All That Glitters Ch. 49

"I am truly impressed, Ms. Noor, at what you have created here," the Asoc said. "I was originally skeptical when I was told this little temple was a tourist draw. Now I understand why it has become so."

"I thank-you for your kind words, Asoc. However, I did not rebuild this temple for it to be a tourist attraction. It just sort of became that," Henadi informed the Asoc.

"It is true," Omair said. "My daughter had done something against the wishes of her family. She lied to us in order to find a way off the planet to attend Malton University for Engineering. Imagine my surprise when I found out that she was not enrolled in Early Childhood Development as she had originally told us was her intent.

"When Henadi joined the Navy, she was able to save up the money to repay the family, however, I was stubborn and refused it. She took that money and convinced Ahmed Johal to allow her to rebuild the temple as an act of contrition..

"I remember the e-mail I received from Ahmed in which he praised her for the work that she had done and admonished me for my stubbornness that forced her to do such.

"I have seen this temple many times before, from those of our people who have been to Denders Resort. This is my first time seeing this temple in person. Seeing it with your own eyes makes it worth the trip here."

Omair opened his arms and gave his daughter a long hug. "Forgive me daughter for my stubbornness. You have more than made up for your transgression. You have set the standard for the women of the church, and for temple builders all over Anuura."

"I have long ago forgiven you father. But I am happy to receive your blessing yet again," Henadi replied.

"You name me," a little voice said.

"Hello, little Henadi," Henadi greeted Zarrenia, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Father, may I introduce Zarrenia Henadi Se-Lam Poda-Rai-Latti, second child of the Piscium family. Zarrenia, this is my father, Omair Noor," Henadi introduced them.

"You named her after my daughter?" Omair asked, surprised.

"She is the bravest woman I have ever known, Omair. It was an honour to so name my daughter," Fayad explained.

The Piscium family stayed in the temple, greeting those who came by with words of congratulations, until it was nearly time for the big event.

Hanalei led the way to the Office Annex, where Ji-en Nadir was waiting. She nodded to the leaders of the Greater Community and moved to the upper step and the mike.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, and gentle beings of the Greater Community. It is a pleasure to see so many of you here this morning.

"I am Hanalei Anar. Along with my mate, Dame Junelliya Atohan Herlan, and our husband, Sir Fayad Piscium, we are the owners of the Johal Compound." Fayad and Junelliya came to stand with Hanalei, each holding one of their children.

"Today, it gives me great pleasure to dedicate this compound to its new purpose, that of the Consulate for the Interspecies Community. It has taken us a year to get to this stage, but we are now ready to open for business.

"The new offices will help all of our business communities to thrive as we build the Greater Community together.

"Please join me in welcoming the President of the Union, Wilford J. Holloway." The President stepped forward to a rousing applause from the crowd.

"Thank-you one and all for attending this rather important ceremony. I am truly pleased to see so many of you here.

"Today marks the beginning of a new age for the Union and for Humanity, as we embark on open business between the members of the Greater Community.

"Over the next few years, we will expand the shipping network between the Union and the Greater Community. This office complex will be the heart of that endeavour. It is from here that we will learn about what it will take to ship items between our planets. The taxes, customs requirements, and shipping requirements of all of our races are each very different.

"Part of the responsibility of this office will be to help each other overcome the issues inherent in business between different planets and even different races. It will become one of the most important centers in our interplanetary trade network.

"This new complex will open for business on Monday, but today, we are here to officially open the complex itself.

"If I may ask the leaders of the Greater Community, and Dame Hanalei Anar to join me, please."

Each of the leaders was introduced in alphabetical order as they walked up the steps or the ramp to stand in front of the long ribbon barring the doors. Ji'en moved among them, giving each golden scissors specifically made for their unique anatomies.

With Hanalei in the center, they took their places. Ji'en called out: "One, two, three!" and the leaders all cut the ribbon together to a tremendous roar from the crowd.

Ji'en swiftly picked up pieces of the ribbon, and gave them to Hanalei who formally presented them, along with the golden scissors, to each of leaders as souvenirs. They were surprised to be given such, as ribbon cutting was not part of their own opening ceremonies. They turned and posed for images, then Ji'en signalled those within the office.

The doors were opened and the leaders were escorted inside by their respective Consulars, the senior leadership of each of the respective species following their race's leaders.

This was the first time that the leaders had actually been in the complex. They had seen images but being here for real was interesting. Each of the offices was set up for the respective species and had even been personalized by the Consular staff themselves, with various personal knickknacks around the offices.

The Office Annex was large with enough space for many querents at a time. The waiting room had space for more than thirty people and an empty corner with tables for visiting Toolend or Djinaëte. There was even a small cafeteria for the guests.

The Consulars led their leaders deeper into the complex, entering the living accommodations. Ji'en was at her post, bowing to each of the luminaries as she was introduced to them.

The Piscium family met the leadership in the large cafeteria, the children greeting each of the leaders in their own language, with the exception of the Kumaraie, who they greeted as 'God-ma' much to the amusement of the other delegates.

The delegates were shown to the race specific living quarters and the empty rooms that would be waiting for diplomats to Terra. Overall, the leaders were very much impressed by the thoughtfulness of the construction of the compound.

"I see now where the designs of the new accommodations at Denders comes from. This is a brilliant building, Hanalei. You should be justly proud of your handiwork," Impatoss Hatel Konexi commented.

"We are, Impatoss," Hanalei admitted. "I did this with one thought in mind, to give my friends who were living at the compound at the time we thought of this, continued, meaningful work. I think I have succeeded at that.

"That it served the Greater Community was a bonus of the original plan," she admitted with a smile.

The Cafeteria served dinner to the delegates, starting at 11:00hrs. The fair was varied, designed with each of the delegations in mind. They even had 'breads' made from grain from the native grains of Hollander's World, much to the delight of the Djinaëte.

"One of our grain farmers was having issues with poor soil on his farm. Poor for Terran style plants, but ideal for the native plants of Hollander's World. When he discovered that we were exporting native fruits and vegetables to Liramor-23 and beyond, he decided to see if he could domesticate the local grain seeds. He succeeded.

"He sent us several 50kg bags of the grain for testing with the Djinaëte here at Denders. The grain responds to preparations much the same as Terran grains. It is ideal for making our breads and pastas, though humans cannot eat it," Ji'en informed the delegates.

"It is excellent. We do not have 'breads' like this in Djinaëte space," Ambs. Her-ii admitted. "This will become an excellent trade item."

"It will be interesting to 'test' all of these products," Consular Sister Imitta, a Djinaete Sister acting as Consul at the compound said. That received giggles from the other delegates.

"It is a good thing that the Djinaëte do not get fat," quipped another of the delegates, "such 'testing would go much too fast to my waistline." That brought laughter from all, including the Djinaëte.

The leadership gave their praise to the new compound and final instructions to their Consular staff, after which they returned to Denders.

The Consular staff was then left dealing with the public, now restricted to the Office Annex. The public was impressed and said so to all the media.

All-in-all, it was a very content little family that went to sleep in their villa that night.

Day Eight of the Second Denders Summit, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

"Good morning all," Sylvie greeted the delegates at the morning brief. Today's special event is the evening concert in Paris, France. Shuttles are set to leave the shuttle port every hour starting at 08:00 this morning as Paris is a tourist city with plenty to see.

"The Piscium family has made available The Trine for the ruling members and their families. Raymond and Liea have also made available their vessels, the Valiant and Delilah, however, they are a little smaller than the Trine.

"The Silver Conference Room remains dedicated to the Council of Empaths/Order of Telepaths conference. They have asked for an extension of two days meaning their conference will continue until Tuesday. Juanita..."

"Good morning everyone. There is nothing special going on today. As always, I am available if anyone wants to discuss issues with me. I can also get a hold of A/Minister Lourdes if required. Hanalei..."

"Thank-you for your attendance at the Johal Compound yesterday. It was a great success according to all the media reviews. If you would like to know what the reviews say, please see Cynthia Stewart to gain more information. You will have to do that first thing this morning as she is planning to attend the show in Pairs and will be departing on the 11:30 shuttle. Sylvie..."

"That's all from us, any issues that you want to bring up?" Sylvie asked.

Fiona stood up. "I would like to introduce my new Executive Assistant, Grace Elizabeth Holloway. She started her term with me this morning at 06:00 in the main square of Denders Resort under the direction of Kim. She will be with me everyday from here on out with the exception of Thursday and Friday of this week coming, her graduation. She will be my constant shadow for the next year at least."

Grace stood to applause from the group.

The Asoc stood. "It would appear that one of my subjects is going to make use of my offer to officiate in her Mating Ceremony. I would like to know what is available at Denders in this regard?"

"Denders is a destination wedding resort, Asoc, meaning that we have all kinds of facilities tailor made for these kinds of activities. If you have your aide contact me, we can arrange just about anything that is required, as long as it does not include sex on the beach," Sylvie replied.

"Oh, that is a pity then," the Asoc stated. "We will have to postpone the ceremony until after we return to Asocar."

"What??!!" Sylvie blurted out.

"I am only teasing, Sylvie. We do not include actual mating in a mating ceremony," the Asoc said with a smile, getting laughter from around the room.

"Pity," said the Ambassador from the Umick, deadpan. "I would liked to have witnessed that."

"You people have picked up too much human style humour," the Impatoss chimed in, to great laughter from the others.

Ambassador Mayute of the Toolend stood.

"The Toolend intend to attempt the new technique on Elizabeth Soulange, later this morning," Ambs. Mayute stated. "This will take place in the Bronze Conference Room as we will need the room for all those who will be attending. Aside from the Toolend, who all intend to be there, we will also have several senior members of the Council of Empaths, as well as Dr. Maya, Dr. Heyya, Nurse Katanya, Nurse Silliya, and Elizabeth's daughter, Guinevere."

The Erx Toolend interrupted. "We also request the presence of Lady Junelliya. While there is an imposition on her at this moment, she is the person who developed this technique. It is imperative that she is present. For this reason, I give royal consent to her presence at this event."

Junelliya stood and bowed to the Erx Toolend. "At your command, Sharne Erx Toolend," she replied.

No one else spoke.

"Go enjoy yourselves," Sylvie ordered with a smile.

Fiona's Villa, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

Grace followed Fiona to her villa where she was waiting for her morning connection to Liramor-23.

"Normally, a Sector Commander cannot be outside of their jurisdiction for more than 72 hours without authority. However, with the advent of the ICS, we are now permitted to conduct business from almost anywhere." Fiona advised Grace.

As she spoke, an indicator came up on her comp. She opened it and flipped it to a monitor in her villa. The image of Martine Lavoie, the SOps at Liramor-23 came up on the screen alongside that of Captain Giselle Florine, commanding NS Kennedy, and now Acting Commander of the Piscium Defence Force.

"Good morning everyone," Fiona greeted them. "I am currently with Captain Émilia Pétillante, my aide-de-Camp, Grace Elizabeth Holloway, my new Executive Assistant, Cmdre Whatt, and Cdr. Philaya, Cmdre. Whatt's aid-de-camp.

"We will begin with SOps, Martine?"

"Good morning, Director Marsh. The new system of ships being required to identity their destinations before they jump is finally starting to take hold within the Union. No ship may now move between monitored locations without prior authorization as to timings and location of jumps. This has resulted in our ability to stop those who are attempting to access the system without authority as we simply arrest any ship that does not jump without prior authorization, as per your orders.

"So far we have arrested four ships and had them returned to their destination with Marines on their Bridges. Their owners and captains have been charged by local authorities for failure to report their destinations once they had been returned to their points of origin.

"Ship's captains and owners are starting to get the message. There has been no unauthorized jumps into the Piscium System in three days now. The next scheduled jump is the Liramor Mining Company's supply ships which is due on Thursday, 20 July.

"We will have 110,703 metric tons of processed material for the supply ship to return with to Liramor Prime when they arrive. The ship is due to return to Liramor Prime on Sunday, 23 July.

"There have been no incidents of unruly conduct on the platform in the last twenty-four hours and there is currently no one in the brig or under house arrest," Martine advised Fiona.

"Thank-you Martine. When we arrive, I will ask you to take Grace under your wing and show her what you and the Command Deck Crew do on Liramor-23. She will have a major learning curve ahead of her on arrival," Fiona advised, getting a nod from the other woman.

"Captain Florine?"

"Good morning, Vice Admiral, Commodore, I am pleased to announce that we have received another ship, NS Kirkpatrick, Commander Marion Renmin commanding. The Kirkpatrick is a newly built Improved Whippet Class Escort Ship with all the newest bells and whistles. She and her crew earned the President's Unit Commendation during OP Sandcastle.

"I have temporarily pressed her into service as part of the Piscium Defence Force until the remainder of said force returns from the Second Denders Summit," Gisselle stated with a smile. That got a bark of a laugh from Fiona.

"Very well, Giselle. You do need the ships. I will greet the Commander on my return. Please convey my regards to her. If she is available, I would like her to be present in your morning brief tomorrow," Fiona ordered, getting a nod from Giselle.

Giselle provided the stats on the number of sorties that the defence force ships had conducted in the last 24hrs, completing her brief.

"Thank-you Giselle. Keep up the good work. We will see you tomorrow at the same time," Fiona said, signing off.

"And that completes the daily brief, while we are here that is the only official duties that we have, excepting emergencies which, so far, have been none. Time to see what is happening on the beach," Fiona instructed with a smile.

Capt. Pétillante gave Grace the download she had received from all the past Aide-de-Camps that Fiona had on the details of dealing with the civilian side of Fiona's command. "That is a bit of study for you," Émilia said with a wink. "It should give you a leg up on dealing with the boss."

Grace grimaced at the thought of study so soon after graduation. However, she had a job to do...

Bronze Conference Room, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

The mood in the Bronze Conference Room was one of cautious optimism. No one knew what would happen as this was the first time anything of this nature would be attempted.

Dr. Maya and the nurses made Elizabeth as comfortable as they could, placing her in a semi-reclining position on a medical bed, Guinevere beside her holding her hand.

Tougrate, and Malnad each touched a tentacle to her forehead, with Maya and Junelliya in tandem. Tougrate was looking into Junelliya's mind to see again what she had done in the case of William Chartrinyea.

Behind the foursome, two other Toolend slipped a tentacle to Malnad and allowed the remaining telepaths to connect to them. The two touching Malnad were the tripwire that would separate in the event of something going wrong and would also protect the foursome from intervention by any of the other telepaths.

"We are ready to slip into your mind, Elizabeth," Junelliya told her. "If you have any objections to this procedure, now is the time to say so."

"No. I would like to see if something can be done to help me increase my abilities. It is maddening to have enough ability to see things but not enough to actually participate. I would like to be able to participate, if possible," Elizabeth replied.

"We will do what we can but this is an entirely new process," Dr. Maya told her. "We do not know what the results will be. We will do our best to ensure that you suffer no injury. You may wind up with a headache, as is normal when we do a deep mind touch. You have felt that before. Whether or not we are able to boost your abilities we will have to wait and see."

Elizabeth nodded. Guinevere gave her mother's hand a squeeze and then let go so that she would not be affected by the procedure. She picked up a tentacle extended to her from the group.

Tougrate slipped gently into Elizabeth's mind and went immediately to the place that he had seen in William's mind. Erht easily found it.

"This is the place where the conscious mind interacts with subconscious abilities," Tougrate informed those watching through the link. Erht projected a detail of William's mind as erht had seen the block in it to compare to that which was now before them. The difference was remarkable.

"Do you see the difference, Maya, Junelliya?" Malnad asked.

"Yes." Maya answered immediately. "William's capacity levels were remarkably stronger. The block that was put in place had to be significantly powerful to actually interfere with his access to his subconscious powers. But then, Junelliya is the most powerful empath that we currently know of."

A murmur ran through the crowd of 'watchers' at that thought. They could all see now the level of power that was required to block William. It would take several Toolend working together to block that kind of power. That Junelliya could do that on her own was a bit of a surprise to the Toolend.