All That Glitters Ch. 28

To Tun-Mar Lom-Mon and Hat-Mun Lom-Mae, he presented a chip, that he placed into his wrist unit, that held a list of products and specifications that the Union was willing to trade. Tun-Mar was overwhelmed at the gesture.

To Tur-Ron Lin-Ton and Shan-Ret Lin-Tae, he presented the human chart of the periodic table, translated into their language. Shan-Ret was intrigued by the way the table was laid out, with each class of elements in given areas. This was something that the Pod-Drran had not done. It just made much more sense in its organization.

Finally, to each of the non-Ro delegates, he presented a new Pol-Mar, exquisitely designed and crafted from leather they had never seen before. Each had the delegate's names and house crest embossed on them and bore the crest of their service. The delegates were overwhelmed by the generosity of the humans.

For the brood, Mbibo had Kim, their sword experts, present a gift of the wooden swords they had been practicing with, much to their delight. Kim showed them the proper way to place their swords at their sides, ready for use.

Sha-Ret and Kur-Han were surprised and impressed by the gifts. As were the delegates.

Raymond led them back to the audience hall, saying goodbyes to the delegates as they left.

"If you wish, you can use The Wanderer for our negotiations in future," Raymond said. "The Jurte Pair need not return, if they do not wish to risk their brood in future. This got the brood to whining, to the laughter of all and the consternation of the Jurte Pair.

They boarded the VIP shuttles and returned to the Koh-Tan, not sure what to think of the humans and their ways...

The Council of Empaths, Samaya Hotel, Scherm's City, Hollander's World, Sixty Light Years from Terra

The Valour landed on the North Shuttle Pad of Scherm's City, the second largest city on Hollander's World. They had arrived for the commencement of the Grand Congress of Empaths, called by the Council of Empaths, the governing body of all empaths on Hollander's World.

Leaving the ship were Fiona Marsh, Junelliea Herlan, Hanalei Anar, Fayad Piscium, Heyya, Anaya, Katanya, Silliya, Gillaya, and Dr. Leanora Galt. Heyya had previously registered them for the Grand Congress as they made their way to the nearby hotel they would use.

The Samaya Hotel was one of the larger hotels in Scherm's City, large enough to hold many times the 500 plus delegates of the Grand Congress of Empaths. Raymond was paying for their rooms, so their rooms were first class, much to their delight. They waited for the evening social to meet some of the other delegates, Heyya and the others from Hollander's World eager to greet old friends.

The social was formal, so everyone was dressed in their best, while Fiona was dressed in formal Navy Mess dress with miniature medals. The members of the Congress, Fayad, Hanalei, and Dr. Galt wore their medals, while Junelliea centered herself as Heyya had showed her and walked into the social with a portion of her power on display. The delegates fell back from her in open shock at what they felt.

Councillor Mertanyea moved to intercept them as soon as people let him know. In his wake were Shylmiya, and Deriya, both Councillors, and Tilleya, and Geturyea, senior Grand Masters.

"Heyya," Shylmiya greeted the group, recognizing the doctor immediately. What have you brought to us, my dear?"

"Shylmiya, Mertanyea, Deriya, Tilleya, Geturyea, it is good to see you again after so many years away," Heyya greeted the Councillors and Grand Masters. "We have found a powerful empath that we have been working with, Councillors. However, she is far too powerful for me to complete her instruction, so we have come looking for one who can help us."

"Who do you bring before us, Heyya," asked Councillor Deriya.

"Councillor, I bring the Director of Liramor-23, Commodore in charge of the Piscium Defence Force, and my superior on Liramor-23, Fiona Marsh," Heyya introduced her boss, Fiona's name instantly recognized by those present.

"We formed a Teaching Congress of sorts on Liramor-23 from the five empaths of Hollander's World now on the platform, myself, Dr. Anaya, Nurse Katanya, Nurse Silliya, and of course, Gillaya, now the bodyguard for Liea Samson.

"Along with us we have brought three people who have been involved with the Congress to teach our new empath, they are Dr. Leanora Galt, a psychiatrist who is working with our new empath to help her understand what is going on in her mind, Fayad and Hanalei, part of the Trine for Junelliea, our new empath," Heyya introduced her group.

"Fiona Marsh," Tilleya extended her hand to Fiona. Fiona smiled and took it freely, waiting for the inevitable. She felt the woman do a quick skim of her mind but blocked a more detailed look as she had been shown by Heyya. Tilleya was surprised. She could easily get through the block but good form said not to.

"Your Trine?" Councillor Mertanyea asked of Junelliea.

"We are originally from Anuura, where plural marriages are permitted. We are a married Trine," Junelliea stated, reaching out for the hands of her Trine. The Councillors noted the action and understood it at many different levels.

That's when Junelliea surprised them even more. Already in a relaxed state and ready to push her power, she connected to her Trine and reached out to the members of her Fellowship for mutual support. They linked to her and Junelliea opened herself up as she had been shown. She amped up her power and projected peace and love at almost overwhelming levels.

All those around her felt it immediately and turned in her direction showing surprise and shock on their faces, as did the Councillors. The power this untrained empath was showing was far beyond anything they had expected.

"Please stop," Tilleya asked. Junelliea immediately dialed back on what she was doing and disconnected from her Congress.

"Heyya?" Mertanyea demanded in an authoritative tone.

"My apologies, Councillors," Heyya bowed to the group. "However, this young lady is just twenty years of age and has only come into her powers recently, after nearly being eaten alive. Her Trine is her source of strength and the loves of her life.

"We met by accident on Liramor-23 because Fayad works there. Liramor-23 has just allowed families to settle on the platform, otherwise we might not have met Junelliea. When we met her we were just as stunned at the level of raw power she displayed as you were this evening.

"Junelliea had already begun to manifest her power, so we thought it best to give her instruction to help her and prevent her from doing something damaging to others.

"We formed a Teaching Congress for her, which has inadvertently become her Followship. So far we have held three session with her Councillors. Just three.

"Councillors, she went through the touching of minds in a single two hour session. She learned how to project power in just over an hour in an intimate setting.

"She manifested the ability to project love and peace in a single session. In that session she healed Fiona Marsh, who we found had been holding her sadness and despair in for many months. Junelliea touched her mind and it opened for her, allowing her to take much of the burden from her.

"Understand Councillors, she is untrained, she has had three sessions of instruction and she lifted a major burden from Director Fiona Marsh.

"I'm sure you are aware of Commodore Marsh's story. Her burden has been exceedingly heavy," Heyya told them.

"I had been invited to the third session of their Congress as an observer so that I could understand what they were trying to accomplish with Junelliea," Fiona took over. "She was being shown how to project peace and love, how to gently touch the minds of those in the room. She touched my mind and pushed that peace, love and calm into a mind that was in chaos from all that has happened to me over the last few years.

"Since the discovery of aliens in the Piscium system, the burdens on my shoulders have been piling on ever deeper. Junelliea saw that and pulled me into the center of the Congress, where she took me into her embrace and helped me lift this heavy burden," Fiona explained.

"All that was done instinctively, Councillors," Heyya took over again. "She has had no training as yet on how to formally use her powers. We are only in the beginning phases of her training. Yet you have seen the level of power she can manifest even with such limited experience.

"We are here to participate in the Grand Congress of Empaths. We are also here to introduce Junelliea to the Council of Empaths and beg for assistance in her training.

"This one should not be allowed to stumble forward on her own, Councillors. She needs the kind of formal training only a Grand Master can give. However there is a problem," Heyya ended.

"Junelliea is a member of a new Trine, a new family," Fiona explained. "They are currently actively trying to have children. Fayad is an important member of the administrative force of my platform. I cannot lose him for more than a short time.

"Because of this, we will need to hire someone to instruct Junelliea who can return with us to Liramor-23 and instruct her there," Fiona finished.

The Councillors looked at each other, instantly aware of the problems that brought.

That's when something unusual happened to startle everyone even further.

Scherm's Cats are not really cats at all. They are more like lizards though there is no real comparison to Terran lizards. They are warm blooded and have fur. They have no bones but rather have cartilaginous mass that allows them to squeeze through the smallest of spaces.

The Cats are empathic by nature and often bond with the human empaths because this empathic bond is stronger than the natural bond to their own kind. Once a Cat bonds with a human empath, they bond with that person for life.

The Cats are capable of 'flight' of sorts, more a controlled glide like the flying squirrels of Terra. Three of the Cats suddenly landed on Junelliea's shoulders and began to fight with each other for dominance over their new bond host.

Junelliea suddenly got angry and told them in a very forceful manner to "Behave!". The Cats instantly settle down, all three of them. Junelliea reached out to touch her Trine. The three cats hissed at each other but one stood larger than the others. The other two moved from Junelliea's shoulders and walked submissively over to the shoulders of Fayad and Hanalei. When people moved forward to collect them, the Cats refused to move. For the first time in the recorded history of Hollander's World, Scherm's Cats bonded with non-empaths, shocking the crowd of viewers.

The Trine suddenly found themselves with new pets...

End of chapter twenty-eight.

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