All That Glitters Ch. 57

They sat and began to eat, the normally boisterous children being a little muted this morning.

"Hello little ones!" >Gorlat called out as she entered the room.

"OWW! No so loud!" Zarreniya complained, getting a grin from Heyya and >Gorlat.

"Sorry, little ones, I will try to be like the mouse in your stories," >Gorlat said in an exaggerated whisper.

"You too big to go in hole," Ikekiya said, giggling.

"Oh! That I would like to see!" Heyya retorted to laughter around the hall.

The guests muted their conversations as the group ate their breakfast. Afterwards, the Kumaraie asked the inevitable question...

"Atohan, can you explain what happened yesterday morning?"

"I'm not really sure in my own mind what happened, Kumaraie," Junelliya admitted. "Initially, the children were more attuned to the event than I was. They sensed something in the Shall. When Prakeshya touched me, she allowed me to sense what they were. It surprised me and I think I momentarily lost control of my power."

"You did," Elliya assured her. "We all sensed what you were feeling. All of us, not just the empaths and the telepaths."

That surprised Junelliya. "I broadcast to all the participants?" she asked, perplexed.

"There were over thirty thousand participants, Junelliya," the Asost informed her. "They all came to sing their dead to the land of the departed. When you broadcast what was in your mind, many of us suddenly were aware of those who were dear to us, who had died in the destruction of the Lost Shall, myself included. I saw and heard Gurn Vecarg Mutt Semt among others that I knew intimately."

"We have personally spoken to many of the witnesses, and they all repeat the same thing, they felt the presence of their lost families and friends within the multitude," the Asoc stated.

"I did not get the sense of individuals; I was overwhelmed by the numbers. That is why I lost control," Junelliya explained.

"So what happened after that?" Petronellaya wanted to know. "I mean, I sensed something there, some enormous level of power."

Junelliya nodded. "Yes, I sensed it too," she admitted. "It came to me because I could 'talk' to it through my empathic and telepathic abilities. It touched my mind. I told it that this place was wrong, that it needed to be fixed. It seemed to understand that and I asked it 'how?'," Junelliya told them.

"We discussed things back and forth for a bit and then they told me that the land was ready to return to what it was, but it needed a 'push'. They told me that all present needed to focus on the same objective.

"You have to understand, while it took a long time to explain this conversation, it took place between the space of two heartbeats.

"They told me to sing, and suddenly I knew the words. So I sang. As soon as I began to sing, all those around me were focusing on my words. They stopped talking. They began to sing with me, in their hearts and minds at first, then in full voice. It focused everyone on the objective, to fix the wrongness of the Shall.

"The powers told me I needed to call them by name. As the song paused, they told me the names to use, so I called out to them. That seemed to focus the minds of the participants even more," Junelliya described the event. "After I spoke those first two names, something seemed to happen. It was as if the powers came together, like when we empaths link.

"Each time I spoke a new name, the focus of the group tightened, until I spoke the last name..."

"Asocranna, the true name of our Mother Goddess. The Goddess after which our planet AsocAR, is named," the Asoc spoke with reverence.

"Then, there was a tremendous release of focused energy. I saw what I thought was stars, rising from the ground..."

"Not stars, mommy, they people. They go. They sad and happy. They say goodbye and go," Ikekiya explained to her mommy.

"That was the impression of the participants. They all said the same thing; their families and friends said their goodbyes and left, crossing over to the land of the departed, or so they believe," one of the human scientists, who also happened to be an empath, stated.

"You don't believe that is what happened?" someone, an Asocan, asked of her.

"I am a scientist. But in this situation, I have no scientific explanations as to what actually occurred. I was there. I felt it, and yet, I am still unable to explain..."

"Do not fret," Elliya told her. "You are not alone in your thinking. Many here are at a loss to explain the things that happened yesterday, scientists or religious, it matters not."

"When the stars, people?, left, there was a sudden feeling of peace. Then I don't remember anything until I woke up awhile ago," Junelliya told them.

"You and the children passed out from overuse of your powers," Heyya explained. "I had never before seen the medical readings I got off you, and hope I never see them again. They truly frightened me. Then this morning, you woke up with only migraines for all that occurred."

"You spoke with the Gods," an Asocan in religious cloak spoke.

"I would hardly call it a conversation. It was kind of one-sided," Junelliya replied.

The children nodded their heads and Zarrenia added her two-hundredth credits worth (the equivalent of two cents worth) to the conversation..."They say, we do." That got laughter from around the room.

"At least there are no aftereffects like the last time I spoke with a deity," Junelliya said with a smirk.

"Junelliya, do you not understand what you are doing?" Elliya aske her.

"What?" Junelliya asked, with a confused look on her face.

"Mommy, comp no work," Zarreniya told her.

Junelliya glanced down at her comp and noted that it was off.

"I turned it off so that you could sleep undisturbed, Junelliya," Heyya informed her. "There were plenty of people trying to contact you."

"You have been listening to and answering all these questions in Standard, Pod-Drran and Asocan. You are speaking Asocan as one born to it," the Asoc explained. "You have been given a blessing, Junelliya. I think that will be a better title than Mastek Holt," the Asoc said with a twisted grin. Junelliya instantly made the inference based on that look.

"Yes, that could go both ways. So what now? Does Palda Holt become a title?" Junelliya asked.

"I kind of like it," the Asost affirmed, getting a nod from the High Priestess.

"Mommy, boys glow," Zarrenia suddenly commented.

"Sorry, honey, what do you mean they glow?" Junelliya asked.

"They use power," Zarrenia replied.

"You can see their glow, Zarrenia?" Clarrisiya asked.

"No see...feel?" the answer was kind of confused from the little girl.

"You mean sense, perhaps?"' Clarrisiya clarified.

"Yes, sense," Zarreniya admitted with a smile.

"Kumaraie, are the boys glowing?" Clarrisiya wanted to know.

"Yes, now that you mention it, they are. It is very faint and I only noticed it when Zarreniya mentioned it," the Kumaraie admitted.

"Huh, that makes sense," Junelliya interjected.

"What do you mean, Junelliya?" Petronellaya asked the young woman.

"Well, if my children's empathy was activated by my use of high power during OP Sandcastle, then the power that was displayed yesterday would certainly have activated any latent empathic abilities in the boys, and potentially others," Junelliya commented.

Clarrisiya sent a trickle of her power to Nal-Jarl and Sun-Jarl at the end of the table, who instantly turned to look at her and smile. She returned the smile and motioned them to come to her.

"You have manifested your powers, boys. That means you will be receiving more time from me for your empathic training, along with your sister of course," she explained to them.

The boys smiled and nodded. They had been watching whenever Clarrisiya had talked to their sister, but they could not manifest their abilities before. Now, they could, and that meant they could participate in the training with their sister.

The boys went back to their place, getting hugs and Linkess from the girls and their parents.

"Asoc, you will have to have the High Priestesses and Priests on the look out for Asocans manifesting power," Junelliya said. "If the release of that power sparked the boy's empathy, it likely sparked empathy and possibly telepathy in many of your people. Any with latent powers may suddenly manifest them. The Gods may have bestowed upon your people great gifts."

"What should we do about that, Junelliya?" asked the Asost.

"You will have to hire Grand Master Empaths schooled in the training of new empaths. Fortunately for you, the Head Councillor of the Council of Empaths is here and can help you hire the GMEs and the Ambassador for the Toolend can help you with finding those who can teach those of your people who manifest telepathy," Junelliya replied the people around her thinking on the implications of that statement.

"So what is next on the agenda?" someone asked as the silence stretched out.

"I have sent out a request to the other rulers to attend the session next week here at the >Clot< where those who deserve it will be given special merit," the Asoc replied. "The day after, we will have a festival and a feast, celebrating the defeat of Belgedra."

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

Later that day, Junelliya received a call from Dr. Xavier Kuaté at the Liramor-23 campus of Malton University while in the presence of the Asoc and Junelliya's family and friends.

"Congratulations, Junelliya," an excited Xavier exclaimed. "I have just received notification from Dean Wiccans at Malton University on Terra that your dissertation has been accepted. Having done very well on your exams, you are now considered a Graduand until such time as we can set up your graduation ceremony and you are officially conferred the title of Doctor of Music."

Her family and friends were ecstatic to hear this especially when Xavier said that she could hardly wait to see Junelliya's first lecture.

Junelliya had been thinking on her first lecture since before she started her Doctorates in Music. She had an idea that she was sure would go over big with the faculties of music of all the Greater Community...

Rahahm Hold, Harrad Hoffes, The Harradi Home World, The Harradi Realm, 787 Light Years from Terra

Buku Rahahm was a bitter soul. He had lived a long life, most of it as the elder of his Hold, the farmstead where he and his people grew their winter supplies. Buku was a traditionalist and had always advocated the traditional ways of Harradi agriculture. What was good for his ancestors was good for his descendants.

He had for years advocated a return to traditional methods amongst the other Holds in his area but, one-by-one, they had all turned away from traditional methods to adopt the newer ones. If only this adoption hadn't heralded more prosperity for those Holds.

Now, the people of his own Hold were beginning to turn against him. They had tried to maintain traditional methods for many years, only to see the yields of nearby Holds triple then double again in that same time frame, making a six-fold increase in products. An amount that would see a much more comfortable winter for these holds in comparison to their own.

"The evidence is there before us," they had said, "your methods have not failed, but they have not produced at the same level as the other Holds." Then they promptly decided on a referendum for a new Elder to replace Buku. That would happen within the week.

Now, Buku held the form requesting the presence of the Elders of the local Holdings in the capital. Some of them would be selected to attend a great meeting of the rulers of the Greater Community on AsocAR, the home planet of the Asocans. Buku knew that he would never be selected as a representative, especially when news of the proposed referendum in his Hold became known.

Buku's bitterness overwhelmed him. It was the Impatoss, who had accepted the new methods. Methods that had destroyed Buku's own career. They had to pay for this affront to traditionalism. He had to be on that flight to AsocAR and he now had a means to do it...

The Wanderer, In Orbit of AsocAR, The Asocan Realm

The next day, Raymond was talking with Caye-Ur who had just returned with a full load of anticipated material for the Asocans on SSP The Piscium. It was the load that had originally been promised them that had earlier been redirected to the Harradi. However, the conversation ended when he got a call from Siobhan Riley.

"What's up Master Chef?" Raymond asked, surprised to see the call from her.

"Raymond, we have a situation forming on the planet," Siobhan replied. "I just received a frantic call from five little children telling me that the Asocans don't know how to make pizza."

Raymond laughed at that. "So let me guess, the children have asked you to come make pizza for them?"

"Not at all. They want me to teach the Asocans how to make pizza," Siobhan answered.

"That makes sense," Kim said. "Remember the old proverb, 'give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for life'. That is smart reasoning from the children. If you teach the Asocans how to make pizza, the children will never be without their favourite treat."

"So I assume that you want my permission for this important mission, Mater Chef?" Raymond asked.

"No, sir. I wanted to know if you want to participate in a pizza party later this afternoon," Siobhan asked.

That got laughter from all around the room.

"We'll be their Master Chef. You have my permission to bring whatever you need down to the planet. Let's make this a good treat for everyone.

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

Riley found the children in the >Clot< garl, the palace kitchen, in the presence of Shald Mutt Semt, the formidable head of the kitchen. As soon as Riley and her entourage of human and Asocan cooks arrived, Shald opened a link to the planet's entertainment net and started recording the proceedings.

Riley and Shald got along like old friends, while the Asocan cooks from The Wanderer were a little shell shocked at being in the palace kitchen. However, the two senior cooks soon set everyone at ease and started them making the preparations for pizza. Even the children got involved, first making the dough and then adding the fixtures for their own personal pizzas.

"As you can see, Shald, pizza can be made in many different sizes and you can put your own personal fixings on it so that you can tailor make your favourite treats. That's why it is so popular in the Union. A pizza can be made to fit for one small Ultar, or for a large family," Siobhan explained as she showed how to make the much larger pizzas that were being topped with all kinds of meat and vegetables.

Since the Asocans that had come with Riley knew how to make pizza, they made pizzas with dough and toppings suitable for Asocans, keeping up a constant chatter on what they and others in the kitchen were doing.

Finally the pizzas were popped into the oven to cook as the Asoc, the Asost, the Kumar Pair, and the Piscium adults came into the kitchen.

"Mommy! We make pizza!" Zarreniya told her mother excitedly.

"Yes, we saw, your kitchen party is being viewed all over the Asocan entertainment net and, I'm sure, being carried to a number of other planets as well," Junelliya told her excited daughter.

"When it was time to remove the pizzas, that chore was down by adults for the children so as not to get burned. The pizzas were cut and carried out into the dining area while the larger pizzas were cut for distribution among the staff and senior people suddenly appearing from all around the >Clot<.

Asocans were trying human style pizza and pizza made specifically for Asocans, which they found quite delicious. Many Asocans had tried pizza at the Second Denders Summit, but they had never had pizza with dough based on native grains from AsocAR nor with toppings made from the native foods. The party went on for a couple of more hours while the Senior people kept up a chatter for the watching audience.

It wasn't until later when Treäk explained excitedly to the Asoc that the event had drawn a huge crowd online, that the Asoc realized that things were starting to get back to normal. This particular session of Cooking at the Palace Kitchen had done wonders in returning the heart of the Asocan Realm to near normal. The Asoc wanted to hug the children who had inadvertently helped out all of her people...but they were, unfortunately, asleep...

The >Clot<, Asoc Shall, AsocAR, the Asocan Realm

More of the rulers were confirming their intent to be present at the ceremonies next week, which delighted the Asoc. She and Treäk< were busy coordinating the event and the transportation requirements with the Djinaëte and Sector Fifty-Nine. Most of the transport would be provided by the Union Navy, simply because the Djinaëte ships did not deviate much from their schedules, making coordinating special events rather problematical with them unless it was a special event proposed by or important to the Djinaëte.

The >Clot< did not have the facilities to accommodate the other species that Denders Resort had, so the Asoc had contracted Hanalei and Sylvie Triand to assist in bringing in suitable accommodations for her guests. It was a massive undertaking considering how many people the other rulers were bringing with them.

But Treäk< was in her element, juggling many calls simultaneously as she accepted RSVP's, set up accommodations for the expected numbers and coordinated between the different people to get everyone there happy and ready for the big event, feeding the numbers to Sylvie. The numbers would be much reduced from that of the Second Denders Summit but they would still number more than four thousand. It would be the first time that the rulers of other species would be on AsocAR.

As the big day approached, the Asoc was looking forward to it. But they had one last thing that needed to be done before the leaders arrived.

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

The Beerlen was in order, all of its proper members in attendance. They looked outward from below the Asoc's dais over the open courtyard of the Great Gathering Center of the >Clot<. The center could hold many thousands and today it was packed to the brim. They were all here for the trial of one Asocan. But others would have their trials before that.

As Beerlendl Kestin Mutt Sim rose, all eyes in the center bore down on him, including the electronic eyes of the media.

"I am Beerlendl Kestin Mutt Sim, designated magistrate for today's trials. I ask the people's indulgence in these trials. We know that there is much animosity for at least one of those who will pass in front of us this day but I charge those in attendance to respect the duties of the Beerlen and not interfere with the proceedings, including through unnecessary comments. The accused, all of them, are entitled to a fair trial.

"Bring forth the members of the Grazia Warships," he called out.

The guards brought forward several hundred human, some of whom were on float chairs because of their injuries.

"Who is the designated representative of the accused?" Kestin demanded.

"I am Linnett Mutt Reta, Advocate of Law for Mutt Reta," an elderly female stepped forward. "I have been designated to respond for the accused.

"Some of the accused would like to put forward a request for clemency, specifically those who did not participate in the final battle," Linnett stated.

"A request for clemency will be considered for the ships that were on the sideline before the battle started. Those who took part in the battle to any degree will not receive clemency. We have the list of named ships that did not participate from the authorities on the Matrar Orbital Station. Those are the only ships that will be considered.