All That Glitters

The Maha-Rrin visit. More problems for Liramor Prime.

The Maha-Rrin visit Liramor-23. Shoddy workmanship comes back to haunt Liramor Prime.

© bigtddybr April 2022. This story 'All That Glitters - Ch 46' or the series 'All That Glitters' cannot be transferred to any other site besides Literotica.com in whole or in part without the prior authorizations in writing from the author and bigtddybr must be credited for this work.

Due to the number of abbreviations, ship listings, and list of characters, in this story, I include a glossary that is now in a stand-alone chapter called

'All That Glitters: Notes'

. Any and all information that you want or need to know about the series is included in Notes, currently this chapter contains Version 10. It will be updated frequently simply by re-issuing the chapter to Literotica.

There is little attempt to explain the back story, so it is necessary to read previous chapters to fully understand where we are.

As before, I claim sole responsibility for the story line. This story is a fantasy, with no basis in reality. Any similarity that you may perceive to current events, people, or situations real or imaginary is completely unintended. Look no further than the story line for its intent and purpose.

A big shout out to SaddleRider and my other editors, who wish to remain anonymous, for all their help.. With their guidance, I'm making fewer and fewer errors. If you find any errors still left in this chapter, they are mine, as I have ignored sage advise to make a silly point.

Please rate and comment. But keep your comments respectful. If you rant and rave or are disrespectful in your commentary, it will be deleted.

'Nuff said...enjoy.

The Wanderer, In-Transit to Liramor-23, 109 Piscium System, 106 Light Years from Terra

Raymond was cuddled up with Aurelia in his stateroom. His very large bed, often the scene of parties with multiple women, only contained the two of them.

Aurelia had taken the opportunity to visit Asocar, the Asocan Home World, some 364 light years from Terra when Raymond had acted as a taxi service to return the Asoc and her party. It had been an eye-opening experience for her, her very first time on a non-human world.

Now the pair took advantage of the time in transit from Asocar to Liramor-23 to spend time together, alone. Their love making had been a tender, if a somewhat sad reunion.

Aurelia knew that she would soon return to Adenomere. The fact that her unborn twins could never be attributed to Raymond Clark had bothered her but Raymond had reminded her that they had both entered into being parents in the full knowledge that Aurelia would never be able to acknowledge Raymond as the father.

Aurelia had let it slip that she and her ex-fiancé, Marius, had one night together before he had been arrested for murder and attempted murder, something that had not happened as Aurelia had never intended to be a notch on Marius' bedpost.

She was grateful that her time with Raymond, his last few days on Planet Adenomere, had provided her the heirs she would require, without the need to find a husband from among the men of the Alliance. Still, it bothered her that she could never reveal the true parentage of her children.

"Please don't worry about this," Raymond assured her as he brushed away the tears on her face. "I am pleased to know that you will be the mother of my first children, even if I cannot be more than a shadow in their lives."

"It just seems so unfair!"

"Life is never fair, Aurelia, as you are fully aware," Raymond replied. "We make do with what we have. And, those of us who can, work to make the universe a better place for our family and friends.

"In your case, the better universe for you means having heirs for your House." Raymond smiled at her and leant down for a tender kiss.

A discrete signal from Lynn Ducharme, Raymond's PA, let them know that their time together was coming to an end. They helped each other clean up and dress and then moved out to greet the universe.

Raymond had brought the Asoc back to Asocar but had found over 800 Asocans waiting to be transferred back to Liramor-23. The extra bodies, even on a temporary basis, meant that the ship was crammed. As per the agreement between the Union and the Asocans, these would be the first of many being trained on the new human ship types, the first of the Asocan Navy. Raymond would keep 112 of the Asocans on his ship, the remainder would go to the Navy ships now in the Piscium system. When the first of the Asocan ships were ready, so too, would their crews be.

The Asocans had already been designated per ship, they all knew where they were going once they got to Liramor-23. Aurelia could see and feel the excitement from the Asocans as they contemplated working with the humans to learn the new ship types.

Raymond felt the peculiar lurch of his stomach as the Wanderer made the final jump and came into the Piscium system. The Asocans all watched the monitors, most of them seeing Liramor-23 for the first time. Some would be stationed here for the better part of a year before their ships were ready, learning on actual human-crewed ships the skills they needed to know to crew their own future vessels.

The Piscium Family Quarters, Lima Deck, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Junelliya's Fellowship were all sitting in her apartment listening to Clarrisiya tell them about the children. She had been with them now for a little over a week and she was giving her assessment to the Fellowship while the children were down for their afternoon nap. Included in the group was Dr. Leonora Galt, Liramor-23's resident psychologist, and the new empath to the platform, Cdr. GME Philaya, a welcome addition as another GME.

"Thank-you all for coming on such short notice. I am happy that there is such a large group of fellow empaths to help Junelliya with her journey," she said with a smile that lit up her eyes.

"I know most of you have been working with Junelliya and marvelling at the sheer power she possesses. I have seen the reports sent to Petronellaya and have experienced myself the remarkable power that Junelliya possesses.

"And therein lies the crux of the problem for her power has rubbed off on the children, especially while they were in the womb. I suspect that they will both be truly amazing empaths when they grow up.

"Having said that, Zarrenia is currently the powerhouse, using her abilities to communicate with her sister. What is remarkable is the way that Ikekia can interpret her sister's images into words. Each is truly amazing, considering their current ages but together, they are and will be a formidable duo.

"At this time, Zarrenia's abilities are unknown, they can only be speculated about. They won't be truly understood until she begins to speak verbally. She seems to be able to send images to others, potentially making her a telepath. Her sister is the best at interpreting these images as she grew up with Zarrenia and has effectively been teaching her all about life. The two have an inseparable bond.

"Ikekia has the spark and will eventually be a powerhouse on her own, but she is currently unable to use her powers consciously. Having the spark, she is able to connect to her sister, but so far, only her sister and Junelliya. Zarrenia can project to other people, but only through physical contact, Tougrate called it Contact Telepathy and that is as good a term for what is happening on the empathic level.

"How other people interpret Zarrenia's images is debatable. Many people have described seeing images in their minds that they are positive have been put there by Zarrenia, however, interpreting those images is a work in progress. Ikekia is far better at interpreting them than are we others."

"Zarrenia was able to connect to a small group of telepaths the first time we discovered her abilities," Dr. Maya reminded them all. She had been there to witness this firsthand.

"Zarrenia was able to connect to the small group of telepaths because she was in her mother's lap, direct contact," Clarrisiya advised the group. "She does not yet have the mental power needed to project images without contact with another and only those who are strong empaths or strong telepaths are able to 'see' the images. Yes, there is a difference between telepaths and empaths, but at the power levels that Junelliya, and in all probability the children, display, it becomes rather a moot point.

"Ikekia cannot project power at this time, but she is very close to her sibling and is able to accurately interpret Zarrenia's images in her own way. Ikekia is getting stronger as she associates with her sister, so much so that she can sense when others are sending telepathic or empathic broadcasts, thus the immediate response from both children when I sent out a bit of power to them the first time we met.

"Neither of them could 'feel' or interpret what I sent them, but they were immediately aware that I had sent something, they were simply responding to the power levels they felt. Still, this is not something that we would expect from children less than a year old," Clarrisiya told them.

"You said that you weren't certain if the images you were receiving confirmed that Zarrenia was a telepath?" Katanya wanted to know.

"The images I saw were initially very fuzzy. I had thought this was because Zarrenia was still very young, however, the more I associated with her, the stronger and clearer the images became.

"But those images also came with strong feelings. The interpretations I get from her are that she is pushing empathy with power, along with the images. Because it takes so much more power to push images than feelings, I had misinterpreted this as being telepathy. I am now leaning toward the fact that Zarrenia is pushing empathy and layering it with the images as a by-product of her inability to properly communicate. Again, this is only speculation and we will not know for certain until Zarrenia begins to communicate verbally," Clarrisiya told them.

"When do you expect that to happen?" Hanalei asked.

"That is something that we can never predict with accuracy," Urano stepped in on that one. "It is very unusual for children under one year to be speaking as well as Ikekia is. Zarrenia is already starting to form partial words but she has her older sister to help teach her and to emulate, something that little Zarrenia is eager to do.

"Her biggest problem is the amount of words she is learning under her sister. Twelve separate Interspecies languages, and another half-dozen human languages. She is having a challenging time getting the words out even with Ikekia's help.

"Then there is Annagrace. That little girl already knows French and Standard and is sharing her own abilities with our two little ones while she learns from Ikekia and the many teachers that show up on our doorstep every day," Urano said with a smile.

"Oh, so many visitors!" Heyya giggled. "Every time I come here; I am afraid of stepping on someone smaller than me or being stepped on by someone bigger than me. You need more room Junelliya."

That brought a chuckle from the group.

"We may get it," Hanalei stated. "Fayad has been looking at the new accommodations for the platform as it grows over the next year or so. VIP accommodations are going to be large and more spacious. Anything on an exterior surface, as we are now, will be quite large. I want a larger kitchen as we always have so many guests over. Fayad laughed when I said that but promised to consider it."

"Oh, yes! For your cooking, I would be over constantly if there was more room." Silliya exclaimed, getting giggles from the others.

"So what are your recommendations?" Malteyea asked of Clarrisiya.

"Well, first and foremost, you are Junelliya's Fellowship. Your priority will always be working with her, though she will soon be doing things on her own. Violletiya?" Clarrisiya gave the floor to Hanalei's bodyguard.

"Clarrisiya is correct, Junelliya will soon be past all that we, her Fellowship, can offer her. Her power levels have never ceased to amaze me, nor I suspect the rest of you," the room all agreed on that issue.

"Her ability to multi-task while working as an empath is nothing short of extraordinary. Best example of that is her treatment of the guards during her initial visit to the Landstradt. She was able to identify which guards were likely to attack and swiftly put them selectively to sleep. I know of a couple of empaths that can emulate Junelliya's ability to knock people out, but none that can do so with such precision or selectiveness."

"She did the same thing during Op Sandcastle," Maya interrupted. "She selectively knocked out those in the psych ward on the SSP Marin Green but only those who the staff were having trouble controlling. She calmed the remainder, helping further with the issue, all while being several thousand kilometers away on another ship. I don't know of anyone else that could have done that."

"Maya is correct, there is no one else that could have done that," Violletiya confirmed. "Our current goal with Junelliya is to help her with the precision aspects of her control. However, she will soon be working beyond our capacity."

"As far as the children are concerned," Clarrisiya took over again, "we should just let them be kids. Let them enjoy themselves as they learn. What they are doing is coming naturally to them. Watch what they do and if you see any unusual activities from them, try not to make them feel that what they are doing is exceptional or make them feel what they are doing is wrong or shameful.

"Help them with all aspects of their young lives except for empathy and telepathy. They should work themselves forward on those two issues on their own. Us pushing them could have detrimental effects for the pair. They will get to their potential much better if they think what they are doing is

NOT

exceptional, that what they are doing is normal. That is the best way we can help them at this time.

"One last thing, I believe that Zarrenia is in a 'Continuous Empathic Curve'," Clarrisiya stated, getting gasps from all the empaths.

"Sorry, being a new empath, I'm not sure what that means," Junelliya said.

"Sorry, Junelliya, Hanalei, I should have prefaced that with an explanation. Sometimes a new empath starts to use their power and is unable to shut it off. This can often lead to burnout for the new empath if it cannot be brought under control. This normally happens to children, still well off from going through puberty, or to those who go into puberty early, around seven to nine years of age. Not so unusual nowadays.

"However, if the new empath cannot selectively use her power, it can lead to problems with control and with burnout. In Zarrenia's case, this started at such an early age that it is part of her physical formative traits. That means she will likely grow into her abilities rather than burnout. For her, this is normal, even if she doesn't understand what is happening on a mental level, similar to her learning to stand and control her ability to regulate her upright posture.

"What worries me the most is her ability to be selective, like her mother. Most empaths learn empathy, then learn precision with it. Zarrenia is starting from the other direction, learning selectivity before she gains any significant power.

"For this reason, I do not believe that her CEC will be a threat to her emotionally, however, it does mean that she only closes her mind to others when she is asleep," Clarrisiya advised the mothers.

"What does that mean for Ikekia?" Hanalei asked.

"Ikekia is responding to her sister, who is pushing her feelings and images to her. She only uses her power to receive those images and emotions from her sister. For her, she is able to shut off her empathy on a selective basis, as she only opens it for her sister to communicate with her; a much better set of conditions for her than her sister.

"We shall have to watch the both of them, but more so Zarrenia for any indication of mental fatigue as they grow older," Clarrisiya stated.

"Lots to be aware of, then," Maya said.

Just then, Fayea landed on Urano's shoulder and gave out a sound. "Oh, the children are awake," she stated.

"How are you able to tell that?" Maya asked.

"The sound Fayea just made is a call for assistance. I suspect someone needs to be changed," Urano smiled.

That got a chuckle from the group. "I'll take care of that," Hanalei said as she got up. The two mothers never shirked from their duties as parents, often doing diaper changes instead of Urano. They knew that Urano would not long be with the family and they didn't want to be dependent on her before she left them.

Hanalei disappeared into the children's room while the other two Cats came out and landed on other people's shoulders, happy to have so many empaths in the apartment with them.

"Well, at least the Cats are sensible enough to get out of a room when diapers need changing," Silliya stated, bringing laughter from the group. A few minutes later, Hanalei came out with both children in her arms. The children sleepily smiled at all the adults in the room, quickly waking and wriggling to get down and greet everyone. Hanalei put them on the floor where Ikekia stood up and ran from one adult to the other demanding hugs.

Zarrenia used the furniture to help herself stand up and moved from one leg to the other getting her own hugs. That brought smiles to the group, who really did love the two children.

Conference Room One, Central Control, Delta Deck, Liramor-23, The Piscium System

Wilford J. Holloway, the President of the Union, Charles Ronter, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the TGA, Admiral George Ramison, Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Fiona Marsh, Commanding Sector Fifty-Nine, her aid-de-camp Capt. Émilia Pétillante, Commodore Bouyé Whatt, Commanding the Piscium Defence Force, his aide-de-camp Cdr. GME Philaya, Capt. Jane Fillertan Civilian Liaison Officer for Liramor-23, Raymond, Liea, and Capt. Helene Degault of the Wanderer, the captains and Boatswains of all twenty-eight ships currently under VAdm. Marsh's control, the senior officers of Liramor-23, Antoine, and Annette Liramor, representing Liramor Holdings, Fayad, Hanalei, and Junelliya were all in Conference Room One for the official brief from Adm. Ramison and the President.

"OK. It's time to get down to brass tacks," Ramison began. "First, you will need a complete command and control structure for Sector Fifty-Nine. That will include administration, supply, medical, a Command Master Chief Petty Officer, et al. All of the necessary functions to control a sector. That means you will have a number of senior officers of Commodore and Rear Admiral rank working for you to make your life a little easier.

"You will need them, as it is the intention of this command and by order of the President, that you will be given a fleet of some 133 ships for your permanent force and a further 100 ships intended for our allies in the Greater Community, all of which will have to have jump-grid technology because of the large distances you will have to cover in your sector.

"The ten ships of the Piscium Defence Force, while nominally under your command, are now considered a force dedicated to the protection of the Interspecies Embassy and are not included in the 133 ships designated for Sector Command.

"On top of the eighteen ships now directly in your command, you will be given forty-seven of the new or upgraded ships from the Op Sandcastle Task Force now that we can disband it, including the NS Dewfall, which Charles will not appreciate, as he likes that ship." That brought a chuckle from the group.