All That Glitters Ch. 37

"Mr. Pallanders, the fittings on this ship seem to be very opulent," Hanalei ventured.

"Yes, Mrs. Anar," Martin agreed. "Your ship will be seen by many of those who will wish to purchase the same model. As such, we have upped the level of opulence a little to appeal to those who would likely buy such vessels. You needn't fear though, we did not charge you more."

"She is beautiful, Hanalei," Junelliya told her as they all came into the VIP Multi-Purpose room, which was filled with sensors and other equipment for the testing.

"All of this will be gone before we deliver the ship to you in the next couple of weeks, Mrs. Anar," Martin told her.

"We made a deal that if we needed the ship before testing was completed we could have her and that our trip would be used as part of the testing sequence," Hanalei said.

"Yes, ma'am, I am aware of this agreement," Martin assured her.

"Next Monday, we would like access to the ship to bring our parents back to Anuura, and our Trine back to Liramor-23, can you do that?" Hanalei asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Anar, we can have the ship available for you on Monday. It is a single jump from Terra to anywhere in human space, so we can have you back on Anuura less than forty minutes after we launch from here, ma'am," Martin stated.

"Oh, good. Then you can come visit us more frequently," Hanalei's mother said to her, to much laughter, and nods of agreement, from the extended family.

Martin discreetly passed a note to Hanalei, the bill of sale from Pallanders. Hanalei looked at the final figure then looked in surprise to Martin.

"Ask Ms. Liramor, Liea Samson, Raymond Clark, and Fiona Marsh about the costs of their vessels," Martin explained with a wink.

Everyone was very much impressed with the new ship. At the end of the afternoon, as the delegates were returning from the presentation ceremony, they received another surprise as the President's small fleet of Valour Class ships came to land at the Denders Shuttle Port.

The President, his daughter Grace Elizabeth, the Minster of Foreign Affairs Charles Ronter, Adm. George Ramison, Chief of the Navy, Adm. James Hannison, JAG of the Navy, Adm. Rolland Heist, Chief of Navy Intelligence, with surprisingly, FAdm. Charles Thenton, and their respective aides, stepped from the ship with the President and his entourage, including several media types.

"My friend, Adm. Ramison, advised me that he needed to see a new ship currently sitting at the Denders Shuttle Port, so naturally I needed to see it, too," the President quipped.

Hanalei and Junelliya gave Ikekia and Zarrenia to their parents to take back to Denders, while they stayed behind with Fayad, Fiona and Annette to deal with the President and his entourage as they inspected the little ship.

"You overjumped Terra by twenty-three light years from Hadrian's Planet?" a surprised Adm. Ramison asked of Martin Pallanders.

"Yes, sir. Not only that, we can string two jumps, giving us a range of 330 light years, sir, then wait an hour and do it all over again. There is no place within the Greater Community that we cannot reach within two hours, sir," Martin advised.

"Well shit, Fiona. You and yours have another first, damn it," FAdm. Thenton grumbled good naturedly to Fiona, getting laughter at the inside joke from the other admirals.

"Where is Dr. Aruna?" the President asked.

"We left her on Hadrian's Planet, sir," Martin informed him. "She is installing their ICS system. We will retrieve her later this afternoon her time, sir."

"Pity, I would like to have been able to talk to her," the President mused. "The systems she has created are amazing and have far reaching implications for the Union, and for the Greater Sentient Community."

"They do indeed, sir," Martin agreed.

"That having been said, this ship allowed me to come out here but I did have another couple of reasons to be here," the President stated.

"I would like to see the Johal Compound, Mrs. Anar, if you wouldn't mind showing it to me. I would also like to see what the Harradi have done at the new farm and I would like to meet with Ms. Takebayashi Urano, I believe that I have something to present to her, isn't that correct, Jason?" the President asked of his Chief of Staff.

"Yes, Sir," Jason Canter replied immediately. "Is she still in the clinic?"

"Yes, Mr. Canter, she still is. She is scheduled to be released after supper time, this evening, with instructions not to attend any of the parties tonight," Junelliya informed the President's Chief of Staff.

"Very well, if we can get an order to the clinic to hold her until I can see her, I would appreciate that," the President stated.

Arrangements were quickly made to bring the President and his entourage out to the Johal compound.

"So this is the little temple that everyone is always talking about," the President said, looking at the tiny temple outside the wall of the compound.

"It was rebuilt as an act of contrition by Capt. Henadi Noor, Sir," Hanalei told him, explaining the reason for the need for her contrition.

"She put her heart into it, didn't she," the President commented looking at the beautiful little temple.

They entered the compound, surprising those inside, who were not expecting the President of the Union. They looked around the compound and surveyed the grounds, checking out the rough plans that had been drawn up, showing the proposed working consulate offices and the living quarters, the offices being where the current compound was now situated, the living quarters to be built beside it.

"We will take down the existing wall to give access to the offices for those who want or need to come here, though most humans will do their business via vid-link," Hanalei explained. "We plan to have a secured, covered access way between the living quarters and the offices, which will only be accessible to those who live or work in the compound.

"There will be several conference rooms of assorted sizes available in the consular building for meetings with various organizations and people.

"As well, the compound will be provided with it's own ICS antennae and console for secure comms reasons between the consular workers, the delegates, and their home planets.

"The new wall will be around the planned living quarters, which will consist of four levels with ramps, stairs, and elevators capable of supporting all species between all four levels," Hanalei said. "We also plan to have secure conference rooms inside the secure area for conferences between the delegates with high level UDC and TGA personnel, away from prying eyes at the Capital," Hanalei finished.

"How much will this cost, Mrs. Anar?" the President asked.

"We have been given an estimate of seventy-five million credits to rebuild the entire compound, sir," Hanalei informed him. "Though I am sure that it will come in closer to ninety million. There are a lot of high-end amenities that will be built into the living quarters, which is why the high cost estimate."

"I was led to believe that you designed this new facility around the blocks of Denders but these plans do not look at all like the blocks I have seen in the clips," the President said.

"That is correct, Sir," Hanalei admitted. "We started with the basic blocks from Denders but added more to the structure as we planned it, especially the ramps to allow for the Djinaëte, the Asocan, the Paacon, and the Toolend to get up and down between the four levels. There will also be private quarters for the human and non-human staff built into the first level and the basement level."

"You do not plan to put the workers in their own block, like they do at the resorts?" the President asked.

"No, sir. The people who will work here will be on duty 24/7, though they will have their downtime" Hanalei explained. "As such, they will be housed within the main block to be available on demand for the high ranking dignitaries that will be making use of this facility.

"Many who will work here will be members of the eleven species, dedicated to serving their own kind. Only the humans will be working for all."

"OK, I like what you have proposed so far," the President stated. "I will agree to grant this facilities offices Consular status, extending it to the entire compound. That will give you a reason d'être for keeping the compound and giving your personnel a true calling.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Anar, this is an absolutely brilliant idea and well worth our consideration," the President informed them.

"Charles, let's draw up the required documents for Consular Certification, please," the President ordered, not giving Minister Ronter a chance to ague against his wishes.

"Yes, sir," Mnst. Ronter replied.

"Now, we need to see this farm and we need to get back to the Denders Clinic before a certain Ms. Takebayashi escapes," the President smiled.

The President's group was swiftly brought to Denders farm site where Harla Aubrend showed them what they had completed so far. The President and his entourage were impressed and said so.

They then moved to the resort's outdoor theater, where Takebayashi Urano was brought to them on stage while the members of the Interspecies Community came to watch.

"Good evening Ms. Takebayashi, I do hope that we find you much improved?" the President inquired of a surprised Urano.

"Yes, Mr. President, very much improved," Urano agreed. "I will be able to go back to work tomorrow, Mr. President."

"Good, then here is something that will make you feel even more confident about going back to work. Jason," the President looked over to his Chief of Staff.

"Attention to orders!" Snapped the aide-de-camp for Adm. Ramison. "On the 12 July 2486, Ms. Takebayashi Urano did deliberately step in front of a deranged, assailant, who was armed with a knife and who had managed to gain access to the Educare Day Care at Denders Resort.

"At great risk to her person, Ms. Takebayashi prevented the assailant from gaining access to the children in the day care, many of whom were the children of the Interspecies Community Ambassadors and dignitaries, at Denders that day for the historic Presentation of Ambassadorial Credentials of the members of the Interspecies Community to the UDC.

"Ms. Takebayashi received several wounds, one of which was life-threatening and required emergency surgery in place. For her actions in confronting the assailant, Ms. Takebayashi is awarded the Medal of Bravery, presented by the President of the Union, Wilford J. Holloway, here this day, on behalf of a grateful people," the aide finished.

The President stepped forward and received the medal from the aide, placing it on the hook put on Urano's left chest, high up near her shoulder. They posed for images and the delegates who had children in the day care, came forward to personally thank Urano for her actions and take personal images with her. Everyone stepped in for a group shot.

"Mr. President, I would present to you DNP Seito Ayesha, who was the person who saved Ms. Takebayashi's life," Sylvie Trian addressed the President.

"Ayesha! It is good to see you again. My, this little group of yours does get around, Raymond," the President said, laughing. "Ms. Seito, I understand that you will soon complete your Medical Doctorates Degree?"

"Yes, sir, within the next few months," Ayesha explained.

"And yet you have accomplished so much in your career even before becoming a Medical Doctor, so much so that your name has been submitted for the Distinguished Service Cross Medical Services, Ms. Seito. You may expect to see that honour come to you in the next few months, hopefully before your graduation ceremonies," the President advised, surprising Ayesha.

One of the things that Ayesha had instigated at Liramor-23 was to encourage Navy ships with nurses instead of doctors to have the nurses attain Nurse Practitioner Status. The Navy had seen the wisdom in this action and ran with the suggestion, Ayesha having provided a program of instruction for the Navy to achieve this with all of their nurses. It had already paid dividends for the Navy when ships had been in combat with pirates, the NP's having much better ability to act on their own with those who had been injured.

The President stayed for a bit longer, talking to some of the senior delegates and with those who he had danced with on Monday evening. Eventually, though, he had to return to the capital.

Plaza del Sol, Denders Resort, Terra

Guro< was on the mat with two combat sticks in his hand. His opponent was none-other than Kim herself. She had been working with him for the whole week, two hours a day and then having him practice for another two hours before he was allowed to go 'play' with his friends.

The efforts were paying off, though, as he was now holding his own with Kim. Asocan's had strength, even young Asocan just at the stage of entering an apprenticeship but they did not have the speed of the humans.

Kim took advantage of this, forcing him to react to the patterns she had taught him. He was using what he had learned to seek out the particular pattern she was using. Surprisingly, he saw it!

Anticipating her next move, Guro< reduced the size of the circle he was using so that he could be ahead of her strike and block it. As he saw her begin the strike, he shortened the circle even more and knocked the combat stick from her hand, only to have her foot catch him in the stomach and knock him backwards, his tail stopping him from falling over.

Guro< looked at her in surprise as she smiled at him.

"Good work anticipating my move. You saw the pattern and acted accordingly. However, once a pattern has been interrupted, what do you do then?" Kim asked.

"In my case, I improvise. I have years of experience to do this, you do not. So, once you have completed a block and provided an opening for yourself, you must act on that and immediately go on the offensive.

"When you make an opening in your opponents defences, you also make an opening in your own, so, if you do not take advantage of the offered opening, your opponent will. Remember that," Kim told him.

Guro< nodded his head waiting to see what she would do next; however, she ended the session there.

She called over some of the others and told them to practice going on the offensive from the defensive with the young Asocan. When his morning routine was finished, she was there again.

"Good work this week, Guro<," Kim told him. Tomorrow, we will work for only two hours. I promised if you did well, I would take you to see Tatsuya Hajime's workshop. I have made an appointment for 11:00 hours tomorrow."

Guro< looked stunned. "Thank-you, Kim," he said, bowing.

"Do not thank me, Guro<," Kim returned. "You earned it through your hard work."

Gold Conference Room, Denders Resort, Terra

"Welcome to the Thursday morning brief," Fiona greeted all. "On today's agenda, we have the Grotté presenting this morning and the Harradi in the afternoon."

Fiona turned over the brief to Juanita who gave out the arrangements for the delegates that morning and the return in the afternoon. The delegates got ready for their day.

Educare Day Care, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

Miss Urano was back and the children coming to the day care Thursday morning were all trying to give her hugs, they yelled out their joy at having their favourite day care worker back with them.

"I'm glad that bad person didn't hurt you too much, Miss Urano," a little Byandi female told her. "I was really scared when I saw her with that knife."

"I'm sorry, Gealla, that you had to witness that," Urano told the child. "There are good people and bad people in the universe. We always hope that we will only meet the good ones but fate often places other types in our way. The trick is to recognize the other types and deal with them in a different way than we would the good ones."

"My mother tells me the same thing, Miss Urano," Gealla confided. "She says that we can not always choose who we come into contact with, but we can choose how we deal with them."

"Your mother is very wise, Gealla," Urano told the child. "You should listen well to her advice."

"I always do, Miss Urano, though sometimes she does not see that," the child replied, bringing a smile and a giggle to Urano.

Things settled down quickly as more of the children entered the day care, their parents stopping to personally thank Urano for what she had recently done. Urano was signing the children into the day care, but was letting the other workers handle them, as her arms, while much better, were still somewhat sore.

Junelliya and Hanalei came into the day care, to drop off their children for awhile. When Ikekia saw Urano, she lifted her arms and said her best word "Ug!"

Urano laughed and took the child into her arms, giving her a gentle squeeze, while Ikekia tried to purr for her. It didn't last long as Ikekia quickly spied Meera and gave her best word to her, getting laughter from Meera, her sister Teera, Urano, and Ikekia's two mothers.

Junelliya passed Zarrenia to one of the other workers, then gave Urano a tender hug, pushing a little of her power to her, sending calm and motherly love to her.

"We have something to ask of you, Ms. Takebayashi," Hanalei stated. "We are returning to Liramor-23 on Monday. We will miss this place, as we have nothing like it on Liramor-23.

"I would like to personally hire you as our nanny for the next few months until there is a place for a day care on Liramor-23. You will have a reasonable salary and your workload as a nanny will be light, as we mothers are almost always there. Liramor-23 has it's own campus of Malton University on the platform, so you can continue your studies for your D. ECE in your free time.

"Once the Interspecies Community begins to bring their children to the platform, we will help you set up your own day care service on the platform," Hanalei finished.

"You do not have to reply immediately, Ms. Takebayashi," Junelliya told her, "but we do need an answer before we leave on Monday, especially if we are to take you with us."

"Now, I can already tell that you are sore, so I would advise you to let your staff take over more of your duties today. You can be the mother hen, always around but doing very little of the work, at least for today," Hanalei ordered sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," Urano replied, smiling. "I will give you an answer by this time Saturday."

"Good, we'll see you in roughly four hours then for the children's feeding," Hanalei returned.

The two mothers nodded to the pair of Pod-Drran Jurte-Rai/Ro inside the door. Urano had buckled to the need for more security and had allowed that she needed someone on the inside of the day care. Junelliya was pleased that the woman could be flexible.

"Do you think she will take up the offer?" Hanalei asked.

"Yes," Junelliya replied. "This is the only place on Terra that Interspecies children will be found. However, in future it will not contain the numbers we now have. She is just too curious about the Interspecies children. I'm sure that she will accept our offer, especially when we tell her how much she will be making."

Morgan High School, Capital City, Terra

Grace came into her home room a little early and received an envelope from Prof. Halen. She opened the envelope and saw that part of her punishment would be to write five hundred lines, ugh, physically write! after class each day before being allowed to go home. The lines were designed to make her understand that she had erred with one hundred lines of this, another hundred lines of that...

The second was to speak to the school councillor each day during her free period, which meant that she could not complete her homework at school, which she normally did.