All That Glitters Ch. 30

Mind-Hur screeched in sheer joy, Vangeliya screeched in sheer surprise at seeing her very first ever alien, and the cats trilled loudly at being introduced to a new friend of the bond mates, adding to the din!

Junelliya went immediately to Vangeliya to comfort her, Juneya running around their shoulders as she Junelliya hugged her instructor.

"I'm so sorry, Vangeliya, I forgot that you haven't met my friend yet," Junelliya said. "She's really a nice person when you get to know her."

"It's just that I was so surprised to see, her?" Vangeliya replied.

"Let me introduce you," Junelliya said, dragging the surprised Vangeliya to Mind-Ur.

"Vangeliya, this is Mind-Ur, our friend," Junelliya began the introductions. "Mind-Ur, this is Vangeliya, a new member of our team and a special needs instructor that Fiona has hired."

"Special needs?" Mind-Ur asked.

"It's personal, Mind-Ur, so please do not ask," Junelliya said.

Mind-Ur gave her enigmatic smile and nodded her head as she had learned humans did. "Of course, Junelliya. I hope that one day you will feel free to tell me but not until you are ready to explain.

"But what are these wonderful creatures you have?" she asked Junelliya.

"These are called Scherm's Cats," Hanalei explained. "They are native to Hollander's World, and they seem to have bonded with us while we were there this last week. Once they bond to you, they make you part of their pod, their family.

"We are a family unit now on two different levels, as a married Trine, and as part of the Cat's pod," Hanalei explained.

"Let's see if they will accept you as a friend," Junelliya said, turning her head to Juneya. She put her hand up to he shoulder and Juneya stepped out onto the back of it. She then moved her hand toward Mind-Ur, who extended her own hand, stopping just shy of touching Junelliya's hand.

Juneya sniffed at the hand in front of her, turned her head to look at Junelliya as if to say, 'what now', then turned back to look at Mind-Ur, her head twisting and turning continuously as she examined the person in front of her.

Finally, she sniffed at the hand extended to her and looked back to Junelliya one last time for comfort.

"Friend," Junelliya told Juneya. "Mind-Ur, this is Juneya, my Cat, my friend, and my bond mate. I am also a member of her pod, along with Hanalei, Fayad and their two Cats, Hanaya, and Fayea."

"Hello, Juneya," Mind-Ur said in a soft voice.

Juneya sniffed again at the hand, then stepped over onto it. Mind-Ur brought her hand toward her face, Junelliya warning her not to bring Juneya too close in case she decided that Mind-Ur was not really a friend.

Juneya looked deeply into Mind-Ur's eyes, then scampered up her arm to ride her shoulder for a bit, before jumping off high into the air and swooping down onto Junelliya's shoulder, then back to Mind-Ur.

Juneya suddenly discovered that Mind-Ur's hair was different and started sliding through it, delighting in the sounds the hollow hair made. As she slipped through the dense hair, she would peek her head above the mass and then slide back into it, as if she were swimming in water. She trilled at the feel of being in Mind-Ur's hair and that brought the other Cats to check out their new friend.

Junelliya had to intervene when they got a little to rambunctious in Mind-Ur's hair, bring laughter from all who were watching the Cats antics.

"Well, it seems that Mind-Ur has been accepted as a friend," Fayad stated. "Congratulations Mind-Ur, we really didn't know if they would take to you. I'm glad, though, that they did."

"Yes, it would have meant that you could no longer come to our home if they hadn't," Hanalei stated.

"We had nothing to fear. We will have to be careful of all who we welcome into our home, though" Junelliya said. They would have to take the time to acclimatize the Cats to the platform and all the people on it. That would mean many days of walking around with Cats riding their shoulders. Not the hardest task she could think of.

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Ambassador Harold Flynet was seated at the conference room table as the people who needed to be in the briefing came in. Present were Fiona Marsh, Capt. Liana Dostier, commanding the NS Kindalla and 2 I/C of the Piscium Defence Force, Capt. Helga Hellebore, Fiona's Civilian Liaison Officer, Cdr. Damayanti Balakrishnan, Fiona's aide-de-camp, Cdr. Franz Teal, Intelligence Officer, Fayad Piscium, Acting Deputy Director of Liramor-23, Raymond Clark, Liea Samson, and their bodyguards Kim and Gillaya, and Capt. Henadi Noor of The Wanderer.

"I'll get right to the point," Fiona said after sealing the room. "While the presentation of citizenship to Mind-Ur was real, it was a welcome ruse for why Ambassador Flynet is here. The Ambassador is the Union Ambassador to New Hadria and he has just come from a personal meeting with the new head of the Handren Trading Company.

"Mr. Ambassador, the people in this room are all involved on one way or another in the anti-slavery campaign and intelligence gathering on possible Union citizen slaves," Fiona ended.

"I see," Flynet said. "I am very pleased to meet you all and to know that there is such a team in place. I had not heard of it but that makes sense to me.

"What I am about to divulge to you does not leave this room.

"Three days ago, I met with the new head of the Handren Trading Company, Katryana Handren. She is the middle daughter of Arturo Handren and the inheritor of the family wealth after her father and brother were brought to trial for crimes against company and planetary law.

"Her uncles decided to oust her but did so using illegal means, the very thing they had used to oust Arturo from his position as head of the company and his son from being able to take over from the father.

"Katryana, being in the meeting and being considerably more business savvy then her uncles, got them dead to rights legally recording them as they used illegal means to oust her. The result is that she is the only Handren left standing to take over the company and has done so, despite her young age.

"Why is this important to this group? Because Katryana is an abolitionist. She recognizes that fact that slavery is a dying trade and that slavery has placed her planet in a bad way economically as well as placing her planet and the Alliance on a potentially war footing against the Union, a war the Alliance cannot win.

"Having been able to travel extensively in her younger years, Katryana noted that Union worlds are much better off economically than Alliance worlds. The reason for this is simple, according to Ms. Handren: slaves don't have money. They cannot buy things. Since slaves make up the bulk of the people on Alliance worlds, their economies are just not as developed as Union planets. Ms. Handren plans to change that.

"In a private meeting, Ms. Handren made three bold statements to me: First, that the Handren Trading Company holds no Union citizens as slaves. She told me that the bulk of the Handren Companies businesses are situated in the capital, New Carthage, the only city on the planet that non-Alliance citizens may visit. As such, there would be too great a risk for the company to hold Union slaves.

"Second, she stated that later this week, a very lively debate would begin on the entertainment net on slavery and its benefits. However, she intends the debate to be biased slightly toward abolition and continue to make the case for such getting more and more bold on the issue over the coming years.

"Her long-term purpose with this; to get a new law on the status of citizens creating a new form of citizen. Her intent is to free her slaves and turn them into the new class of citizen, paying her new employees so that the economy can advance. That will take years but Katryana is young.

"Third, as a short-term goal, over the next six months to a year, she intends to find out who has the bulk of Union Slaves on her planet and pass that information to us. She wants the Union to raid those companies, driving home to all the stupidity of owning Union slaves. This, in turn, will hopefully validate her position on abolition, though she admits that slavery will not die quickly, nor without resistance.

"Ms. Handren must be very careful that nothing comes back to her company providing information for these raids, otherwise, the Handren Trading Company may very well cease to exist, her along with it.

"In return, Ms. Handren wants to be able to bring New Hadria into the Union as the planet begins to move away from slavery, something that she admits will take time. She hopes to be able to accomplish this within forty years.

"You now know the situation. Any questions?" Flynet asked. There were a lot.

Construction Bay -23, Liramor-23, Piscium system

Hanalei and Junelliya had been rather enigmatic with Vangeliya as they came to the scientists construction bay. They had said that Vangeliya had needed to meet one more 'friend' who wasn't yet a friend.

The three Cats were riding on each of their shoulders, as Fayad was still reluctant to have Fayea in Central Control while he was working. They had brought all three Cats to Central Control just to acclimatise then to the different workspaces on the platform but Fayad was still not fully comfortable with his control of Fayea to bring him there during work times.

Junelliya stopped at the hatch to the construction bay and looked hard at Vangeliya.

"Whatever you see in here, you must NOT react to it," she told Vangeliya forcefully. "He has not shown himself to be dangerous to us so far. You will be working with me here fairly often, and even working here on your own, so this will be the litmus test for you," she warned the other empath.

Junelliya cycled the hatch and the three ladies and the pod stepped into the airlock. When the hatch they had stepped through sealed, they heard a voice over the speaker.

"Yes?" the voice of a woman asked.

"It's Junelliya with Vangeliya, and Hanalei. We are showing Vangeliya her responsibilities and letting her get used to her duties," Junelliya said.

The inner hatch cycled and Junelliya took Vangeliya's hand and pushed calm into her friend. "Whatever you see, don't worry. We are responsible for helping the scientists in completing the translation matrix. My empathy has been a huge help to date on this."

Vangeliya took a deep breath as the three friends entered the bay and moved over to the observation post.

"High, Linsey, this is my counterpart, Vangeliya. Vangeliya, this is Dr. Linsey Stanet, she's a computer specialist with the team," Junelliya told her partner as they greeted the specialist.

"How is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi doing?" Junelliya asked, deliberately looking out into the bay. Vangeliya followed her gaze and almost fell over backwards at what she saw.

It looked for all purposes like a giant ant! It was moving back and forth, doing pantomime actions with the team of scientists as they tried to work out its language. Vangeliya felt a hand under her chin, helping her close her mouth and looked over at the amused Hanalei.

"Happened to me too," Hanalei assured her.

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?" Vangeliya asked.

"Comes from a Rudyard Kipling story from almost five hundred years ago. It kept telling us its name but we have not been able to translate it yet. However, the clicks and whistles reminded my of that name so that is what we call him for now." Junelliya explained.

"Him?" Vangeliya asked.

"You'll know once you touch his mind, he's definitely male," Junelliya told her.

"Oh, such lovely pets you have, Junelliya," Linsey said, finally noticing the Cats.

"They are not pets but companions Linsey," Junelliya told her. "They are Scherm's Cats from Hollander's World. They are very intelligent and highly empathic. They bonded to us while we were on Hollander's World. We're stuck with them now but I would have it no other way."

"They are beautiful," Linsey said looking at the Cats riding the ladies shoulders.

"They are also quite dangerous, so don't let their small size fool you. We want to see if they will greet Rikki as well as they have greeted many of our other friends," Junelliya said. "Can we go in?"

Linsey contacted Dr. Hitron who came to the observation room.

"Welcome, Vangeliya. I'm Dr. Sylvia Hitron, head of the Piscium Scientific Investigation Team. I'm glad we have another person who will be available full-time to help Junelliya. Heyya and her staff having their priorities in the hospital are not always available when Junelliya is away on other duties," Dr. Hitron said.

"Oh, are those Scherm's Cats?" Sylvia asked, spotting the pod.

"Yes," Hanalei said. "We want to see if they are going to be OK with Rikki. They don't like to be left alone so it would be nice if we could bring them here when Junelliya is working with Rikki and the team."

"OK. How is your control over them?" Sylvia asked them.

"Junelliya has a masterful control over them," Vangeliya told her new boss. "I've never seen Cats respond as they do to her."

"Alright," Sylvia responded. "Let's take them into the bay and see how they handle being there. Keep a sharp eye on their reactions, Junelliya, and on Rikki's reaction to them as well. If either they or Rikki display anything beyond friendly intentions or curiosity, get them out of there immediately," she ordered, getting a nod from Junelliya.

They opened the door into the bay and walked down the steps towards the group doing the pantomimes. As they got closer, Junelliya touched Vangeliya and opened herself to the link between her and Rikki, who instantly knew she was there.

"He is aware of us," Vangeliya said in surprise, sharing the link with Junelliya.

"Yes," Junelliya replied. "He seems to know when we touch his mind but I feel nothing like the feelings I get with other empaths," she told her. "Shall we introduce ourselves?"

Junelliya walked up to the group and told the Cats to play. The three Cats leapt off of their shoulders and flittered around the open space before coming back to the women, much to the delight of the scientists in the room and surprisingly, to Rikki as well. He enjoyed watching the Cats flying around.

"Well, he is not afraid of the Cats," Vangeliya noted, "and they don't seem to be afraid of him."

"That's a good sign then," Junelliya replied, breathing a sigh of relief.

"She opened her hand and Juneya slipped down her arm and rolled into a tight ball in her palm. Junelliya threw her as high as she could into the air, to see her snap open and float all around the very large area, trilling her excitement at being in such a large, open space. Hanaya and Fayea suddenly became interested, bringing laughter from Hanalei and Vangeliya. Soon, the three Cats were flying all about, trilling their excitement for all to hear, while the Insectoid known as Rikki-Tikki- Tavy watched with amusement.

Soon enough, the Cats had resettled on the ladies shoulders as Junelliya and Vangeliya gave their attention to the pantomimes.

Junelliya was able to direct the pantomimes a little better, getting a connection with Rikki, who was able to understand three new words in relatively short order.

"Things always move better while you are here, Junelliya," Dr. Syun Chu stated happily. "It will be nice to have two of you available full-time now. That will mean we will progress much faster."

Junelliya explained to Vangeliya that they had made some major advancements over the last few weeks and that Rikki and the team had managed to translate over four hundred words. They were almost at the point that the computers would soon be able to talk to themselves, which would improve the pace of translation to no end.

"You assistance over the next few weeks will mean we reach the breakthrough point much faster," Dr. Hitron told Vangeliya. "That you can understand Rikki's emotions means we can focus down on the nitty-gritty of the details for translation, making the transition faster."

"So, if we increase the number of words the computers can understand that will allow us to move into the computer translation phase?" Vangeliya asked.

"Yes, and no," Dr. Hitron explained. "It is important that we have as large a vocabulary as possible but it is also important what words are part of the matrix before it goes to the computers. The translation matrix is designed to work around a broad understanding of words, grammar, text association, the basic principles of language. Having said that, the more of the 'right' words we have, the better and faster the computers can work, which is why we are still working in this phase of the translation matrix.

Vangeliya told her that she understood. She looked over to the large Insectoid named Rikki and wondered what his life had been like and would be like in the near future.

The pair helped for a little while, giving the chance for the Cats to play and have some excitement. By the time they had helped translate another ten words, the Cats were curled up over the ladies shoulders, all tuckered out.

The trio said their goodbyes to the team and assured them that one or the other of them would be with them on a more permanent basis once Vangeliya became more familiar with her job.

They said their goodbyes to the team and to Rikki and headed back out to check out the new shops in the shopping concourse. There were only four shops so far but it was a significant start, as there had not been any shops on the platform prior to this.

The Wanderer, The Fleet Shem, Interstellar Space, Three Light Years from the Piscium System

The Wanderer came into existence not far from the Koh-Tan Se-Lam Roe ot Shem and opened comms to the Koh-Tan. They soon had a visual link with the ship.

"Hello, Koh-Han Jurte, Sha-Ret Jurte, I hope I find you in good spirits today?" he asked of the Jurte Pair. "Will you be bringing your brood to visit today?"

"No, Raymond of the Union," Sha-Ret replied. "It would not be safe to move my brood at this time."

"Is there an issue?" Raymond asked, suddenly very alert.

"It is the season for Yudha-Seypec, Raymond," Koh-Han explained. "It is not wise to move the brood at this time."

"What of you, Koh-Han and you, Sha-Ret? Are you safe?" Raymond asked.

"Yes, Raymond, we are safe," Sha-Ret assured him. "None in this fleet is at a level that could challenge us and being Jurte means they could not challenge us."

"That is good to hear. What of the negotiation team, Sha-Ret, are they safe?"

"Yes, Raymond, they too are safe," Koh-Han replied. "Their titles are presented by the Emperor himself, so they can not lose the title in Yudha-Seypec, Raymond."

"They could not lose the title, but would they personally be safe?" Raymond asked.

"All Rai/Ro must be ready to answer if they are requested for Yudha-Seypec, Raymond. No warrior is 'safe' from this tradition. However, these two Ro are directed by the Emperor himself, Raymond, as are we the Jurte Pair.

"As such, to make challenge of us would be to challenge the Emperor and his family. In that regard, Raymond, we are 'safe', or a safe as we can be.

"There are always those who will see and make challenge even if there is no advantage for them to do so. I am sure there are those in the Union who would do the same, Raymond," Sha-Ret finished.

"If I understand you correctly, Sha-Ret, then I would say you are correct. There are idiots in every system who would challenge the system regardless of what the system does to prevent them from doing such foolish things," Raymond admitted.

"You cannot come to us, but can we come to you?" Raymond asked. "If we do, would we be safe?"

"You may. As members of the Union, you would not be challenged. As members of a fleet that could easily destroy this fleet and the home world, it would take a true idiot to challenge you. I'm sure the Union would not be understanding if you were injured or killed during a Yudha-Seypec challenge, I would not like to contemplate the results of such an afront to this fleet or to the home world, Raymond.