Chapter 1

Órarduine date – 7^th year, 35^th clock cycle of Firsmonth,

Maureen's Clan was the first of the six Command Staffs to arrive on Dóchas. When Maureen stepped through the conference room door, she said to Sarah's Clan, "Getting anxious."

"Absolutely," replied several of Sarah's Clan with a smile.

"The whole crew is really wound up," added Erin. "It is as if we were leaving tomorrow."

Alena said, "You realize that it is nearly an Ó year since we made that decision."

"Yes, we've noticed quite a change in the family since then," said Crystal of Maureen's Clan. "Everyone seems to be a bit more ... dedicated to their tasks. Even that really doesn't describe what I see. Perhaps the word I am looking for is enthusiastic."

"Crystal, we've noticed that as well," replied Alison just as the other Command Staffs began arriving. Everyone was greeted with hugs and kisses, so it took a few minutes before everyone was seated.

"Well we do have a dedicated family," added Tiff of Siobhan's Clan as they entered the conference room. "In fact I think many of our contract employees are just as dedicated and enthused."

"I hope their vision of A-Celia lives up to expectations," responded Tara.

Seeing everyone had arrived Sarah and Siobhan together said, "As all of you have seen, we are making good progress toward our scheduled departure for Celia and so far without any surprises. Today, we want to go over the status of our activities and then look over the data from A-Celia."

Siobhan said, "Keriann's Clan, why don't you lead off?"

"Our exercises went as planned. We basically followed the same plan Dóchas, Phoenix and Eagle used for their exercises. Thankfully we didn't have any surprises like Taiséalai had. Our cruisers went out to the edge of this solar system and flew patrol patterns along with several Star Fighters."

Keriann's Clan then took turns reviewing the results of their operational exercise and the subsequent system improvements they found beneficial. They noted that they thought the pilots benefited from the combat games they played with the pilots from Taiséalai.

"How did the improved weapons work?" asked Rusty.

"They are even more effective than our initial testing indicated," replied Chester. "The increased energy output from the lasers is as expected and is less visible. The other gain is that they recycle in less than a minute. However, the biggest change is in the rail guns, although maybe we shouldn't call them rail guns any more. The changes in the launch system have increased the projectile speed to about 80% of the speed of light. We tried them on a shielded target. We didn't have any success at first, until we altered the spacing between projectiles."

"The battle simulations we have run against the AIs and each other have, I think, really improved our understanding of our capabilities," added Keriann. "Anyway, that is all we have."

Kathryn said, "Can we say ditto to Keriann's report?"

After the laughter died down Claudette said, "You can, but we would like to hear your perspective."

Elana of Kathryn's Clan responded with, "Shucks ... The tactical exercises went real well. By the time they were over our fighters and cruisers were doing an excellent job in coordinating their thrusts against a target. Someday it will be for real and I hope it works just as well."

"So do we," replied Chester of Keriann's Clan with many heads nodding in agreement.

Kathryn said, "As you know our operational plan was nearly identical to Iarracht's. Our pilots also indicated that they liked the mock battles with Iarracht and the practice intercepts."

Kathryn's Clan then began reviewing some of their more significant events. Several structural issues had been found and repaired. These were thought to be carryovers from the propulsion unit runaway that occurred during lift-off from Mars as none of the other ships had seen these problems.

"The progress being made in building Marthanóir and Fiontar is really amazing," said Sarah. "If we didn't know better, I would worry about the quality of the workmanship."

"You've hit on an issue that bothered me some time ago," replied Kelly of Keriann's Clan, "but not anymore. In fact, I think that our newest ships may be built a bit better than our first. All of this, I think, can be attributed to our experience in building them and what we have learned in operating them. If you compare Phoenix and Eagle's original designs to todays, there are some significant differences. Every time we make a short trip or do an exercise, the crew always finds something they would like to improve."

"We agree," added Kathryn. "Although I don't want to have that experience again, I think the propulsion pod runaway taught us a lot about our ships and their operation."

"We agree," said Maureen.

Siobhan said, "Marthanóir and Fiontar are going to be ready for their final checks soon so who do we want to do them?"

Kelly immediately responded with, "I think Molly's and Jackie's Clan are excellent choices."

"We agree," added Tiff of Siobhan's Clan.

Noticing that Sarah's Clan had not commented Colleen of Maureen's Clan began to list the reasons they thought Molly's and Jackie's Clans were a good choice. Paula then followed with a review of their skills and accomplishments.

Sensing what prompted their comments Joyce said, "We agree, but due to our relationship with them we held back so that we could hear your thoughts. We think they are a good fit for the positions, but we were concerned that our relationship with them had coloured our view."

Kathy of Kathryn's Clan said, "What would you have done if we weren't here?"

"Made the same choice," replied Sarah with a smile, "but in that case the circumstances would be different. The advantage several of you have is that you've worked more closely with them than we have."

"So it was more than just Joyce's comments," responded Katia of Kathryn's Clan.

"Yes. If we had worked with them like you have, then our perspective would be different. Since we haven't and do have a strong personal relationship with them, we wanted to avoid the potential for that colouring our view. This is an issue we will face more often in the future as our family grows.

"We think Colleen and Paula gave a very good summary of the reasons they are a good choice."

"So Molly's Clan will be temporary Command Staff for Marthanóir and Jackie's Clan will be temporary Command Staff for Fiontar," said Siobhan.

Everyone responded with, "Agreed!"

"Boann is the Senior AI on Marthanóir and Donn is the Senior AI on Fiontar," said Eileen of Siobhan's Clan. "I think everyone knew that but thought we should have it in the log."

"Good point," responded several.

Tara said, "I saw that all of us, including Molly's and Jackie's Clans, are Star Fighter qualified. I think most of us have spent enough time in FOC that we understand their procedures and capabilities. We need to finish our qualifications in Badb cruisers"

Keira of Siobhan's Clan said, "I enjoy flying the Star Fighters and doing the exercises but we are fortunate to have people more in tune with that skill than I am."

"I agree," added Kathy of Kathryn's Clan. "Our experiences in them should strengthen our abilities on the bridge."

"Agreed, and if need be I'll fly a Star Fighter in combat and hope the Gods or Goddesses have the time to be my copilot. I think I could do a credible job, but we have others that are much more capable than me."

"Sorry, Keira," responded Kathy, "I now understand what you meant and I feel the same way."

Tiff said, "Remember our reason for becoming competent in Star Fighters and Badb Cruisers was to give us a better understanding of maneuvering our Dóchas class ships. I know Sarah's Clan has scheduled their Badb orientation and we have ours penciled in for a week from now."

Rusty said, "Since Badb command requirement is 4 people, we are going to do the orientation four at a time. The Badb Commanders will fill the instructor role."

"We should complete this during the next six weeks," added Aoife of Sarah's Clan.

"Agreed," replied everyone.

"We need to go back to Marthanóir and Fiontar for a moment," said Sarah. "Siobhan's Clan would you ask Molly's and Jackie's Clans to handle the final check-out for liftoff."

"It will give us great pleasure to be on the other side of that request. I don't think we will ever forget the day you asked us to do the same thing. We don't see a problem with you doing it, but understand your concern."

"Can we peek when you do it?" asked Brigid of Keriann's Clan.

"Certainly, all of you can," replied Eileen of Siobhan's Clan.

"Next item," said Sally of Sarah's Clan "is the first recon data from A-Celia."

"Well," said Chester, "to us it seems to confirm the initial information we had. What were you looking for out of this discussion?"

"Nothing in particular," responded Maeve. "We just think that this should always be a topic on our agenda as we move toward our departure. There is the potential for overlooking some aspect, but with all of us looking at it from our different perspectives perhaps we can minimize missing something important."

"Yea, right," said Eibhlin of Maureen's Clan. "Why don't we pick an area or aspect to review each time we get together with the idea that we spend no more than an hour on it."

"I like that," said Kathy. "If we don't finish with it, we can either continue it at the next meeting or drop it."

"That works for me. Alternatively we can defer it if there are other issues demanding our attention."

"Agreed."

"Eibhlin," said Sarah, "would you coordinate this topic?"

"Sure."

"Last item," said Terry. "Are we set for the meeting with the contract staff tomorrow?"

"I believe so," said Colleen. "Sarah, Tara, Aoife and I are planning on giving psionic demonstrations that will hopefully show they are real. I think we've sorted out an approach that should convince them that the abilities are real without disclosing too much."

"What are you doing about security?"

"Primarily Breacadh will monitor the room with a Security team on alert. We are considering wearing our personal shields."

"Mind if we monitor you all?" asked Kathy.

"Not at all, as you are always connected to us anyway."

"Yea but..."

"I know, but you are not intruding."

"Anything else?" asked Maeve of Sarah's Clan. When she saw none she said, "Well then, let's go to lunch."

"Great," responded several.

Aisling of Siobhan's Clan said, "I like it when we can share a meal after our meetings. Let's arrange our timing so we can do it more frequently."

"That is a great idea," responded Calvin of Kathryn's Clan.

"Agreed," replied everyone.

At An Clochán Colleen of Maureen's Clan was on her way to meet Sarah, Tara and Aoife for a discussion of telepathy and psionic abilities. It was a discussion Sarah had proposed after several contract staff had expressed difficulty in believing that psionic abilities were real. Colleen had just passed a connecting hall when she noticed a man coming toward her. She recognized him as contract staff although the object he was carrying puzzled her. It had caught her attention because of the awkward way he was holding it.

Colleen had only taken a few more steps when she sensed someone approaching from behind. Her awareness increased when she heard thoughts, 'avoid her hair, push the pad hard against her shoulder, it must make contact with her skin.' Realizing the intent of the person behind, her response was immediate. Crouching as she swiveled around, she grabbed the woman's arm just before her hand would have reached her if she hadn't moved. Continuing her pivot, Colleen yanked the woman's arm up behind her causing a sickening snap which was followed by a scream. She then shoved the woman away from her, propelling her headlong toward the far wall. There was a loud thump when her head hit the wall and she then slumped to the floor. It was apparent from the way she collapsed that her neck and arm were broken.

As Colleen turned back toward her destination, she realized that the man was now just a few steps away. She could clearly see that he was holding an atomizing gun pointed at her. Just as he pushed the release she quickly stepped to the side to avoid the mist. In doing so she turned and brought her foot up under his extended arm, driving it up. The impact of her blow caused a loud snap as his arm broke and the weapon flew from his hand.

He groaned as he reached into his pocket with his other hand. Seeing his reaction, she brought her hand down sharply on his shoulder. There was a snap and his shoulder sagged, leaving his arm hanging limply as he struggled to respond. As the pain in his body began to register, Colleen brought her foot down against his upper leg just above the knee. Her blow twisted his leg resulting in a muffled pop as his knee separated. She then pushed off to flip back onto her feet out of his reach. When she landed facing him, she saw that he had crumpled to the floor. Seeing the atomizing weapon lying a short distance away on the floor, she released a blue energy ball toward it. When it hit the gun, there was a flash, and it disappeared as a small puff of smoke leaving a discoloured spot on the floor.

"Breacadh," said Colleen breathing heavily as she bounced up and down, "I need EMTs and a Security team here now!"

In the short time it took Breacadh to respond, Colleen quickly scanned the area looking for more threats. Breacadh said, "Caoilinn's team is nearly there. My alarms tripped just as the woman attacked. The EMTs are on their way."

Colleen could hear them approaching as she said, "Caoilinn's team, the attackers are down. I don't see or sense any more threats."

"Aye, that is Breacadh's view as well." On seeing her some of Caoilinn's team began checking the rooms as they moved toward her while two others covered their backs. After reaching her the EMTs went to the woman lying near the wall. After checking her, they rolled her onto a stretcher. When an EMT began to approach the man, he was sliding his hand up under his jacket. Seeing his movement and sensing the EMT's observation Sal acted immediately and neutralized him. When the man's arm slid from underneath his coat, they saw a dart gun in his hand.

"Nice work, Sal," said Colleen. The EMT next to the dead man nodded her agreement. "Any delay and there would have been at least one more body."

"Yes," replied Sal. "I sensed his thought just as he began moving his hand, then the EMT's observation confirmed it. How did that woman get so close to you?"

"Possibly by not actively thinking about what she was planning to do until just before she was to press that pad against my shoulder. I think her mistake was that she wasn't close enough when she initiated her attempt."

The EMT said, "She probably misjudged your stride and it messed up her timing." Colleen looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Not many have noticed it, but our stride is considerably longer than it appears to be. We have attributed it to the way we walk, and our height."

Colleen thought for a few moments, before responding with, "Interesting. I hadn't noticed that before. In fact, I am not sure any of my spouses have either. Can you all take care of this mess? I need to go to a meeting."

"Sure. A couple of us will go with you."

"Okay, but you need to wait outside the room." When they started to object she added, "We need to minimize those of us in the room. Breacadh is actively monitoring it, so she can link you in via the monitors allowing you to see what's going on."

"Oh, it's that meeting. I forgot that it was today. Okay, four of us will wait outside." With that, Colleen continued on to the conference room with Abbie, Caoilinn, Sal and Melanie.

Colleen entered the room and looked around as Sarah, Tara and Aoife shimmered into view. Their arrival resulted in several gasps from those in the room. As the four Órarduine looked around, they saw the shocked looks on everyone's faces.

"Gosh Sarah, when you invited me to this meeting, you didn't mention the welcome I would receive on the way," said Colleen.

"We are as surprised as you are," laughed Sarah, as she looked at Colleen. "It must be your charisma. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Both of them are dead."

Sarah looked out at those assembled for the meeting with a neutral expression. "Sarah, Aoife, Tara and Colleen," said Breacadh, "everyone who expressed an interest is there except for four people. We believe they are all here primarily to gather information. Two of those missing are the two who died in the hall. The other two are being monitored at the moment as they are acting suspiciously."

"Acknowledged."

"Good morning," said Aoife, Sarah, Tara and Colleen.

"Good morning."

"Are there any others we should wait for?" asked Sarah of the group in the room.

"There are two who said they would be late," said Jacob.

"Well, just a few minutes ago, two people made a serious error in judgment and as a result are now dead. Breacadh, project their images on the wall."

"Those aren't the two who told me they would be late," responded Jacob.

"Breacadh, show the others." With that request, the images of those being monitored were projected on the wall.

"Yes. They are the ones who told me that they would be late."

"Well, based upon their activities, it appears that they don't intend on joining us."

Colleen said, "The first two images we showed are of two people who attacked me in the hall a few minutes ago. He had a long range atomizer and was carrying a dart gun. The woman attempted to place a pad on my back or shoulder. Their actions are very puzzling. Perhaps we will never know what they intended as both are dead."

"We are going to presume that none of you were involved with what happened in the hall," said Sarah.

"I wasn't," responded Martina.

"Neither was I," said Kane as many shook their heads indicating that they weren't either.

"Does anyone else want to comment?" The room was quiet but many were shaking their heads no.

Aoife said, "Okay. Based on your expressions, I suspect that none of you were aware of the activities of those not here. However, didn't most of you did come to An Clochán for the express purpose of gathering information about us for some group on Earth."

"If you knew we were spies, then why let us come?" asked Kane.

"Why not?" responded Tara. "You came here to help us and you have made significant contributions to our progress. If we hadn't let you come, then those sponsoring you would have resorted to other means to achieve their objective. Those would likely have caused situations similar to what just happened to Colleen, or other problems. Based on our observations, you are interested in either our technology or our intentions toward Earth."

Aoife said, "In spite of the earlier distraction, our gathering today is to talk about psionic abilities and telepathy. Hopefully, after this you will have a better grasp of what they are and an understanding that Órarduine really do have them."

"You saw the way Sarah, Aoife and I arrived," said Tara. "That was done using one of our psionic abilities. We came directly from our ship. You can think of it as projecting ourselves, or teleporting."

"So, it was like they did on Star Trek," responded Hana.

"Yes, except our ship's AI did not assist us."

"Even so, it could be sleight of hand since we can't verify that you came directly from Dóchas."

"True. Many times when psionic abilities are used, it isn't possible to evaluate the event as you would an experiment. There are times that they appear to be magic, especially if you don't know about the abilities and just see the result."

Tara said, "Earlier Colleen used her psionic abilities, along with her martial arts knowledge, to deal with the two attackers in the hall. Let's watch the recording. Breacadh, please show the video of the recent events in the hall. Play it first at normal speed and then repeat it in slow motion." When it finished she said, "From the video alone it is difficult to see how psionics helped Colleen. A martial arts specialist could have handled the two attackers, but I wouldn't want to try it. Did you notice that Colleen had begun to defend herself before the woman touched her? Also, martial arts skill doesn't explain the blue balls and the weapon's disappearance."

The four Órarduine could see the thoughtful looks on everyone's faces but no one spoke.

After a few moments Aoife looked at Hana and said, "Let's try this as it will be a little harder to explain away." Hana shrieked when she realized she was rising out of her seat. She then gasped as she thought she heard Aoife tell her to relax telepathically. Looking at Aoife she saw her smiling as she continued to rise out of her chair. Aoife lifted Hana using her psionic abilities until she was 2 meters above the floor. As she did so Hana continued to squirm. Aoife said, "Hana, this would be much easier if you would sit still." Aoife brought her toward the front of the room then lowered her until her feet were touching the floor. "Now you can stand." Tara held Hana's hand to help her rise from her sitting position on an imaginary chair.

Hana looked at Aoife and said, "Okay. After that, I can't really argue about whether there are psionic abilities or not. How does telepathy fit in and why is it so important? What are the other abilities?"

"As we've tried to convey to everyone, telepathy is a key psionic ability for us. So far, every Órarduine is a very good telepath. However, the corollary to that is not true, in that not everyone has other psionic abilities. Like other natural or inherited skills, it varies from person to person. Some believe that it can be strengthened through exercise, but I think that exercise simply enhances control rather than strengthening it. Again, what we know about psionic abilities is with respect to Órarduine. We don't know whether other species have psionic abilities, and if so how they manifest themselves. With respect to telepathy, we know from experience that some humans have latent telepathic skills. Whether some have other psionic abilities, we don't know."

"Can you hear or understand me?" asked Aoife, as she looked a Hana with a smile.

"Did you say something to me?"

"Yes. I asked you, telepathically, if you could hear or understand me?"

"I did, but if I had not been looking at you, I don't think I would have realized you had asked a question."

"Based on that, it is quite probable that you are telepathically capable. We can take this a step further and I can assist you in making that determination. If you do, we can activate it now, but only if you want to. The medical staff or the Command Staffs can also assist a person in activating a telepathic ability."

As Aoife had spoken Hana's expression changed to a worried one.

"Before proceeding, there are a few things you should consider, especially if it turns out that you have the ability. First, when you return to Earth, you will need to modify it. This is for your protection since some people would be afraid of you, and others would want to turn you into a guinea pig. Others who have activated their ability while they were here, have chosen to limit it when they returned to Earth. The alteration was to adjust their sensitivity so that it alerts them when a threat is approaching them or a loved one." Turning to address the rest of the group, "We believe that a part of your success here is due to your sensitivity to telepathy. So what I just told Hana, likely applies to all of you."

"But if I fully enable my telepathic ability I will lose my privacy, because anyone can see my thoughts."

"That is only true if you want it to be. When you enable your telepathy attribute, you have the ability to control how open your connections are, and to whom. The contents of casual telepathic conversations are no different than spoken communication, except that with telepathy emotions and concepts are conveyed more accurately. Telepathic exchange is quicker and clearer, which is why we use it exclusively during emergencies. A key benefit is that it works well in a vacuum. You can turn it off if you don't like it. With it fully functional, you will have more flexibility in moving about An Clochán and the ships."

"Okay. I'll take the chance. I can't believe that I have been here a year and just realized this."

"It is a matter of perspective. You've focused on learning as much about our technology as you could, along with tasks associated with your duties. Due to switching jobs so frequently you've gained a wide variety of skills, but none are finely tuned. Based on your frequent switching, our Staffing department wasn't sure whether you were a spy or just someone trying to find a place for themselves while gaining a variety of experience."

"Hana, if you want I can assist you with sorting out your telepathy now," said Aoife. "It will be a bit like show and tell, although the audience won't see the details of how it's done, they will just see before and after."

"Okay as long as it can be disabled when I return to Earth. Wait a minute; those in the room will know I am telepathic."

"Let me assure you that they will not be able to share that knowledge. You can definitely alter how you use it. As to the other, that will not be a problem." Aoife then began assisting Hana with enabling her telepathy, while the other Órarduine monitored the audience. Once it was fully enabled, Aoife showed her how to limit her connections and protect herself from unwanted intrusion. She also explained the rules of etiquette for telepathic communication.

"So Hana, can you now understand me clearly?" asked Tara.

"Oh, yes. I can see a link between you, Aoife, Sarah and some others."

"Those are my spouses. It is a special link that we leave open all the time."

"Interesting. Those on Earth would never understand this concept." Hana turned to those watching and said, "Aoife's comments are truer than I ever thought possible. I suggest that each of you consider trying it." When she switched to telepathy it caused several eyebrows among the contract staff to rise. "I know my telepathy works, as I just spoke to Tara without verbalizing anything. I've also just made a suggestion to all of you telepathically. Thanks to Aoife, I now understand her comment about my memory being as secure now as it was before, which was a big concern."

A man near the back of the room stood up and said, "Hana, great things were expected of you. It is disappointing to see you so easily seduced and perverted by these aliens. The organization made a significant investment in training you for this assignment. Now you return that benefit by becoming a traitor."

"Idiot," shouted Hana, "I have done nothing of the kind. I came here to learn, and that is what I am doing. It is you who doesn't have any understanding of what these people are letting us see. You are so used to seeing plots, subterfuge and sabotage that you can't see anything else."

He responded angrily with, "It is you who are naive." As spoke, he slowly brought his hand up to point a dart launcher at her. Just as he began to squeeze the trigger, Colleen hurled a blue shimmering ball of energy at him. The force of it slammed him backwards into the chair, and over the back of it. He lay limply over the chair, unmoving with his hair smoking.

"Well, one more idiot down," said Colleen. "Don't touch the device he had in his hand. It is designed to launch small darts. Others we've seen were used to administer either a poison or drug. The pens are fragile as they have a tendency to break in the users hands."

"This is bullshit," screamed another participant on the other side of the room. As he stood, he pointed his dart gun at the Órarduine and pulled the trigger. They let him launch the darts and met each of them with a blue ball which turned them into smoke just after they left the weapon. After the fourth dart, Tara reached out to him telepathically. When she took control of him, his expression turned to one of horror as he watched his hand begin squeezing the dart launcher until it broke. While this scene was taking place those near him moved carefully away, leaving him standing alone. His expression was one of fear, as blood oozed out of his hand and around the crumpled dart launcher. In only moments, he began gasping for breath then dropped to the floor.

When he was on the floor Sarah said, "That appears to be the same kind of dart launcher we saw in Britain. It is a very effective tool when used correctly, but they are also very fragile, which makes them very deadly to the user when they break in their hand."

"Breacadh, we need someone to remove two bodies," said Tara.

Chapter 2 »