by A. C. Katt
“They have a fem. She is from this voyage. Sam and I can go over with Meg and see what we can do. Maybe, if given pictures of this playground, Bron and I can design something better and fabricate one for every village on Sarran.” Tarin thought out loud.
“That’s a good idea. Now that we’ve fed the bebes, we’ll go to the big dining room for the midtines meal.” Syn rose and the rest of the fem followed.
* * * *
Falling Waters
::Tanner and Troi agreed to open the shop again. Many of our WarriorPairs have off and femspring brought to Sarran by their fem. Their fem Blythe is pregnant already. They were going to do it anyway.:: Tarin sent to Bron. ::I showed them the toy catalogs from Earth, off course they can do better than that, making the things more educational and Sarran-centric. We have to get into the lab to look at jungle gyms. I’ve got to design Meg a new sewing machine, so I’ll probably come in next rising with Sam and Meg and show them around the shop. Sam needs to talk to Zaron. He wants to design a course on Earthen history for the Academy. Since Zaron is officially the headmaster of the Academy, he had to approve the courses.::
::Approval is a given. Zaron was talking about incorporating courses on Earthen culture so our Warriors can better understand their fem. He was going to consult with Mark and Sam to see if they would help design a course on culture. A course on history and politics would be Goddess sent. I’ll see you next rising at the lab. I’ll bring Zaron to talk to Sam and Syn to keep Meg company. We could go to Zag’s for midtine. Is Manko back in the kitchen?::
::He was like me in that he fell into darkness when Sarran lost their fem. They had just found theirs the day the Iptz sprayed the world with plague. Forsythia died in their arms.:: Tarin shook his head to get rid of his own bad memories.
::I just checked with Zaron and Syn, they’ll come next rising. Syn will bring baby Nara to show her off. Our fem is proud of both Naffie and Nara. I believe we’ll leave Naffie and Michael with Sara and send Garlance and Emot with them. We need to get serious about acquiring aides for Juraens’ and your Triad.::
::I’d rather wait until we clear the remaining unbonded Warriors. I don’t want to take in a viper. We need to get to that immediately,:: Tarin strongly suggested.
::You’re right. The council delegated that job to you, Sam, Mark, and Juraens. If a Warrior has an antipathy to the Earthen fems, his antipathy to Earthen Warriors will be even worse. Easier to read their surface thoughts. Although if they have aura wavy aura…:: Bron’s mind voice trailed off.
::If they have a sick aura, maybe Syn and Ellen can fix it,:: Tarin suggested.
::That or a mind wipe. The Warriors on Brightstar who were spaced tried to harm the fems and sabotage our battle against the Zyptz. The ones we find now haven’t done anything yet so maybe you’re right, maybe they can be saved,:: Bron agreed. ::Every Sarran Warrior lost is a tragedy. We need all of them, plus the new offspring and the Earthen Warriors who are ready to join the fight.:: Bron’s mind voice crackled with emotion. ::The Earthen have to be ready.::
::We’re already doing everything we can to facilitate that. Sam, Meg, and I are willing, after Meg gives birth, to go to Earth to try and hurry things along.::
::We’ll talk next rising.::
* * * *
Chapter 14
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
―Robert Kennedy
Council Hall
The council sat at the dais. Zaron spoke. “This rising the council has called for all of the unbonded Warriors to appear to register so that we know how many Earthen fems to bring back on our next voyage. Form two lines. TeMark and TeJuraens are at the head of the first line and will take your information, TeSamuel and TeTarin are at the head of the second.”
Syn, Ellen, and several of the other Earthen psychiatrists sat on the sides of the hall to observe. Syn and Ellen taught the new fem doctors how to read auras. They wanted to get this done before the mass birthing began.
Sherry sat quietly with Jimmy. Jimmy had made up his mind immediately to take the vial. “I don’t want to ever go back to a place that permits a Warrior to strike a fem or offspring. I want to be Sarran. I thought I already was.”
As the Warriors filed through, Tarin, Sam, Mark, and Juraens picked up a few red auras. Those Warriors were sent over to the fem doctors. There were no black or wavy auras and only two Warriors were unaccounted for. When Psy Ops was dispatched to bring them in, they found that the two had just bonded and they told the officers that it was their understanding that only unbonded Warriors had to appear.
::There are no more traitors on Sarran,:: Bron announced. ::It has been a grueling two day process, but all of our people have been cleared.:: The Warriors were asked to stay after the screening.
::Sam, Tarin, Mark, and Juraens, I’m going to ask for Warriors to apply for the aide and minder positions. I’m going to do this by mind speech,:: Bron explained. ::They need to be HiPsy to run after Naffie and Michael and I’m sure Meg’s and Sara’s bebes will be just as hard to contain.::
Twenty Warriors came up to the dais to apply. They found seven who were of the right age who seemed to be interested in service and wanted the job. ::We’ll keep the others on a list. Once they bond they generally go searching for their fem or join the fleet. So we’ll need to see other resumes eventually,:: Zaron pointed out.
::I’ll make a file,:: Sam said.
Sam and Tarin’s new aides were Yura and Tamen. Their minder for Meg’s unborn offspring was Tession. They immediately assigned Tession to Meg and her offspring when he arrived. The fourth Warrior, Hith, went to Sara for Michael; the fifth, Aranth, to Syn for Naffie, the sixth, Hake for Mary and the seventh, Tober, to Zaron and Bron as a driver.
* * * *
Two risings later, the births began. Mark and Anya teleported all over the planet to hold the hands of panicked young Warriors, worried about their femspring. Seven risings later all of the fems had given birth. The population of Sarran increased by almost four thousand. The council was jubilant. The births went smoothly with no complications and once the Warriors remembered how to use the mind block, they proceeded with no pain for the fems.
When everyone was delivered and settled, Anya met Sara and Meg at Syn’s for coffee and tea. “That’s it until the next wave hits,” Anya said with a sigh.
“You must be exhausted. You’ve practically just given birth yourself. Why don’t you leave Mary with Syn, Sara, and I and go lay down for a while?” Meg regarded Anya in concern.
Anya glanced over at Syn who nodded her head.
“I think I will. Between Mary’s feedings and the moontine runs for the pregnant fems, I admit I’m tired.”
Anya went upstairs. “Jonal and Tonas were worried about her. I’m glad you suggested she lie down. She can’t leave Mary with her minder yet because she’s too young and needs Anya for feedings.”
“Now that we have so many offspring and femspring we’re going to have to investigate how the Sarran fems took care of schooling. Naffie and Michael share a tutor now and Sherry said that Allen and Well obtained a separate one for Jimmy because he’s older, but soon we going to need to be more organized about education,” Syn observed.
“The institutions for schooling fems are non-existent, since after the plague struck there wasn’t a single fem left standing. For schools for the fems, we have to start from scratch. We need to do it soon. There are femspring that were brought from Earth that need tutoring, not only in basic subjects but a course on Sarran, Sarran culture, and customs.” Meg took a sip of her tea. “I could use a course in that myself.”
“I’ve been dependent on Mark and Juraens, but they know nothing about schools for fem, younger or older.” Sara cocked her head, obviously thinking. “Why don’t we check the fem archives?” The archives should say something about how fem were educated.
They certainly need to be taught to use the mind block for birth.”
“We should also ask Zaron and Bron. They had a femspring who had to have gone to school before the Iptz plague ship arrived,” Syn said in reflection.
“Even if there are teachers among the fems, they wouldn’t know how to teach Sarran science, math, or history and although the off and femspring have the translator chips, they and we should learn to speak Sarran without it or the bebes never will.” Sara took out her comm and made some notes.
“How are the playgrounds coming along?” Meg asked.
“Bron and Zaron have scouted out five locations, one in each quadrant, and one near the Warrior Academy. Bron and Tarin designed the equipment. They attempted to make it challenging so that the playgrounds strengthen future Warriors and femsprings physically and mentally.” Syn answered, “They are fabricating the equipment, and Warriors are overseeing the installations as we speak.”
“Tarin told me that he and Bron looked to make the equipment safer, using material like that on the ship underneath the jungle gym, swings, and sliders so if a rambunctious off or femspring uses the equipment improperly, and they won’t get seriously hurt.” Meg took a bite of one of Sara’s scones.
“They also plan to keep a WarriorPair on guard at all of the playgrounds from rising to moontine on a daily basis. Off and femspring are the cornerstone to rebuilding Sarran. Sarran can quadruple its population and still have room for more Warriors and fems,” Syn said.
“How are they going to work, manning the playgrounds?” Meg asked.
“Like they do the fabricators. Every WarriorPair will take a day, so it won’t be too onerous. The Warriors know how important the off and femspring are, so we already have volunteers to do the first three tides for all the playgrounds.” Mary started to whimper the same time that Nara did.
Naffie and Michael came running into the chamber. Naffie was, as usual, the instigator. “Mary’s hungry. Can we sit with her while TaMeg goes up to get TaAnya?”
“You can sit here next to Mary, but don’t try to pick her up or you may hurt her,” Syn told them as she took Nara out of what Bron called a bebe cuddler and opened her blouse.”
“Nara likes the new cuddler,” Naffie said matter of factly.
Syn raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know that offspring?”
“Because Nara talks to me; we are siblings after all, and since Michael is my bonded, she talks to him too.” Michael nodded vigorously.
Anya came down the stairs, hiding a yawn behind her hand. “I gather the princess is demanding to be fed.”
“According to Naffie both Mary and Nara are hungry and they like the new cuddlers,” Sara laughed.
“She didn’t tell me…” Anya sputtered.
“Nor did Nara say anything to me,” Syn said dryly.
“We don’t have to be that close to talk to them anymore although we like visiting with Mary. Oh! Grandpa and Grandsire just transported into the courtyard.” Michael ran to the door.
“Michael, this isn’t your house, let Naffie answer the door,” Sara admonished.
“Mommie,” Michael explained patiently, “it is my house, too. I have a bed here just like Naffie has one at our house.”
Sara threw up her hands. “I give up. Even Mark and Juraens don’t understand what’s going on with the offspring.”
“Don’t be discouraged. Bron and Zaron have no more understanding of this than we do. The offspring are off even the Hi Psy chart.” Syn sighed.
Sam and Tarin came inside. “Michael and Naffie met us at the door. I hope it’s okay that we followed them inside.” Sam blushed when he saw that both Anya and Syn were breastfeeding.
“We can return some other time,” Tarin offered.
“Not necessary. The femspring have bottomless stomachs. They eat every two hours, so there is no time anyone can visit when they’re not eating, waiting to eat, or just finishing up. You’ll see,” Syn said
“I’ve taken care of a baby. Mary and I had Sara, but I fed Sara with a bottle of Mary’s milk so she could sleep at night, but Sara only cried to eat every four hours, not two,” Sam said thoughtfully.
“The Zinnas need some rest. Mary had a gadget, a breast pump, that expressed milk from her breast so we could put it in a bottle, maybe Bron and Tarin could work on something like that. The Warriors could feed the bebe while their fem gets some rest. It would also establish a closer relationship between the sires and their bebes.”
“Mary and Nara said that they’d like that,” Michael told his Grandpa.
“It would have to be fashioned so that it doesn’t hurt the fem or make her sore,” Tarin said.
“Too late for that,” Anya said with some sarcasm. “Trying feeding a child every two hours and see how well your nips do.”
“Look in the fem archives. There has to be some kind of numbing cream that won’t hurt the bebe. We don’t allow fems to suffer any discomfort on Sarran. There has to be something,” Tarin told her.
Meg picked up her comm unit and started to search on breast feeding. “Aha, there is a numbing cream. It’s made of Sarran herbs and the sap of the Tierest tree. I’ll send the recipe out to all the Warriors so they can have the chefs make enough for every fem on Sarran.”
“Can this be fabricated?” Tarin asked.
“I don’t think the active ingredients would be as effective if they went through the fabricator,” Meg said, examining the recipe.
“Then we have to have all of the chefs and Warriors start making large batches immediately.” Tarin got on his comm and broadcast the information and the recipe to all of the WarriorPairs.
* * * *
Bron, Zaron, Jonal, and Tonas arrived in the courtyard and came running inside. “PaChette, how can your Warriors keep you from harm if you don’t tell us the problem? We’re going down to the kitchen to work on this immediately.” Bron came to Syn and put his arm around her shoulders.
“Tarin and I will work on this pump. It seems like a simple design. We could have it ready and in the fabricator by this evening. You don’t have to hurt to be a good Zinna.”
“Mommie, TaAnya, Mary, and Nara are sorry they’re sucking so hard,” Naffie said.
Syn looked down at Nara, “You didn’t do anything wrong. Your Zinna should have known to look in the archives and not aspire to martyrdom.”
Anya giggled. “I’m the physician. I can’t believe I was that dumb. I bet there is something on Earth that the Zinnas use for this.”
“Probably not as good as this recipe. I’ve noticed that the Tierest tree is the answer to most problems the fem face, from gaining weight to nursing,” Meg observed.
“It seems it is,” Syn said wryly.
“This afternoon another issue came up—schooling. Right now Naffie and Michael share a tutor, but how do we teach the crowd that’s coming up behind them?”
“We had fems and Warriors who taught the offspring and femspring. There are teachers among the fems, but they’d need to learn the Sarran curriculum. It might be difficult for the fems to grasp the math and science because it is so far out of their experience, so Warriors might have to teach the femspring until they get old enough to teach those behind them,” Tarin told the fems.
“Some of our knowledge is passed on mind-to-mind. The teacher gives the student the concepts by reaching into their mind and then the students work problems to prove they understand. Not all offspring or femspring are created equal.” Tonas sat down next to Anya.
“Some will understand immediately; others may never comprehend the principles. That’s why all occupations are treated as having an equal value on Sarran. Every Warrior and fem has a talent. What our education system does is develop the talents that exist to their fullest possible potential,” Bron explained. “You can rise to the top of your profession and get called to council. TeAxit was a gardener. We don’t have professional politicians. That’s why Sarran works.”
“That explains Tarin, but it doesn’t explain Dad
dy,” Sara observed.
“That’s where you’re wrong; your sire is Sarran’s resident expert on Earth.” Zaron patted Sam on the shoulder. “His help is going to be invaluable getting Earth to a point where they can help us fight the Zyptz.”
* * * *
Castle Air, 17:00 tines
Syn announced, “All of you might as well stay for the moontine meal. I have a borad roast and a leg of lamb. Brok and Tack can make mashed monk. I found a bulb-like tuber that tastes a lot like garlic to add to the monc and the lamb and I found some pods resembling peas. There was also a close Sarran equivalent to mint so I have jelly for the lamb.”
“We’ll stay. Tarin and Bron won’t stop working until they have a working breast pump that won’t hurt the fems. Brok and Tack have already made up a batch of the nipple cream,” Meg agreed.
The nipple cream worked and the seventeen tines feeding went by with all of the fems leaving thank you messages on Syn’s comm unit.
Syn, Anya, Sara, and Meg sat down with their Warriors for dinner. There was no formality this evening and Naffie and Michael were permitted to eat with the adults. It seemed that off-the-chart psy for offspring was the norm on Sarran now. Once the Earthen off and femspring arrived planet side, it seemed as if their psy was magnified one-hundred fold. All of the Zinnas who had offspring had bonded.
The class of Warriors now graduating from the Academy would be the last until the new Earthen offspring and bebes got an age where they could attend. “Why can’t the offspring go early? If all of them are HiPsy there should be no problem with them understanding the training and we would be able to mobilize more quickly in case of attack. The fledglings in the Academy could be armed and placed planet side while the Warriors fought above us,” Syn said.
Meg was shocked. “Syn, they’re too young.”
“Normally you’d be right, but we’ve been developing psy weapons and the younger Warriors have more psy potential then their older counterparts,” Tarin said gently.
