Chapter 22

After breakfast the Command Staff representatives were joined in the terminal area by representatives from the Iridien, Monque, Atewa and Dutsuz Worlds. When the delegations from the US, Pakistan and Italy entered, a chill seemed to sweep through the room. Three boarding tubes were already in place with their doors open. The Órarduine were very formal and the last to say good-bye to these delegations. As the delegates involved in the previous night’s harassment shook Sarah’s hand, each was startled to hear her say, “You will never forget your treachery. If any of our contract staff’s families are hurt or injured, you will feel their pain and remember, but you will never be able to share it.” Once the delegations boarded their shuttles the temperature in the room became considerably warmer.

While this was taking place the other delegations had gone back to their suites to pick up their travel bags. By the time the first to leave entered the terminal the boarding tubes to their shuttles were ready. Once the departures began they moved along fairly quickly but none were rushed. A few were delayed so that conversations could close naturally. It wasn’t long before there were only the five delegations staying to see the A-Celia presentations remaining.

Sarah said, “Let’s move to the conference room for the presentation.” When everyone had entered the room, they were joined by the Órarduine special friends and many Órarduine young adults.

Tara said, “There are refreshments on the counter. Please help yourself. We will start in about 10 minutes.”

Commander Egulle was standing with Sarah’s Clan when he said, “We know that this conference has been a tremendous challenge for your family but we are very appreciative of the effort. If there is anything we can do to help please let us know.”

“Thank you. We will keep that in mind.”

While they were talking Anna and Mark walked over to Prime Minister Kovalenko who was standing with several Russian and Chinese delegates. Mark said, “Prime Minister Kovalenko, my name is Mark and this is Anna.” PM Kovalenko looked puzzled. “You may not remember us but we are the two urchins you saw the day Siobhan’s Clan delivered the invitations for this conference.”

“Yes. Now I remember. You look much better now.”

“We feel much better. We are not sure if we need to ask but we would like to stay here with the Órarduine.”

“First, let me introduce you to the others here.” Once the introductions were complete PM Kovalenko said to the group, “Some of us had the pleasure of meeting these two when Siobhan’s Clan delivered our invitation. Our meeting then was a bit of a surprise, but we were very impressed with their tenacity and poise.” Both Anna and Mark blushed. That was not how they remembered the meeting. Turning back to them he said, “So you like living among these people?”

“Absolutely sir,” replied Anna. “Everything has been just like we saw in our dreams.”

“As to you staying here, we don’t have any problem with you joining the Órarduine, which is really what you are asking.”

“Yes sir.”

“What does Siobhan’s Clan think of gaining two children?”

“Our relationship to them is more like being a younger brother and sister. They thought that being our older siblings would be a much better relationship than for us treat them as our parents. They were concerned about how a parent child relationship with them would impact on our memories and feelings about our real parents. Please ask them as they can probably express it better than I just did.”

“I’ll bet you all talked this over and you had to propose the arrangement.”

“Yes sir.”

“I don’t think I need to talk to them. I believe you have found a family that will take good care of you. Many of the people listening to us would like to be in your shoes. We wish you the very best.”

“Could we ask one favor?”

“Sure.”

“Would it be possible for the other children from our school to visit here for a few days? It shouldn’t be in the next three or four weeks though.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, although some of their guardians may want to come as well. Why the three to four week delay?”

“Siobhan told us to expect that some of the parents would want to come as well. As to the delay, we wanted to wait long enough for them to become comfortable in their new homes.”

Mark then continued with, “We were concerned that if they weren’t settled, then they may see this as a place to escape to without considering the consequences.”

“Good reasoning. Let my office know when you want to do this, and we will arrange a pickup point. They have our contact information.”

“Thank you, sir,” replied Anna and Mark. Both shook his hand before drifting off.

“He said we could stay,” said Anna and Mark to Siobhan’s Clan.

“Great,” came the quick reply. “We are very pleased.”

“So are we.”

Sarah and Aoife stepped up to the podium and said, “Would everyone please find a seat? Our presentation and the questions will likely take us up to lunch, and maybe a little longer.” A few moments later she began the presentation on A-Celia. It showed views of the island they had identified as their likely home. The presentation consisted of images of A-Celia which alternated with facts both about the planet and the solar system. Although Sarah and Aoife started the presentation, each Command Staff member participated. It lasted for nearly two hours, with just a short break half way through.

When the presentation came to a close Aoife said, “Are there any questions?”

The President of China rose and said, “I don’t have a question at the moment, but I am sure I will think of one. While everyone is gathering their thoughts in preparation for barraging you with their questions, we would like to commend you for an excellent presentation.” Many applauded. “Your evaluation of the planet and the solar system seems to be very detailed. Although I can guess why, is there a particular reason?”

Tara replied with, “Actually we don’t think we have enough detail. This is in part why we expect it to be at least a year before we begin moving into the first habitat. When you compare the knowledge we have of Earth and this solar system to what we know about A-Celia and its solar system, we still have a long way to go. Currently we think we are making good progress on gathering the fundamental information. By the time we move into the first habitat we should be knowledgeable enough to be good stewards. We have the time, so we are being quite methodical in gathering information. Under other circumstances, we could move much quicker.”

“I am not sure we could be as patient as you are.”

“It is difficult. We try to do things correctly the first time. This is difficult when you don’t know all the variables.”

“Is this the ‘Is it perfect?’ motto I’ve heard about?”

“Largely, yes. Our motto, as you refer to it, is easy to misinterpret, especially if you lose your perspective. It simply encourages us to do the best we can at the current point in time, even if it takes a little longer.”

“That makes sense. I see your point about misinterpreting it.”

From that point on there were questions non-stop. It was apparent that the attendees listened to the questions others asked, and the answer, before they asked their question. The Órarduine were very pleased with the question and answer session. It certainly offset some of the aggravation they felt over the previous night’s events. The questions also raised points that they noted for future study.

Sarah raised her hand and said, “It is lunch time. Let’s go have lunch while we answer any lingering questions. Any Órarduine can answer your questions, and if not we are certain they will find the answer for you.”

The Prime Minister of Ireland stood and said, “We offer thanks to all of you for this excellent presentation. It is an eye opener for even an Earth’s ‘doubting Thomas’, which I am not, and I don’t believe there are any here.” The applause was instantaneous and all the delegates stood as it continued. When it quieted she continued, “We appreciate the effort put into the presentations given by the Iridiens, Dutsuz, Atewa and Monque. All of you covered a very broad topic very succinctly. The information should help us as we seek to become space travelers. Your patience with our questions was outstanding.” The applause started again before she even finished speaking. As it continued the delegates stood up again, indicating their agreement with that comment as well.

While the applause continued all of Sarah’s Clan stepped up to the podium. When things quieted down they said in unison, “On behalf of all of us, thank you. We enjoyed having you. We are pleased to hear that you felt it was worth the time and inconvenience.” They paused for a moment. “Let’s have lunch, we are really hungry.”

A short time after lunch the five delegations walked with the Command Staffs and Alliance of World representatives to the departure area. The leave-taking took considerably longer than it had that morning as everyone exchanged good-byes.

When the last group of delegates and news media had boarded the shuttles Sarah said, “I am ready for a break.”

“Yes!” replied everyone.

Commander Marika of the Monque said, “You all did an excellent job of hosting the conference. We are disappointed by the actions of some delegates last night. To us this is a warning on how to deal with them. As to the presentations this morning, they couldn’t have been better. They made A-Celia look so good that those on our ships will want to visit you frequently.”

“Thanks for the compliment. As the attendees noted, your preparation contributed greatly to the conferences success. As to visiting us, we would love to have you. It will take us some time before we have accommodations comparable to what we have here.”

Commander Laonize of the Atewa said, “We have sponsored similar events and we second the comments Marika just made. As to frequent visits, I think many of us want to visit your new home. We are pleased with the way our relationship is developing. We hope it will grow. Regardless, when you need assistance just let us know and we will be there. Guaranteed. We may not have support of our World, but we will be there for you.”

“Commander Laonize, you are really pushing the boundaries of what we can do,” said Commander Reyonte of the Atewa.

“How do you figure? You know we would be there if needed.”

“I agree, but we aren’t usually so open about it, as there have been times we were drawn into events that were a mistake. However, I would be surprised if that is ever the case with the Órarduine.” He paused. “Your openness must be contagious.” His comment caused many to laugh.

Commander Timalta of the Dutsuz said, “I know our crew would stand with them at any place and at any time. We are only here because they came to our aid when we were in deep do doo.” Several chuckled. “The two closing songs last night were very appropriate. Our crew were very appreciative of the video link provided to the concert. They have asked where they could obtain the lyrics to those songs specifically, and some of the others. As to openness, we believe it has significant benefits to those of us in this AW Task Group, however, we don’t know that the benefits of that openness will carry beyond this Task Group. The Órarduine have an advantage in making openness work due to their ability to share telepathically. We think we can do it without telepathy, but it will take effort on everyone’s part. Can we promote the concept beyond our group of ships? We don’t know. I do know that if we can’t keep this group together we may be looking for a new home.”

Commander Egulle said, “I think it is time for us to return to our ships. I know I have to catch up on quite a few items.”

“We agree,” said Commander Marika. “Shall we continue our weekly meetings?”

“We like that idea,” replied the Command Staffs.

“Before we return to our day-to-day tasks,” said Sally of Sarah’s Clan. “Commander Marika alluded to incidents involving our contract staff last night. As a result of those, it is likely that our Security Teams will be quite busy for the next few days, and perhaps longer, picking up people from Earth. These people will be close friends or families of our contract staff.”

“What happened?” asked Commander Tuska of the Monque.

“An attempt was made to coerce some of our staff into returning to Earth,” replied Sally. “In doing so the safety of their relatives there was brought into play. Our response was to let them know that our contract with them is open ended, which means that they are welcome to accompany us to A-Celia. As a result of this all the contract staff are considering several new options for their future. Is that a sufficient reply?”

“Yes. We are aware of that. My first concern was that there had been another incident. I imagine you have dealt with the perpetrators.”

“Yes. The two who intended to maim our staff were returned to their residences on Earth early this morning. Whether the threats toward the staff’s relatives materialize or not, well, we will have to wait and see what happens.”

Commander Orgaine said, “You know our Spec Ops teams are a little bored just doing drills, so they are available if something comes up, even if it is as backup. Don’t hesitate to ask as it is much better for them to be there and not needed.”

“We will,” replied Sarah with the others nodding in agreement.

“Okay, we’re off,” said Commander Timalta. Each of his group exchanged hugs and handshakes before entering the boarding tube to their shuttle. The other groups from the Alliance of Worlds quickly followed.

Sarah said, “I propose we relax for the next two days but stay linked with Security to monitor their activity.”

“Agreed,” replied everyone.

“I hope everything goes smoothly,” added Maureen.

“We can hope,” said several. They then exchanged hugs and kisses before entering the boarding tubes to their shuttles.

“Breacadh,” said Amy, “change the schedule so that tomorrow is a day of relaxation for everyone. We will still need to keep critical functions fully manned.”

“Will do. Did you see the intelligence report regarding the contract staff’s families and friends?”

“We did. Security Teams here can relax, but they do need to be ready to deploy on short notice.”

“I will advise them. I suspect most will want to do mission planning as a way to relax.”

Amy’s Clan chuckled as she replied with, “Whatever floats their boat.”

Sarah’s Clan was entering their suite after dinner when Terry said, “It was nice of Briana’s Clan to cover the bridge for us tonight.”

“Yes it was,” responded Erin. “It’s even better that our children are off visiting Molly’s Clan this evening, we have the whole suite to ourselves.”

“And why is that?” asked Alison with a smile.

“Well, cuz I’m hoping we can spend some of the time sharing some physical love, as it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve been all together and had the opportunity.”

“Are you feeling neglected?” responded Maeve as she stepped behind Erin wrapping her arms around so her hands cupped Erin’s breasts.

“Not really. It’s just that it feels different than when we are all here.”

“I agree,” responded Sarah. “Actually, being on the bridge and staying focused is a real challenge when some of you are here playing.”

Aoife said, “It wouldn’t surprise me if Star didn’t prompt Briana’s Clan to offer.”

“Well I was surprised,” said Rusty. “The Security teams have been very during the conference. Fortunately, there haven’t been any major issues. I just hope they don’t get careless.”

“Our Mentors have gone with some of the newer teams,” added Sally.

“We can talk later,” said Sarah as she stepped in front of Alena and gave her a kiss.

Joyce pushed Rusty back toward the bed. Sensing her intention he wrapped his arms around her as they fell back. Soon they were all scrambling onto the bed. Joyce spread her legs to straddle Rusty and then slid her crotch over his hardening cock.

She whispered, “That feels good stud.”

“Did you pee on me?”

“No. That is my cream telling you that I am ready to feel you inside of me.” With that she rose up until his cock was at her entrance and slowly lowered her hips, sighing as she felt it enter. “That feels so good.”

“Yes, it does,” responded several spouses. Others just moaned their agreement while kissing one another.

Tonight was a little different as they shared their love in pairs rather than their usual multiple partner activity. However, through their mind link their sensations were shared. This resulted in many shared orgasms as well as those experienced firsthand.

It was nearly two hours later when Sarah spread her legs so that Rusty could enter her. Once he was in her, she hooked her ankles behind his back to hold him deep within her. “Stay right there. That feels so good. Perhaps even better sliding back and forth. I’ll keep you hard.”

“As many times as we’ve coupled, I am not sure how long I will last.”

“‘Till we go to sleep.”

“That would be nice.”

“Yes, it would,” responded Tara. “I think it feels nice and I am only feeling the sensations that Sarah is sharing.”

It was only a short time later that their solitude was rudely interrupted when they heard Briana say, “Code 99. Cathan’s team assist now. D-Fox Flight cover. Coordinates sent. Sharon’s team on site responding to 99. Morna’s team is not responding.”

The sound of Briana issuing those commands caused all of Sarah’s Clan to immediately sit up in bed. All thoughts of a night’s sleep were quickly disappearing. Although the temptation was very strong they chose to just mind-link with Briana’s Clan. However, they quickly formed a circle on the bed and joined as one just in case.

“Shannon or Pat, I need some background on this pickup,” said Adam.

Kaelee said, “Morna’s team went with Laila and Lyle to meet with their family. According to them their uncle carries a lot of weight in the family and had encouraged them to meet their immediate families at his house rather than the island. Both think a lot of their uncle even though he can be overbearing at times. Both families had agreed to come to the island before the uncle became involved. We understand that he is a senior researcher for a large private company. Neither knew anything about his work.”

“Okay. What do you know of the site?”

“It is a large house in an upscale community that sits towards the back of several acres, perhaps as many as 20.”

“Give Cathan’s team everything you have on it.”

“Already done.”

“Good.”

A few minutes later the AI in Alpha I-03 said, “Security Center, there are five fatalities and 6 wounded. The dead are Morna, Renée, Darby, Li Min and Eimhir. Sharon’s team has subdued the attackers.”

Cathan said, “We are here. In contact with Sharon’s team. Area looks quiet. Scanning for people. Suited up, will begin deploying momentarily. Operating cloaked.”

“In TAC suits I hope,” muttered Rusty and his thought carried further than he intended.

“Yes,” replied Brad, “in TAC suits.”

“My apologies,” responded Rusty immediately.

“None needed,” said Briana. “I appreciate any assistance I can get.”

Sarah’s Clan said, “You’re doing great. We think we are glad you didn’t call out the cavalry.”

Briana’s Clan was laughing as she said, “It would be real easy to do because I think all of them are in a ship waiting to be summoned. We’ll stand down, except for those scheduled, once we hear from Cathan’s or Sharon’s Clans.”

Soon Toiréasa of Cathan’s Clan said, “Site secured. There are eight unknowns dead. Seven men and a woman. The woman and one man were inside. Lyle’s uncle, the uncle’s wife and son are also dead. They appear to have been shot by the two unknowns who died inside the house. Based on their reaction to the turmoil we think both Lyle’s and Laila’s families have been drugged. Four have minor wounds. Both families, Lyle, Laila and the uncle’s two daughters will be sent to the island in a few moments. Medical staff needs to be alerted.”

“What about the attackers?”

“Cathan, Todd, Sharon and Brad are talking it over with Lyle and Laila now. By the way, the attackers came in two large step vans with provisions for people to ride in the back.

“They are planning on running their plan past you all once they have it sorted.”

“Good,” replied Briana as she wondered if Toiréasa knew that all the Command Staffs plus some in Security and Intelligence were listening in.

This incident caused the Security and Intelligence groups to review the upcoming pickups. All sighed with relief when they realized that there was almost a twelve hour lull before the next one.

Sarah said, “Briana’s Clan, we think you all can handle this without us actively in the background so we are going to back out. If you feel you need our advice then don’t hesitate to jiggle our elbow. However, we think we have enough talent involved to take care of this.”

“Sleep well,” responded Briana’s Clan.

“We agree with Sarah,” said the other Command Staffs.

“Thanks. Sleep well.”

Briana said to her clan, “We’ve been at this for two weeks now and I expected an incident before this, especially the way they were leaning on the contract staff. It’s a shame that some died when it did happen.”

“I suspect they weren’t wearing their personal shields, although those probably wouldn’t have kept them from being injured,” said Cass. “From the chatter, I know some haven’t out of concern over alarming our guests.”

“We’ll fix that. Attention all Security teams, at a minimum you will wear your personal shields and have them activated during pickups. At least two of the primary team members will be in TAC suits. Backup team will all be in TAC suits during pickup.”

“Aye. Aye,” came a chorus of replies.

“Muireann, are you going to check out the place where Lyle’s uncle worked?”

“We are working on that now.”

“Advise Command Staffs once you have something.”

“We have a similar suspicion.”

“Briana,” said Terry, “Who in Security is following this?”

“Muireann for sure. Why?”

“Sharon and Cathan should talk to them before moving anything except for the families. Clarence and James should be invited in. The thing we don’t want to do is tamper with any evidence, but it would be best if we, or Lyle’s and Laila’s families, weren’t linked to this.”

“An interesting paradox. I’ll let all of them know.”

It was right after breakfast the next morning when Sarah and Sally entered An Clochán’s Security Center. Seeing them Muireann said, “Good morning Sarah, Sally, I...” Then stopped as she saw Siobhan, Eileen, Brandan, Crystal, Chester, Emma, and several other Command Staff members enter. Taking a deep breath she continued with, “Good morning all.”

“Good morning,” replied everyone.

“Thanks for anticipating us asking for a meeting to discuss our situation, as well as how we go forward.”

“Okay,” replied Sarah.

Bairre said, “The situation at Lyle’s uncle’s house is, we think, under control. It turns out that James knows that district’s DA, so he asked him to visit the site. Shortly after Lyle and Laila entered the house a call was made to the sheriff’s office. Once the site was secure, Cathan brought Clarence and James in on the problem. They decided it was best to involve local law enforcement as it was a homicide with a lot of mess. Especially with us being non-residents. Creidne and Brigit assisted in dealing with the local authorities. It was kind of prickly until James met with the prosecutor and local detectives. Besides the video we had, they went through a reenactment of the events without the families present. As it stands now, Lyle, Laila, and their families are at New Comrie along with the 2 surviving daughters. When they were leaving Sharon told us that several officers complimented them on their handling of the situation. All the local people agreed not to say who assisted them, even though they were too late to save more of the family.”

“Good,” replied Sarah. “Considering what happened here two weeks ago, we don’t want to draw any more attention than necessary.”

Siobhan said, “How old are the daughters?”

“College age.”

“Good. There won’t be any custody issues then.”

“James is going to talk to them in a few days to make sure their legal issues are handled correctly.”

Chester said, “Did you identify and locate who was behind this?”

“Yes and no. We found the location where the uncle worked. As some suspected, we also found quite a few former staff that we had been unable to locate. While they aren’t prisoners, their ability to leave the facility is restricted. In some respects it reminded us of the descriptions of secret research sites during World War II. Indications are that some of them have died there. We’ve made telepathic contact with all of them to confirm identity. In searching the site we’ve learnt that the conditions for everyone there are pretty despicable. However, no-one appears to be in immediate danger, so we have a proposal.”

“How many people are you talking about?”

“Maybe 200, but it could be more. This includes our former contract staff and those in similar circumstances with similar characteristics.”

“How are you planning on doing this?”

“By having them take a walk in the park near their residence after dark. We will have cloaked shuttles there with their doors open. The details haven’t all been worked out yet. The least elaborate has a backpack showing up in their room. When they see it they would hear a message telling them to put all their important possessions inside it and then take a walk in the park, with a time. Once there one of us will guide them to a door. The backpack will be teleported out of their room.”

“Why wait?”

“It gives us more time to observe the site. We want all of them on a shuttle before we lift off.”

“There are so many things that could go wrong. But I agree that quicker is better, and probably has less risk.”

“Take them directly to An Clochán,” said Sarah. “New Comrie is pretty crowded at the moment. Now, what about picking people up.”

“Besides Briana’s directives last night, we are going to place spiders in any location we go to for a pickup. If a meeting is desired before pickup we will push for it to be at the airport. Surveillance of the airports prior to arrival is being increased.”

“Okay. We committed to doing this, but I think we all have concerns about it getting out of hand.”

Siobhan said, “We agree, and I am pretty sure that it is unanimous. Let’s be very cautious.”

“The wake is tentatively set to be in three days’ time,” said Bairre.

“Okay,” replied Brandan. “What about those injured?”

“Disabled list for a week at least.”

Emma said, “While all of us, especially your group, see things that we should have anticipated, we must use this as a learning experience and move forward. Okay ... so no more slumped shoulders. The sad looks are appropriate for when we remember our fallen family members. Right?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” replied the group solemnly.

Several days later Shannon said, “Sarah’s Clan, this really doesn’t impact us but the US is claiming that we are kidnapping their citizens. It was in the Washington and New York papers this morning.”

“What is the basis for the claim?” asked Sarah.

“The article was by a Washington correspondent with information from an anonymous source, and didn’t even identify where they worked. The articles claim that the Órarduine are again kidnapping people in the US. The source showed the correspondent some photos purporting to support their claims but wouldn’t let the correspondent have them. It was also indicated that the military now had the means to detect Órarduine ships.

“Another article claimed that the US government’s latest intelligence reports claim, based on information from those visiting Mars, that the Órarduine intend to take control of Earth. Our story of moving to A-Celia is apparently a smoke screen and A-Celia doesn’t exist. The article went on to note the sudden destruction of a previously undisclosed underground government intelligence facility operated by a contractor. Apparently this occurred around time they detected Dóchas in Earth orbit. The implications are that the Órarduine were behind the facility’s destruction. There were a few other tidbits in the article but that covers most of the points.”

“Well since Dóchas hasn’t been in Earth orbit for a while that says something,” said Rusty. “I wonder what they thought they were seeing.”