All That Glitters Ch. 58

"Congratulations Miltra Mutt Mattas, or should I use the name Miltraya now?" the Asoc asked of the Shamot, getting a nod in return. "With this pin and the formal change in your name, you are now elevated to the level of Full Member of the Council of Empaths," the Asoc stated, putting the young female's inclusion into the ranks of the Council in a term that all Asocans could understand and appreciate. The Asocans in the Great Gathering Center all raised their snouts and roared their approval as Sharran handed Miltraya's papers to her surprised parents. She noted that Miltraya did not have a comp and produced one for the young Shamot.

Miltraya ran back to her family and clasped claws with them, rubbing her cheeks with those of her parents and siblings.

"I call upon <Karna Mutt Mattas of the First Clutch of Stinnat Mutt Mattas, to step forward to the edge of the Petitioner's Circle," Sharran called out. "<Karna is not only a candidate for the Council of Empaths but also for the Order of Telepaths."

<Karna nervously came forward not knowing how to proceed. "Start with your empathic powers," Junelliya suggested. <Karna smiled and did just that. After a moment, the Councillors paused to assess her performance.

"We assess you as having a three, a three, and a two in your basic profile and welcome you as a Full Member of the Council of Empaths," Petronellaya pronounced. "You may choose to add the letters YA to the end of your name.

"Now, if you can, choose a member of the Order of Telepaths and send a thought to them for your next evaluation," Petronellaya instructed <Karna.

<Karna looked to Junelliya, who she recognized as the Palda. Junelliya gave her a comforting smile and sent her a bit of her power with calm and peace. <Karna sent her the reply: Thank you for your thought fullness, Palda. Junelliya smiled and turned to the other members of the Order for a brief consultation.

Augraf moved forward. "<Karnaya Mutt Mattas, we welcome you into the Order of Telepaths as a Member in Training. You will now fall under the Code of Conduct for not only the Council of Empaths but also that of the Order of Telepaths as well. Congratulations at becoming the first recognized Asocan Telepath."

Clarrisiya, holding an armband, once again paused and turned back to the leaders. "Would Sharne Erx Toolend desire to present the pin for the Council of Empaths and the armband for the Order of Telepaths to the new member, the first ever Asocan of both groups?"

The Erx rose to erht's full height and waved several of erht's tentacles in appreciation. Erht took the pin and the armband and waited for the young Shamot.

Zarreniya came to take <Karnaya by the hand. "Not be 'fraid. Erht only look scary. Erht really nice person," Zarreniya told the Shamot as she guided her to the dais of the Erx Toolend.

"I welcome the first Asocan Telepath into our ranks, young <Karnaya," the Erx intoned. "You will find the training to be both difficult and fun, as the time you spend in any school should be. The life of a Shamot is most interesting. Your life will be even more so. Welcome young empath and telepath."

The Erx placed the armband of the Order on her right arm and the pin of the Council on her baldric, just like her sister's. <Karnaya bowed to the Erx and ran back to her family still holding the hand of Zarreniya who purposely got in on the family's group hug.

Sharran handed <Karnaya's papers to her parents as well as a comp.

The Asoc rose and looked at to the mother. "You are Stinnat Mutt Mattas of the First Clutch of Rammat Mutt Mattas, are you not?" she asked getting a nod from Stinnat. "Will you introduce your family?"

"You have already met Miltraya and <Karnaya, my daughters, Asoc. I have two sons, >Karden and Murld, though this Murld is currently not a spacer," Stinnat replied with a little humour. "They are all members of my first clutch, siblings to each other, and are all now formally accepted as Shamot.

"My mate is Guran Mutt Herrtt, Asoc," Stinnat finished indicating the male beside her on her left.

"You both work in the Office of the Minster of Interspecies Trade?" the Asoc asked, getting a nod from both Stinnat and Guran.

"You are the sister of War Dragon Sostoc Murld Mutt Mattas our recent war hero?" Stinnat once more gave a nod to the Asoc.

"You will be informed tomorrow but I see no reason not to tell you now," the Asoc continued. "You and your family will be transferred to Liramor-23 where you will work at the Asocan Interspecies Embassy on issues of Interspecies Trade."

A surprised Stinnat turned to look at the Minister for Interspecies Trade, getting a nod from the worthy. Stinnat bowed low to the Asoc. "As you command, Asoc."

"Liramor-23 is now building a new school for Interspecies children. Your children will be some of the first to attend this school. If you speak with Palda Junelliya later, she will introduce you to some of the instructors who will be at that school," the Asoc ended, giving a nod to Stinnat. The family bowed and left the Circle but stayed near to the Piscium family who they began to quietly speak with, especially the children.

Having seen what needed to be done, the investiture moved forward swiftly with all of the candidates being feted as members of the Council, the Order, or both with the crowd roaring its approval at each investiture. About midway down the list Sharran called out a new family.

"I call upon Nal-Jarl Se-Lam Roe, of the Fourth Clutch of Kumaraie Na-Maj Se-Lam Pod-Raie, First son of the current Kumar-Pair. Please step into the Petitioners Circle with your family."

Nal-Jarl entered confidently with his family in tow. He bowed to the Leadership of the Greater Community and moved to the edge of the circle. He raised his hand and flashed his power to the leaders of the Council and the assessors. After a brief consult, they gave their verdict.

"Nal-Jarl, we assess you as having a two, a two, and a two, and welcome you into the Council as Full Member. You are permitted to add the suffix YEA after the name you use most, if that is your preference," Petronellaya announced. "Congratulations Nal-Jarl." She stepped forward and gave the pin to the Kumaraie who proudly placed it on her son's baldric.

"Sun-Jarl Se-Lam Roe, of the Fourth Clutch of the Kumaraie Na-Maj Se-Lam Pod-Raie, Second Son of the Kumar-Pair, please step to the front of the circle," the Sharran announced.

Sun-Jarl stepped forward and, just as confidently as his brother, showed his power to the Council. They gave him the identical assessment to his brother's.

This time it was the Kumaroe who placed the pin on his other son's baldric.

"Congratulations to the Kumar-Pair who now have all three of their children as members of the Council of Empaths," Petronellaya announced, bowing to the Kumar-Pair and their family.

The Kumar-Pair returned to their dais while their children all moved over to chat with their Ikekiya, Zarreniya, and their new Asocan friends.

"More Asocan Shamot were included in the investitures as the numbers of Asocans built up. Finally, all of the candidates had been assessed and all were named as Full Members, a first for the Council as normally some candidates would be assessed as Ordinary Members.

The Asoc rose to speak. "The Asocan Realm now has a large group of members of both the Council and the Order. We look forward to seeing what they will do in the future. As we stated before, the government is in the process of hiring members of the Council and the Order to help the new Asocan members to make use of their powers.

"I congratulate you and your families and welcome the gifted with open arms," the Asoc ended getting a roar from the crowd.

Ikekiya and Zarreniya stepped into the Petitioner's Circle holding a box. "Yes children?" the Asoc asked, curious.

"Aunty >Catal. You be nice to us. We want say tank you. We have present for you," Ikekiya said together as they lifted the box up for the Asoc to see.

"What is this?" the Asoc demanded.

"New tea pot. It make colours when it make water hot," Zarreniya explained. The two children left the circle and approached the Asoc's Dais. They gave her the box and formally bowed to the Asoc, then rushed her and gave her legs hugs. With giggles, they ran over to their family.

"Gurn Piscium?" the Asoc demanded.

"Our apologies, Asoc, this is something that the children decided to do on their own," Hanalei explained. "If you scan the bar code on the box with your comp, the information will come up in your language."

The Asoc did just that and smiled when she saw the twenty second information vid on the product.

"That is a very thoughtful gift, little ones. However I cannot accept it," the Asoc informed them.

"You can take," Prakeshya stated. "You Dusar. They goddaughters to our family. They family to you, too. You can take gift from family," all the children folded their arms and did the Asocan nod and 'huh' that so many Asocan adults did getting a roar of approval from the crowd. The Asoc smiled.

"Yes, I can accept gifts from family, but I do not want to make this a common occurrence. This gift, however, will be very useful and will sit on my desk in my office," the Asoc informed all.

"It make ten cup tea for human or one Asoc cup," Zarreniya said with a giggle. The Asost burst into laughter at hearing that. While it was a bit of an exaggeration, the Asoc did love her Anuuran tea and regularly used oversized cups though none held ten cups.

They broke for lunch with the Mattas family joining the Piscium family, the children chatting merrily as they were introduced to the Caregivers, the Crèche Mothers, Clarrisiya, Aylliya, and Urano, who would be instructing them on Liramor-23.

The afternoon was the last opportunity for the Leadership to make presentations or comments at large. The President of the Union started.

"I would like to make a point of acknowledging Commodore Raymond Clark, who will be retiring, again, now that this situation is completed.

"Belgedra started this situation, for all of us, with the attack on Semt Shall. That was a tragedy on a completely unexpected level. Raymond was dragooned by me back into the service in order to help the Asocan government with his extraordinary strategic skills. We were not disappointed in his abilities as he was able to turn around the situation vis-à-vis the Mercenary Fleet and help bring about the defeat of Belgedra and the Grazia Fleet.

"Our heartfelt and sincere wishes go out to Commodore Clark as he once again prepares to retire," the President said giving Raymond a nod.

The Asoc rose. "LoSostoc Clark, we have already acknowledged the contribution you have made to our recovery of the Realm. We cannot thank you nor the Union enough. Our only regret is in the loss of Semt Shall."

"Raymond fix," Ikekiya stated. "He know how."

"Ikekiya, did Prakeshya tell you this?" Hanalei asked rather sternly.

"No, mommy, I see now, too. I know. Raymond fix. He know how," Ikekiya insisted.

"She's right, I do know how," Raymond said showing surprise. "I have been looking at the reduction in the amount of hard radiation that has occurred around the Lost Shall since the incident with the Paldas. We shall have to take careful measurements; however, I think we can reduce the level of radiation down to near background levels in less then ten years."

"Do you mean that you could bring back the Lost Shall, LoSostoc Clark?" the Asoc asked, surprise showing in her voice.

"That could cost a pretty sum," the First Lady Angelique said.

"Yes ma'am. Several billions of credits over multiple years probably," Raymond answered. "And yes, Asoc, we could bring back the Lost Shall. Before the incident with the Paldas, I would have said that we could not clean up the Lost Shall in less than fifty years, if ever. Now, with the major reduction in hard radiation, we might be able to clean up the Lost Shall in eight to ten years. However, we would have to find someone with the necessary rank and expertise to push this."

"Someone like you, Raymond?" the President asked pointedly.

"No, sir. You gave me permission to retire after this battle, sir," Raymond reminded the President.

"Yes I did...but do you remember how I can bring you back when needed, Commodore Clark?" the President demanded emphasising the word 'Commodore'.

"Er...you...uh..could promote me to bring me back?" Raymond spoke quietly.

"You are correct about needing the power of rank to complete this project," the President mused. "However, I think that even the rank of Rear Admiral is not enough. This would take someone with enough rank to dragoon the resources needed. The rank of Rear Admiral would not be anywhere near effective enough.

"What do you think, George?" the President asked of Admiral Ramison, Admiral of the Union Navy.

"I believe you are correct, sir. It would indeed take the rank of Vice Admiral to have the power structure necessary to complete this task. However, that possess another unique problem. We cannot have two Vice Admirals working out of Liramor-23, sir, even if they are working on separate problems, when one of them is the Commander of Sector Fifty-Nine." Ramison informed the President.

"You are correct, George. However, that could provide justification to right another perceived wrong. The size of Sector Fifty-Nine is enormous with manpower requirements that are just as large. Though they will start with ten, each of the sentient races will eventually be providing at least one hundred ships to Sector Fifty-Nine and the combined military requirements of the Greater Community. By all rights, the commander of Sector Fifty-Nine should be a Fleet Admiral," the President looked pointedly at his Navy Aide-de-Camp.

The President's aide was quick on the uptake: "Attention to Orders!" he snapped as all military present came to parade rest as the aide quickly called up the information he needed on his comp.

"G-787625-348 War Dragon Commodore Raymond Clark Sai-Rai, step up to the line, sir," the Aide ordered.

"Commodore Clark, I order you to complete the assessment and begin the necessary treatment to clean up the Lost Shall with the intent to bring down the level of radiation to near background levels in the minimum amount of time and in the safest manner possible," the President stated formally.

"In order to accomplish this task; I promote you to the rank of Vice Admiral. I will also hire your ship, PV The Wanderer, and attach it to the Navy as your command vessel along with your current crew.

"Part of you duties, Raymond, will be to keep the Asocan government informed of the situation in the Lost Shall as it is cleaned up and to teach the scientists in their government of the processes you are conducting," the President ordered.

"Give me a budget request by next week, son," Admiral Ramison demanded getting a nod from Raymond.

The President was handed four stars, two of which he handed to Admiral Ramison. The pair began to place the stars on Raymond's collar, as he was in a navy jumpsuit. Once they had completed this, Raymond shook hands, posed for images, stepped back and gave the pair a salute.

"S-118938-117 War Dragon Vice Admiral Fiona Marsh, step up to the line, sir," the Aide ordered.

"Vice Admiral Marsh, I hereby promote you to the rank you should have originally been awarded on receiving Command of Sector Fifty-Nine, that of Fleet Admiral. Your duties will remain the same, however, you will have the added responsibility of supervising Vice Admiral Clark in his new role. Congratulations, Fiona," the President spoke.

The aide provided the President with two more stars and he slipped one to Admiral Ramison. The pair added the star to each of Fiona's wrists (she was in Navy One dress), bringing a total of four stars to her rank. Fiona shook hands, posed for images and gave a snappy salute to the President and Admiral Ramison. The crowd roared its approval.

Raymond came up and shook hands with Fiona. "Way to put your foot in it, Raymond," she exclaimed getting a snort from Raymond.

A few more people were feted but finally the day began to wind down.

The Asoc rose. "We have one final note to make for the people. Tomorrow, we shall bring the future leader of her people, Palda Prakeshya Se-Lam-Raie, along with the Kumar-Pair of the Pod-Drran and representatives of the Maha-Rrin, to inspect the planet the Asocan Realm knows as GiRomorAr.

"We shall also bring Elder Shusshhttookkann and some of her senior people, to inspect the planet that we have designated to go to the Sandekk. It is with heavy heart that we see the Sandekk leave AsocAR, as this has been their home world as much as it has been the Asocan home world.

"However, we realize that if the Sandekk are to survive, they must build their own civilization and they cannot do so here on AsocAR. It will take some time to move the Sandekk to their new home world but they have assured us that they will leave the Imperial Arl intact. I for one, do not want to see AsocAR completely deprived of the Sandekk and am pleased with the intended compromise.

"We ask our people to give voice to our new neighbours, the Oranae and the Sandekk!" the Asoc gave a great roar and all in the Great Gathering Center added their voices to her's.

End of chapter fifty-eight.

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