All That Glitters Ch. 64

"Doctor of Music," Junelliya explained. "In the Human education system, Doctor is the highest level of education. It can include Medical Doctor but it also includes many other trades."

Lorennett noted all the musical instruments in the corner of the apartment, many of which she had never seen before.

"You play all of these?" she asked, surprised.

"No, I only play the Luttrell. My children play all the other instruments you see," Junelliya replied, surprising the other family.

"We show you," Ikekiya said only to be interrupted by a woman with hair that looked like feathers.

"We will show you," she said, making both of the children repeat her sentence. "Much better," she praised the girls after they had spoken the phrase.

The girls sat down at a large instrument and began to play. It had a strange, but somehow satisfying sound to it.

"That is called a piano," Junelliya advised the family, as she put a kettle down on a low table in the living room area. The Rimmett family all squatted down on the deck and picked up the box of teas as they sniffed out the favourite flavour while listening to the children play. The teas were delicious.

"Anuuran tea, from our home world," Hanalei explained with a smile as the Rimmett family each sniffed out the one they liked the most.

The children stopped playing the piano and picked up two instruments that they told their guests were Byandi Cattass. The children began to play several Byandi pieces, singing the songs as they did so. They were surprisingly good. While they could not judge their musical ability on the piano, they had heard enough Byandi pieces to know that they were pretty good on this instrument. After, they came over for some tea and cookies of their own, sitting at the low table.

Zarreniya suddenly looked at the door. "They here!" she squeaked but was once again corrected by the woman who had corrected them before.

"They are here," she said, getting both to repeat.

Zarreniya waved a hand at the door and it opened to admit the hospital staff.

"Stop!!" the girls called out as they ran to the door. "You pay toll!"

"And what is the toll?" asked Katanya.

"Hugs!" both children called out as they raised their arms. That got laughter from the group, who picked up the children and hugged them, then passed them along to the next member of the group until both found themselves in the arms of Dr. >Gorlat.

"If I squeeze, your heads might pop off," she groused at the children, who laughed at her. They slid down her body and grabbed hold of her feet, standing on them. They pointed to the living room and >Gorlat stomped over to the low table to cheers of encouragement from the group.

Rimmett introduced her family to the members of the medical team who in turn introduced themselves, telling a little about themselves.

"And of course you know our two Harsgarrand?" >Gorlat asked.

That got laughter from Lorennett, who told them that the girls had escorted her around the school the day before and had let her dance with 'Miss Barbara' earlier that day.

"How did that go?" Rimmett asked her daughter.

"She liked how I danced and asked if I wanted her to give me personal instructions. I can't see how a human dancer could help me improve," Lorennett told her mother.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Heyya answered. "She deals with the young of almost every species, getting them involved with the daily dance routines. She is also a very accomplished former dancer in her own right."

"Former dancer?" Rimmett asked.

"She has retired from professional dancing. However, she was an acclaimed dancer in her day," Hanalei stated.

"Our children take personal dance lessons from Miss Babara once a week on Wednesday, tomorrow in our calendar. This is via ICS connection. The children love it and Miss Barbara watches them carefully as they perform. If you would like to judge for yourself and possibly participate in her personal instructions, come by tomorrow after school and we'll see what happens," Junelliya suggested.

"Is it expensive?" asked Rimmett.

"Oh, please, Rimmett. You are a doctor on Liramor Twenty-Three. You can afford her instruction fees," Hanalei laughed.

"If she cannot, I can," Semmat assured them. "Our daughter will be given the opportunity to learn under this Miss Barbara if that is what she wants."

"What she need," Zarreniya said immediately.

"Excuse me?" Rimmett asked.

"I tell you..."

"I told you," Kriss interrupted, correcting Zarreniya.

"I told you Lorennett be important for Paacon. She need to dance at concert or she not meet her Gund. It import she meet him. They will become very important to Paacon in future. She need to dance at concert," Zarreniya told them in forceful tones.

"If Ikekiya is telling you she sees this, then I would believe her, Rimmett," Kayle-Ur stated. "She has been named Soona-Patek, Dream Reader, by the Kumar-Pair, the supreme leaders of the Pod-Drran."

"But it is Zarreniya who is telling us this," Semmat replied, confused.

"Zarreniya is a telepath, what her sister sees, she sees. However, it is Ikekiya that is the Seer," >Gorlat stated.

"So, the pair work together then?" Lorennett asked mischievously.

"Against the universe if need be," Junelliya answered with a smile. That got her hugs from her children.

"Very well then. Daughter, you may interview this Miss Barbara tomorrow. If you find her to your liking, then we can discuss fees with her," Rimmett stated formally.

"It will not be that difficult, Rimmett. Miss Barbara has good prices," Junelliya said with a smile. "She will not break the bank of most people, let alone a doctor."

Just then, the timer on the stove went off.

"Ah, dinner," Hend-Ur exclaimed, eagerly rubbing his hands together. That brought laughter from all. The table was quickly extended and set and food placed before all. The Paacon were very much intrigued by the smells of the food.

"Anuuran spices, from our home world," Hanalei explained for the two new people.

Having eaten with the Pisciums before, Rimmett told her family members to 'dig in and enjoy'. It turned out that the Paacon enjoyed the Anuuran spices almost as much as the Asocans did.

Later, as Rimmett and her family walked back to their apartment, Lorennett asked her mother about a comment that had been made earlier by the Piscium adults. "They said that their children would have very difficult lives," she explained.

"Many different Seers have seen that the Piscium children will be very beneficial to the Greater Community as they get older," Rimmett explained. "Such talk will often infuriate those who do not like the Greater Community or would have their people secede from the Community. That makes the children targets. Also, the children are supposed to help their sister, Prakeshya, become the next ruler of her people. If they fail, Prakeshya will not become the ruler and both the Pod-Drran and the Maha-Rrin will die off.

"There are people out there that would like to see that outcome, my child," Rimmett told her.

"I do believe in prophecy, mother, but so much against these two little ones? How are they supposed to react to all of that?" Lorennett asked.

"Do you remember the recent incident on this vessel from last month?" Rimmett asked, getting nods from the other two. "That was the Piscium sisters."

"That cannot be, Rimmett!" Semmat proclaimed. "They are not even two years of age!"

"Yet they killed two assassins and protected more than a dozen people from death and harm. They also were attacked by another person during their trial and managed to defeat that person as well," Rimmett told them. "You may have seen a Pod-Drran Kaldar on the wall? That was Rai's person's personal weapon, personally presented to the children by the heads of the defeated one's House.

"These children have been taught by the best of the best when it comes to protecting themselves. It currently gives them an advantage as people tend to look at them as little children and nothing more. They use surprise to their advantage to good effect," Rimmett ended.

"And now Ikekiya is saying I will have an important future in our society," Lorennett mused.

"Ikekiya is a confirmed Seer, daughter. If she is saying something, it is best you think hard about it. There is never a guarantee where prophecy is concerned, but I would take stock in anything that this Seer tells you," Rimmett gave her daughter a decisive look that ended further conversation, just as they arrived at their door.

Central Control, Delta Deck, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Fayad had just finished the Wednesday morning brief and had just come into Central Control, when the alarms started sounding.

"Unexpected FTL event in the military lane!" The Senior Operations Officer (SOps) called out. "Damn, that thing is big!"

"IFF is responding NS Dreadnaught!" the Military Comms O called out.

"Liramor Control, this is the NS Dreadnaught, Captain Marcel Savine commanding. We are inbound to your location on orders from Navy HQ, over."

"Control, roger. We have not received any information regarding your disposition. Can you transmit a copy of your orders? Over."

"Dreadnaught, sending now. We request a parking orbit, over."

"Control, roger. We are sending a track to you now. You are ordered to remain in your parking orbit and follow advised tracks in and out of it as this is still an active mining station and rocks can be jettisoned at irregular intervals, posing a danger to unwary ships, over."

"Dreadnaught, roger. We see the track and are following it in. Estimate arrival in the parking orbit in thirty minutes. Captain Savine sends his regards to Fleet Admiral Marsh and requests if he is to attend her on station or if she will come to the Dreadnaught, over?"

"Control, roger. We will get back to you soonest on that request. Control out."

Fayad's comp pinged and he noted the copy of the Dreadnaught's orders. He called up Fiona.

"Is this important, Fayad? I am in a bit of a rush," Fiona asked. She was on her way to the morning brief on the military side.

"Your newest ship, NS Dreadnaught, has just arrived and is settling into its parking orbit. Captain Savine wants to know if he should attend you on station or if you want to look at your new ship?" Fayad asked.

"Come again? I wasn't aware that the Dreadnaught was coming to Sector Fifty-Nine," Fiona replied. Fayad sent her the copy of the Dreadnaught's orders that he had.

"Well shit! That is news to me!" Fiona said flustered. "Ask him to attend us here for the morning brief, which we will postpone until he and his senior officers arrive."

Fayad gave the order to the Military Comms O who sent it out immediately.

"The Dreadnaught indicates that they can be on the station in roughly forty-five minutes, sir," the Comms O indicated, getting a nod from Fayad who relayed the info to Fiona.

Fiona walked into her office in the military wing and blanked out her windows. It only took her a couple of minutes to change into Navy One dress with all her accoutrements. She figured that Capt. Savine and his team would have heard some of the 'facts' about her, but probably not all of them. The full effects of her Number One Dress with its odd assortment of non-human awards, would help to solidify some of the other 'facts' to her new team mates.

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

All around Liramor-23, wherever there was a window or viewing port, people stared openly at the massive ship as it came across 'above' Liramor-23. The ship was longer and wider than the station and people were astonished at its size.

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

Grand Dragon Alvoie Mutt Semt was hastily placing his vest over his shoulders and putting his new >Curlat in place in preparation of the connection with the Asoc. No sooner was he ready than the connection opened.

"Grand Dragon Alvoie, you have an urgent communiqué for us?" the Asoc inquired.

"Asoc, a new ship has entered the Piscium system and quite frankly, it is huge!" Alvoie showed in image of the monstrous ship. "By way of reference, Asoc, the smaller ship to the lower right of the image, is The Wanderer."

The Asoc stood upright from her tail. She instantly understood the reference here as she had been on The Wanderer many times. The size difference was immense. The Wanderer could probably fit inside the larger ship if the bays were big enough!

"The ship is the NS Dreadnaught, Asoc. We have little information on it. We will try to find out more and send you data of the vessel," Alvoie stated.

"I will be waiting for your report then, Grand Dragon. What interests me most about this vessel is its purpose. Thank you for your report," the Asoc cut the link.

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

In the embassies of the Greater Community, communications were hastily being made back to various home worlds with imagery of the massive ship. The Dreadnaught had arrived and made itself noticed to all in the Community.

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

Fifty-minutes later, Capt. Savine and his senior officers walked into Military Command Conference Room Three and came to an abrupt halt when they saw Fleet Admiral Fiona Marsh for the first time. She was sitting in the middle of a large conference table with a Commodore, a Rear Admiral sporting Supply Tags, and a Vice Admiral that Savine instantly recognized as Raymond Clark!

"Good morning, Captain Savine. It is somewhat of a surprise to have you in my command. I notice that your ship has been through refit," Fiona stated, noting the lack of jump vanes on the ship.

"We just came out of refit, ma'am, and were sent here by Admiral Ramison right after we finished. The ship has amazing capabilities now, ma'am. We jumped 320 light years on our long jump and the comps told us there was still some distance to spare. The comps estimate we can jump 350 light years on a single leg and we can triple jump. That theoretically gives us a one-time 1,050 light year jump capacity, wait an hour and we can do it again.

"All of the guns have been upgraded, meaning our Mk 8's are even more powerful than they were before. We now have the most powerful guns in the navy. We were given twenty of these 50mm Rail Gun Turrets to protect the ship and our ship bays.

"We now have four bays that can each actually hold a Fairling Class Frigate! And Fourteen bays that hold two hunter/killer groups of eight ships each, two Whippet Class ships and six Valour II class in each group. That gives us a total of twenty-eight hunter/killer groups.

"We have a regiment of Marines onboard, and all the necessary equipment to move them into contact with the enemy. Add to that our offensive tube capability and our ship is currently the most formidable fighting ship in the fleet, ma'am," Savine ended.

"What's going to happen with the other three ships of the Dreadnaught class?" Fiona asked.

"The Hagrid is now in refit at Pallanders Four. The Stephenville will be coming here to go into refit at Pallanders Six sometime this year, once Pallanders is confident with the skills of the new engineers. Can't say when that will happen, ma'am.

"The Brennen will go to whichever shipyard finishes its refit first. I would expect that Pallanders Four will get that ship as she has the more experienced workforce, ma'am," Savine explained.

"Right. Well Captain Savine, I want you to meet my senior staff. Vice Admiral Raymond Clark, who is responsible for a Presidential Task in Asocan Space. He makes his home-port here at Liramor Twenty-Three.

Rear Admiral Addyson Korenna, our Sector Supply Officer, and Commodore Bouyé Whatt, commanding the Piscium System Defence Force," She pointed out the luminaries to Savine and his staff.

"This Saturday, the new mining platform, Liramor Thirty-One, will come into the system and Commodore Whatt will move his command to the new platform. For now, I want you to speak with the Commodore and learn what his plans are for protecting this system. If it is needed, your ship could be conscripted into System Defence at anytime. You will want to know the game plan if that happens.

"Once you have integrated yourself into his plans, then we will seek to determine what I will do with your ship. Your ship is designed to be a planet killer, Captain, it is a little too large to be used as a patrol vessel. I will have to speak to Admiral Ramison to find out why he put you out here with us," Fiona mused.

"I believe that he wants to encourage the other members of the Community to purchase the Dreadnaught design, ma'am," Savine suggested.

"Good luck with that," Fiona laughed. "They are happy enough with ships as large as a Fairling Class. Not sure if he will get what he wants from this stunt. Not to worry though, we will find a use for your ship."

Savine smiled and nodded his head. No matter where this ship ended up, without a war, she was a relic of the past. This refit would likely be her last. Savine expected that the four Dreadnaught Class would likely be retired within twenty years. Unless another war occurred...then the ships would get a new lease on life.

L1889 The Piscium Apartment, Lima Deck, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Kriss was usually finished with classes be 15:00 hrs, allowing her to get to the daycare in time to escort the children home. This time, she was also escorting a rather large child, Lorennett, the Paacon teenager.

It didn't take them long to get to the apartment, which was almost above the daycare/school.

"Hi, Lorennett, how are you?" Hanalei asked as the children came into the home.

"Very well, thank you, Mrs. Anar," Lorennett replied through the translator matrix.

"Would you like some tea? The children will be conducting practices for telepathy and empathy before they see Miss Barbara at 17:00," Hanalei explained.

"Tea would be good, thank you. Your teas are delicious," Lorennett answered. She looked over at the place they had sat yesterday and noted the table had been change. It had some kind of skirt around it.

"Why did you change the table?" she asked of nobody in particular.

"The table is called a Kotatsu. It is a low table with a blanket around it. It often has a small heater in it to warm up cold legs. We have it installed now because of the upcoming repairs being made to the shell of the station, which will make it a little cooler in most places until all the expansions are completed," Sylvie Kinlo replied.

Lorennett noted twelve chair backs on the floor, tucked into the square table, three per side.

"It is made for twelve?" she asked.

"Yes, but for twelve people of our size, not yours, unfortunately," Junelliya explained. That got a nod from Lorennett who had realized that Paacon bodies would not fit under the table. She stuck her hand under and found it nicely warm inside the blanket.

The children sat at the far end of the table and touched hands. They closed their eyes and seemed to go into some kind of trance. Lorennett eyed Junelliya.

"The children are doing the exercises they have been taught to enhance their control over their empathy and telepathy. It will take them roughly one-half hour. Then, they will take some tea and cookies and prepare for Miss Barbara's session," Junelliya explained.

Junelliya and Lorennett talked about music while the children did their exercises. Lorennett was reminded that Junelliya had a Doctorate in Music. Her knowledge of the Greater Community music was astonishing. She even knew about Paacon music!

"Do you play any instruments, Lorennett?" Junelliya asked.

"I play the Santen, a flute. My Sire plays the Gannit, similar to the Byandi Cattass, but made for our much larger bodies," she answered.

"The children are always interested in new instruments. I will have to look them up," Junelliya explained.