All That Glitters Ch. 54

"We have been taking ships from around the periphery of the fleet. They do not have the feature of an ICS Antennae on their ships, so are forced to use the ICS Web for communications between ships that are on another planet. So far, we have been able to keep up the ruse that the fleet is intact.

"It is, unfortunately, only a matter of time until they discover what is happening and take more immediate control over the other vessels," Raymond told them, getting a nod from the Asoc. "Every ship we can take out of the fleet now is one less ship that we must fight against when the time comes."

"Initially, I was very sceptical of the outcome of this venture, Raymond. I am pleased to see that it has succeeded as much as it has," the Asoc said.

"As am I, Asoc. I had not expected to get this many of their ships. The more ships that answer the call for clemency, the better our odds will be during the upcoming battle," Raymond replied.

"There will be a battle?" the Asost asked.

"Yes, Asost, there will be a battle. Grazia for one will not surrender as he knows what will happen to him and the men on his ship. The hardliners of his fleet will likely go to battle with him. That is at least fifteen of the more hardcore elements of the fleet, all of them former ships of the Confederation. They did not surrender before, they will not likely surrender now," Raymond told them.

"So, fifteen ships out of seventy-six that will fight until the end. What of the others?" the Asoc demanded.

"That is the question, Asoc. We now have twenty-five warships out of a possible sixty-seven. That's approximately thirty-seven percent of their ships. If we get thirty ships, I will be very pleased. However, each day brings the likelihood of our being discovered by Grazia closer. Once that occurs, we can expect that the remainder of the fleet will take actions against us," Raymond said.

"We have contingency plans for that, Raymond?" the Asoc demanded.

"We do, Asoc, the best of which is to complete our task and leave the area. But, like every plan of battle, the planning is excellent until we actually come in contact with the enemy. You see, the enemy has its own plans, Asoc, and they seldom conform to ours.

"Robert Burns, one of our greatest poets, once said 'No matter how we toil and try, the best laid plans of mice and men shall oft go awry'. Let us hope that this time, our plans will succeed and theirs will not..."

Warship Astigalin, In Orbit of AsocAR, The Asocan Realm, 364 Light Years from Terra

The Comms Officer wanted to talk to the Captain who brought him into his ready room.

"I think we may have a problem with the fleet," the Comms O informed him.

"How so?" Captain Joseph Matteus demanded.

"When you talk to someone over time, you get a feel of how they speak and react to questions and orders," the Comms O stated. "The responses I am getting from some ships is 'wrong' for lack of a better word. I believe that these ships may have been captured and that the enemy doesn't want us to know."

"Can you confirm this?" Matteus asked.

"I already have. I sent out inquiries to some of those that I know well, asking questions that only they would understand. The responses were 'wrong'. I do not believe that I was talking to these people," the Comms O responded.

"It will take more than that to convince the Admiral," Matteus informed his subordinate.

"We will have to send ships to the locations of the ships in question. If they are there, then I expect to be punished for my stupidity. However, if they are not..."

Matteus took a minute to dwell on this. "OK, I will inform the Admiral of our suspicions. I will not include your name immediately in case it backfires on us. Good work."

Warship The Dryas, In Orbit of ShemetAR, Eighty-Five Light Years from AsocAR, The Asocan Realm

The Dryas and four other ships snapped into existence high in the gravity well of ShemetAR a day later. Captain Dane Holt immediately noted the absence of Fleet Grazia ships.

"ShemetAR Control, this is the Warship Dryas, where are the Fleet ships that should be in this system, over?" Holt demanded.

A few seconds later, the image of a harried Gurd appeared on the monitor. "Dryas, this is Control, Fleet Grazia ships are not in the habit of identifying their movements to this office. We do note that five of your ships left this system some three planetary cycles ago, to you."

"Are you saying that you have no idea of their whereabouts, over?" Holt demanded.

"The Asocan Realm has not yet formally adopted the requirement of ships to identify their movements to the planets they are departing from or jumping to. Even if we had, military and customs ships would be exempt from this requirement as they would not want to identify publicly their patrol routes.

"Your ships departed this system some three days ago without explanation as to their destination, to you," the Gurd returned.

"Shit," Holt said. "Comms O, get me Martte Shugrand Mutt Herrtt in the Raddon's Office." He snapped.

A few minutes later, the image of a young Asocan appeared on the monitor. "Office of the Raddon ShemetAR. How may we be of service?" she asked.

"This is Sostoc Dane Holt of the Warship Dryas. I would speak with the Raddon if she is available," Dane replied.

"One moment, Sostoc," the image changed to the seal of the Raddon ShemetAR. A few seconds later, the image of another Asocan appeared on the monitor.

"Sostoc Holt, I am Martte Shugrand. You have a question?" she asked.

"We are looking for five of our ships, Martte Shugrand. All five were in this system three days ago and are no longer here," Holt informed her.

"The Fleet is not in the habit of informing either Planetary Control nor this office of its deployments, Sostoc. I can, however, confirm the last time they were in this system was three cycles ago. Other than that, I am as much in the dark as you are," Shugrand replied.

"And you have no idea of the direction they took when they departed?" Holt demanded.

"If they are not suspected of running contraband, it is not normal to note the track of ships moving about this system. The Djinaëte do not take kindly of being tracked and yours are the only other FTL capable ships we currently have. We cannot help you with your inquiries," Shugrand returned.

"What of email messages off the ICS Web?" Holt inquired.

"Once again, if the persons involved in sending and receiving emails is not suspect of criminal activity, the Asocan realm does not record nor track their emails. The tracking of emails is only authorized via a judges warrant," Shugrand advised.

Holt realized he was at a dead end in his investigation. He thanked Martte Shugrand and sent an encrypted email to AsocAR to the Warship Astigalin: 'Grazia ships are missing from this site. No indication as to where they departed to, however, five ships left this system three days previously. We are taking up the routine for the missing ships. Holt.'

Holt knew that Grazia would not be pleased on receiving that message...

Liramor-23 Hospital Reception, Lima Deck, The Piscium System

Katryanna Sokolova was a beautiful woman who got third, fourth, and fifth looks from men and women wherever she went. At twenty-five, she was used to it now, though it still bothered her for her chosen profession.

Born on Terra on the West side of the Ural Mountains (opposite from Europe), her skin looked like porcelain, her eyes were a washed out pale blue, her lips a natural pale pink and blond hair the colour of autumn wheat adorned the top of her 1.7m head. For a person who was essentially an office worker, she was remarkably fit. The envious, and the lustful looks followed her wherever she went.

But it was her intelligence that truly set her apart for Katryanna was a genius. She spoke a dozen languages and had already achieved her surgical status at the tender age of twenty-four. Now, a year later, she was looking for a new location to assert her independence.

Katrynna entered reception to the local hospital wearing her medical white jumpsuit with the Malihan Hospital Logo on her right breast. She noted a woman from Hollander's World sitting at the desk wearing medical whites with the Liramor-23 Logo on her right breast and a B.N. pin on her left collar. She gave Katrynna a beautiful smile and asked how she could help her.

"Good day. I am Dr. Katryanna Sokolova, Surgeon, and I am here in response to the advertisement for the position," Katryanna replied in a cultured voice.

"Oh! I do apologize for not realizing that you are older than you appear. I am Katanya, B.N., one of the senior nurses of the hospital and an empath from Hollander's World," the woman replied.

"What makes you say that I am older?" Katryanna asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, surgical residence is three to five years and med school is eight. Add that together and you must be at least thirty, though you look much younger," Katanya replied.

"I am in fact twenty-five," Katryanna replied with a whimsical smile. She watched as surprise crossed the face of Katanya.

"Oh! You must be a genius then. You shall fit right in here," Katanya said with a lopsided grin.

"Sorry?" Katryanna replied, initially caught off guard.

Katanya giggled. "There are a lot of fellow geniuses on this platform, Doctor."

The door opened with two people entered, quarrelling good naturedly. Katryanna turned and jumped in surprise as an unusual alien entered behind another woman from Hollander's World. Katrynna noted that, while wearing medical whites, the new woman was sporting a Marine Dr's name tag with a blue square below her name and a representation of three medals under that.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Heyya, responsible for the Trauma Ward," she said to the strange woman in medical whites as she extended a hand. Heyya noted the woman was quite beautiful, though she seemed to be fixated on Dr. <Gorlat.

"This is Dr. <Gorlat, Medical Surgeon Class One from the Asocan Realm," Heyya introduced the Asocan. "And you are?"

"Sorry, for staring. I have only met a couple of Pod-Drran previously. I am Dr. Katryanna Sokolova, Surgeon. I am replying to the request for a surgeon that you sent to Malihan Regional Hospital," Katrynna replied.

"Let me guess, twenty-three/twenty-four?" Heyya asked, suspecting why a young surgeon would seek to come to such an out-of-the way corner of the universe.

"Twenty-five actually, and I already have one year as full surgeon after my surgical residency at Malihan," Katryanna answered. "People look at me and do not see an experienced surgeon so are a little hesitant to have me work on them."

"Ah, yes, the curse of the beautiful people..." Heyya said smiling.

"Bah! What do humans know about beauty!" <Gorlat rumbled, getting laughter from the other two.

"Oh, yes. <Gorlat is the quintessential Asocan beauty, however, we only have her word for that," Heyya informed Katryanna with a wink.

Just then the door opened and two woman, who Katryanna guessed were about her age, along with two cute little girls entered reception.

"Oh, pretty!" said one of the girls, waiving at Katrynna.

"And who do we have here?" asked one of the women behind the children.

"Hanalei, this is Dr. Katryanna Sokolova, our new surgeon. Katryanna, the one asking the question is Hanalei Anar, her mate and fellow wife is Junelliya Herlan, and the two little ones are Ikekiya and Zarreniya," Heyya introduced them all.

"Me Ikekiya," said the girl who had waved at her.

"Me Zarreniya," said the other.

"Fellow wife," Katryanna asked, confusion showing on her face.

"We are from Anuura where plural marriages are the norm," Hanalei answered. "We are a married trine with our husband Fayad Piscium."

"Doesn't that get confusing?" Katryanna asked, before she could quell her tongue.

"No, she Momma, and she Mommy," Zarreniya told her, smiling up cutely at Katrynna. Then the little one gave a look of pain and brought her hand up to her cheek.

"Oh, teething are we?" Heyya asked, getting a nod and a worried look from Zarreniya. "Well I have something that will help with that, but it won't take all the pain away. Do you remember what you did last time?"

"Yes, chew cold," Zarreniya replied.

"The teething rings are in the fridge; however, I thought you might want to take a quick peek, Heyya," Junelliya told her friend.

Heyya grabbed a tongue depressor from the table. "Can you give me an awe, Zarreniya?"

"Low, middle, or high awe, Aunty Heyya?" Ikekiya asked, getting a giggle from Katanya.

"A middle A will do, but I only need it from Zarreniya," Heyya answered with a smile.

Both children smiled and gave out a harmonizing, lingering middle A note as Heyya looked into the mouth of Zarreniya. "Ah yes, there it is. It does look inflamed. It is likely going to cause you a little discomfort for a few days yet, Zarreniya," Heyya explained. She turned to Katanya and asked her to bring a drug by name, getting an immediate nod from the nurse, who went further into the hospital. She returned holding a small bottle that she gave to Junelliya along with another nurse from Hollander's World.

"OK. Brush this on the offending area as required. Try to use more of the cold than this though," Heyya explained.

"Yes, I remember the routine. Will you be coming for supper tonight?" Junelliya asked.

"If I can bring our newest recruit along with us?" Heyya asked.

Junelliya smiled at Katryanna. "Of course, the children always love it when they have a new face to perform for."

"Dr. Sokolova, this is Silliya, another of our empaths and a B.N. Like Katanya, she is one of the more experienced nurses here," Heyya introduced her.

"Since you are just coming on shift, Heyya, I thought I might take Dr. Sokolova around for her in-clearances to the station. I asked Silliya to take over at reception for me," Katanya stated, getting a nod from Heyya.

The group parted ways as Katanya brought Katryanna around the platform to do her the clearances. Eventually, she wound up on Lima Deck at door L-1229, the Piscium Apartment. Katanya rang the chime and the door opened to the face of yet another empath from Hollander's World.

"Violletiya, this is Dr. Katryanna Sokolova, our newest surgeon. We were on our way by and I wondered if we might impose for some tea?" Katanya asked.

"Of course! Let them in," said a voice that Katrynna recognized from earlier.

They stepped into the apartment to see Junelliya sitting on the couch, books open on the small table in front of her. Zarreniya was laying, apparently asleep, her head on her mother's lap while Junelliya studied. People with their heads buried in books was a sight that Katryanna was used to seeing from her recent stint at Malihan Teaching Hospital.

"What would you like for tea?" asked Hanalei from the kitchen.

"Can you bring the box for Katryanna?" Katanya asked.

Katryanna was soon opening and smelling small jars of tea and looking more pleased with each jar she opened.

"Anuuran tea from our home world," Hanalei informed her as she set up another small table to the side of the couch with a hot pot of water and several cups on it.

"Where is Ikekiya?" Katryanna asked, not immediately seeing the other child.

"Here!" said a voice from the corner on the floor from behind a chair, where yet another lady from Hollander's World sat with the child. There was also another person but Katryanna suddenly realized that this one appeared to be a member of the Umick race.

Ikekia came over with several blocks to show Katryanna. "Tlasset is showing how to spell Umick words," Ikekiya explained. "Zarrenia is sleeping. She hurt."

"Yes, I know. She is teething. It can cause problems," Katryanna agreed.

"It more fun when Zarrenia play too," Ikekiya whispered, then went back to the corner, where Katryanna saw Tlasset waving to her.

"Tlasset is a staff member at the Umick embassy here on the station," Katanya explained. "When the embassy staff heard that our two little ones were learning to speak, the family was inundated with well meaning 'teachers' from all the embassies.

"There is always someone here teaching the little ones a few more words in their languages," Katanya told her with a wink.

"How many languages do they speak now?" Katryanna asked.

"All of them," Hanalei answered. "They speak all the known languages on the station, well except for Djinaëte which nobody but the Djinaëte speak, plus they are learning Standard, French, Anuuran, High Andanii, and have learned a smattering of words in the many languages of the Union, including Russian," she said, giving Katryanna a smile.

Katryanna was not Russian but, with her name, she was no longer surprised when people made assumption.

"Our little ones are not shy about marching up to someone and asking them what they are speaking. Once the new 'friend' realizes that the children are curious to learn, they inevitably assist in the learning process," Hanalei finished.

"Our two geniuses never forget a word they have learned, no matter the language," Katanya explained.

"Oh, is that what you meant by your earlier comment on geniuses?" Katryanna asked.

"Oh my, no. There are a lot of people of your genius level or higher on this station, Katryanna," Katanya said with a smile.

"In the corner, we have Clarrisiya, GME and specialist with children who come into their empathic powers early," Katanya introduced her.

Clarrisiya came over and sat opposite from Katryanna. "I came here because these two couldn't wait to use their powers. Most empaths come into their powers at puberty. Sometimes they manifest early. When they do, it is an indication that they will be powerful empaths but inevitably, they will also have problems with the early development of their power. I help to mitigate that.

"Ikekiya and Zarreniya both manifested their powers before age one. That is unprecedented among empaths. Prior to these two, the earliest ever recorded was age five and that person grew into one of the most powerful empaths known," Clarrisiya told her.

"Oh, their poor mothers!" Katryanna whispered to Katanya and Clarrisiya, only to get laughter in return.

"That would be the case if Mommy wasn't already the most powerful empath in the known universe," Katanya said with a smirk. "Junelliya came into her powers only a few short years ago. It was already obvious that she would be powerful, but we are constantly surprised at just how powerful she has become."

Hanalei picked up the story. "The children are in good hands with all the empaths that have been hired to help Junelliya master her new abilities. Now, they are helping us with the children, and do we ever need the help!"

"Momma, not fair!" Ikekia said from the corner, to laughter from the others.

"Yes, Momma, you are not really being fair," Katanya put in. "The children are amazingly intelligent, amazing as empaths, amazing as little musicians and singers, and just amazing as little children."

"Tank you Aunty Katy," Ikekiya said, blowing kisses her way, getting laughter from the other women.

Zarreniya suddenly woke up and looked to the door. Ikekiya came over to her, also looking at the door. "Malnad, Tougrate, and Maya come," Ikekiya said.

Junelliya waved a hand at the door and it opened to the surprise of the three on the other side. Katryanna saw another woman from Hollander's World and two aliens she recognized as Toolend, though she had never met the species in person.

Ikekiya ran over to Tougrate and Malnad and took an offered tentacle from each. "Zarry hurt," she told them with a worried look on her face.

The three came over to the couch, the two Toolend being towed by Ikekiya. They waved to Katryanna as they passed her, making intricate passes with two of their tentacles.