All That Glitters Ch. 58

Again, Junelliya bowed low to the Asoc as she and her fellow leaders, including the Sandekk, left the hall. Immediately, thousands of claws rose to the ceiling as the students of music eagerly waited there chance to question Junelliya...

The Great Dining Hall, The >Clot<. Asoc Shall, AsocAR

It was more than an hour later when Junelliya entered the dining hall and bowed to the leaders who all rose to give her a resounding ovation.

As this was a formal occasion, Junelliya was wearing her Palda cloak, with all her medals attached to it, including the larger version of her Council of Empath ID pin that Fayad had purchased for her, and her Order of Telepath's arm band.

Her family waved at her from near the head table and cheered as she came to get hugs and kisses from all of them while all of the leaders touched hands or gave her informal bows as she passed them to get to her family.

"Finally. I was actually getting hungry waiting for you," the Asoc quipped, to sudden laughter from the children.

"Asoc make funny," Zarreniya said with a smile.

"I can't fool you can I Sharreniya?" asked the Asoc, getting giggles from all the children.

As soon as the Asoc sat back, the staff began to bring out food suitable for each of the separate species. Fortunately, many could eat Asocan food, the head table peppering Junelliya with questions on her lecture as they ate.

"How have the negotiations been going?" Junelliya asked of the Asoc after finally getting the opportunity to ask a question of her own.

"Negotiations?" the Asoc asked with humour.

"Should I ask of Shusshhttookkann and the Arl?" Junelliya wanted to know, looking to where they were seated (they were much to large to be placed at the head table).

That got laughter from all.

"Sector Fifty-Nine has been delegated by the President to assist the Sandekk in moving their people to the new planet when it becomes available to them," Fiona Marsh told Junelliya from the end of the same table the family was sitting at. "That will tie in nicely with the movement of the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin, as we can make a stop here on AsocAR to move the Sandekk each time a ship comes to GiRomorAR with the Oranae before heading back to Union space."

"I have invited the Kumar-Pair, her Ministers, the Ministers of the Maha-Rrin, Palda Prakeshya, and Palda Junelliya, to inspect GiRomorAR after the leaders return to their home worlds in two days time," the Asoc stated. "I would like to bring a couple of the members of the Imperial Arl with us to inspect their new home world so that they can inform their people of what to expect."

"We can jury rigg a few of the large cargo shuttles to work as VIP transports for the Sandekk. They should be able to take a minimum of two of the larger Sandekk up to the ships that will be used to transport them to the two planets," Raymond assured the Asoc and Shusshhttookkann.

"Good, that will help us sell the planets to the respective members of the species involved," the Asoc said.

"What do we have this afternoon, Asoc?" Mylatrin Adriné asked.

"Once we have finished our meager feast, we will return to the Great Gathering Center of the >Clot< and finish dealing with the aftermath of the issues from Buku Raman," the Asoc informed her fellow leaders.

The Great Gathering Center, the >Clot<, Asoc Shall, AsocAR

An hour later, the Leaders of the Greater Community were once again ensconced on their dedicated dais' as the Asocan people in the Great Gathering Center bowed to them, They were ready for the trial of Buku Rahahm.

"Bring forth the prisoner, Buku Rahahm," the Seneschal called out.

Buku was brought forth and placed in the center of the Petitioner's Circle to an eerie silence from the watchers. The Asocan Beerlen came forth and bowed to the Asoc and the Leadership, then turned to face the accused.

"I am Beerlendl Dynen Mutt Tarren. I am to be the Judge during your trial. Who has been designated as the Advocate for Buku Rahahm?" Dynen demanded.

"I am Advocate Sessett Mutt Karrad and have been designated to act on behalf of Buku Rahahm," an elder Asocan female said as she entered the Petitioner's Circle.

"Who stands opposed?" Dynen demanded.

"I am Advocate Ammen Mutt Korld and I stand opposed to Buku Rahahm," said a male Asocan who entered the Circle.

"Buku Rahahm," Ammen began. "You have been charged with the attempted assassination or injury of members of the Leaders of the Greater Community, including the Asoc >Catal Mutt Herrtt, the supreme leader of the Asocan People, your own leader, the Impatoss Hatel Konexi, and many other leaders who could have been killed or seriously injured by the device that you had in your possession that day.

"You are also charged with the attempted injury to the innocent who happened to be in the Great Gathering Center during this incident, including the Palda children and their parents.

"Your actions of that day were witnessed by all in the Great Gathering Center and via media throughout the Asocan Realm and beyond. Your actions and words were recorded by the media and will help condemn you for your afront," Ammen ended.

"Advocate Sessett, do you have a plea you wish to enter at this time?" Dynen asked of Sessett.

"We have no plea, Beerlendl Dynen Mutt Tarren," Sessett replied.

"Very well, we shall begin with the media views of Buku when he presented himself during the ceremonies to honour those who worked to remove Belgedra from power," Dynen called for the respective imagery which covered the entire incident.

"I call forth Palda Sharreniya to speak in her own words of the incident," Dynen said. "As Palda Sharreniya is a minor, her mother, Palda Junelliya, will accompany her."

"Palda Sharreniya, in the images, you said of this person 'You bad man'. Can you explain your words?" Dynen asked gently.

"Uh huh. When he said things, I know he want to hurt people. I also know he did hurt someone. He bad man," Zarreniya stated simply.

The Impatoss rose and requested to speak. "Buku is here under the identification of one Hold Leader Kern Yowlen. Kern would not have given his seat up willingly to Buku. Zarreniya suggests that Buku may have harmed Kern."

"What have you done with Kern Yowlen, Buku Rahahm?" Dynen demanded.

"I do not have to answer that," Buku immediately replied.

"Actually, you do," answered his advocate Sessett Mutt Carrad. "You are on AsocAR now, and subject to the laws of the Asocan Realm and not the laws of the Harradi Realm."

Junelliya looked at Buku and smiled. She pointed a finger at him and said: "Speak the truth. Tell us what you did with Hold Leader Yowlen."

All in the Center could see Buku suddenly struggle with himself...to no avail. Within half a minute, he let out a shout of anguish and fell to his knees.

"I killed him for the documents I needed to travel here. He and I look similar so his identification was necessary to my needs," Buku finally stated.

"What did you do with the body?" the Impatoss Hatel demanded.

"You will never find his body," Buku replied with a sneer. "I placed it into a vat of acid. By now, it will no longer exist."

"You killed an innocent man to advance your evil plans, Buku?" the Impatoss asked.

"He was one of those who chose to use the new methods, he deserved whatever happened to him," Buku replied to muttering from around the Center which Dynen quickly ended.

Junelliya was called next...

"Palda Junelliya, please explain in your own words what you did during the encounter in question and why," Dynen asked.

"I was angry with Buku because he directly threatened my child, Zarreniya as well as the family of my friends the Kumar-Pair. When I saw that he had pulled the pin of a powerful grenade and was ready to plunge the detonator, I froze his body to prevent him from hurting anyone. I took the grenade and made it safe. I then ordered him to tell us why he was doing what he was doing.

"We all discovered at this time that Buku had an agenda that included killing or maiming many of the leaders of the Greater Community.

After all that the people of AsocAR had suffered during the short-lived reign of terror by Belgedra, this truly angered me. To me, it was unfair that the people of AsocAR should suffer yet again," Junelliya finished, getting looks of approval from many in the center.

A statement was made by the Cana Mutt Beddan, former guard for the <Clot> explaining how he had been approached by Buku the night before the incident and how they pair had conspired to bring the grenade for Buku to use into the Great Gathering Center.

Several more witnesses were requested to speak on what they saw happening during the incident.

Beerlendl Dynen Mutt Tarren rose before all. "Is there anyone in this Gathering Center that will speak on behalf of this person?" she asked. No one raised a claw. "Does the prisoner wish to make a statement?"

Advocate Carrad indicated that no statement would be made by her client who seemed to chafe at not being permitted to speak by his own lawyer.

The Beerlen turned and bowed to the Leaders of the Greater Community before they stepped away to deliberate the event. They did not take long to reach a verdict returning within half-an-hour to speak with The Asoc and the Impatoss. They then addressed the Gathering Center...

"Buku Rahahm, you have been found guilty by your own admission of killing an innocent man, one Hold Leader Kern Yowlen, for no other reason than you needed his documents to travel to this event.

"We also find you guilty of attempted assassination of the Leadership of the Greater Community for your own needs and purposes, using the excuse that you were correcting a wrong against you and the Harradi people, a wrong that defied the traditions of the Harradi. You have no authority to act as the keeper of traditions of the Harradi people. As such, you have no justification for your actions.

"We also find you guilty of the attempted murders of countless innocents who just happened to be in the Great Gathering Center that day, including our precious Paldas.

"The device you had could have killed or wounded many dependant on where it was thrown. It was powerful enough to cause great damage, with multiple injuries and deaths.

"Fortunately for us, Palda Junelliya was capable of stopping you in your attempt to harm the Leadership, the Palda children, and the innocent viewers in this Gathering Center that day.

"As your attempt was aimed at the Asoc >Catal Mutt Herrtt, and her mate, the Asost <Korme Mutt Goult, as well as your own Leader the Impatoss Hatel Konexi, and his mate Grenta Konexi, that makes this attempt a capital act that includes the death penalty as punishment.

"As no one will speak for you, including your own Impatoss, you will be taken to a place of execution and, if no additional information is brought forward on your behalf, you will face your termination in forty-eight hours.

"This trial is ended. Remove the prisoner from the Great Gathering Center," Dynen shouted.

Buku was pulled to his feet and unceremoniously dragged away.

The Asoc rose to speak. "Palda Junelliya, we all witnessed your actions during this incident that prevented the guilty from committing harm to many in this center and again today, were you compelled the guilty to speak the truth, thus proving to this court that he had already committed murder just to earn his way to this conference, a criminal act that we would not have been unaware of without your assistance.

"We the people of the Asocan Realm have a life debt to you that we cannot repay. If you have a desire that I can help you with, speak it and it will be manifested if it is within my ability to do so," the Asoc finished with a deep bow to Junelliya, a bow which was emulated by all in the Gathering Center including the Leadership of the Greater Community.

"Thank you, Asoc. I can not think of anything that I need from the Asocan people. It is enough to know that I am appreciated by the Realm," Junelliya informed the crowd. She then opened her powers and broadcast peace and calm to all in the center getting a nod of appreciation from the Asoc.

The Piscium Family Rooms, the >Clot<, Asoc Shall, AsocAR

The children were once again deeply involved with their comps, learning as much as they could as fast as they could.

All the adults were in the makeshift kitchen having tea when Hanalei received a call from an unknown number.

"Does anyone know what 'Nanny Comp' is?" she asked those around her.

"It's the interface between children and their comps that protects them and only allows them age appropriate access to the internet," Fayad informed them.

Hanalei opened the link to see the kind face of an older woman. "Am I speaking with the mother of Ikekiya or Zarreniya Piscium?" she asked.

"You are," Hanalei reassured her, seeing the anticipated confusion on the other woman's face. "We are from Anura, where plural marriages are permitted. I, my husband Fayad Piscium, and my co-mate, Junelliya Herlan are a married trio, a Trine.

"While Ikekiya is my biological daughter, Zarreniya is just as much my daughter under Anuran Law," she explained, widening the image of her comp to show the other adults around the table.

The other woman smiled and gave her a nod of appreciation for the explanation.

"I am Jane Marple, one of the administrators for the Nanny Comp system. Your children have proved an unusual pair for us," Jane said.

That got smiles all around as the adults could imaging the interest that the Nanny Comp would have in such talented children.

"The two children are both at the genius level in almost every facet we score on the Nanny Comp. Their language skills are on par with teenagers in the multilingual communities of Europe here on Terra. Remarkably, their language skills include the non-human languages of all the Interspecies Community. I know of no one who has such skills at this time.

"Their math skills run very strangely, being somewhat advanced on basic math but quite seriously ahead on more advanced mathematics. Their musical abilities are outstanding, being far advanced for children their ages," Jane said.

"That would make sense," Urano stated. "Hello, I am Takebayashi Urano, temporary Nanny to our two little stars.

"The children live on Liramor-23, which is acting as the Ambassadorial meeting point of the Union and the Greater Community. When the children began to learn to speak, our overeager friends in the various embassies gave the children language blocks and language lessons in their own languages. Once one race began helping the children learn their language, the other races couldn't be left out. However, they did not understand the mental capacities of human children thus imposed their own standards on them. The children reacted like sponges, absorbing anything and everything they were shown or told.

"Our two children can speak all of the known languages of the Interspecies Community, plus they speak Standard, French, Anuran, High Andanii, and are learning other Union languages such as Russian, Ukrainian, Hindi, Spanish, and German. The pair have incredible memories and rarely forget a word or the context of its use.

"They are also acting as translators for the Language Matrix of a new language from the fourteenth member species of the Interspecies Community, that of the Sandekk," Urano informed them.

"As to the discrepancy with math, they are very advanced for their ages in basic math," Clarrisiya took over. "However, once they learned that math was also a 'language' they pushed the scientists in our group to teach them that new language. That includes math equations in Standard and in Asocan. While the equations arrive at the same answer, they do so in very much different ways. That is why you see the disparity in math."

"They get their musical abilities from my mate, Dr. Junelliya Herlan, Doctor of Music," Hanalei took over again.

"Ah, that is why they have not made serious inquiries on music. They just need to ask their mother," Jane said with a smile. "You have taught them well, Dr. Herlan. I have never before seen such musically gifted children under three years of age.

"Can you confirm for me that the eldest is only one and a half hears old, while Zarrenia is even younger?" Jane asked.

"Yes, my daughter Zarrenia is two and a half months younger than her older sister who exaggerates her age slightly. She is only one year and five months old," Junelliya confirmed with a knowing smile to Jane. "she was born in May of 2486."

"The Nanny Comp feature usually restricts children based on their mental age and their mental abilities. We have no current means of placing the children in any of our charts for appropriate supervision. We would ask for your input in this," Jane suggested.

"I would say to let them view anything they want unless it is pornographic in nature," Fayad said. "The children seem to change their minds about what they want to do with each new type of occupation they are exposed to. Their ability to learn is phenomenal and they understand at a level that is unexpectantly high for such young children.

"They already have an extensive knowledge base of medical information and techniques for humans and several non-human races as well. They are naturally curious about pregnancies in the different species and want to know the differences between human pregnancies and the other races.

"They were also present when a member of the Sandekk received medical treatment for her wounds, helping keep the Elder calm during the treatment," Fayad informed Jane.

"That is truly amazing for such young children," Jane returned. "Very well. Do you wish to be informed of their progress on a monthly or bi-weekly basis?"

"I would say bi-weekly, unless the children do something rather unique. They have already done unique things on a few occasions that have sparked the interest of those around us," Hanalei stated.

"Very well then. We shall prepare a rating chart for the children in each of the subjects they decide to look at and advise you on their progress along these lines," Jane said.

"The children have made one serious inquiry. They want to know how much the Griffin would cost. Apparently, the Griffin is a ship, like their momma's," Jane informed them.

"Sorry? This is the first we heard of this," Hanalei said.

"Apparently, the children will need a ship when the are teenagers and they want to know how much it will cost so they can earn their way to it," Jane said with a smile. She pulled up an image and sent it to the parents.

The image was of a strange animal which had the head of a large eagle with long straight horns that curved back over its head, a forked tongue like a snakes or lizards, the front legs and claws of a dragon, the wings of some giant bird, the hind quarters of a lion, and the curved tail of a water monster with a flat end that would be very useful in propelling it through the water.

"Well, that is an interesting motif," Fayad said.

"Zarrenia has said that it is an animal like all the Community," Jane explained the imagery.

"I hope this conversation, will be able to guide you and our people in the instruction that they need as they develop in each of the subjects they choose to explore. It has been a pleasure to speak with you, Mrs. Anar, Dr. Herlan, Mr. Piscium, Miss Takebayashi, and...?"

"Clarrisiya. I am a specialist Grand Master Empath for the Council of Empaths. I help empaths who develop their powers early. I act in this capacity to aide this family's children who have become two of the youngest members of the Council. Their 'sister' Prakeshya being the actual youngest member," Clarrisiya told her.

"That is strange...I have only the two sisters listed here," Jane said.