Chapter 33

The Elders formed a circle and from all appearances began discussing what they had heard. Several times Dutzcak’s voice rose above the others as he expressed his view. This continued for nearly ten minutes before the group shifted to face the Órarduine. Dutzcak now stood in the center with Tcque and Putracq beside him with a hand on his shoulders. The other Elders stood quietly behind them. Dutzcak scanned the Órarduine before he began speaking softly.

Aine and her sisters smiled as soon as they understood his intent. She said to the Órarduine, “He is summing a God to assist him in casting a spell. The spell appears to be one that would compel you all to provide him with whatever he or his representative requests. We suspect that he will be surprised by the response he receives.”

When he raised a hand to trace a glyph, a booming feminine voice roared, “Denied!” Its volume and tone caused everyone to either jump or gasp. “You aren’t fit to use that spell.” The shocked look on the faces of the three Elders was priceless.

Goddess Canu and God Laghdha appeared near where Sarah’s Clan was sitting. Both were frowning at the three elders.

“What right do you have to tell me that I don’t have the power?” demanded Dutzcak.

“You asked for assistance from a Deity, and we responded.”

“But...”

“You asked for Gods assistance. You didn’t specify which God. This is our solar system. Do I need to make myself any clearer?”

“No,” he replied causing the other Elders’ frowns to deepen.

“Goddess, I don’t understand,” said a puzzled looking Putracq.

His response prompted Dutzcak and Tcque to, belatedly, respond in the same manner.

Canu looked at the three of them for a few moments then said, “How do you justify casting spells on the other elders? You were selected as a group by your families to look after their welfare while in hibernation. How do you justify casting that spell on those who rescued you, at considerable risk to themselves?”

“I would never...” responded Dutzcak then stopped as he couldn’t move.

Looking at the other Elders Laghdha said, “Victurcz, Mcdrequz, Utezc, Girluzk, Nuqarz, Parqz, Wurzick, you will no longer feel compelled to agree with Dutzcak, Putracq, or Tcque.” As he spoke, those named seemed to emerge from a dream and come back to life.

Victurcz said, “Thank you, Goddess and God. I would include your name but I don’t know it.”

Sarah injected, “We know them as Goddess Canu and God Laghdha.”

“She is correct,” Canu and Laghdha replied in unison.

Laghdha continued, “We prefer not to meddle directly in our peoples’ affairs, but in this case we think it would be better for everyone if Dutzcak, Putracq, and Tcque weren’t involved. One option is to deliver them to the Durale, which is what they intended for the rest of you. However, for now, we will place them on an island as there are likely others involved in this kidnapping. Once they have all been identified they could wake one day and find themselves guests of the Durale.”

“So you three arranged for us to arrive at the location where we were found?” queried Parqz.

No one responded until Canu nudged Dutzcak to speak. He said, “Yes. The Durale were to meet us there and lead us to our final destination. The Oreschre World offer for us to settle a new planet was a sham. The Durale, through an agent, made all the arrangements.”

“You’re an idiot,” shouted Wurzick angrily.

“So how many other are involved in this?” queried Girluzk.

“A couple of dozen.”

“Why would they want us to settle on their planet?” asked Mcdrequz.

“We weren’t going to their world, that part was true. We would have been settling a new planet.”

“Why? It still doesn’t make sense. What do you get out of it?”

There was a long pause before Dutzcak said, “Our core family would fill all the leadership roles there and ... I was to head the core group.” When he finished his face was red and sweat was running down it.

Sarah said, “If I may contribute,” she then paused before continuing. “Based on information we obtained from several Durale ships, they like to gain control of other breeds so that they can absorb their knowledge and technology. Typically, once they’ve gained what they want the breeds disappear. Based on this current event, they have apparently extended this to include inherited traits. In this case, we believe they wanted control of your breed so that they could add paranormal abilities to existing Durale abilities.”

“So you all know that many of us have paranormal abilities,” queried Victurcz.

“Yes. Based on what we’ve learnt we believe that nearly all of your breed has paranormal abilities. However, that same information indicates that people like Dutzcak and his friends have worked to suppress or block the abilities of many through their evaluation scheme. We don’t have enough information to be more explicit about that.”

As Sarah spoke Dutzcak, Putracq, and Tcque became very agitated as they were not pleased to hear what she had to say. At the same time Canu’s and Laghdha’s frowns grew until, once she finished speaking, the three Elders suddenly vanished, causing several of the remaining Elders to gasp.

Looking at the seven remaining Elders Canu said, “If you have issues with any of the other passengers, and need assistance in dealing with them, ask any of the Órarduine. We are certain that they or their special friends will assist you in finding a beneficial solution. As to those three, they will not cause you any more difficulty so you can forget them. If there are more like them, they will meet the same fate.”

“Thank you, Goddess Canu and God Laghdha,” each of the seven replied.

Turning to the Órarduine Canu said, “It is good to see you all again, but we didn’t intend for it to be this way.”

“We are blessed by your presence and your interest in us,” replied the Órarduine clans in unison.

“We aren’t sure if you are aware of all the issues that caused us to intervene. Dutzcak demanded God’s assistance in dealing with you all as he wanted you all subservient to him. He apparently thought he was calling an Oreschre God for assistance. However, even if he had, his attitude would have been a big liability. Since Laghdha and I are this system’s Deities, a request like that comes to us first. If he had invoked a specific Deities name then we could have forwarded his request to them. As to the spell he sought to cast, it was uncalled for considering the circumstances, and anyway it was not correctly constructed. Considering his skill and abilities he should never have had access to it in the first place. Having drawn our attention, we saw deeper issues in their group of families and that these could likely be resolved by removing these three and their associates.

“You all have much to accomplish, so we will be on our way.”

Together the Órarduine said, “Goddess Canu, God Laghdha thank you for your assistance and blessing us with your presence.” As they finished they offered a salute to the God and Goddess as they disappeared. Although the lighting didn’t change the room seemed dimmer after their departure.

It was several moments before anyone spoke or shared their thoughts. Victurcz said, “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.” The other Elders nodded their heads in agreement.

“It was unique for us as well,” responded Kathryn, “although we have spent some time with Them. They have three daughters who also live in this system. Their names are Cabd, Ariu, and Iodla. Their other children live in another solar system.”

Sarah said, “Our agenda seems to be in shreds and it is close to lunch time. Since there is more we need to review together why don’t you join us for lunch?”

After glancing at the other Elders Parqz agreed, “We accept, and after what just happened we are honoured that you would want us to join you.”

Victurcz queried, “Is there time for me to ask a couple of questions now?”

“Sure.”

“I sense that Jar, Blee, Winz, and Maz were holding back when they spoke earlier. Would they be willing to share their true feelings now?”

After looking at her friends Winz said, “Yes. We believe that the last two days here have been the best in our lives. We’ve learnt a lot. One of the most significant things we’ve learnt is that we do have paranormal abilities. This is contrary to what we were told after the paranormal evaluation in school. For a while I’ve suspected that I had some ability. During a discussion with our hosts, they offered us assistance in determining whether this was true. We can now converse telepathically, and it is not mind reading. I sense and see some doubting expressions, so...” With that the four youngsters floated several fire balls above their hands. When they pointed at the Elders, the fire balls floated toward the Elder that they pointed to. On reaching their table, the fire balls stopped and hovered for a moment before disappearing.

The Elders’ expressions indicated their amazement.

Next, the bags Tcque, Putracq, and Dutzcak had brought with them floated up in front of the table they had been sitting at. Winz said, “These belong to the Elders who disappeared. Do you need them?”

“No,” replied Victurcz, with the others nodding agreement.

“You’re sure?”

When the Elders nodded again the four snapped their fingers and the bags disintegrated and the resultant dust disappeared. “Is that enough?”

“You’ve convinced us,” said Wurzick.

“You all are very quick learners and that was very good demonstration,” said Sally prompting the Órarduine to applaud.

“Well your children are good teachers,” responded Jar.

“I am pleased that you have found people who can help you grow. I can also see that you are now truly happy and comfortable with yourselves. There are very few aboard the ship who could do what you four just did so easily.”

“Thank you.”

Looking at the other Elders Victurcz said, “Now that the blinders are off, I am not at all pleased with my past.”

Jar said, “What is past is past, now we have the opportunity to correct our misdirected destinies.”

“Well said,” commented Girluzk.

“With that, let’s go to lunch,” said Siobhan.

Later on their way back to Central Square Nuqarz said to Keriann’s Clan, “Lunch was wonderful. We enjoyed it, especially the opportunity to chat informally.”

Kelly responded, “Well we enjoyed your company. Gatherings like that are often a good way to get to know others.”

“Am I wrong in thinking that we need to change the way we fulfill our leadership roles?”

“We don’t know enough about your group to answer that, but do the others feel the same way?”

“I think so, but ... well it was Goddess Canu and God Laghdha appearance that opened my eyes to things I’ve never consciously questioned.”

“We have the time so why not raise the idea this afternoon.”

“I am not sure how to do that.”

“We are sure an opportunity will arise. On the other hand, is this something you feel needs to be addressed today?”

“No, not really. However, as we’ve talked I’ve considered things I’ve heard the other Elders say so I will speak with them later.”

Once they were all seated in the meeting room Judy said, “As we were walking over I was informed that the first group of twenty hibernation chambers will leave the ship in the next hour. Once these have been setup here and we have sorted out any additional surprises, we will begin moving the rest here in earnest.”

“Wonderful,” responded the Elders.

Jim said, “Before you go back to your ship today we will show you the accommodations we are currently using here. If they are acceptable then it will be fairly easy to create more at a rate similar to the rate that we bring your people out of hibernation. They are designed for 8 adults, with meals being consumed in the dining area. Speaking of the dining area, we would like assistance there with preparation, cooking, and serving.”

“Since you are using the same type of facilities the accommodations they will be fine for us,” responded Girluzk.

“Fine, but we will still give you a tour this afternoon. If you have concerns, please share them.”

Terry said, “Do you all have a diagram of how your families are related and the members of each?”

“Yes,” replied Wurzick. “We can give one to Cathan when we are back on the ship. We will go over them during the next couple of days looking for others who are potentially involved in us being here.”

“That could be helpful, but you realize that there is a significant risk of drawing the wrong conclusions.”

“Yes. Our idea was just to delay the probable conspirators release from hibernation.”

“Okay. Once we have had a chance to study how the families are related, we would like to talk about how the different families interact and the strengths of each. We don’t expect you to know everything but you do know more than we do. Besides, they are going to be waking up to a situation that is new to them. So knowing how they interact could assist us in interacting with them.”

“Ah ... you just reminded me of something Judy, Kathy, and I overlooked,” said Mégane of Maureen’s Clan. “When we wake people up in situations like this we give them a mood altering drug. It basically makes them feel good about the situation while not altering their perceptions or thinking ability.”

Grinning Mcdrequz said, “So this is to keep them from going off the deep end.”

“You got it in one. We’ve used this strategy before and it worked quite well. We do tell them about the drug once they understand their situation.”

“Good, that should make it easier for us to guide them.”

Victurcz said, “Winz indicated that you helped them grasp their paranormal abilities. While I don’t expect all of us to have their abilities, I was wondering if you would you do that for us also?”

“We would, providing you accept a full physical,” replied Kathy. “If we don’t dally here we can do that this afternoon.”

“That quickly?”

“Yes.”

Parqz said, “How do we compensate you for all that you are doing for us?”

Eibhlin of Maureen’s Clan replied, “Presuming the person speaks and understands Standard, your people could relieve their boredom by assisting us with many of our projects. Training would be provided and there are no general gender restrictions, although there are some jobs that have strength and stature requirements. However, assisting us is not a requirement for our assistance.”

Sally said, “As a part of our hibernation exit protocol we will show everyone our introductory video. It will be the one created for visitors who will spend an extended time with us. If you haven’t seen it already you should watch the longer version of this, and then the one we will show the others. Why? It will make it easier for you to answer any questions that they don’t want to ask us. We like people to ask questions about us as it gives us an opportunity to learn about them.”

Utezc looked at the other Elders then said, “We should do that this evening, we can then spend tomorrow going over the genealogy of the passengers.”

Sarah said, “We will hold a family meeting to discuss your arrival and its implications in two days’ time. We would like for you to attend, but it is not a requirement.”

“How can you do that with so many people?” queried Wurzick with a puzzled expression. “I haven’t seen any place big enough.”

“Magic,” responded Emma of Keriann’s Clan with a smile causing many there to chuckle. After a moment she added, “You are correct in that we don’t have a single location where we can all meet. Even if we did some folk would still be on our ships. Our solution is to use telepathy, monitors in work areas, and large video screens in common areas. That way everyone can participate. Each group location has a coordinator. So far it has worked very well.”

“Well I plan on coming even though I will miss the telepathic conversations.”

“You won’t.”

“Just let me know and I’ll be there,” said Nuqarz with the others indicating agreement.

“While it is not certain, we expect that some questions will be directed toward you.”

“I think each of us is more than willing to try to answer them,” responded Mcdrequz.

Sarah said, “Unless there is more to discuss here, let’s walk over to the Medical Center. Since our meeting is complete some of us have others asking for our presence, so only a few of us from each clan will accompany you. After the Medical Center we will show you the accommodations and the recreation areas.”

As they were preparing to leave Victurcz said to Janet, “I haven’t seen Winz, Maz, Blee, or Jar since lunch. I wonder where they are?”

“They are fine. Currently they are in the Learning Center taking assessment evaluations. Several of our children are with them.”

“I wonder what their plans are?”

“We will encourage them to keep you informed. As to them continuing to stay on Dóchas, there is plenty of room so from our perspective whether they do or not is their choice.”

Jill added, “Now if you need their assistance, ask them. When you do, you may get help from more than just those four.”

“Aren’t your children younger than them?”

“In years, it is hard to say since we’ve lived with three different calendars. In terms of elapsed time, probably not much younger, but in terms of experiences they are likely older. We suspect the latter is due to spending most of their lives on a spaceship or in a similar environment.”

“Just from the short time I’ve seen them, I agree with you. The reason I asked about age is because I was trying to relate appearance to age.”

“That may be difficult to do. We live a long time and aging tends not to show until very late in life. Currently none of us are past the half way mark of a typical life span.”

“Just how long is a typical life span?”

“We believe that it is between 170 and 200 years. A part of the uncertainty is due to changing calendars, but we really won’t know until some of us begin to die because they’ve reached that time.”

“Interesting.”

That evening when the children joined their parents for dinner Keri said, “How was your afternoon?”

Several of the clan laughed before Sarah said, “Much different than the morning.”

“I gather Judy is at the Medical Center.”

“Yes. They had a few issues in bringing the first few of the visitors out of hibernation. We understand that those issues have been addressed.”

“What happened?” asked Winz.

“They aren’t sure exactly how it happened but unfortunately a few died before they found a solution. Once they’ve fully sorted their protocol they plan to do a critical review of the hibernation unit’s software.”

“So the units killed them.”

“Essentially, yes.”

“And the solution was?”

“Jade used a different command set to initiate hibernation exit than the one in the units’ programming, so for the time being they are using Jade’s command set. They are also bringing down the hibernation units we recovered on the journey here. Once they are here and set up the patients will be transferred to these units for a short time before beginning the exit procedure.

“Why don’t you go get your food? Then we can discuss todays’ events.”

“Good idea, as I hear Kennith’s stomach growling.”

“It wasn’t mine. It was yours.”

“Not me. I would never make a noise like that,” said Winz. Everyone began laughing when they heard her stomach growl and she blushed.

After the children left to get their food Alena said, “They seem to be quite relaxed.”

“They are,” responded Alison. “I think the two groups mixing together the way they are is a good thing.”

“What happened to the other children they were interacting with as I haven’t seen them around recently?” asked Claudette.

“Oh they still see them, but it is only occasionally these days as they now seem to have different interests.”

When the children rejoined them Deirdre asked, “So what happened after lunch?”

“We discussed the issues relating to them living amongst us for a month or so,” replied Sarah. “All of them had their physical and psionic evaluation. They were all pleased with the results. We think their happiness with the results was primarily due to discovering the scope of their abilities. Each had at least one surprise, and yes their capabilities had been partially suppressed. After what happened this morning I don’t believe any of them were surprised to learn that.”

“So what happens now?” asked Jar.

“Considering everything that has happened, you need to be a little more precise.”

“Do we have to move back to the ship? Can we begin regular sessions in the Learning Centers?”

“No you don’t have to move back to the ship; however you should stay in contact with them. We don’t see any reason to keep you from using the Learning Centers. How were your assessments?”

“Eye opening. A wake up call.”

“They weren’t that bad,” chided Iris. “It was mostly our technology stuff that gave you difficulty.”

“True. I am looking forward to learning more.”

“We all are,” said Maz, with Blee and Winz nodding.

Aoife said, “Tomorrow, the Elders are sorting out family trees for the passengers. You all might take a gander and see if they could use your help.”