All That Glitters Ch. 64

^Our ambassadorial staff has done well with your education in Harradi,^ Grenta told them, getting nods of agreement from both the children.

"We must take our leave and allow other people to greet the Impatoss," Hanalei told her children. The children gave the pair hugs and the family moved off to find a large table, knowing they would wind up with other guests. Not long after, the tables were being moved together as people joined them in similar fashion to what happened at Denders.

Finally, Shallel and François Pallanders came into the room, and everyone settled down. As on the Tarl Asoc, those leaders who where not present, soon popped up on monitors around the room as François moved to a small dais at one end of the hall and addressed the room with much the same words as he had on the Tarl Asoc.

He ended his speech and asked the Impatoss to sign for his ship. The two sat at a table and documents were passed between them until they both stood and shook hands to applause from the crowd.

The Impatoss said a few words about the meaning of the name of his ship. In similar fashion to the Franz Müller, the Harrod Gallet was named after the first ever historically known Impatosse of the Harradi people.

Halet called his family forward and the three climbed onto the platform where the lever was but it was his mate, Grenta who spoke the words.

"I name this ship, the Harrod Gallot. May she serve the people well," she proclaimed and the three of them pulled on the lever to release the bottle of sparkling wine, which broke properly on the wall below the name of the vessel to cheers from the crowd.

Again, the Impatoss and his mate were besieged by media and it was some time before they could circulate among the crowd. They finally came to the enlarged table with the Piscium family.

"Hi, Uncle Halet, Aunty Grenta!" the children chorused. The children stood on their chairs and gave much appreciated hugs to the pair.

They quickly caught up with all those who had not had the opportunity to speak with them on entering, due mostly to their status. Hi, or low status, the Impatoss didn't care, he spoke with everyone, making people feel much more important. The girls took note of this. Their parents did much the same, as did the Asoc, though in a much more constrained manner. The children were learning how to deal with not only humans, but all members of the Greater Community. Each had their quirks, and the children were learning them all.

Before the Impatoss and his family planned to move on to the next table, the children slid down off their chairs and formally bowed to them. ^Impatoss Hatel Konexi, we have a great favour to ask of you,^ the girls chorused.

^The Great Tremor on Maha-Oran killed so many,^ Ikekiya continued, ^and injured so many more. More than 240 million Maha-Rrin required serious hospital care, with more than 150 million needing regenerative surgery.^

^Only a little over twenty million have had their regenerative surgery so far,^ Zarreniya picked up. ^The governments are paying for the hospital care, but our friends, the Maha-Rrin children, they need so much more. Especially those who have lost their families.^

^The Harradi people have already helped the Maha-Rrin, but they need so much more help,^ Zarreniya let them know.

^We want to make a charity event, a concert, at Denders this summer to earn money to help our friends,^ Ikekiya explained. ^If we do this, will you ask your people to be generous and help us earn money for the Maha-Rrin?^

^We will sell tickets on prizes, nice prizes!^ Ikekiya clarified.

^Uh huh. We will sign our guitars and make them prizes,^ Zarreniya said. ^We will get all stars and other people to sign, too. They will be big prize, but we need other things for prizes. Things people will treasure.^

^If the Harradi people want these treasures, will they pay five credits for a ticket for a chance to win then?^ Ikekiya asked. ^Can you convince your people to be generous and buy many tickets?^

"The Asoc has granted her favour to the little ones," the Asost explained through the translator matrix.

"As have we," the First Lady said with a smile as she held her husband's hand.

"We were the second to agree, mostly because we were on the Tarl Asoc and didn't want to steal the Asoc's thunder," the President stated, smiling.

^I think that is a wonderful thing that you try to do, little ones,^ Grenta complimented the children. ^If they manage to get this ready on time, I think we can endorse them, my mate.^ The look she gave to the Impatoss was not one to be trifled with. Hatel wisely agreed with his mate.

^How did you manage to convince the President and the Asoc to support you?^ Hatel demanded.

^We showed them this,^ Ikekiya answered, displaying her event calendar. Both Hatel and his mate were suitably impressed with the very complex calendar, not only for what it showed but for what it did not show, as those variables were listed as 'needed but not arranged'.

^Very well then,^ the Impatoss began. ^That will be the agreement. If you can make this happen, we will endorse you to our people.

^However, I want something in return...I want a copy of this amazing calendar,^ Hatel insisted.

^Oh thank you, Uncle Hatel, Aunty Grenta!^ the children chorused and gave them fierce leg hugs getting laughter form the couple, while Sylvie touched comps with one of the couples aides.

"How can your hearts not swell when they do things like this to you?" Grenta asked of the mothers, who returned knowing smiles to her.

The couple finally moved on to the last few tables, and the group prepared to move on to the last ship of the day, the BN Sanata.

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

The Byandi chose to use the same configuration as the Harradi had, with the Mylatrin waiting in the throne room. Once again, Mylat Alafka was to act as her mother's stand-in on the receiving line, so she was the first off the President's shuttle, the group following sedately behind her.

As with the Harradi, Alafka was the head of the reception line and greeted everyone with the class and dignity befitting her station in life.

Again, Caye-Ur managed to make contact with the human captain and ChEng for when they finished their contracts. She was certain she would need their expertise. She was a little sad that she had not made contact with the humans on the Tarl Asoc, but Garnal assured her that she would pass on her contact info for when that pair finished their contracts. Caye was happy with that.

As on the Harradi ship, their names and titles would be called out by a Herald. Like the Harradi script, the Byandi script was a flowing script, reminiscent of waves and dunes on the shoreline. The children were just as impressed with their cards and they snuck a peak at the back of the card to see how the Byandi phonetically wrote out their names. They giggled a little at what they saw but the adults were impressed with the organization behind it all.

Things went a little differently as they approached the entrance to the throne room as they could easily see Mylatrin Adriné alone on her throne (Adriné's mate had died some six years previously and she had yet to take a new mate). But what was unusual was the 'pets' she had in front of and on either side of her throne. Two of the largest predators the Piscium adults had ever seen stood looking out at the entrance. They were the height of an average Byandi (approximately 150cm) and were almost as wide as they were tall, giving them a square appearance. The first impression of the beasts was muscular, as they seemed to radiate power. Every time they moved; their muscles could be seen bunching beneath their hides.

Unlike the Byandi, whose heads were designed for the water, these creatures had the typical face that most humans could relate to with two eyes above a flat nose over a mouth. The face was pushed in like that of a pugs, however, like the rest of their bodies it was oversized with an enormous mouth filled with very dangerous looking fangs and with thick, drooling tongues hanging out of them.

The beasts had cream coloured fur with stripes of bluish/purple similar to the pattern of a Terran tiger. Each of the beasts had a large Byandi handler holding on to chains attached to their necks.

While the parents were somewhat taken aback by the appearance of the monstrous beasts, both the children and the Pod seemed to be fascinated by them. All too soon, it was time for them to be announced.

The President and the First Lady were escorted past the two guard animals (for that was obviously what they were) to the Mylatrin who hugged the First Lady.

"In September in your calendar, correct?" Adriné asked, getting nods from both her friends.

Next, the Asost, Garnal, and Varren, were announced and escorted to the Mylatrin. All three were quite wary of the vicious looking animals.

Then came the Piscium family but, as they stepped down to the floor, things changed abruptly. The two great beasts came alive and gave out a curious 'Howrrouuu?'. The beasts stepped forward with no regard to their handlers who were summarily dragged behind them as they unsuccessfully tried to stop the powerful animals.

The Piscium family adults and their team pulled a variety of weapons, while the two children and the Cats (who were now riding the children's shoulders) waited eagerly for the huge animals to get to them.

The great beasts stopped, one each in front of the children. The one in front of Ikekiya gave her a long lick up her face which caused Zarreniya to laugh at the look on her sister's face until the animal in front of her did the same to her.

"Eeewww!" Zarreniya called out as laughter could be heard all around the room.

Suddenly, a servant was there with wet towels to help the children clean up and fix their hair. Then, Adriné was standing between the beasts, a hand on each of their heads.

"They seem to like you," she commented, looking at Junelliya while she said so. Junelliya got the impression it wasn't just the children they liked and that sparked a thought.

"They are empathic in nature, are they not, Mylatrin?" she asked.

"They are. They tend to favour the royal family," she told Junelliya.

Junelliya put it all together then. Alafka wasn't the only 'Gratna' in the royal family just the most obvious and probably the most powerful. A cursory glance at the empathic powers of the two handlers, identified them to her as Malotvi twins, those short of being Gratna and thus tolerated by the Byandi people. They would be ideal as handlers as Malotvi twins had enough empathy to be recognized by the beasts but not enough to trigger a torch and pitchfork bearing mob hunting the twins down.

Squeals from the children brought all eyes back to them as the beasts had laid down on the floor, the children and Cats crawling all over them. Realizing they still had their weapons in their hands, the Piscium family sheepishly put them away, a little embarrassed by the event as the children playfully bounced on the beasts. Junelliya, Violletiya, and Krissiya were more than a little chagrined as they had not picked up on the true nature of the animals.

^Sorna, Touru, back to your places, now,^ the Mylatrin ordered her beasts in the Byandi language. They gave her sad sounds as they looked up at her from the floor (they didn't have to look up too far). The Mylatrin laughed. ^OK, you can take the children with you. Seeing them play with you may help my other guests overcome their fear of you.^

The children cheered as the great beasts rolled to their feet, the children now sitting on top of them with the Cats jumping around them, and moved slowly back to lay down in their respective places by the dais, happy to have new friends to be with.

"What are they?" Fayad asked the obvious question.

"They are called the Gennel," Adriné explained. "They were once the apex predators on our home world. Technically, they still are. They, or rather their ancestors, were the reason our people fled into the sea for protection. We became what we are because of them.

"Legend has it, that the Gratna were what protected our people from the Gennel. The Gratna were once venerated and respected. No longer. Now they are feared, hunted, and killed. It is my fervent wish that this new crime drama we are developing will help heal the rift between the Gratna and the people," Adriné finished.

"When do you plan to broadcast the first episode?" Kriss asked.

"Tomorrow actually," Adriné replied. "It should be an interesting media session after the premiere."

Interesting is such a tame word for what could unfold, Junelliya thought.

As everyone moved back to the dais and the throne, the Halitez Astalla greeted the children.

^Astalla!^ they chorused on seeing her, each reaching from the back of the beast they were sitting for a hug. As Astalla wasn't a particularly tall Byandi, she actually had to reached up to hug the girls.

^We have new dream,^ Ikekiya told her as she let her see her dream of the concert they wanted to create.

^Oh! You are surprisingly good with your instruments!^ Astalla claimed.

^But this is something you are doing?^ a confused Astalla asked.

^What is happening, Astalla?^ Adriné demanded of her Palace Seer as she returned to her throne.

^The children are planning a concert to help their Maha-Rrin friends this summer, Mylatrin,^ Astalla explained. ^There are so many participants and they are hoping to make money to help those in great need, my Liege.^

^Hoping to make money?^ Adriné demanded of the children.

^We sell tickets on prizes,^ Ikekiya started.

^Big prizes are our guitars with our names on them. We will get other singers and stars to sign guitars, too,^ Zarreniya continued.

^Tickets will have other prizes, too. We will sell them for five credits each. We hope to have many people buy tickets so that we might make ten million credits,^ Ikekiya finished.

We ask for more credits? Zarreniya asked her sister by telepathy.

Yes, we now have support from leaders of four races. We no have support before, Ikekiya explained to her sister in return.

^Who else have you asked?^ Adriné wanted to know.

^Asoc >Catal said yes. Impatoss Konexi said yes. Even Uncle President said yes,^ Zarreniya said, smiling at the President and the First Lady nearby. Adriné could see the President rolling his eyes upwards, but there was a grin on his face as he did so.

^My, so many prestigious people,^ Adriné said. ^And what did they promise?^

^We make them promise to ask their people to support our cause, Mylatrin Adriné,^ the children chorused in unison, slipping off the backs of the Gennel and bowing low to her.

^Please, Mylatrin Adriné. If we make concert happen, will you ask your people to be generous and buy tickets. The Maha-Rrin need so much and no one is helping them,^ Ikekiya asked formally.

^The governments help with hospital costs, but our friends need so much more,^ Zarreniya picked up. ^There are so many of them though, over 150 million need regenerative surgery. That big task for governments. They cannot help in other ways.^

^Regenerative surgery,^ the Mylatrin mused. ^I have been hearing much about this. Isn't this a human thing?^ she asked of the adults.

"It is, Mylatrin," Hanalei confirmed. "Due to situations that had developed within the Pod-Drran, we looked at trading this medical knowledge, provided that we could adopt it to their needs. Then, when the Great Tremor struck Maha-Oran, the Pod-Drran were already skilled at using regenerative surgery for their own people. Since the Maha-Rrin are a sister race to the Pod-Drran, it was a simple step to help the Maha-Rrin injured.

"The recent situation within the Asocan Realm required us to see if we could adopt these techniques to the Asocan physique. Our medical teams were successful," Hanalei ended.

"I see. We should look into this for our own needs," Adriné mused in Standard.

"It would be best to contact Malahan Teaching Hospital on Green's World, Mylatrin. They are the best at regenerative surgery and they were also the people who made the modification from our DNA to that of the Pod-Drran, Maha-Rrin, and the Asocans," Hanalei said.

The Mylatrin pointed to one of her aides who approached the Piscium family. Sylvie stepped forward and touched comps with her.

"It is fortunate that your staff all has comps, Mylatrin," Hanalei said with a smile.

"The House of Ur Trading Company has received a new large supply ship which will be dedicated to trade with our realm," the Mylatrin stated. "We are looking forward to getting the interface between our system and those of the comps and to selling the comps on our worlds. These devices are just so damn useful. I like being here on Pallanders Four, as we can use them to their full potential and not just as jewelry while we are here."

"That ship is the Mind-Ur. We were at the dedication ceremony last week," Junelliya told the Mylatrin. "Caye-Ur is here today, Mylatrin. I am sure that she can confirm things for you, trade wise."

"Good to know. We will make time to speak with her," Adriné stated, looking pointedly at her Minister of Interspecies Trade. "In the meantime. I will give my support to your venture, Ikekiya, Zarreniya, provided you can make this event happen."

The children cheered and rushed the throne to give hugs to Adriné. They showed her their event calendar, which very much surprised Adriné. ^Thank you future Godmother,^ they chorused together.

"I look forward to actually receiving the title at the end of this year," Adriné smiled at Junelliya.

"It will be around the time of your birthday, Mylatrin," Junelliya advised. "We tend to have the naming ceremony roughly two weeks after the birth and the boys are expected at the end of November or early in December."

"Please keep me informed of any developments," the Mylatrin replied with a smile.

"We should have an interesting one for you next week, as we will be participating in our tenth week medical and that will be when we normally do the first ultrasounds that provide pictures of the babies," Junelliya replied.

That piqued the interest of the Mylatrin. She was very much interested in seeing those images.

"We have monopolized to much of your time, Mylatrin," Fayad stated. "It is time for us to step aside and let others greet you."

The children gave out an exaggerated 'awe' at the thought of giving up time with their new animal friends.

"Can the children remain with the Gennel?" Adriné asked. "It would do so much to lessen the fear of them for my other guests."

That got laughter from the adults. Hanalei agreed to let the children stay with their new friends so long as they listened to the handlers and did not upset the great beasts.

When the children came back to the Gennel, they found them asleep, so they crawled back up on them and promptly took a nap on top of their new friends, the Cats curled up with them.

"The Cats will let us know if the children have an issue," Hanalei told the handlers. "Otherwise, just stand by with wet towels for when the Gennel get 'aggressive' with my daughters." The servants around the dais giggled behind their hands at the comment.

"This reminds me of when my own were little, the servants were ever present with wet towels for them," the Mylatrin stated, putting a gleeful smile on Hanalei's face.

The group stepped aside, leaving the children napping with their friends and under the watchful eyes of the handlers and the servants. Adriné was actually happy to have little one's underfoot again after so long. She realized now how much of a difference the children must have made for the Asoc and Asost during their long separation from their clutch.

After a time, the final guests had arrived and Alafka came into the throne room with François Pallanders. The Mylatrin signed for her ship and she and her daughter pulled the lever that sent the bottle of good Byandi wine into the wall below the name of the ship. The cheers woke up the Gennel, who abruptly stood up and shook themselves, displacing the girls roughly onto the floor, much to their annoyance and the amusement of the guests. By way of apology, the Gennel licked the girls getting noises of great indignation from them and giggles from the servants who were handy with warm, wet, towels. The girls said their goodbyes to the Gennel then came over to the table with their parents. Their day had been very good, with offers of support from four different species. They were moving forward with their plans...