All That Glitters Ch. 51

The President's aide then called on the Pemipinae of the Maha-Rrin to come forward to sign the agreement in principle between the Union and the Maha-Rrin, dedicating their home planet and the six planets outside of their system that they were mining for materials as under the control of the Maha-Rrin government, the Union recognizing that government as the controlling entity.

This set the groundwork for recognizing the Maha-Rrin as a separate government in much the same way as the Union had recognized the Pod-Drran and giving them uncontested dominion over what they already controlled.

"This agreement will be ratified by the Senate of the Union and the people of the Maha-Rrin in the next few weeks. Once it is, we will then open formal diplomatic ties with the Maha-Rrin," the President spoke to the Pemipinae and the media in the theatre.

"Pemipinae Melda-Hetta, I look forward to seeing your ambassador presenting their papers to the Minister for Interplanetary Affairs of the Greater Community in the not too distant future," the President said as he sat to sign the document at hand, the Pemipinae following suit.

They shook hands to much applause from the audience.

The President was happy, though the members of the Greater Community missed the freestyle banter of his daughter and told him so...

Denders Conference Center, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

The leadership of the Greater Community congregated in the waiting area of the large conference center that afternoon. They were looking forward to signing deals with François Pallanders, with Michelle Laundray, and to receiving the items that were made for them by Arlene Vautor, though the latter would cost them a small fortune, a cost the leadership would gladly pay to protect their people.

Day Fourteen of the Second Denders Summit, Gold Conference Room, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

"Good morning all, today has two special events. This morning, starting at 09:00 hrs, the Council of Empaths will be holding a Grand Congress of Empaths to welcome new members into their ranks and to welcome new Grand Master Empaths into the Council. The senior members of the Order of Telepaths will be in attendance along with the Councillors of the Council of Empaths.

"The public is welcome to attend, however, unless you are a member of the Council of Empaths, please take the rear-most seats in the theatre, giving priority in the theater to the members of the Council of Empaths. The session will be recorded and broadcast by Cynthia Stewart and you will be able to view it from anywhere in the resort.

"This evening, the leadership of the Greater Community has been invited to a family event for the President of the Union, his daughter's graduation. I trust that I have all of the names of those that will be attending? I need those confirmed numbers no later than 10:00 hrs in order to prepare transportation.

"Juanita..."

"Thank-you, Sylvia.

"I and Assistant Minister Lourdes will be on call for the next two days in case you decide you wish to make further enquiries of the Union Government. On Monday, I will take up residence at the Johal Compound to be the UDC representative in the Greater Community Consulate. I will continue my tenure under Minister Charles Ronter but in the new role of Interspecies Affairs.

"Hanalei..."

"Thank-you Juanita. So far, there have been no major incidents that have required my intervention during this summit, unlike during the first summit. Sylvia has been able to manage all of the issues to date. Let us hope the last two days of this summit go without incident.

"Sylvie..."

"Thank-you Hanalei. I will go around the room and ask for points or problems..." the problems were easily managed.

Denders Theater, Denders Resort, Terra, The Sol System

At 09:00 hrs, the theater was packed with members of the Council of Empaths and the curious public. In the middle of the theater sat Junelliya, Hanalei, and the Kumaraie, each holding their children.

On the stage sat the Councillors of the Council of Empaths with Petronellaya seated slightly above the other Councillors arrayed in front of her. Sitting beside her was Senior Elder Fordrat of the Order of Telepaths of the Toolend. The remaining Toolend Elders were arrayed at the foot of the stage, looking out into the audience.

"Good morning to all. Welcome to the first ever Grand Congress of Empaths ever held on Terra. To those of you who are viewing this Congress for the first time, know that the Grand Congress is normally used to vet new laws, conduct trials for those who have committed serious offences, to welcome new members, and to identify and welcome new Grand Master Empaths into the ranks of the Council of Empaths, and to welcome new Councillors into our ranks. Today, we will not be adding new Councillors.

"Today's session is special in that we are also hosting the Order of Telepaths as they watch and participate in a Grand Congress. The Order intends to hold the first ever Grand Assembly of Telepaths on their return to their home world 'Multan'.

"Ladies and gentlemen, gentle beings, members of the Council of Empaths, guests of the Council, I bid you welcome to this Grand Congress. Our Master of Ceremonies today is Councillor Elliya," Petronellaya ended and Elliya, on the floor of the theater, took up her duties.

"Welcome all to the first ever Grand Congress of Empaths held on Terra and the first ever joint Grand Congress of Empaths / Grand Assembly of Telepaths. I am Councillor Elliya, your Master of Ceremonies for today. It is my pleasure to introduce to you the Councillors of the Council of Empaths and the Elders of the Order of Telepaths seated before you." Elliya spent a few minutes introducing all the councillors and Elders before beginning the introduction of new members.

"Our first candidate for entry into the Council of Empaths today is Cecilia James. Would Cecilia and her parents please come to the front." A nervous little girl of perhaps ten years of age, dressed in her best, and holding tightly to the hands of her mother and father, came down to the large circle in front of the stage. She let go of her parent's hands and stepped into the circle.

"Please manifest your powers for us, Cecilia," Elliya asked gently of the girl. She nodded her head, closed her eyes, and then held her hand up and pushed her power towards the Councillors on the stage.

After a moment, Elliya indicated that she could stop as the Councillors debated what they had felt. They turned and gave their opinion to Petronellaya.

"Cecilia, we measure you at a two, a two, and a three. Congratulations, Cecilia, you are accepted into the Council of Empaths as a Full Member and are permitted to add 'YA' at the end of your name to signify that you are a member of the Council," Petronellaya intoned.

Elliya received a Council of Empath's pin with a number on it from the clerk and handed it to the young girl, who spun around and jumped into the arms of her parents with a loud 'WHOOP', much to the amusement of the applauding crowd.

"You will be invited to join a Crush in the not too distant future, Ceciliya," Elliya told her. The clerk recorded the number on the pin with the name of Ceciliya James and handed a copy of the record to Mrs. James. The happy family moved back to their seats to the applause of the crowd.

Eleven more young boys and girls stepped forward and manifested their powers. All were accepted as Full Members of the Council, much to the joy of the new members.

At the end of the new members, Petronellaya stood up. "Dame Hanalei Anar, Dame Junelliya Atohan Harlen, would you please bring forward Ikekia and Zarrenia," she ordered.

"Me," said another little voice next to Junelliya.

"Yes, we might as well include Prakesh," Petronellaya acknowledged with a smile.

The two families brought their children forward to the surprise of the members seated in the theater. No one had ever evaluated children of their age before.

"Before you ask why," Petronellaya began, "these children have already manifested definite power levels here at Denders. They should be tested to see where they stand at the moment. If they are not acknowledged as members today, it will not be too long into the future before they are."

The three parents stopped behind the circle. "Ikekia, Zarrenia, Prakesh, you must each show us your power levels in order to be accepted as individual members of the Council," Elliya told the children. "We are aware that you have unique abilities, including the ability to come together as a small congress to build your power, however, you must be assessed as individuals, each showing your powers without the assistance of the other. Can you do that for me?"

"We try," Zarrenia said, getting nods from her sister and from Prakesh.

Hanalei put Ikekia down and she stepped into the circle. She held out her hand as the other candidates had done and pushed her power at Aunty Petronellaya, sending happy feelings to her, smiling to her as she did so. The Councillors on the stage, and the Elders of the Order of Telepaths all registered surprise.

After a moment's consultation, the Councillors turned to Petronellaya. She smiled and stood. "The Councillors acknowledge a two, a one, and a two, and welcome Ikekia Fatima Tema Se-Lam Poda-Rai-Dosri Piscium as a Full Member of the Council of Empaths. The Council notes that Ikekia is in the care of Specialist GME Clarrisiya. We allow you at add 'YA' to the end of your name to show that you are a member of the Council of Empaths."

Elliya showed her surprise but quickly passed the pin and a copy of the record to Fayad. The records now showed her name as now being spelled 'Ikekiya'.

Ikekiya squeaked and ran back to hug her mother's knees hard while the bemused and surprised audience applauded the little girl.

Junelliya placed Zarrenia on the ground and she moved purposely into the circle. She lifted her little hand and pushed happiness to Petronellaya but she also added an image of a little girl jumping and giggling as she did so. That surprised all of the Councillors and the Elders, who moved up onto the stage and consulted with each other. They gave their news to Petronellaya.

"The Council of Empaths is proud to acknowledge a two, a two, and a two, for Zarrenia, however, the Elders of the Order of Telepaths would also like to make an announcement..."

Senior Elder Fordrat rose and spoke. "The Order of Telepaths acknowledges Zarrenia Henadi Se-Lam Poda-Rai-Latti Piscium as a new telepath and welcomes her into the Order."

That came as a surprise to many in the audience as Junelliya was given the pin of the Council of Empaths and the armband of the Order of Telepaths.

"You are permitted to add 'YA' to the end of your name to acknowledge that you are a member of the Council of Empaths," Elliya told her as she gave two copies of the records of the Council of Empaths and the Order of Telepaths to her father. "Being the youngest member ever acknowledged by the Council we place you under the care of Specialist GME Clarrisiya."

Zarreniya ran back to her mother, who hugged her with delight.

"Kumaraie, we are aware of the abilities that Prakesh has already shown to members of the Council. We ask that she attempt to manifest her powers before us. If she can do so, she will have to be taught the ways of the Council of empaths for her own protection and for the protection of those around her," Petronellaya said.

The Kumaraie gave Petronellaya a nod and placed Prakesh down on the ground. She walked a little unsteadily into the circle and raised her hand. Her message was simple...'Peace', the Councillors all felt it clearly and quickly turned to Petronellaya.

"The Council of Empaths is proud to acknowledge a three, a three, and a three in the initial assessment of the power levels of Prakesh. We welcome her as a Full Member of the Council," Petronellaya said.

With a bow, Elliya gave the pin and a copy of the record to the Kumaroe, who noted that they now showed her daughter's name as being spelled Prakeshya in Standard.

"You are permitted to add 'YA' to the end of your name to show that you are a member of the Council of Empaths. Special instructions will be provided to you by Specialist GME Clarrisiya, in whose care we place you. We acknowledge that Prakesh is the first non-human member of the Council and the youngest ever member of the Council.

"The Council of Empaths acknowledges a new member, Prakesh Se-Lam-Raie of the Pod-Drran, now known to the Council as Prakeshya.

"Congratulations to the three of you," Elliya finished.

The three children smiled at each other and stepped into the circle together. They held each other's hands and manifested their powers, which spiked considerably higher than they had been as individuals, surprising all the empaths and telepaths in the theater.

The three mothers picked up their respective daughters and brought the giggling children back to their seats, the audience watching them with awe as they sat down.

"If we can continue now?" Elliya asked. "We would like to review the candidates for Grand Master Empath. If you would please move into the circle as you are called and manifest your powers for the Councillors?"

The six candidates came down and were individually acknowledged as new Grand Master Empaths.

"You may now call yourselves Grand Master Empaths and add the letters GME after your name. Congratulations," Elliya told them.

Petronellaya rose. "I would like to acknowledge that Dame Junelliya Atohan Harlen has also been accredited as GME, however, due to an imposition placed on her from an earlier disciplinary hearing she may not refer to herself as a Grand Master Empath nor add the letters GME after her name for a period of 90 days.

"I would now like to temporarily hand over this event to Senior Elder Fordrat of the Order of Telepaths.

Fordrat elevated himself to his maximum height. "Earlier in this Summit, an experiment was conducted with Madame Elizabeth Soulange. This experiment was done to see if parts of her brain, already active in telepathy, could be enhanced in any way.

"Would Madame Soulange please come down to the circle in front." Fordrat demanded.

A nervous Elizabeth Soulange came down the steps and entered the circle, nodding briefly to Elliya as she did so.

"It has been previously determined that Madame Soulange has the spark of telepathy but has not been able to manifest more than the most basic processes of telepathy," Elder Fordrat explained.

"In an attempt to boost her abilities, her mind was stimulated in a manner that was discovered and used by Dame Junelliya Harlen against William Chartrinyea to block that person's power. We reasoned that we could do the opposite with it to stimulate the brain to develop what it already has.

"Please note, that we have no manner in which we can add empathic or telepathic abilities to those who do not already have some form of it.

"Madame Soulange, will you manifest your power for us and attempt to send an image to one or more of the Elders of the Order?" Fordrat asked.

Elizabeth nodded and closed her eyes. She thought back to the incident in the infirmary where Tougrate and Malnad had attempted to boost her powers. She fixed as strongly as she could on the image and sent it to both Augraf and Fordrat. Both smiled, as did the other Elders on the panel, who were linked to the two.

"Madame Soulange, we are pleased to indicate that you are now able to send telepathic images to the Elders of the Order. You now have more than just the spark of telepathy.

"While your powers are certainly weak, they are manifest. Congratulations. We charge you with working with Augraf, Tougrate, and Malnad to help develop your abilities over the next year. We shall see how much you are able to develop over that period of time.

"As your powers are currently at the lowest levels of telepaths, we cannot induct you into the Order as a Full Member. However, I believe that we will be able to do so in the not too distant future. Congratulations, Madam Soulange.

"Dame Junelliya, it appears that your new method will be of great use to both the Order of Telepaths and the Council of Empaths. Thank-you for this inspiring technique."

The Toolend all rose and flicked their arms about in a complex pattern that Junelliya recognized as a greeting given by one lower to one higher. That surprised her. She rose, bowed to the Toolend an then sat back down.

Senior Elder Fordrat then returned the event to Councillor Petronellaya.

"Ladies and gentlemen, gentle beings. The Grand Congress of Empaths always ends with the traditional blessing of the Congress. If we could call on Dame Junelliya Atohan Harlen to conduct the blessing?" Petronellaya asked.

Junelliya, Henadi, the Kumaraie, and the children all walked down to the circle and turned to face the audience. Petronellaya came down from the stage and stood behind Junelliya, touching her, the remaining Councillors all touched Petronellaya or each other, with the member of the Order of Telepaths touching Petronellaya through the Senior Elder Fordrat.

People that Junelliya knew, came down to touch her and reached out to either side of the audience. They all came together, touching each other and sending a significant portion of their power down to the center of the circle, Junelliya.

Elliya called out to the members of the Grand Congress..." I ask this Grand Congress to put forth its blessing that we may share our love with all the people of Terra."

Junelliya opened her mind and her heart and projected Peace, Love, and Goodwill and pushed those feelings outward with all her power and the power of over a thousand empaths.

Junelliya's powers had grown significantly since her first Grand Congress back on Hollander's World. There, she had covered a sizable portion of the largest land mass on Hollander's World, something that no single empath directing a Grand Congress had ever been able to accomplish.

Now, she covered the globe. Her message found the hearts of all on the planet and, for a brief few moments, they knew true peace, true love, true goodwill. It was a moment that was recorded by the media all over Terra. For better or worse, the Council of Empaths had shown the world and the Union, just what they were capable of...

Morgan High School, Capital City, Terra, The Sol System

Professor Amy Halen, Grace's home room teacher, Senior Professor, and Vice Principal of Morgan High School, sought out Grace with an urgent message.

"Grace, a word please," she indicated an empty room that the pair entered.

"Our Commencement speaker has been injured in an accident and is unavailable for tonight's ceremonies. I was wondering if we could ask your father to step in as an emergency?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Halen, but my father is not available tonight because of his responsibilities with the Dender's Summit," Grace told her then had a thought.

"However, I might know someone who would be delighted to step into this role, if you would be interested?" Grace explained her thoughts, getting a surprised look and finally a smile from her home room teacher.

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

The gymnasium of Morgan High School had been festively garnered with colourful ribbons and balloons for the graduation. The parents of the graduands were placed in chairs on the main floor behind where the graduands would sit, the remaining family and extended family members in the bleachers. The parents noted quite a number of empty chairs behind them and wondered who they were meant for. They would soon find out as the guests were asked to take their seats.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the President of the Union, and special guests of our graduate, Grace Holloway, the Rulers of the Greater Community," the announcer intoned. The people all rose as the dignitaries strode into the gymnasium and were directed to their seats by students from Morgan High. Angelique Aubuchon was once again on the arm of the President, by this time the public knew that she and the President were an item. It did not take long for the leadership to settle in and the parents and families to sit down when they were all invoked to rise once again for the grand entrance of the graduands.