Chapter 39

"Sorry we're late," said Sarah's Clan as they met Lorelei, Earl, Virginia and Doug at the entrance to the dining room.

"You aren't," replied Lorelei, "as we just arrived."

After they exchanged hugs, the group entered the dining room and went to the serving line. Virginia said, "I am always amazed by the great selection of food."

"We can arrange for you to have reconstituted freeze dried stuff," replied Jill, chuckling.

"Thank you very much, but I'll pass."

Claudette said, "If we weren't able to generate a gravity field then there would be a lot of things that we couldn't do, and many we would do differently."

"Well I'm thankful for our accommodations. It isn't like living on a planet but living on these ships is something you could do for a long time."

"Amy's Clan and the other Connemare have been living on this ship for well over 100 years."

"We've talked to them about their experiences," said Doug. "They are all very thankful that their path crossed with your clan."

"Yea," added Virginia, "right after the incident their choices were pretty limited, and with time had become even more so."

"Waking up at where we came to know as Comrie," said Sarah, "was a tremendous shock, but at the same time none of us felt that we were in any danger. In fact we felt very comfortable, perhaps 'accepting' is a better word. Our easy acceptance of our new situation has puzzled both Amy's Clan and us. Although one characteristic we've always had is an ability to quickly adapt and act on the new opportunities facing us. We believe this played a significant role in our acceptance of the changes in us and our location."

"I wouldn't call some of those incidents 'opportunities'," commented Aoife.

"But you have to admit that the last nine Ó years or so have been very interesting," replied Sarah.

"They certainly have been," responded Aoife. "I find it interesting that nearly all of the people we've rescued or who have joined us have had at least some telepathic ability. Is it that ability that draws us together? Having said that, many situations appear to be the result of pure coincidence, such as J3."

"An interesting thought," replied Lorelei.

"I don't know that it is just telepathy," said Joyce with a thoughtful expression. "The Connemare were telepathic."

"True," replied Judy, "but from discussions with Connie and Betsy, we know our telepathic exchanges contain more information than theirs did before conversion. The difference is subtle but they think it is pretty significant."

"Several of the original crew commented that life as an Órarduine is much different to what it was before," said Doug. "The way they express it makes the difference seem like day and night."

Rusty replied, "In many ways, it probably is. Think about the differences between us and our interactions, and those you've experienced on Earth."

"Good point. From our perspective, the differences between us and humans are greater than they are with the Connemare. We share information and work together much more effectively than we ever saw anyone doing on Earth."

"I agree," said Lorelei. "I sometimes wonder if the way we get along and work together will last, or is this just a honeymoon."

"Well, we've been this way for some nine Ó years now, so I'm not sure what time frame you are using for a honeymoon," replied Jill. "Now we are pretty focused on establishing a new home and ensuring our security. After we've become established at our first settlement, the focus of our family and their activities will diversify. None of us expect this to change the way we interact with each other."

"Do you think those who joined us at J3 will stay with us?"

"I think it is pretty certain that many will," replied Terry, "well, at least of those who are now out of hibernation."

Judy said, "Actually, none of them have indicated any desire to return to their home world. Several have said that since being with us and seeing how we interact and get along, they want nothing to do with the world they came from. Some were pretty pointed about what they would like to do to those still there and it wasn't nice."

"We've heard the same thing," replied Lorelei. "I wonder if they realize just how different we are."

"Well Serarck certainly seems to. Their inclusion will be easier if they are all capable of telepathic communication. Once on the planet our physical differences will not be as significant but it will still mean that only Órarduine will be able to operate some equipment."

"With time that issue can be resolved," said Claudette. "It will be awhile before it can be addressed as it requires some pretty significant design changes."

"Those may not be necessary," said Janet, "if they decide to make the species change."

"True, but what about other immigrants or long term visitors? At some point we need to look at the issue. Although some don't think the species change is possible in some cases."

"Changing the topic a bit," said Lorelei, "we heard you were planning on changing the way you screen visitors?"

"A little bit. We are going to make more use of our telepathic ability in evaluating people who visit or travel with us. Our episode with some of the Tigsuma makes it pretty clear that we need to be more careful in evaluating visitors. One thing we will do is carefully watch a person's responses when answering questions during an interview. We need to be careful using telepathy in evaluating strangers as it can give us misleading impressions."

"What do you mean?" said Virginia.

"The images associated with a person's thoughts can vary significantly," replied Tara. "This is especially true when you add the complexity of multiple breeds, languages and cultures. We first experienced this when we met the Alliance of Worlds people in Sol system. Those circumstances were very different to those of the J3 people. We saw them as victims and of little threat to us. In hindsight, we should have been more thorough in learning about their backgrounds and motivations. It may not have alerted us to the attempted mutiny but we think it would have alerted us to the conspirators being of a different grouping. With that bit of information, we think we would have monitored their actions sooner and more closely."

"We were lucky this time," said Terry. "The death toll could have been much greater, but even four is too many."

Earl replied, "Hindsight is usually much clearer than understanding current events and what they are leading to. Even if you had been more thorough it doesn't mean that they wouldn't have deceived you."

"True. But don't you think we should be more thorough in our evaluation of visitors, especially unexpected visitors."

"I agree. I was just pointing out that even being thorough doesn't completely negate risk."

"Agreed."

"When is the sentence going to be carried out?" asked Virginia.

"Currently it is set for no later than 08:00 tomorrow."

"Doesn't the advance party leave about that time?" queried Lorelei.

"The first group will transition to FTL at 10:30 hours and we will follow at 14:00 hours.

Their discussion shifted to their plans for the settlement on A-Celia. Jill came back from the restroom and said, "Guys, it is almost 21:30 and we have a big day tomorrow."

"Wow," said Virginia, "We've really enjoyed visiting with all of you this evening."

"We've enjoyed it as well," replied Sarah's Clan.

Janet said, "Next time, let's do this in a more comfortable setting. These chairs become a little uncomfortable after a while."

"Didn't notice it until I stood up," said Lorelei. "But you're right, the lounge would have been much more comfortable."

"Can we do this again?" asked Virginia.

"Sure," replied everyone.

"We enjoyed it as well," said Lorelei and Earl.

"Virginia," said Joyce, "how are you coming with your telepathy?"

Virginia frowned. "It is coming along. Doug is better at it than I am. Well at least that is my impression. It isn't something I automatically do when communicating. I still tend to converse verbally like I always have."

"It is easier now than when this voyage started," added Doug. "It is still a response I need to think about beforehand."

"Good." It took Virginia and Doug a moment before they recognized that Joyce had switched modes.

"See, ... I ... can ... do ... it," replied Virginia with Doug grinning.

"Never had any doubts. Next time we should spend our time conversing this way. The more you use it the better you will become."

"Sure. We're game. We should have done it this evening," replied Virginia and Doug.

"Well, Virginia," said Sarah, "you're doing much better with telepathy than you were the last time we discussed it."

"Yes. But, I still need to think about doing it."

"It will come. Just keep using it."

Sarah's Clan hugged Doug, Virginia, Lorelei and Doug before heading toward their respective suites.

As Sarah's Clan walked toward the suites, Alison said, "Did you see the schedule for carrying out the prisoner's sentence?"

"They decided to use five Security Teams to monitor it. Right?"

"Looks like it. This will make it a quick turnaround for some of them."

"They will be fine."

"I know, but..."

"Well I'm ready for some rest," said Claudette. "Today has been a very tiring day."

"I agree but I think it is more than just today," added Judy.

"Okay a quick freshening up and off to bed."

"What no extracurricular activities?" asked Terry with a smile.

"Cuddling is enough for me this evening. Once we are on our way, then we can spend a day cuddling and stuff."

"We need to spend some time with our children."

"The last time we did that we lost three straight sets to them in volleyball."

"Yea, and it was fun."

"Yes, it was. Good night. Sleep well as tomorrow will be busy."

It was approaching 23:00 hours when Muireann said, "Darcy, are we set?"

"Yes. All the hibernation chambers are on the asteroid. As expected, they are already sinking into the surface."

"Okay. Standby, the shuttle with the prisoners is 30 minutes out."

"Aye, we see it on our display."

A short time later Edana said, "Shuttle has made contact with asteroid. Even as slow as it was moving, it slid until a support pad caught on a crevice."

Abbie of Caoilinn's Clan stepped out of the shuttle door as she said, "That was weird, landing with so little power."

"You did well," said Darcy. They waited near the shuttle for the rest of Caoilinn's Clan to exit.

"Using the air lock is a pain."

"Well at least you had an atmosphere in the cabin."

"True, but there wasn't much else." As Abbie spoke more of her clan joined them.

"How are the prisoners?"

"Still sleeping. We pulled the ends of the shrink wrap loose on two of them so it should be pretty easy for them to unravel it."

"The ghosts are ready to assist if we need them."

"Good. Think it will take them the allotted 6 hours."

"We shall see. I believe the 6 hours was sort of a guess. If they don't pause to get anything out of the hibernation chambers then events should proceed fairly quickly."

"Everyone's here, so let's board our cruiser so we can watch the monitors."

As they prepared to enter Darcy's shuttle she said, "Be sure you take off the covers on your boots before you enter the air lock. There is a bucket there. The surface slush is very sticky and dangerous when it melts."

"Yea, we certainly don't want any inside."

Inside their cruiser Caoilinn's and Darcy's Security Teams gathered around the monitors to watch the prisoners wake up in the nearby shuttle. They had only been watching for a few moments when the prisoners began moving around. They soon heard one say, "Get off of me asshole."

"Just how in the fuck am I supposed to do that?" was the quick reply. "They wrapped this plastic wrap so tight it is hard to breath."

"Not surprising. This stuff shrinks when it gets warm."

"Where the fuck are we?"

"Looks like the inside of one of their shuttles."

"Well, it sure feels good to be out of those fucking boxes."

"True."

"How did we get here?"

"Don't know."

"See anybody around?"

"No."

"Looks like we've been wrapped for recycling."

"Yea and it's hot. I was the last one so I got to watch them wrap the rest of you."

"Can anyone get out of this stuff?"

They struggled for nearly an hour before someone grabbed the end of the plastic wrap on another prisoner with his mouth and then rolled away. After several pulls, one of them got his arms outside the plastic and began unwrapping himself.

"Damn," said Darcy on their Badb cruiser. "I was hoping to send in the ghosts."

In the shuttle, the prisoner with his arms free quickly finished unwrapping himself from the shrink wrap and then began freeing the others. Once several of their leaders were free, they began checking out their situation while the others were released.

"Hey, here is a note."

"What does it say?"

"Your hibernation chambers are outside. You're on your own and we're even now."

"Looks like one of our agents came through."

"Now that is too bizarre. I wonder how they managed this."

"Don't know and at the moment I really don't care how we got here."

"It could be a trap."

"Fuck'em. What have we got to lose? Several of you need to put those environmental suits on and go get our supplies out of the hibernation chambers. The rest of you check out the shuttle. See what we need to do to get away from here. The sooner we leave the better off we will be."

"If we all put suits on then we can open the hatch rather than use the air lock. That will speed up moving the stuff in here."

Órarduine Security teams monitored the thoughts of the prisoners as they went about their tasks. Those who went out to the hibernation chambers worked quickly to get their supplies out of the hidden compartments. Even so, some compartments were inaccessible due to the units sinking into the icy surface. With several of the prisoners lifting, they raised one enough to open the access panel and remove the supplies. Even in the short time it took to remove the items the feet of those holding up the chamber sank into the icy methane. After releasing the chamber those lifting it had difficulty pulling their boots free. In their efforts to release their feet they managed to smear quite bit of slush on their suits, besides pushing some deeper into the crevasses of their boots.

As the supplies were retrieved they were carried into the shuttle. None of them took any time to clean the sticky slush off of anything before placing it in the shuttle. The slush wasn't noticed because it didn't accumulate inside. Since it was a warmer environment, what landed on the deck quickly evaporated or ran into seams before evaporating.

Once the accessible supplies were recovered from the hibernation units everyone returned to the shuttle. After closing the hatch they took off their suits, and in the process shook off more of the sticky dirt onto the deck. They never noticed that the "dirt" rapidly disappeared after falling onto the deck.

"Did we get everything?" asked the leader.

"Not really. We should have enough though."

"What? Well we'd better have everything we need or you're going back out there to get it."

"There is no point in that. The chambers have sunk so far into the icy surface that the access panels are blocked. It won't be long until they are totally inaccessible, unless you want to dig them out. We were able to lift a few high enough to gain access to some critical items. Others had sunk too far into the surface for there to be anyway to reach the access doors. We should have the parts for at least two workable communications systems."

"What about the shuttle?" grumbled one of the men.

"Everything looks functional. There isn't any communications gear. The skid plates are sinking into the surface but not as fast as the hibernation chambers did. The propulsion system is functioning but we don't know its capabilities, or how far it will take us. It should be okay for getting us off of here, especially if we can do a vertical lift. If not, we'll disconnect the skid plates and leave them behind."

"Okay, let's put together the communication gear. We need send the other group a message before they set out toward the coordinates the Órarduine sent them. Also, we need to tell them how to find us as this shuttle may not get us very far."

"Yea," said another, "but before we worry about that we need to put some distance between the Órarduine and us."

"No. We will just move so that this asteroid is between us and them."

"That is too fucking risky."

"You going with us, or someone else?" There was silence. "Okay, let's get those transmitters put together and set up."

The Órarduine watched the man giving the orders bend down and pick up an object from one of the containers. "What the fuck are these doing here? These were supposed to be placed in the Órarduine ships."

"We agreed to not use those aerosol bombs. Some of us were certain that the Durale drug would turn them into willing slaves, just like we saw the Durale do with the people we sold them. It looked so easy to get those nice ships along with so much prime meat."

"That is true, but these bombs were to be set up so we could set them off remotely if something went wrong."

"Well it did go wrong. If we used these even we couldn't go into those ships without a suit, and it would take a lot of work to remove all the slop created by the decomposed bodies."

"You didn't listen to me. The stuff in those will turn a body into a puddle of slime in two days at the most, but the agent quickly dies without a biologically active host. That is why it has to be used so that it reaches its initial host immediately, then spread by contact. I ought to use one on you to show how well it works."

"I'm tired of your bullshit. Just try it and you will be the first one I breathe on."

"Cool it you two. Settle your differences later."

"You guys sure dragged a lot of crap in here with these items."

"It's just water and some dirt. Look, it just evaporates."

"Perhaps."

"So, how soon can we get off this rock?"

"We're working on it," said those on the flight deck. "There isn't a primary AI so we will be flying manually. Fortunately there is an emergency check list."

"Okay. What about the transmitters we recovered?"

"The power cells are dead. We'll power them from the ship."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Well first we need to find some tools and wire. If nothing else we can get some wire from an unused circuit. Someone needs to figure out where we can tap into the ships power while we modify these units."

It was a couple of hours later that the two from the flight deck came back into the cabin. "We're ready to go. What are you guys doing?"

"Rigging up a power source for our communications gear, the fucking batteries died. We need to get power to them from the ship. Why?"

"Well the way you are moving it will take forever."

"Fuck you. I've got a splitting headache. This is the last connection. If it holds then all we need to do is connect it to the ship."

"Well, I've got a headache too. We think we can lift off as soon as you are ready."

"Great. Let's get this connected so we can send the message."

The Órarduine watched as the man working on their communications system slowly lift the plug toward the receptacle. Just as it was about to enter the receptacle, the Security Teams in unison told the prisoners telepathically, "The asteroid is covered in frozen water and methane. Sweet dreams."

The two from the flight deck jumped for the man with the plug screaming, "NO!" In their panic, they forgot the lack of gravity and flew by their intended target, instead ramming several others near the gear causing them to lose their grip on the transmitter. Due to the jostling the plug partially missed its target. The hand holding the plug jerked on the cord, partially loosening it from the communications device. Seeing what was happening, one person slowly grabbed at the device to stabilize it while another tried to keep the cord from pulling loose as the plug finally mated with the receptacle.