to consider.
I will begin with what we see as ethical arguments. We believe that no person, nation or species has the right to accept a boon without acknowledging there are obligations in return. We did not exact vengeance for the deaths your ancestors caused. They knew they were not immortals and accepted our terms on behalf of all future generations.
They may have done so for pragmatic reasons, since without our assistance there would not have been any future generations and thus the future generations were under obligation to us anyway. Or, and I hope so, they may have accepted because they were shocked at what they had accidentally done and saw it as a way of making reparation.
Your species and mine view life in very different ways. Your customs seemed barbaric to me and I have no doubt mine do to you. The scientists you sent to me on previous visits endured the brunt of my ill will and with the intervention of the Anadir convinced me I was reacting instinctively and with prejudices I should not apply to your people. They showed me in which ways we differ and finally we were both able to reach out to each other and take the first steps in understanding and becoming friends.
The Armada of spaceships that responded to our visit has done much to undo the goodwill, but we are a little wiser this time and will make every effort to understand your point of view.
Your commander yesterday accused us of taking your people out of their genetic pool by making them Cherinians. Yours are not the only people who suffer from xenophobia, my species do also. To blindly see what we offer as alien only shows your fear, it does not reflect well on you. I would suggest you first send delegations to meet with us and those of your own species who joined us and allow us to answer all their questions and address their fears. If you learn what it means to be a Cherinian, you might all see it as a gift instead of the curse you fear it is now.
2854
In our efforts to neutralise the fire-world, we have invested time and energy in securing for your scientists the knowledge they needed. We will not accept that our mission be set back for any reason. The scientists asked to return home to obtain or manufacture certain instruments. Upon your return with the delegations, we ask that your people supply us with the tools we need.
an-Presus, whether your people and ours grow to become friends, using goodwill and patience, or we do not, is up to you. We will always be open to any gestures you make. I suggest you return to your planets and explain. We will return here in exactly one year.”
I released their ships and allowed them to communicate with their governments, not really interested in them at the moment. I was angry and needed to settle a matter that concerned only my family. We returned home alone.
“Goldi, what made you do that!”
“I asked her to Robert.”
I stared at Jade, keeping my eyes stern. She refused to bend and stared back at me.
“Why.”
“I had to protect our family from you.” I gave a start, shocked. “Robert, you were angry and would have cost us our friends. That could have been bad for the family.”
All the girls just sat quietly, but I could feel their admiration and love for little Jade. Goldi made as if to move to her side.
“Stay where you are!” She froze at the sound of my voice, a little scared as I have never spoken harshly to her before.
“Aganthi, coffee please. Jade, come with me.” I turned and walked out to our ‘garden’. She followed, her thin little face pale, but determined not to show any fear. I sat down.
“Come closer please.” I took hold of her two arms and looked into her eyes. “You are supposed to be my clone. I’m starting to not believe that anymore. I had my first suspicions when I saw how beautiful you are, nothing like a female version of me would look like. Today clinched it for me though. You did not get your courage from me, I’ve never been that brave.”
My stern tone nearly fooled her for a moment. As she relaxed I felt her trembling, but I did not pull her to me.
“Jade, I was cross, but I also admire you. Friends again?” She nodded, her eyes huge and now I felt free to pull her to me. Slowly her body relaxed as I held her to me and when Aganthi brought the coffee she sat with us, sharing my cigarette and coffee.
She stroked Jade’s cheek softly. “Roberto, she is just as stupid as you.” I looked down at her pert pixie face and saw her eyes glowing as she stared at Aganthi. I gave her a squeeze.
“She frightens me; what will she be like by the time she is my age?”
The next day I withdrew our observation globe from normal space and jumped ahead a year.
“Welcome an-Presus. Please send our expression of gratitude to your people. If these instruments successfully alter the fire-world, they will have gone a long way towards honouring their ancestors.”
“I regret I bring no delegations. It is the wish of our central council that you do not try to spread your dogma to our people. The scientists, I am instructed to advise you, are permanently exiled and may not return.”
“Would you kindly wait while I speak to them? Perhaps some of them have a final message they wish to send to loved ones?”
2855
The girls came with and we all met at our taverna.
“Your call, an-Fisp. Tell me if you agree with me. I propose bringing every single person on board those spaceships to this world. Unfortunately they would not fit within your space so they will have to be given bodies of our species. I’m thinking that a golden circle of love with a storytelling, including your stories and then another golden circle of love might be effective. Perhaps only a few of them will listen, but I think it will unsettle your governments even further.
I noticed something else. He talked of a council. Since this was never mentioned before, would it be reasonable of me to presume the fiasco of last year has brought all the governments under one council so that they speak as one voice for your people?”
“There has never been a formal council before. They would never have been authorised to instruct our commander. They must be truly frightened to have allowed it.”
“Good, I am pleased. an-Fisp, you cannot read my thoughts, but you can sense my emotions, you know I speak the truth. We have forced a change upon them. One change brings others. When we return, we will examine how this can help us change their minds. Do you agree with my other suggestion?”
“It will mostly affect the young and the bearers…females. We will break up families Robert, it is not a good thing.”
What could I say to that in reply? I had just about decided to forget about my idea when Allan suggested, “Ask what isi-mi-Arrap thinks.”
She hesitated, looked at the others, but then spoke up. “It is not often any person still young is given any authority. They should be in their third cycle with the changes in their way of thinking it brings. Same as our scientists. The mobile crew on the spaceships are mostly in the second cycle and their minds are more open to new ideas. What an-Fisp says is true, but he does not consider that the bearers are usually of the third cycle also if their planter is. Those in the second cycle will have bearers of the second cycle too. Few bearers of the third cycle will accept our ways if their planters do not. Especially if they have young. The joining of their souls through the young makes that difficult.”
“In which cycle do most families have young?”
“Towards the end of the second and in the third.”
“an-Fisp?”
“I had not analysed it as fully. There will be some sorrow, but much less than I thought before.”
“Think of yourselves an-Fisp, do the gifts that becoming a Cherinian bring you, make you better people? I do not ask of the gift of healers and survival of your souls, just the quality of life now. You have a female and are part of a family. Has becoming Cherinians brought you closer?”
“It has.”
“Then the question is; if becoming Cherinians brings joy and love to most, does the sorrow of a few who close their minds to us, justify depriving the many?” I turned to Alki and the others. “I need your advice on this too.”
Perikli asked. “Those who become Cherinians? What will happen to them when they return home? Will they be imprisoned or killed?”
“The fear of you and the changes you represent - or are offering, has grown, so we cannot answer you with any certitude. In our case, we were separated, for they misunderstood and thought our gifts will die, or fade, if we were not together.”
“What of those of you with child?”
Flatly he replied, “We were separated Robert.”
“I am sorry we caused you such grief. Did the development of the souls of your children suffer?”
“No, they allowed us to be close enough to prevent damage to them.”
“I agree with an-Fisp, they will not be so lenient this time. How many people are on the spaceships?”
2856
“From the numbers of ships we see, about seventy thousand.”
“Roberto? We cannot condemn that many!”
I smiled at him. “Perikli, you forget they will be Cherinians? Let us say we are lucky enough to open fifty thousand. They return home and they are killed. They instantly create themselves new bodies. Do they kill them again?"
“Dying can be very painful and frightening Robert.”
“You have decided to speak Allan? I know, I would not want it to happen, I am only pointing out that killing them will not work. What if we proved it to them from beforehand?”
“How?”
“The commander is tough, but fair. He will not become a Cherinian. What if we allow him to kill me? He may totally destroy my body and …”
I was hit by such a wave of anger and protest I had to stop. Cherine spoke for all of them. “You will not do this Robert.”
“How else do we prove to them we cannot be killed by them love?”
“I don’t care. You will not do it. If it must be done, then they must kill me.”
“No, me!” was heard from all of them.
an-Fisp stepped closer to me. “Your death would prove nothing Robert. They know you have special powers. Open the minds of those you can and I will return with them. I will ask they kill me. They will not need to kill any of the others after that.”
“What if they imprison them?”
“You must first open the gift of jumping within them. How will they hold them then?”
“Let me think.”
I turned to Alki and all those of my Earth. “It is brave of him and sounds like it could solve the problem. Turn this around though and imagine us, on our Earth, going public and doing what he says. Could we survive?”
“You are right Robert, we could not. All we have would be confiscated, we would have to steal to eat. We would be confronted by hostile mobs everywhere we go. Being ostracised can be as bad as being killed.”
“I see a worse scenario. There could be a breakdown in our civilisation. There would be many, especially among the young, who would support us. Governments would have no mercy on them. They would use us as an excuse for every government to become a dictatorship. It already sounds as if they have a world government with all armed forces under the control of such government. Their fear of us forced them to allow an eternal dictatorship to take over.” Luigi added.
Ordinx spoke thoughtfully. “We have Inguel Cherinians, we cannot abandon them. Where would they go? It would seem to me Robert we have no alternative. We must try to make as many of them Cherinians as possible.”
“an-Fisp, I do not understand why your people are so afraid of you being Cherinians. When you die your souls never return as Inguel. As Cherinians you would remain Inguel.”
“We pointed that out Sam. They do not find it acceptable. It is a religious difference. They believe we must reach the immortal soul through growing generation by generation.”
“That is ridiculous!” I calmed my voice. “Your people have existed far beyond the lifespan of your own galaxy without achieving that nebulous goal. Surely reason alone would tell them it is not likely to happen?”
“Religion, faith and reason are not good bedfellows, Robert.” Luigi said.
2857
“There has been no reason to explain to you before Robert. It is believed you were forced to come to the galaxy of our ancestors to bring us here by the future Inguel immortal soul.”
This last madness made me decide I’ve had enough of these impossible people, I’ll leave the finding of a solution for some other time. Sam touched my mind and hand at the same time.
“No Robbie, we must not leave them. Why not bring those who become Cherinians to our reality and give them one of these planets? With fifty thousand of them there would be enough of them to grow and survive.”
I turned eagerly to an-Fisp. “Would that work?”
“Even half of that number would do. We were told that our healers can keep our genetic makeup pure should there be any inbreeding. The spaceships would give us somewhere to live while we adapt the planet.”
I turned to Sam with joy and hugged her, murmuring my thanks in her ear.
“There will be no need for that an-Fisp. Your people have abandoned one of the solar systems as I ordered. That will be yours. If you stay in this reality, it remains a possibility that you will be able to attract more of your people. Even a small influx over time will help you grow.”
“It is just as possible they might be attacked Robert.”
“I thought of that Perikli. Let them try!” I laughed. “First of all they will have to build a new fleet of ships. Secondly I will warn them that if they do, I will protect our Cherinians and destroy them so that they cannot achieve space flight for a thousand generations.”
He nodded. “Your threat would appeal to me if I was a fanatic or if I were hungry for power. You would be guaranteeing them total power over their people. They would reason that they would then be insulated from these heretics who threaten our immortal soul."
I laughed. “Hell, we can infiltrate them at will. We make certain we explain that.”
“Then they will think we will do it anyway and have nothing to lose by attacking.”
“Let’s think of all the problems later. We are going to make this work! We will have Inguel brothers and sisters in the tens of millions someday!”
Alki put his hand on the shoulder of Perikli. “Try to keep on thinking as politicians would, so that you help him outwit them. For now though, let us do as our Roberto wishes and welcome new Cherinians with joy.”
It seems we wildly overrated the attraction of becoming a Cherinian - especially under adverse conditions. We were left with only about sixteen thousand. The rest will have to carry memories of a magic they’d turned away from.
“We have to send them back in their own spaceships Robert. They will outnumber the Cherinians if we don’t.”
“That leaves them with a fleet that could attack while we are away. Solomon, the more ships our fellow Cherinians have, the safer they are. The longer it takes the council to grow new spaceships, the more time they have to learn to open further gifts, so that they become effective at repelling any attacks. Remember, they fight under constraints that the council does not. They are not allowed to kill.” I had an idea and tried for all of five seconds to see whether it truly had merit before putting my foot in my mouth again.
“Solomon, we have found Sparklers in another reality which had no life and no Anadir we could sense. Would they agree to move to this reality? They could help the Inguel to adjust to the void and create Worlds of their own. Should they come under attack, they could find and bring us back to help.”
“That is the first sensible suggestion you’ve made. I’ll go personally. Robert, how will you solve the problem of returning the Inguel to their worlds?”
“Slowly.”
2858
He stared at me. “Was that a joke?”
“No, a clue. I’m not willing to split myself up into dozens of parts. I will oversee the return of up to ten ships at a time. Any problems come up, I will call the main part of myself to handle.”
“You were joking! Ten at a time! Thousands of ships and each one travelling for months!”
“Fine! you come up with a solution then.”
“Why not send Sparklers with each ship. If they try to take over, you will be called to deal with it.”
“It must be sympathetic magic. As we name a person so he becomes. You are right Solomon, can you see to it? Solomon?”
“What now! You have thought of something else?”
“Yes. I have to apologise to you and all the Sparklers, I keep calling on you to help me.” I guessed what he was thinking. “Later Solomon. I’ll look forward to having Sol in my arms.”
Cherine wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, “You can be quite a bastard at times.” I nodded my agreement and she kissed me, her eyes laughing as she pulled away.
I saw that Alki, Luigi, Perikli, Ordinx and Sam were standing together and they looked depressed. I went over to them.
“What’s wrong?”
“The first people who hate Cherinians Roberto. This is a sad day.”
“You are wrong. Are you forgetting the world where Cherine and Robert tried to make them all Cherinians? What about Sharipya? This is only a small setback. We’ll win them over.”
“After what we did today?”
“We had to start in some way.”
“It is impossible Robert.” Luigi said. “They will never allow us to talk to them again.”
“Perikli, what do you say? We have over sixteen thousand Cherinians with friends and family back there. Do you also think it is impossible?”
“You plan to send them back?”
“Why not?”
“There will be many betrayals.”
“So what. They will not return there before they learn to jump.”
“Ah!”
I left them to think about it, Sam following me as I walked away.
“Dad?”
“Yes my love?”
“This is the first time I have seen you plan and do things carefully. Are you changing?”
“I would hope so. To be alive means change - how boring it would have been if you had stayed the same as when you were born!”
She was silent for a while and I felt a sadness in her. “I don’t want you to change this way.”
2859
I stopped and swung her up and cradled her to me. “Baby, however I change, the personality does not change. I’ll still be your crazy daddy in the ways that count.”
When we arrived at the Inguel, we saw they were in a circle and communing mentally. I sat down and placing Sam on my lap waited for them.
“I have come to ask, are you pleased with the way we handled the situation?”
“It is a good beginning Robert. We are worried about how we will learn to teleport.”
“Do you know why we call it jumping instead of using the correct description? Imagine yourself teleporting to the taverna. The concept does not mean anything to your mind. It is a purely intellectual concept. Now, imagine yourself jumping there.”
“Thank you. Is it entirely impossible for our minds to open to each other?”
“No. It will happen with time. The more we talk and the closer we become, as friends and brothers or sisters, the easier it will become. In the beginning, neither the Anadir nor us were able to look into each other’s minds. Now we can, not as easily or freely as we can with our own species, but the ability is growing. Perhaps an important key is the love and trust we feel.”
“That makes sense.”
“an-Fisp, you are extremely protective of your children. Not in preventing them from taking physical risks, but in that you are monitoring and influencing their minds all the time. Once you trust us deep within yourselves, you might let them play and spend time with my family. Children are more open and find it easier to establish a close rapport. Perhaps they will open their minds to each other before we do, and then they can teach you whatever they learn from my girls.” I laughed. “I guess that would turn your worlds upside down - learning from your children!”
I told them our program. We will be staying here until all the non-Cherinians have been returned. Then we will escort the spaceships to their new world and stay long enough to assist them in settling there.
“You do realise Robert, that though the planet has been designated as abandoned, there are still a number of Inguel living there? Will you transport them back to their planets?”
“Should we an-Fisp? Some of them may become Cherinians. Some will not. Those that do not, have an important role to play. They will help remind our Cherinians of how they have changed and what their responsibilities are. I do not want them believing they are the chosen ones. They are not. They were just lucky in that they were young enough to be open to us.”
Mischievously he asked, “Are we the chosen ones? Most of us were third cycle.”
I laughed with them. My voice must have reflected how I felt, for I do not think they were monitoring my emotions. “No. Not chosen because of age - chosen because I was given the opportunity to get to know and love you.”
isi-mi laughed with glee. “You could see yourself loving one of us and asking for a child of our two species?”
“You remembered? Who knows what surprises our hearts are capable of springing on us?” Sam looked up at me with a tiny smile of her own and I pinched her little bottom.
As Perikli told us to expect, there were no attacks. He felt they are all in shock and terrified. He did warn us though that their response will be in proportion even more violent soon as they have recovered. It meant we have to hang around. To make our presence less visible, I reduced the globe we use for bringing them from normal space to our world back to a slim needle that is almost impossible to see from more than a few kilometres.
Alki is not fond of the countryside, so it surprised us when he joined Luigi and Perikli in a walk that lasted weeks. I saw to it that food arrived wherever they stopped for the night and of course ensured they have enough alcohol to enjoy under the emerald stars of our world.
2860
It was necessary to have the odd meeting with the Eminixx and Inguel, but mostly I spent the time relaxing and loving my sweet girls. I tried to provide them with a white Christmas, but it was a bit of a disaster, turning into a slushy Christmas instead. In turn, they tried to make my birthday a very special day and they succeeded very nicely. It seems remarkable that I will in a year be forty years old. For the festivities we brought Marian with the kids, my parents, Dommi’s parents and Em-e’s. Unfortunately Wendy’s mother was visiting the other Wendy and her mother so both Candy and Wendy agreed she should stay there with her.
I had time to notice how Natalie has changed, maturing as her self-confidence grows. She looks about twenty five, no doubt in response to how Themi enjoys seeing her. Her sweetness and warmth still shine from inside her, as when I first met her, but now her personality is more rounded, less defensive and easy to love. Watching her with Sam melts my heart as I see how she adores our little girl.
I kept an eye on the spaceships as they went into orbit around their planets, then large ferries arrived to carry those who are leaving. I expected a surprise attempt to recapture at least one spaceship, but nothing happened. Or rather, what did happen was a pleasant surprise. In total another eight hundred Inguel decided to stay on board, hoping they will be given another chance to become Cherinians. Contrary to what we had agreed, the Cherinians decided to abandon one spaceship so that the planets can remain in contact with each other. I sent them a message through Solomon: Keep the spaceship, but offer to make as many spaceships available as they need for you to ferry their interplanetary passengers and cargo. Force them in that way to maintain some sort of contact with you. Before you do so, secure the ships so that they cannot take them over.
Since we had to wait for them to arrive at their planet I decided to make a few changes in our spaceship-world. It is amazing how often we end up working much harder just because we are too lazy to do the job properly the first time around. The Anadir physical requirements have not caused any technical or biological problems, but the Eminixx and Inguel scientists have been causing me headaches for a long time. Each species require water, but the chemicals needed in their water are not exactly the same as ours. I had been adding or subtracting what is required and then purifying it as the overflow returns to us. I tried to work out what size tanks would be needed and then by placing separating walls within the two ‘shells’ I created their individual water tanks. Then I adjusted the chemicals to suit them. This took a few days and at the end of it I was pleased with the results. Claudia had sat silently watching me and when I stretched and asked for a coffee she rushed off to get it for me. As I drank it she sat looking at me. Slowly it dawned on me that she was amused.
“What’s so funny Claw?”
“Nothing. You will have to waste a lot of energy to keep the separators intact.”
“Are you saying I did a bad job?”
“Not really, after all, you can keep on strengthening the partitions.”
“Otherwise what?”
“With the pressure from the surrounding water, whenever their tanks are at less than eighty two percent capacity, the partitions would buckle if they were made of any solid material. Since it is energy it won’t, all you have to do is pump more power.”
“Why didn’t you speak earlier?”
“Because you would call me Claw.”
I laughed. “Tell me, how should I have shaped them?”
“More like a triangle but with the sides bulging outwards. Make them narrower but much taller, then the empty part at the top will have less pressure on it.”
“Because of gravity?”
“Yes…oh, you’ve been laughing at me!”
“No love, look into my mind. I’ve been admiring you. You worked that all out in your mind without a computer?” She nodded, still downcast. “You were not entirely wrong. There is a slight gravity so there will be some stress. Don’t forget about inertia, that remains a very real danger. Would you like to know why I made them low and half circular? Remember when we hit that time ripple where Meli’s world was? The spaceship shuddered, knocking me flat on my face. I bet none of you thought to worry about that massive amount of water slopping around.”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)19th November, 2019
- posted: 19th November, 2019
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