Chapter 66

The Órarduine were quiet as they looked off in the direction that the Deities had taken before vanishing. A few moments later they heard Star say, “Good afternoon Command Staffs.”

“Good afternoon,” they replied.

“It is good to have a strong link with you all again.”

“Well it is good to hear from you. How is everything?”

“About normal, although we’ve recently had a few incidents on our primary ships and at Tara. They’ve all been dealt with very effectively, however this has resulted in some concerns among the family.”

Terry of Sarah’s Clan asked, “What is the most serious of these incidents?”

“Probably the attack on Briana’s Clan by four large cats that strongly resembled Earth’s Saber Tooth tigers, perhaps a bit larger. This was the first sighting of any animals like them on the island. The puzzling part is that the Clan is fairly certain that they were lured to the location of the attack. Fortunately they effectively countered the attack and put the cats down.”

“Were they injured?”

“No. They are fine, well perhaps a little shaken up. Creidne and Fidelma assisted Briana’s Clan in the final stages of the engagement. Both of them praised the Clan for their handling of the attack.”

“What else?”

“For the last two nights there have been some dust ups in the entertainment area. Most of them occurred last night. These were the result of undesired physical contact between members of different breeds. A few of the construction crew don’t like being told ‘no’ and believe groping is acceptable and normal. This issue has been simmering between different groups for some time, but not enough to draw Security’s attention. The sudden increase in incidents is puzzling. In response to this Tara Security group has increased staff in the entertainment and recreation areas for tonight.”

Sarah scanned those with her then said, “We’ll stop by there this evening on our way back.”

“So you’ll be back tonight.”

Looking at the others before replying she noticed several were shaking their heads no. “Just a minute I need to check with the others.”

Joyce said, “We are at least 2 hours from Tara, plus they are 3 hours ahead of us so even if we left now it would be fairly late when we arrived.”

“I think we should discuss what we’ve learnt before we return,” added Keriann.

“Star, our preference is to return tomorrow afternoon due to the distance and time difference. We will stop at Tara and have dinner there. However, if there is an emergency then we will do what is necessary. Anything else?”

“There was an odd series of incidents on the Dóchas class ships and at our construction sites. Nothing serious occurred but resolving them was time consuming. The issues were different at each location. The oddity is that while they all appear to have been intentional there isn’t any indication as to who was responsible and in nearly all cases there should have been. It is very puzzling and has quite a few scratching their heads.”

With a smile Siobhan said cheerfully, “Gee, it seems like you missed us.”

“Well if your clans being out of touch leads to stuff like this then no one here will want you to ever be out of touch again.”

“Look at it this way, you all responded as needed so everyone should be very happy about that. You all just lived up to your capabilities that we know you have. As to the dust ups, perhaps it is the result of too many hours working and not enough time spent relaxing.”

“Some believe that that is a contributor for some of it, but the dust ups always involve the same group of people from the construction crew.”

“Anything else?” queried Sarah.

“Nothing that can’t wait until you are back and probably some of what I told you could have waited as well.”

“We appreciate the update, and we will see you tomorrow afternoon. We’ll send you an ETA when we depart tomorrow morning.”

“Good. We are all looking forward to your return.”

Once the connection closed Brandan of Maureen’s Clan said, “Looks like the bastards were busy creating mischief the last couple of days.”

“It would seem so,” responded Molly.

Sarah said, “Keriann, thanks for reminding me that we planned to discuss what we learnt before returning. Let’s go back to the meeting area for this discussion.” Everyone nodded their agreement and returned to the area.

After they sat down Jackie said, “Before we begin, I would like to propose that we set up our meeting area for the Councilors similar to this.”

“While I like this arrangement,” said Alma of Jackie’s Clan, “there really isn’t a place for visitors to sit so why don’t we add a section or two. We may also want to consider adding a balcony.”

“Aye,” replied the group.

Angie of Kathryn’s Clan said, “I think 2 sections. Also we should only sit as a Clan for formal occasions. I like the mixed seating as I think it makes communication easier, as it is easier to see my spouse’s expressions. With our links we know each other’s perspective on a topic but with the mixed seating it is easier to interact with others as well as giving us a different perspective on their thoughts.”

“Good point Angie,” responded Oriel of Keriann’s Clan. “While we can sense a person’s feelings seeing their expression is a lot more meaningful, even when I use my spouse’s vision to see it. I like Angie’s suggestion as she made some good points.”

Sarah said, “From what I am sensing we all agree.”

Jim of Amy’s Clan said, “We will advise site Engineering of the change.”

“Now, I think we have several things to sort out before we return. The first is, how are we going to respond to the issues apparently caused by the tricksters? Is any response necessary?

“The second is, what do we say about our visit here?

“To me those two points are key but another is, do we say anything about what is occurring on the 6^th planet? While I know we agreed not to mention meeting our Deities I have some doubts about taking that path. Primarily because, with very few exceptions, we’ve always been very open with our family.”

Aine said, “If you would like we can handle the trickster issue. We know from our travels that there are tricksters, demons, or similar beings, in other parts of the universe besides those alluded to on Earth. The incidents that happened recently definitely have all the earmarks of something they would do. From our perspective the likelihood of a repeat is reduced provided everyone continues to be as thorough in their work and continues to communicate. Our information indicates that, except for the four that Airmida’s group is dealing with, there are no others currently in this System or this galactic region.”

“Thank you. We accept your offer,” said the Órarduine.

Once they had sorted out how they would handle the issues they spent the rest of the afternoon with their children enjoying their surroundings.

Early in the morning they began the walk back to their shuttles. When they reached the garden’s entrance they all paused to look back at the site in the early morning light. Together they marveled at the beauty of the location before turning to head toward their shuttles in the nearby meadow.

They had just reached the shuttles when Deirdre exclaimed, “Wow!”

“What?” queried several people.

“Look behind us. The path to the valley of the Gods and Goddesses is barely visible.”

Sarah said, “I suspect that it will reappear for us when we return as They said that we were welcome return at our leisure.”

On hearing Sarah’s comment Earnán started back. Seeing this Rusty asked, “Son, where are you going?”

“To see if it will reappear when we approach.”

“Do you have any reason to doubt what we were told?”

Earnán paused then replied, “No, not really.”

“Then why do you want to test it?”

“Curiosity, I guess. I really liked it as it is a really peaceful and beautiful place. One that I wouldn’t have minded spending a lot more time there.”

“Consider this, by testing what you were told, some may see that as you not trusting those who made the offer.”

“Oh, I do believe in Them and what They’ve shared with us. It is a beautiful place.”

“I am sure that we will visit it again, so you have that to look forward to.”

“Okay.”

Siobhan said, “I wished I had looked back when we reached the bend, but my thoughts were focused elsewhere at the time.”

“I did,” responded Mirial of Molly’s Clan. “It looked just like it did when we arrived, except They weren’t there.”

“Well I expected that, I just wanted to refresh my memory.”

“I am more than happy to share my memory.”

“Great,” responded the group.

Once on their shuttles Keriann said, “So our plan is to take the scenic route back.”

Alissa of Molly’s Clan said, “Yes. But let’s take a look around the immediate area before we start our journey toward Tara.”

“Fine with us,” responded the other clans.

Brittany of Kathryn’s Clan said, “According to my calculations we have 4 to 5 hours that we can use for side trips and still be back well before dinner.”

“We’re for that,” responded Eleánóir of Keriann’s Clan.

“We’re in,” replied the other clans.

“We need to verify that we have enough fuel for the additional flight time,” said Claudette.

“Aye,” they replied.

Each confirmed their fuel status then confirmed, “We’re good to go.”

After lifting off the eight shuttles shifted to a modified V formation. With this positioning they would need to make wide turns when changing directions but it gave everyone an almost unobstructed view of the surrounding landscape. After looking over the area around the valley they turned in the general direction of Tara to begin their return journey. Their altitude was low enough that the terrain below them was distinct, but high enough that it wasn’t a blur.

They had only been in the air for about an hour when the tactical threat alarm began sounding on all shuttles. At the same time the AIs said, “Attention, sensing active weapons scans. Aircraft approaching from our rear.”

Keriann responded immediately, “All shuttles, shields up, now!”

While the shuttle AIs complied, preparations began in the cabins. The two normally on the flight deck closed their survival suits as they hurried to their positions. The other adults helped their children with their survival suits before finishing with their own.

On the flight deck Sarah said, “Dóchas FOC, this is DSTA01 with the Command Shuttles. We are being approached by 8 bogies. Sensors indicate that their weapons are hot.”

“DSTA01 copy 5 by 5. Understand you’re being approached by ships with hot weapons.”

“Aye.”

“Your location is?”

“We are 5,150 km West of Tara at 400 meters heading East at 300 km/h.”

“Our scan is showing a group of 8 objects with unknown IFFs at those position parameters. Two flights of Star Fighters were dispatched to identify them.”

“Why are their weapon systems active? At their current range their sensors should have identified us without the need for the IFF.”

Hearing the exchange Keriann said, “All shuttles. IFF off! Invoke cloaking now!

“All shuttles, execute sweep to starboard. Initiate descent immediately to 200 meters at maximum rate. At 200 meters reduce speed to 200 kph.”

“Aye,” replied the shuttle AIs.

After a few moments Dóchas FOC said, “DSTA01, the Star Fighters report loosing contact with unknown IFFs. All of them are reporting that their weapon’s lock will not reset.

“Our scans are not showing the 8 unknown IFF signatures.”

Keriann replied, “Aye, Dóchas FOC, this is ISTA01, Keriann in Command. We’ve initiated defensive response.

“As to the fighters, recommend diverting them to the weapons range at Carey as that is the only place where they can easily be serviced while their weapons are active.”

“Aye. Will advise them of your directive. All FOCs are now linked in.”

“Aye. We’ve deactivated our IFF. We will reset those systems then advise you when that is complete. Meanwhile we remain cloaked.”

“Aye.”

Rusty said to the other shuttle Commanders, “We will recycle our navigation system then reset it to the coordinates of when we arrived at the meadow.”

Aine said, “If you are concerned about losing those coordinates, don’t be, as we have them saved.”

“In that case we should reset the system to when we departed for the trip here. AI, do you agree?”

“Aye that will work, but I don’t understand why the IFF would be incorrect.”

“Although we might be jumping to conclusions, our current suspicion is that it was due to some mischief by the tricksters.”

“I’ve heard them mentioned, but I don’t really understand what is meant by ‘tricksters’ or who they are. Initiating navigation power down sequence.” Several minutes later, she said, “No errors on power down. Restart initiated.”

A few minutes later she said, “No errors on restart. Restoring configuration.” There was a pause then, “IFF activated.”

Sarah said, “Dóchas FOC. DSTA01, our IFF has been reset. What do you see?”

“An IFF for the DSTA01 Dóchas Command Shuttle near where we saw the unidentified craft.”

“Good, ‘cause that is us.”

“Well, come on home.”

“We are. We will be there this evening. Our first stop is Tara.”

DSTA01 AI said, “Star Fighters are departing.”

Sarah said, “Command Staffs, power cycling our navigation system has cleared up the IFF issue.”

“We heard,” replied Keriann. “We are resetting ours.”

Keriann’s comment was followed by similar responses from the other shuttles.

Several minutes later Dóchas FOC said, “Command Staffs, the shuttle IFF codes now identify you as our Command Shuttles. Advising other locations of your status and location.”

“Aye,” they replied.

“We’ve sent another flight of Star Fighters to verify your identity. Before departing they checked their weapons systems.”

“You should alert weapons maintenance of the issue,” said Kelly.

“We have.”

Eileen of Siobhan’s Clan said, “Dóchas FOC, as a starting point weapons maintenance should focus first on where the first 2 flights of Star Fighters have been for the last 3 days.”

“So you think this might be related to the other recent incidents?” queried James.

“Wow, you linked in quickly.”

“Well we are all a little edgy at the moment. Even more so when we heard that you all had issues.”

“To answer your question, we don’t know if we can prove it but we suspect that there is a very high probability of them being related. We can discuss it when we get back.”

“Fine.”

With the IFF issue resolved Keriann said, “We should drop our cloaking and get back on course.”

“Aye.”

“But with heightened monitoring of our surroundings,” added Chester.

“Definitely,” they replied.

The group had travel a little of 200 km when they heard, “DSTA01, this is ISFG01 approaching on your port for a visual id of your group.”

“Aye, we see you,” replied Sarah.

“Iarracht FOC, ISFG01 has group with DSTA01 in sight. All IFF ids are correct for the 8 ships.”

“Iarracht FOC, copy. Return to original assignment.”

“ISFG01 executing. Command Staffs, have a pleasant flight and we are glad you’re back.”

“Thanks,” the Command Staffs replied.

It was a few minutes later when Calvin of Kathryn’s Clan said, “I am having difficulty understanding why the first 2 groups arrived with their weapons active. Everything else seemed to follow procedure.”

“As far as we can tell no one attempted to contact us,” added Kelly. “So do we have a protocol problem or was it part of the sabotage?”

Chester replied, “We need the relevant groups to review what happened and identify whether any corrective measures are needed.”

Joyce said, “While all that maybe true, we did not check in with an FOC before we lifted off nor did we specifically advise Star of our ETA.” Sensing several folk were about to respond she added, “We told Star that we would and we do it around the ships, Gaillimh, and Carey. I know that this is mainly due to traffic but it would be a good idea for us to do it all the time.”

“Good point,” said Keriann. “I have to admit I thought about it as we were walking back but obviously didn’t say anything and forgot about it.”

“Do you know what prompted the thought?” queried Melissa of Siobhan’s Clan.

“Hmm ... because we hadn’t communicated with anyone except Star since leaving the vicinity of Carey.”

“Don’t the Shuttle AIs maintain contact?”

“Usually,” responded the AI on Keriann’s shuttle, “however it is not required. We didn’t this time because our impression was that you wanted minimal contact while you were with Them.”

Chester said, “Before we say anything, once the dust settles, we need to review what happened.”

“Agreed,” they all replied.

Molly said, “Calvin, I am sure glad we followed your suggestion and beefed up the defensive array on these shuttles.”

Smiling he replied, “Thank you for the compliment but I am disappointed that we needed to use it.”

“Should we upgrade our shuttles to have the capabilities of our cruisers?” queried Mairia of Jackie’s Clan.

He immediately said, “No, there is really no need to take that step. Besides, it would be obvious and that would send the wrong message to our family and those visiting us.”

“Yea, but today was scary.”

“Yes it was, but remember the old adage, ‘life is boring except for those moments of moderate to sheer terror’. As for me, I’ve had my share of the latter.”

“We are missing seeing the scenery,” said Kathleen of Molly’s Clan.

“I’m not,” responded Brittany of Kathryn’s Clan. “I’ve noted some coordinates for us to come back to and have a closer look.”

“So have I,” added Kaitlin of Maureen’s Clan.

Taking the hint everyone sat back and relaxed as they watch the scenery pass by. Occasionally they would slow their speed to have a better view of the landscape. Several made notes of especially interesting areas that they felt were important to explore. At lunch time they landed on a wide beach to give everyone a chance to stretch and walk around.

After they were underway again Siobhan said, “Amy’s Clan, how are the cartographers coming along with mapping the planet?”

Donna said, “Not as fast as we would like. It is considerably more complicated than we originally thought it would be but they have made good progress. Unfortunately they’ve had to redo some of the map of Gaillimh Island but that is nearly complete. Their next focus will be Carey and then the general outlines of the continents where we’ve identified major landmarks. The general outlines will be just that and won’t have any detail except for the immediate area around our installations.”

“Can they show us what they have? Perhaps a better option would be to make it available on our net then update it as more details are finalized. I was thinking along the lines of the maps some of us had in school. Those gave you a perspective of where you were in relationship to other things on the planet, along with a general outline of the continents and major tributaries.”

“I think that is what they plan to do, but we’ll chat with them this week.”

“Having a map of the planet will likely prompt some to plan extended exploring adventures,” added Brandan.

“Those could be viewed as the vacation opportunities that we’ve been encouraging everyone to consider.”

“You know the forest canopy looks pretty dense in this area,” noted Colleen of Maureen’s Clan.

Caitlyn of Keriann’s Clan said, “I wonder if the dynamics between forested areas and grasslands are the same here as they were on Earth.”

“So far we think they are quite similar,” replied Amy. “Forest and prairie fires play the same role here as they do on other planets. As those on Earth are learning, over controlling them often leads to other problems which are then quite difficult to resolve. If a fire is too hot it destroys everything rather than having the rejuvenation effect that smaller more frequent naturally occurring fires do.”

Molly said, “So we need to consider that in our overall planning for the future?”

“It is already in the plan but it has a fairly low priority although circumstances could change that. One issue that should have more prominence in choosing a place for a settlement is the consideration of wild fires.”

Once over the ocean they substantially increased their air speed. It was mid-afternoon when the coast Gaillimh Island came into view.

Jordana said, “It won’t be long until we reach Tara.”

“Great,” responded several.

From the flight deck Keriann said, “Tara FOC, this is ISTA01, we are 30 minutes out.”

“ISTA01 Tara FOC ETA noted as 19:40 hours.”

“Aye. That is correct.”

“ISTA01 use standard Easterly approach. Enter pattern 100 km West of Tara.”

“Aye. Standard Easterly approach.”

“There are 4 transports ahead of you.”

“Aye.”

“There are 8 of you correct.”

“Aye. We will land by twos.”

“Indications are that several clans will be here to meet you.”

“Thanks.”

To those commanding the shuttles Sarah said, “We suggest that Keriann’s and Amy’s shuttles lead us in.”

“Suits us,” responded Keriann. “Let’s have Sarah’s and Siobhan’s follow us, with Kathryn’s and Molly’s in the third group. Maureen’s and Jackie’s will be the fourth group.”

“Aye,” they replied.

“Let’s shift our formation now.”

Thirty minutes later they were on final approach. They were only a few minutes from touchdown when ISTA01 AI said, “Abort! Abort! Abort! Runway obstructed. Abort!”

As he was speaking the 8 shuttles accelerated and began a climbing turning to port. Keriann said, “Tara F0C, group with ISTA01 aborted landing due to obstructed runway.”

“Aye. The second transporter was slow in moving to the designated area thus blocking the others. Circle around and use inner pattern. You are clear to land.”

“Aye. Inner pattern, rapid descent.”

“Aye.”

It wasn’t long before the Command Shuttles were parked in their designated area. As they were getting ready to exit Keri said, “Moms, Dad, we would like to return to our ship.”

“Fine,” replied Sarah. “We are planning on having dinner here then visiting the entertainment area for a short time.”

Keri then said to the others, “We are heading back to Dóchas. Your children are welcome to come with us.”

“Cool,” replied several children. “We’ll take you up on the offer.”

Grinning Kathryn said, “So you think we are going to be here longer than we indicated?”

“We think it is a possibility, which is one reason we would like to continue on home. Besides, we can talk more freely there.”

Anna of Siobhan’s Clan quickly added, “This is because we want to discuss the events of the last few days. All of you are welcome to listen in. It definitely wouldn’t surprise us if your return is delayed longer than you are anticipating.”

“Reading tea leaves again?” queried a smiling Aoife.

“Not that I am aware of,” Anna responded before sticking out her tongue.

Sarah said, “DSTA01 AI, hold at Dóchas rather than return.”

“Aye. I will remain ready for an immediate return if needed.”

“Fine.”

“Sarah,” said Maureen, “Colleen, Crystal, Courtney, and I are going up to our ship with the babies.”

Marnia said, “We don’t mind them coming with us.”

“We know and we appreciate your offer, however this way we can spend some uninterrupted time with our babies and still be available to our spouses through our link.”

“Well you can ride with us as there is plenty of room.”

“Okay.”

“Can we hitch a ride with you as well?” asked Eileen.

“Sure.”

Oriel said, “Is there room for Brigid, Celia, and I?”

“Sure.”

After DSTA01 had departed Keriann said, “Between just us, the adults going back didn’t think it was fair to burden the older children with those still nursing. While we know the children see it as a way to help us, none of us want to take advantage of them. Besides, we like our special time with our babies.”

Maeve queried, “Are we expecting our children to be too grown up?”

Calvin snorted, “No, I don’t think we are pushing them into anything. From what I sense, they see it as a way they can assist us. They do have fun in everything they do but they only take measured risks. It is not like some of the stuff I did when I was their age, however that was in a very different time and environment.”

“Maeve, that is a question I often ask myself and each time my assessment is the same as Calvin’s,” said Janet.

Chester noted, “We need to move off the ramp as we are impeding operations, besides, standing around here is not the safest place to be.”

When they reached the group in the waiting area they said, “Good afternoon, all.”

“Good afternoon,” was the reply.

Clarence said, “We are certainly glad that you are back.”

Terry of Sarah’s Clan responded, “While we had a great time and learnt a lot we are happy to be home, well sort of home. What can we do for you?”

“Over the last few days there have been a few issues. We would like to take a few moments to review them with you. Fortunately, so far none of them are real serious but we think you need to be fully aware of them.”

Sarah said, “We were going over to our office area, so let’s do it there.”

As they walked over to the Councilor’s offices they spent the time talking about their observations during the return trip. On entering their meeting room Chloe queried, “Are you planning on sharing what you saw?”

Siobhan replied, “Sure, like we’ve been doing. The photos will go up on the net with their coordinates, date, and time of day sometime within the next clock cycle. Why? Do you think more needs to be done?”

“Oh, sorry, I was hung up on the vivid descriptions I heard. Now that I’ve opened my mouth I don’t understand why I asked as I know that we always post them. Obviously I wasn’t thinking very clearly so my apologies.”

“Not a problem as we all have those moments.

“Now what is the issue?”

Clarence said, “As you know when the construction crews began using the recreation area we had several instances where they didn’t adhere to the off-limits criteria. Some were caught making solo visits into the active construction sites despite being told they were off-limits. We dealt with those individuals by giving them a warning then escorting them out of the area. As we were doing this we noted that failure to abide by the restrictions would lead to them being denied use of the facilities. To alleviate some of their curiosity we set up tours of the construction sites, which seems to have satisfied most of them.

“Since then we’ve identified a few construction workers who are attempting to do more than just look around. Engineering is very concerned that their actions will either result in them being injured, or that they will do something that leads to an accident. While our robots are designed to not respond to tampering, nothing is perfect. Two construction workers even attempted to carry off one of the small robots that was inactive. They were shocked when it started moving on its own, as it is programmed to do, and were almost injured because of that. Several others have been notified that another trespassing incident would result in revoking their access to the facilities here.

“The most recent incidents were in the entertainment area, with a few in the recreation area. It seems that some of the construction workers are seeking more personal entertainment services and expect us to provide them. From their comments many of them see our lack of covering as an enticement to engage in sex. This has led some to consider our rule requiring physical contact to be consensual as inconsequential so they are testing it. To me that is not surprising because as a group construction workers traditionally have the reputation of being on the wild side and pushing boundaries. Now to be clear, we are only talking about a few who frequent the areas where problems have a risen. So far none of the incidents have reached the point of a physical confrontation but it is only a matter of time. They usually begin by making loud off-color comments, persistent groping, and being generally obnoxious. When ever members of this group enter an area, there is a definite change in the atmosphere. Just their appearance prompts some people to leave immediately, but it isn’t long before many others also drift off to other locations.”