All That Glitters Ch. 14

Her beautiful daughter came and embraced her and gave her the traditional kiss on both cheeks.

"I am so pleased to see you mother," Junelliea spoke sweetly. Her voice was soft but filled with the maturity that only a true woman could express.

"Junelliea," Herra began without preamble. "Have you been with a man?"

Junelliea smiled sweetly and laughed softly to her bemused elder sisters. "Not in the manner that you are alluding to, Herra," she scolded, unintentionally embarrassing her.

"What do you mean, not in that manner, child?" her mother asked in a reproaching tone.

A brief look of anger crossed the taller woman's face. The smile quickly returned but did not reach her eyes. She raised an eyebrow and said not a word, her stance, and the look on her face, making the silent request of her mother.

"Forgive me, daughter," her mother said contritely. "You are no longer a child."

Junelliea's delicate hand reached out to stroke her mother's cheek. "There is nothing to forgive, mother," she said sweetly, grateful for her mother's acknowledgement, the smile once again reaching her eyes.

Junelliea moved and led the others to the family transport. The four clambered into the vehicle, the three daughters opposite their mother with Junelliea in the middle of the twins. They secured their seatbelts and Zallene closed the privacy screen as the vehicle began to move.

"Who is he, daughter," she asked.

"The fourth son of the House of Ouihya," she said, the sweetest of smiles gracing her face when she spoke the words.

Her mother was shocked. She had seen that smile before, on her own face in the mirror, when she was being courted by Penat. Their match was a love match, which was why Zallene was an only wife.

"What, Fayad Ouihya?" Zerra asked.

The smile graced Junelliea's face once more. Oh, Andanii save my daughter, Zallene thought, she is hopelessly in love!

"I will need you to speak for me, mother," Junelliea said.

"To the house of Ouihya?" she asked, knowing the answer. Her daughter just nodded once.

"Are you sure, daughter of mine?" She asked.

"He can make claim, mother," Junelliea told her. "He has held my life in his hands."

The twins gasped together, reacting as one as only twin's can. "What happened, Junelliea?" they asked in harmonic unison, in a manner that always unnerved their mother when they did it.

"He rescued me from a fish," she told them with a laugh.

"A fish?" her mother asked, confused.

Junelliea opened her comp and showed an image of the 'fish' in question. It was huge! More than twice the height of Junelliea. And the teeth!

Beside her stood a very good-looking young man, perhaps a little past his mid-twenties. From Junelliea's smile, her mother did not have to ask who the man was.

In the image, his arm was around Junelliea's bare waist, as she was clad in a shockingly brief bikini. The man in question was clad in a more substantial pair of swim shorts but, other than sandals, was bare as well. Zallene noted he was well formed.

"How did he rescue you from that fish?" Zerra asked the question that all suddenly wanted to know.

"When I got to the resort, the staff greeted me as the new bride, only to discover that I was not. They were sorry for me and helped me to get past my loss. One of the things they did, was to ensure that I always did something active every day.

"That day, I was out on a skim board, rushing along the top of the ocean. They have oceans on Terra!" she told them in wonder, Anuura only possessing large lakes.

"I had gone out further than I should have when I encountered large objects in the water. They told me later that I had encountered the floats to a net hanging in the ocean. But the floats stopped my forward movement, so I turned and followed along the length of them.

"Then I saw something in the water. The water was very clear, and the fish was tearing at the nets, eating smaller fish that were trapped there. When the shadow of my skim board crossed it, the fish came up and knocked me from the board.

"It hit so hard it broke the board. I was lost in the water, holding onto the float when the fish came back. I clambered onto the other side of the float, away from the monster, but it struck at me through the net. The force of the blow pushed the air from my lungs and made me dizzy.

"The fish was coming back, and I couldn't do anything, my body still hadn't recovered from the previous attack, I was barely clinging to the float but now on the wrong side of the net. I thought I was going to die when something pulled me out of the water.

"The fish tried to follow but only entangled itself in the net. I sat on the board, screaming, and crying, while he gently held me. I started praying to Andanii, and he knew the words!

"I was so surprised! He guided me in the prayers and even knew the forms of the women's prayers. He spoke the words with me, helping me to remember, all the while holding me in his strong arms.

"Then the safety team arrived, having seen the attack from shore. They brought us back, and later the resort brought us to see the fish. The called it a Great Shark. It was more then five meters in length. Even dead, it looked fearsome."

The four looked on the image of the fish, Junelliea and Fayad standing in front of it. Junelliea pulled something from inside the neck of the dress. It was a triangular tooth of a size that frightened the other three women, hanging from a bright silver chain that the women all recognized as platinum.

"He spent two days with me before he had to leave, his time at Denders at an end. In those two days, he showed me something in myself that I neve knew I had. He gave me a strength of purpose, a sense of worth, and a renewed faith in Andanii." She finished.

"I will be that man's wife, even if I am a second or third wife," Junelliea stated firmly.

"Your father might not approve." Zallene started but was abruptly cut short by Junelliea.

"My father has made three attempts to strengthen our house through my marriage. Each of those attempts ended in the image of our house being damaged." Though softly spoken, Junelliea's words held the ring of authority in them. Zallene knew immediately that her daughter would not bend on this issue.

"I am an adult now and will have a say in whom I am to marry and who this house aligns with because of that marriage," Junelliea stated flatly.

The twins were shocked at how their younger sister spoke. Never before had she put her dainty foot down. Never before had she spoken against her father's wishes. Never before had she ever asserted herself.

"When can we expect to meet with this boy?" her mother asked rather derisively.

"Not for several years," Junelliea stated, matter of factly.

"WHAT!!" Zallene shouted.

"He is working off-planet mother. His goal, like many fourth sons, is to form a house of his own. From seeing how he helped me, his strength of purpose, his devotion to Andanii, and his bravery, I have no doubt in my mind that he will accomplish his goal. And I will be there to help him form that house."

Zallene was shocked by her daughter's words. But the light that shown in daughters her eyes was one borne of the strength and conviction of love. She had no idea what she was going to tell Penat.

The Senate, Terra

Senator Wasim Andjuran sat completing the minutia of daily work that flooded his office. Administration was the same all over, whether it was as the Chief Cleric of Andanii, the Solu of a district of Anuura or as a senator for Anuura on Terra.

He had just placed his electronic seal to yet another missive when one of his aides entered with a worried look on his face.

"You need to see this," the aide said picking up and pointing the remote at the hollo-monitor in the room. A moment later the face of a female reporter came up and began to talk about the resignation of one Capt.(N) Raymond Clark, Hero of Emporium. The reporter, who identified herself as Cynthia Stewart, stated that she had arrived on Liramor-23 just in time to witness the ceremony that she was now showing the viewers.

"How did that get through the censors?" Andjuran asked perturbed. "Anything about or coming from Liramor-23 is supposed to be suppressed!" he shouted, thumping his fist on his desk.

"Only on Terra," the aide informed him. "This is an item that originated on another planet and is being redistributed by the local media. The piece does not include imagery of or mention of pirates, Fiona Marsh or Henadi Noor, nor does it originate here."

"What else has she been sending from Lirmaor-23?" Andjuran snarled.

"We're looking for that now," and as the aide spoke, his comp beeped at him and he checked, then passed a new item to the monitor.

On the screen were four images of Stewart's face with info beneath indicating what was in each clip. They included, two short news clips, a fifteen-minute news story and a two-hour documentary length news item, all on the subject of the new Princess Class private yacht. When the two-minute clip was opened it clearly indicated the interview had been conducted on Liramor-23. But once again, the specific subject line of pirates, Marsh, and Noor were missing. Andjuran, however, was getting worried.

He opened contact with Senate Legal and got a hold of one of the many supervisors.

"Why haven't you been actively suppressing news clips from Liramor-23?" Andjuran asked angrily.

It was not the first time that the supervisor had an irate senator screaming at him, so he took it in stride and called up the latest orders on Liramor-23.

"Sir, the suppression order is based on the supposition that the Director of Liramor-23, one Fiona Marsh, and her aide, one Henadi Noor, are suspected of having dealings with pirates. So, the key words would be pirates, Fiona Marsh, and Henadi Noor. We could not legally suppress other stories that may be presented by the press," he told Andjuran, confirming what his aide has said. "As well, the suppression order is confined to Terra and stories in Standard.

"We could not stop the retransmission of or redistribution of stories in other languages or those that originate off planet. The only legal way that we could actively suppress the name Liramor-23 is if there was undeniable proof that the station and the director were in league with pirates, and even then, that story in itself would be allowed to air." the legal supervisor informed him.

Andjuran was starting to get a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Fiona was holding the morning brief with the combined civilian and naval staff. She was looking at the angry face of a news producer from the Pan Galactic News Services who was screaming about the 'active suppression' of the news services and who was threatening her with unspecified actions unless she gave Pan Galactic reporters access to Liramor-23.

It was only two days since the story of the Battle of Liramor-23 had broke and already the bullshit was starting.

"Legal?" she asked her CLO.

"They don't have legal leg to stand on, the proof of this is that this particular producer is not even a planet-level bureaucrat for Pan Galactic. If he steps on someone's toes he can be 'reprimanded' for his overreaction by more senior producers," the CLO stated.

"Let's cut out the middleman then," Fiona said. "Draft a legal message to the president of Pan Galactic through LMC HQ Legal, indicating that Pan Galactic News Services are hereby banned from access to Liramor-23 for publicly threatening the director of same," Fiona ordered. "Include this producer's e-mail and the fact that his e-mail was viewed by all senior members of the Liramor-23 staff, and the Navy Protection Force of the Piscium system.

"Remind the president that Pan Galactic had the opportunity to place an accredited reporter on Liramor-23 several years ago when I took over as director and had turned down the option at that time, deeming Liramor-23 as 'too insignificant to rate a full time reporter'.

"Advise the president that if any other member of the Pan Galactic News Services ever again attempts to bribe, blackmail, or extort any member of the work force, or staff of Liramor-23, or any person who is under the protection of Liramor-23, or any member of the Navy Protection Force of the Piscium system, that we will bring the full force of Union law against Pan Galactic." Fiona finished, watching as the CLO's grin got larger and larger with each statement.

"Geez, Fiona," said a smiling Capt. Liana Dostier who was her only captain on platform today, "you really don't fight fair, do you?"

"Oh, no, that is fair," Fiona advised all. "What's not fair is what I am about to do next. CLO, you will make a holo-vid copy of this entire episode from this briefing, sending it to all the major news networks ending with this final statement: the Liramor-23 Mining Platform has an accredited Independent News Reporter who is passing stories of interest to the public about this platform. That the reporter chose to send her stories to a specific news service is not under the control of Liramor-23.

"The Liramor Mining Corporation will not accept unspecified or unjustified threats against its work force or staff by any organization no matter what the cause. Space mining is a dangerous occupation, and LMC does not want its work force to fear for its safety from organizations that are supposed to be looking out for their best interests. End statement.

"I want you to add a legal note indicating that entry into the Piscium system is restricted to civilian vessels who do not have prior authorization from LMC. This is a safety precaution due to the fact that we are an active mining facility and being in the wrong place at the wrong time can result in the possible collision with rocks being expelled by this platform." Fiona finished.

Johal Compound, Terra

Andjuran sat at his desk trying to keep up with his duties as a senator but failing. His thoughts continued to interrupt the work in progress.

His thoughts were centered around Liramor-23 and the two women there that he hated most, Fiona Marsh, and Henadi Noor.

He heard a knock at the servant's door and called out "Enter."

A man he knew well entered his office, while the woman escorting him closed the door behind her as she left.

The man was small in stature, being even shorter than Andjuran. But he was strongly built all the same. It was his eyes, however, that gave people pause. They were the cold eyes of a killer. The eyes of a man who slept well despite what he did during the day, or maybe because of what he did in the day.

Andjuran nodded to the man and offered him some rum. It seemed the thing to do for a pirate. The man declined and sat expectantly.

"We have a problem," Andjuran began without preamble. "Liramor-23 is beginning to publish news reports on their battle with the pirates. I can no longer stop the publication, in fact, I am probably going to have to disassociate myself from the original request to suppress the event."

The man thought about this for a few moments before nodding his head once, not saying a word.

"We need to do something about Liramor-23," Andjuran said. "They continue to disrupt our mutual operations. They must be dealt with, permanently."

The man smiled and nodded once more. Andjuran handed him a memory chip. "The latest shipping intelligence." He said.

The man took the chip and clipped it to his comp. A moment later, his comp beeped, and he placed the empty chip on Andjuran's desk, handing one of his own to the senator in return.

Andjuran stripped the chip and looked at the single request on it. The request was well within his power to complete. He nodded to the man, who stood up and left through the door opposite to which he entered. The door into the courtyard, where the little temple was.

Andjuran kept working at his desk for several more hours, now finding it much easier to complete the mundane tasks. Finally, he stood and stretched, calling for his transport to return to the capital.

Malihan Hospital, Green's World, Harn System, Twenty Light Years from Terra

Sean Murphy was being guided into the hospital's large physiotherapy center for the second time that day. Twice daily, he was brought here to be placed into a large pool of water to work the newly formed structures of his regenerated legs.

His legs had now reached their required length, and all muscles, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, and other physical parts were in place. Now came the arduous task of working those parts to cause them to grow in size, strength, capacity, and physical capabilities.

The physiotherapist assigned to him, Anaya, from Hollander's World, as well as his private nurse, Ayesha Seito, jumped into the pool with him and slowly worked his legs in the full range of motions that was expected from them. Sean had been bedridden so long that the muscles in his upper legs had atrophied. So much had to be done to get him back to where he been physically before the accident.

Each day they flexed his hips, knees, and ankles gaining a little more range of movement from their combined efforts. The process was painful, but the warm water helped. At the end of each week, they would measure parts of his legs to see if there was any improvement in musculature and test his leg's strength.

They had to do all of this carefully, as atrophied muscles would regain their abilities faster than the new muscles would, thus causing an imbalance in his legs and lengthen his time in physiotherapy.

Like many people from Hollander's World that worked in medicine or social work, Anaya was empathic. The ability to sense whether someone was in pain, angry, sad, or holding back something, made those with the gift especially effective and thus much sought after by the various medical institutions and security forces around the Union. As with many gifts, the abilities varied in strength between individuals. The gift was strong within Anaya.

She was able to use her gift to guide the work of her patients, knowing when to push them, despite their complaining, or when to stop, because they had pushed themselves far too hard but would not complain.

But this couple was an exception for Anaya. There was more than a little something between them, and they seemed to share a bound that somehow included Anaya.

At the end of two hours, they lifted an exhausted Sean out of the water, dried him, and placed him into the anti-grav chair. It was guided to the bathroom, where Sean slid himself onto the toilette and was given a few moments of privacy.

"There is a tension between you two," Anaya spoke softly and quickly. "I do not think he is abusing you, more like there is a bond between you that is growing. But there is tension in that, too. Somehow, this includes me, but I do not know why."

"Do you know Dr. Heyya?" Ayesha asked of the physiotherapist.

"No, I have not met her, but her name suggests she is from my home world," Anaya said.

"Heyya was Sean's original private nurse," Ayesha confided. "She came with him from Liramor-23, the mining platform where Sean was injured. Then she received her medical degree and is currently in Internship. She will leave soon to return to Liramor-23 in her new status as doctor.

"Heyya is my lover, and Sean is our lover as well. We will both miss her terribly when she leaves. That we were placed with you, another woman from Hollander's World, just reinforces that we are going to lose our friend soon," she finished.

Anaya took Ayesha into her arms in a soft hug. "I am so sorry for you. To lose a loved one is difficult. To know you are going to lose her even more so."