Chapter 27

It was the morning of the Órarduine celebration at An Clochán when Sarah’s Clan entered the common area. They were surprised by cheering when they stepped through the archway.

“Sarah’s Clan,” said Star, “our family would like for you to say a few words to begin the festivities.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” replied Star along with Amy’s, Siobhan’s and Maureen’s Clans.

As Sarah’s Clan made their way to the stage the cheering continued unabated. On reaching it, they said in unison, “Good morning!”

“Good morning,” was the roar from the crowd.

“We are not real sure why you wanted us to speak. However, on our way up here we thought of several people who should be recognized. They have all played key roles in making it possible for us to reach this milestone on our journey into the future.”

“First, there is Star. Star, come on out and join us.” They paused while Star joined them on stage in her avatar form. “If Star hadn’t pushed her programming constraints after the accident, it is very likely none of us would be here.” The family applauded long and loudly acknowledging Star’s contribution.

“Next are the survivors of the incident, in particular Amy’s Clan. Currently Amy, Jim, Betsy and Erica are on the LRS looking for our new home, but let’s have those that are here join us on stage.” Sarah’s Clan reached out with their telekinesis ability to bring them up onto the stage. Their expressions were priceless, as they suddenly found themselves floating through the air.

When they were standing on the stage, Connie said, “When did you learn to do that? I have only read about it in our library, I have never seen it happen.”

“We’ve used it a couple of times,” responded Joyce softly.

“During the years after the accident,” continued Sarah’s Clan, “Amy’s Clan, along with the other survivors and Donna, continually sought to find new ways to improve their situation. It was their ingenuity, complimented by Star’s behind the scenes efforts, that enabled them to establish the settlement at Comrie.

“Once they had sowed the seeds, it didn’t take very long for them to grow and blossom. Just look around this room at how well they have blossomed. All of us owe all of you many thanks for being here and adding your many contributions to our family. Thank you. May the Gods and Goddesses continue to bless us.

“And speaking of blessings, we need to recognize Aine, Brigit, Creidne, Deidre, Eithne and Fidelma. The ‘Old Ones’ sent them to assist us in understanding our abilities and to fill the role of coaches or mentors. We feel we have been blessed with their mentoring as it has been outstanding, and we believe they are a key contributor to us being where we are today. As many of you know, they have asked for and received permission to use our location as their home base.” The crowd cheered until Sarah’s Clan raised their hands for quiet. “Let’s party!” said Sarah’s Clan as they started to leave the stage. Their comment resulted in another wave of cheering.

Connie held up her hands for silence. “Wait a minute,” said Connie, “you guys can stay up here a little longer.”

“Gee, I guess we didn’t move quick enough,” said Sarah’s Clan prompting many to laugh.

“On behalf of my clan and those who arrived with us, having Sarah’s Clan join us was the biggest blessing anyone could ever hope for. As most of you know, Sarah’s Clan arrived on Comrie as a group of eight people. They were very surprised when they woke up there and even more surprised by the changes in their bodies. They responded to their situation just like they do to everything, they dealt with reality. Of course it helped that they have some rather unique abilities. Their quiet unassuming leadership is a blessing we benefit from every day. They have helped all of us to grow and become who we are today. Thank you Sarah’s Clan, for being you.” The cheering began again.

Sarah’s Clan let the cheering go on until it began to subside, then said, “Thank you. We believe that we have been immensely blessed by the Gods and Goddesses to be here with all of you. The goal for all of us is to make tomorrow better for all of us, as it takes all of us to be a family.”

Someone hollered, “HIP, HIP,” ... and the crowd responded with “HURRAY!”

“Let’s party,” said those on the stage, and then quickly left it.

Sarah’s Clan wandered around the common area, stopping to watch the different games being played. They saw Siobhan’s Clan play a volleyball match, and quit after three overtimes with it still tied up. They learned some new dances and then danced for a while longer. After that they listened to the different singing groups. It was late in the afternoon when Lorelei, the former Grand View TV host, joined them with a couple of visiting reporters in tow. Melinda wasn’t far behind them.

“Lorelei, how are you feeling?” asked Judy.

“Much better thanks to you all. I don’t think I would have lived long at the camp where I was to serve my sentence. The thought of Akil keeping me as his slave is something I am glad I don’t have to deal with. The torment I endured there was nothing compared to what I saw them do to my associate or the GISS agents. I didn’t know people could be that mean or evil. All I can say is, the assholes got what they deserved, except it wasn’t drawn out enough. The assholes should have suffered for at least a 100 years.”

“Lorelei, how can you be a TV host with such a potty mouth?” asked Earl.

“Earl,” replied Lorelei holding up her left hand showing her missing finger, “this lets me be a potty mouth when we speak of those evil asshole sub-barbarian criminals.”

“Gee ... Lorelei, those terrorists were just misguided souls.” As he finished, Earl held his hands up in front of his face as he saw how angry Lorelei was. “Lorelei, I was teasing. Don’t.” Earl quickly turned so that Lorelei’s fist hit his shoulder.

“You keep that up, and I’ll see you don’t get any answers to your questions.”

“My apologies Lorelei,” said Earl as he rubbed his shoulder. “I didn’t realize I was stepping into a lioness’s den.”

“Are you two brother and sister by any chance?” asked Sally with a smile.

“God, no!” they both replied immediately causing everyone to laugh.

“I have a tendency to tease people I consider friends,” replied Earl. “Quite often I start before I think it through and really step in it. This time I did an exceptionally good job, in front of witnesses.”

“We’re friends?” asked Lorelei with a very serious look.

“I...” began Earl stammering, until Lorelei began to laugh. He slowly smiled as he blushed.

“Earl, I’m...”

“Lorelei, say nothing more. I was out of line by pulling your chain so hard, especially so soon after your ordeal.” Lorelei stepped over and hugged him. He was hesitant, as he wasn’t sure where it was safe to put his hands while hugging his naked friend.

“Relax, if you want to hug, it works the same way as when I have clothes on,” she chided him as they hugged each other. It was clear to everyone that they really were good friends.

“Sarah’s Clan, Earl asked Melinda and I a question. We think we know the answer, but are not sure. So, would you help him with his question?”

“Sure. Do you want to ask it here or in some quiet corner?” Just then a cheer went up and another song started. “You don’t need to answer, let’s find a quiet corner.”

When they found a spot and sat down Earl said, “I have spent quite a bit of time going over the available information on Órarduine, or as they were first known, the Golden Amazons. Many in this colony are originally from Earth and came here to work, and many of them came here directly after college or military service. After spending some time here they chose to become Órarduine through a species conversion that no one on Earth understands. There are quite a number colony members who were rescued from sexual slavery by your group. I have spoken with many in each group about why they decided to become Órarduine. Their answers, I know, are all genuine but at the same time it seems like I am missing something.”

“Earl, are you looking to see if we are manipulating them into joining us?”

“I guess it looks that way, but really, I am not, at least I don’t think I am.”

Cary, another reporter said, “It is an easy conclusion to jump to, but difficult to support after you look closely or really chat with any of the crew or those living here.”

“We have had concerns about that as well, especially in regard to those we have rescued. When we have rescued people we have always offered them a physical, medical treatment if needed and provided they wanted it, along with a place to stay until they sorted out where they wanted to go or do. We’ve offered to be a sounding board as they worked out the options for their future. If they asked for ideas we’ve never included joining us as an option. It was always left to them to raise that issue and pursue it. You probably wonder why we are so cautious.” They nodded. “It is because species conversion is not reversible. Returning to Earth as an Órarduine would probably not be tolerated even if possible. We need family members who are thrilled to be family members. Besides, living in a space ship is a very close environment so it is best if everyone wants to be there.”

“You keep saying family members rather than crew members or something else.”

“Because we think that is why so many of those we rescued chose to become Órarduine. So far, we feel like one very large family, without making a big issue about it. We believe this is in part because of our openness with each other and our acceptance of each other. Telepathy plays a key role in all of that as well as the lack of drama. It also makes it easier to convey our emotions and clearly express our feelings. With telepathy, we are aware of everyone in our whole family. Through our link with each other we share virtually everything, thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories and other things which bring us very close to each other. There are clan clusters, or groups of clans, that are very close, perhaps in a way similar to that seen between twins or some brothers and sisters on Earth. Again, the whole family easily shares thoughts, much like we are talking now but without the limitation of distance.

“The other aspect that plays into this is that most of those we have rescued don’t have any close family ties or friends. Many who joined us directly out of college, or shortly thereafter, were usually thought of as the nerds or geeks. There are quite a few former military members among us. Most of those are from special operations type units. We feel we are feel fortunate that they chose to join us. Our biggest concern today is with those who come here solely to spy. Fortunately there have been only a few that we know of and they haven’t been disruptive.”

“I think,” said Earl, “it is the openness that is so difficult to comprehend. You are correct in saying a key part of the draw could be becoming part of a large caring family. Some detractors claim your group is a cult, commune or worse. I think many can’t get past the idea of you seldom wearing clothes, which taints their thinking. It concerned me the first time I was at Comrie, but it didn’t take long until it didn’t matter what a person wore. I’ll admit that I still have problems with eye contact when talking to some women. Would I be correct in thinking that the medical staff evaluates a person’s motivation when they ask for the species conversion?”

“Yes. The evaluation can be telepathic, and when it is, we ask permission first.” Earl smiled and nodded at Judy’s response.

“What do all of you like about being Órarduine?”

“That is a hard question to reply to with a simple answer,” replied Sarah’s Clan together. “The closeness, sharing and intimacy are all a big part of it. We each have nearly the same physical stamina. This makes it easier to share in everything.”

“Doesn’t the closeness feel suffocating at times?”

“It hasn’t,” replied Sarah. “We did wonder about that when we first fully mind-linked at Comrie.”

“Mind-link?”

“That is the phrase we use for describing telepathic sharing within a clan.”

“Am I correct in thinking that mind-link is sharing, essentially, everything between individuals in a clan.”

“Yes. We have compared it to being different facets of a single crystal.”

“I need to think about this. Can I come back later with questions?”

“Sure. Earl, did we answer your question about becoming an Órarduine?” asked Melinda trying to steer the conversation back to the original topic.

“Yes, I think so. Earlier it was indicated that your clan was initially eight people.”

“When we arrived on Comrie,” said Sarah, “it was Rusty, Sally, Terry, Joyce, Jill, Janet, Judy and I.” We arrived sedated. Betsy and Connie found when doing our physicals that we had been treated with a set of growth factors that would have, in a fairly short time, been devastating to our health. They were told that we had volunteered to come, and a part of the agreement was guaranteeing our health. So they opted to counter the treatments we had been given. This was accomplished on Dóchas using what we now know today as the ‘species conversion procedure’ using the incubators. Before this it was only used to treat major health problems such as severe injuries. They weren’t sure of the outcome, but were certain we would be better off than with the alternative of not doing anything. To say we were shocked when we woke up is an understatement. However, we were comfortable with the changes in our bodies even if we were also irritated that it had been done without our prior agreement.

“Our first meeting with Amy, Jim, Connie and Betsy was a little testy at first. Let me back up a bit and say that both Rusty and I were telepathic before we arrived at Comrie. Terry and Sally were partially telepathic. When we woke on Comrie, we were all comfortably telepathic, in that we exchanged thoughts as readily as vocalizing them.” As Sarah talked, Earl’s, Lorelei’s and Cary’s expressions showed their amazement at the events being described. “During our first meeting, we recognized that Amy’s Clan was sincere in their effort to care for us and that they wanted to ensure our health. While there were indications after our arrival that we had been abducted before being brought to Comrie, it was something they didn’t fully realize until that meeting. Why? The idea of doing that was unthinkable. Since then events have just kind of cascaded.”

“Wow,” said the three reporters when Sarah finished.

Cary asked, “Is all of this recorded somewhere?”

“We believe so, but we haven’t looked,” said Aoife. “What is recorded is available in the library. Alison, Tara, Erin and Claudette joined Sarah’s Clan next. This was before we started referring to our spousal groups as clans. Not long after that Maeve and I joined. I think each of us knew as soon as we met Sarah’s Clan that being together was our destiny. I was probably the most reluctant, but at the same time I knew without a doubt that my place was with them.”

“Is it okay to look it up?” asked Earl.

“Sure,” replied Sarah’s Clan in unison. “We would prefer that the information stay within our family.”

“I would only consider writing about it if you agreed. Privacy is difficult enough in today’s world.”

“Once you see what is there, we think you will understand our reluctance about the information going outside our family. We don’t see it as a privacy issue.”

“That is scary. What if I slip up and say something I shouldn’t?”

Sarah looked at Earl for a moment before saying, “We can show you how to prevent that.” Earl had a surprised look on his face when he heard Sarah even though her lips were not moving. “You can put a constraint on the memory so that you can only recall it with others who know about it. If you decide to do that, you only need to think your request and direct it to us. Lorelei can do the same thing.”

“I will need to think about all the implications before we do that, and I will likely have many questions for you. Can Lorelei hear us now?”

“If you want her to.”

“I do. What is your primary concern with the events being known more widely?”

“Unintended political consequences that injure innocent people.” Earl, Lorelei and Cary looked puzzled. Sarah continued with, “Our paths have crossed those of a number of groups with activities similar to what the Council of Brothers was doing, but with a different motivation. Each time those groups were neutered. The need to do that was driven either by self-preservation or the safety of our friends. We see no point in making that known beyond our family. There are some law enforcement and intelligence agencies on Earth who suspect our involvement in some of the situations. We don’t see a need to confirm it. In fact some of our former spooks think confirming it would remove the mystery.”

“I take it everything is kind of intertwined so that telling one part of the story could unwittingly say things about other parts.”

“Yes.”

“If Lorelei and I do decide to take a gander at it, we will come see you first so we can set up the memory block.”

“That will be fine. When we do that, we will show you how to enable your telepathy as well. You won’t want to use it on Earth, but having it enabled can alert you to danger. Earl, has your visit been what you expected?”

“Yes. Actually it is more than I expected it would be. The idea that we would need escorts if we left the common area bothered all of us. Seeing the demonstration and being here has eliminated those concerns. Thank you for the opportunity.”

“Anything else we can help you with now?” said Joyce.

“No, I don’t think so. Come on Lorelei, let’s wander around some more.” He paused for a moment, and then added, “I will understand if you prefer not to, but I will watch my teasing.”

“Cary, is there something we can help you with?” asked Maeve.

“Not at the moment, but like Earl and Lorelei, I may have some questions later.”

“If you aren’t sure where to find us ask Melinda or Star, as either can quickly locate us.”

“Let’s go,” replied Lorelei. “Sarah’s Clan thank you for the help.”

“Not a problem. Have a good time.”

Cary looking at Melinda, Lorelei and Earl said hesitantly, “Would it be okay if I joined you all?”

“Fine with me,” replied the three.

Sarah’s Clan watched the group disappear into the crowd.

Erin said, “I wonder how Cary fits into that group?”

“She is a freelance writer that saw coming here as an opportunity to be recognized in her field,” replied Aoife. “She admires the three people she is with, I think they will help her hone her skills without her realizing it.”

“Good morning,” said Sarah to Captain Lewis and Commander Brown who were waiting for them when she exited AlphaD01 on Comrie. It had been a little over a week since their celebration at An Clochán.

“Good morning,” they both replied before exchanging hugs with Sarah, Judy, Siobhan, May, Maureen and Mégane. After their greetings, Captain Lewis said, “We heard you were coming to see us so we thought we would meet you here. Our groups are waiting in the conference room.”

“Good. We came to personally thank you all for the assistance. From our standpoint you are welcome to stay longer, but I believe your countries are anxious to have you back at your normal duty stations.”

“Well we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with you. I am fairly certain that every one of us has learned a lot in the last seven weeks. I think we should be thanking you for the opportunity to assist.”

Judy said, “On behalf of the medical staff, we are very glad you all were able to help us on such short notice. The expertise you brought really aided us in being able to treat everyone quickly.”

As they walked toward the conference room Commander Brown said, “As to staying longer, I don’t think any of us would object to that.”

“Well you all are welcome to return,” responded Mégane of Maureen’s Clan.

“I would like to do that, but getting here would be a problem,” responded Captain Lewis thinking about her leave plans.

“Not really,” replied Sarah with a smile as they entered the room, leaving Norma with a puzzled expression.

When they stepped through the door a voice said, “Attention!”

“At ease,” responded Sarah. “This is just a social call. We came to thank you for the excellent assistance you’ve given our medical staff. While the care you gave here was achieved using a different approach than what you are familiar, we hope it gave you ideas for new approaches in treating future patients. Your countries are blessed by having people with your capabilities working for them. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.

“As a small way of saying thanks, we would like to extend an invitation to return as our guest. To do that, all you need to do is let us know when you would like to come. We will take care of transportation. If you do decide to visit, you may want to limit who you tell where you are going. You are welcome to bring your family or significant other with you.

“Now, let’s enjoy the refreshments.”

“Excuse me,” said one of the doctors.

“Yes,” responded Siobhan.

“Will we be able to contact the medical staff here after we leave?”

Judy said, “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“There are times I would like a fresh perspective on a diagnosis or a treatment path.”

“We can do that. I think it would be better if our assistance wasn’t made public though.”

When the laughing died down, the woman said, “While I don’t like it, I agree.”

“May I ask another question?” asked a nurse.

“Sure.”

“Are you sure our governments will let us visit here?”

“I don’t see why not,” responded Maureen. “Some of those from your countries special ops have visited. Our Communications staff goes to considerable effort to make sure visitors are not included in any photos or videos they release. With respect to communications while you are here, phones and Internet would be the same as you’ve had this time. As to your stay here this time, it wouldn’t surprise us if you were debriefed when you return to your duty station.”

“Okay, thanks.”

The Órarduine spent the rest of the morning with the doctors and nurses. After lunch together they said, “We need to return to our ships. Again, thanks for your assistance and we look forward to seeing you in the future.”

The two detachments immediately began applauding then waved as the Command Staff representatives left for their shuttle.

As AlphaD01 lifted off Sarah said, “They are a great group of people.”

“Yes, they are,” responded Judy. “I think we learned a lot from them so it wasn’t all one sided.”

Mégane added, “It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them didn’t return with the intention of staying. I saw several who appeared to be quizzing the former soldiers who’ve joined us.”

“I saw some of that,” said Siobhan.

Melinda and Samantha entered the conference room on Dóchas. “Hi,” said Melinda and Sam. “Is everyone here?”

“Shannon, Kara, Tara and Natalia will be here in a few moments,” said Maeve, just as they entered the room. They were followed by Amber and Keira of Siobhan’s Clan.

“We are glad you could make it,” said Aoife to Amber and Keira. “Amber you look very good. How do you like being on Phoenix?”

“It’s great. Being part of Siobhan’s Clan is so neat. I never imagined it was possible to be that intimate and open with each other, much less among eleven people. Sometimes I wonder when I will wake up from my dream.”

“We feel like she has been a part of us forever,” added Keira as she put her arm around Amber.

“I see that all of you are linked with your clans,” said Melinda, “so we should get started. Since the stories about the celebration we had two weeks ago were published, we have received a number of requests for visits. Both Earl and Lorelei have more requests for interviews than can be done in five years working every day. Now we need some guidance. While all of us are pleased with the positive attention for a change, we have concerns. What criteria should we use to screen visitors?”

“Earl’s articles have been very good,” said Shannon. “He does a very good job of explaining complex topics so that everyone understands the information. There have been very few errors in his articles. Cary’s articles have also been well done, and from our perspective we can see Earl’s influence in them.”

“Lorelei has been much the same in her interviews,” said Sam. “A couple of times she called us during an interview to clarify a point.”

“There are several other reporters that have a good understanding of science and psychology,” said Melinda, “who’ve asked if they could visit. I hesitate to ask Earl his opinion.”

“What do these potentially visiting reporters think of us?” asked Keira.

“All of them seem to be open-minded and curious,” replied Sam.

“Melinda, invite a few of them to visit for a week to ten days,” said Aoife with Amber nodding. “We shouldn’t have more than six visiting a location at a time. They have to abide by the escort rule, which will be a burden that falls on your group. Two violations of the escort rule and they are immediately sent back to Earth, no exceptions.”

“I think they should be seen by the autodoc on Comrie before coming here,” said Maeve. “We noticed some visitors at the celebration had difficulty adapting to our environment. It wasn’t anything serious, but did make them uneasy at first.”

“That’s strange,” said Kara, “we haven’t noticed that with other visitors.

“Kerry of Leann’s Clan told me that their group and the Environmental group had reviewed An Clochán’s environmental data for the time during the celebration. They concluded that the oxygen level may have been a little low for humans. Betsy told them that low oxygen and low gravity could be a problem for humans from low elevations.

“By low oxygen we are referring to a level experienced at 8 to 10 thousand feet on Earth.”

“Engineering wants to add more active atmospheric purifiers to An Clochán if we have another gathering like that. This would be an expansion of the backup systems and would be brought on-line as needed.”

“Melinda, do the requests include cameramen or photographers?”

“A couple of reporters asked about photos or video, and we volunteered Carl, Steve and Karmen to assist them with that. Our offer seemed to satisfy them.”

“I thought I heard something about a live show from here?” said Maeve.

“You heard correctly. This will take some doing but the Grand View TV station seems to like the idea. Lorelei and Earl will host the show from here. It is to last between 90 and 120 minutes and will be divided into at least four segments. Each segment would be an interview with one of our families shown live on Earth in two parts. During the first part of the segment the station will take questions by phone and email. The second part will be used for responding to the questions. This part would be a live broadcast but take place approximately an hour after the end of the interview.”

“So you’re saying TV viewers on Earth would see a series of interviews, then a 60 minute break, followed by a 60 minute show of responses to questions,” said Shannon.

“Yes. Grand View TV has not decided what the programming will be during the intervening time slot. The station thinks the show would be picked up by several networks. If successful, they would like to do more than one show.”

“Do we have the available resources to support this?” asked Siobhan.

“We discussed this with all the Communications groups,” replied Maeve, “and they think so. They proposed holding the interviews in the common area at An Clochán, with several people from each ship’s communication group supporting the effort.”

“I told the producer,” said Melinda, “that we would only agree to one show, as we needed to make sure it did not interfere with anything else. He wasn’t happy at hearing the implication of that.”

“What does our family think about all of this attention?” asked Aoife.

“Pleased. Happy. Concerned,” said Sam smiling. “Pleased that many on Earth have decided we aren’t out to do something awful to them. Happy that they are now interested in us. Concerned about the potential impact this could have on our family.”

“Do you think Earl and Lorelei understand what we mean when we say family?” asked Aoife.

“You mean that ‘family’ includes all 11,000 plus of us,” replied Sam with a smile. “Yes, but just barely.”

“We sense everyone in this conference link is comfortable with the TV show,” said Aoife. “You should bring the proposal up at this evening’s group discussion, and then put it on our information net.”

“Anything else?”

“Melinda, Sam and your spouses, on behalf of the three Command Staffs, thank you for the excellent work you are doing,” said Maeve. “We are very pleased to have you as a part of our family.”

On An Clochán, representatives of the five Command Staffs gathered for a meeting with Connie, Gil and Esla. The most recent message from the LRS had puzzled them as it indicated that they were returning to the Celia system for further evaluation rather than returning as planned.