All That Glitters Ch. 47

"That is all I have. I will now turn you over to Hanalei Anar."

"Good morning all. It is a pleasure to see so many new faces here at the resort. While we are here for a special event, we are also here to enjoy ourselves. Do take the time to relax and enjoy the amenities and the opportunity for excursions around the globe. The Educare Day Care is now open. There are a number of caregivers from each of the races who have little ones at the resort and there are also experienced human caregivers who were with us last year. Including Takebayashi Urano, who ran the day care last year and will repeat her duties this year as head of the day care while we are here. This will offer the parents among us some down time during our two weeks here." That got some laughter from the group.

"If you have any issues that need senior management to run interference with, please come to me or to Sylvie Triand as soon as possible. Make sure, however, that it is something that requires the attention of senior management. I will not be pleased if my downtime is interfered with for something trivial.

"Other than that, I wish you a pleasant stay at Denders Resort," Hanalei finished.

"Very well," Sylvie took the floor again. "We will go around the delegations and ask you if you have any items to bring up today."

Some questions were asked by the senior families but otherwise the delegates were content with the brief. They broke up with many of them turning to speak briefly to Cynthia Stewart.

************

The Council of Empaths had chartered four Sprawl Class ships to bring members of the Empathic community from Hollander's World to the Denders Resort for the Second Summit. The Council was there in numbers to speak with the Toolend who were looking for more information on the use and control of empathic abilities as they tried to adopt the Council's edicts to the Order of Telepaths.

As each of the Sprawl Class could hold more than six hundred passengers in relative comfort, there were a lot of empaths and their families on this trip. Petronellaya had hired the vessels for the fifty members of the Council and their spouses/friends. They had then made the additional space available to those who wanted to travel to the special event. Surprisingly, they had made back the cost of the charter and even made a profit from the trip.

Fayad, Hanalei, Junelliya, Violletiya, Clarrisiya, Sylvie Kinlo, and the two children, were all on the blanket under the sun shelter. There were fewer children about as the resort's day care was now open, but the Piscium's had nothing scheduled that day so had the children with them.

Junellieya felt a presence and sat up abruptly. She turned and looked into the eyes of Petronellaya and her significant other, Elliya. She smiled to the two of them. The Cats suddenly jumped onto the shoulders of the two ladies, re-introducing themselves to them.

"I was not aware that you were going to be here," Junelliya said, smiling at the antics of the Cats.

"We came at the invitation of the Toolend, who wish to speak with us on more concerns they have with the basic tenants of their Order," Petronellaya said. "Of course, I had to bring Elliya with me," she said with a smile to her friend.

"Elliya was made a councillor this year," Petronellaya informed them with pride.

"Draw up a piece of the blanket," Hanalei invited. The pair were already in 'beach mode' meaning they were topless. Junelliya envied the older women as they really had rocking bodies. She hoped that she would look half as good when she was their ages.

Ikekia and Zarrenia came over and sat in their laps once the two new ladies had sat down, the Cats dropping onto the ladies laps to be nearer to the children.

"Hello. I Ikekia, and this my sister Zarry" Ikekia told the pair.

"Hello, Ikekia, I am..."

"Petronellaya," Zarrenia said, pointing to the speaker, "Elliya," she said, pointing to the other.

"Yes, that is correct," Elliya said. "How did you know?" she asked of Zarrenia.

Zarrenia shrugged her shoulders. "I know," she said. Then she and Ikekia got down and started playing with their blocks again, Ikekia showing Zarrenia new words she had just learned from other children. The Cats followed the children, making their goodbye calls to the older ladies.

A smiling Clarrisiya sat down closer to the two new ladies. "Amazing, aren't they," she smiled. "Throw a little power at them," she suggested.

Petronellaya did just that, pushing a little of her power to the two children. They immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Petronellaya. Zarrenia reached out and touched her sister.

"Zarry say you strong," Ikekia informed the pair. The two children giggled at the look of surprise on the adults faces and then went back to their game of learning.

Clarrisiya smiled at the pair. "Those two surprise every new empath or telepath they meet.

"I can see why," Elliya said. "Do we know how strong they are?" she asked.

"Alone, not strong at all. As a pair, surprisingly stronger. However, they lack enough mental power to project either empathic or telepathic power at this stage in their lives unless they are in direct contact with another empath or telepath.

"If they keep going as is, it will not be long before they will need constant supervision from the GME's on station. Including their mother, Junelliya," Clarrisiya finished.

"I am glad that I met them now, before they come into their true power," Elliya stated, getting a nod from Petronellaya.

************

Not far away on the beach, William Chartrinyea was walking with some friends. William was a recent graduate of his Crush back on Hollander's World. He was here at Denders because he had no idea what to do with himself back home. He needed a job and advanced education but, so far, not much had taken his interest. So, when his parents had decided to come to the summit, William asked to accompany them.

William was a special case as far as empaths went. He was young, just turned seventeen, and he was powerful. He figured that he would be the most powerful empath there was when he came into his full abilities. He was wrong, of course, but you couldn't tell headstrong William that.

Because of his power levels, he was often before the Council of Empath's Disciplinary Committee, mostly because he felt that the Council's edicts on the use of empathic power were stifling his abilities. When he disagreed with the council, he tended to ignore the edicts.

He was on the beach at Denders Resort with three other empaths his own age, all female. He had managed to use his power to compel the three female teenagers to remove their bikini tops, without them knowing. Now he was looking to do the same with two new females he had been introduced to.

Grace and Guinevere were younger than he and his female entourage were. But both were good looking teenage girls. So William decided that he wanted to see what they looked like topless. He subtly fired a compulsion to the two who, surprisingly, ignored it.

William decided to up the power of his compulsion a little, only to be ignored once more. Perplexed, William decided to put some real power behind his compulsion. This caused three things to happen...

The first was that his targets both turned on him. The pair walked up to him and Guinevere slapped him across the face, hard! Reacting to the slap, the three young ladies in his company suddenly realized that they had been the subject of a compulsions.

The second was that he suddenly found himself surrounded by security personnel that he had no idea had been around him.

The third, he was not initially aware of.

************

Clarrisiya started when she felt the pulse of power. "Oh, I recognize that power signature."

"As do I," Petronellaya said, with a look that said she was not pleased.

"Allow me," Violletiya spoke, standing and moving down the beach in the direction the pulse came from.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here," Violletiya said as she came to the site of the incident. Five very angry young females, three from Hollander's World and two she recognized as Grace Holloway and her friend Guinevere Soulange.

"What have you done this time, Mr. Chartrinyea?" Violletiya asked.

"This one attempted to compel us to lose our bikini tops," Grace said testily. "Guinevere initially stopped the compulsion on us, but he kept pushing the amps up. She finally shut him down and then slapped him.

"That's when the girls he was with realized that he had compelled them and that's when my security team intervened," Grace ended her little speech, her face flushed with anger.

"Do you realize, Mr. Chartrinyea, that you could be prosecuted for mental rape?" Violletiya stated formally.

That surprised William, who suddenly looked a little lost.

"You think because you have power, that you can do as you please? Well, let me inform you, young man, that you are far from the powerhouse you think you are.

"Why don't we see who is on this beach?" Violletiya suggested. "Go ahead, send out a summons. I give you permission to use your full strength. Let's see who responds."

A summons was a pulse that was sent out by empaths to see who was around. It took very little power to use, but the more power that it was pushed with, the further the summons went. The power levels also broadcast the level of the sender and the responder.

William sent out the pulse. Almost immediately, people responded to it. A lot of strong GME's responded to the pulse, then even stronger members of the Council came through.

William had not been aware of the circumstances of this trip. He had not known that the Counsellors would be here as the ship he had come it on did not have any councillors on it. With each new return signalled a stronger empath than the one previously responded. Then, a truly enormous pulse was felt. William palled when he felt it. The three girls that were initially in his entourage because of his power levels, suddenly understood what power truly meant for an empath.

"That would be Junelliya, the most powerful empath in the known universe," Violletiya informed him. People were starting to congregate. William recognized those who had sent responses to his summons as they walked up to the group.

Then, his eyes fell on someone that he did not want to see, Petronellaya.

"Hello, Mr. Chartrinyea. Still up to your little tricks are you?" she asked as she approached, the look on her face betraying her calm voice.

William's parents were suddenly there. "What have you done this time?" his father asked.

"William is under arrest, sir," came the reply from a Terran teenager.

"And you are?" the senior Chartrin asked.

"I would be Guinevere Soulange, sir, the one this fool tried to place a compulsion on. This idiot managed to place a compulsion on these three girls," here she pointed to the girls of William's former entourage, "and tried the same on the two of us. At first, I tried to ignore him and just protected myself and my friend, Grace, from his stupidity.

"Your son is a little pervert, Mr. Chartrin. He decided that he wanted to see us topless. We are still young teens, sir. Grace has just turned sixteen and I am fourteen. We are really not ready for what he wanted.

"When William upped the amps on us, I stopped him abruptly. That is when the other girls realized that William had compelled them to remove their tops. They were not pleased. I was not pleased. I slapped him.

"Then my friend's security people stepped in and arrested him," Guinevere finished.

"Why does your friend have this kind of security?" Mrs. Chartrin asked nervously.

"Oh, yes. I suppose I should formally introduce her. My friend is Grace Elizabeth Holloway, as in the daughter of President Holloway of the Union," Guinevere informed them, sending shock waves through the crowd.

"Ah, I thought I recognized that signature," said another voice that William recognized. He looked up into the eyes of his former teacher, Clarrisiya. As a young power, she had once been one of his instructors.

Two women stood beside her, each holding a small child. Despite wearing only bikini bottoms, the two women held an aura of authority about them. What surprised William the most was the presence of three Cats, one on the shoulders of each of the three women.

As his eyes brushed over one of the women, he recognized her as the source of the enormous pulse of power that he had felt.

The two children smiled and reached out to each other. The clasped hands and sent out a pulse of their own. It was very weak, but strong enough to let everyone know that the children had power.

The beach went silent. The empaths of Hollander's World had just been introduced to something truly amazing.

"Well...I had not wanted to introduce them so early, however, it seems they have an agenda of their own," Petronellaya stated.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Hollander's World, Members of the Council of Empaths, I would like to introduce to you, Dame Hanalei Anar and her daughter, Ikekia Fatima Tema Poda-Rai-Dosri, Dame Junelliya Atohan Herlan, and her daughter Zarrenia Henadi Poda-Rai-Latti.

"Junelliya is currently the strongest empath that has ever been documented. Her daughters are likely to be even stronger. The youngest ever recorded occurrence of usable empathic power to date, was Councillor Shylmiya, who came into her powers at age five and, until the arrival of Junelliya, was the most powerful empath on record.

"Ikekia has just turned one, and Zarrenia will turn one in another month," Petronellaya told the silent crowd, who let out a gasp of surprise.

Petronellaya decided to turn the attention away from the family and back onto William. "What do we do with you, William. You have really put yourself in a bind this time.

"Were we on Hollander's World, we could do a lot for you. But you are here on Terra and you have broken Council of Empath regulations by attempting to use your power to bring about a compulsion in girls your age and younger, in what would be considered a sexual situation. In other words, William, Mind Rape.

"That you did that to other members of the Council of Empaths was serious enough, that you tried to do it to two people who are not recorded members, is even more serious. That you were stupid enough to try it on the daughter of the President of the Union is unforgivable.

"Mental Rape can net you twenty to thirty years in prison, young man. That is if you had kept it within the confines of the empathic community. That you branched out from there, could net you up to fifty years in prison. Throw in on top of that, the daughter of the President and could be will not be an issue. You WILL go away for some very serious time.

"How do we deal with you, William? We have already given you many chances to change your behavior. You have defied us at every turn, believing that your power gives you the right to do as you please. Now, you must answer for the misuse of that power," Petronellaya stated.

Junelliya sensed the panic in William, his empathic abilities rising at an alarming rate. Her telepathy told her that he wanted to run, to strike back at those who were trying to reign him in. She handed Zarrenia over to Clarrisiya and approached the young man. "Maybe I can be of assistance in this," she said and touched the young man's forehead.

Using the instructions she had been given by the Toolend, she looked into the young man's mind. She found the source of his power, the point at which his conscious mind came into focus of his abilities. She had an idea. She pushed a little of her power there and realized that she could set a block between his conscious mind and his unconscious abilities.

She pushed a little of her power into this point. It had the desired effect, so she pushed more of her power there.

Frozen in place by Junelliya's telepathic probe, the young man suddenly began to panic.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!" he screamed out, falling to his knees.

"Junelliya?" Petronellaya demanded.

"I blocked his empathic power," Junelliya informed her. "He will not be able to use it for at least a year."

A shocked silence followed her announcement.

"He needed to be punished in a way that would bring home his careless use of his power. If he had been sent to prison, he would still be able to use his power there. He would have learned things there about the misuse of power that we would not like for him to learn.

"This way, he is punished for his transgression and, perhaps, will learn something valuable," Junelliya finished.

Petronellaya nodded and turned to Grace. "Ms. Holloway? Will you be proffering charges?" she asked.

Grace looked down at William, now collapsed on the sand in a fetal position, crying loudly. She shuddered.

"No, I withdraw my charges. Going to jail would not have been good for him, but neither is losing his power like this," Grace said. She signalled to her security staff, who stepped back from William.

"Guinevere?"

"No, Counsellor, I withdraw my charges. I would not like to lose the use of my powers like this either. This is far greater a punishment than any time in jail could place on him," Guinevere said with conviction.

Petronellaya turned to the three other girls, but they just shook their heads and backed away. Petronellaya noted that two of them were covering their breasts while the third did not but then, there were a lot of topless women on the beach, herself including.

She turned to some of the medical staff now on the beach with them. "Dr. Maya, the trauma of his losing his empathic ability will be severe for him. Do what you can for him," Petronellaya instructed her friend, getting a nod in return.

Petronellaya turned her gaze to Junelliya, and all eyes on the beach followed. "This is not what I had expected, Junelliya," she said.

"No, nor I, Petronellaya. However, in the long run, it is probably the best solution for him. He now knows that there are powers out there that surpass his own and that there are consequences for the misuse of power," Junelliya informed the watchers.

"My son. He will recover his power?" Mrs. Chartrin inquired, tears in her eyes.

"In about a year, yes. I hope that we can use the interim to give him direction that will allow him to work within the framework of the Council of Empaths, Mrs. Chartrin," Junelliya said.

"He was not like this before he came into his power. He was such a good boy. He just became too strong too soon," Mrs. Chartrin replied, making excuses for her son.

"We now have the opportunity to introduce him to being responsible for his actions, Galliya," Petronellaya said softly to William's mother. "It might serve him better in the long run. What happened to him is harsh, but the alternatives from the Council would have meant that he be sent away to prison for a long time, or possibly even executed."

"We should move him to the infirmary," Dr. Maya said.

Nurse Silliya and her working partner, Nurse Katanya, were there with a float bed. They placed the young man on it and headed for the infirmary, Dr. Heyya, Dr. Maya, and William's parents in tow.

The beach crowd began to break up. Grace came over to Junelliya.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," she said.

Junelliya nodded. "The lesser of two evils, Grace. A seventeen-year-old boy going to prison for thirty to fifty years is not an ideal solution either. He was panicking and seeking a way out and he was strong enough that he might have gotten away, initially.

"This way, he loses his power for a year or so, and we get the chance to influence his behaviour for the better during that time."

"What made you think of that, Junelliya," Elliya asked.

"Zarry make sad," Ikekia informed them.