The Tymorean Trust Book 1 - Power Rising

by Margaret Gregory

  Chapter 4 - Confirmation

  His Majesty, Pyani Tymoros, High King Governor stood at one of the windows of the dome shaped conference room. He was casually dressed in a loose fitting gold caftan that he had pulled on over the soft wool under shift and loose fitting trousers he had been wearing in his suite when his attendant delivered the word about the Earth children. His mind had not stopped pondering on the news, as it might be the fulfilment of an old prophecy. He had come to the conference room to wait for Xyron’s evaluation, and for two hours, he had watched the gardens outside his palace as lightning flashed from cloud to cloud. The electrical storm had stalled over the estate, and it seemed more violent than usual, even for the Season of Storms.

  The idea occurred to him that the behaviour of this storm was connected to the arrival of the alien children. However, all he knew so far was that the children’s power had erupted and was extremely strong. In that much, they fulfilled Elder Dakven’s prophecy. But human children? If they had been the offspring of Tymorean missionaries, there would have been warning signs before hand.

  Tymoros turned when he heard the quiet sounds of servants bringing in refreshments and a light supper. They were placing them on the low table set apart from the main conference table.

  He watched the storm for a moment longer, but with the darkness outside, the clear windows around the dome were turning opaque and light began to emanate from the panels in shades of blue and green. In the gardens below, the estate guards would be moving out to ensure that all servants and members of the three royal families were obeying the nightly curfew. In the great hall, three stories below, the evening meal would be being served.

  Tymoros served himself from the trays of savoury finger food and was in the act of sitting down when he was joined by Jono Reslic, the Tymorean President Governor.

  “Any problems?” Tymoros asked, seeing that Reslic was frowning slightly.

  “No, just that young fool Zacary,” was the reply. “Third time this week he has tried to stay out after curfew. I have extended his restriction to his room, but I will talk to him further in the morning.”

  Reslic had changed from his official clothes and was wearing black coveralls, which was his choice of clothing to relax in. He also served himself, and like Tymoros, settled into one of the chairs to wait.

  Neither Governor felt the need for idle conversation; both contemplated the implications of the arrival of the Earth children. No decision could be made concerning them until Xyron reported.

  Servants returned to clear the table, and to bring glasses of the wine favoured by each Governor. Tymoros took up his glass of sparkling white, while Reslic left his dark brown liqueur until the servants left the room. They would be assured of privacy, since the only way into and out of the room was by transmitting and only the senior servants were permitted to enter.

  When another hour had passed, a faint humming alerted both men. They glanced towards a circular area of floor that was now glowing faintly.

  Both Tymoros and Reslic watched intently as two columns of white vapour materialised into Xyron and Vincent.

  Vincent followed his brother towards the other Governors. He gave them the traditional bow of greeting, and stayed standing when his brother sat down. In his hand was the data plaque summarising the results of their analyses of the Earth children. If directed, he would activate equipment that could project specific data onto one of the wall panels.

  Before Xyron began to speak, Reslic moved his left sleeve to reveal a wrist communicator, and pressed one of the activators with his right hand. Vincent knew he had activated a force screen that would prevent anyone transmitting in during the discussion.

  From his chair, Xyron began his report.

  “It is as Elder Dakven prophesised. The two Earth children have a strong positive reaction to our power.” He paused, seeing both Reslic and Tymoros lean forward in their chairs. He gave a hand signal and Vincent knew it was his cue to give the background of the children.

  “The children are fifteen year old twins – a boy and a girl. They were attending the educational institute where our missionary Tonos is in charge. The father of the children is his deputy, a man called Daniel Ward and who is the grandson of missionary Collen. His deceased wife was Janelle, daughter of missionary Maytani.”

  “The onset of power was spontaneous?” Tymoros asked.

  “No, in hindsight, the onset was evident over a period of several weeks. Tonos learnt from Daniel that their behaviour had changed, first becoming thoughtless and argumentative and then escalating to disrespect, disobedience, rebellion and finally violence.”

  Vincent saw Reslic’s face tighten with concern, so he went on. “Tonos had allowed Daniel to deal with their earlier poor behaviour at school. It seemed that they had entered into a phase common to adolescent Earth children. He became involved when they assaulted a teacher. He noticed the signs of uncontrolled power when they came to his office. That was when he summoned me.”

  “What was their attitude at that time?” Reslic asked. It was an important question.

  “Tonos told me that they seemed to be in shock, had admitted to being extremely angry earlier, but could give no reason for the attack on the teacher. Both then seemed enervated. The girl mentioned nausea, eyes changing focus and buzzing in her ears.”

  Tymoros nodded, recognizing some of the symptoms of transition sickness.

  Vincent continued reporting. “When I arrived, they had managed to draw in energy from the ambient electrical system. The lights were unnaturally dim in Tonos’s office, despite the fact that Tonos had an energy damping field operating in there. The purple glow Tonos mentioned had spread from just their hands to encompass their forearms. I grounded out the power they had accumulated, but once out of Tonos’s office they quickly drew in more energy and given a chance, they would have run off. They resisted leaving the school.”

  Xyron spoke then. “Vincent had to give them a substantial dose of sedative, and it barely gave him time to get them here. They were metabolising it extremely rapidly and their brain activity was dangerously high. I controlled their power before they had a chance to wake up, and I can only hope the effect will last long enough for us to give them some basic training.”

  He did not have to explain the ramifications. The children were so powerful that Reslic would have to take on the task of training them.

  Tymoros, considering the ‘why’ of the matter, asked, “With Tymorean forebears on paternal and maternal sides, could it have been a quirk of genetics that gave them the potential? Could any of our missionaries have unwittingly been a catalyst?”

  “I considered that possibility,” Vincent admitted. “I spoke to the teacher they attacked and some of their closest friends at school. Neither the humans nor Tonos was a catalyst.”

  Xyron returned to his report. “Since the children are unique in our history, I analysed their DNA. I found, as expected, a mixture of both Earth and Tymorean DNA. However, in these children the Tymorean genes are dominant, even though they are two generations removed from their nearest Tymorean relative.”

  The rest of Xyron’s findings related to the excellent physiological condition of the children. This however was a common situation with part Tymorean children, when compared to fully alien children.

  Vincent used a pause after the summary to add, “Their intelligence is very high. They were two of their schools brightest children.”

  Tymoros did not find that surprising. Into the mediative silence, he asked, “Maytani is my father’s cousin. Is she still alive?”

  “No, nor is Collen or Janelle. I had to tell Daniel of his origins. He accepted the truth of what I told him more readily than I expected. I think he might have learnt of us from Collen when he was growing up. He gave me his consent to bring his children here.”

  “Daniel must be an exceptional man,” Tymoros murmured.

  “I agree. He was a highly respected research scientist until his wife died. He became a teache
r then, so he could care for his children. I would like to recruit him as an assistant.”

  “That would be most appropriate,” Tymoros decided. “And I will foster his children, since Maytani is their closest Tymorean relative.”

  Neither Xyron nor Reslic disputed that decision, but Reslic had concerns of his own. “How soon can we begin to teach them?”

  “Perhaps a week,” Xyron considered. “I will set up a suite in the infirmary building where I can adjust the gravity. I will have it at Earth normal at first and gradually adjust it up. At the same time, I will administer nutritional supplements, provide regular physiotherapy and massage sessions as well as instigate sleep training in our language. Also, considering their behaviour prior to leaving Earth, I believe a memory block on their past would be appropriate.”

  “That usually isn’t necessary,” Reslic remarked, tensing. “Do you have concerns about how they will respond to training?”

  “No, since Vincent indicated that they were shocked by their actions. However, they were coming into second stage power without even the basic training our children usually have.”

  Reslic’s fingers tapped the arm of his chair as he considered all he had heard. “You found no brain damage from the elevated power levels?”

  “No, I believe we reduced them soon enough,” Xyron stated.

  “Very well, I agree. Anger and fear in children with their potential will be an added complication. They will accept the training more readily with no preconceived ideas. You will maintain a check on the effectiveness of the power damping?”

  Xyron nodded. He began to rise, intending to return to his laboratory.

  Tymoros had a further point. “If these children inherited power unexpectedly, might there be others?”

  “I will have all of our missionaries alerted,” Vincent promised.

  Reslic stood abruptly saying, “I think we have all points covered. I will begin the procedure for granting them Tymorean citizenship.”

  “They will need Royal patronage,” Tymoros added. “I will organise that.”

  Reslic deactivated the security field and the group transmitted to their individual destinations.

  “You didn’t mention all the details of the genetic scan,” Vincent commented to his brother in the privacy of the laboratory, as they moved the beds into position to transmit them to the intensive care infirmary.

  “It wasn’t essential to the matter in hand. Tymoros was the logical one to foster the children, as Maytani was their closest relative. Let us see how they respond to their new environment and training. If the children prove to be intractable – it is better that Tymoros remains unaware of those results. As it was, I did not expect any near matches from the DNA analysis program. We only discovered the similarities because I had to identify…” Xyron stopped speaking for a moment and then changed what he was about to say. “Because I had Ty’s data filed. I will tell him if it becomes appropriate.”

  Vincent did not comment on the change in Xyron’s sentence. Even after so many years, he recalled the unpleasant necessity of identifying the bodies of two Royal children, from amongst many commoners. The children had been Tymoros’s heirs.

  “I will help you transfer them to the infirmary,” Vincent offered. “And watch them tonight.”