Sholan Alliance - AU Bk 04 Ch. 07

Kingie helps the women

When Billy suddenly dashed off he glanced at his communicator and his mouth opened in a very pleased smile, "Yilly is going to be distracted for a while. His Leska is in labor. Come with me and we'll get you settled in and start explaining things to you. Wait on the questions until we get you into your suite." One of the women had started to ask a question when he spoke.

Crystal looked very pleased with the news. She had picked up a small bracelet for their baby and couldn't wait to see everyone, "The suites are really nice. Lap of luxury and all that good stuff." It only took a few moments to make it to the suites. While Kingie was getting the suites to recognize their palms she was catching up with the women.

When they finally walked in she went straight to the dispenser and dialed up a number of drinks, "Can someone help me please?" She had noticed each warrior seemed to have selected one woman to keep an eye on, "This is a drink Billy loves. It is a mixture of coffee and c'shar. Not strong enough to get the Warrior's tipsy though full strength coffee will."

Bitty finally looked at the two, "Leska? Pregnant? What do you mean?" She couldn't remember if anyone said anything about it.

Kingie settled down at the table with the coffee, "He has a mental link with Satasha. I can't tell you much but It caused genetic changes. You have been immunized against the virus so you are safe. For more information please ask Yilly when he comes past to talk to you. It will be after your indoc." They hadn't received the message about Teo, Ike, or Amanda yet.

When they door buzzed, he activated the door, "Come in mentor, this is one of the telepath guild's mentor's. He has some bracelets which you will need to wear. It is a telepathic damper. It will keep others from picking up your thoughts and especially your emotions."

In these quarters, it wasn't a problem but when they were going to the medical center it could disturb the students. Even just sitting in here the Mentor could feel the impact. When they finally started going to town and wandering the grounds they would need it as well.

Crystal held her wrist up and had a very similar looking device, "It also acts as a communicator. We can show you that later. Since she knew how to use them she took them from the mentor and placed them around each of the women's wrist. Once they were on she showed them how to use it, "I leave it all the way up. It won't impact on you but keep you from impacting those around you." She looked strained, "The first few months were hard and brought back many memories. The students can feel them and it is very distressing for them."

Savannah wiggled it around slightly before she leaned against her warrior. The idea of having to remember even some of what they had experienced scared her badly, "I don't want to remember. I want to forget and never have to think about it again."

All the warriors had been trained how to deal with the women when they started to panic. He quickly pulled a autoinjector out and gave her a dose of medication to calm her down, "We are here for you. You can do it. Remember that most scary of things, a human female. You can do it." He pulled her against him as the medications hit.

Crystal didn't approach Savannah, "It was horrible. I won't lie about that but between them and Kingie I am getting better. His family is helping as well. Let's show you around and then let you relax." She was going to need to leave soon herself and hoped she wasn't going to need any of her medications.

Kingie looked at the warriors, "How you decide to divvy up the rooms is up to you. Tomorrow the mentor is going to come by in the morning and start your indoc. It was decided it would be easier on you to do it here. If you don't mind I am taking Crystal at home. Much like Savannah, this is bringing back memories. Your warriors can show you how to use everything. The main number to the Embassy and the Estates are in the terminal." He wrapped an arm around Crystal and led her out of the suite and quickly took her home. Tonight, it was to his parent's house.

~~~

Dani talks to Billy about the bonding

Billy had taken several days off to stay with Satasha and their baby but he simply couldn't take too much time off. What he had decided was to work mornings with the design board and from his office at the estates in the afternoon. He could take breaks and spend time with Satasha and their baby. Z'Marl was going to be remaining with her as much as possible. He needed her to help with the engine designs unfortunately. Crystal was going to be doing her schooling from the estates so she could help. Satasha's mother was spending time as were her siblings.

He was so glad they had a good group of people to help her. He felt bad but this work had to be done. It was going to be vital to the survival of the planet. Thankfully the engine was far enough along he could start to focus on some new shields. Those he could work on from home. They needed to be upgraded as well.

The balance of the work on the engine he had finally handed over to several who had come on the pirate ship and the Sandi. The Sholan Design Board was going to be assisting as much as possible. He did have a great deal of heartburn over Jinjow working on the engine design. It had to be done since they didn't have much of a choice. The entire world needed the engines. He had stipulated the patents belonged to him and he was getting royalties. There just wasn't much he could really do to keep the modifications secret.

It was also not in earth's best interest to keep it secret. He had the jump on the technology but the more ships they could retrofit and upgrade the better it would be. It would buy them time to get new ships designed and in production. That part he didn't have a hand in since it was simply too large a project and not his specialty. He would leave that to the various WDB's on Earth. Once he had the final version of the engine done he could take a short break from that.

With the shields, they were going to be built on earth as well though he was going to design them. What he should say was review and revise the math. Some aspects he could do but much would have to be done on earth. The shields needed to be adjusted and modified for each class of ship. Unlike the engines, you couldn't just scale them up and call it good. It would depend on the size of the ship, locations of weapon's ports, landing bays and the purpose of the vessel.

Thankfully Billy had just finished his morning at the Embassy and headed back to the Estates. When he arrived, he headed straight to Satasha and settled down next to her. D'Danilon was in a next to her on the floor, "Hey love, sorry I've been so busy. I should have three months of maternity leave but..." He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a good kiss as he tried to relax.

She sighed, "I do understand but I wish you had more time here. Maybe finish the engine and only do half days for a week or maybe two?" Z'Marl was keeping her updated on the status of the engines. The change he had already made had been incorporated into a final design. Chances were good he would change them again but it was going to take time.

He scratched his chin as he thought about it and he could do much of the shield redesign using his VR glasses. It didn't matter where he was since he always carried them with him, "I like that idea. I have about a week left and it will be finalized. It is going to take the Sholan's several weeks to build and test them before installing them in the pirate ship. I will take much of that time off and spend it with the four of us. When you are healed, I will talk to Father Shion about the temple wedding."

She started purring at that idea, "You can still work but I would like you nearby while you are doing it. Schedule it in a month. I will be well enough for the temple wedding at that point." She yawned as she was resting against him and quickly fell asleep.

She was still asleep when Mizaki and Dani came in. Dani gave her and the baby a pleased look. She hadn't talked to him yet about asking Mizaki about a bonding contract. It was time to, "Daddy I need your permission for something."

"Let me guess, now that Vangie is back you want to visit Mizaki's family? It will take a day or two to arrange but that would be fine." He wanted a warrior or two with them if at all possible. He honestly didn't expect anything to happen but now even more he wanted them safe. Satasha had delivered safely but he was now worried about Dani.

"That also daddy. Mizaki and I would like your permission to take out a bonding contract." She was of the legal to make the choice but she wanted her father's approval, "We want to fly to his family and talk to his parents as well before the bonding."

She had actually managed to shock her father, "If you want my permission you have it though you don't have to have it. Both of you are legal for bonding contracts and to have children." His surprise showed in his voice. It wasn't anything against the young man, simply due to her issue with having Leska linked.

"I know he is my Leska and we are expected to have children, but I want our child to have a dad. We have talked and we want to do a three-year contract." It was obvious she meant what she was saying. With Leska's it was expected for them to have children and not need a bonding or life mating. With female Sholan's, since they could control their fertility, having a child outside a bonding or life mate had heavy social consequences. She wanted to do this as correctly as possible.

"As I said you have my permission and if you haven't already we can get the bonding bracelets ordered tomorrow. I would stand and give you a good hug but..." He gave Satasha a loving smile, "Congratulations to both of you. If you want to invite them here, you can do that as well. It's up to you." He knew what he would prefer but he wasn't going to push it.

"I'll talk to my family but on such short notice not sure they could get time off so quickly. I want to go and talk to them and then invite them to the ceremony. They know I have a Leska but haven't told them about the baby. It is something I wanted to tell them in private. Thank you sir." His ears flickered as they were talking and his tail was twitching since he was so nervous. Mizaki also wanted Dani to see his home.

Billy lifted his communicator, "Vangie I need you in the lounge please. I have another job for you. It won't take nearly as long." Sally was probably going to yell at him since he had given Vangie a couple days off.

When Vangie walked in Sally was with him and she wasn't looking happy, "Daddy he just came back so what the hell is so important?" She glanced at Dani and Mizaki before glaring back at her father.

"Just a little thing, Mizaki and Dani need to fly to visit his family. Since she is pregnant she wants a bonding contract. They want to talk to his family." He had to toss that off very casually just to irritate Sally.

"What?" She knew her sister was pregnant but with the other it was much like her father. It wasn't something she had expected at all. Sally couldn't help but squeal as she pulled her sister into a good hug, "I'm so pleased for you two."

Satasha jerked awake, "Huh? What? What's going on?" When it was explained to her she carefully stood and gave both a good hug, "Sally if you wake the baby you get to deal with her." It was about time to feed her but Satasha needed the sleep.

It took some time for people to be notified but they ended up with a small impromptu party.

~~~

Valtegan Scout ships arrive at fleet

When the three ships finished the third sweep they had lost one more drone much to one captain's irritation. Considering how populated the system was virtually anything could have happened. If it came to close to something which could detect it they were designed to slag down. All it took was one stray ship out of place or even a stray radar or sensor beam.

They just hoped the current General was feeling nice. If he was in a bad mood some of them could end up with the priests. They probably wouldn't be killed but that didn't mean it would be fun. Thankfully they had collected a great deal of information. From what the three captains had seen taking this system was going to be tough. The ships might be less capable but they were lots of them. Having the enemy ship there made it even more dangerous. They would need reinforcements to avoid major damage.

Once their ships were in a parking orbit they were contacted and ordered to report to the General's ship. They collected all the information they had and waited for their shuttles to arrive. The three traded looks but were doing their best not to get scared. If they started releasing to much fear pheromones it could cause other Valtegan's to attack them. They were senior enough they weren't too concerned about it.

An attaché was waiting and took them to the General's conference room. The General was waiting along with a number of his staff. He pointed at three chairs, "Sit, we have reviewed the data you sent. Any idea why you lost the data from the three drones?" He didn't sound angry but they had to be careful.

The most senior Captain tapped on the keyboard in front of his seat. It called up the 3D viewer, "These are the paths we programmed them on General. We were very careful to program the drones to go around the most populous portions. As you can see the system is very heavily occupied with a great deal of traffic. Some of the traffic wasn't picked up on the passive sensors. Our best assessment is one of the small mining ships might have gotten to close. After inspecting the certification logs all drones were working properly. They had a fair amount of sensor scanning so that is another possibility. When we left, we noticed absolutely no change in the system activity."

The General rattled his claws on the table top as he listened and thought about the explanation, "Make your inspection logs available to my staff. If we find anything you and the tech will be handed over to the priests." When all three captains pulled the data chips and handed them over he was impressed, "Thoughts on the system?"

"Difficult General. We could probably take the system but it is going to cause a great deal of damage to our ships. Even with what we have on the reaction of the enemy vessel we don't know what other capabilities it might have. I'm not a tactician since I have been in Scout ships my entire career. To take the system I would have to say we would need at least a third more heavy combatants. To keep the system? I don't know." This General was different from the previous one which made him slightly nervous. It was unusual, "The one other thing is if they have more of those... Bombs it would be fatal. All it would take would be one in the wrong spot." All the ships captains had seen that footage and frankly it scared the crap out of everyone.

That was something he had been worrying about. Even if they only had one, in the right spot it could gut the fleet. At that point he wouldn't have to care about the priests since he would be dead. It didn't mean he wanted to be dead either way. He had plans to start his own family once this was over, "You made some good points Captain. Go, resupply, and new orders will be there soon. As occupied as this system is, they have to have colony worlds. Presumably they will be less guarded. When you come back assuming the data you provided matches what you had to say, you will have access to the drones."

"Understood General." All three stood and left the room.

"After reviewing the information, they gathered I am going to send a hyper drone off to the Emperor. I agree that it would be against our best interests to attack right now. Keep the scouting missions at our highest abilities. Continue reviewing the data. I want every scrap of information possible. If solid note it, If questionable ensure you note it, any ghost scans do your best to identify them. Try to identify any obvious flight paths leaving the system. Identify those first so we can get scouts back out." He stood and stalked out of the room. He almost wished he left the other General in charge so he could take the fall if they failed.

~~~

Clan Lord

Lord Anddar wasn't happy. He needed the Ambassador down here now but that wasn't going to happen. How she had managed to catch that damn virus he didn't know. They needed to get a handle on it. It wasn't just the human's and a few Sholan's there were several others who had caught the new virus. It was concerning since in some cases it was making them genetically infertile with other Sholan's. For the non-telepathic Sholan's it wasn't nearly the issue as it was for the telepaths. They were a tiny slice of the population and they were losing some of the strongest telepaths to the virus.

With other Sholan's it seemed to be acting differently, it was strengthening their talents but not making them infertile. It did appear to be crossing the gamete barrier but what would that mean for them? Would the strengthened talents carry over? Since he was the Clan Lord of the sixteen telepathic clans it was his job to help keep the number of telepaths up. This wasn't always enjoyable since in many cases the matings were arranged. His had been but he had come to love his life mate. Others didn't end up in love matches.

Teolura wasn't going to be available for several more days at the soonest. She and the other two were still recovering from the virus. He needed her help since she was far more familiar with the humans. The request for human telepaths had gone to the governments and most of the applications were questionable at best. One of the very first thing he had done was to get a report on all the so-called abilities. Since there wasn't a solid belief system it seemed they just created a wide variety. There was belief's in powers from spirits, deities, some mother earth figure, a father sky being. The list went on and on and on.

He was going to have to figure out how to deal with them. Some countries were refusing to even discuss the issue with them at all. For some reason two of the major polities were... Reticent about a great deal of things. How he wished this world was unified, it would be so much easier. It did make it somewhat easier to narrow down the number of candidates.

For the moment, he had talked with the European and the American polities. It was still going to be an ugly mess. They only wanted a few to take back and see if they were trainable. He had a feeling when the governments asked for applicants, they were going to get thousands. What the hell was a medium anyways? One had called and left a message that the evil ones were in the solar system and all were going to die in fire and brimstone. He looked brimstone up and again had to feel confused. It had something to do with one of their religions. Once he read that he had deleted the message.

What they were going to need to do was to get the data on everyone and try and sort it out. Once they had the list pared down then they could get to work. He would get some of the mentor's and tutor's down to see if they could identify anyone who might have any talents. They also needed to find a way to keep them from being infected.

He finally sent orders to request the names and information on all the applicants to the current replacement for Ike. He didn't care for the man but he did a good job so he wasn't going to make a big deal about it. Once he had that done he went back to reviewing the current treaty draft. It was almost complete thankfully. Once it was done he had a ship ready to take whoever they found with some telepathic abilities back.

~~~

Mizaki talks to Billy

It was towards the end of the party to celebrate when Mizaki quietly pulled Billy to the side. He was looking somewhat nervous, "Ambassador I want to purchase the bonding bracelets. I appreciate the offer to help but this is something I need to do." He knew how well off Billy was but this was his first bonding and he had to do it himself.