All That Glitters Ch. 60

"Hello, I'm Dr. Heyya," she informed them unnecessarily.

"Heyya, what is going on?" Juliana asked rather testily. "We know each other so why the formality?"

"OK, I'll drop the formality," Heyya said with a smile. "But please understand that I am speaking to the both of you as a family doctor today, OK?

"I called you here about Armando. We've got the tests results from your previous family doctor and have fed them and our more recent scans of your son through the medical scanner's AI system. I'm sure your former doctor told you that Armando is missing certain amino acids that help to build the human growth hormone. He basically lacks sufficient amounts of the hormone to grow at the proper rate.

"We now know why. Certain cells in his pituitary gland are not functioning to capacity because they are also missing certain amino acids. Armando's body is not producing them in sufficient quantity. The reason is a long-winded speech, but the result is not. Effectively, we know how to treat Armando's condition," Heyya ended. She pulled out a little blister pack with a single pill in it and placed it on the desk before the parents.

"Armando needs to take this pill once every six months for the next two years. It will help his body to develop properly. He will likely never catch up to his peers, but he will attain more normal growth heights for his age over the next couple of years, after which, his body should continue making the proper amounts of the hormones though we will monitor that.

"The pill causes his body to secret the proper amino acids that his pituitary gland needs to function to maximum efficiency," Heyya finished.

The parents looked at each other and smiled. "Armando is in the daycare, we can go get him," Juliana stated.

"That's OK, I've already asked for some capable assistants to have him brought here," Heyya said with a smile. As the parents watched, Armando walked into reception with Ikekiya and Zarreniya, each holding one of his arms. They saw his parents and waved at them and guided Armando to the smaller room. Both of them reached up and gave Armando a kiss on the cheek.

"We will bring you back when you finish, Armando," Zarreniya told him with a small smile as they stepped back into reception.

"Oh, my, that was rather unexpected," Juliana said with a smile of her own.

Heyya explained to Armando what they had discovered and why he had been called to the hospital. He looked at his parents.

"It is up to you Armando. You have been bullied enough because of your size. It is time to correct that," Clemente Santos told his son.

"Don't expect a sudden boost in height, Armando," Heyya explained. "It will take time for your body to develop the necessary amino acids and apply them in the proper manner to create the proper growth hormones. Once that happens, your growth will begin, though a little swifter over the next two years as your body tries to catch up. You will never be exceptionally tall because both of your parents are not that tall themselves, so your genetics are against you, but you will grow to a more normal height range for your age.

"We could give you a shot of growth hormone but your body would need those shots constantly, so getting your body to function properly is the task. Which is why we are giving you this in pill form every six months," Heyya informed Armando.

Armando looked surprised, then pleased, then rather pensive. "Will Ikekiya and Zarreniya still like me if I get too tall?" he asked.

"Why don't we ask them?" Heyya said. She knocked on the glass and pointed to the two children, giving them a come-hither motion of her hand. They swiftly came into the room.

"We have a means of allowing Armando to reach his proper height rang but he is afraid you will not like him if he gets too tall," Heyya explained.

"Silly Armando," Zarreniya exclaimed. "Little girls grow faster than little boys. So, we catch up to you soon. When we older, you grow faster."

Both girls smiled at Armando, who looked a little pleased. He turned to Heyya, who gave him the sealed pill.

"Harsgarrand Zarreniya, bring water please," Ikekiya stated formally. She opened the door for her sister who got a paper cup and filled it with water then gingerly brought it back to the room as her sister held the door for her.'

"Thank you Harsgarrand Ikekiya," Zarreniya nodded to her sister. She passed the cup to Armando.

"You take you pill, Armondo," Ikekiya gently ordered and watched him carefully as he did so. Both girls rubbed Armando's shoulders, telling him that 'he did good'.

"We all done, Dr. Heyya?" Ikekiya asked.

"Yes children, we are done. You can go back to the daycare now," Heyya informed them.

Both girls suddenly grabbed one of Armando's arms. "You come quiet now," Zarreniya told him in a no-nonsense tone. "We go back to daycare."

The girls promptly marched Armando out of the room and hospital reception while Heyya tried unsuccessfully to hide a giggle behind her hand.

"Harsgarrand?" Juliana asked.

"It is an Asocan term that roughly translates as Medical Apprentice or Apprentice Medical Student," Heyya told them.

"Those children are studying medicine?" Clemente asked.

"I have yet to find a field of study that those two children have not been into," Heyya answered. "Those children are the most exceptional children I have ever met.

"They are both accepted as Full Member Empaths in the Order of Empaths of Hollander's World at an age when most other empathic children are still playing with toys and unconcerned about the galaxy around them. They are also both telepaths, though their telepathy is not as advanced as their empathic nature.

"The children are also developing other powers. Something I must caution you on, if you see the children manifesting unusual abilities, please, do not make a fuss over it. We want them to believe that what they are doing is normal and just fine thank you. Their lives will be filled with turmoil and great strife, so anything we can do to make things more tolerable for them is in their best interest." Heyya gave both of them a threatening look.

"Clemente, the children were given a piano to help relieve the tensions in their young lives. Music is something the girls truly enjoy and they are good at it. Music lets them be children," Heyya ended.

The other two looked at each other. They would have to speak to Junelliya and Hanalei later to see what they would tell them about their children. They also had to find out what they should be doing around the Piscium children.

Pallanders Three Orbital Shipyard, Liramor Prime, The Liramor system, Thirty Light Years from Terra

François Pallanders stepped onto Pallanders-3 with a smile on his face. He was recalling the time that he once worked here when it was then owned by The Mercantile Shipbuilding Company over fifty years previously.

He had been a young but brilliant engineer who had graduated early from university and was hired by the company. After six months, François had compiled a list of items that he thought the owners should know about and deal with. His work had been ignored out of hand, the 'meanderings of a young and ambitious engineer', his superiors had stated.

François had been furious. He had had enough of the stupidity of the Mercantile Company and tendered his resignation on the spot, very much surprising those same superiors.

François had realized that the construction methods of the Mercantile Company were wasteful and inefficient. He knew he could do better. He went to those who lent the Mercantile Company money and showed them the results. He claimed that he could and would do much better and tendered his proposal. Many liked the proposals and decided to back François to build his own shipyard in orbit. That had been Pallanders-1.

Now, fifty-one years later, Pallanders Shipyard had four orbital shipyards, one of which was not in orbit of Liramor Prime (Pallanders-4 in the Punarjanm System), and two under construction. The intervening years had been good for François and his family, especially during the Terran Union War, when Pallanders had gained a well-deserved reputation for craftsmanship, efficiency, and quality work. He had purchased the Mercantile's only shipyard six years before the end of the war, when they had gone bankrupt, taking great delight in renaming it Pallanders-3. It took him some months to refit the station but he eventually had a shipyard he could be very proud of and was.

Today was soon to become another one of the company's hallmark work projects. The repairs/refit of the commercial ships that had been grounded due to shoddy workmanship was now completed. The handover ceremony scheduled for later that morning was to be the last of those ships, finishing the project and ending the ongoing crisis for Liramor Prime.

His aide informed him that a good portion of the Senate, along with President Lapierre and his daughter, Lillianne, would be arriving soon via shuttle. The aide escorted him to the largest briefing room on the station where many people were already waiting. François noted the presence of many media types in the room.

He also noted the group of senior officials of all the shipping companies that his company had recently serviced ships for. He walked over to the group and to the president of 'La Compagnie de transport Lannette'. "Good day, Minette, it is a pleasure to have you here on Pallanders-Three today."

"Thank you, François, I am happy to be here today to take back the last of my ships you have rebuilt. I am pleased at all that Pallanders has done for me," Minette Lannette replied. François could see a lot of heads nodding to that sentiment from the group of company heads.

There was a sudden commotion at the entrance and François saw Raymond Clark, Liea Samson, Fiona Marsh, and many of the Ambassadors of the Greater Community enter. He waved them over to introduce them to his guests.

"May I introduce to you the people who made it possible for me to help you, and many others, to fix the problems with your ships during the recent crisis," François explained to the seniors of the various companies.

François introduced his friends and the Ambassadors and talked with them as they waited for the final lot of dignitaries to arrive. Soon enough, they were graced with the presence of the attending Senators and the President of Liramor Prime and his daughter, the acting First Lady of Liramor Prime, having taken over the position on the death of her mother.

François took the podium. "Several months ago, the SSP Winston had an incident in space that threatened the lives of its crew and those on the Liramor-23 Mining Platform in the Piscium system.

"It was revealed that The Winston had been fraudulently refit by the now defunct maintenance company they used and was left to the fortunes of the Gods. Once it was discovered that this was the case, a notice was sent out to all shipping companies to check their records on the maintenance of their ships. It was discovered that fifty-nine ships from thirty-six shipping companies on Liramor Prime had been serviced by these charlatans with devastating results as the Space Worthiness Certificates of all of these ships was immediately rescinded. This caused a crisis in the Liramor Prime interplanetary transportation businesses.

"A plan was enacted, approved by the Senate of Liramor Prime, which allowed us to make use of the first ever Greater Community Mutual Support Pact, asking for engineers, hull riggers, and supervisors from the Community to help us out.

"We also received financing from none other than Raymond Clark and Lea Samson, who came to the rescue of the shipping companies of Liramor Prime with supporting finances.

"This allowed Pallanders Shipyards to build additional cages around our orbital shipyards to refit and bring up to more modern standards all fifty-nine ships in question, essentially saving thirty-six independent shipping companies from bankruptcy.

"Today, Pallanders Shipyards will sign over the last of these ships to its parent company. If I could ask Madame Minette Lannette of La Compagnie de transport Lannette to come forward to sign for her ship?"

François stepped down to a set of tables at which he and Minette Lannette sat. Papers were presented for the signatures of both. They then stood and shook hands and gave the traditional French double kisses on each cheek to applause from the crowd.

President Lapierre then took the podium. "Good morning, Ambassadors, Senators of Liramor Prime, ladies and gentlemen, members of the media. Today I would like to express my thanks to several people. They include François Pallanders, of Pallanders Shipyards, Dr. Fiona Marsh, Director of Operations at Liramor-23, Raymond Clark and Liea Samson of the Partnership of Clark and Samson, and I would also like to express my appreciation to the Ambassadors from the Greater Community who sent engineers, hull riggers, and supervisors, to assist in this project in response to the Greater Community Mutual Support Pact 001.

"I would like to present a Scroll of Appreciation to each of the supporting Ambassadors who participated in pact number one."

The President left the podium and came to each Ambassador, presenting a large scroll written in French, Standard, and the individual language of the specific Ambassador. Each scroll was fixed on a plaque. Images were taken as each Ambassador received their specific scroll.

The President moved to the front of the podium and asked his daughter, the acting First Lady of Liramor Prime, to assist him. He called François Pallanders forward.

"François, you have distinguished yourself and your company on more than one occasion for the work you have done on refit and construction of various ships throughout your career. Through hard work and dedication, you have become the premier shipyard in the Union.

"And yet, we on Liramor Prime have not acknowledged this previously. We shall make amends for that now." The President nodded to his daughter who came forward with a medal that she hung around his neck while the President's aide spoke of why François Pallanders was being presented with the Compagnon Ordre Planétaire du Mérite du Liramor (COPM-LP).

The President then picked up another medal and placed that one too around François' neck as the aide spoke about the reason that François Pallanders was receiving the la Médaille d'or Présidentielle pour service distingué du Liramor Prime (Presidential Gold Medal for Distinguished Service - Liramor Prime).

François was given a scroll for each medal to hang in his office as images were taken.

The President then called up Fiona Marsh. Once again both medals were presented though in the case of the COPM-LP, it was a bar to add to the ribbon of the medal she already wore. Scrolls were provided for each and images were taken.

The President then called forth Raymond and Liea. He repeated the same process for both, again scrolls were provided to each and images were taken.

The President then asked all recipients and Minette Lannat to stand with him and his daughter for images for posterity. Eleven different types of smiles graced the imagery as proud recipients held up their scrolls or medals to applause from the invited guests.

At the reception afterwards, many of the attending members of the Senate of Liramor Prime, the President and his daughter, and the senior officials of those transport companies that had been affected by the crisis, personally thanked all those involved. It was interesting to see their reactions when speaking with the taller members of the Interspecies Ambassadors, especially the Pod-Drran wearing their Kaldar, and the Asocans wearing their Curlat. They were surprised to discover that both were quite chatty and very friendly, despite their rather intimidating appearances...

Daycare, Mike Deck, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Two days later, a special guest was brought to the Daycare by the Byandi Ambassador Porra. "Children, I would like to introduce to you one of our better-known musicians, Arttra. She is an expert with the Cattass which she will show you how to it play today."

Arttra was holding a Lute like instrument made entirely of the skin of a large sea animal from the Byandi home world. The instrument was designed to be able to play both in the water and out of it.

Arttra explained a little about the instrument and how it was made, then showed them some of the notes. Since the strings were set high of the fret board, Arttra could play notes by both pressing on the string or lifting it with her fingers, thus creating eight notes per fret from the four stringed instrument, as she explained. That revelation caused Ikekiya and Zarreniya to coo and awe as Arttra demonstrated.

Arttra played a few songs then brought out smaller versions of the Cattass and asked who would like to try the instrument. She had expected the Byandi children to want to try it but was surprised at how many of the other races wanted to as well.

When it came time for the Piscium children to try the instruments their results were much better than the others, which surprised Arttra but not Porra. The children got two notes by pushing down on a string and two additional notes but pushing up.

"Oooo!" Zarreniya cooed. "Four notes on string, sixteen notes on fret!"

Arttra sat up quickly in surprise when she heard this from Zarreniya. She had found that most children could not properly define four notes per string, yet these two had not only heard it, they had found those notes and were actively trying to use them! Not only that, their math was spot on...

"How old are they?" Arttra asked Porra. She was very much surprised by the answer.

"Aunty Porra," Ikekiya said, making big, round eyes at her and looking constantly at Arttra. "We invite you to supper, please?"

"I guess I could do that," Porra replied. "Could I bring a guest?" she asked.

"Yes, please, Aunty Porra!" Ikekiya replied, a very happy smile on her face.

"Oh, oh, you are in for it now, Arttra," Porra said to her friend with a smile.

L-1894 The Piscium Family Apartment, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Many hours later, Porra and her friend Arttra entered the Piscium Apartment to greetings from the adults.

"Hello, I am Hanalei Anar, the First Wife of the Piscium Family," Hanalei greeted the pair. "This is my co-wife, Dr. Junelliya Harlen, our husband, Fayad Piscium, our daughters Ikekiya, and Zarreniya, my PA Sylvie Kinlo, our Guardian, Violletiya, and our friends, the Cats; Juneya, Hanaya, and Fayea.

"Welcome to our home," Hanalei finished as she gave a small bow to the two, who bowed back.

"Thank you for inviting my friend, Arttra, and I to your supper table, Hanalei," Porra returned.

"Well, we were surprised some when our children told us that they had invited you, Porra. It is unusual for them to invite someone that is not a child to our home," Junelliya replied. "However, I see a case for a musical instrument on Arttra's back, and understand now why that was so," Junelliya stated, smiling.

Arttra looked around and noted a large white instrument in a corner with several stringed instruments either on the wall or standing upright on the floor around the larger instrument.

"Why don't you place your instrument with the others, Arttra. Supper will be a few minutes yet and we may have other guests showing up," Fayad told them, grinning.

Arttra opened the case and took out the stand for her instrument, carefully placing it on the stand. Junelliya came over to look at it.

"That, I believe, is a Byandi Cattass," Junelliya stated.

"Yes, one of the better ones that I have ever played. This particular instrument is more than two hundred cycles old. It was created by one of our most revered instrument makers," Arttra replied with pride.