Chapter 22

Sarah’s Clan returned to the bridge on Dóchas after seeing Ariu, Aine, and Morrigan depart after a tour of the ship. Although the three left together Ariu was returning home while Aine and Morrigan returned to Tara to enjoy the celebrations.

After they had checked the ship’s status Maeve said, “Now that we’ve spent several hours with Ariu I am more comfortable with the concept they’ve proposed.”

“Aine’s initial concern surprised me,” responded Aoife. “Having spent time with them today it appears that she is no longer worried. Interacting with them in the manner Ariu and her sisters suggested will be interesting.”

“Why?” queried Joyce.

“Because the proposed relationship is so very different from any we’ve known or read about.”

“True.”

“I wonder how the rest of our family will learn of Their presence, and how they will respond, as They are quite different from those they may have worshiped in Sol.”

“I don’t think that that will be a problem as it will be a new relationship, especially with how They are proposing that we interact with each other.”

Maeve said, “Aoife, I see why you are concerned, but I think you’ve overlooked the impact of how we share information within our family. As our population grows we will likely segment into groups with a particular outlook. I don’t see the differences in the way we communicate growing to the point that it negatively affects our overall unity.”

“I am sure some visitors from other Worlds will try to exploit any such differences.”

“Well, as long as we have a good responsive leadership we should be successful, but only time will tell. Besides, They’ve indicated that They have a unique view of the fabric of time and destiny, so if we as a family listen and consider Their advice then ... we will prosper.”

“I agree. The times we’ve meditated as a Clan and looked at those aspects, we’ve seen them as a very complex matrix. I now wonder if our view is the same as Theirs.”

“A topic to raise when we meet.”

Jill said, “To change the subject, when do we want to tell the children about the Retreat?”

“Actually,” responded Sarah, “we ought to tell them tomorrow morning and ask them to keep it confidential. At our evening meeting tomorrow we can announce both the Retreat and that our alternates will be in command during our absence.”

“That will be a new experience for many. So, I take it that They’ve met everyone.”

“Not yet. But They will have by the time we make our announcement.”

Star said, “How will you handle your connection with me? Before you answer, I would like to say that I was very impressed with Her. From what you’ve shared regarding your meeting with Them I think that you will find the Retreat very interesting.”

“My spouses may disagree,” said Tara, “but I think you ought to maintain a link with us to the extent that you can sort of listen, that is if you can isolate that link from everyone else.”

“I think that is a good idea,” responded Aoife.

“We agree,” added their spouses.

“I can do that, presuming the current activity level.”

Sarah said, “Since all the Councilors will be out of touch with the family it will give us a chance to see how well our alternates do when we are not nearby.”

“They will all do fine,” replied Star.

“We have no doubts,” replied the Clan. “However, it will be a bit different to other times as we won’t be readily accessible.”

“Good point.”

Muireann queried, “Sarah’s Clan, do you have a few moments?”

“Sure, what’s up?” responded Erin.

“We think we have enough data on the watch ships to correctly identify their sponsors. Should we share this with the Atewa and Monque?”

“Probably, where are they from?”

“It looks like one is Iridien. Well let me clarify that, the ship was made in the Iridien World but it has no markings. There is one ship from each of the Oreschre, Tigsu, and Watsua Worlds. Today we identified a new arrival, which based on its external markings is from the Dutsuz World. This is a total of five but there could be more so we are continuing to look.

“The probable Iridien ship and the Dutsuz ship are being closely monitored.”

“As to sharing, Captain Laonize knows that we’ve found watch ships in the System. When we saw her earlier today she was concerned about the late arrival of a convoy. During the time she was with us she received a message letting her know that it would be arriving in a day or so.”

“Both Worlds have had issues with convoys not arriving on schedule. Apparently this has always been a problem. Although by what they’ve said it seems to have become more of an issue recently. We do know that they’ve considered sending escorts with them. Instead they decided to give the convoy commander a selection of routes with multiple legs and let him make the choices.”

“Sounds complicated and could make rescue difficult, if not impossible.”

“Well they think it has helped to reduce hijacking. Another aspect of their problem is that some ships are not being adequately maintained. Flexible routing doesn’t solve that issue; in fact it could make it worse.”

“Have you bugged the watch ships?”

“It is planned. Do you want to share anything that we get from that?”

“Only if we are asked if we have more information on them. As to the rest, we don’t see any problem with sharing. This may be an opportunity to learn more about their commercial shipping issues as at some point that information could be quite valuable.”

“Looking into the future again?”

“Yes. However it will be some time before we have a commercial fleet.”

“When we meet with the Atewa and Monque in the morning we will share what we’ve found and see what else we can learn.”

“Have you gone to the celebration yet?”

“No. We are going down in a couple of hours. I understand it is as much fun as Landing Day was.”

“It is. Have a great time!”

“Thank you. We will do our best.”

After dropping the connection Rusty said, “The watch ship sponsors are from everyone in the Alliance that we’ve had some form of contact with. So is that good or bad?”

Janet said, “Well based on what Captain Laonize said, I think it is neither. They are just seeking firsthand information on the activity in this System.”

“Since this is a closed system, perhaps their focus is on what their fellow members are up to,” noted Alena. “I am not implying that we should ignore their presence. Perhaps we need to reciprocate. Of course that presumes we have the resources to do so.”

Sally said, “From an intelligence aspect it is a good idea. However, unless we have a specific concern I see no need to rush into doing it. In any case we should wait until manufacturing is fully operational.”

“Now, it is time to exercise,” said Sally. “Since we are at minimum staffing let’s exercise and eat in shifts.”

Alison said, “While I agree with doing our exercises and letting our milk down in shifts, we could all eat together here.”

“Suits me,” replied her spouses.

On the 6^th Aine joined them as they were boarding Alpha 1 for their trip to the Retreat’s location. “Good morning,” said Sarah’s Clan.

“Good morning,” she replied with a smile. “Are you all ready for this?”

“Yes, but we do have some concerns,” responded Aoife.

“Isn’t this Retreat an effort to sort them out? But before we get into that, are we ready to depart.”

“Yes,” replied Sarah. “Briana’s Clan, we are preparing to depart for the Retreat.”

“Have a great time,” they replied.

Briana added, “Let us know when you are on your way back.”

“Aye. We will.”

Aine said, “Alpha1 AI, depart as if we were going to Carey. On reaching the coordinates for the base and at Flight Level 46, turn to a heading of 280 degrees. Our destination is 5,484 km from Carey.”

(Note: Ananu Flight Levels are in 100 meter increments so 46 = 4,600 meters or ~15,000 feet)

“Aye.”

“Where are we going?” asked Keri.

“Initially to a high mountain valley, it is then just a short walk to our destination, or so I’ve been told. Originally the plan was for us to teleport directly to the location but your hosts thought that getting there this way might be a better choice.”

“Can we show the flight plan on the monitor?”

“Sure,” replied Aine.

“So who are our hosts?” queried Kennith.

Smiling Alena said, “We haven’t said because we were asked to keep that to ourselves. Now that doesn’t seem necessary, besides, you’ve probably already met some of them.”

Iris said, “Would one of them be the woman who went dancing with you at the celebration?”

“Yes. Today we will meet the rest of Her family. We think that They are pretty special people.”

“They are,” added Aine with a smile.

“They must be, for all of us to be making this trip,” responded Moya. “How long will we be there?”

Sarah said, “At least until tomorrow afternoon. Why?”

“Just curious.” Glancing out the window she gasped when she saw two other shuttles. “I guess I know why Maureen’s Clan wasn’t very upset when we told them that we would be gone for a few days.”

“Why?” asked Iris.

“Take a look out the window. It looks like our sister clans are coming with us.”

As several adults chuckled Maeve said, “Didn’t you all listen to the announcement regarding this Retreat?”

“I did,” replied Deidre, “but I didn’t associate it with today’s trip.” The other children nodded their heads in agreement.

Sarah looked at each of her spouses and said, “Ariu is the name of the woman we went dancing with at the Founders Day celebration. She has two sisters named Cabd and Iodla. You’ve possibly seen them around Tara.”

“I saw Ariu with two other women a few times,” said Jordana. “I chatted with one of them and she seemed really nice. All three are lovely. It was the first time I’ve met anyone with grey eyes.”

“We agree that they are lovely women, in many ways,” noted Alison.

Sarah continued, “They, along with their parents, are hosting this retreat. Their mother’s name is Canu and their father is Laghdha. They have two more sisters and a brother and his family that we have not met.

Corey asked, “Are we meeting Ananu’s deities?”

“How did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“Well, they obviously live on this planet and no one has said anything about other residents. The three we’ve seen just seem to vanish and then reappear, which is different to the way Aine and her sisters move. In some Earth literature deities have grey eyes, and all of us are going to an isolated place for this meeting.”

“You are correct. They are this planet’s Gods and Goddesses. We’ve spent some time with Ariu, Cabd, and Iodla, as have our sister clans. This trip is to meet the rest of Their family and because They want to meet all of us. One purpose of the meeting is to discuss how we will interact and to outline some aspects of our relationship.”

Aine said, “Relax. Yes They are special, but you should interact with Them just like you do with us and other people for whom you have great respect.”

“But how do we address Them?” asked Corey.

“Just precede their name with God or Goddess. If They want you to address Them differently They will tell you, just as I’ve given all of you permission to address me as Aine. However, I wouldn’t expect that offer to be made, especially if it is in a group or public setting. As an aside, when referring to deities in writing the first letter of the pronoun is capitalized, when speaking emphasis is placed on the first letter. Communication is actually easier telepathically and They are telepathic. If you aren’t sure, then address Them as God, or Goddess, followed by their name.

“As I said, relax, just be yourselves and you will do fine.”

“We’ll try,” responded Corey with her siblings nodding in agreement but looking a little uncertain.

A short time later the eight shuttles settled onto a field on Ananu. On exiting the shuttles there were many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as the occupants looked at the landscape surrounding them. After a few moments Aine said, “The path we want to take is over here.” With that she and Sarah started walking toward it with the others, in groups, quickly following them.

They walked for about half a kilometer before they came to a gentle bend in the path. Once around it they arrived at the entrance to a formal garden. Beyond the entrance they saw a group waiting for them. Aine said, “Sarah’s Clan, I know you don’t often do this, but it would probably be easier for Them to understand family relationships if the children were next to their birth mother as you meet them.”

Aoife added, “Let’s also line up by when we joined our clan, so Rusty and Sarah are in the lead.”

“An excellent idea,” responded her spouses.

A few moments later Ariu said, “Good morning Aine and welcome. It is good to see you again.”

As Aine began to respond with, “It is a pleasure...,” her comment was interrupted by Ariu stepping forward and drawing her into a hug. After a moment she finished her thought, “ ... that I have been looking forward to.”

“I know. We will have a chance to talk later.”

“I will look forward to that but we can’t stay long.”

“We understand why ... but we will have the time at some point.”

Cabd said, “Ariu, there will time enough later so don’t hold up the line.”

“Fine, I’ll look forward to it,” replied Aine to Ariu before moving off to greet Iodla.

“Good morning, Sarah.”

“Good morning, Goddess.” As Sarah spoke Ariu drew her into a hug.

“Relax.”

“I will try but it is difficult at times.”

“I know. There will be times when our interaction will be more formal, but not this time.”

“I sort of expected this to be formal.”

“We thought that meeting informally would lead to a more open discussion and a relaxed atmosphere. Since we are being informal please refer to us by just our name as that form of address is quite acceptable in this situation.”

“That will go a long way to creating an informal atmosphere.”

They gave each other a quick peck on the cheek before separating.

“Ariu, these are my children.” With that Sarah introduced her children and as she did Ariu gave each a hug just like the one she had given Sarah.

“Now go greet the others before Cabd starts prodding me again. I think she is anxious for hugs.”

“Good morning, Ariu,” said Rusty as Sarah and the children moved toward Iodla.

“Good morning,” she replied as she pulled him into a hug.

“We heard your comment to Sarah, and thank you.”

“Good that will enable the line to move faster. Believe it or not there have been times when we have experienced similar uncertainties.” As she was speaking they stepped apart.

When Sarah and her children reached Cabd she said, “Good morning Goddess Cabd, with me are our children.”

The children then said, “Good morning Goddess Cabd.”

As Cabd drew Sarah into a hug she said, “Remember today is an informal gathering, so relax and enjoy your time here. We need you to relax so Mother and Father will. It has been a long time since they have been to a gathering, and never one like this.”

“We will try but this is new experience for us as well,” said Sarah before introducing her children.

Corey said, “Goddess, it is good to see you again,” as she was hugged.

As Cabd looked at each of the children she said, “Yes. It is good to be with all of you again. I hope our relationship does not change now that you know I am a Goddess.”

“We knew you were special the first time we met you. We just didn’t know how special. Now, I suspect things will change a bit but we hope our friendship will grow even though we are in different realms.”

“My sisters and I would like that.”

Sarah’s Clan then moved to greet Iodla with, “Good morning, Goddess Iodla.”

“Good morning,” she replied before giving each of them a hug. After she had hugged each of the children, she said, “While I would love to chat with you a bit, but we need to delay that as my parents are anxious to meet you all.”

“We will look forward to that opportunity,” responded Sarah as her group moved toward Goddess Canu.

Goddess Canu smiled when she saw Sarah and her children approaching. When they were close she held out her hands to Sarah and on touching her said, “Welcome to our World.”

“Goddess, this is a beautiful place,” replied Sarah with the children nodding.

“I think it is but then I am likely biased. Now, you’ve fulfilled the forms so it is acceptable to address me as Canu. Let’s seal the agreement with a hug.”

“Most certainly,” Sarah replied as their arms encircled each other. Sarah shivered as she felt warmth and serenity flow over her. After a few moments they separated and she said, “Thank you. It has been a long time since I felt a hug like that.”

“Thank you. I suspect we will share more of them in the future, and who is this with you?”

With that Sarah introduced her children. As each was introduced Canu gave them a hug. After Corey received her hug, with her face nearly glowing, she said, “Mom, Her hug gave me the same sensations I feel when you hug me.”

Smiling Canu responded, “Thank you.”

Keri said, “It felt the same way to me, but I was reluctant to say so.” The others nodded their agreement.

Corey smiling added, “If I hadn’t sensed what you thought of Her hugs I am not sure I would have made the comment.”

“Very perceptive,” noted Canu. “While I would like to spend more time with you all there are more to greet.”

The God Laghdha who was standing beside Canu said with a smile, “Now I get to meet the keystone of Sarah’s Clan.” He held out his hands to her just as the others had done. Sarah felt a tingle as their hands touched, then her senses were overwhelmed by the sensations she felt. To her it was just like when Rusty had hugged her the very first time. When He relaxed their hug it took a moment for Sarah to steady herself. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. The sensations I felt during our hug were almost overwhelming. It also triggered a memory of a hug a long time ago.”

“Ah ... would that be the first time you hugged Rusty?” He queried.

“Yes,” she responded with a surprised expression.

He smiled. “Good. I have to admit that both Canu and I were reluctant to have a meeting like this, but now we are very glad that our daughters were so persistent.” Before Sarah could respond He turned to the children and said, “So how do like this World?”

Smiling Corey responded, “Where are we? On the planet Ananu?”

He roared with laughter then said, “Ah, so you noticed. So what do you think of both?”

“From the little we’ve seen of this one it is pretty neat, but something seems to be missing. While it is a beautiful location, it doesn’t seem quite as vibrant as Ananu. Ananu is a great alternative to living in a spaceship and the need to be constantly aware of your surroundings. Ananu is also the first planet we’ve lived on with an atmosphere that allows us a lot more variety in our activities. Both Ananu and here are lovely places.”

“As to something missing here, there could be as this location is fairly new. Explore it while we are meeting with your parents. I would be interested in hearing how you think it could be improved.”

Seeing Keri’s expression change, He added, “But feel free to listen to our discussion if that is your wish. We can talk about this location later.”

“We are very pleased to meet You and Your family,” said the children prompting Sarah to smile.

“As am I pleased to meet you and yours, please help yourself to the refreshments while you are waiting.”

After meeting the Goddesses and God Sarah’s Clan moved further into the garden. They hadn’t gone very far when they reached a long table covered with a variety of fruits, cheeses, breads, and drinks. Behind the table they could see a fairly large bowl shaped area with seats at multiple levels around the sides. The layout reminded them of a theater in the round, although there wasn’t a stage. A short distance beyond that were two large tents. The one on the left was open and appeared to be an eating area. They guessed that the other was their overnight accommodations as the sides were covered.

When Siobhan’s Clan joined them several of Sarah’s Clan noticed a change in their inter-clan mind-link. This prompted them make a closer assessment of their links with the other clans. While their link with Siobhan’s Clan was now normal, and perhaps stronger than before arriving here, their connection with the other clans was very weak.

Tara said to her spouses, “I see you’ve noticed a difference in our inter-clan mind-link?”

“Yes,” they replied.

Aine said, “We think They did that so that They could meet each of you as if it was only you They were meeting today.”

“Aine is correct, and you all are very perceptive.” said Ariu. “I will admit that I had expected you to notice. We can talk about it later.”

Smiling both Sarah’s and Siobhan’s Clans replied, “Fine.”

Sarah added, “There wasn’t any concern about it on our part since it occurred here.”

Aine said, “As soon as Keriann’s Clan is through the line we will begin going back to the shuttles.”

“We thought you were staying for a while,” said Jill.

“Well the tea leaves are indicating that it would be better for us to be around the shuttles. We aren’t leaving the area and will be participating in the discussions at some point, probably toward the end.”

“Tea leaves?” queried Erin.

“Yep. We received a message suggesting that we monitor the shuttles while you are with Them.”

“If you need assistance, be sure to let us know,” offered Rusty.

“Thanks, but I don’t think that will be necessary. I probably shouldn’t say this, but if the suspicions are correct any disturbance will result in some people loosing credability. Besides, if it got to the point of us needing assistance They would become involved.”

“To change the topic,” said Sarah, “I thought Canu’s other children were going to be here.”

“Later today,” responded Siobhan. “They were detained by an issue in their World.”

Kennith said, “The food looks and smells very good. Is it alright for us to get some?”

“That was the offer He made,” responded Sally. “Let’s see what our choices are.”

Later, after greeting Jackie’s Clan, God Laghdha, Goddess Canu and their daughters walked with them to join everyone else by the refreshments.

Jill said, “The food is delicious.”

“Thank you,” replied Ariu and her sisters. Ariu continued, “Ann’s Clan was very helpful when I asked them about the food they serve. We like it as it is different from what we typically have.”