“Sam,” she pulled at my arm, “he did - he will explain. As soon as he left they passed a law.”
“Then you should not have submitted!”
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 10, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
6861
“We had to, the imagined threat of us was destroying them.”
Alki was hurting for his ‘children’ too much to care about the Normals of this world (at that moment) and growled, “Never again! We do as Samantha said.”
The only option we have is to take the headsets and do all we can to help the present generation while fanning the spark in the next generations. We spent weeks in Freddie, travelling to all the beauty spots that would bring life back to their eyes. They saw the lace planet, went for a ride on the fire-world, visited Goldi’s planet (their favourite), spent time in our reality (in our time, where we also warned the Cherinians we would be needing their help) and when we felt they were strong again, we returned to their time and reality.
Freddie put in an appearance. They were quick to welcome us and we watched their consternation when they realised their Cherinians are gone. They reacted in a practical manner by checking the obvious first; they asked if their Cherinians are in Freddie. We confirmed they are and invited the leaders to an official dinner in Freddie. They were given specific times and fields where they would be collected.
The leader of Colombia actually had the temerity to present himself with a headset in place. Robbie reached in with void energies and damaged the chip. The president was obviously proud of himself when he saw he was the only one with the guts to wear it. Back in Freddie, most of our aliens stayed in their ecological areas so as to minimise the shock for our guests. The Akiards projected as tough looking Terran guards in uniforms they’d copied from the guards of the Tsar from Jina’s reality. Everything was done correctly so as to bolster their self importance and we passed into an immense hall fitted with magnificent candelabra, a display of an eight thousand carat diamond (uncut) and statues copied from various Terran civilisations. Robbie had studied in our memories dining tables and other furniture from palaces and the entire room spoke of elegance and infinite wealth. No doubt it was ugly to them.
We’d wanted to dress Robbie like the Emperor Napoleon in his famous portrait, but he balked and appeared dressed simply but elegantly. Unfortunately, when he dresses nicely, his size and slim figure make him look like a dandy from afar, but his stern face from close up quickly dispels any such impression.
Once everyone was seated, Robbie gave a brief welcoming speech and asked them to enjoy their meal. They were not good at pretending to be enjoying themselves and I giggled in my mind. Their fashion seemed to favour enormous lapels and fortified shoulders and to me they looked like ancient photos I’ve seen of leaders of the USSR. Mostly stocky, stolid and dour, I doubt that on a scale of one to a hundred their ability to empathise reached five. As an aside, I haven’t mentioned this before but, whenever we contact a new Earth and take their politicians to our Earth, everyone is fascinated if a fat person is among the guests. We haven’t had any obese people for decades now, since it is a health problem, not mainly due to eating habits. As a matter of fact, I’d say Cherinians and Normals at peak health tend to eat more (with a great appetite that makes the meal more of a pleasure) than they did before, because our metabolism is so efficient at burning calories.
6862
“Gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed your meal. While coffee is served, perhaps we can get down to business. By the way, please feel free to smoke. The gentleman to my right is Mr Edward Mansfield. With his wife they represent me on most Earths. I’ll hand over to him now, but I am willing to answer any questions you have throughout the meeting.”
Paintings on the walls became screens showing cities from other realities. The show ended with pictures of their cities. “The photographs you saw are of Terran cities in other realities. As you can see, they belong to cultures that are vibrant and growing. Your cities reflect the difference in temperament between our people. Our scientists have projected the probable future of your world. It is not necessary to show you photographs for one projection overrides all other considerations. Your populations are declining. Within fifty years your economies will collapse, reverting to…” His talk lasted over two hours and he backed up all he told them with graphs and scientific facts. “At your departure you will be provided with envelopes containing all the data I presented to you for your own experts to study.”
Robbie stood up. “All is not doom and gloom, the information given you by Mr Mansfield was projected on the basis that you are alone. You are not, the Cherinians from a multitude of realities are here to help. As from dawn, over the entire planet, volunteer Cherinians will be using their healers to bring everyone to the peak of good health. Just one healing will extend the lives of everyone by at least twenty years. The healings are only the first stage of our assisting you to break out of the bitter twist your evolution locked you in. Mrs Mansfield will now explain our plans in detail.”
As Hettie talked, their outrage was almost palpable. Each of them went through the stage of trying to think of a way to fight us and then their pragmatic minds began to accept they could not and we would have our way. That which caused the strongest reaction and left them feeling bitter, was the news that we intend manipulating their children genetically.
Robbie took over again and his face was gentle this time. “Your people are not as resilient as you are. It would not have been ethical of us to carry out our program without warning you, but we do not intend informing the public as we fear there will be a breakdown of all services if we do. We will leave you alone to discuss what you learnt and to decide whether you will keep what you learnt from your people. When you have reached consensus, inform one of the guards waiting outside the doors and we will return.”
Most leaders, from small social groups to governments, rise to the position because they have something extra; call it ambition, craving for power, imagination, some even because they have a dream. These were no different and they were aware of the shortcomings of their society and secretly had thought of themselves as being superior (that might be the reason our existence upset them so much). We’d expected them to arrive at a joint decision within a couple of hours so when we saw they had not called for us after five hours, we sent in a guard to inform them that they should take a break of an hour for a meal. When they came out we sensed they were split into two hostile camps. The only one who knows what was said by them is Freddie and he would never share with us, not even if Robbie demanded he do so.
Once they were around the table again (we noticed they had seated themselves according to their alliances), Robbie asked to speak to them. “It never was our intention to divide you, we hoped common sense would lead you to a joint decision. I have a request to make that will seem insane to you, but I think it will help solve your problem. We have another room like this one so I’d like this half of the table to go there. I would like to appoint two groups from our side. Those of you who are in favour of agreeing with us will face a group of ours who will argue in favour of you agreeing with us while it will be your duty to argue against us. Those of you who do not wish to agree and prefer to take other action, our group will argue on your behalf and you must counter their arguments. Gentlemen, please treat the next session as being a debate only, you will not be held to anything you say. Prove to us that you are gifted politicians and can argue any point of view effectively. When the session ends, we will meet at the tavern for food and drinks and then you’ll be shown to your rooms for sleeping. You will all meet here tomorrow morning and will be given as much time as you need to find a solution acceptable to all of you. Thank you.” He waited a moment and pointed at the one group, gesturing as he spoke, “Gentlemen, this way please.”
6863
What Robbie did to Empathia and I makes sense, but it was not nice. We had to debate with those who don’t want to agree to our conditions. That meant they had to argue for agreeing and the two of us against. Since we had to do the best we could, we came up with some damning points that we knew they would use in their meeting the next morning. At first they hardly bothered to argue, but as we vehemently made our points some of them began to answer us with counter arguments and before they quite understood what was happening they became vociferous in their arguments. We won the debate, but we had forced them to consider arguments their other group must have made so we hoped they would be more open to hearing what their opponents had to say. The same happened with the other group that argued against Jodine and Claudia.
When we went to bed that night, it was no surprise to anyone that Empathia and I concentrated on loving each others hearts while Robbie made love to Ashia and Gilli. The same happened with Jodine and Claudia, though Claudia was more passionate in adoring Jodine and they had more orgasms than anyone else.
It was only at seven in the evening that a guard was asked to summon Robbie. We trooped back in and took whatever seats were available. The President of Greece took the floor.
“Mr Teller, under protest we have agreed to your conditions since we have no option. We have a request we consider important.”
“I’m open to all requests and suggestions.”
“We understand the healers have already been to our world. We are all in agreement that it is a good thing and thank you. However, we do not wish for you to supply all our people with food machines. We are faced with difficult adjustments and providing food for free would destroy our society. Being forced to work to feed their families will help them weather the changes you wish to force on us. We do not object to the machines being made available to those in dire need.”
“First of all, as of this time, no healers have been to your world. They are all in Freddie and will only be able to heal once we return to your reality. As for your request, it makes a lot of sense and I favour it. We do have a problem in deciding who qualifies for a machine. If those who work realise that if they lose their jobs they’ll get machines to feed their families, it could lead to the breakdown you fear. Any suggestions?”
It was decided that only people from countries with high unemployment be provided with food machines. The countries that are stronger economically will open kitchens for those without an income. It goes against what we believe in, but I think we did right by agreeing to their wishes. We did manage to convince them to announce that anyone having more than two children will get a food machine for each extra child.
They spent five days touring Freddie in small groups, escorted by a couple of us. Lucy and Theresa were given permission to take their group to meet the Elipians. It was such a success that all the groups had to be taken to the forests where they roam. Gradually we introduced them to other species and we began to speak openly about how many species are Cherinians and what our dreams are. As they said between them, they felt as if they were living the plague years all over again, but some of them privately admitted to hoping their future generations will be by our side as we explore the universe.
We returned them within an hour of their departure and we were happy to sense that they no longer resented us as they had when they arrived. They promised to collect all the headsets and return them to us within three days. We only had about ten minutes to relax before another surprise shocked us.
A Sparkler landed close to us, taking on the form of a lovely seven year old girl. “Robert and loved ones, greetings. Would you please ask Freddie to return to the void?”
6864
Freddie jumped there (not actually ‘jumping’ since it is not teleportation) and we stared at the sight of another Freddie on our screens. “Freddie of the present time requests permission for the family and friends to visit us.” Shocked we saw they have five treehouses.
“Tell them we’d have baked a cake if we knew they were coming.” The family appeared, all of them laughing - even though they’d/we’d heard his corny line before. Robert went down on one knee with arms stretched out and the local family girls ran to him for a hug.
“Am I forgiven my sweet girls?” With a sour look on his face Robbie watched as they nodded against his shirt, emoting tons of joy and love. Cherine twisted around to look at him and grinned. I guess we’ll hear why later. Robert looked at Robert. “Can I have a hug?”
“Uh, I think I’ll pass.”
He burst out laughing. “Not like this you oaf, once the girls have let me go - if I let them.”
Once he’d greeted all the local Cherinians, he greeted the thousands who’d surrounded us and then walked over to our Cherine. She clambered up onto her chair and gave him a hug. He whispered to her, “You’re still my numero uno” and kissed her on the lips. Robbie just sat there with a wooden look, provoking more laughter from our future selves. His Cherine came over and kissed Robbie on the lips.
She gave him her cheeky grin. “We’ve changed a bit, we are more relaxed about showing our love. I guess you all had to wait for me to grow up a bit.”
“I like you exactly as you are - as she is, I mean as you are…” Even aliens roared with laughter as he floundered.
Once all the Roberts had a coffee and cigarette and us girls had all hugged and kissed, future Robert touched Robbie’s arm. “I suppose you’ve worked out why we are here? You’ve done your part, the three hundred years will be handled by us - for now, you have your own lives to return to.”
Freddie called out, “Uh, Robert.” All three looked up and we gasped. A third Freddie had arrived! Robbie quickly glanced at me, for we could see this Freddie also has five treehouses but there is something different about it that we could not define. “Permission granted for another Teller family to visit. Robert, the other Freddie asks to join us.”
“Please, you are both welcome.” Both Freddies appeared as the new family arrived. We were all extending our senses to the limit to feel them and we spotted the feeling of them not being complete - they’d obviously left behind family members we do not have.
“Hi.” He grinned. “Don’t ask us from when we are. Robert, permission for Akiar and his family to join us?” Family!? Our Akiar and Kairi jumped to stand by us, emoting great excitement.
We’d never guessed that Akiar has such a flair for the dramatic. A baby Akiard arrived on the lawn all on its own! It looked around, saw our Akiar and Kairi and reached for them. Kairi picked it up and her emoting was just too beautiful for words. Akiar mostly just stood like a statue, but his emoting churned and spun about as if it were about to tear him apart. Within minutes a child, obviously to be a male, stood on the lawn. Solemnly he stared for a brief moment at his ‘parents’ and then turned to our Cherine.
“Great Mother, I am Armiko, a Warrior of Love to be.” He bowed his head to her and then stared into her eyes proudly.
Cherine came to her feet. “Welcome Armiko, son of Akiar and Kairi and Warrior of Love to be. Will you sit by me?”
He looked torn by indecision, which is rare in an Akiard. “May I greet the other Cherines and then sit by you?”
6865
Cherine laughed. “Greet everyone and I will keep a space by me for you.”
We don’t know whether they were watching us on their screens or whether they were sharing with their children, but suddenly Akiar and Kairi stood before us. Startled, we saw a long scar across his chest. I wondered why he has chosen to keep it, but I dare not ask, we already know too much of the future.
After the greetings we all sat on the lawn in a huge circle. Akiar felt he should stand before telling us the reason they had joined us, but he would find it disrespectful of him to do so while Robbie, the Roberts and Cherines were sitting. His (future) Robert and Cherine stood up so the rest also did.
He spoke directly to Robbie. “Father, the Akiards now number close to a million. We ask that you allow us to heal this world. Our healers have the training and we will change the infants so that they are returned to the family of all Terrans.”
Robbie tilted his head. “You will spend three hundred years here?”
“More, Father. Our people live on our world and life is easy - too easy. We have fought as Warriors of Love, as sons and daughters of Robert and Cherine, but those moments are rare and far between. It is good for us to be reminded of who we are by helping others.”
“What kind of battle would scar you like that? I thought you are Warriors of Love, not of hate.” His Robert chuckled but kept quiet.
He drew himself up proudly. “This is not a scar of hate, it is a scar I keep with pride. My wife, Kairi, it is her hand that tore at me.”
“It was an act of love?”
“I knew you would understand. I made a suggestion and my people agreed. She fought me to stop me. With time I have seen she was right and recognise the love that drove her. She is a true Akiard warrior wife.”
Cherine asked, “Kairi, how do you view the scar?”
“It reminds me to be strong for him.” She paused, glanced sideways. “It also reminds me of pain.”
“It was a good pain Kairi.” She did not answer him. “I have also kept it to remind all new Akiards that we must think deeper about what being Warriors of Love means, for our instincts still try to betray us by making us consider ideas that are not of love - even if we think they are.”
Robbie’s lips twitched. “The other males, they envy you your scar?”
He stood silently, his thoughts confusing him as he tried to understand. His face calmed and taking Kairi’s hand in his the scar faded. I trembled to hold back the tears at the love I felt in her for him.
This has been the first time a Samantha has remained withdrawn, unwilling to share even edited memories. I think they fear to let us know from when they come, but I now have the key for working it out. A million Akiards! I cannot help but think of each one of them as being our children. They did ask for a full telling by us. I think this is the first time we’ve ever sensed our loves feeling nervous about doing a telling. Robbie thought to bolster their confidence by claiming they want a telling because they’ve forgotten how. It was an absurd claim, but the reason for his making it filled our hearts with love for him. In a way, it was almost as if Robbie had spoken the truth, for their Meli and the others watched their ancient counterparts with an intensity that was not normal. It has to be nostalgia for our youth in years.
The telling took a month and as time passed I came to realise that their Samantha is not as I am, she has changed. She blends in with her loves far more than I ever have and I’ve never heard her contradict her Robert. I hope she’s just trying to be nice.
6866
During the month, Akiards were brought by Robert. They would jump to our Freddie for the tellings but spent brief moments with our Akiards. Only Akiar and his family spent more time with us and that was because they could feel the joy it brought our Akiar and Kairi having time to spend with their children to be. I wonder, are these their first and only kids? If so, I guess it is because they spent the years in between adopting those waiting to be reborn as new Akiards.
We watched as the Akiards projected and left for the planet below us. The four Roberts disappeared for a day and returned with a platform. It has a flat underside so it does not look much like Freddie, despite it being massive and having rivers, mountains, forests and a wider variety of animals - even a few that are extinct in our time. It will be a home away from home for the local Cherinians and the Akiards. The Robert of this time promised to return often to ensure the shields do not lose energy. There is one other massive difference between our Freddie and their platform. The oldest (I can’t very well say ‘futurest’) of Roberts installed an AI to run it for them. It cannot teleport the platform, nor can it take it to the void, but if Robert takes it there, it is capable of maintaining its sanity and operating as usual. I became suspicious, was that why they don’t want us to visit their Freddie? Have they also installed an AI? Where is our Freddie then, has he become a Robert? Has he got his own Freddie world? Does he have a Samantha? (R: Perhaps now you understand why her future self did not dare share with her - she is as full of questions as a four year old.)
Robbie realised everyone was relaxing and things about the future were slipping through. He decided it is time we leave. We gave everyone a three day notice and had a humongous party that started from the second last day and ended in the morning of the last day. Nobody felt like sleeping, so we either sat at the taverna or walked around with those we’d become particularly close to. There were some tears because we felt we were losing friends we’ll never see again. By the time we become them, we’ll meet us of now, so our friendships will be from the other side - if you know what I mean.
Just before they were to leave, Samantha took my hand and we walked off on our own. She grinned at me. “Stop worrying. You are a bit of a disappointment you know. After all, you only had to recall the sharing of Robbie of when you were to be conceived.” As my eyes widened she giggled. “I’m not her yet, but surely she wasn’t a tame little pussy was she?” Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us when I burst out laughing. I don’t laugh that loudly, so I guess I have a lovely laugh. .
Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Nine
As soon as Freddie jumped realities, Robbie scowled. “Damn it! I can’t see why they wouldn’t tell me whether we succeeded in bringing Arthur. It’s not as if I asked how, just if. I find it very suspicious of me that I told myself not to tell myself.” He only said that because he loves how convoluted and odd it sounded .
Latreia giggled. “Can you just imagine Arthur sitting by himself in the other Freddie while we were all together here? I bet he had his own Samantha and never noticed us.” I thought she’d brought up a pertinent point, but the others just saw it as a source for many jokes at my expense. At least Robbie stopped scowling.
“I feel like changing the pace, I need to do something different. How about visiting those strange aliens who saved me by changing my body?”
“That will also be in the future?”
“I have no idea. We’ll just have to concentrate on arriving a couple of minutes after I left.”
We are by the planet of the Shhisuu. Robbie’s healer first changed our bodies so that we can survive in an atmosphere heavy with sulphurous gasses and a lack of oxygen. We were warned that any emission of oxygen would harm our intended hosts, so we chose to change our bodies rather than just sheath ourselves, though we did keep our Terran appearance. As the room Robbie first arrived in was not large, only Robbie, Claudia, I and, surprise(!) Cherine made up the first team. We jumped.
6867
The two who had talked to Robbie had already moved away, talking to each other, when some kind of alarm must have gone off, for they turned back. Before I confuse myself and everyone else, ‘turned back’ does not mean they turned their bodies, just that they altered the direction they were moving. I was not given the opportunity to count, but I estimate they have about eighteen major legs and maybe over fifty minor legs (if that is what they are) with knotty protrusions. The minor legs are thin and when they move slowly don’t always touch the ground. When standing they seem to reach out to the floor for moments, as if helping balance them (why they need to be balanced with eighteen legs I don’t know - for all I know they could be ‘tasting’ the floor). When in a hurry, according to their standards ‘running’, they use the minor legs to help propel them at a faster speed in the direction they want to go. Their eyes look as if they are made out of coloured petroleum jelly and they wrap all around the body. There is no pupil so that explains why they do not enjoy seeing our eyes move. The shape of their body slightly resembles a bottle of gas, for those that are used for camping equipment. Their average height is about two metres.
Since we’d adjusted to the atmosphere, the way it smelled was different. There was nothing chemical about the scent, my body interpreted it as somewhat nutty with a hint of seaweed. The planet must be smaller, for the gravity was about point seven of one gee. The floor we stood on was not flat, it was patterned by indentations that ended at the corners where the moisture that condensed on the walls and floor were drained.
“It has returned. We must presume so, for it has brought extensions with it.”
“Perhaps they are unique beings your honour, such as crew of a spaceship.”
“Why are they adjusted? Could the first one have learnt from you?”
“I do not think so your honour, it was dying when I operated.”
“Why have you returned?”
“I promised to return. I brought Samantha, friend of aliens and this one is Claudia, our translator. This one, she is Cherine, the one we are named after.”
“Your honour, I must assume it brought them to show them what a truly beautiful species should look like. Perhaps it wants us to help release them so that they need not suffer the sight of their ugliness?”
His honour answered in an annoyed voice, “It should have taken care of the matter within its own spaceship, it is not our job to release aliens, however repulsive they are.”
It did not help having Robbie chortling within his mind as we became irritated. I sent him a grin. “Your honour, I could not help overhearing your comments. It is true, as you said, that Robert, this creature by my side, is ugly and somewhat repulsive but, please consider it from our point of view. We are born in these bodies and have grown accustomed to them so we find beauty in them.” Cherine sent me a grin and a big tick of amusement (she always seems to be aware of the way I phrase myself).
The one we presumed, at the time, was a doctor, interrupted his honour as he was about to speak. “Your honour, it is reported a spaceship is within our system.” His smaller legs thumped the floor in agitation. “Reports estimate it to be about the size of our moon!” His little legs stopped thumping and he swayed as if in shock. “Your honour…now it is reported their ship has no size! It is a ball of energy! Prime Security Ikstori is on his way to confer with you and he is bringing weapons to immobilise the aliens. He says they must not be allowed to leave, their presence protects us.”
Robbie quickly enfolded us within his energy, but apart from that we gave no sign of hearing them. Cherine smiled up at Robbie and he picked her up to hold to him. That seemed to startle the aliens.
“You are releasing the small one?”
“No, I am holding her because I love her.”
“But…you are not taking of her substance? You are not losing of yours?”
6868
“Their bodies are not as ours your honour, there is a definite edge to them and it is protected by a layer of hard matter.”
“How can they move then, how can they breathe? Prime Security Ikstori is right, we must keep them here for studying. Investigate and prepare us a report.”
“Immediately your honour.”
“Since we can teleport, how do you propose keeping us here?”
His words to the ‘doctor’ were almost an irritated sigh, “I wish they were intelligent enough to converse with, there is much we need to learn. Order communications to contact the Efuizi, they are interested in such oddities and will want to examine their ship of energy. Suggest a team teleport here from their ship.”
I wondered why they think we are stupid. “Intelligence equal to yours is needed for conversing?”
“Why do you think we are forced to talk so much - we cannot leave you to suffer the silence, your minds need some degree of stimulation or else you might lose yourselves. You need too long to consider each next utterance, so if you are not less intelligent, which is understandable for an oxygen breathing carbon based alien, then your minds work very slowly.”
“We have not delayed speaking because of lack of subjects we wish to discuss, it is our custom not to interrupt when others speak. Just like our ugliness, it is the way we are. We usually prefer to speak when we are spoken to.”
“As I said, we understand you are damaged by the circumstances of your birth. The offer to release you remains open whenever you wish it, even if it is a rude imposition on us.”
“What is the normal lifespan of your people, how many revolutions of your planet around your sun?”
“About two thousand, up to three when we can afford it. Yours?” Robbie mumbled in his mind, *They live longer because their metabolism is not as violent as ours. They seem to be renewing their bodies constantly.*
“We suspect we will never die. At worst, the shortest period we will live should not be less than thousands of years.”
Prime Security Ikstori had entered and he heard my answer. “They are lying!”
Claudia started saying, “Ikstori, we are…”
A violent screech filled the air. The doctor was almost dancing. “You are not of the sebkom, you do not address them directly by name.”
“How do I address him then?”
“Your honour.”
“But then the other one might think I am addressing him.”
“Your honour Ikstori.”
“And the other honour?”
“Your honour Eihshhi.”
“My full designation is Eihuksi Shhé Eihshhi.”
6869
“Your honour Eihuksi Shhé Eihshhi, could you please disable your translator? This way of communicating is too slow.”
Claudia chose a bad moment since I wanted to hear what Ikstori had to say and what their plans were. While they talked we softly talked amongst ourselves until we started to understand what they were saying. It sounded like they planned to force Freddie to take evasive action and since I know that, just as with our Robbie, he is lazy, I decided to try and save him the inconvenience.
“Your honours, if you are patient with my slow manner of speaking I will try to explain why we returned to your world. The first time Robert came here he had been attacked and his ability to teleport efficiently damaged. He could teleport, but he could not direct himself to the space and time he wanted. That is why he arrived here, unprepared for the difference in the air, and he started dying. When he regained his senses he realised you had saved his life. Those you see with him are his family and we love him very much. We all came with to thank you for saving him.”
“I have not understood what you are of his.”
“Family? Oh, what did you mean when you wondered whether we were extensions?”
“That he took a part of himself and gave you life - extensions of himself until he dies or you create extensions of your own.”
“We have a different method of reproducing ourselves. We are different in certain ways, some givers of a part of ourselves and the others takers and nurturers. Someone like Robert for instance, would give part of himself to any of us three. That which he gives is placed deep within our bodies where it is cared for until it is developed and capable of surviving outside the body. We call the givers male and the takers female. What you call an extension we call children. The male and female or females that give and take and their children are called a family. In other words, all of us are a unit that belong to each other.”
“The universe is indeed strange. We have studied oxygen worlds and their creatures and were puzzled, perhaps your explanation will lead us to understanding.”
“Your honour Ikstori, you claimed we are lying, an explanation please?”
“Nothing is eternal, not even the suns.”
“We returned in time to the period when a civilisation was close to its end, about fourteen million years ago. They call themselves the Unation for they consist of over thirty species. They became Cherinians and not only is their civilisation still stable in our time, but the individuals of that time are still alive. When talking of such a lifespan, is eternity that different to creatures that were only meant to live a hundred years?”
The indignant stamping of their little legs was accompanied by the accusation that I was lying as time travel is impossible. I didn’t want to play games with them, I do not think they understand what teasing is. I explained about alternate realities and how we used that for travelling in time - there was no point in confusing them further by explaining that Freddie and Robbie can travel in time when in the void.
Robbie decided they would not believe if they do not experience it for themselves. “If the three of you are willing to travel with us to meet your alternates, we need to move outside…”
“Outside!” They were so horrified that we felt their emoting for the first time.
“I meant, we need to take enough of the air you breathe with us for a period of three days. There is not enough in these two rooms.” It needed a lot of explaining and by then another two aliens entered - obviously not of the same species, although similar in general shape. It turned out they are from a neighbouring system and are distantly related, also hydrogen breathers. They tell of myths that an ancient race took some Shhisuu to another solar system at a time that their species were still burrowing close to the surface or perhaps even still floating in the thick atmosphere and only beginning to develop a rudimentary civilisation. They call themselves the Efuizi.
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Robbie left us, created an ecological niche in Freddie, returned to the inner atmosphere of their planet and filled an energy sphere which he deposited in Freddie. They had been warned and had machines bedded to the surface which monitored him. A sleek but heavily reinforced spaceship of the Efuizi kept a non-aggressive distance from Freddie, but it used whatever technology they have to monitor us. Ikstori and the two Efuizi visitors came with - Ikstori mostly for security reasons, he would not rest unless he could evaluate what threat we pose to his people. Our guests are sheathed so that they can roam around Freddie and they are provided with two ‘sleds’. When a non-Cherinian uses a sled, Freddie monitors them and controls the sled for them. The inner energy shield of Freddie is coloured a deep orange so that our guests feel at home.
They could see that the Unation ship was more advanced technologically, but they were more impressed by the Inguel ships. They asked whether they could be adapted so that internally they support hydrogen breathers and the Inguel promised to experiment and bring a few to them if they succeed. They found it impossible to understand, even when it was re-confirmed in a multitude of ways, that there will be no charge for the ships. The Inguel are excited that they have something new to learn and the value of the end product is of little interest to them - that comes from them living so long in Freddie.
“How is it you are capable of adapting your bodies to our atmosphere so quickly? Is the technology for sale?”
Robbie smiled. “You have not shown much interest in our ship. Would you like to meet the entity that runs it?” When Freddie took a body and sat by us and they finally understood that he is a soul with a mind, the same as us, they were so agitated that it looked as if they were about to create extensions.
They were excited by the variety of species they were meeting, so Robbie had to return to their planet for more of their air. On the last day with us, the Unation scientists and their leaders joined us at the taverna, a large trolley following them. “We are grateful for the effort and time you took to teach us your language and method of recording words in symbols. It has enabled us to prepare a small gift for both your planets. They will not corrode in your atmosphere - we have had experience in dealing with hydrogen breathers before and over the centuries we solved all the problems caused by your heavy atmosphere and the semi-liquid state it achieves close to the surface of your planet.” Fwiyehe sauntered over to the trolley and removed the covering. “These two computers hold all the scientific information we currently have in our libraries. Please consider this a gift from all Cherinians.”
Robbie feels that we have amply rewarded them for being nice people and saving him, but us girls differ, we’ve gone past that point. We want them to grow and be linked as Cherinians. Cherine thinks they can. We have promised to return and apologised for not visiting their world again now, as we are hoping to avoid all the official functions we guess they want to stage for us. Cherine spoke privately with Robbie, insisting on a commitment from him that we will return soon. Of course he agreed so she called all of us to sit in a circle around her. She did a special golden circle of love for them and when it ended they had torn pieces from themselves, creating extensions. (That is why Cherine was so insistent, she did not want to show them what love can be like and then leave for a long time.)
Freddie jumped to a dead reality for us to have a few days of relaxation before returning home. Robbie sat with Fwiyehe and Spexette, apparently just socialising, but we could sense he had something on his mind so we paid more attention to what they were saying than to our own conversations.
“Your gesture, giving them the libraries, it reminded me of a science fiction story I read by David Brin. He wrote about a galactic civilisation that made available to all species a library with all the current information and knowledge plus the histories of all the species.”
“The libraries we gave only hold our knowledge Robert. Are you suggesting…” He stopped, awed by the thought. Instantly there was great excitement by all the species. They were overcome by both aspects, the giving of their knowledge and the receiving of such a vast sum of experience and information. I sat back, leaning against Dommi with half closed eyes as my thoughts spiralled, mostly looking for ways and means and what problems we would have to overcome. Later on, once we were alone I got told off by all my loves for not fully enjoying the moment.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)- posted: 17th May, 2020
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