Chapter 76

It was the morning of the 24^th of Twelmonth when Sarah’s Clan stepped on to Dóchas’ bridge. “Good morning, Star.”

“Good morning. Are you going to Tara today?”

“Probably not,” replied Sarah. “Are we overlooking something?”

“Not that I am aware of,” replied Star, the AI. “At 06:00 hours we received messages from two of our special courier drones. These indicated that the drones were in this System and operating cloaked. Their primary destination is here, and they will arrive at about 12:10 hours. According to their ids they are from Marthanóir and Fiontar, and the ids have been verified. Rather than wake you all I chose to have FOC send two flights of Star Fighters to check the drones out as this seems a little unusual.”

“Good choice,” noted several of the Clan.

“It seems strange that both would send a drone, especially since they are traveling together and can mind-link?” queried Alison.

Terry said, “Especially as it is the most secure way that we have to communicate.”

“True. At times we do sort of treat our mind-link as secure, but is it? Now I am anxious to see their messages,” added Sally.

Star said, “The Star Fighters will use ferrets and their associated spiders to confirm that the drones are from Marthanóir and Fiontar and then shepherd them here.”

“Good call. Was System Control Center informed?”

“Only that we had sent out 2 flights on an unscheduled exercise.”

“When is our group projected to exit FTL?”

“In 42 hours, or 22:00 hours tomorrow.”

“We need to let the other Command Staffs know,” noted Erin.

“Yes,” added Sarah. “I’ll contact them and schedule a meeting here for when the drones arrive.”

“Agreed,” the others replied.

Later, after reviewing the couriers’ messages with the other Command Staffs, Sarah said, “An interesting synopsis of their journey. While taken together the evidence indicates a stalker, if you left anything out then it doesn’t. The only hard evidence is their sensors detecting an FTL transition several hours behind them at the last jump point.”

Crystal of Maureen’s Clan noted, “To me there are several soft events that justify their decision to contact us. One is that apparently quite a few of the crew and passengers felt a significant level of fear or danger during this last leg, beginning just before making their last FTL transition, a feeling that hadn’t occurred prior to that point. They didn’t notice that their sensors had detected an FTL transition several hours behind them until later. Another is that three different passengers expressed concerns prior to that jump point, all relating to a potentially dangerous event occurring during the remaining leg of the trip. These concerns have validity as among their people these three have a good reputation of sensing future events. To me the fact that Molly’s and Jackie’s Clans chose to contact us using the drones rather than mind-link is an indication of their concern.”

Chester of Keriann’s Clan suggested, “Concern about contacting us via our mind-link raises a couple of questions that I don’t think we’ve considered. One is can a telepath eavesdrop on our mind-link exchange? Another is whether others can sense our ability to mind link?”

“Well I think the latter is true when someone see us apparently loose awareness of our surroundings. As to eavesdropping we could set that up as an exercise for our Security Teams.”

“We need to discuss that. Now as to their concerns, the Sentinel Ring data may give us an indication of whether they are being followed, and if so how far away their shadows are.”

“I will contact the Intelligence groups when we finish here,” added Calvin of Kathryn’s Clan.

“Okay,” declared Kelly, “now that we’ve sorted that out, what defensive measures do we want to set up? We don’t have a clue as to the size of this group and we won’t really know until they come out of FTL.”

“We agree,” responded Maureen.

“Well,” said Rusty with a smile, “Taiséalai and Iolar were scheduled for exercises next week. You could initiate these to start earlier when we get finished here. It will take an hour or so for those at Tara to return.”

“I like that idea,” responded Calvin of Kathryn’s Clan. “Doing that will make the exercise a bit more realistic. If I estimated correctly we should be within a light hour of their projected FTL exit location before our incoming group arrives.”

Eibhlin of Maureen’s Clan added, “We have some of our cruisers out of service. Although the maintenance could be pushed, I think it would be better if we could borrow some temporary replacements.”

Kelly of Keriann’s Clan said, “We will lend you one, with its Star Fighters.”

The Flight Operations members of Sarah’s, and Siobhan’s Clans chimed in with, “We will as well.”

Keriann added, “Even though the crews have worked closely together this will be a good experience for them.”

Maureen said, “Moncha has been advised of our intent and is initiating preparations.”

“Scathach has initiated preparations for us,” added Rebeca of Kathryn’s Clan.

“Shouldn’t we let the Atewa and Monque know what’s up?” inquired Aisling of Siobhan’s Clan.

“Yes, but I don’t think we’ve reached that stage in the planning yet,” responded Alison with a smile.

“Are we over reacting?” questioned Amber.

“Maybe,” mused Alena. “However, it’s been too quiet.” Her response caused them all to chuckle lightening the mood.

Aoife said, “I’ll advise the Monque and Atewa of the situation and our response.”

“Fine,” responded Aisling. “Don’t be surprised if you get a lot of questions.”

“Oh, I am expecting them, but with what little we know there is not much more to say, is there?”

“I wonder what Aine and her sisters know about the distance that a paranormal can project emotions,” pondered Jill.

“Aine, are you available?” inquired Aoife.

“She isn’t in System at the moment,” responded Morrigan. “She should be back tomorrow. What’s up?”

“Well a courier arrived a little while ago from Molly’s and Jackie’s ships. They suspect that they are being stalked,” answered Aoife, and then shared what they knew.

“Interesting combination. We’ve heard claims that a very strong paranormal could instill sensations of fear or foreboding at great distances. Supposedly the entity would need to see the target for it to be effective, but just seeing the ships could be sufficient.

“What are your plans?”

After hearing what they had planned she said, “Mind if I go with one of the ships.”

“Not at all.”

“Knowing Creidne it is likely that she will join one of the other ships.”

“Fine. We are going to let the Atewa and Monque know of the pending arrival as well as the possibility of stalkers.”

“Good idea.”

It was shortly after the other Command Staffs had left Dóchas when Aoife said, “Good morning, Captain Reyonte.”

“Good morning, Admiral Aoife. How are you all doing this morning?”

“We are just fine. I am calling to let you know that Jackie’s and Molly’s Clans will enter our system around 22:00 hours tomorrow the 25^th. Due to the position of their FTL transition their projected path to Ananu has them passing over your position. The separation will be greater than 5,000 km.”

“I’ll bet you all are pleased to know that their arrival is eminent,” he replied with a smile. “It is good timing as the New Year celebration is only 2 weeks away.”

“Oh, definitely. They wanted to be back for it if the timing worked out.”

“Is there anything else about this that we should note?”

“Well we aren’t certain whether there is more to this situation or not.” She then shared the contents of the message they had received.

“Interesting, there have been reports by some of those rescued from pirates about feeling overwhelming fear and terror shortly before being attacked. The timing seems a little different this time, although our information is quite sparse, primarily because victims of pirates are seldom heard from again. I gather you are planning a welcoming party near the FTL transition coordinates.”

“Yes. Since we don’t have any idea of the number of ships, or types, that may be involved, we’ve decided to start an exercise in the arrival area. It has just started, so those taking part should be in the area well before the projected FTL transition.”

“Let us know how we can assist. We will be ready.”

“Thank you. We will have a better idea of whether or not their concern was valid early tomorrow morning.”

“Interesting. I like your idea of an exercise in that area. Would you mind if one of our Task Groups was nearby, or joined you, at some point?”

“Not at all. Our exercise is for Iolar and Taiséalai groups. As we get more information we will pass it on to your CDC. Now I am going let Captain Tuska know.”

“Good. Before you go, we recently received a listing of ships suspected of piracy and have authorization to detain them. I’ll have a copy sent to all of your ships. Take care.”

A short time after Aoife had spoken with both the Atewa and Monque the piracy listings were received.

After looking them over Sally said, “This list has quite a bit of detail.”

“Yes it does,” responded Terry, “a lot more than I expected.”

“We should bring our fleet readiness level up a notch,” said Sarah.

“It is,” noted Sally. “Now we’ll just have a few more things to monitor for the next couple of days.”

“Well you need more to do so you don’t get into so much trouble,” retorted Erin with a smile.

Laughing she responded, “Yea, right. I think it is time for us to go to our martial arts exercises.”

“Darn, I was hoping you were distracted,” groaned Jill.

As Sarah’s Clan was preparing to leave their quarters on Dóchas for dinner Keri said, “We heard that Molly’s and Jackie’s Clan will be here tomorrow.”

Chuckling Sarah replied, “Currently we expect them to transition late tomorrow evening. They won’t be near us until the morning of the 26^th.”

“That is great,” cheered the children.

“It will be great to see them again,” added Iris.

“So how was your day?” inquired Tara as they walked toward the dining room.

As they selected their dinner and went to sit down the children related their day’s adventures. Corey said, “It seemed like there was more activity in Flight Operations than usual when we came up from Tara.”

Terry glanced at her spouses before saying, “There is a suspicion that something, but probably a group of ships, is following Molly’s and Jackie’s group, so preparations are being made to deal with whatever it is. We won’t know until late tomorrow if they are being followed, and if so what it is even later.”

“So they aren’t in any danger?” queried Deirdre.

“It doesn’t appear so.”

“Is that the reason Iolar and Taiséalai left today?”

“Essentially, yes. They did have exercises scheduled to begin in a few days, we just decided to move them up. We thought that doing this added a bit more realism to the exercises.”

“Too bad it wasn’t us going.”

“Oh, I just remembered!” exclaimed Moya, “Earlier today when Victurcz saw me at Tara she asked where she could find Sarah and Maeve. When I told her you all were on Dóchas today, she seemed disappointed. So I told that I would let you all know that she was looking for you.”

“Well we will be at Tara most of tomorrow,” responded Sarah. “I wonder what she wants.”

“Life to be perfect,” blurted Kennith. His face turned red as the others chuckled.

“I suspect that is true for all of us,” murmured Iris.

Before their parents could respond Moya chimed in with, “Based on comments Winz and Maz made, it could be because she is having trouble understanding how we function. Part of this could be that there aren’t any obvious financial transactions associated with our activities. There aren’t any barriers to facilities, food, etc. We have given our friends a brief outline of how things are currently set up, although I am not sure we fully understand all of it.”

“Okay,” said Maeve, “we will look for her tomorrow. We may refer her to Staffing as finance is being handled by them.”

“That seems odd,” commented Jordana.

“It is,” sighed Alison. “It is a temporary arrangement that will likely last for another year or two. At some point we need to have a visible monetary system, especially with the prospect of monetary transactions with other Worlds. So far our transactions with Alliance of World members have either been a form of barter or as credit.”

“Some of our lessons have discussed financial systems and how they work,” observed Corey. “At first they were difficult to comprehend, but once they included examples it was a bit clearer. Even so, it seems odd to have to pay for what you need to live.”

“Well in a way we are paying every day for what we have available to consume and use. We are receiving them in return for the work we do. A currency is simply a way of setting values on each aspect of living, such as food, a place to live, working, etc. The way we are operating at the moment suits our current needs, but as we grow and become active at more locations the need for a currency will grow.”

“That is the impression we gained from our lessons,” responded Iris.

“So everyone in the Órarduine family has a share of its assets?” questioned Earnán.

“Yes,” said Janet. “The size of the share is based on an individual’s contributions. These include time among us, work time, responsibility, roles filled, and etc. Everyone is included, both logical and biological Family members. I don’t remember all the details but we worked them out as a group not long after our Family began to form. Participating in that made the finance courses I took in college worthwhile.”

Jill added, “For me the concept is that we are essentially functioning as the crew on a very big ship. This conceptual ship encompasses all of our operations and assets. Currently we are focused on establishing a physical location on a planet that we can call home, grow and prosper. At some point we will begin spreading out across this planet, and perhaps to other planets. This will result in a divergence of interests at each location with somewhat different needs and priorities. However, even if we live at separate locations we will still retain our core Family bond.”

Keri said, “By ‘divergence of interests’, you are referring to the fact that local needs can differ from the overall group’s needs.”

“Yes. As an example, the daily needs of this ship are different to those of other ships, and different again from Tara.”

“And by the time I am 100, we may have an idea as to whether the right path was chosen,” added Marnia.

“Maybe, maybe not, only time will tell,” responded Claudette.

“We haven’t mentioned the contributions of our visitors,” noted Keri.

“When they leave they receive their compensation. The amount is based on what their contribution would be valued at in their World, less the value associated with them living with us. This compensation is usually in the form of precious metal.”

“So we have assigned values to things?”

“Enough that we can adequately compensate contract employees when they leave, which is how this started.”

“Well this has been an interesting dinner discussion,” noted Judy.

“You’ve been quiet,” chided Claudette.

“My specialty is the medical area. As far economics go, I understand just enough to be able to evaluate what I read and hear as well as its impact on me. As to our current situation, I believe our use of telepathy is a key reason that we are making the progress that we are. Another reason is that we are very open about everything and everyone has the opportunity to participate. Our Family link through telepathy is a key aspect of our Family bond.”

“That was another point noted in our lessons,” responded Keri.

The next morning as Sarah’s Clan was leaving for breakfast at Tara Ardchlár Joyce asked, “Judy, is the effort to bring the Oreschre refugees out of hibernation proceeding as we hoped?”

“That effort will be complete this week. The only issues we’ve had are those related to them adjusting to the dramatic change in their situation and its implications. Some are taking longer to come to terms with their current situation than we experienced with previous groups.”

“I’ll bet that those having the most difficulty are the mini-tyrants.”

“Pretty much. We should plan to meet with all of them within the next week.”

Joyce said, “We have a meeting on the calendar for eight days from now.”

“You know, that might be the reason Victurcz was looking for us,” said Sarah.

“Or a combination of that and the points we noted last night,” added Maeve.

“True.”

Later as Sarah’s Clan reached Tara Spaceport Star said, “The Intelligence Groups have identified the presence Molly’s and Jackie’s group of ships in the Sentinel data. They won’t know whether there are any stalkers until this afternoon.”

“Thanks,” they replied.

Sarah added, “We plan on dinner here before coming back.”

“Noted.”

Looking at the children Alison inquired, “What interesting things do you all have planned for today?”

“Some of us will spend the morning on field exercises,” responded Keri. “Everyone else will be in the Learning Center for at least the morning and some will be there most of the day. A group of us are going to help out at the Medical center after lunch. If it all works out, we plan to play volleyball late this afternoon. What about you all?”

“Maeve, Sarah, Aoife, and I will be at Central Square most of the day. The others have meetings with various groups, Intelligence and Security being two prime ones. Why? Do you need us to join you at some point?”

“Just curious,” replied Jordana with a smile. “Perhaps we will see you at lunch. We will definitely join you at dinner.”

“Agreed,” responded many of her siblings.

Sarah’s Clan was preparing to exercise and freshen up before dinner when Clarence said, “Councilors, Molly and Jackie’s group is projected to exit FTL at 22:10 h. It appears that the stalker’s group of ships will reach the same region at 24:00 h. Some of us think their intended FTL transition is a bit further into the system, which could put them closer to our ships.”

“Strategy?” inquired Sally.

“First is to place Ferrets on the stalker’s primary ships as soon as possible. At the moment we don’t plan to challenge them until at least 30 minutes after they emerge from FTL. How much after depends on their actions and how close we are. This is to our advantage as it gives us time to improve the position of our ships. The ships with Molly and Jackie will maintain flight plan, although they will be at combat stations.”

“Do you know who is taking the lead?” asked Rusty.

“Kathryn’s Clan. Iolar and Taiséalai Intelligence groups plan on conferencing with Marthanóir’s and Fiontar’s right after they exit FTL using lasers. They will then forward us the data. The Atewa are about 6 hours behind Taiséalai but further out. Their position increases the difficulty the stalkers will have if they attempt to leave this system without our permission.”

“Good.”

“Morrigan is on Iolar. Creidne is there for now but she plans to change ships before the other ships begin arriving.”

“Okay. We will link with Jackie’s and Molly’s Clans once they’ve contacted System Control Center.”

“Mom Sarah, did you see Victurcz today?” asked Earnán.

“Yes. Several of us met with her and a couple of her associates. I think they were happy with the answers we gave them. Whether the others in their group will be is another issue. Getting together with them did give us an opportunity to discuss our meeting with their group next week.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Similar to our Family meetings, but this time we will use the partial bowl shaped area south of where we have the temporary residences. It seems to have good acoustics and lines of sight.”

“Do you think any of Them will be there?”

“Why?”

“Well They were there first time you met with the Elders.”

“That was a special situation. Whether They make an appearance this time is unknown so you will just have to wait and see.”

Keri said, “Earnán, the reason They came to that meeting was due to the actions and intent of the three Coschenz. I don’t know whether Victurcz, Nuqarz, or Utezc realize who they have been chatting with but I have seen them with both Cabd and Ariu at various times since then.”

“While it didn’t sound that way, I didn’t intend to imply that I expected to see Them there.”

“Well it wouldn’t surprise me to see Them at our New Year’s celebration.”

They were just getting ready to leave for dinner when Star said, “Molly’s and Jackie’s group of ships have completed FTL transition and are talking to System Control Center.”

Sarah’s Clan said to the Councilors at Ananu, “Are we ready?”

“Yes,” came the reply.

Together they said to the crews on the ships with Fiontar and Marthanóir, “Welcome home.”

“On behalf of all of us we are glad to again be this close to you all,” responded both Molly’s and Jackie’s Clans.

Molly said, “Our ETA is 10:00 h tomorrow.”

“We are anxiously awaiting your arrival,” replied Keriann.

Maeve added, “We are planning to visit your ships once you are on station here.”

“Great. I hesitate to ask but, were our suspicions correct?”

“Yes. We are expecting an unknown group to exit FTL in about 4 hours. Arrangements have been made to greet them, so come on home.”

“We are.”

“We are on our way to dinner. Once we are all back on our ships, we will reconnect.”

“Aye. We will be doing the same.”

At 25:45 hours a group of 23 ships exited FTL just inside the orbit of Celia system’s 9^th Planet and only 1 lh behind Molly’s and Jackie’s group. The new arrivals consisted of 1 very large cruiser, 3 large cruisers, 9 small attack ships, and 10 commercial ships.

On the very large cruiser’s bridge the Captain and his staff were watching the monitors. This was their first time entering this system, and it was also their first time in this region. As soon as they exited FTL their sensors started scanning the surrounding area.

Just as the monitors began to show data, a red warning began flashing on one of them. Seeing it the Astrogation Officer said, “Captain, this system has been designated as a closed system by the Alliance of Worlds. Entry is only with prior approval.”

“So what!” snarled the Captain. “Our quarry should only be a short distance ahead of us. We’ll just gather them up and be on our way before anyone can reach us.”

Turning to the witch doctor he said, “What have you learnt about our quarry?”

Frowning he replied, “This is their destination and they are rejoicing. There is an unusual amount of telepathic chatter but it is difficult to understand.”

“Well sort it out. Make sure you scare the shit out of them like you did the last group. We need to get this done quickly and be on our way!”

The Weapons Officer said, “Captain, sensors are indicating Atewa and Monque Fleet ships near the 7^th Planet. There is also some spaceship activity near the 5^th Planet and the emissions are not in our database.”

“Great! It won’t be long before they know we are here.”

“You are prophetic as we’ve identified a group of Atewa ships headed this way. Their vector indicates that they are coming from closer to the edge of this system.”

The Communications Officer said, “Captain, there are several sources of electronic transmissions, but we haven’t found their communications channels.”

Captain said, “Have you identified our quarry?”

“Yes, sir,” replied the Weapons Officer. “Their path indicates that they are headed toward the 5^th planet. Current projections show them passing over the activity near the 7^th planet. We haven’t determined any details about the ships in the group.”

“We need that before we commit to an intercept.”

“Aye.”

Turning to his Exec, “This had all the appearances of being an easy grab until we exited FTL.”

“I agree. The thought of capturing the number of paranormals that he thought was on those ships, probably distorted our assessment.”

“I am inclined to start an intercept while we gather more data. If it looks good then we send two cruisers with the cargo ships on to our nearest rendezvous position, while the rest of us go for the quarry. If the risk is greater than it now appears then we will depart.”

“That should work, although I don’t have objections to bailing right now as this doesn’t feel right.”

“I agree, but let’s pursue it a bit further.”

“Aye. I’ll let the other ships know the plan.”

The Captain said, “Astrogation, set a course to intercept the quarry as quickly as possible but maximize distance from the 7^th Planet.”

Looking over toward the witch doctor the Captain was surprised to see him sweating and shaking. Based on his expression it appeared he was in intense pain. He said, “What is your problem?”

When he didn’t answer the Captain reached for him but the Weapons Officer blocked his move, drawing an angry look. Seeing it the Officer responded, “You really don’t want to touch him barehanded, especially when one of them looks like that. I’ve had it on good authority that doing so could kill you, or worse.”

“Thanks. I’ve heard of that but have never seen one in that state.”

“He really was enthused about finding paranormals, and the number that he suspected were on those ships. Did he ever indicate what the cargo was?”

“He thought it was primarily grain and machinery.”

“You know I really prefer ambushes, as it gives us more control over the situation.”

“Agreed. So you still want to skip this one?” smirked the Captain.

“Well the way I see it we are trying to capture a group of ships within a few light hours of Atewa and Monque Task Groups. I am still game to give it a try, provided we establish a clear cut loss point and leave.”

“We are going to do that.”

“Good. While the quarry appears to be very valuable, we have to succeed to benefit. Besides, we could always come back and see if we could pick something off leaving here. Since the Alliance is claiming it is closed and they have two task groups here, the pickings could be very good with a different approach.”

“Good point.”

It was several minutes later when the Astrogation Officer said, “Sir, the best path to intercept them will take us well above the plane. This will put us in a position to engage them in 9 hours.”

“Captain,” exclaimed the Sensor Officer, “The group of ships we’re chasing consists of 2 ships twice our size, a large passenger ship, a large cargo ship and several others.”

After looking at the projected vectors and their relationship to the Monque and Atewa ships he said to the Astrogation Officer, “Set a course for a point 4 ly from our trading partner.”

Just as he finished speaking the Communications Officer said, “We are being hailed by Celia System Control Center.”

“While I am talking with them, notify our ships that we are departing as soon as possible. Astrogation send departure coordinates to all ships.”

“Yes, Sir,” replied the two officers. They looked at each other with a raised eyebrow as his commands surprised them.

“Put them on the speaker.”

“Aye.”

“This is the Captain of Z1TW.”

A feminine voice said, “This is Celia System Control Center. You have entered a closed system without permission. You have 30 minutes to bring your ships to a halt and hold that position. You will be contacted within an hour of coming to a halt. Any movement after 30 minutes will be interpreted as hostile. Confirm your intention to comply.”

The Communication Officer said, “We heard your request and will respond momentarily.”

“Are there any ships near us?” queried the Captain.

“The closest ships are the Atewa group. Their current vector has them passing us on the outward side.”

“Helmsman, maintain course until Astrogation has jump coordinates.

“Aye. Maintaining course.”

“What is the composition of the Atewa group?”

“The Atewa group consists of 1 heavy cruiser, 4 cruisers, and 4 Spec Ops ships. Sensors are giving odd responses at 2 other locations. Both are 30 degrees to port. One is up 15 degrees and the other is down 33 degrees. Distance indeterminate.”

“Are they ships?”

“A reasonable possibility.”

Maureen said, “Captain Laonize, this is Iolar. We are only several light minutes from the group of unknown ships.”

“Aye, Kathryn, we see you and Marthanóir. Our records indicate that they are pirates. We expect to be able to confirm it when we contact them. We have the contact protocol from SCC.”