“We have not paid much attention to your faces. To us they are unimportant. We use your mental signature as keys for recognising you and the emotions you are feeling. Is our way not more efficient than yours? If a species has faces as you do, but they express their emotions in some other part of their anatomy, would you learn to recognise their emotions from that part of their body or would you find it more effective to monitor their emoting?”
5021
“The Inguel are a good example, under stress, worry, joy and so on, parts of their exoskeleton change colour. We have learnt to read many of their emotions from there also. Sometimes people are able to block expressions from their body and sometimes they can do so mentally so that no emoting is felt. Using both, we have a better chance of knowing how they really feel. We have not learnt to read any signals from your bodies because you emote so strongly, overwhelming our senses.”
I sensed her laugh. “You are young, take your time.”
I let her feel my amusement and then the way I became serious. “Your people felt unwelcome in Freddie?”
“They misread you?”
“No. I regret that I was primarily the cause for the emotions of all in my world. I saw an older Wirm being eaten by a large number of younger Wirms. Within the cultures of almost every species we have met until now, eating a sentient being, especially of the same or related species, is considered a crime and causes feelings of revulsion.”
“To waste is a bigger crime.”
Timidly I asked, “Please, I mean no offence. The old one, had she died when …?”
How can I describe what happened next? There are no words for it. From the time we first arrived within this solar system we have all been half in love with it. Not even those who had loved ones back home wished to leave. Not only did we see great beauty in the cloudy ring as it constantly changes and reflects sunlight, but also we felt as if the whole system were a place of joy and love. All that transformed within an instant. To have billions of souls lose their joy and replace it with a mixture of sorrow and aversion, all tinged with a wispy anger, converted the whole system into an alien and cold place where we did not belong.
u`uu`e`i unwound herself from me. She did not leave. After a pause that spoke eloquently of her shock and distaste for my question, for my ability to think the question, she asked, “You thought they killed her?”
Their emotions had pushed my family into the distant background and Cherine did not try to push back to offer me warmth, so I replied, in misery, “Yes.” Before their reactions could touch me I recalled why I was here, what my role is and I steeled myself, fighting back. “No. It is my responsibility to understand all species we meet and offer them friendship. That means I have to be able to imagine all possibilities.” I hesitated, but then decided there was no other way. “What you are feeling is wrong. You do not have the right to judge me, just as I was wrong to judge you earlier. At least I had the courage to see I was wrong and come to you to find out the truth. I saw that it was my duty to empathise and for that I must be able to place myself in your mind, body and culture.”
They remained cold, u`uu`e`i imposing on me a sense of being faced by a stern matriarch of a large, ancient and powerful family. Her eye turned from me and she stared at her sun. I felt the tension ebb.
“You call yourself friend of aliens. A strange friend you are Samantha.”
“Perhaps, but that also makes me a good friend. Imagine if you can the following scenario. I come across a species where the old need to be eaten alive so that their accumulated knowledge of many generations can be passed on. To them the greatest tragedy when there is an accidental death of an individual is the loss of knowledge and ego. The number who come to feast reflect the admiration and love others feel for the one whose time has ended. If they did not contribute to the wellbeing of their species or family, only a few or, at worst, only one volunteer will come to feast and the personality will suffer as it senses it will mostly die with almost no sense of continuation. You see uuue`i, for them this is the only way an individual can become immortal and remain a part of its people.
We arrive there with the preconceptions of our species, we see what happens and I am horrified. Rather than stay to understand, we get back in our spaceship and leave them, asking all other species to quarantine them.
A species that is able to know itself since time began for them, that has the accumulated wisdom of countless generations of beings that reward goodness and love are cut off and shunned by us. Can you see that we are the losers, more than they are? I would consider us not only foolish and narrow-minded, but also evil. To universally destroy the potential of a race because of our preconceptions, our own lack of ability to empathise and understand them is a crime not only against them, but also against my own race, for we are all poorer because of my own intolerance.”
5022
She was silent a while. I do not know whether she mulled over what I’d said on her own or whether she communicated with her peers. Her mind spoke to mine, but more gently this time. “You have been present, so you know of the study group made up of Diana, Claudia, Empathia and Haven. We have been interested spectators and they have often had to interpret for us matters they argue. We do not claim to understand, but a picture is emerging. It would seem, if I am right, that every species you know has evolved in competition to other species of their birth world, not by cooperation as we did. Each of you have been either hunter or prey. That is what makes you alien to us Samantha, not your bodies or the different stars you evolved under. Even you Cherinians have not managed to escape from your past, you still need to dominate or be dominated.”
“I disagree. I believe our need to cooperate, to be as one, is freeing us of most of the compulsions that drove us. Look at us, counting the differing species of the Unation, we represent differences in body, culture and instincts that should not have allowed us to call each other brothers. If you were right, we should be fighting wars, not travelling together, learning to know not only what our differences are, but also our similarities so that we can love each other as we truly are. There are species that at first sight reminded us of species that are deadly to us on our planet. How do you explain our befriending them? I call one of them sister and daughter. Why?
To revert to our present problem by example, using the Inguel. You do know that Robert stands as protector of all sentient life, but his need to protect the young of every species is overriding? Can you imagine how he felt when the Inguel appeared to sacrifice their young so that adults could survive? That nearly turned him against them forever. I’ll ask of you to do one thing before you allow yourselves to set our orbits in different directions. Allow my family to do a telling for your people. Take the time to understand what you learn and ask if you do not understand something. If you do not understand our answers, ask the Sparklers. Then, it will be your turn to explain to all of us why I saw an elder of your people being eaten. Hopefully you will be able to do so without resenting the need for explaining, in the same way you will learn about us.”
“I have already explained. What else is there to say?”
“Get to know us and then answer your own question. Agreed?” I grinned, emoting my amusement. “Think of us as children who are still learning.” I made a mental note to suggest Meli dwell in more detail on our desert experiences and the offers by Solomon and Ordinx. She should make it very clear why Robbie refused them.
I returned to find that the anger and resentment had evaporated, though, for us it can be irritating the way Normals carry on and on analysing every word spoken, attributing different intentions and meanings because of their individual ways of thinking. Because we understand we make patience; after all, we do sometimes learn (and grow) because of an odd point of view by someone. It was not necessary for me to make any suggestions to Meli and we listened as the girls joined within her mind, taking and offering ideas and directions. This promises to be a stunning telling.
It did take a while for everyone to understand that I could not answer with certitude the question whether the old one was dead when she was eaten. I had to ask, again and again, that they leave that question to be answered by the Wirms when they are ready to do so.
We gave the girls four days to prepare and this time was also useful for Robbie to finish handling the most urgent parts of our waterlogged world. I forgot to mention that Freddie did not move to the source of the supplies we needed. Robbie jumps in a platform and collects what we need from a dead reality. Before the misunderstanding, a number of Wirms joined him and once they understood what he was doing they were of great assistance to him, wishing what he collected back to us. While they waited for the telling, they resumed their trips with him.
As for u`uu`e`i, e`i`u and I, we continued meeting for sharing. u`uu`e`i did not express disapproval when e`i`u started playing with me in my mind. I did not try to block any of the joy I experienced from doing so. I hope she also felt the love.
Some of the scientists chose this time to announce to us that they have mapped the gravity distortions of space within the area between the sun and the ring-cloud. Robbie asked them to keep it to themselves and analyse what the long-term effects will be for the Wirms.
5023
For the first few minutes it looked as if the Wirms were going to spoil the telling. They seemed to think they are supposed to take part in it, which was only natural since all of them always take part in their own celebrations. They have not formulated the concept of some of them performing a story for others. It is the same with their songs. By the time the story got to the point where Robbie first met Cherine, they had moved out of the telling and joined the audience.
At every interval and between tellings, they persisted in asking why we had stopped and no explanation could make them understand. Athia came up with the idea and the girls did a long telling until their own weariness and the discomfort of their audiences made it obvious to the Wirms.
How it is that Wendy gets a feel for the music of every species, none of us understand, not even Wendy. As to Meli, how she is able to see our telling from the point of view of our prime target audience, surely that is just as great a gift? By the end of the first telling we found out there has been a side benefit - the Sparklers told us they have finally understood some of what they had not previously. It is not that they did not understand, but that they sort of dimly perceived the answers and facts, whereas now their understanding is clearer.
The telling had a unique ending to it. They stopped after my conversation with uuue`i and then Jade invited her to take the stage and finish the telling for them. She did so and it helped us find a solution for them. She told of the reason that their populations are so low. There is only a limited supply of certain chemicals and what there is can only be extracted with great difficulty and cost. Many lives have been lost within the clouds as they search for new sources. When a Wirm dies, either from old age or by accident, if the body is left alone it does not decompose. How could it within the cold of the vacuum? None of us had thought of that problem. She confirmed there is a certain symbolism attached to the act of eating a deceased. Contrary to the rules of survival for families, those who share the flesh have to be from a different family, usually one that is particularly favoured by the family of the deceased. She ended off by stunning us - and placing us in an awkward position, sometime in the future - if they don’t become Cherinians. She explained that all the personalities we carry will expect us to share in the eating of their flesh when they die.
When the telling was over u`uu`e`i came to me. She did not say anything, only touching me so that I could more clearly sense the stirrings of joy from the foetus. I think I can begin to sense some of that which makes e`i`u the unique personality I came to love in the life force of my friend. The coming weeks and months as the foetus grows are going to be filled with moments of great joy for me.
Syrina has been grounded and she is not complaining. She knows she caused a lot of distress for a number of people and is contrite.
Tasso found out that one of our guests is a martial arts instructor back home and he pleaded with him to teach us. This happened early in the trip. When some of the Normals showed they were interested, they were invited to join us. It is quite a sight to see hundreds of people practising. The only Cherinian conspicuous by his absence has been Robbie. We noticed a number of aliens would stay to watch and Tasso, working with the instructor, adapted many of the moves to suit the physiques of the Anadir. Soon a number of them joined in the practise sessions. It was only a matter of time before we saw individuals of many species also learning. Both Orgg and Jeskine took part. Orgg found it difficult adjusting to the fact that his great physical strength and ability to endure pain are not an advantage. Because of Orgg, the instructor spent more time than usual in explaining the philosophy behind the art in total and for each move.
It is not rare to find small groups practising on their own after the main lesson ends. Some ex-Normals were practising attacking and defending with wooden staves. Syrina still loves to levitate over isi-mi-Metti, sometimes also when Lucy rides at a gallop she will hang on to Lucy’s hair. This day she got caught up in a duel by two talented students and, not paying attention, floated closer to them. Another pair close by did not notice her and suddenly a stave swatted her. Theoretically when she levitates, she has no weight. The blow sent her flying off like a cricket ball hit by a bat. She had not toughened herself and her scream of pain, both mental and vocal travelled with her. Vincent was just that second too late to prevent it and Robbie had not been aware of her, his instincts failing him this once.
Wounds, broken bones, those can be repaired easily; those in the hearts of Vincent, Robbie, Freddie and the person who accidentally hit her we cannot heal.
5024
Once Syrina was healed and comforted by her mother, Wendy took her hand and brought her to Robbie. He took her in his hands and pressing her to him he went into her mind, dancing and playing with her until he could only sense her laughter. Syrina knew that her mother had not taken her to Robbie for him to heal her. She was the only one who could help Robbie live with himself. Her laughter as they played did help, but when he let her go, she stood opposite him and acted as his attorney, arguing on his behalf against his self-recriminations.
“There is not one among us who has not been hurt while playing. Dad, you cannot be there for us all the time.” She giggled. “What about when we fall off the bed while making love?” Lynda blushed, it had happened to her a few nights ago. “We only need to know that you are there for us when the danger is real.”
“The blow was serious enough. If he had hit you on your head…”
“There! You see? Your instincts did not need to warn you, because I was not.”
Wendy took over. “I think your fatherly instincts may have taken over. You know it is important we learn from small accidents, so it prevented you from taking action in time.”
Robbie gave a rueful grin. “That is the poorest excuse I’ve heard up to now.”
“I bet if I sing it to you, you will find it beautiful.” He laughed. “Robert, I’d say the two of you should love each other tonight, but I do not think Syrina should be rewarded for being careless. She has hurt many people. You, Freddie and Vincent are our problem and the family will take care of you. The man who hit her, he is her responsibility. Syrina must help him get over his guilt. We also have to change isi-mi-Metti into a terran girl so that Syrina can cuddle her and help her get over her shock. Her family are worried about her.”
“I’ll talk to them.”
“I said her family Robert, not her parents. We are her family. I’m going with Syrina to talk to her parents. Before we leave, what is Syrina’s punishment?”
“Uh.” He thought about it. “Syrina, you are grounded for two weeks.”
“You mean she is not allowed to go out on dates?” Lynda asked, deliberately misunderstanding. Everyone laughed. Syrina nodded, agreeing to her punishment.
We all suspected isi-mi-Metti of drawing out her need for comforting, but since we enjoy having her in a huggable form we played along. Syrina’s sense of humour got the better of her and she changed to an Inguel shape and then convinced isi-mi-Metti to float above her, reversing their usual roles. Robbie pretended to get angry and extended her punishment by another two weeks, claiming she disobeyed by proxy. Rosie gets to be Cherine-like when she is cheeky. She demanded that in fairness the punishment must fit the crime which meant the time extension be applied to her proxy, isi-mi-Metti. Robbie becomes so enchanted by Rosie when she is like this that he argued weakly and lost, delighting in her joy at besting him.
It was a change for everyone, seeing Robbie allowing humour to be part of his recovering from shock and his terror of failing us. I can only attribute this change to the effect the Wirms are having on us. It did not take Freddie and Vincent much longer to forgive themselves. My, but we are growing up fast! Well, they are; not so sure of me.
It feels as if an enchantment spell has been cast on all within Freddie. It was not because of us. The Wirms were delirious with joy because the first foetuses communicated their first baby thoughts that day. It did not take long for eiu to also communicate and then, just like Christmas tree lights going on nearly all of them communicated. We sensed the Wirms ‘holding their breath’ as they waited for the last one and we stared at each other with wonder, hardly daring to imagine what it will be like once the stragglers communicate. We had to wait another two days and when it happened we were all high on the most powerful drug as the Wirms sang their songs of thanks and welcome.
The next day three of the foetuses died! We all, of all species, sank into a depression, grieving for them, but the Wirms showed no sorrow and they comforted us, reminding us that they are not lost, that new host mothers are already preparing for them. It was good that we got depressed, for as we recovered from that, we did not go straight back to an euphoric condition, remaining closer to our normal happy mood, making it possible for us to take care of problems that had cropped up.
5025
We were asked whether the family being reborn may build their nest within Freddie so that they can be our constant companions. Happily we agreed and the Wirms rejoiced again and filled us with the love of billions. We took days to come out of that, dazed and filled with love not only for the Wirms, but also for each other.
Cherine has shown, once again, that she is the strongest of us and truest to her need to care for Robbie. She asked Robbie and Vincent to go with her and more or less dragged them away, jumping back to an inhabited Earth. Just the idea of being back within a planet filled with beings that emote hate, greed, you name it, all the awful ugliness we humans are capable of, filled us with pity for the three and we shuddered with relief that we did not have to go.
We found out later that they stayed there for over a month, but they returned to us less than a day after their departure. Within minutes of them appearing, the Wirms departed.
The three of them ignored the departing Wirms and concentrated together, Cherine taking their emoting of love and swirling it around, somehow not allowing it to gather in a golden ring and it spread out, gently touching everyone. Cherine then sent out a lovely soothing feeling while their healers rushed around releasing chemicals in our brains so that we felt happy. Vincent rushed off to help Freddie while the other two quickly started with the Inguel (they suffer badly if they experience a shock) and then to the next specie and so forth until, nearly half a day later they got back to us. By then the effect of what they’d done had worn off, but we did not suffer withdrawal symptoms as we would have otherwise. We had shared and knew what they were doing to help others, so we did not need any explanations.
Robbie and Cherine knew that certain of us would suffer more than the others, but they ignored them, mostly concentrating on those who suffered less. Only once they were confident there was no damage did they turn to Dommi, Haven, Athia, Robyn, Jade, Claudia and myself. Why? Because we were the ones who were busy mentally kicking ourselves, feeling we had let down our loved ones by not seeing the threat and protecting them. Our suffering prevented us from experiencing the full effects of the Wirms leaving suddenly and their emoting shut out of Freddie.
With the other girls now able to help them, they concentrated on us, soothing and reassuring us that we were not to blame, that nobody was, we had all been seduced, even Robbie and Vincent. What was truly amazing was that so had the Sparklers and Solomon. I guess we desperately wanted to believe them and sobbed a while and then gave them the smiles they asked for. Cherine did her best to sense everyone within Freddie, mostly concentrating on feeling whether anyone is suffering unbearably. She then asked Freddie to tell everyone that we want to meet them near the taverna right away.
Robbie stood on a platform about five metres in the air and Freddie amplified his voice so that all can hear him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. We were all enthralled.” I was in his mind and saw him decide now was not the time to lead us into a serious discussion, too many were suffering, weeping deep within their souls for what had been taken away. He grinned. “What a potent weapon! Imagine if wars were fought with Wirms instead of swords, guns and bombs!”
In that multitude of faces I doubt there were more than thirty able to return him a smile for his effort.
“There are many of you suffering, but some of you have understood the threat to us that forced us to take the action which has caused all of you so much suffering. Please assist my family and I and do what you can to help your friends and loved ones to understand. Without an understanding of how dangerous for all of us the Wirms are, there is no defence against them. We will show a number of you how to defend yourselves so that you can show others once they understand why they must not allow the joy of the Wirms to control them again.”
An Eminixx called out, “We cannot abandon our charges. How do we face the Wirms again if they are so dangerous?”
“We’ll discuss that and decide tomorrow. The foetuses will not be harmed if you skip one day.”
As soon as we were alone I asked Robbie what we would be doing about the Wirms and the nest they want to build within Freddie.
5026
“We can’t allow it sweetheart. I can tell you that Cherine, Vincent and I have agonised over how we handle the problem in general. Not only do we love them, it is also unthinkable that Cherinians refuse to have any contact with them because they are so good and joyous, but we see no alternative. If we don’t take precautions, civilisations will collapse and we will spend an eternity in thrall, as we were until Cherine forced us to break away.”
“I vote we allow them to build their nest here and we must also link them so that they become Cherinians.”
“Sam, you must still be under their influence! Surely you can look back and see how they affected us? Would you have us become zombies? God! Our little Syrina gets hurt because I’m too happy to watch out for her and you think I would agree to them joining us in Freddie forever?”
“You are welcome to look in my mind if you think I am still under their influence. In a way, we all will be forever, for we can never forget how beautiful it was. Dad, how can you speak of them being good and in the same breath talk of banishing them - or quarantining them? If we were not aware of them damaging us, how can we expect them to be aware? I trust them. If we explain and then link them, their own empathy will force them to control their emoting so that they do not affect us to the extent they did. If we feel their joy in the background and it makes us a little bit happier, how can that be anything but good for us? Haven’t you feared that Cherinians could evolve so that they find it possible to use their gifts in negative ways? If we have the Wirms living among us, won’t that make it less likely? I’m not asking that you and Cherine make up your minds right now, but I do ask that you do not make decisions without examining all the possibilities. I would say that even if we have to make a small sacrifice so as to have them fill all realities with their joy as Cherinians, it will be worth it.”
The next morning we discussed it with all the Cherinians, including the cocoon Cherinians, so that they can decide on behalf of the Normals. I soon saw that only a tiny minority agreed with me. Everyone it seemed just wants to finish with their undertaking and soon as the Wirms take back the personalities entrusted in our keeping, they want to leave here and never come back. In the beginning it depressed me.
What encouraged me to fight back was the quality of my supporters. Empathia, Syrina, Robyn, Tina, Rosie, Meli, Bernadine, Laura, Elpida, Gina (I was not certain I should include her and Efineh as many would say they supported me because of their close ties to me, but I refuse to admit that the rest of my family is less close to me, after all, my own mother did not side with me), Dimitri, Henry, Allan and both his girls, Luigi and Daisy; from the alternates: all the other Allans, three Cherines, two Wendy’s, one Wilfred, one Rose and Richard. Those are the total of my supporters among my own species. I had a smaller number of supporters among the aliens and what hurt me the most was that Ordinx and Ashiir were not to be counted among them.
Despite the support I had, I did not take an aggressive stance, feeling I am outnumbered and do not have the right to try to impose my point of view on everyone else.
That evening I toyed with my food, too depressed to eat, when I felt the familiar weight of Alki’s hand on my shoulder. “Koroula mou, I’ve spent the day thinking of what you said and I want you to know that I have changed my mind. I agree with you.” When I buried my face against him as tears came to my eyes he picked me up and held me so that I would have to look into his eyes. “Shh, we can’t have my pallikari weeping. Eat your supper and then fight for what you believe in. This time all of us who agree with you will help.”
We could feel how badly shaken Robbie and Cherine were by the change of heart in Alki. Cherine asked and came into my mind. Not Robbie though.
“Alki, it is wrong of you to encourage her. You know how important it is that I remain protector. How can I with the Wirms among us? I know that you have faith in Sam’s clear thinking, but this time it is not that clear; she is mostly influenced by the fact that she thinks her Arthur loves them.” Cherine instantly withdrew from my mind and Robbie stopped talking as they felt my fury. I kept my face cold as I stared at him.
“How dare you. If what you say is true I could have asked Arthur and if he agreed with me you know that most of our alien friends would have taken my side. Even Christós and Jesus if we brought them here! And if they did, you know how many of your supporters would change sides. If your refusal to examine my point of view is because of your own fears that you lack the courage to face, don’t you dare try to look for excuses to belittle my beliefs or logical processes. Give me sound arguments that stand on their own.”
5027
“Samantha!” I stared back at Cherine, feeling her anger at my attack on Robbie, but refusing to lower my eyes. Suddenly she giggled. “Robert will go to his ledge to think about it tonight. I think you better prepare yourself to meet with the Wirms tomorrow - either way, whatever is decided.”
Alki had squeezed me, so I turned to look and saw the love in his eyes that was beating against my heart. He forced a smile. As he made to put me back on my feet, I realised something and laughed.
“Robert, will you allow one planet of Cherinians to face the Wirms on their own?”
“What do you mean? You want to risk a whole world for an experiment?”
I laughed again. “You better pray that I am right and the Wirms are as nice as I said they are, or else they could go to the Earth of this reality and conquer them with joy and love. They only have to wish themselves there.”
This time I felt Cherine’s anger directly in my mind. *Damn it Sam! Why do you always have to prove how clever you are, you knew I was trying to help Robert save face and allow him to change his mind. One day you will lose your argument because you won it! All I’ll say is that tonight your act was the opposite of love.*
As I crumbled, I quickly jumped to my waterfall. Before I could step behind the curtain of water to cry in hiding, Robbie appeared and pulled me to him. Picking me up he sat on the grass and held me against his chest. He was waiting for me to get over my crying jag, but now I could not cry.
“I’m sorry dad.”
“I heard Cherine. I’m glad she is still my little cub - just as I’m glad that you are still my little Samantha. When you are ready we’ll return and I’ll join you as you court those still against us. We must convince everyone my love, it would not be right to say that the majority rules.”
5028
Robbie decided I should not go outside on my own and insisted the whole family comes along. u
uue`i responded to my call, but she did not coil herself around my midriff.
“It is important we communicate with no possibility of misunderstandings. Since you cannot enter my mind for that purpose, would you meet us in the void?”
“Speak and if there is need we will do so.”
“The creatures that help you, we were becoming like them because of you. If Robert had not asked you to leave Freddie, we would have lost the ability to reason and grow. We do not accuse you of doing anything on purpose - as a matter of fact, we are embarrassed to tell you what it is about you that is so dangerous to us.”
As she passed on my words we felt joy die in them and it hurt us. “Tell us.”
I tried to. I saw they could not understand and I was at a loss. I had not expected them to find it difficult to understand. After some reflection I realised they have no way of understanding because they do not know what it is like to be as we are, they cannot imagine a life without their emoting. I was troubled, what if they will not control themselves around us?
“Samantha, do as you did with me. Ask Solomon to create them bodies and let them live with us for a while.”
“You heard Haven, would you agree?”
“Not while bearing. I’ll ask those who are free. How many?”
“How many would you need for you to be convinced by what they tell you?”
“One. He or she will be an elder.”
“If you make them three I would feel happier. One in a body of my species, one as an Anadir and one as an Inguel. That is a wide enough sample for you to understand that it is not just one species that is in trouble.”
“What of the sharing, will you stop in the meantime? It is too late for the young ones to transfer to our families now, they have enough of their previous lives to be damaged if we try to take them in.”
“We will continue sharing. All we ask is that your people do not surround us while filled with their joy. Perhaps it would be advisable for the host mothers to meet us within Freddie?”
“You wish us to stay away, but you wish us to enter?”
“Only for that specific purpose.”
About fifteen minutes after our return, three Wirms joined us, coming to us at the taverna where we were busy explaining to everyone. Robbie left and returned as the void. Solomon took their souls and Robbie encased their bodies in his energy and now in stasis he took them to the void.
Solomon tried to make the one who is a terran girl less attractive so as not to complicate our lives. The effect on us turned out to be quite funny. The one who is an Inguel has to be an adult as he would have posed a problem for the Inguel if a child. The Anadir Wirm was an adult male also.
As soon as we saw the little girl, Dommi rushed to stop her from trying to sit up. “Welcome. Please give yourself time to adjust to your new body. I am Dominique and I’ll stay by your side until you are comfortable with your body.”
One of the first intelligible things she said was, “I wonder whether we could wish ourselves bodies like these if we want to.”
“Would you want to?”
5029
Solomon had not made her ugly, but had avoided making her irresistible to Robbie. She was tiny, well proportioned, but her nose and brow were not Robbie’s ideal. Her grin and sense of humour soon made her attractive to all.
Having the joy of three Wirms within Freddie was not overwhelming and we enjoyed their presence. Though we met the other two often, we mostly concentrated on Dolly. Robbie had thought of taking her to an Earth where she can experience some of the suffering of Normals, so that she can lose her joy. He felt she has to so that the effect of Wirms visiting us will be felt by her. Fortunately, because of what I’d said about them wishing their way to an Earth they’ve been to, he was not willing to risk it.
“As she is now she will not be affected when we invite Wirms, what should we do?”
“There is little we can do without damaging her.”
No normal human being can look at a child who is happy and want to make her smiles a thing of the past. Children become loveable when they have a good sense of humour and show everyone love. How were we to handle this?
Meli told us to stop worrying. All that is necessary is for Dolly to learn of how we live, the things we have to do every day to maintain a certain lifestyle. She must become aware of certain rules that exist for Freddie to be a place where everyone is safe and can relax and be happy.
“When we invite the Wirms to visit she should be able to tell the difference.”
Jade shook her head. “We cannot ask the Wirms to visit us. They would have to stay weeks and maybe this time Cherine can’t save us.”
Cherine kissed her. “Don’t worry, this time we are aware of the problem.”
“So are they.” I pointed out. Cherine smiled at me, “Yes, so are they.”
What we did is become more verbal about our duties. If the house had to be cleaned, we said we had to do it. If food had to be prepared, we said so. As we got into the swing of it, we ourselves found it amazing just how much we do. Dolly found the concept of studying, learning new facts that has little bearing on our survival, at least directly, very interesting and we soon roped her in, first teaching her how to read and write and then how to use the computer. Since Robbie has over 700 PB of sites on a central computer that acts as our server we were able to teach her about the internet. This all happened over a month. It did mean we had to use our gifts to accelerate her learning.
Slowly we also got her involved, helping us do our daily chores. She did everything we asked with a smile and did her share better than we did, because she did it happily.
After discussing it with uuue`i, it was decided that we do not have to share with the foetus on a daily basis. Once every five days will suffice. That meant that only one in five of us meet each day.
Robbie ruled, from the beginning, that none of us are allowed to enter Dolly’s mind and Cherine did not link her to us. This worried me. The greatest change in us is in the way we think and she will not be able to sense it. I argued with Robbie about it for weeks, but he would not give in.
5030
“Sam, she will not be staying here. If there is no way the Wirms can control their effect on us, Cherine cannot link them. To do so to Dolly would be cruel if that happens.”
“We must give them the facts and allow them to decide. If we don’t, then the experiment is a waste. They came so as to learn about us and see how and why they affect us. You’re not allowing them to.”
“Give them what facts Sam? You’ve already seen that they are so alien to us that they cannot understand us. I agreed to this experiment, as you call it, so as to give them a better chance at understanding us, but I am not willing to go to extremes to ensure they do - not if it means those who came here are made to suffer. Sam, their presence is proof of their trust in us, would you have us abuse it?”
Arthur, I am writing this well after the fact (and I’m in disgrace again). I should not have put that in brackets for I am not just in disgrace, I am also sick.
I’m writing about it in the hope that it helps me also.
I’ve noticed throughout my years that Robbie becomes more eloquent in his arguments when he is in the right - even if he does not know it. When he is wrong or has doubts, he just tries to bulldoze his way. I stopped arguing about linking the three, but I gave a lot of thought to how I could impress upon them all the important ways we will be changed and why we fear the changes, despite being placed in a state of grace by them.
We have mentioned one of the most significant reasons why Robbie is so adamant about getting rid of the Wirms. His ability to function effectively as our protector. We could not point to what happened with Syrina as an example, for they had nothing to compare Robbie’s reactions to. Seeing through a telling is not as immediate and forceful as a real life experience is.
I decided to provide it.
It made sense to me that we provide them with two experiences, one where Robbie is alert and one (contrived, so that there is no risk of Robbie reacting in time) when the Wirms are with us. My problem was that I did not think it would be as effective if I was the one in danger both times. There is no way I would risk any of my loves for the second event, so I needed someone for the first one and I would plan my own accident afterwards. Who to put at risk though? I could not risk asking anyone, not even under strict ‘privacy’ for I knew not one of them would have agreed to my being the volunteer for the second incident.
By my own convoluted reasoning I only had one choice - my daughter Gina.
(Jade was the first. She placed a message here that I was wrong to choose Gina, that I should have chosen her. After that it became a free-for-all, everyone explaining why I should not have chosen any of the others, that it should have been them. The last one to write here was Gina. She said I was right to choose her and the fact that I did makes her very happy, because it showed her how deeply I love her. All the above took up pages so I have deleted them all, after first copying them into a separate document for me to keep.)
How can a Cherinian cause a Cherinian to have an accident? Gina has her own gifts that make it almost impossible for her to be hurt, so it meant whatever I planned had to include her becoming unconscious instantly. The minds of my loves kept on ‘pecking’ at mine, sensing the distress I tried to hide every time I thought up a scenario that would place my sweet Gina in danger. I could not help imagining what she would suffer if Robbie is not in time to save her. Two weeks later I was ready to give up the idea.
We play many dangerous games and some training methods have been devised that could hurt us seriously if we are distracted. These games are only for Cherinian-born, as our reactions are much faster than those of all Normal-born Cherinians - except for Robbie as a protector. If he tries to play he will get hurt, but if one of us is about to get hurt he is instantly in position to protect us. If I improvised an ‘accident’ while Gina is playing, it means that whoever invented the game or is playing against her will feel guilty, so that was out for me also.
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)27th January, 2020
- posted: 27th January, 2020
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 07, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
If you are not using it, try it, this is the best Steemit tool:
https://steemworld.org/