He claims that he is still to a large extent a part of Robbie and not a fully independent entity yet, as we like to think he is. He admits he also feels a connection to Robert, though not as strong.
“Is that Cherine any less loved by me? Are any of the girls? Just because they are no longer mine to hold, are they not part of the souls and bodies I love? Anyway Sam, are you certain Vincent is part of my need? Could he have come into existence, whether out of my soul and mind or not, because Arthur had such a strong need to protect all of us?” He chuckled. “You must admit that it was stupid of him, it must have messed up his story terribly. Hmm, that would certainly explain why he kept on beating me up, Arthur was having a hard time learning to love himself.”
Robbie was just playing the same mental games I love playing and his questions did not sway us from our conviction that Vincent is the visible manifestation of his need to protect Cherine and us. Those who are closest to us, especially Alki, were very upset as they do not have yet the same trust we feel for our Arthur. Alki, Manoli, Henry, Nicko, Tim and Angelo asked Vincent to help them open doors in their minds so that they are in a better position to help us should it be necessary. Vincent was not able to do much for them, but they feel a little bit happier now. He point blank refused Jade and Haven - they are also his primes, so he refuses to do anything that could result in them placing themselves in danger for the rest of us.
It was decided that we must do a storytelling for Cher and her family so that they know (second-hand) all our experiences. Hettie and Bruce asked us to invite the local leaders to experience it also. I wonder how Troy Carver will react, he is not a nice man like our Bruce is, he is very hard inside him.
Somehow Samuel King convinced Hilda to come, so Robbie asked Cherine to start the golden ring of love from the love of her two daughters and Hilmar. He was not acting as a Cherinian when he did so, it was his way of paying her back for all the hurtful things she said, but Cherine did it anyway. I would have thought she’d refuse and am trying to understand why she did not. Could it be that she recognises that even Cherinians can need to avenge themselves and she is indicating that if the act of revenge is also a way of trying to force the other person to feel empathy she approves it? I’m not convinced she is right, if that is the reason.
Freddie and Arthur moved to another reality, so that the girls can take two weeks. It gave everyone (our guests) lots of time to get to know each other and while new friendships were forged, many who had thought of themselves as allies found out that they are not compatible and disliked each other. Being politicians they did not show it, but we felt them.
Meli was more discrete about the sexual aspect of our lives, but did not hide the fact that even daughters are married to Roberto and each other. We still argue as to which upsets them more, that or the existence of children created from a mixture of species.
Troy Carver had the grace to search me out. “I’m not certain how much I understood of the dramatised representation of your family history, but I will confess that I paid particular attention to your appearance in it.” He smiled. “I have spoken to…Efineh and I admit I am impressed. For a person with your background and with the goals you set yourself, you exceeded any reasonable expectations. If I were you I would not allow that character to live. He will do all he can to sabotage your dreams for that world.” He shrugged. “I guess my advice is wasted.”
“His ambitions make him a strange bedfellow, politically speaking, but I would be wasting his potential if I killed him. I intend seeing to it that Sebura helps me despite himself.”
“What are your plans once you have succeeded in securing disarmament for us? Will you travel on and forget about us? Who will be here to prevent countries invading their weaker neighbours or dictators from taking over?”
“We will not leave you without a Cherine and Robert. Once they begin to link Cherinians, do not underestimate the number of people who will be asking to also link. Unfortunately most of them will do so for the wrong reasons, they will be more interested in acquiring the powers that are part of the linking. We will be returning for short visits and the local Robert can always call for our help should he need it. President Carver, I almost envy you, the next few years are going to be fascinating and taxing.”
“That is an understatement! When do we meet the Cherine you intend leaving here? Are any of the Cherines here the one? Will there be a Samantha?”
“We have not chosen a Cherine or Robert. As for there being a Samantha, I do not intend splitting myself again this soon, so I doubt it.” I could not keep the amusement out of my voice. “Why? Do you feel your world needs another butterfly?”
He tried to be old-world gallant. “If she is as beautiful as you. May I ask a question Samantha?” I thought that was all he’d been doing all evening but I nodded. “Why did you do it? Why didn’t you come as you are now?”
“An adult? I had a number of reasons. First of all, your world is not as tolerant of women who think for themselves. When you asked for me, I suspected you would be asking me the questions you did and I knew my replies would sound simplistic, so I felt you would be more open to listening to me as a child.”
“Why warn us that you are a butterfly?”
“It was only fair I do.”
“If you know an attractive woman who has brains and is willing to tell you the truth, ask her.”
He grinned. “You know it is a contradiction in terms. If any such woman has brains she will not explain it truthfully, at least, my wife would not. I think I am going to have to fire a number of my advisers, they should have pointed out to us that for a man as powerful as Mr Teller to give you free rein, setting policy for your people, it can only be because he respects your ability to find the correct answers. I wish I had a few people like that working for me.”
My cheeks were burning because all my loves were giggling (in their minds). “Actually, you are not entirely correct…”
“President Carver, do not listen to her. She is about to deny what you said and that would not be honest of her. Our Samantha has the gift of examining complex problems and breaking them down into simple answers. On the rare occasion, her solutions are not correct, but they point me in the right direction.”
“Can we please change the subject?”
“Mr Teller, we should do as the lady asks. If you like I could ask for a lepidopterist to be brought here to discuss butterflies with her?”
Robbie thought that was very funny and since it relaxed him, I also smiled.
I was so busy being clever and charming that I only thought of it the next morning and I broke out in a cold sweat when I realised our attitude of being invincible had made me careless. I contacted Samuel King and arranged to meet him at the river coffee shop.
“How did you do it?”
He frowned. “What?”
“How did you keep Hilda away from the German leader? Christ! When I realised this morning what an embarrassment she could have become I searched my memory and recalled glimpses of you by her side the whole evening. Samuel, I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.”
“Actually, she was more interested in meeting the prime minister of Holland.”
“You kept her away from him?”
“No.” My heart sank. “When she and the three kids were kept out of the telling I realised Melina did so for a reason. I thought the tellings are supposed to be true?”
“She did not keep it out of the telling because of our guests. We are still divided among us about the kids creating their own family unit and World so she stopped the telling earlier than she should have.”
“I still think it was slightly less than honest. It seems that keeping company with politicians is changing all of you.”
“We try not to let it.” I laughed. “Damn it Samuel King, you got me on the defensive there for a moment. Perhaps we should change your name.” He raised an eyebrow. “Thorn. Samuel Thorn.” That made him laugh.
“It sounds more like a job title I should assume.”
I grabbed hold of his hand. “Samuel, do that and I will be even more grateful than I am for your helping out with Hilda.”
“I…Sam, she did speak to the Dutch prime minister.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted to know how she first came to Freddie. She told him the truth and we did not have to be Cherinians to see from his face that he thought she deserved worse than she got. He promised to ask Robert about the girls, but he does not really intend bringing the matter up.” Robbie’s presence in my mind was warm and comforting . *It’s alright Sam, he won’t be a problem.*
Back home again I climbed into Robbie for allowing Hilda to fester for so long.
He shrugged, “You handle her.”
“No. Let Solace take her over.”
“Solace eh? What do you say my fluffyduff? Would you like to?”
Solace nodded, “There must be some sweetness in her Robert, she is her daughters mother.”
“She’s yours then. Solace, we do not want her bonding to you.”
Solace kept her face serious. “I think she would prefer to bond to a man. I don’t think Sam is fair.”
“Why not?”
The Wirms had left us some time ago. I missed my friend eiu and our link nagged at me, as if calling me to search for her. As we ate and groups argued various subjects, our world was suddenly lit by thousands of Wirms broadcasting their joy. eiu waved before my eyes, waiting for me to raise my hand. As her tiny head rested on my thumb she told me the reason they returned. The rest of her family are ready to hatch and they wish for us to be present.
Robbie grabbed me and jumped to where most of the Earth leaders are. We found them with smiles on their faces, but there was also a sort of stunned feeling to them. Not surprising since this is the first time they have ever felt the emotions of another. Robbie explained about the Wirms and why we will be travelling to their reality and solar system. Most of them protested, but Robbie reassured them we will be returning within a few minutes of our departure so there will not be enough time for their armed forces to react. With a smile I pointed at the screens and they saw galaxies flashing by as Freddie jumped.
We will be arriving tomorrow morning and since we are all in a good mood and I am having to type with one hand as my sweet eiu stays wrapped around my other hand, I decided to relax a bit and took the time to paste a picture of Lynda. I waited for your copy to come through. What a pity you can’t get our originals, this picture was taken in Freddie (in our garden, by the pool and she is not wearing socks, though she is wearing a bikini) and she is staring at some Sparklers dancing in our sky.
Solace had a private meeting with Samuel King and then she jumped to the vegetable farm.
Hilda looked up as she sensed movement out of the corner of her eye. Her expression said, ‘Oh, one of those girls’ and she carried on with her work.
“It looks like a snake. Keep it away from me.”
“She is like a soap bubble, if you touched her too hard she would die. They live in space and are very fragile. Please greet her, she has some wonderful news to tell you.”
“I don’t…” she made the mistake of looking at a’iea’u and a’iea’u was instantly in her mind greeting her with joy. As they communicated, the hard look on Hilda’s face changed, softening with the joy and tenderness she was feeling.
“She asked if one of them may link to me!”
“At the moment they are not very clever, but they are the best friends ever for everyone. They only know how to feel joy and love. They have only survived in one reality, but soon their solar system will be destroyed. We are hoping to convince them to leave with us.”
a’iea’u talked with Hilda for a while and Solace kept quiet, hoping the woman would forget her and open to her friend.
“She asks whether I would like to have an elder as a friend or one of those to be born now. How can I link as she says, since I’m not a Cherinian?”
“The babies are only about the size of a pencil and you have to be extra careful you do not hurt them. They will link, you do not have to be a Cherinian. Oh! I just had an idea! Excuse me.” She brought her friends’ eye to hers and asked her. She gave a delighted laugh. We were all excited by her idea and jumped home.
Solace had asked whether a Wirm can link to Bitsy! One had already come to him and was waiting for us. Our friends linked to her and we felt her as she linked to Bitsy! We have never seen Bitsy so excited. We laughed as he barked and barked and ran around in circles, then dashed off to the other end of the garden and returned. He then sat with his head on his paws and stared into the eye of his new friend.
Solace had linked through a’iea’u and she made certain Hilda was part of it. Her face filled with wonder, she explained to Hilda.
“I wish Samuel were here, I respect his opinion.”
“You must meet his friend oe’eaa’o, Samuel adores her. We all love our Wirm friends.”
“I work in the fields, having one of them wrapped around my arms would be a nuisance.”
“They are never a nuisance! If your friend sees you have work to do, she’ll float close to you so that you can talk.”
“I don’t want to link. I don’t mind talking to one now and then, but I will not link. Robert cannot keep me here forever against my will, he will have to let my daughters and me go someday.”
“Do you really want to leave?”
“Yes!”
“You should have said so, we would never keep you here against your will. We will even buy you a small farm, in Holland or Germany, whichever you choose. Have you thought about it, do you realise what it will cost your daughters?”
“They can take their chances along with everybody else. Not everybody wants to be a freak like you people.”
“Do they have a say in the matter?”
“They are too young to know what they want.”
Solace left her and soon as her back was turned to her she was grinning from ear to ear. It looks like we have another manipulator among us.
The first Wirm infant hatched at three in the morning our time. In their excitement the Wirms forgot many of us were sleeping and entered Freddie en masse and woke everyone up with their joy and calls to celebrate. At an ever increasing pace (may I call them chicks, wirmlets does not sound right) chicks hatched and the whole solar system was in a frenzy of joy. The Wirms have a special reason to celebrate, as this is the first family ever to die and be reborn as the same family.
The surface of Freddie is full of people as everyone in the spaceships came down to share these days. It was not long before the infants came to visit in the hope of finding someone to link to. The Akiard kids (our thirty two plus their ‘new’ brothers and sisters) made their own friends and we have never seen them so careful and afraid of hurting another being. It is obvious they adore their little friends and their emoting has dispelled any lingering doubts, their hearts are just as tender as those of any other species, though there is less ‘fluffy cotton wool’ to the feel of it.
e`i`u let me know, with joy, that they will soon be ready to begin building their nest and asked if they may do so in Freddie. Robbie says they must not. Any sudden movements by Freddie could send their nest crashing into the inner shell, destroying their nest and killing Wirms. If the impact is violent enough, part of it could project beyond the outer shell and kill us all. They cannot use ‘tractor’ beams, as the spaceships do, to hold themselves in place. All of us want them with us so we are thinking furiously of a way to solve the problem. For instance, an idea put forward, what if Robbie placed a third shell in the other half of Freddie and we kept the area in a vacuum? Scientists came up with the idea of placing anti gravity engines with negative energy settings facing the nest to hold it in place. It sounded good until we worried whether they would affect the Wirms - especially infants.
Solace is on a high, she came up with the best suggestion and everyone, including the Wirms like her idea. She asked whether they can build their nest in the Sparkler World. There they would have their environment recreated for them so that they also can feed without us having to provide artificial food for them.
The next morning Solace woke up troubled. She went for a long walk and then jumped to Hilda.
“You are going to get very angry with me. Hilda, what I was doing was an attempt to manipulate you. I can’t do that, it is not who I am.”
“I realised it and have been worried. What are you saying the truth is?”
“I’ll tell you Hilda, but I need a promise from you. Let me say what I think, don’t answer me, just think about it and I’ll return tomorrow for you to tell me if I’m wrong. If I am, I promise we will try to find an answer you can live with.” She told her the truth, as we see it. Hilda nodded, her face flushed, but she did not speak.
Robbie pulled Solace to him and hugged her as she sat on his lap. “What made you change your mind? You did realise she was going to give in?”
“She would have for her children’s sake, but she would have hated or resented us for a long time. It would not have been fair to her Robert.”
Robbie made his face look sad and pulled her face up so that she looked at him. “Am I going to be the only person you manipulate?”
Because of our bringing Bruce and also, because of my visit, Troy Carver feels the Americans are favoured by us so he came to speak to us on behalf of all the leaders. He asked for a meeting to be held the next morning.
They were in the same hall we had taken them to the first time we brought them to Freddie.
“Thank you for agreeing to this meeting at such short notice.” He paused as a Wirm hovered before his face, smiled, nodded and then focussed on Robbie again. “I’m sorry, our companions sense we are anxious, so I explained there is no need for them to worry. They are like a drug, are you certain they will not affect our ability to make hard decisions? We cannot run our countries based on the way they make us feel.”
“Explain to them. The Wirms that linked to all of you are still infants, but the adults have learnt to control themselves for our sake.”
“We have decided, by common agreement, to allow our German comrade to speak for us.”
He stood up, staring at us sternly. “Hmph! It is a pleasure hearing everyone speak in German, even creatures from other worlds. It is as we have dreamt it should be.” We appreciated it was meant to show he has a sense of humour, though it was a little dry for most of us. “You are to be congratulated on your translation system. Mr Teller, we have decided it is time we negotiate your terms of surrender.”
“You have all agreed on the main preconditions I set out?”
“We have.”
“Have you agreed a period?”
“All will be effective immediately, except for compensations where required. Those have to be negotiated and a period given for them to be paid in full.”
“What period are you considering?”
“Twenty years.”
Robbie stood up and paced about, not even aware that he was being rude, since the German Chancellor had the floor (so to speak).
“Would you allow me to make a few suggestions?”
“Regarding the compensations?”
“Yes. The monetary figures will mostly be symbolic, as you are about to go through major transformations of your economies, so I suggest you agree to them being settled in kind and not with money. Just as an example, help the countries that have low literacy levels of education. Will you be placing any restrictions on citizens who become Cherinians?”
“We feel they should register themselves as Cherinians or else they could end up in power without us knowing.”
“What if all of you presently here became Cherinians, would you still feel the same way?”
“Yes, unlikely as it may be.”
Robbie smiled. “Unlikely, that you may become Cherinians or that you may still feel the same way? You have not realised that you are already halfway to becoming Cherinians? You all have perfect health, something not available to Normals. You are each linked to another person, even if you think of them as aliens. You have seen that the centre of the universe is not Earth. These are all bound to change you. I would say you do not resemble the people I first brought here. Do you not feel you have grown?” We sensed they were all worried by what Robbie said.
Robbie stopped walking, as if startled. “Me? Nothing! I was just making some observations I considered obvious. I’m sorry, please carry on.” He returned to his seat.
The Vietnamese leader also broke with protocol, speaking out of turn. “Mr Teller, we must know, are you broadcasting these proceedings to our planet?”
“We are in a different reality and many galaxies distant from ours. Even I do not have the ability to broadcast…”
“Are you recording for broadcasting when we return?”
“Everything that happens in Freddie is recorded, in a sense, since Freddie sees everything and remembers. No, we will not broadcast, unless you ask us to. I give you my promise on that.”
They were not the only ones shocked. We should have thought of it ourselves, we had all the facts. Suddenly we understood why Robbie had placed a roof over our bedroom. (R: You are wrong love, Freddie is a part of me, I would not and have not excluded him. Since our home is made out of energy, didn’t you realise he can be within our home whenever he wishes? Sorry, I was wrong; he is and has to be, all the time, just as you are aware of all parts of yourself, even when you are not aware of being aware of any part of you.)
After what felt like forever it was agreed that while certain of Robbie’s conditions are open to negotiation/interpretation and so on, we would consider them dealt with for the purpose of discussing our surrender. The German Chancellor still had the floor.
“We have not reached a unanimous agreement on the matter. A number of us feel we should accept your surrender while some feel it is no longer relevant and should be withdrawn in favour of a treaty of alliance. During our first meetings, we felt this was a ploy used by you to weaken our resolve to fight you. We now believe you were sincere, but we do not understand why you offered, despite many trying to explain on your behalf. Can you enlighten us before we take a final vote?”
“I regret I cannot. The idea was put forward by Samantha, so you should ask her.” My promise to him was not the usual ‘I owe you one’; it was a lot nastier, especially as it had been his idea.
“To understand our reasoning, you have to first understand what being a Cherinian is. As you saw in our tellings, the way we think, Cherine and her gift that gave birth to us as a people, determine the core of how we act or are able to behave. We are unable to harm another, whether Cherinian or Normal, as we named all non-Cherinians.
When we arrived you were poised for war, any disruption or misunderstanding could have caused any of you to launch atomic attacks. The only apparent solution was to become your common threat so that you begin to cooperate. As you saw Empathia tell Dark Cloud, if she won, we won. So is it with you. If we departed, having forced you to settle your differences, you would resent us for we would have imposed peace and your planet would soon be back on a war footing. If we have to surrender to make it obvious to you that we never had any intentions of taking over or fighting you, then it is a small price to pay. We also had to find a way to make it acceptable to you that we repair your ecology and heal your people. We were aware that you would consider our advance notice of surrender a ploy, but we hoped that as you came to know us and what Cherine represents, you would begin to understand we meant it and you would not need to feel cornered by our gifts.
You have taught me an important lesson that may help us avoid handling the situation so badly in the future. We should have grabbed you, as we did, left your reality immediately so that we can return within minutes of our departure and kept you with us as we travel until you become convinced of our good intentions. Thank you.”
They still had questions that took up time, but the truth was that they did understand; it was just that some of them could not resist the need to save face by having our defeat acknowledged publicly. Once the German Chancellor changed his mind those still demanding our surrender were a minority and only from smaller countries - some of them were countries we had helped liberate! Robbie was determined to surrender to any country(ies) that demanded it, so we did not relax. Hettie, Eddie and Bruce must have explained to some of them, especially Troy, for he stood up and gave a speech, requiring that they all agree to abide by the decision of the majority and undertake not to take action unilaterally. All but one agreed. If you know our history, can you guess from which country? The only clue I’ll give you is that Robbie and us were hurt very badly by their refusal.
I think Robbie needed to crawl in behind my waterfall and wish the world away, but he knew our friends would be hurting, even if they show it by trying to say things they feel will make him feel better, so he came with to the taverna. Maria has an easy chair stuffed with cushions for Diana. Robbie solicitously made certain she is comfortable and then crouched before her, staring into her eyes for a long time. She blushed and her eyes radiated such happiness that we knew he was communing with her privately. He gently placed his hand on her tummy and Rania dutifully kicked for him to feel her. With a dazed look of happiness he stood up and made his rounds, finding for each a gesture or a whispered word to make everyone feel loved. Maria brought his coffee and waited, hand on hips until he gave in with a laugh and sat at his place.
“Samantha, why don’t we ignore everyone and go to visit the Muyzith. Perhaps they are wiser than us and can help us find Arthur. It is about time he comes here to take over. Let him dabble in politics and deal with all that kind of nonsense.”
“I guess your gift of empathy is at an all time low. Normally you would not wish such an evil thing on your worst enemy.” Within minutes, we had nearly everyone smiling and somehow our pain became funny as others joined in and made witty comments. Only Cherine sat glowering, not forgiving those who dared to hurt her Robert. Robbie projected her as a lion cub and soon as she recovered, she sat staring at her paws as she flexed her tiny claws. We felt her amusement grow as she felt our eyes on her and we relaxed.
Lakis Diamantides delivered a hand-written copy of the headlines and article his newspaper will be publishing on our return to their reality, to the Greek Prime Minister. Since his newspaper is known as a backer of the political party in power, the threat was very real:
“Laki, you are wrong! You heard him, he considers himself an adopted son of Greece, I have to do this for his sake, not for glory as you write - what glory would there be?”
“With all respect Kyrie Prothipourge (Mr Prime Minister), that is utter nonsense! You have the proof all around you that he is the acknowledged leader of dozens of worlds, we should feel honoured if he came to Greece just to take a crap! He has honoured us by speaking publicly of his love for our people and way of life, his first thought when he came to our world was to drive out the Turks so that our Motherland is free again and you dare to set yourself above him? I promise you, if you do not sign the Treaty, I will incite the whole country against you and your political career is finished. I will see to it that the new government reverses your action, nullify and tear up the document you would have Roberto sign and they will sign the same document the rest of the world is signing. Feelings will be so strong against you that I would not be surprised if you are declared a traitor. You know I have the power to make my threats become real, so do not test me.”
We should not have been listening, but their voices were raised and with our keen hearing, we could not help it. Robbie quickly joined them at their table.
