Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click here
Conference Room Five, India Deck, Liramor-23, Piscium System
Junelliya was in her very first 'Teatime for Mothers' event since it's inception. She had always been away working during these get togethers. This event was special for her as she was showing her latest scans of the baby, taken earlier that day. The high-resolution scans showed the sweet face of her little one, who she could hardly wait to hold.
Two weeks! Only two more weeks, maybe less, as the baby was already in the engaged position. That meant she could come into the universe at anytime.
There were plenty of seasoned mothers in the room, passing on advice as to what to do after the baby was born. They were all doting over Junelliya and her scans, but they did not leave out the other women with children.
Hanalei was there, with Ikekia and so was Jennifer with Matildis. They too were being doted over by the more experienced mothers. For a change, some of the members of Teatime were of species other than humans. They were taking time to compare notes with Silliya, who was in the room to ensure that nothing too far out of left field was offered as an 'old wives' remedy to the issues of new mothers. This was especially true of Jennifer as her child was in the process of teething.
The best advise that one experienced mother gave Jennifer was to keep a couple of teething rings in the fridge, the cool material would help ease the babies hot spots as she teethed.
The Pod-Drran, the Harradi, the Byandi, and the Toolend had medical representatives in the room learning about human children and sharing information on their own. It was an unprecedented experience for all of them, humans and other sentients alike.
However, the stars of the hour was not Junelliya, nor Hanalei, nor Jennifer, it was the Jurte-Pair, Sha-Ret Sai-Rai, Kur-Han Kai-Rai, and their brood. It was the first time that a sentient mother had come to Teatime with her children in tow.
The little warriors were under the watchful eye of the Jurte Rai/Ro as they intermingled with the ladies at Teatime, talking to humans, Byandi, Harradi, and Toolend with equal calm and grace. For a brood just over a year of age, the three females and three males were distinguishing themselves.
Everywhere they went on Liramor-23, they had their tiny wooden swords with them. Every time they met Kim, or Mbibo, they politely requested a review of their Kata skills. The mothers watched their antics with thinly-veiled amusement, equally charmed and frightened by what the Jurte's brood got up to for their age, after all, they were just a little over a year old.
"Not long now, Junelliya," said Georgette Côté, one of the experienced mother's at Teatime said. "However, the wait of the last two weeks will seem interminable to you." That got laughter and knowing nods from the other mothers.
"How long ago did you last give birth?" Junelliya asked.
"My last son is now seventeen. He is more into his dad than his mother, though he does tend to send me lots of e-mails," she said with a smile. "I have three others, two girls and another boy, all are now in university, my eldest, a young woman now, is ready to graduate soon, a Doctorates in Public Administration. I will be finishing my latest stint of two years here just before she graduates."
"She will be happy to have you home for her graduation, I am sure," Junelliya replied.
"I sure hope so. Going home for two weeks every three months is not enough. I will look forward to going home and staying for awhile.
"Things have changed so much on this platform in the last two years. We have gone from a dedicated mining platform to all of this. It seems that everyday something new is added," Georgette stated to nods from all around.
"You were the first family to come to the station, and Jennifer was the first woman to fall pregnant though initially not on the platform," another woman commented. "Jennifer has taken her family back to The Wanderer, but you and Hanalei will stay here with your children, the first true family of Liramor-23."
"You must be proud of your family, Junelliya," Sha-Ret commented.
"More than you can know, Sha-Ret. Fayad has grown so much since he has come here to this platform, and even more so now that his wives are with him. He is now a father, and soon to be a father of two.
"He has his job, which is one of the most important jobs on this platform. He continuously steps up to the plate each time something new happens, taking everything in stride.
"Hanalei too, is someone I am proud of. What she did before she came to the platform was an accomplishment all on it's own. What she has done since she has arrived is just as incredible, and little Ikekia is a darling for all," Junelliya smiled when Ikekia reacted to her name, the Cats coming down to sit with the baby in response.
"Don't forget about yourself, Junelliya," Silliya responded from nearby. "You have come into your powers, have helped stop a war between the Pod-Drran and humans, have rescued the Kumaraie not once but twice from an assassination attempt, and have connected with so many of the sentients we have recently encountered in a way that many of us cannot. You too, are a credit to your family."
"The entire family is the pride of Liramor-23," Sha-Ret commented.
Smiles went all around and this Teatime was turning into a rousing success.
Conversation continued in this vein for several minutes before things suddenly changed. It was the Cats that noticed it first and reacted to it. They turned to Junelliya and called out to her rather forlornly. They hopped over to Junelliya but her mind was already beginning to fade. People started noticing it.
"Junelliya! You are glowing!" Sha-ret called out in surprise as she stood seeing Junelliya slumping, the brood suddenly becoming upset that their favourite person was somehow in trouble.
Silliya came over and looked at her friend, then snapped at her wrist comp.
"Vangeliya, Heyya, Junelliya is going into another pregnancy spike, we need you in conference room India five now!" she called into her comp.
Silliya tried to link to Junelliya but her mind was not there anymore.
A couple of minutes later, the entire Fellowship was there, sitting around Junelliya in a circle attempting to connect to her. They could not. The cats were sitting on Junelliya's stomach and chest. They suddenly rose up in a dominance posture and hissed at all the people in the room. Something important had just happened but the Fellowship did not know what.
Junelliya began speaking, only it wasn't in her own tongue or in standard.
"She is speaking the old Pod-Drran dialect!" Sha-Ret stated, surprised. "Where is Mind-Ur, she is familiar with the dialect.
"Here Jurte Sha-Ret," Mind-Ur called out as she entered the room having been called by Tin-Ur.
"Sit with her, try to understand what she is saying," Sha-Ret ordered.
Mind-Ur sat near the head of Junelliya, listening and trying to translate what she was hearing. It seemed like Junelliya as talking to Poda-La, the Goddess herself!
************
Junelliya was chatting amicably with the mothers at Teatime, when she suddenly felt strange. She recognized the feeling as the same as when she had her pregnancy spike during the assassination attempt on Raymond, but that made no sense as there was no threat anywhere near her. Then the room started to fade out.
She suddenly found herself in a mist of some kind. She could hear people talking though the sounds of their voices was muted and hard to understand, so she moved toward the voices in order to hear clearer.
Movement was slow and ponderous, like she was walking at the bottom of a deep pool. Initially, her body made little headway as she moved forward but the longer she moved the clearer the voices became.
As suddenly as the mist was there, it was gone. She was in another room, a library of sorts, and it was one that she recognized.
Six women were in the room, but there was something odd, or just off about the women. Then it struck her. They were Pod-Drran females! She looked at the six and realized that she recognized them.
She saw the five supporters she had seen in the painting. They stood in a group close to a sixth female, who had a Chlaerge on her shoulder. The Chlaerge were different than Cats. They were about half again as large as Cats and looked more lizard-like. The Chlaerge had no hair, it's skin was leathery, and it looked far more formidable, with its much larger claws and teeth, than her Cats.
Four of the woman were pregnant, three of the supporters and the one on which the Chlaerge rode.
"You are Poda-La," Junelliya said, surprising the people in the room, who suddenly turned toward her.
"Who and what are you and how did you get into this home?" one of the females shouted, quickly moving to stand in front of Poda-La.
"I am no one you nor Poda-La need to fear," Junelliya stated, giving them a typical Pod-Drran smile. Someone said 'Link' and Junelliya felt power in the room as the ladies manifested. She recognized the power they were using as empathic power, though different from hers.
The five 'supporters' quickly threw their power toward Poda-La, who amplified it and pushed it at Junelliya. Junelliya got the feeling of 'obey' and 'do not resist'.
Junelliya opened her own power and tried to take that which had been sent at her, however, it was just a little out of phase to what she was used to. That made sense, as it was not human empathy that she was trying to wield.
"I need power to defend myself," she spoke to herself.
************
In a room many years distance from her current place, Mind-Ur reacted immediately.
"I think she is under attack and she is asking for power!" Mind-Ur said, fear colouring her words.
Immediately the members of the Fellowship linked and pushed their power to Junelliya.
************
Junelliya suddenly felt an infusion of strength, familiar strength. She recognized the power from her Fellowship and absorbed it to use against those in this room.
Now that she had more power at her beck and call, Junelliya was able to make sense of what was being pushed at her by the people in the ancient room. The feelings were very similar to human empathy but was just slightly out of phase, perhaps because it was not human empathy, or perhaps because of the distance in time.
A quick analysis allowed her to get a feel for this new power and she began to absorb it along with what she was receiving from her Fellowship. She redirected it back to the Pod-Drran in this room, pushing 'motherly love' and 'calm' to those who were opposing her.
Sudden surprise flashed across the faces of the others as their power was reflected back at them and changed into something less hostile.
"Who are you?" the same Pod-Drran asked again.
"I am Junelliya Atohan Herlan, a human from many years in your future. I do not know how, or why I am here with you at this time," Junelliya told them.
"Atohan?" the same female asked. Junelliya noticed her Pol-Mar showed the seal of a priestess on it.
"The name was given to me by the Kumaraie of my time, as I had used my power to save her from a palace coup. They recognized my power in the same manner as they recognized your powers, by the glow around the body when we manifest," Junelliya stated.
"However, my power and that of Poda-La is somewhat stronger than the other's in this room. We are able to do something that I think you cannot, we are able to see into the future and, as I am doing now, into the past."
"Why did you come here?" the Priestess asked.
"I do not know why," Junelliya admitted. "I just know that I was drawn here."
"This ability of yours, you can see into the future?" Poda-La asked.
"This is the first time that I have shown this ability, Poda-La," Junelliya told her. "I am still young and new to my powers. I am just as amazed to be here as you are to be able to see me. I have yet to look into the future, however, it is known that people with our level of power can do so."
"Why would she go to her past?" the Priestess asked of Poda-La.
"Something she needs is here," Poda-La told them.
"Something I need?" Junelliya asked.
"Knowledge," Poda-La replied.
"You know something that I need to know," Junelliya guessed.
"Yes, probably a few things," Poda-La admitted.
"First and foremost, I can see far into the future because I can touch my future self," Poda-La told her.
"What? Do you mean that you are reincarnated?" asked Junelliya.
"My soul inhabits and shares the lives of others, those who are of a direct or indirect line to me within the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin, the two halves of the people who remain.
"I have seen the last stages of my people as they are confronted by your kind and destroyed," Poda-La said.
"I assume that means that your future soul is in my timeline?" Junelliya asked.
"Not my future soul, Junelliya, myself in the future. I will be reborn in your timeline. In fact, I already exist in your timeline or we would not be having this conversation," Poda-La told her.
"I can sense my future with you. That means you will know me in your time. To you, I am not yet born though I must exist in some form. You will know the Marti when you see her. There will be four in the brood, two females and two males, though one of the females will not survive long after birth. I will be the lone female.
"Our broods develop fast, Junelliya. Even so, this future brood will be exceptional in their development, especially the female. She will manifest power, which, in your time, has not been seen in the Pod-Drran for many millennia. That will confirm to you that she will be the Light that will guide the people forward. She will be, must be, the future Kumaraie of both halves of the people, the leader they need to move forward into the future.
"But you must act quickly, or she will never be born. The Marti of my new self must be a supporter of the Kumaraie or she would not be at threat. The Kumaraie must live so that I may live.
"The Kumaraie of your time is under new threat. Those who would oppose her cannot allow her to successfully breed with the new male in her life. It would prevent them from gaining more power. The only way they can do that is to kill the new Kumar-Pair and replace them with those more malleable to their control.
"If this happens, your people will destroy the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin. They will never be able to take their place among the other sentient beings.
"Those who oppose the Kumaraie are ready to act now, in your time. You must go to the Kumaraie and protect her and her mate. Failure will bring about the downfall of the Pod-Drran and, not long after, the Maha-Rrin," Poda-La finished.
"The two halves of the people must become as one and develop within the Union or it will lead to the destruction of the people by the Union and only the future Kumaraie can accomplish this?" Junelliya asked.
"No, it will start with you and with the Kumaraie you know but it will not end there. My future self, if I survive, will guide the newly bonded people to their place among the sentients of the future," Pod-La told her.
"That is a lot to ask of me, Poda-La. You ask me to protect the current Kumaraie, you ask me to bring the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin together and to bring them into the Union. You ask me to identify the Light and prove to the people that she is the Light. You ask this of a woman who has no political power or position of her own nor any means of bringing any of this into being. You are asking me to save us all when I am just an ordinary woman who is about to give birth," Junelliya told her.
"You are no ordinary woman, Junelliya, or you would not be here with us," Poda-La told her. "Believe in yourself but more importantly, believe in those around you. They have your best interest at heart and if your best interest is in uniting the people and the Union, then you will have the support you need to do that.
"There is more, you are manifesting new powers, Junelliya. I can sense it in you, even if you cannot yet sense it in yourself. This is power that neither of our species have had before, though there are those in the sentient community that can use it," Poda-La told her.
Junelliya felt something odd, she was suddenly getting tired.
"You are fading from us, Junelliya. We will prove to you that you have been here. Look for your image in the future. You will find it and know the truth of my words," Poda-La told Junelliya as she began to fade from Junelliya's sight.
************
"We're losing her!" Vangelia cried out, feeling Junelliya slipping away.
Mind-Ur was upset, she began to cry over Junelliya.
"Please Atohan, do not leave us, we need your counsel, we need your support, we need your abilities to guide us forward. Without you, the Pod-Drran are lost."
People began to weep as they realized that Junelliya's life might be at risk. Their crying upset Ikekia, who cried out in return. The sound of the baby reached Junelliya even though she was deep inside her own mind. The Fellowship felt the response.
"She reacted to Ikekia crying," Hanalei noted sensing what the Fellowship felt. "Bring me Ikekia!"
Someone put the baby into her arms and Hanalei placed her on top of Junelliya. The baby began to cry and the Cats cried with her, sending out a sad warble.
"She is glowing!" Mind-Ur told the group.
"She always glows to Pod-Drran eyes when she is manifesting, Mind-Ur, Silliya answered.
"Not Junelliya, the baby! The baby is glowing!" Mind-Ur replied.
"That's not possible," Vangeliya stated.
"What do you see, Mind-Ur," a new voice, that all recognized as Fiona, asked.
"The group is glowing, not as strong as Junelliya. Junelliya is growing strongly, much stronger than only a few moments ago. The baby is glowing with her and there is an extra glow over her belly," Mind-Ur replied.
"Are you suggesting the Ikekia and the unborn child are manifesting, Mind-Ur?" Heyya asked.
"I am not suggesting anything. I was asked what do I see and I am telling you what I see," she answered, slightly miffed at being second guessed.
"She is correct in her assessment," Sha-Ret stated from just outside the circle. "I too can see what she sees, though she did not include the Chlaerge, who are also glowing.
The Fellowship kept giving power to Junelliya who suddenly opened her eyes and wrapped Ikekia in her arms.
"Hush, little one," she soothed the baby. "I am here."
"Junelliya!" Hanalei almost screamed. "We thought we lost you."
"I can never ignore the cry of my children, Hanalei," Junelliya told her, then faded out as she fell asleep.
"Can someone tell me what just happened?" asked Fiona.
"Fiona, we think Junelliya has just travelled through time, back to the time when the Poda-La lived. We think that she asked her some questions and was given answers that are quite interesting," Hanalei told Fiona.
"Did anybody record any of this?" Vangeliya asked.
A dozen people lifted their comps into the air, including two Toolend.
Thank the Gods, Vangeliya thought.
Conference Room Three, India Deck, Liramor-23, Piscium System
Fiona was watching the recordings once again, trying to make sense of what had occurred.
"First I need your impressions of what you think happened, both from a human personal viewpoint and from the Pod-Drran viewpoint.
"Sha-Ret?" Fiona turned to the Jurte and gave her the floor.
"We were all at Teatime, and I found it to be quite exiting. It was the first time I ever had the chance to show off my brood to other females. This is something that Pod-Drran do not do, as we go into our Rakhan, our isolation, after the brood is born.
