All That Glitters Ch. 60

"The more important part of the prophecy was recently confirmed by an obscure older prophecy, which stated that Midrranna would end near the time of Poda-La's death," the Kumaroe ended.

"Two years after our Goddess was sent into space, Midrranna stopped being seen from Ruhm-Oran," the Kumaraie began again. "Our scientists later confirmed that the star was still doing its thing, however, a small gas nebula had moved slightly in its interstellar orbit. The nebula acted as a focal lens allowing those on Ruhm-Oran to see the star much larger, and much brighter. When the nebula moved, we could no longer clearly see the star and thus, Midrranna ended.

"The second part of the prophecy was that Poda-La herself would return at the same time as the Star Bloom. The newest prophecy indicated that the Resestess would be found at this time.

"With the help of the humans, we have looked for the ship...and found it." Here she once again looked at the monitor and all saw images of a ship in space. As the image magnification increased, the people in the Throne Room saw the word Resestess in the old language on the bow of the ship. Those who could read it interpreted it for those who could not.

As the size of the image increased, people saw the damage of a ship that had been in space for some time. Their own original generational ships, now being used as space station in orbit, also showed such external damage.

"With the human's help, we will catch the Resestess and see what might be abord the..."

"NO!! You cannot let the humans be the ones to retrieve that ship as it may carry the body of the Goddess herself!" a Rai called out.

"Who speaks against the admonitions of the Speaker?" the Palace Speaker thundered.

"I, Tempa-Harn Kai-Rai speak out against this issue. It is wrong that no Pod-Drran is to be part of the capture of this ship!"

"And how do you ask us to capture this ship without the assistance of the humans, Tempa?" the Kumaraie demanded. "We do not have a ship large enough nor capable enough to do this task. The only FLT ship we currently own is the Kumar Resestess and it is too small to capture the vessel. We MUST ask the assistance of the humans.

"I, my family, the Pemipinae, the High Priestesses of both the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin, and several witnesses will be part of the capture of the Resestess," the Kumaraie stated formally. "We will represent both sides of our sister races."

"Then I demand to be one of the witnesses," Tempa answered the Kumaraie.

"Be careful of how you make a request of the Kumaraie, Tempa-Harn," the Speaker came back. "You have no place to speak and you have no position that makes you worthy of being part of this event."

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

"She is problem momma," Ikekiya told Junelliya back in their apartment.

"We can only guide them, Ikekiya, we cannot force them to listen to us. Sometimes they must learn for themselves," Hanalei explained to her daughter.

"She be hurt if she no listen," Ikekiya replied.

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

"My Kumaraie, there are too many here that are worthy of being part of the team," Mand-Tre Sai-Kumir-Rai, second in command of the Kumaraie's Gerlendie Guard stated.

The Kumaroe thought for a moment before he spoke. "We shall choose five from the group of select people here today. This will be done via a lottery. Each of you will have the same opportunity to be selected. Including you Tempa-Harn Kai-Rai.

The Seneschal made it happen quickly and five were selected by lot and, as fate would have it, one of those five was Tempa-Harn. The stage was set.

"We leave immediately," the Kumaraie stated, rising, and moving out of the Throne Room towards the Palace Shuttle Port.

The Wanderer, In Orbit of Liramor-23, The Piscium System

The Kumar Resestess slid gently through the Gara-Hinn shield and into the VIP Shuttle Bay of The Wanderer. Not long after settling on its struts, the Kumar-Pair, and their entourage, the Pemipinae and her entourage, and the selected witnesses, moved up the ramp into reception to find a rather unexpected sight...all of the Ambassadors from Liramor-23 were waiting for them.

The Ambassadors bowed very low to the trio of rulers and Ambassador Mayute of the Toolend, the senior most Ambassador, gave a short speech.

"Kumar-Pair, Pemipinae, Ministers of the two realms. We the Ambassadors have been sent by our rulers to be part of this most historic occasion. Vice Admiral Raymond Clark has assured us that there is plenty of space on The Wanderer. He has placed us in the Main Conference Room on Deck One so that we are not underfoot for your people.

"In the names of all of our rulers, we ask that you sanction our presence on this ship during the recovery of the Resestess," Mayute finished with a bow that was copied by all the other Ambassadors.

The Kumar-Pair and the Pemipinae held a short tête-à-tête, making a quick decision.

"Very well. So long as you are not underfoot for the operation itself, WE will sanction your presence on this ship," the Kumaraie answered for all of them.

The rulers met with all the ambassadors who wished them well on the recovery of this most important and historical vessel.

The Ambassadors, with the exception of the Pod-Drran and Maha-Rrin ambassadors, were guided to the upper deck and the ship's Main Conference Room while the Kumar-Pair, the Pemipinae, and their respective entourages were guided to the VIP Conference Room on the VIP deck.

"Ikekiya, Zarreniya, I have something for both of you," the Kumaraie said, as she pulled out two Pal-Mar on seeing the children and hung them over the girls shoulders.

The girls raised them up to look at them and saw their names in Pod-Drran and Maha-Rrin script, though Ikekiya also had the term 'Soona-Patak' (Dream Reader) in the old script on hers. They smiled at the Kumaraie and both gave her hugs and linkess.

Arlene was waiting for the Kumar-Pair's brood and took them away under the watchful eye of several Kumir-Rai/Ro while their parents settled in. She would give each of the children their own PSS, very much similar to those worn by Ikekiya and Zarreniya but in the colours of the House of Se-Lam.

"Welcome, Pemipinae, to The Wanderer," Liea greeted her when all had settled down. "We will have plenty of time to do a full tour for you as this ship is geared for Float Chairs," she smiled. "You will have no difficulty getting about."

"How do you fare, Pemipinae?" Raymond asked.

"I am doing much better now, Raymond, since the itching has stopped...well not completely stopped but is much reduced," Melda-Hetta replied. "They tell me that the growth will come to an end in January and then I will begin my rehab. I look forward to that."

"You will initially hate your rehab specialists, then come to love them, Pemipinae," Kim informed her getting laughter from around the room.

The voice of Captain Hellen Degault came over the all-ships comms system "Now leaving Liramor-23, heading out to the jump point."

The image of Capt. Hellen Degault came up on the monitor not long after. "We will be ready to jump shortly. We estimate that it will take approximately an hour to close in on the ship and be ready to recover it."

"Thank you, Hellen," Raymond returned.

The Comms specialist in the room opened the link to the bridge so that those in the room could see what was going on.

"Sir, Nav, plot to you," the Nav O was just saying as they tuned in. The Captain and the First Officer mulled over the plot and agreed on it. Degault sent the plot back to Nav and forwarded it to the Pilot.

"Match plots and jump," Degault ordered.

"Sir, Nav, ready for jump..."

"Sir, Pilot, plot matched and ready for jump."

"Roger that. Pilot, open the grid and prepare for jump, Comms O ship-wide to me," Degault ordered.

"Sir, Pilot, the grid is charged and we are ready to jump."

"Attention all personnel, we are about to jump on the last known location of a historical ship and attempt to retrieve it. This will require some maneuvering. Ensure that you are secure at all times. If you have to move, remember the maxim: one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself.

"Jump in five, four, three, two, one, jump now, now, now!" Degault ordered and the pilot pressed the switch.

The jump grid flared and the ship disappeared in a cloud of electronic snow...to reappear some one-and-a-half light years distant.

"Sir, Nav, we are within fifty meters of our expected entry point."

"Roger, reverse our direction and head for the expected coordinates of the Resestess," Degault ordered as people around the bridge began to respond to requirements.

"Sir, Science, I have the ship 256,000 kilometres ahead of us," the Science O called out. "Ma'am, sensors show she is moving at 69% of C."

"Roger that. Pilot, its up to you now, take your feed from the Science O and bring us as close as possible as gently as possible. I'm sure someone on board is going to ignore orders and get hurt during maneuvering," Degault commanded.

The next hour was interminably long for the Pod-Drran and Maha-Rrin guests on board as The Wanderer closed in on the ship.

"Sir, Pilot, the vessel is now 580 meters to port," the Pilot finally reported.

"Roger. Stand by to release the Rockhounds. Raymond, James, you're up," Degault stated.

"Roger, Rockhounds 149 and 177, request permission to leave the ship, over." Raymond came back.

"Wanderer, we are opening the hatches, over," the Engineer's mate on the bridge called out.

"149, Wanderer, the hatch is green on your side, you are authorized to launch, over," Degault gave the final clearance for Raymond to move his small ship out into space followed shortly after to 177 on the opposite side of the ship. For the first time, Raymond saw the vessel with his own eyes. The vessel was approximately three times the size of his Rockhound, which made it approximately 30m in length. He turned his instruments on the ship and got the surprise of his life.

"149, the ship's engines are active! What kind of system does it have to be able to run its engines this long, over," Raymond stated.

"Shit, that's not good, ma'am. We have to shut those engines down before we can bring that ship into the hold," Engineering informed the Captain.

"How do we do that without getting on board it?" someone asked.

"149, I am now within 200m of the vessel, wait a minute, the ship just shut down its engines, over!" Raymond reported.

"Wanderer, confirm that the engines are no longer running, over?" Science asked.

"149, I confirm, the ship's engines are no longer outputting, over," Raymond responded.

"Proximity detection?" Science mused.

"Anything would set that off," Engineering countered.

"Not if it was also responding to engine power from another ship," someone else noted.

"149, the engines stopped at 200m proximity. I have to move to the other side of the ship to push it into the hold so I will allow my ship to move outside of the 200m threshold and see what happens, over." Raymond explained his position.

"Wanderer, roger, out."

Raymond allowed his ship to move up over the Resestess and added some distance. At 250m, he saw the Resestess' engines engage again.

"149, the engines are outputting. They came on at 250m, over."

"Wanderer, roger. If the engines stop as you approach, you are cleared to push the ship into the hold, over," Degault ordered.

They all waited as Raymond gently approached the within 200m of the vessel.

"149, engines have shut down again. That confirms a sophisticated proximity detection system. I am about to make contact with the Resestess in three, two, one, contact."

"149, I will give it a one meter per second thrust for five seconds. That should bring us into the hold in fifty seconds, over."

"Wanderer, roger. We see the movement, out."

Raymond was aiming for a rear hold that was open to both sides of the ship. As he approached the hold, he fired his maneuvering jets to move his ship away from the vessel. As Raymond backed off, Rockhound 177 'caught' the Resestess and began to apply gentle power to bring it to a stop inside the hold.

"177, we are showing zero lateral motion on the vessel. She is centered in the hold, over."

"Wanderer, roger. You and 149 can exit the hold. We will close the hatches on both sides as soon as you are back in space, out."

Both Rockhounds soon reported that they were clear of the hold and the hatches slowly closed.

"Activity in the hold!" Science called out. "We see something under the vessel...landing struts! The vessel is lowering landing struts!"

Everyone watched the imagery as the vessel touched down on its struts. "Shit, that thing is supposed to be more than 34,000 years old, and it's still functioning?" someone muttered.

The Rockhounds requested permission to return to their respective shuttle bays and the ship closed up again.

"Secure from operations," Degault called out. "Pilot, dead reconning. Bring us down slowly to 50% of C and keep the ship steady so people can move about again."

"OK people, it is now up to the science teams of the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin. Kumaraie, Pemipinae, send in your people." Degault advised.

"Godmother, this not good," Ikekiya informed her. "Need make ship safe. People get hurt if I no make safe."

"Ikekiya, this ship is still active. We don't know what it will do. We cannot let you go into the hold without checking out the ship first," the Kumaraie replied.

They watched as Pod-Drran and Maha-Rrin in EVA suits came into the airless hold.

"You people be hurt, Godmother," Ikekiya replied, sad eyes on the Kumaraie.

"Who is in the team?" the Kumaraie demanded. "Short straws, my mate. We have Samen-Ren Lin-Tae, Mosta-Harn Lin-Tae, two senior Tae of the Pod-Drran, Sherm-Atem, a senior Tae of the Maha-Rrin, and two Rai, including Tempa-Harn Kai-Rai."

"Tempa, we have been advised not to touch the ship. It could be dangerous," the Kumaraie sent the notice to the team.

"The musings of a human child, My Kumaraie? Seriously?" Tempa replied.

"NO! You tell her no touch! Kayl, Hend, you go, you go now! She be hurt if she touch ship," Ikekiya shouted.

Kayl and Hend acknowledged the command and moved swiftly into the airlock of the adjacent room that was being used by the techs as a staging room for the research teams.

As they were activating the lock, Tempa laughed. She saw a switch plate that she was very familiar with. It was the same as on the Pod-Drran Man-Jays.

"Switch plate to open the hatch," Tempa noted for the techs. She reached out and touched her hand to the plate and was instantly thrown back ten meters as a flash of power surged just as Kayl and Hend came into the hold with a float bed.

They grabbed the hapless female and threw her on the bed, then raced out of the hold and through the airlock. Once on the airlock filled with air, they opened the helmet of Tempa's suit.

"No breathing, no heartbeat," Kayl noted. Hend began Pod-Drran CPR techniques while Kayl set a breathing tube and began to use a bag to breath for Tempa (a human technique that Kayl had adopted for its effectiveness) as hands pulled the float bed into the other room.

"I've got a pulse," Hend informed Kayl after a few Mur and briefly stopped CPR to see if the pulse would continue on its own. It did. A few more Murt passed until Hend confirmed that Tempa was breathing on her own and Kayl removed the tube. Not long after, Tempa's eyes fluttered open and she gave out a groan.

"What happened?" she asked in an unsteady voice.

"You touched the ship even though Ikekiya told you not to," Hend informed her in a not so gently manner. "You received a rather powerful electric shock. It almost killed you. Had we not listened to Ikekiya's instructions and came in expecting trouble, you might very well be dead. As is, we got you in here and began working on you within one Mur.

"You're welcome.

"You owe one little girl your life and a very sincere apology," Hend finished in open hostility.

Some of the ship's EVA team came into their location and began to help Tempa out of her suit. They noted feathery tracks on her skin.

"What are those?" one of the Tae asked.

"The humans call them Lichtenberg Figures. Tracks left by lighting, real or artificial. They will be a permanent reminder of your near death experience this day," Kayl informed Tempa.

The Kumar-Pair, her brood, the Pemipinae, Fayad, Junelliya, Hanalei, the two Piscium children, and the Cats came into the room.

"How does she fare?" The Kumaroe demanded.

"She will live, unfortunately," Hend responded, getting a Pod-Drran giggle from Prakeshya.

"You no listen. I so 'fraid," Ikekiya explained to Tempa, tears in her eyes.

"You may rest assured, that I will listen to you in future," Tempa answered her. "I owe you my life and I owe you an apology. I am truly sorry that I frightened you, Ikekiya.

"You have pretty marks, make look like painting," Zarreniya noted, causing the others to laugh.

"Kayl Sin-Dae, I suddenly do not feel so good," Tempa stated.

"I am not surprised...you had a high voltage shock shot through your body, enough to almost kill you and leave permanent marks behind. It might be a few days before you are feeling yourself again," Kayl replied.

Tempa was moved to the infirmary as a new stand-by medical team came in with another float bed.

"Momma, Godmother, I need make ship safe. I no make safe, people get hurt," Ikekiya told the Kumaraie.

"Need see side of ship, please," Ikekiya asked of the Tae from the team.

As the images came up, Ikekiya pointed to the pressure plate on the side, the same one that Tempa had touched.

"See, this my size," she told them pointing out a handprint on the pressure plate. It was obvious that the handprint was not Pod-Drran in nature. One of the Tae brought up an image of a Pod-Drran handprint. It showed the base of the palm, the two thumbs curing inwards along the outside of the print, and the pad print from the fingertips of the two fingers in the middle. All the digits showed obvious marks of their talons. Unlike the flat human handprint, the center of the Pod-Drran print was missing as the Pod-Drran palm rarely, if ever, touched a flat surface.

"This print is an obvious sign that a human child will activate the hatch," Sherm-Atem, the Maha-Rrin scientist of the team said, giving a look of reverence to Ikekiya.

"Momma, Godmother, I need go," Ikekiya explained yet again. "Prakeshya be after me."

Both Junelliya and the Kumaraie gave each other worried looks but, eventually, nodded their consent.

Ikekiya pulled an oxygen ball from a pouch and screwed it on her suit, Prakeshya following her example. Both girls pulled on their gloves and sealed them at the wrists. They clasped hands with their parents and pressed the contacts on the front of their PSS that activated the electronic bubble to cover their heads.

Mosta-Harn Lin-Tae placed cameras on their suits and activated them. She asked Ikekiya ifs she knew how to use the Pod-Drran science scanner. Ikekiya smiled and told her *Of course*, getting a smile from the Tae. She put it in her Ikekiya's new Pal-Mal.

Sherm-Atem took them into the airlock and cycled it for the children, passing through with them into the hold. She stayed several meters behind the children but was there for them if necessary.

Ikekiya pressed her gloved hand on the print. Nothing immediately happened.

"Ikeki, plate get hot. Not hot, warm," Prakeshya reported what her eyes were seeing. Ikekiya immediately activated the scanner and confirmed what Prakeshya saw.

"What now?" Prakeshya asked. "Why make warm?"

"So I can touch," Ikekiya suddenly caught on. She pulled off her glove and touched the print when Prakeshya told her it was warm enough.