Chapter 56

It was late afternoon when Rylie of Vanessa’s Clan reached out to Dóchas, “Maeve, do you have a moment?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“We are on IGN404. Secretary Dizantos, Admiral Trizalski, Commander Egulle, and their support staff just left to return to their ship.”

“What is your impression of their visit to the ship?”

“We saw a range of emotions that began with disbelief and morphed into anger. I think they would have spaced the procurement people if they had been within reach. They questioned Captain Ersatz and several other crew members. It was pretty intense. Based on their questioning it was obvious to me that Trizalski and Egulle had read Zyworki’s report. When Ersatz was with just Trizalski, Egulle, and Zyworki he told them that he thought that there were other ships being used like this one was.

“Based on what Trizalski said to Zyworki before departing, once we’ve finished unloading they intend to send it, and its crew, back to their home planet with an escort. If we understood everything, it seems that there have been complaints in the past from refugees regarding the way they were treated but there was never any evidence to support their complaints. Apparently the Secretary and Admiral are planning to immediately send a courier back with a directive that an investigation of the procurement office and the ship’s owner begin immediately.”

“It sounds like you heard quite a bit.”

“Well of course, we know quite a few of the details but thought you should hear things first from them.”

“Okay. Thanks for the heads up. Are you all preparing a summary of the activity?”

“Yes. It will be ready by the end of our shift.”

“Good. Do you know where we stand with unloading?”

“Probably another week, but it could be less.”

“Thanks. Anything else?”

“Nope. Signing off, unless you have another question.”

“Nope. Take care.”

Maeve looked at her spouses and said with a smile, “It will be interesting to hear what the Secretary has to say about IGN404 now.”

“Yes it will,” replied Janet.

It was several hours after the Iridiens had returned from their visit to IGN404 when Star said, “Aoife, Commander Egulle is seeking to establish a communications link.”

“Who does he want to include in the link?”

After a pause Star said, “He said, primarily your clan, but it is up to you. The topic is IGN404 and their visit earlier today.”

“Fine, establish the link.

“Command Staffs, you might want to monitor this.”

“Aye,” came the reply.

“Good afternoon,” said Egulle as he appeared on a monitor on Dóchas’ bridge.

“Good afternoon,” replied Sarah’s Clan.

“As you know we visited IGN404 this afternoon. It was not a pleasant visit.”

“It definitely wasn’t,” said Secretary Dizantos, with the expression of someone who had just swallowed a bitter pill. “We were shocked, appalled, and embarrassed by what we found. Its condition doesn’t come close to being what we were told it was. Based on what we’ve seen and heard it’s obvious that we were deceived. This puzzles us because those providing the information knew we were coming here. When we were reviewing today’s visit I remembered hearing of some previous complaints by refugees about their voyage on our ships. These were instances where we helped refugees move to another planet. Our Intelligence group is currently checking to see if we have copies of those reports here. It is my suspicion that those reports were not investigated. That will not happen this time as we have sent the data we have by courier to our fleet Criminal Investigation Unit.

“Also, our Maintenance Department has determined that the ship is overdue for a major overhaul. They are quite impressed with the skill your people exhibited in making repairs. From their perspective this went a long way toward avoiding a major malfunction, or something even worse.

“I hope you will accept my personal apology for the way that I responded to your comments regarding IGN404 and its suitability for the voyage here, as well as an apology from our World.”

“We will,” said Sarah’s Clan, “on behalf of all of us.”

“Thank you. Even though you’ve accepted it the memory of this situation will last a long time.”

“For our planning purposes, do you know how long it will be until the cargo is unloaded?” asked Egulle.

Maeve said, “The last report indicated that it is pretty close to complete, so within the next week, and probably sooner.”

“The current estimate is 8 days,” added Claudette. “We could complete it sooner, if need be.”

“That will be fine. As far as I know nothing has been said about the cost of using the ship.”

“True,” responded Rusty, “and that is likely a mistake on our part.”

“Several of us think that it is an indication of how much you trust us. Anyway, while our Maintenance staff was assessing the ship’s condition Admiral Trizalski asked them to estimate the value of the work you did. A preliminary accounting, which includes the services you provided during the voyage, shows that we owe you.”

“We find that difficult to believe,” responded Sarah’s Clan.

“I did too, but after looking the figures over I think they were done fairly. A key thing to remember is that the maintenance valuation was based on how our shipyards would have done it. A similar methodology was used for estimating the value of the contribution your people made to the operation of the ship.”

Seeing the expressions of Sarah’s Clan, Admiral Trizalski said, “We will be happy to show you how we did the analysis. While I don’t know the total value of the credit, it is substantial.”

“We were never concerned about the lease terms being fair,” said Rusty. “Our concerns were about what the cost would be and how we would compensate you for it. Mostly as a learning experience, we would like to have our staff review the estimate with yours.”

Maeve said, “I just checked with the group unloading IGN404 and they said definitely in 5 days, but it could be sooner if you need it.”

“That will be fine,” replied Trizalski. “It will take us longer than that to get everything ready. At this time we are willing to take the Durale prisoners when we send IGN404 back to our primary planet. We aren’t certain how we will do that, considering the number of people we are transporting and the security implications.”

“We have quite a few hibernation chambers,” said Alena. “They are the ones we found when we assisted Emprika.”

“That is an option we hadn’t considered, which was primarily due to us not having suitable units.”

“Well we don’t know how suitable these are. We can transfer them to the ship as we finish unloading. In a way it is an appropriate use for them.”

“How so?”

“These were in a shipping pod the Durale bandits dropped before joining in the attempt on Emprika. I know we have over a hundred that were in use when we found them. We are told that these units have just the basics.”

“Okay.” After a moment he added, “If you don’t want them send them all over. Our maintenance group can check them out and hopefully they won’t need any major work. It is likely that we will take enough for both the prisoners and most of the crew. As to compensation, how about salvage value?”

“That would be fine,” replied Sarah’s Clan.

“They will begin arriving in the morning,” said Claudette. “Considering the number you might need, there are enough that some can be used for parts.”

“Good. We’ll pass that on.”

“Is there anything else?” asked Sarah.

Egulle said, “We’ve had a chance to talk with our Intelligence group. They are anxious to begin interrogating the prisoners.”

Sally said, “They should have received notice but the interrogation will begin tomorrow morning. To keep the prisoners isolated we decided that it should take place on Carey, the large island where our gunnery range is located. It is a fairly desolate location.”

“I think that covers everything we had.”

“For us as well, it was good talking with you all. Have a great evening.”

“Yes it was. You all have a great evening as well.”

On IHBC-12 after the connection terminated Dizantos said, “Egulle, Orgaine, thank you for the advice. Trizalski, thank you for having the maintenance people carry out the cost analysis. That worked out very well. Has the courier left?”

“Yes,” replied Orgaine. “There were two packages, one to the Justice department and one to Fleet Criminal Investigations Command. Complete details, as we have them, are in both packages.”

Egulle said, “It would be better to wait a few days before you let your office know of the settlement you’ve reached.”

“I planned on waiting at least a week,” said Dizantos.

“Well I am surprised that they went along with our offer with no quibbling,” said Blewzinki.

“If I remember correctly you were claiming that it was quite a bit in their favor.”

“Actually, I was mistaken.”

“What?” said several of those present.

“I went back through the analysis and now think that their credit should be considerably higher.”

“It’s time for dinner,” said Trizalski. “After dinner show me how you’ve come to that conclusion. If it’s true, we can let it come out when we show them our analysis.”

“I wasn’t advocating us increasing it.”

“But we should, if it is justified, and they agree. This is not charity and we don’t want it to have any resemblance of charity.”

“I agree.” Seeing Trizalski’s expression, he continued with, “I did as you all suggested and reread some aspects of the reports we have on the Órarduine. Now, having participated in a video conference with them, and seeing our ship, the reports are more believable, much more. There are still some things, like telepathy, that I have grave doubts about ... actually I don’t believe it. Overall this is turning out to be a much more interesting trip than I expected, or that I’ve had in a long time.”

“I agree. However, my preference is that it not get too interesting...”

On Dóchas as Sarah’s Clan headed for their suite Erin said, “I expected a much more verbose apology.”

“Why?” queried Joyce.

“Because he is a diplomat, and I thought it was a requirement of a diplomat to be verbose to the point of being meaningless.”

Aoife said, “I believe he was sincere. Based on the reactions of the others we saw, I think everyone agreed with what he said.”

“I am anxious to see their cost analysis,” added Rusty.

“We noticed,” said Jill.

“I think we all are,” added Sarah.

It was approaching 14:00 on the 38^th of the Sevmonth when several of Sarah’s Clan entered the hangar on Dóchas. When Zoe saw them she said, “You all look nice. Did you remember to wear your personal shields?”

“Yes. Thank you,” replied Sarah.

Alena added, “Good, you didn’t notice them, ‘cause we were worried about that since this material is so thin.”

Melody of Zoe’s Clan said, “Depending on the light, and knowing what to look for, I can tell you are wearing them. Everyone working in the Central Square area, the spaceport, and dining area will be wearing them for the next few days.”

Seeing the expressions Zoe added, “We are just being cautious, very cautious.”

“Good,” responded Sarah with her spouses nodding their agreement. “Before we received your request we had considered wearing them, but decided not to because we met a lot of these people in Sol.”

“We agree with that, but there are still quite a few that we don’t know. On that basis alone we decided to have everyone wear them, as well as take some other precautions. While we think we can sense threats before they become apparent, this gives us a cushion.”

“That makes sense as there have been times we’ve had problems differentiating between what was said and what was meant.”

“You all look more relaxed than you were yesterday,” said Deborah.

Alena said, “There were several issues in progress over the last two days that now seem to moving towards resolution. The Iridiens agree with our assessment of IGN404’s condition and have proposed what seems to be a suitable resolution. They started interrogating the Durale prisoners yesterday. Based on what we heard they’ve found the meeting site acceptable. Now it’s just a question of identifying our mutual interests and determining how to pursue them in a way that benefits all of us.”

Zoe said, “Well they know how long we’ve been here so they should be quite happy with the arrangements. Do you know any more about their motivation for visiting so soon after our arrival?”

“Not really, although we do have some suspicions.” Seeing the expectant looks she added, “I’d rather not speak of them at this point.”

“Fair enough,” responded Deborah. “Some of us have our own suspicions regarding their intent. The good thing about having suspicions is that you can do a ‘what if’ analysis. I’ve seen those assist others in avoiding an inappropriate response and taking advantage of others.”

As they were talking their shuttle had left Dóchas for Tara. The shuttle AI said, “FOC at Tara Ardchlár just advised that the other Command Staff representatives are on their way to the spaceport.”

“Let them know that we are going for lunch first.”

“Aye.”

When Aoife saw Sally’s distant look she said, “What are you chewing on?”

“You could have looked.”

“I considered it, but thought you might want to verbalize it as I find that helps at times.” Their exchange drew the attention of their spouses and Zoe’s Clan.

“I was puzzling through Secretary Dizantos’ comments regarding IGN404 and what they thought was behind it. I find it hard to digest what was said. Why or how would our experience with the ship, and what they saw on it, fit with the complaints made by other refugees they moved. What am I missing?”

“The way I took it,” responded Maeve, “was that the descriptions of events from the refugees were a very close fit to what they found on IGN404. Why the delayed response? I think it was probably because those receiving the complaints discounted them as they were from people of marginal means who were getting a free ride to a new life. The other aspect is that we don’t know how many complaints there were, or whether the Iridiens had other warning signs. Besides, those receiving the complaints could have been involved in the kickback scheme but once the veil was lifted many of the pieces begin fitting together.”

“A good rationalization,” said Chester of Keriann’s Clan. “Also, bear in mind that Dizantos is a diplomat even if we thought his comments were very candid, in fact candid enough that his assistant looked uncomfortable at times.”

“We noticed,” said Calvin of Kathryn’s Clan. “I wonder why.”

After arriving at the spaceport Zoe said, “Let’s pick up the IPTPs (Individual Planetary Transport Platform) before we head for the dining area.”

“We plan on just walking around to see how things are progressing,” responded Elana of Kathryn’s Clan.

Erin said, “That is our plan as well but using the IPTPs means we won’t spend as much time walking between each location.”

“Good point, especially considering today’s agenda.”

Keriann said, “The downside is that walking between locations gives you time to think about things as well as meet people. However, with visitors arriving in a few hours the IPTPs are a good choice.”

Erin said, “We are going to take a look at the road at the west end. We know it is useable but it would be nice see how it turned out. We may also have time for a close look at how they are coming along with the fields.”

Oriel added, “I think that seeing the different projects gives the updates and summaries an added dimension, sort of like coming alive.”

“Don’t forget that we need to be back here by 19:00 to greet our guests,” said Jill.

Amy said, “After we eat we plan on checking out the meeting areas then visiting our office.”

“Is there an issue?” asked Sally.

“Not that we know of. The support staff for the three delegations finished setting up their office areas this morning. We did not hear of any issues, so we presume everything was acceptable. They plan on staffing their offices around the clock.”

“Interesting,” said Chester.

“It is,” added Erica with a smile. “I understand that a lot of the office equipment they brought was electronic. Their night staff are all bots, not that it makes any difference.”

“Are you sure?” asked Sally.

“Nearly so, why?”

“To me that means they’ve given them a lot more responsibility since Sol.”

“Maybe, either that or no one wants to work dusk to dawn.”

“Well there is that. Now that we have our transportation let’s go eat as we don’t have a lot of time to look around.”

It was shortly before their visitors’ scheduled arrival that the Command Staff representatives returned to the spaceport. Molly’s Clan was the last to arrive prompting Amy to say, “We were just about to remind you.”

“We felt you looking for us, but we were chatting with some recent arrivals and it was hard to get away,” replied Mirial of Molly’s Clan.

Several smiled as Crystal said, “I think we’ve all had that experience. So what did you learn?”

“That like the others we’ve talked to, they are very happy to be here as they feel secure and are reasonably comfortable. Several have admitted to harboring doubts about coming, especially since they viewed it as a decision that couldn’t be reversed. Besides that most of their reluctance was due to differences in cultures, in particular nudity and social structure. Surprisingly telepathy wasn’t a big concern, but that was likely because they didn’t believe it. In addition some thought that life here was going to be considerably more primitive than what was reported. They are now very pleased with what they’ve found.

“Since their telepathy is fully functioning they like the learning centers and think that they are especially good for their children. All seemed to be pleased with how they are contributing toward establishing our settlement. While not unhappy with their current work assignment some are looking to change occupations once our focus broadens. So, all in all their concerns were pretty similar to others we’ve talked to.”

Molly smiled as she added, “We had been chatting with them for a few minutes before they realized who we were. Fortunately by that time we had enough clues about their interests that we were able to restart our dialog, and keep it going.”

“Sometimes that is really hard to do,” said Eibhlin of Maureen’s Clan.

Rebeca of Kathryn’s Clan said, “To me that only seems to occur with new arrivals, and it doesn’t seem to happen as much now as it did right after they arrived.”

“We’ve seen that with all new arrivals,” responded Alena of Sarah’s Clan. “We attribute it to not being around them as much as we would be on a ship. Besides, some people have difficulty chatting on general subjects with those they see as being above their station, even if they don’t have any difficulty when it comes to discussing work issues.”

Tara Ardchlár’s FOC said, “Atewa shuttle on final. Iridien and Monque shuttles are right behind them.”

When Sean of Zoe’s Clan noticed the size of the crowd gathering behind them, he also noticed that Deborah and Rachele seemed to be anxious. He said to Zoe, “Did you notice the large crowd gathering behind us? Do we want to add more teams?”

“In a way we already have but you may have not noticed them.” Sensing that he was still puzzled she added, “They are in our link.” Then to their team she said, “Caoilinn’s Team will join us in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” replied several of the team.

“Zoe’s Team,” said Tara of Sarah’s Clan, “besides our drone there are three others monitoring the area. They are operated by our visitors. All are at an altitude of 100 meters and off to the side.”

“Copy.”

“Zoe, when did they decide to do that?” asked Deborah.

“Not sure, but I suspect that we are monitoring their feeds.”

“We are,” responded Security. “We offered to share ours but they didn’t seem interested.”

“Interesting,” said Zoe. “No one said anything about a perceived threat.”

“They claim they are being very cautious due to not being very familiar with how we operate. Some of us believe that they have recently been caught off-guard. Anyway, we are watching the watchers.”

“Good. Let us know if you see something odd.”

“Oh, we will.”

The Iridien, Atewa, and Monque shuttles parked a short distance from the waiting Órarduine. After a few moments the cabin doors opened, and like the Alliance’s first visit to Mars, the delegations exited their ships simultaneously. Once on the ground the three groups walked toward the waiting Órarduine. On seeing their visitors exit the shuttles the Command Staff representatives formed a line facing them. The crowd shifted to form a semicircle behind their leaders with Zoe’s Team on one flank and Caoilinn’s Team on the other.

When the Iridien, Atewa and Monque representatives were within a couple of meters of them the Command Staffs said as one, “Welcome to Tara Ardchlár, Isle of Gaillimh on Planet Ananu in Celia System.”

Atewa Off World Secretary Sagnoite said, “We see it as a great honor to be permitted to visit your new home and this beautiful planet while you are still in the midst of establishing yourselves.”

Those from Sarah’s Clan responded with, “We see it as a great honor for you to have traveled such a great distance to visit our small world, a world that barely exists.”

Monque Off World Secretary Baraska said, “We too are honored to be here. Our people are thankful for your willingness to so quickly come to the aid of those of us who were in dire need. Your deed will long be remembered by us.”

Iridien Off World Secretary Dizantos said, “We are also grateful to be here, and that our paths have crossed. We think that there are ways we can assist each other as we all journey into the future. It is our hope that we can identify some of those ways during this visit. Our people are very appreciative of the assistance you have given to all of us in one way or another.”

With that the two groups stepped forward and began to exchange less formal greetings as they introduced themselves. After greetings were exchanged the Command Staffs walked with their guests to the nearby transporters. Once everyone was on board they began moving toward Central Square, passing the crowd.

Laonize said to Orgaine, “This is a bit different than the last time we met them.”

“Yes. It is a much different situation as many things have changed.”

“I thought I saw some familiar faces among those with the Command Staffs that I don’t remember seeing in that setting before.”

“Who?”

“Well for instance, those two pacing us on those, I believe they are called IPTPs.”

“I remember them and you are correct. They attended our Sol41 open house as a part of an Earth delegation, but I don’t remember which one. Well I know that not all of Sarah’s Clan is here.”

“That seems strange.”

“For us I agree. However, when all eight clans are together it makes a rather large group.”

“Yes, it does. Do the representatives with you realize how these people interact?”

“At this point I think Secretary Dizantos does, as he is pretty perceptive. Why, do you see a problem?”

“No, not really. It is my impression that you’ve often worked with diplomats. Reyonte and I have only had diplomats accompany us a couple times. Those were visits to large established worlds, which was quite a bit different to this situation. By the questions they’ve asked us, our diplomats have gone over the information we have quite thoroughly.”

Smiling Orgaine said, “On that basis some of ours have as well, but there are others...”

“I understand. They have made much more progress than I expected to see.”

“I agree. I think it also fits with the plan they showed us at An Clochán.”

“True. It looks like we have reached our destination.”

Once everyone was in the meeting area Sarah, Aoife, Maeve, and Erin said, “This will be our meeting area, which is also where our Councilor’s currently hold their meetings. There are name plates for everyone and they are grouped by delegation. We ask that you place them in front of you so that we can address you correctly. There is a selection of refreshments on the side counters, please help yourselves.”

The Órarduine then went to get some refreshments before taking their seats. Zoe’s and Caoilinn’s Teams took seats along the back of the meeting area and were joined by the visitors’ security staffs. Once everyone was seated Keriann said, “We’ve exchanged lists of topics to cover during your visit. We see this afternoon as having two broad objectives. One is to become better acquainted through introductions at this meeting and then at the reception and dinner later today. The other is to review the list of topics and decide on tomorrow’s agenda. We are suggesting only one or two items for tomorrow as the first item will be an overview of our settlement activity.

“As to our participation, some of you have probably noticed that not all of us are here. This is primarily due to the high state of readiness our ships are maintaining. At each meeting or activity we plan to have about half of each Command Staff in attendance. Depending on the activity, those attending may change while it is in progress. There will always be several of our Security Teams nearby and not all will be obvious. Your security staffs are aware of this. With us today are Zoe’s and Caoilinn’s teams.” She then had them stand and introduced them, she continued, “We intend to introduce each team when they join us.

“Our sessions will be facilitated by one of our clans; each clan will take a turn at filling that role. We thought that this would assist you in getting to know us.”

Siobhan said, “Now let’s introduce ourselves again, this time we will include our responsibilities and other relevant information. Sarah.”

“My name is Sarah and I am a member of Sarah’s Clan. I am currently one of the Command Staff for Dóchas with specific responsibilities for Command and Astrogation. My background is in engineering, computer science, communications, business administration, and financial management. Our clan has just been installed as one of the eight groups who accepted the role of Celia Councilors.”

Each Órarduine followed Sarah’s example as they introduced themselves by giving a brief summary of their background. Once the Órarduine present finished, a holographic image of those on the ships appeared as they introduced themselves. When the Órarduine finished Reyonte nodded to Sagnoite who then introduced herself following Sarah’s example. The rest of the Atewa delegation followed her lead. With precedence established the other delegations followed in the order that they were seated.

Following the introductions Siobhan said, “Many of us are meeting for the first time, and it is going to be difficult to remember who is who, so none of us should be surprised when the person you are talking to asks your name. I can guarantee that we will.”

Calvin of Kathryn’s Clan said, “We believe that you’ve all seen the background videos on us. Are there any questions you would like us to answer at this time?”

After the Órarduine answered several questions Arenta said, “Calvin, we really appreciate the effort you are all making in trying to avoid misunderstandings. From what I’ve heard today I think each delegations’ medical staff can answer any questions on your physical makeup. I know who to ask if I don’t know an answer and I am sure my colleagues do as well, so let’s discuss our list of topics.

“While it is not on the topics list, some of my staff and I intend to meet with your medical staff. We had an excellent exchange when we met at An Clochán and are anxious to repeat it. I believe the Atewa and Monque medical staffs would also like to participate.”

“I am Captain Edivonize, Chief of Medical Staff and she is correct.”

“I am Captain Mandria and that is true for us as well.”

“Kathy of Kathryn’s Clan told us of your plans,” responded Calvin. “We think that seeing the overview of our current plans for establishing a home beforehand would be beneficial.”

“Oh, we agree,” they replied.

Edivonize added, “In light of that how about we schedule the medical teams to begin meeting after lunch tomorrow.”

“An inquiry was made regarding planet side recreation for your crews,” said Chester. “We have two suggestions. One is to join us in utilizing the recreation area we have here. It is in the northwest quadrant of this site, beginning with the 6 large tents northwest of us. In the afternoon and evening there is a variety of music, singing, dancing, indoor sports, theater performances, and similar activities there. All of these are spontaneous activities. Beyond the tents there are several fields suitable for outdoor sports.