All That Glitters Ch. 31

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am" Malteyea replied.

"Would you like to meet Rikki?" Sylvia asked.

"Rikki?" Malteyea asked, confused.

"Short for Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," Sylvia explained. "We cannot say his name in his language but it sounds similar to Rikki-Tikki so the name stuck with him."

"Vangeliya, could you?" Sylvia asked.

Vangeliya reached out her hand and Malteyea took it. Explosion! The two bonded together almost instantly, something that they had not expected. That single touch told him all he needed to know about her. It instantly gave him her power levels, her capabilities in those levels, her capabilities as an instructor to Junelliya, and it opened his mind to contact with Rikki.

Juneya leapt from Junelliya's shoulder, trilling happily as she made loop after loop in the air above her before landing gently on her bond mate's shoulder once again.

"Oh, my!" Junelliya blinked several times. "I have never experienced that before."

"What happened, Junelliya?" Fiona asked.

"I thing they are in love, Fiona," Junelliya explained. "They almost instantly bonded when Vangeliya and Malteyea touched. It's like, love at first site for an empath. They are committed to each other."

Suddenly, a large presence made itself aware to Malteyea. He looked up into the strange, compound eyes, of Rikki. He briefly touched the Insectoid's mind. That touch told him that Rikki was no a danger to those around him, that Rikki was highly intelligent, that Rikki was aware of those who could touch his mind, and that Rikki was definitely a male.

Rikki made several strange whistling, clacking, and clicking sounds that suddenly came out as something else from the comp on the Insectoid's wrist.

"I am the one you call, Rikki," he said through the translator.

"I am pleased to meet you, Rikki," Malteyea replied, letting the translator do its work.

"I will be working with the Director, Fiona Marsh," he told Rikki.

"Yes, the Mother of this station," Rikki replied.

"Mother?" Malteyea asked.

"What we would refer to as the 'Queen' he refers to as the 'Mother', which makes sense when you think of it," Sylvia explained. "The mother gives birth to all the workers and is the source of direction and law for her people."

"That would make you a 'Drone' like me, though I sense something different between you..." Rikki said.

"Fiona Marsh is our director, Mother of the station," Sylvia told, Rikki. "However, I think that Vangeliya could become Malteyea's mate."

"Mate, yes," Rikki acknowledged. "I feel from you two like I feel from the Mother."

Fiona looked to Junelliya, confused. "A Drone's duty is to inseminate the Mother," she explained. "At this level of intelligence, there would be more than just a sense of duty between them, there would be something akin to love.

"He can sense that feeling coming from Vangeliya and Malteyea, but not the same between you and Malteyea," she told Fiona.

Fiona smiled. Ya, that could be an issue if there was that kind of love, she thought.

Not long after, Fiona continued her rounds, Malteyea in tow. They ended up at the hospital. As Fiona walked into reception, she saw the two nurses, Katanya and Silliya.

"Good morning, ladies," I have a treat for you two, my newest aide-de-camp, Malteyea, needs a full medical," she told the two nurses.

The two ladies looked around Fiona and smiled when they saw who it was, the smiled lessened somewhat as they immediately knew that he was bonded.

"Who is the lucky women?" Silliya asked.

"Vangeliya," he replied without hesitation.

"Really! I didn't know she was in a relationship," Katanya stated.

"Well, it kind of just happened," Fiona said with a smile. "I introduced him to her and bam! Just like that."

"That doesn't happen," Silliya said, confused. "What are your power levels?" she asked. By way of response, he reach out and took each of their hands.

"Oh! You are a perfect match for Vangeliya," Katanya remarked. "But still, that should never have happened that fast..."

"Junelliya was there," Fiona said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh, well, that might explain things. If things are going to happen, they will happen in Junelliya's presence," Silliya informed them.

"What is this with Junelliya?" Malteyea asked. "I have never felt anyone so powerful before."

"Junelliya is not from Hollander's World." Katanya clarified. "She started coming into her power approximately two years ago when she was almost eaten by a large shark on Terra. The large tooth she wears around her neck is from that very shark.

"Her mate, Fayad, saved her and took her heart. They were married last year as part of a Trine," Katanya stopped as she saw Malteyea was confused.

"Trine?" he asked.

"Junelliya, Fayad, and Hanalei are all from Planet Anuura where plural marriages are permitted. The three of them are married, a Trine," Silliya told him.

"Junelliya started seriously manifesting her powers a several months back," Katanya took over again. "Even then, it was obvious that she would be powerful. We, Dr. Heyya, Dr. Anaya, Dr. Galt, Silliya, Gillaya, a bodyguard from The Wanderer, and myself, formed a Training Congress for her. We became her Fellowship.

"When we discovered how powerful she was becoming, and how fast she was learning, we went to the recent Grand Congress of Empaths on Hollander's World and petitioned for a Grand Master to support us. That was Vangeliya, your bond mate," she finished with a smile.

"Who's bond mate?" Dr. Heyya asked as she came into reception.

"Dr. Heyya, this is Malteyea, Fiona's latest aide-de-camp. Malteyea, Dr. Heyya, head of the Trauma Ward," Katanya introduced them.

Heyya smiled at the handsome young empath. "Same question," she told him.

"Vangeliya," he said with a smile.

"OH! Really! I didn't know she was in a relationship," Heyya replied.

"It kind of just happened, in the presence of Junelliya," he replied, blushing a little.

Fiona was surprised. She had never seen an empath blush before.

"Oh, well, that explains it," Heyya laughed. "Instant bond?" she asked, getting a nod back from Malteyea. She touched his hand and they shared their unique power levels between each other. "Ah, you are uniquely suited for her, congratulations young man."

"What happened to Damyanti?" Heyya asked.

"Helga was given the Kindalla as a command, Damyanti was promoted Captain and made Civilian Liaison Officer. Thenton tossed Malteyea here at me earlier this morning. With Dr. Mirren here now, you don't get to the morning briefs anymore," Fiona said with a smile.

Dr. May Anne Mirren was the new administrative head and of the hospital and CMO for LMC-23, allowing Heyya to be the doctor she needed to be and not the administrator she had become.

"Dr. Heyya, my aide-de-camp requires a complete physical," Fiona said, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend. Heyya smiled.

"Oh, that should take about two hours," Heyya informed her. "Do you have other things to do?" she asked Fiona, who barked a laugh and left, leaving a suddenly worried Malteyea looking at three very happy ladies...

House of Ur Quarters, India Deck, Liramor-23, Piscium System

It was two months after the trip to Terra and Junelliya was tripping over new linguistic aspects of the Pod-Drran language. Junelliya was actually assisting members of the House of Ur in their language skills in Standard on her free time. They in turn, were teaching Junelliya their own language. It made for a delightful game as they skipped back and forth between the languages.

"You learn remarkably quickly, Junelliya," Mind-Ur noted.

"Not as fast as some," Junelliya replied. "It's amazing in how fast Ren-Ur learns."

Mind-Ur nodded her head in the fashion of the Pod-Drran, a tight circle of the head to the right as opposed to nodding up and down like humans did. The movement for No was still a back and forth movement of the head, similar to humans.

"Mannerisms are important, too," Mind-Ur was telling her. "Some words are emphasized with hand strokes or with head movements. For instance, if you want to say you think someone is stupid, you would say 'as smart as a Gantor'. Gantors are large, carnivorous animals that hunt in packs, however, singly they are as dumb as you can get.

"But if you put this head movement on it, you are indicating that even the Gantor is more intelligent than the person you are speaking of or to," Mind-Ur said, showing the movement in question, which was a quick thrust of the head, raising the chin from lower right to higher left.

They kept it up most of the afternoon until Junelliya got a call from Hanalei. "Fayad will be home soon. Supper is nearly on the table," her Trine said.

"OK, Hanalei. I will be there shortly. I am at Mind-Ur's place below us," she informed.

"K. Do you have Juneya with you?" Hanalei asked. "I haven't seen her all day."

"Yes, she is with me," Junelliya replied. "We will be back soon."

Junelliya made her good-byes to Mind-Ur and the others and headed down the corridor towards the core, and up one level. She had to use the elevator to move up the level as there was no 'ladder' (spacer's term for a stair) in this particular corridor and it made more sense to go to the core and back than over several corridors to find a ladder.

She arrived quickly at her own quarters and slipped her shoes off inside, moving about in sock feet. She noted that the table was not yet completely set, so she started that task. They were quickly ready.

Fayad entered the home, "Honey, I'm home!" he called out, getting the customary giggles from his wives. They still liked the phrase even though they had heard it many times now.

Junelliya moved to Fayad and got a lingering kiss before letting Hanalei get her own. Fayad moved to the sink to wash up, so Junelliya moved to the small bathroom to do the same, the Cats, all three of them. Following her in.

The Cats sat on the edge of the sink while she washed up, getting in her way by playing in the water with her as she washed.

She moved to the table with all three cats following her again. Fayea and Hanaya sat on her shoulders while Juneya sat in her lap, reaching up to constantly rub her chin. All three were keening softly.

"What's with the Cats today?" Fayad asked. "They don't seem to want to leave Junelliya alone."

"Yes," Hanalei admitted. "It's almost like the day I found out I was..."

The two women stared at each other as smiles formed on their faces. Junelliya went to get up but Hanalei placed a hand on her arm.

"Eat your supper first, and don't rush," she ordered of Junelliya. "They can wait a few minutes more."

The two women rushed through their dinner anyway, tears forming in their eyes, while poor Fayad was looking back and forth between them, knowing something important had happened but not exactly sure what.

Dinner was over quickly and Junelliya ordered the Cats to stay as she kissed Hanalei and took Fayad's hand.

"You missed out on this last time," she told her husband. "This time you can be there."

Holding Fayad's hand, she went down the corridor to the hospital and looked to see who was on duty at reception. It was Katanya.

Katanya looked up to see the smile on Junelliya's face, the confusion on Fayad's, and Junelliya clinging tightly to Fayad's hand. Her eyebrow went up.

"The Cats were doing the Kit keening sound again but this time with me," she said with a shy smile.

Katanya was up in a shot. She took them into treatment room one and took out the necessary kit, giving the stick to Junelliya and pointing to the toilette. As soon as Fayad saw the stick, he caught on to what was going on.

While Junelliya was in the toilette, Katanya called Heyya, who was on shift as the duty doctor.

Heyya came into the room to see Fayad eagerly watching the toilette door. She raised an eyebrow to Katanya who said, "ACG test, Junelliya," by way of explanation.

Junelliya came out and handed the stick to Katanya, then gave Heyya a hug, before turning back to Fayad, sitting beside him, holding tightly to his hand as they waited for the test results.

"Looks like we have a positive result," Katanya said with a smile, showing them the stick. The kiss that Fayad gave Junelliya was suddenly very wet...

Construction Bay-21, November Deck, Liramor-23, Piscium System

The Fellowship of the Training Congress was all together for the first time in months. They had always been one person short since their return from Hollander's World, so the inclusion of first Vangeliya and then Malteyea was a bonus. This time, the had all eight empaths together with Dr. Galt, the Trine, and the Cats. The original observation group was back with them, with all of their recording equipment.

They were all sitting around on the mats in a lose group, drinking tea and eating the cookies that one of the scientists had made. Vangeliya was talking about pregnancy and empaths.

"As powerful as you are, your pregnancy is going to influence the children forming in the womb," Vangeliya explained.

"Children? As far as I know, there is only one there," Junelliya informed her trainer.

"Hanalei lives with you, Junelliya," Vangeliya told her. "Her child, too, will be affected by your power. It cannot be helped. I'm sure the three of you share a bed, for now. You may wind up needing separate beds as your pregnancies progress, but that is not the issue.

"Pregnancies with strong empaths tend to produce children that manifest early. If the Empath is strong enough, and you are, Junelliya, other pregnancies in the household will be affected. Add to the that your 'house' is nothing more than a small apartment and the enhancing affect that the Cats have, and both of your children will be strong empaths, likely manifesting early," she finished.

"How early is early?" Hanalei asked.

"That's just it, no one can say for sure," Vangeliya told them. "Most strong empaths will manifest a small amount of their powers by the time they are five or six. Generally speaking, the stronger an empath will be, the younger they tend to show signs of their abilities. Though that is not always the case, and usually does not happen off Hollander's World, where empaths are considered freaks and their power is suppressed.

"In your case, you didn't manifest your powers until a significant trauma sparked them. The children of Hollander's World are different. There empaths are considered special and encouraged.

"Your children will grow up in an environment where they will be encouraged to be empaths, and they will have plenty of aunts and uncles who want them to be members of the Council of Empaths, so they will likely show their powers early, considering how powerful you are, Junelliya.

"However, there is the issue of a 'Pregnancy Spike'," Vangeliya explained. "Sometime in the middle of your pregnancy, your need to protect your children, even in the womb, will cause your power to spike. It may even get out of control.

"Around your fourth month of pregnancy, we will have to start having one of us living with you to help monitor you power and potential surges. That person will help you maintain your equilibrium and keep your spikes to a minimum. Quite frankly, if we cannot, we will have to bring you back to Hollander's World until you have the birth. You will be a danger to everyone on this platform.

"So today's exercise will be on doing fine control of your powers. Are you ready to start?" she asked Junelliya.

The tea and remaining plates were quickly removed and everyone took their places, the Fellowship on the floor in a rough circle, the observers on their machines and cameras.

"First, we will conduct the centering exercise," Vangeliya said. "I want you to think calming thoughts while you center yourself, Junelliya. I also want you to be especially aware of your Trine, Hanalei in particular."

Junelliya swiftly found her center and projected calm to the group before identifying and linking with her Trine. She spent more time linking with Hanalei, getting to know her on a much more personal level now that she too was pregnant.

Hanalei was now nearing the end of her fourth month of pregnancy and a small baby bump was visible. Junelliya took particular delight in touching Hanalei's mind as she could feel the maternal instincts forming in her, getting stronger as her pregnancy progressed. Being beside her almost every minute of the day and night, she hadn't caught on to the changes in her mate but now that she was looking they became readily apparent.

The three Cats settled on Hanalei's thighs and rubbed their heads on her belly, doing the Kit Keening and purring on her, the rumbles being felt throughout Hanalei's body. She smiled down at the Cats and stroked each of their heads, the Cats now very familiar with the members of their pod.

Hanalei and Junelliya reached out to the people on either side of them, Junelliya taking Fayad's hand and Hanalei Silly's. They in turn reached out to the others until the entire circle was now physically linked.

Junelliya took in the maternal feelings of Hanalei and passed that around the circle, getting a sound of surprise from Malteyea, who had never before had direct or indirect contact with Hanalei.

Malteyea was holding hands with Vangeliya, Heyya on the other side of her, the three most powerful of the group together at the other end of the circle. Malteyea suddenly realised that even combined, they were not as powerful as Junelliya. That surprised him.

Vangeliya amplified the feelings she had received and pushed them back to Junelliya through both sides of the circle.

The circle brought the feelings back to Junelliya who amplified them and pushed them around the circle one more time. None of the other women in the circle had ever been pregnant before, so the feelings they were receiving from Hanalei were a delight for them. The amplified feelings were intense for them all.

Dr. Galt was always amazed when she sat in as part of the Fellowship. The experiences she had during these sessions were like nothing she had ever experienced before. Now, she got to know intimately, the experience of being an expectant mother in the second trimester.

Malteyea had been in a family congress before when his mother and his older sisters had been pregnant, so this experience was not unique for him. However, there had never been the kind of power in those family congresses that was evident here in this Fellowship. He had always been amazed at how powerful the maternal instincts were but that feeling had been a hazy thing at best before. Now, the feelings were sharp and clear to him. He would be forever grateful for having been included as part of this Fellowship.

"Junelliya, I want you to reach out and gently touch the minds of all those not in the circle," Vangeliya told her student. "Be gentle with them. Just touch them in the lightest way possible."

Vangeliya monitored her student as she did just that. She was amazed at how this woman could accomplish all she asked frequently on her first attempt, rarely needing more than one try to do something she was asked or shown how to do.

Junelliya's control was becoming more and more precise as she practiced her empathy under the direction of Vangeliya. The fine control that Vangeliya had was incredible and something that Junelliya actively tried to emulate. With her mentor as an example, she was swiftly learning things that would have taken ages of trial and error otherwise.

"Once you have touched all the minds in the room, I want you to pass along to them the feelings that you are sharing with the Congress," Vangeliya said.

Again, she closely monitored her student as she brought each mind into and shared the feelings with them. Some of the scientists had experience with pregnancy, they were surprised at how the feelings were being shared.