TeAxit stood. “I speak for both myself and my
beloved, TeZuron. We would like to know how these magnificent
creatures were included on the journey home.”
Jonal and Tonas stood in front of the
council. “Dr. Stern told us that our bonded Princess Anya would be
tortured with worry over her beloved feline, Tigger, if he was left
on Earth. We found that TaCynthia, who prefers to be called TaSyn;
also had a feline—a fem. Dr. Stern told us that the felines were
fixed;
that is, they could not reproduce. We were reluctant
to cause any pain to any fem; especially our own. Since we were
taking the fems so far from their home, we agreed to take the
felines with us to lessen the distress of the journey,” Jonal
answered.
“It was on
Brightstar
that we found
that Tigger and Duchess were sentient. TeZaron, while posing as the
Chief Kassan, discovered it first. We only found out during our
bonding.” Jonal kept his shields tight.
“On the
Brightstar
, Tigger battled the
Zyptz. He knew what chemical Princess Anya had in her household
goods that would hurt the combatants. Since we landed on Sarran,
Tigger and Duchess discovered the line of fire designed to
obliterate the new fems and have systematically hunted and killed
the banc in the gardens and house of both Palace Light and Castle
Air,” Tonas continued.
“Primary Trade Application again, eh
Tonas?”
TeZuron stood. “Please excuse the
interruption. Admirals Jonal and Tonas served under us before the
Zyptz war.” TeZuron laughed.
“They were captains at the time and used
those three words to take alarming liberties; yet always managed to
find a trade application that landed them on their feet. It seems
as if they have struck again. We can unfix the fixing and in the
meantime, import more of these sentient cats from Earth.” TeZuron
sat down, still chuckling.
TeAwer stood. “How did Dr. Stern come to be
among us?”
Jonal looked at Tonas,
::This might be a
harder sell.::
Juraens rose. “To my utter surprise I was
BondStruck on Earth. Dr. Mark Stern was present when we evacuated
the fems from one of the Eastern Evacuation Points, Manhattan
General Hospital. He was the head of the hospital, Chief of Staff.
He also served as a covert Warrior for his government. His skill as
a trauma surgeon saved many Warriors from death or permanent
debilitating injury during the attack of the Zyptz on the
Brightstar
. He has been given the same serum as the fem,
although not by my hand, so he can reproduce. The events are fully
described in both the admirals and TeZaron’s logs.”
TeAwer considered this and said, “And so
Sarran gains a Warrior with medical experience in combat
situations. I must say, Dr. Stern, you are an unexpected gift. As
so aptly said by my bonded, the admirals have once more taken
Primary Trade Application to dizzying heights.”
TeAwer sat and TeAllen stood, “Because of the
Brightstar
expedition, we have gained a foothold to a treaty
with Earth; a planet which we understand has an overabundance of
fem, a new sentient species that also kills the hated banc, and a
medical officer with combat experience. Did I sum this up
succinctly, TeBron?”
“Yes, I believe that sums this up, nicely,”
Bron answered.
“As spokesperson for the council,” said
TeAllen, “I now have the honor of telling the admirals and the
assembled company of the results of our deliberations. I’m sorry we
did not include TeBron and TeZaron in our conference; but as they
were intimately involved in the activities and the result of the
said actions on
Brightstar
, we felt that they would not be
able to give an unbiased opinion.”
TeAllen picked up a scroll, “First, admirals
Jonal and Tonas, you are being appointed to the now vacant seats on
the council despite your rather creative use now and in the past of
the Primary Trade Application.” The council broke out in
laughter.
“Your agile minds will be welcome on the
council.”
TeAllen smiled at the fem, “TaAnya and TaSyn,
on behalf of my beloved and the whole council we welcome you and
your fellow fems to Sarran and we hope to find among you our own
bonded.”
The cats left the dais to stand with Syn and
Anya.
TeAllen continued. “Tigger and Duchess, you
and others of your delightful species are welcome. We intend to
treat you as sentients and as such you are free to roam Sarran as
long as you observe the laws of property and privacy, although
after the word gets out that you kill banc; I doubt there will be a
property on the planet closed to you.”
The council as a whole looked to Juraens and
Mark. “As for Juraens and Dr. Stern, you are recognized as a Sarran
WarriorPair and entitled to all the rights and responsibilities
that this entails.” The room broke out in applause.
“We are also giving Dr. Stern and Juraens the
titles Prince of Earth and Prince of Fire. All and all, admirals
and our new council members, I would say this was a very successful
trip; one that we intend to repeat with a new crew for
Brightstar
of PairBonded Warriors in search of fem.
TeJonal and TeTonas, please join us on the
dais. Is there any further business to discuss?” TeAllen asked as
he regained his seat.
TeZaron stood up and addressed the council.
“You all know how we have suffered an increase in suicides,
assaults, and unexplained withdrawals from society since the Zyptz
war. Our fem TaSyn is a practitioner of a science unknown on Sarran
called psychology. It is the study of the human mind rather than
the brain. On Earth there are, unfortunately, many wars because of
the division of the planet into nation states. This caused us some
alarm when it came up in the study of possible compatible fems, but
the objections were overruled,” said Zaron. “And for this I am
grateful to the Goddess.
“Zaron, get on with it,” prodded Bron.
“Yes, Dearest,” Zaron said as he rubbed
Bron’s shoulders.
“The Earthens have discovered a mental
disorder called Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and both she and
Prince of Earth Dr. Stern feel that this disorder explains these
problems now found on Sarran.” A murmur ran through the
council.
TeBron took up the narrative. “It is caused
by witnessing combat, death of loved ones, abuse and violence
either witnessed or done to one’s person. TaSyn says that there are
medications on Earth that can help with this condition but she
doesn’t know if they would work on the Sarran physiology. I suggest
that we arrange for TaSyn to get together with our neuroscientists
and chemists to develop these medications to suit Sarrans. TaSyn
says that we should also look among the women for any that are
psychiatrists who are also proficient in treating this disorder and
pharmacists who can research the medications based on what they
know from Earth.”
TeBron sat down. TeAllen stood, “So it shall
be done. The council shall meet again next week to discuss the new
fem and how to best ensure our WarriorPairs get to look among them
to find their bonded in addition to this Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder.”
“PTSD,” Mark offered.
::We agree,::
was heard from the
entire council.
* * * *
The formalities over; the council came down
from the dais to mix with the cats, the latest princes, and the new
council members.
TeAllen came over to Syn and asked, “There
was such a clamor about how bad Earthen food tasted, so this
morning I tried it for myself. I had some coffee, the thing that
caused the most complaints. It was delightful. Why the fuss?”
“In my country, the United States, we have a
thing called fast food. We don’t have fabricators. Most of our fems
work outside of the home and must take care of the offspring,
cooking, and other household duties as well.”
TeAllen shook his head. “What is wrong with
Earthen Warriors; don’t they help?”
Anya said, “Depends on the Warrior.”
Syn smiled and jabbed Anya in the ribs. She
continued. “There are only twenty-four tines in a rising and with
eight tines spent working and a minimum amount of tines spent
sleeping there are only so many tines left to clean, do laundry,
and supervise the offspring.” Anya stepped closer to TeAllen and
whispered, “And there are some fem like me who don’t know how to
prepare a meal.”
“So,” Syn said, “the society developed what
is called take-out food. It is food made quickly and not very well
in eateries scattered around our towns and cities and the
cafeterias at workplaces. Fast take-out food is inexpensive,
although not very nutritious; and fem use it to save some time.
Fast food, especially to a culture that values natural, fresh food,
tastes very bad.”
Jonal came over and put his arm around Anya.
TeAllen said, “Why did they program the fabricators with bad
food?”
Anya answered, “The government wanted us all
off planet before anyone could find out what happened, so they took
take-out menus—does that word translate?”
“Yes,” TeAllen said, “a bill of fare.”
“Exactly, anyway, they took menus from the
worst take-out places in Washington D.C. and that is what was
replicated on the
Brightstar
.”
“Anya alerted Jonal and me to this problem
just after she awoke from her illness and went to the mess hall. We
didn’t have time to correct the problem before the Zyptz attack,”
Tonas said, coming up behind Jonal and loosely putting his arm
around both members of his Triad.
“Last night our chefs took the initiative and
programmed the fabricators with all of the recipes and their
ingredients that were in my cookbooks and magazines, hence this
morning, good coffee,” Syn explained.
“Well, that explains that mystery. You can be
sure that on Sarran no fem is ever overworked to the point that
they have to resort to take-out.” TeAllen said.
“To be fair to our men, some of the fems are
single mothers and have no one to help out,” Anya said.
“Do that many Warriors die in combat?”
TeAllen asked askance.
“Some do, but in the United States there is a
high rate of divorce,” Syn answered.
“That is unheard of here…the Rite of
Dissolution…”
Anya interrupted, “On Earth there is no bond.
There is only something called love and fem and men often make
mistakes in who they think they love; and the marriage doesn’t last
too long. Yet others, who find a true bond, can have a marriage
that lasts fifty years or longer.”
TeZuron wandered over to listen to the
conversation and said, “They leave an important rite like the Triad
to chance?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a Goddess like
Ulna to guide us. We have many competing religions all of who claim
to know the right path. Wars are sometimes fought by crazies who
believe that everyone else should follow their rules,” Syn
explained to the Elder.
“That’s outrageous. On Sarran the Goddess
Ulna guides our choice in mates, but in all other respects except
for those which are mentioned in the Codex, we guide ourselves
according to our honor,” TeZuron snapped back.
“When there are many religions, honor is a
relative term.”
TeZuron stood with his mouth hanging
open.
“There are many honorable men, Warriors as
you call them, like Mark Stern, but unfortunately there are many
fems and men who have no honor,” Syn clarified.
TeAllen stood silent, as if considering the
information he just received. “Then it could be said that the
Sarrans did not take the Earthen fem, rather that they rescued
them.”
“In certain cases that would be true. It
would be a good thing for the next voyage to consider single
mothers raising femspring; especially those where the father
neglects to support his femspring monetarily or emotionally,” Syn
stated.
“Yes,” said Anya, some of these women live
with their femspring on the streets because they have no labor
skills and no one to help them.” Anya’s voice was strident.
“Doesn’t the Earthen governments help these
fems?” TeAllen asked, looking more and more upset.
“Depends on who is in power,” Syn answered
simply.
“I set the council agenda; this will be
brought up at the next session. As I see it, this is an emergency.
We will take any fem with the smallest amount of psy power and
truthfully, all of the Earthen fems have it, even if it is latent.
You were all sick with the plague; we took only the sickest. But
whoever was sick, had some psy potential, no matter how
diluted.”
Thinking of the girls she left behind at the
shelter, Syn gave TeAllen a heartfelt hug. Bron and Zaron looked on
in approval.
* * * *
As the meeting broke up, Mark and Juraens
left the council chambers to inspect the castle they were given.
“How come there are so many empty castles and palaces,” Mark asked
as they were transported to the quadrant that used to belong to
WaterClan.
“We lost half our population to the ClanWars
and the birth rate of fems was still low. Castles and Palaces are
earned because all of them are manmade and crafted. There are only
so many WarriorPairs who have done enough good to earn them. You
and I sacrificed our bond for the greater good. On Sarran, this is
considered heroism of the highest order. You also tended the
wounded and fought the Zyptz for a people not your own; this makes
you a hero, thus the reward.”
“This castle will need a lot of work to make
it suitable for a fem. But with the credits that are coming to us
upon our elevation to rank, plus what I saved, we can make this
into a good home for our fem. We can hire in the village for
craftsmen to help us. I only want the best for our Triad.”
“I agree.” Mark kissed Juraens passionately
as they entered their front door for the first time.
* * * *