Chapter 28

It was several hours after the occurrence of Taiséalai’s malfunction when Keriann said, “Dóchas, Iarracht is ready to lift to Mars orbit. All systems check.”

“Iarracht, cleared for departure to Mars orbit,” said Tara adopting a more traditional phrasing. “May the Gods and Goddesses be with you.”

The Command Staffs on Dóchas, Phoenix and Eagle watched with some anxiety as Iarracht begin her departure sequence. Soon she lifted slowly off her cradle and then began accelerating toward her orbital insertion window.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief when Iarracht drifted into a position near the other three Dóchas ships in just under 110 minutes. With the addition of Iarracht to the formation it took on the shape of a pyramid, with Dóchas at the apex, 3 km from each of the other ships. Once Taiséalai joined, she, Phoenix, Eagle and Iarracht would be at the corners of the base with the 2 km sides.

“Iarracht,” said Tara, “how was the lift off?”

“We are getting reports now,” said Kelly. “So far everything looks good. All systems responded as we expected. Performance was on target since we entered our orbital window at 79.86 minutes which was the projected time. Catching up to you took a little longer as we made a few more course corrections than we had planned”

“Sounds good. We will be looking forward to hearing your summary.”

It was approaching 1800 hours when Security departments noted a disturbance beginning to form in the solar wind near Mars. The picket line advised Dóchas group that Taiséalai would be dropping out of FTL near Mars. The four Command Staffs watched the area and saw Taiséalai began to take form. This was the first time any of them had seen a ship make the transition from FTL to sub-light.

“Welcome back Taiséalai, ” said the four Dóchas Group Command Staffs.

“Thank you, and we are damn glad to be back,” responded Kathryn’s Clan. “Based on our current location it is going to take an hour or so to reach our position near Iarracht.”

“Not a problem. So how did it go after we last talked?”

“Very well. We followed the revised operational plan and it went very well. Engineering is pleased with what they’ve learnt. Jenessa collected quite a bit of additional information to add to our star map database. The Propulsion AI and pods performed at or above specs. Our return using an FTL jump went real smoothly.”

“I guess you’re ahead of us in experience, as none of us have made an FTL jump yet,” said Tara. “Although once we get you and Iarracht outfitted, all of us need to take some short trips.”

“We’re ready. I must say that I think everyone learned a lot today. Today’s events, the analysis and our responses are being pulled together. These should be in our central library by late tomorrow.”

“Once you have your orbit established, take time to relax and celebrate your achievements.”

“Oh, we will. We want to get everything ready so the crews can start finishing our outfitting tomorrow.”

“Kathryn,” said Violetta, “they will start as soon as we establish our environmental envelope. They are going to do a full structural analysis before any work begins.”

“Great, ” said Kathryn’s Clan. “Taiséalai crew, once we are in our orbital position and stabilized everyone will have a clock cycle of relaxation. You all did a great job in responding to our challenges today.”

It was 10 clock cycles after Iarracht and Taiséalai had moved to Mars orbit when the five Command Staffs gathered in Eagle’s conference room.

“Before we begin our review,” said Elana of Kathryn’s Clan, “we went over the pod malfunction during Taiséalai’s lift off several times. We didn’t find anything we could have done better in handling the event. When we looked at it from each of our points of view, we found that our bond wasn’t as tight as we would like it to be. Kathryn led our response during the event, and each of us was in full agreement with those actions. The strength of our bond increased when we formed the circle at the pillar later, but we believe that we need to be able to slide into that mode without being at the pillar.”

“Have you sought that tight of a link since then?” asked Sarah.

“No,” said Rebeca. “All of us see the need, but we aren’t certain how to reach that level.”

“Have you asked one of the mentors for assistance?” said Tara.

“No, but only because we hadn’t thought of it.”

“Calvin,” said Rusty, “I don’t know if this is the case, but you don’t need to isolate the memories of your escapades in SAS from your spouses.” Calvin had a puzzled look on his face. “All of you should view your clan’s mind-link as a single entity, with a number of physical segments. We compare it to a single sphere, with each individual supplying a unique facet on the surface of that sphere, with its contents fully available to all of you. Letting them see those memories doesn’t violate your oath, as you are one.”

“Okay. Actually, I don’t think we have really reevaluated our mind-link structure since we became a clan. In thinking about it now, I know that we haven’t gone back to remove the restrictions we established when we first came together. We have ignored them when we needed to. It now seems that those restrictions could impede the openness we need for the growth of our mind-link to its full capability.”

“Let’s do that this afternoon,” said Kathy.

“I think we need to do that as well,” said Emma of Keriann’s Clan.

“Sounds like something we all ought to do,” said Siobhan, with Maureen nodding her head in agreement.

Sarah said, “How are we doing at addressing the issues behind the malfunction?”

“We found several,” said Siobhan. “Two were like those Kathryn discovered, but in less critical locations. The others are defects that have appeared after commissioning the units, or at least we think so.”

Tiff of Siobhan’s Clan said, “We have documented them and shared them with everyone. We are sharing our findings as soon as they are confirmed. Those building the new ships are included in this.”

Paula of Maureen’s Clan added, “We’ve finished our systems audit and now we are reviewing the fundamentals. This is from the perspective of ‘did we do it correctly’ and ‘what needs to be changed to minimize an event like this occurring again’.”

“It is fortunate that we weren’t in formation when it occurred,” said Rusty of Sarah’s Clan.

“Yes, but we need to run a simulation of such an event,” responded Tiff of Siobhan’s Clan. “When moving in formation our ships are tightly linked, so I think the risk of collision is small. We do need to look at the effect of that kind of failure on the formation.”

“Agreed,” replied everyone.

“Have the crews started on repairs?” asked Claudette.

“Yes. It will be 20 clock cycles or so before the propulsion pod is replaced,” said Jamie of Kathryn’s Clan.

Violetta added, “Structural repairs are in progress and will take about the same length of time to fix. Our assessment is that many of these wouldn’t have occurred if all the internal structure had been in place.”

They then reviewed the status of each ship, current intelligence assessments and general family issues. As they finished up Kathryn said, “Currently we are projecting to be operational in 210 clock cycles, or 21 weeks by our calendar.”

“Our projections are about the same,” added Keriann. “This is longer than we initially planned, but we think the delay is worth it. Basically, we are being a bit more methodical in our work. If there is an urgent need to be operational then we could shorten it. Obviously, doing that is a risk.”

Jill of Sarah’s Clan said, “I think that is a smart move. We need to be careful and thoughtful about everything we do. The event on Taiséalai is something we would prefer not to repeat. However, it has reminded everyone of the risks.”

“Yea, it certainly did,” responded Sally. “It was especially meaningful to our contract staff as it brought home the risk of just being where they are.”

“How are they working out?” asked Chester. “I understand that some are here primarily to spy on us.”

“There are a few. They are productive and none have done anything disruptive. They are being closely monitored as we have some concerns about their intent, as it could be more than just seeking information.”

“Why not send them packing?” asked Tiff.

“That was considered,” responded Aisling of Siobhan’s Clan. “We decide it was better to let them stay and keep an eye on them. If we returned them, then a replacement would likely be sent which adds the risk of them not being detected.”

“Anything else?” asked Sarah.

Maureen said after looking around, “Since it looks like we are done, we would like you all to join us for lunch.”

“Great idea,” responded the group.

“How was your trip?” said Keriann, as Sarah’s Clan entered the conference room on Iarracht for their weekly activity review.

“It was great,” replied Sarah and Tara. “Siobhan, Tiff, Maureen and Colleen, we really appreciate you covering for us while we were visiting Ireland.”

“Ireland was almost like being at home,” added Aoife.

“So, what did you like most about it?” asked Siobhan.

“That is a hard question to answer,” replied Tara. “We saw more of Clifden and Connemara than we did the first time we were there. Teamhair na Rí [Hill of Tara] is a beautiful location. All of us sensed that it was a special place. The feeling wasn’t real strong, and we may not have noticed it except that several children asked about the sensation. I guess touching Lia Fáil was the one thing that everyone will remember.”

“Why would touching the Stone of Destiny be significant?” asked Maureen.

“We are not sure,” replied Sarah’s Clan, softly. “We have thought about that experience a great deal. We know that we will remember the experience and how it felt but putting it into words today is beyond us.”

“We can understand that,” said Siobhan. “I presume the children feel the same way.”

“We believe so. If you all go there, be sure to allow enough time to visit there. Thankfully, our backups on Dóchas were kind enough to give us an additional clock cycle.”

“Speaking of that,” said Eileen, “when we hold our weekly conference, we continue to function as Command Staff even though we aren’t physically on our ship. Yet when you visited Ireland, you asked for someone to be on Dóchas’ bridge. I think I know the answer, but why?”

“Focus,” replied Sarah’s Clan. “That way, we could focus nearly all of our attention on our children, each other and our location. Star is capable of acting for us on the bridge, but, as you know, our command structure works best when the Command Staff and ship’s AI are active together.”

Sarah’s Clan then took turns talking about the different highlights of their trip. They spoke of their adventures in Ireland, Oxford, London and China. It was noted that their children had had a great time, and like all children, met quite a few other children every place they visited. Everyone wore Salwar Kameez pants and jackets, which had openings in the jacket’s back to let their manes hang naturally. For footwear, the children had chosen to wear the hard-soled slippers as they protected their feet. They told of a group of Irish children that had asked their children why they had long hair and walked funny. Their children had then spent some time answering their questions, as well as showing them why they walked differently. From then on, the Irish children were with them almost the whole time. The group included some who were several years older than our children.

“Every place we went,” said Sarah, “We had many compliments on how wonderful our children were.”

“As you may have heard,” said Sally, “our visits to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museums and American Indian Museum were interesting. We decided to go to the museums along the National Mall first, since they closed earlier than the one near Dulles. Figuring out a place to get off our shuttle was a problem. After monitoring the traffic a bit we found an area with no traffic, so we hovered long enough to exit. We don’t think anyone noticed our sudden appearance. Once inside, we split into groups of 10 to 15 as we usually do, and began to work our way through the exhibits. We were not there very long before the children realized that we wouldn’t be able to see all the exhibits before closing. This caused a bit of consternation until they realized that they could share each others experience if they actively mind-linked. We chuckled a bit, because they were already telepathically sharing their observations without realizing it. The American Indian Museum was very interesting. The children saw quite a few similarities between American Indian cultural development and what they had found in our library on the development of cultures on other worlds.

“Shortly after we entered the Air & Space Museum things got really interesting. It was lunch time and the museum has an area with several typical fast food restaurants. You should have seen the expressions on those around us when our children began asking us to explain what the different menu items were, and how to order them. Several children made comments about how this arrangement wasn’t at all like home. If that wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows, the way they addressed us was.” Many of those in the conference room had puzzled looks. “I can see it is not obvious to you either. Our children address us as ‘Mom’ followed by the person’s name, except for their birth mother, whom they just call, ‘Mom’. Once we got our food and everyone sat down, the children started talking about what they had seen, comparing it to what they had learned in our library. The expressions on the faces of those around us in the dining area were priceless. It was obvious that nearly everyone was eavesdropping. This went on for quite a while, until some of the other children got brave enough to ask questions. We spent much more time in the dining area than we planned to, but we felt letting the children interact with others was more important than seeing the museum’s exhibits.

“One of the adults eventually asked Erin whose children they were. Erin told her, ‘ours’. She let it sink in a minute while the woman blushed. Erin then pointed out who was a mother, who was a nanny and who was a family friend. We had quite an audience. Once the ice was broken the woman introduced herself as Alena, and asked about our hair and the way we stand. When we returned to the museum area many of those in the dining room tagged along with us. All the children had a good time talking about what they were seeing. When we left the museum Alena asked if she could get a group photo of us with her family. Of course we agreed. Once those photos were taken, several other families asked if they could take a photo with us as well. After that Alena asked Erin if we were Órarduine. Erin assured her that we were, and then introduced all of us by name, and noted our clan name. While Erin was making the introductions several people were taking photos. Alena’s son pulled on Sarah’s hand and when she knelt down by him, he said, “We would like to see your children again. Can you come visit us?” Alena turned a bright red as she blushed. Sarah told him that that was up to his mother, but it would probably be difficult because there were so many of us. As she was speaking his face took on an air of sadness, until Sarah told him it would be easier for them to visit us. We assured Alena that they were welcome to visit, and gave her our contact information.

“With the ice was broken, our children extended the offer to the other families that had been with us since lunch. One teenager asked Sarah’s daughter how we were going to leave. Of course you know what the answer was.” The group laughed or smiled. “‘On our shuttle. It’s going to pick us up from the mall.’ Her answer was met with a disbelieving look. Before the teenager could reply, Jordana told her to follow along and watch. So, with that announcement we had quite a crowd walk with us down to the pickup point. When we reached the pickup area, our shuttle appeared hovering with its boarding ramp extended. On seeing it appear the expression on the teenager’s face was priceless, and was nearly matched by that on many of the adults. We said goodbye and left. When we lifted off everyone was still standing there looking at the shuttle. We don’t think any of the group realized that they were the only ones who could see it.

“Due to the time we spent at the National Mall, our visit to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum near Dulles was delayed until the next day. The children really liked it and met several more children. Several of us noticed aspects of the technology in both museums that we should compare to ours. We think there might be some information we have overlooked in our implementations. Everyone was familiar with the items on exhibit, but actually seeing them added to their understanding and gave a visual aspect. While we could have spent another day or two going through the Air & Space museums, we were ready to return home.”

“What if Alena and her family do want to come, along with a hundred or so friends?” asked Keriann.

“When we gave the information to the families, it was subtly emphasized that this was for their family only, and that we would love to have them visit. We pointed out the potential for considerable notoriety if their visit was known outside their immediate family. They all seemed to realize that.”

“Keriann,” said Terry, “I peeked at the families who spent the afternoon with us and came out to the mall.”

“You peeked?”

“Yes. Just at their active thoughts. It seemed important to know how they saw us. Alena’s family will definitely come for visit. Another family will probably visit as well. I didn’t sense any strong desire from the other four families to visit us, but with children involved that could change.”

“Why?”

“While they found us interesting, visiting us would really push their boundaries. Our children told us later that Alena is a single mom and a Marine widow. They really liked her three children, and thought they were very bright.”

“I wasn’t objecting,” replied Keriann, “just concerned.”

“We had similar concerns.”

“Say, we need to get back to our original reason for getting together,” said Sarah.

“So, Violetta, how is progress on Taiséalai coming?” asked Siobhan.

“We are a little behind schedule, according to our time line,” replied Violetta of Kathryn’s Clan. “There haven’t been any major problems, but the crew has been focusing on everything being perfect before moving on to the next task. As a result, deficiency corrections have dropped to zero. We are projecting to have all the work finished by the scheduled date.”

“That is good to hear,” replied Tiff of Siobhan’s Clan. “Are you getting enough assistance from our crew?”

“Yes.”

“Keriann, how are you doing with Iarracht?” asked Maureen.

“Well, we are also behind schedule, and we’ve also adopted the ‘Is it perfect?’ approach. Our crew likes the benefits of following that concept. We have Taiséalai’s crew to thank for bringing the concept to our attention. Initially, many were concerned about it, but as long as everyone maintains a distinction between today’s effort and future improvements, the concept works. We have also seen a significant reduction in deficiency corrections.”

“Good,” said Siobhan. “Would this approach have caught the propulsion pod control problem?”

“We don’t think so,” said Kelly of Keriann’s Clan. “We think every crew member that looked at that event came to the conclusion that Murphy played a very large role in it. We don’t know when the processor developed the flaw. It wasn’t there during checkout. All the processors have been rechecked. None have developed any flaws and were fine in all other respects.”

“An Clochán Engineering wants to begin work on Dóchas6,” said Courtney of Maureen’s Clan.

“Why is that?”

“There are times when they have resources that could be used on it. Starting now could shave about 2 months off the time to complete the ship, without hurting our other projects. The spine for Dóchas5 is in place and several modules are nearly ready for attachment.”

“Good. My sense is that everyone here is in agreement with the proposal,” said Siobhan.

“I’ll tell Engineering to go ahead. Another thing we should think about is An Clochán. What condition do we want to leave it in when we depart this solar system?”

“We have talked about a number of options in the past,” replied Claudette. “At the moment, I am inclined to suggest that we put the base into hibernation mode, with enough resources for 100 years. We should plan on taking most if not all of the manufacturing equipment with us.”

“Would we want to consider leaving An Clochán as accessible as the SNBs are?” asked Crystal of Maureen’s Clan.

The Command Staffs discussed the proposed concept for some time without coming to a conclusion. Almost everyone was in favor of Crystal’s idea, but they wanted to be sure the facility would be available whenever Órarduine came calling.

They reviewed the training status of the flight crews on the three commissioned Dóchas ships. Ideas for sharing the flight crews across all ships were discussed, but since they had about four months before any action was needed, no decision was made.

Eileen of Siobhan’s Clan said, “Intelligence believes that based on observed activity the Council of Brothers is planning to do something, however they haven’t been able to identify their intent.”

“That raises the question of how many resources should be expended to determine their intent,” responded Katia of Kathryn’s Clan.

“From being around those who visited Tangiers,” said Amber of Siobhan’s Clan, “they won’t rest until they have revenge. Although much of what happened didn’t embarrass them publicly, to them it trampled on their view of their position in life, and more importantly their honor. You can rest assured that they will attempt to destroy us.”

“Even here in space?” questioned Crystal of Maureen’s Clan.

“Yes. Based on the way I’ve seen them operate, it is possible for them to hoodwink the Russians and Chinese again. However, they want their own launch sites so that they can threaten the rest of Earth.”

“The Russians and Chinese would be unhappy to hear you say that.”

“I am sure, but both countries have minorities that the Council could use to further their efforts.”

Kylie said, “Cathal, Calvin and Sean have quietly sent alerts to their friends. Our information was made available to Israeli intelligence.”

“So how do we apply our prime directive to this case?” asked Kelly of Keriann’s Clan.

“We continue to monitor them,” responded Sarah. “If they attack us then we respond without restraint, and preferably without any collateral damage.”

“Agreed,” replied the five Command Staffs.

“Now that I’ve stirred the pot,” responded Amber with a smile, “I think Cathal, Calvin and their friends are monitoring the activity a lot closer than they appear to be.”

“Good,” responded Rusty with a smile.

“If we are done with this, can we go back to Sarah’s Clan’s sightseeing visit to Earth?” said Siobhan.

“Sure,” replied Janet of Sarah’s Clan.

“What do we want to suggest to other clans who are considering making a similar trip?”

“A main requirement,” said Rusty, “should be that they include at least a half dozen Security team members in the group. They should always stay in groups of three or more. The personal shields are something to consider wearing. If there are problems, we may want to change the criteria.”

“We may want to limit the number visiting places other than Comrie at any one time,” said Sally.

“I don’t suspect that there will be many interested in visiting other locations on Earth,” added Maureen. “I saw the trip by Sarah’s Clan as an educational one for the children.”

“It was,” replied Sarah’s Clan. “All of us had a strong desire to see more of Ireland, so we included that.” Sarah looked around the room at each of the clans, and then added, “We will provide command support, if any of you decide to visit Ireland or anywhere else on Earth.”

“Sarah’s Clan, we may take you up on that,” replied Siobhan.

“May?” said Sarah with a big smile.

“Well, we haven’t discussed it, yet. Your experience with Lia Fáil has aroused my curiosity.”

“Just watch for cats...” replied Tara, causing everyone to laugh.

“It looks like we are done,” said Sarah, when the laughter subsided. “Our next conference will be on Taiséalai.”

As Keriann’s Clan watched the shuttles leave, Kelly said, “When are we going to visit Ireland?”

“My sense,” said Chester, “is that we should do it soon. The closer we get to being operational the more difficult it might be.”

“We definitely need to go,” replied Emma very firmly, causing everyone to look at her. “I sense that it is very important for each Command Staff to visit there.”

“With the strength of your resolve, I am surprised you didn’t say anything earlier,” added Kelly.

“I didn’t feel I needed to. All of us will be going to visit Teamhair na Rí.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Lia Fáil has a significance for us that I don’t understand, but I recognized it when Sarah’s Clan mentioned it. The significance for us is different than it was for the Celts.” Emma paused for a moment, and then added, “Several other clans will also make a visit to Ireland.”

“Well,” said Chester, “perhaps we ought to go in the next week or so. Let’s look at the schedule and figure out when our absence will have the least effect on becoming operational.”

Keriann’s Clan had just exited the hangar on Iarracht when the lunch chime sounded. “Now I know why my stomach was complaining,” said Chester, causing everyone to laugh.

“You’re always hungry,” replied Brigid.

“I need my energy, to keep up with all of you lovely ladies.”

“Thank you,” replied his spouses.

A month had passed when Siobhan’s Clan entered the conference room on Taiséalai, and Siobhan said, “Taiséalai looks great.” Both Maureen’s and Keriann’s Clans nodded their agreement.

“Well, we are getting there,” responded Elana.

“Keriann, how was your trip to Ireland?” asked Siobhan.

“It was great. We are thinking of doing it again as there are some areas of Scotland we would like to take a closer look at.”

“Sorry we’re late,” said Sarah’s Clan, as they entered the conference room.

“That’s okay, we were just starting to compare notes on our visits to Ireland,” said Siobhan. “The description you gave us of your visit to Teamhair na Rí was superb. I think all of us have had an experience similar to yours when we touched Lia Fáil. I know that we all felt that we were compelled to touch the stone.”

“Wow,” said Aoife, “so all of us have touched it!”

Jenessa of Kathryn’s Clan said, “I held back when we went there, since I wanted to observe my spouses as they touched the stone. I noticed that as each of them touched it, my desire to touch it grew. There didn’t seem to be much difference between my desire and that of my spouses.”

“You thought it would be different for a bot,” responded Casidhe of Siobhan’s Clan. “It wasn’t any different for me than it was my spouses. This is going to sound funny, but once I realized my reaction to an outside influence was identical to that of my spouses, I felt even more like a spouse.”

“I never noticed any difference in our mind-link,” said Siobhan, with concern showing on her face.

“Siobhan my love, I told you it would sound funny. We should reflect on our experiences in Ireland from each other’s point of view. I think all of you will see what I was trying to say.”

“Casidhe,” said Jenessa, “I think you characterized what we felt correctly. Spending some time sharing our experiences with the point of view changing will be to our advantage.”

“That is a good idea,” said Crystal of Maureen’s Clan.

“Kathryn’s and Keriann’s Clans,” said Rusty, “we see that Taiséalai and Iarracht are a now on schedule.”

“Yes,” replied both clans, beaming with smiles. “If we hadn’t had the distraction of assisting with the ISS computer system malfunction, we may have been a little ahead of schedule.”

“How much longer before the repairs to the ISS are completed?” asked Courtney of Maureen’s Clan.

“You asked a very good question,” replied Claudette of Sarah’s Clan. “We told them that we will have all the tasks completed in two more clock cycles. They have asked for documentation concerning the repairs. Those will be delivered two clock cycles after our tasks are complete. The astronauts have verified that everything is working correctly.”

“Have they noticed that some systems are more responsive?” asked Colleen of Siobhan’s Clan.

“The astronauts have commented that many of the systems seem more responsive than they were before. We don’t believe they have said anything to anyone else.”

“Well, they ought to be more responsive, what with all the computing power we slipped in on them. They would be even more responsive if the new OS didn’t have to pretend to be the old one.”