Chapter 15

While the Command Staffs were freshening up before the reception, they linked together to discuss the day’s meeting with their visitors. As they began Mairia of Jackie’s Clan noted, “There seemed to be fewer Iridiens with the delegation today.”

“There were,” responded Kathleen of Molly’s Clan. “I know that several were overseeing the packing of their equipment. Their intent is to move it to their ships while the reception is taking place.”

“Well they didn’t seem quite as relaxed as they were earlier in the week,” added Brittany of Kathryn’s Clan.

“Which is not all that surprising,” chuckled Chester. “I suspect the sabotage has undermined their sense of security. Thinking back over this week’s events; it started out with the identification of several crew members as probable agents, some of whom were in key positions. Several days later these agents, along with some others, essentially stole IGN404 and the Iridiens didn’t know about it until it was too late to stop them. Adding to this was the apparent corruption of, at least, their communications systems before the thieves departed. So now the crews are likely wondering whether they’ve found everything.”

“We sort of know how that feels, don’t we,” stated Conan of Siobhan’s Clan. “Do we know how they resolved their issues? Or even if they have?”

Maeve said, “It was never directly stated but my impression is that they chose to do a system restore on suspect systems. Their initial reluctance in doing that was the time involved in applying updates and adding ship specific parameters. Actually I am surprised that they are planning to leave tomorrow, as I expected it to take considerably longer.”

“Did everyone read the report on the Iridien crew members who asked to stay?” queried Aisling of Siobhan’s Clan.

“I noticed that it hinted at the potential for several being, shall we say, ‘agents’,” responded Kaitlin of Maureen’s Clan. “Security has flagged them so their activities are monitored. While this is fairly easy to do on our ships that isn’t true for Tara Ardchlár.”

“Closely monitoring a person’s activities is not something we want to do routinely, especially for locations like Ananu,” stated Sarah firmly. “On our ships it makes sense primarily due to the environment, and it’s the ship’s AIs who do the monitoring. Everyone realizes that on the ships this enables us to respond effectively and efficiently to any emergency. From what I have sensed all of our family is comfortable with this level of monitoring in those circumstances.

“In many respects the situation on Ananu is very different as it isn’t the extremely hostile environment that space is. While knowing the location of everyone is at times convenient, it is definitely not a necessity. With that in mind, we should only monitor a person’s activities if there is a compelling reason. Let me phrase it a different way. I think all of us will accept monitoring of our activities as long as it doesn’t stifle expression or interaction. Even expressing it this way leaves a lot of grey areas, and it doesn’t address activities that are detrimental to the community.”

“We agree,” exclaimed everyone.

“I thought we were all in agreement, but wanted to lay those thoughts on the table. We need to make sure that our Security and Intelligence groups keep this in mind as they deal with various issues.”

“All of us need to remember that whether it is necessary or not, initiating it is not usually a black and white issue,” added Chester. “Even though we are telepathic, we still have a level of privacy both individually and as a clan.”

“By using our empathic ability we should be able minimize any doubt before deciding to monitor someone,” noted Amber of Siobhan’s Clan.

“True,” responded everyone.

Emma of Keriann’s Clan said, “On a somewhat related note, Rusty are you comfortable with the way our discussions have gone with our visitors?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well you had concerns before they arrived. I’ve noticed that you seem a little edgy when some are nearby.”

“Well there are some that I simply don’t trust. Surprisingly I sense that more among the Iridien delegation than the others. In most cases the individuals seem to have a different agenda, likely personal, than the rest of the delegation. This is based in part on their questions and comments, but there is an empathic basis for that perspective as well. Their opinion often shows in their expressions when others are speaking which I find quite telling.”

“So you’ve noticed the varying expressions corresponding to a speaker, topic and stated position?”

“Yes. It is something that I’ve picked up from my spouses. Although I don’t think I did it before we became a clan, with our mind-link it is now easier to do. It also seems to have more meaning.”

“Perhaps your sensitivity to it has increased.”

“Could be. I hadn’t considered that aspect.

“As to what we’ve accomplished in our discussions with our visitors, I think we’ve done very well considering our circumstances. We now have an account in the Iridien World that holds a substantial balance. This is also true for the Monque World. In neither case does this seem to be a handout or an inducement to support them in some way. We also have an account in the Atewa World but that currently has a negative balance. This should diminish once they begin setting up their fleet maintenance base. All of them have offered us access to food and raw materials as well as a line of credit.”

Eleánóir of Keriann’s Clan said, “My hope is that we won’t need to use the credit lines.”

“I think we all agree with that,” responded Brandon of Maureen’s Clan. “But it does relieve some of our concern as to whether we can successfully establish ourselves here.”

Chester said, “In thinking about Rusty’s and Emma’s comments, I see a couple of reasons for some of them being less than thrilled about our interaction with them. The Iridiens are the largest world in the Alliance, so I suspect that at times they’ve acted as we’ve seen powerful countries on Earth act. They have managed situations so that the outcome favored them, perhaps even making the group dependent on them. However Dizantos doesn’t seem to be taking that approach. He seems to be pushing us toward a close relationship with the Monque and Atewa. Are the Iridiens doing this for strategic reasons within the Alliance? We are closer to the Monque and Atewa Worlds. This may be a reason the Iridiens are not seeking an active presence in this system.”

Katia added, “Blewzinki’s attitude has changed since he has been here, but I haven’t figured out whether it is real or not. He is definitely an opportunist.”

Her comment caused everyone to chuckle.

“Earlier when we were talking about the Iridiens who were staying here, I should have mentioned that the Alliance has an employment register for spaceship crew members. It includes dates of service, ships served on, ship type, training certificates, background information, performance classification, and discipline issues. When the Monque and Atewa heard that several people had asked to stay they offered us copies of their records. We also received a set from Captain Norlanz and Captain Marsika. While there are differences between the three sets they only seem to relate to when the last update was made.”

“Now that you mention it, I remember seeing that,” said Sally and Terry with several others indicating their agreement.

“It is getting close to the time we need to leave for the reception,” said Bonnie of Molly’s Clan.

“So the plan is for all of us to attend, but not to arrive as a single group?” said Siobhan.

“Correct,” responded everyone.

“Our alternates will be on the bridge of each ship.”

When Sarah, Rusty, Alena, Joyce, and Aoife reached the reception they were surprised to find only a few people there as they felt that they were running late. They walked over to talk with Tiff, Melissa, and Siobhan. On reaching them Sarah said, “I was concerned that we were late.”

“Well we’ve only been here a few minutes,” noted Siobhan. “We just finished checking the arrangements, more for something to do than anything else. It is as nice as it always is.”

“Tara Ardchlár FOC told us a few minutes ago that the Monque and Atewa were on their way,” responded Tiff.

Just then they heard Orgaine say, “Sarah’s Clan, some of us will be a little late as a message has arrived that we need to respond to. Some are just leaving here and those with the evening off have already left for the recreation area.”

“So you are fully operational now?” queried Aoife.

Laughing he said, “As far as we can tell. There are a few systems that aren’t optimal. The techs believe that this is due to tuning and so far they’ve been correct. They expect to have it sorted by morning.”

“Good. Thanks for letting us know.”

Tara Ardchlár FOC announced, “Command Staffs, the Monque and Atewa ships just landed. There are several Iridien ships en route and they will arrive in about 30 minutes.”

“Thanks,” they answered.

Aoife said, “Tonight why don’t we have one member from each of our clans at the door to greet them as they arrive.”

“And we switch off,” added Tiff.

“Suits us,” replied the others.

Sarah, Siobhan, Maureen, Keriann, and Kathy had just reached the door when Secretary Sagnoite of the Atewa and Secretary Baraska of the Monque arrived. They were accompanied by the rest of their delegations.

After exchanging greetings and looking around Secretary Sagnoite said, “Our apologies for our late arrival.”

“Ours as well,” added Secretary Baraska.

Smiling, Keriann responded, “I think we are all running late as we’ve only been here a few minutes ourselves. We just heard that some of the Iridien delegation won’t arrive for a while.”

“A continuation of their communication problem?” queried Sagnoite.

“Based on their comments, we don’t believe so.”

“Is Kathy or Judy here?” inquired Edivonize of the Atewa World.

Molly said, “Judy will be here shortly and I believe Kathy is over near the back table. Was your visit here worthwhile?”

“Yes, it has been fantastic!” exclaimed Edivonize. “I think it has broadened our horizons, I know that it has broadened mine. A big part of this is due to you prompting us to look at medical issues from a different perspective. I hope we haven’t interfered too much with the work in establishing your home.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Ah, I see Kathy and it looks like she is talking to Judy.”

“Good, enjoy the evening.”

To those near the door with her Molly said, “She was certainly happy to be here.”

“We could feel her excitement,” replied Tiff.

It was nearing the time for dinner when Maeve looked around the room and smiled.

“What is the reason for your smile?” inquired Egulle.

“Good evening, Egulle. My smile is due to how well the four groups are mixing.”

“Yes. It looks like there are more of you here this evening.”

“All of us are here, which works out to be a pretty good match with the number of people in the delegations. So are you pleased with the way the visit has gone? Or better yet, has it met your objectives?”

“There are multiple answers to that question and they are all good. As to our interaction with you, the Atewa and Monque, we think it has been very positive. We are definitely pleased to see the relationship growing between you and the Atewa and Monque. This should be very beneficial to everyone, especially if it continues to grow. Based on travel distance alone we suspect you will have more interaction with them than the other Alliance members. From the Alliance’s perspective, this will strengthen the overall security of this sector.”

“Well we do like working with them, as much as we like working with you, Orgaine, and the Spec Ops teams. This is likely due to us having worked through several issues together.”

“We feel the same way. However, your people are quite unique which has resulted in some of our people at home having difficulty grasping or comprehending what we’ve told them about your family. There are some politicians who are unhappy that we needed your assistance in Sol, but while they created quite a stink, none have provided any insight as to what would have been a better solution. To Fleet Command it is clear that we need to strengthen our counter intelligence efforts, but these same politicians appear to be quietly blocking it. This has caused some of us to wonder why.

“I hope no one was listening.”

“Listening devices do not work well in our public meeting areas. As to your visit, we are glad you came and we are looking forward to your return. Perhaps the next visit can be more of a vacation.”

“That would be nice.”

“Once we have more accommodations you should consider bringing your family.”

“I think they would like that. Now, I suspect we should circulate.”

“That is a good idea. It won’t be much longer before dinner starts.”

Siobhan, Sarah, and Keriann were chatting while watching the activity when they saw Secretary Dizantos head toward them. Sarah said, “I wonder what this is about?”

“An excellent reception,” said Dizantos when he reached them.

“We are pleased to hear that you are enjoying it,” responded Keriann.

“What is your impression of what we’ve accomplished?” inquired Sarah.

“Very pleased as we’ve laid a good foundation for our future interactions. Whether this is better than I expected, I can’t answer that because I didn’t know what to expect. We are now acquainted with each other, which provides a basis for future interactions that benefit both of us.” His comments caused the three Órarduine to smile.

“To be honest, we had some concerns about expectations,” said Siobhan. “Like you, we think a key accomplishment this week was establishing a relationship that will be beneficial to all of us in the days to come.”

“Well put. My apologies for our delay in arriving this evening but a courier arrive late this afternoon. It brought several messages that needed an immediate response. Included in them was authorization to let you know that we will provide you with 60,000 MT of cereal grains. This will consist of 7 different grains but the mix won’t be known until it departs our System. It is due to arrive in about 5 months. This is a gift from the Iridien World, however it will not be announced. On our end it will look like it is drawn against your account, but it is not. We hope this is acceptable to you all.”

“Wow. Thank you,” they responded.

“I am puzzled by the secrecy,” added Keriann.

“We have some politicians, and others, who believe that when a gift is given it places an obligation on the recipient for a return favor of at least equivalent value. However, there are many others who see that expectation as turning a gift into bribe. Others see a gift as something that is freely given with no strings attached in any manner. I like to feel that I am among the latter group, but my duties have at times caused me to be involved with gifts that had strings attached to them.

“Some of us believe that it is we who are indebted to you all and have arranged this gift as a way of quietly saying thanks. You may think that sounds strange coming from me, considering my demeanor when I arrived here, but I assure you that it is sincere. The change in me, and a few others, is the result of our meetings. Being here has helped us understand what was in the reports on our fleet’s interaction with you all. Perhaps I’ve said too much...”

Sarah interrupted, “We understand your assurances, and why you feel they are necessary. On behalf of our family, thank you very much for the gift.”

“Now with respect to the shipment, other than notification of its ETA nothing more will be said, but the ship will need to depart as soon as possible after it arrives.”

“We can handle that.”

“On a separate topic, would you all be receptive to a visit by an Iridien trade delegation? It probably wouldn’t arrive for say 6 months or so?”

“That would be fine,” responded Siobhan. “However, when we’ve discussed inter-world trading we weren’t sure what we could offer as we are only just beginning to establish ourselves.”

Smiling he responded, “Did you consider servicing androids? From what I’ve read, you all showed considerable ingenuity and capability in that area in Sol.”

“Hm ... that idea never came up,” said Keriann.

“There are likely other things along those lines that you could offer that wouldn’t impede your efforts in establishing a home here. The visit would give you all a chance to see what goods are available from us.”

Siobhan said, “You know we probably didn’t consider anything like that due to the original motivation. In Sol, it was to help the ship’s crews resolve an operational issue.”

“I probably shouldn’t share this, but they are still having difficulties with some androids not functioning correctly. However that is not my area of expertise, so I can’t provide more insight other than that the issue is in how they function.”

“We assisted the Atewa and Monque with similar issues, so they may have a similar need.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t know. As far as trading is concerned, I prefer to promote ours, as in many cases I think ours are better, but then in my position I need to be biased. However, they do have some unique strengths, just as you do.”

“Point taken. In the meantime we will discuss possible trade items so we are prepared when your group arrives. Thanks for raising the issue.”

“I may come with them, but we will let you know at least a month in advance.” He paused and then added, “That is if our couriers get through. In any case, plan on any visit being between 5 and 6 months from now.”

“It is noted. Again, thanks.”

“Good evening,” announced Ann from the doorway to the dining room. “Dinner is ready. There are four serving lines, so if Secretary Dizantos, Sagnoite, and Baraska would lead the way we can begin.”

Blewzinki muttered, “I thought there would be a formal sit down dinner this evening.”

Arenta, Trizalski, and Orgaine chuckled when they heard his comment.

Seschun softly said, “You just don’t like making choices.” Those nearby laughed.

With a red face Blewzinki grumbled, “It isn’t that, it is that there are too many choices. All are very tasty; in fact this is some of the best food I’ve ever had. All of that causes me to eat too much.”

“I agree that the quality is excellent,” responded Trizalski with those near him murmuring their agreement.

“All of us should let Ann’s and Jean’s Clans know how much we like the food,” suggested Seschun.

“I didn’t hear all of that,” said Dizantos, “but I agree with Seschun.”

“Why don’t you offer a toast to them after dinner?”

“I will do it on behalf of all of us, even those who grumble.” Those around him all laughed, even Blewzinki.

As Rusty, Antopolis, Sally, and Kelly were preparing to sit down to eat Egulle and Trizalski joined them with Egulle saying, “May we join you?”

“Certainly,” replied Sally with the others nodding.

As they began to eat Keriann inquired, “What time is your departure tomorrow?”

“Currently it is scheduled for 12:00 hours,” replied Trizalski. “However, it has been delayed several times today, so it could be well into the afternoon before we do leave.”

“Is this due to your communication issues?”

Egulle and Antopolis chuckled as Trizalski said, “We are currently having the same issues you have when you first launch a ship or leave dry dock after a refit. This is why we tried to avoid reinstalling the systems that were malfunctioning.”

Egulle added, “Without going into a lot of detail, it appears that most of the people we shifted to IGN404 were Durale supporters. Until we realized that we couldn’t reach you there wasn’t any indication of a communication issue. This is primarily because we use separate systems for within a task group and outside a task group.” He then gave an outline of the problems they had found and how they had addressed them. “Now we are left with several unanswerable questions. Did they limit themselves to blocking our communications? If so why? Did they insert routines to cause propulsion and weapons to malfunction, or did we find issues that were already lurking? Did our security procedures prevent them from more extensive tampering with those and other systems? By reinstalling those systems and redoing the configurations we probably won’t be able to answer any of these questions.”

“You didn’t mention the star map,” said Kelly.

Smiling he said, “We carry several copies of star maps on our ships. All of them have a subtle activation procedure. If it is not done correctly, they give responses with small but significant errors. For ours, entering the access codes opens a routine to establish a reference point. This has to be done within a short time after initial activation, although you can cancel the request. If you cancel, you start from scratch in the activation procedure. If you don’t cancel then activation becomes more complicated and time consuming. Based on what your people reported, they failed to correctly activate the map. This in turn implies that they probably won’t arrive anywhere near where they intended to go. This greatly increases the chance of the destination being space that is already occupied.”

“Are all your star maps encrypted?”

“Yes. As far as I know, only commercial ones aren’t. Don’t you encrypt yours?”

“Yes, but based on what I remember our approach is significantly different.”

Redirecting the conversation Trizalski said, “There are some very beautiful places on this island.”

“Yes, there are,” replied Sally. “While most of our sightseeing has been around here we have been able to visit a few places on the other continents. Is there any inter-planetary travel for the purpose of seeing new sights or places?”

“Dizantos would be a better person to answer that question, or even Blewzinki. From what I know, not much as it is fairly expensive and time consuming. The latter is usually the limiting factor as a trip could last several months, with most of it spent traveling. While better than it used to be there are still significant risks, as well as pirates. Although pirates usually focus on commercial goods rather than people, as you know there are slavers and raiders who focus on attacking planets. As far as we know, this sector doesn’t have any of the last two.”

“Both the Atewa and Monque have expressed concerns about pirates,” said Sally.

They continued chatting as they finished their meal. When they had finished Admiral Trizalski tapped a glass to make a chime sound as he stood. Raising his glass in the air he said, “On behalf of the Iridiens, I would like to offer a toast in honor of Ann’s and Jean’s Clans as well as their assistants. This is in recognition of the wonderful selection of food they have provided. To the creators of the finest food I have had pleasure of eating.”

“Hear, hear,” responded many in the room.

On the other side of the room Secretary Baraska stood, “We second that. While we will be here a few more days we would like to thank you all for this opportunity to visit and to see your new home. May we gather together many more times to enjoy each other’s company.”

“Hear, hear,” was heard as glasses were clinked together.

Nearby Secretary Sagnoite stood, “We agree with our friends that the food has been fantastic, as has been our welcome. While we too will be here a few more days, we would like to take a moment now to express our thanks for the hospitality. All of us are looking forward to another opportunity to visit you all.”

“Hear, hear.”

Ann and Jean stood together, “Thank you for your kind words. We are greatly pleased to hear your compliments as it assures us that you’ve enjoyed the food. Thank you.”

As the applause finished Sarah stood, “We have enjoyed your visit and our discussions. We appreciate the effort you have made to come visit us. The next time you come, and we certainly hope that there will be a next time, we think it should be a bit more relaxing with more time spent under a blue sky or the stars.”

“Hear, hear,” came the cheer but a bit louder.

“Now the good part, as we clear the tables our choirs will be singing. I understand they have some new songs as well as your favorites. There will be space to dance for any who want to. We know many of us have things to do early tomorrow so this will only last about an hour or so. For those who wish to hear and enjoy more, the entertainment district will be active for considerably longer.”

It was approaching 18:30 hours the next day when IHBC-12 contacted Dóchas. When Aoife saw the source of the connection, she mirrored it to their other ships. When the image stabilized they saw Dizantos, Trizalski, Egulle, and Orgaine. “I am told that we are ready to depart,” said Dizantos. He paused and then smiling he added, “Although some people seem to be a bit nervous. As we have said several times, we have enjoyed our visit and believe it has laid a foundation for working together. We look forward to having you visit our World at your convenience.”

“Thank you and we look forward to you visiting us again in the future,” responded Sarah’s Clan.

“As are we,” replied those on IHBC-12’s bridge.

“May the Gods and Goddesses be with you on your journey.”

“And with you,” they replied as the link closed.

Kathryn said, “I had the impression that some of those on the bridge wouldn’t have minded staying longer.”

“Well, being at rest in a System is pretty relaxed duty,” noted Chester. “Zyworki told me that he was staying to assist with examining the Durale ships.”

“Yes, both Zyworki’s and Antopolis’s teams are staying to assist with the evaluation of the captured Durale ships,” responded Terry. “In about 15 days, four Iridien Spec Ops ships will arrive. These are new ships for their teams. The crews bringing the new ships are to take the older ones to an overhaul base.”

“While I knew they were going to stay for a while, I didn’t realize that there was an overlap with the Lonstradaze visit,” said Mairia of Jackie’s Clan. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“We don’t see it as one,” replied Jill of Sarah’s Clan. “Depending on what they find, there is a small possibility that some of the Atewa and Monque fleets will still be here also.”

“What?” responded several of those in the link.

“It sounds like we need a discussion session. Captain Reyonte inquired as to whether we would have objections to them waiting for the construction team to arrive. My response was that I didn’t think anyone would have a problem with that. I did note that I thought it would be boring for the crew. He didn’t think it would be that much different to being on a cruise as the duty is pretty much the same. The advantage of being here is the possibility for planet side recreation.”

“Sounds like he was just testing the water,” said Brandan of Maureen’s Clan. “We are getting together tomorrow, correct?”

“Yes, right after breakfast,” replied Sarah. “We will know more of the Atewa’s and Monque’s plans later as they want to meet with us on the 14^th.”

“If there isn’t anything urgent to discuss,” said Siobhan, “can we continue this tomorrow?”

“This is nice but, it would be easier with all of us in one place,” added Bonnie of Molly’s Clan.

“Siobhan, that is a good idea,” said Katia, “as I think all of us have things that need our attention. If we take care of them now, we will be in a better position to focus on community topics tomorrow.”

“Agreed,” answered everyone.

“So we will gather at Central Square at 10:00 tomorrow,” responded Sarah.

“Yes.”

Sarah’s Clan was just sitting down to breakfast on Dóchas when Sue and James approached their table. Sue inquired, “Mind if we join you?” Just as she spoke Sam, Taysha, and Anneke joined them.

“Great idea, please do,” replied Joyce. “It has been a while since we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“Yes it has. It seems like there is always something that needs our attention.”

“Very true. How are the children?”

“Great. It is so much easier this time.”

“It is pretty neat having a brother and sister,” added Sam. “After being around them and interacting with your children, I hope that mine will be as good.”

“Well if they are like you,” responded Sue, “you won’t have any great difficulties. My difficulty back then was due to it being just the two of us, as that was well before I met James. Although we had some income it was barely enough to cover essentials. The other difference is that now we are telepathic which minimizes much of the uncertainty over when or why they need attention.” Then barely taking a breath she asked, “Is it true that the Atewa and Monque will be building an overhaul base here?”