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"Your people could be a great benefit to the larger community, Minister," Mayute finished.
"Thank-you Mayute for saying so. It is good to know that we could contribute in some way," the Minister answered formally.
"Do not belittle your species, Minister. It will prove to be an important member of the greater Community of Intelligent Species," Mayute sated.
Augraf was moving around the room talking to different people, trying to get an assessment of the humans. Overall, erht characterized them as good people. There were one or two that erht thought wouldn't be worthy candidates of sentient species, however, that was true of all the sentient species erht had been in contact with.
Augraf sensed a power moving through the room and looked for it. Two beings were moving gently among the people, sending out waves of calmness to help keep things to a reasonable level. That intrigued Augraf.
To use one's power to help others was something that the Toolend never did. They used their power for specific reasons and not really to help others. The purpose of their power was to search the minds of others for insight into the way they did things.
Augraf followed the pair with his mind. Erht reached out to others of his kind and cued them into what was happening. They too were intrigued. They mentally began to follow the pair. Strangely, the calming effect the pair were inducing seemed to also include the Toolend even though they were aware of it.
Mayute moved to make first contact with the pair.
Mayute found two females, one who was obviously pregnant and near the end of her term by the size of her abdomen. The other female had hair that was different than many of the other human females in the room. Erht noted a few others with similar hair, and even one male. Erht also noted that these other individuals had similar power to the pair that had intrigued the Toolend, though they did not seem to be as powerful, except possibly the male.
Mayute tried to gently and unobtrusively touch the minds of the pair, when both stopped and looked at erht. That surprised Mayute.
The pair turned and walked toward the Toolend. It was then that Mayute saw the small animal riding the shoulder of the pregnant female. It too seemed to exude waves of power, almost as if it was amplifying the power of the females.
The pair stopped before Mayute.
"You touched our minds," one said without preamble and without greetings, though not in an accusing way.
"I apologize if that was offensive to you, we are new to human culture and are not fully aware of what we may or may not do," Mayute said. "However, we noted that you were using power on those present, power to calm them."
"Yes, many of the humans are nervous about new species. They do not know what to make of you, especially your kind and the Insectoids, though I am sure that you have a different name for them," the female with the strange hair stated.
"And not necessarily complimentary," the pregnant female said with a smile.
Mayute was tuned into all the other Toolend in the room and her shocked response to the off-hand comment created a feedback loop between them. Toolend laugher could be heard from different locations in the room until Mayute reminded them that they needed to be on their best behavior.
"That seems to have scored on our Toolend friends," the second female remarked with a smile.
"How is it you can touch our minds?" the first female asked.
"We can touch all minds," Mayute replied. "We are telepathic and are able to sense thought. How is it that you know when you are being touched?"
"We are empathic," the second female responded. "We can sense emotions. We cannot sense thoughts, but we are often able to tell what a person might be thinking by how strong their emotions might be."
"I am Mayute, potentially the Ambassador to this facility and your people," erht explained.
"I am Vangeliya, Grand Master Empath. This is Junelliya, she is a Master Class Empath," Vangeliya said.
"And your friend?" Mayute asked.
Junelliya smiled as the little animal trilled at being recognized by a mind as interesting as this one.
"This is Juneya, she is my friend and the Alpha Cat of her pod. There are three in her pod, and four humans in my family that make up the larger pod for our friends."
"If I read this correctly, a pod is a family unit, yet you say family and pod?" Mayute asked.
"A pod is a family unit of Cats," Junelliya explained. "Cats are empathic and highly intelligent for their size. When they bond with humans, we become part of their pod, their family. But I have a family of my own and soon will add one more. The Cats are part of our family now, and we part of their pod."
The Cat made a strange sound and both Vangeliya and Junelliya laughed.
"The Cat is disappointed that you do not have shoulders, she wants to come greet you but does not know how," Junelliya clarified to the confused Toolend. "She does not want to jump onto your head as she has learned that this is sometimes greeted with disfavour."
Mayute extended a tentacle to Junelliya at shoulder height and the Cat brazenly stepped onto it. Mayute then brought the creature closer erht's head and tried to look into it's mind. The Cat wasn't truly sentient; however, it did have more intelligence than its body size warranted. That aroused the curiosity to the Toolend around the area.
After a moment, the Cat jumped back to Junelliya, again surprising the Toolend, who had not seen it fly before. Junelliya smiled that the antics of the Cat had surprised the Toolend so.
"You make claim to power?" Mayute asked. "Can you manifest this for us?"
Junelliya extended her hand palm out, facing the Toolend. She ran through the basic emotions swiftly but pushing more than a little of her power at the Toolend.
Mayute was suddenly and overwhelmingly shaken by a series of strong emotions that included the entire gamut of the Toolend spectrum. It went from happy to hatred, loving to furious, openly sexual to so timid erht wanted to hide away in embarrassment. Since erht was linked to the other Toolend, they were all swept into the emotions.
At the end, Junelliya left a feeling of peace and love, before she dropped her hand, leaving Mayute and the other Toolend stunned.
"Junelliya had to restrain power significantly, as this is not the ideal place to do manifest power with all the delegates around. It is frowned upon to openly display our powers. There is a right place and time to do so," Vangeliya explained.
Surprisingly, the Toolend understood this as they too had restrictions on openly using their power.
"If this is restrained, we look forward to a demonstration of what you might truly be capable of," Mayute said giving an intricate wave of two of it's tentacles that the pair recognized as a ritual greeting/farewell. The pair bowed and went about the way, Mayute once again sensing the waves of calm and peace exuding from them.
The humans are a strange lot, came the thought of one of the Toolend.
They are indeed, however, I think they would make an excellent addition to the community, came from another Toolend.
We will report this to the Council of Sisters, Augraf stated formally, letting his fellow Toolend know that a decision on the humans had been made.
Unbeknownst to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the fate of humanities introduction into the Community of Intelligent Species had been made by two empaths and a Cat...
************
Minister Ronter next encountered the Paacon. They resembled large, flightless birds, though their strong arms ended in very mobile fingers. At just over two meters, they made an imposing appearance.
"Good evening to you, Minister Ronter, I am Kilta, a kind of roving ambassador for my people and potentially the ambassador of record for this facility."
"Good evening to you, Kilta. With me are members of our Senate responsible for regulating our foreign affairs. We are pleased to meet you and surprised by your appearance," the Minister noted with a smile.
Kilta gave his version of a chuckle as the matrix translated this.
"We do indeed seem to provide a unique perspective for sentient species," he replied.
"And are you as pleased to see us humans as the other species seem to be?" the Minister asked.
"You humans are so direct! It is refreshing, as many of those who are ambassadors here are ever so cautious of hurting other species feelings. Except the Asocan, who would rather battle with you physically than with words," Kilta returned.
"You humans give us something unique, the potential ability for our species to move independently of the Djinaëte. Not that we don't appreciate the Djinaëte and all they have done for the different species, however, they have their own way of doing things and it is fundamentally different from most of the rest of us as their mental apparatus is geared to one frame of thought, how to serve the hive.
"We welcome the potential to move around free of the need to be carried by Djinaëte everywhere. That alone will provide you with membership in the Community of Sentients that we are building. The other things that you offer are just as amazing. Your people would be welcome, Minister," Kilta finished.
"That is very good to hear, Kilta," Ronter said with a small bow. "It will be nice to know that we will be welcomed into such a group of sentient beings."
The Minister spoke next to the Asocan, which looked like bipedal crocodiles. They were tall, being almost two and a half meters in height. Their skin was scaly, dense, and more like the medieval leather armour, making them tougher than all other species. They had four-fingered hands, each of the fingers able to touch the other three fingers, allowing their hands able to do amazing things.
Their webbed hands and feet had long claws on the ends of their fingers and toes. They used these talons against each other frequently, which was noted by the various scares on their tough hides.
Their snouts were short but full of sharp teeth. Their skulls are further back on their heads and consist of densely packed bone that surrounds the brain, which floated in a fluid solution creating a natural shock absorber for the brain. The species could easily shrug off blows to the head that would kill most humans.
Like the Byandi, the Asocan were an aquatic species, though their evolution was from fresh water sources vice the Byandi's saltwater ancestors. Their wide, flat tails allow them to move effortlessly in the water. The tails allow them to form a tripod with their legs allowing them to rest upright. The Asocan did not need chairs and seldom used them.
Like the Pod-Drran, their blood was copper based and green-blue in colour.
Despite their appearance, the Asocan were the premier scientists of the Community of Sentients. They were the ones who originally discovered the principles of the FTL jump drive, though they needed the inclusion of the Djinaëte's power system to make the jump drive function efficiently.
"Good evening, Minister Ronter, I am Dragon Alvoie, the senior member of the Asocan here today," the Asocan spoke to the Minister.
"I assume that Dragon is a title then?" Ronter asked.
"It is, Minister. It is the first level of many titles that an Asocan can achieve. Dragon, Grand Dragon, War Dragon, and Asoc.
"Asoc would be the equivalent of the supreme leader in your language, Minister. There is only one Asoc, though there are many of the other titles," Alvoie replied.
"Thank-you for the explanation, Dragon Alvoie," the Minister returned. "My counterpart in your society would then be a 'War Dragon'?" the Minister asked.
"That would be correct, Minister," Alvoie confirmed. "Your presence here shows the significance the humans place on this first meeting of species."
"Indeed. My people tell me that in spite of the fact that your people are built for battle, you are the foremost scientific minds in your community?" the Minister asked.
"That is correct, Minister. We are enamored of your Dr. Aruna, who is able to connect between the different ways of thinking that the different species have and to take the scientific thoughts of one people and turn it into something of use for all. With people like her in your fold, your people will be welcome in the Community of Sentients," Alvoie confirmed.
"Is everyone so pleased to meet us then?" the Minister asked.
"Probably not the Djinaëte, who until now are the premier species due principally to their ability to move us where needed," Alvoie admitted. "Your science will free most of us from dependency on them.
"Initially, they will be upset at the change, however, they will find that they will free up many of their Great Ships for their own use. That will be a net benefit for the Djinaëte and for all of us," Alvoie replied.
"Thank-you for your candid response, Dragon Alvoie. It is greatly appreciated," the Minister said with a bow as he turned toward the next and last envoy.
"Good evening to you Minister Ronter, I am Hollard Clend, Ambassador at large for my people, the Harradi," the ambassador introduced himself.
The Harradi were similar to humans in size and shape, though they their home world was much colder than Terra on average. Their bodies were thus formed for extreme cold weather in comparison to many humans.
They had pink skin like the humans but tended to be rounder with plenty of blubber under their skin. While they did not have true night sight, their eyes were large and could see fairly well in much darker conditions than humans. They also had six fingers and toes, vice the five of humans.
"I am pleased to meet you, Mr. Ambassador. It is a pleasure to greet another species that look so similar to humans," Ronter said with a smile.
The Harradi laughed. "Yes, it is unusual to say the least. Our scientists have had the opportunity to talk to your medical personnel and found that there is significant differences between our species, though superficially we seem the same."
"That would make sense. What makes the Harradi different from the others, Mr. Ambassador?" asked one of the Senators.
"Our people can grow food in almost any condition. We are able to grow food at temperatures that other people cannot, this makes us indispensable to the community at large as natural farmers. We can also teach others to do the same," the ambassador replied.
"A very useful trade item, the skill to grow in almost any temperature and condition," Ronter replied for his delegation.
"Indeed. We are seldom left out of negotiations of any type," Clend returned. "You people too, will not be left out of many negotiations, Minister. Your people have much to offer the community at large."
"That will make humans feel much better about themselves. We did not know if we would be well received by others or not," Ronter explained to the ambassador.
"They need not have feared, Minister. Your technology will be well received by most of the other species," Clend told them.
"Thank-you for your time and your words, Mr. Ambassador," Ronter said in closing.
************
The Byandi were providing a demonstration of their music, which was rhythmic in style and of a sense that humans could enjoy.
Junelliya was asked to give a demonstration of her skills and she pulled out her Luttrale and played some songs from Anuura and a few selections of songs from the Pod-Drran list, including her favorite, the Song of Life. Once again her emotions overran her and she sent out waves of motherly love in step with the song. All those present could appreciate the full importance of the music with her power behind it. Even the other species, like the Djinaëte and the Toolend, were able to understand the significance of the song and its joy of new life.
Many of the Pod-Drran in the room were her students and they, for the first time, truly understood just what a master Junelliya was with her instrument. Six months suddenly seemed such a short time of study with this formidable musician.
Other species offered their own music, some of which was truly discordant to human ears. It made for a surreal evening.
Later, a group of humans brought their instruments and began to play a series of popular dance songs that all the humans got into. Some of them, especially the empaths, reached out and drew the other delegates onto the dance floor. It wasn't long before it became crowded. Even the Toolend came out to dance, surprising the Byandi and the humans.
One of the things that made the evening was the offering of food stuffs from different worlds. People would pass their wrist comps over the food stuff and then select things that were deemed safe for them. Taste, was another matter...
The Djinaëte were surprised that there was even food they could ingest. Rikki was happily munching on some of his favourite fruits that had helped him survive, his fellow insectoids biting into the selections tentatively then with more and more gusto.
While they were enjoying the strange fruits, Junelliya came by and flicked a treat up, which Juneya sailed into the air after. The Cat landed back on Junelliya's shoulder and swiftly ate her treat.
Then, Junelliya opened her hand and the Cat trilled as it raced down and formed a ball in her open palm. Junelliya threw the Cat high into the air only to have it pop open in mid flight and swiftly return to her partner, to run down her arm again seeking more play time. Even the staid Djinaëte found this activity amusing and the Toolend were able to understand the shear joy that the small animal was broadcasting at playing this game with her partner.
Overall, the evening was a surprise hit and went a long way to helping cement relationships with the Community of Intelligent Species and humans.
The Insectoid Ship, in Orbit at the Alien Station, Piscium System
Humans had been invited to the Great Ship for the first time. They were being escorted around by the various species other than the Djinaëte, who tended to run everywhere leaving their guests far behind.
Minister Ronter, the senor delegates of the UDC, and the small Senate committee were all being shown around by two Byandi and one Toolend. They were impressed with the size of the ship and surprised when they discovered that the ship's power source was organic in nature.
"That would be interesting to trade for," one of the UDC delegates, who was responsible for trade, stated.
"What kinds of things are you interested in from us?" Ronter asked.
"We are definitely interested in your M/A generators. We are so surprised that something so small can provide such amazing levels of power. We are also interested in your ships in and of themselves. Because of the size of the Great Ships, their cost for construction is significant. If we could make ships the size of yours that have the kind of jump capability that we now possess that would be a significant step forward for the Community as a whole," the Toolend advised.
"Your wrist comps are amazing," said one of the female Byandi. "While we have powerful computers in a size that you refer to as tablets, we have nothing like the wrist comps that you use. They would be an amazing item not only as miniature computers but also as decorations."
She showed the new bangles on her wrist. "Your Capt. Balakrishna was a great hit with all the Byandi who saw her with all the colourful jewelry she had on, images of which were shared with those on this ship who did not attend the event. Many now wish to make shopping trips to Liramor-23 to buy the jewelry they know is now available there," she emphasized her words by shaking her wrist to make the bangles jangle.
