Chapter 4 - Confirmation
His Majesty, Pyani Tymoros, High King Governor stood at one of the windows of the dome shaped conference room. He was casually dressed in a loose fitting gold caftan that he had pulled on over the soft wool under shift and loose fitting trousers he had been wearing in his suite when his attendant delivered the word about the Earth children. His mind had not stopped pondering on the news, as it might be the fulfilment of an old prophecy. He had come to the conference room to wait for Xyron’s evaluation, and for two hours, he had watched the gardens outside his palace as lightning flashed from cloud to cloud. The electrical storm had stalled over the estate, and it seemed more violent than usual, even for the Season of Storms.
The idea occurred to him that the behaviour of this storm was connected to the arrival of the alien children. However, all he knew so far was that the children’s power had erupted and was extremely strong. In that much, they fulfilled Elder Dakven’s prophecy. But human children? If they had been the offspring of Tymorean missionaries, there would have been warning signs before hand.
Tymoros turned when he heard the quiet sounds of servants bringing in refreshments and a light supper. They were placing them on the low table set apart from the main conference table.
He watched the storm for a moment longer, but with the darkness outside, the clear windows around the dome were turning opaque and light began to emanate from the panels in shades of blue and green. In the gardens below, the estate guards would be moving out to ensure that all servants and members of the three royal families were obeying the nightly curfew. In the great hall, three stories below, the evening meal would be being served.
Tymoros served himself from the trays of savoury finger food and was in the act of sitting down when he was joined by Jono Reslic, the Tymorean President Governor.
“Any problems?” Tymoros asked, seeing that Reslic was frowning slightly.
“No, just that young fool Zacary,” was the reply. “Third time this week he has tried to stay out after curfew. I have extended his restriction to his room, but I will talk to him further in the morning.”
Reslic had changed from his official clothes and was wearing black coveralls, which was his choice of clothing to relax in. He also served himself, and like Tymoros, settled into one of the chairs to wait.
Neither Governor felt the need for idle conversation; both contemplated the implications of the arrival of the Earth children. No decision could be made concerning them until Xyron reported.
Servants returned to clear the table, and to bring glasses of the wine favoured by each Governor. Tymoros took up his glass of sparkling white, while Reslic left his dark brown liqueur until the servants left the room. They would be assured of privacy, since the only way into and out of the room was by transmitting and only the senior servants were permitted to enter.
When another hour had passed, a faint humming alerted both men. They glanced towards a circular area of floor that was now glowing faintly.
Both Tymoros and Reslic watched intently as two columns of white vapour materialised into Xyron and Vincent.
Vincent followed his brother towards the other Governors. He gave them the traditional bow of greeting, and stayed standing when his brother sat down. In his hand was the data plaque summarising the results of their analyses of the Earth children. If directed, he would activate equipment that could project specific data onto one of the wall panels.
Before Xyron began to speak, Reslic moved his left sleeve to reveal a wrist communicator, and pressed one of the activators with his right hand. Vincent knew he had activated a force screen that would prevent anyone transmitting in during the discussion.
From his chair, Xyron began his report.
“It is as Elder Dakven prophesised. The two Earth children have a strong positive reaction to our power.” He paused, seeing both Reslic and Tymoros lean forward in their chairs. He gave a hand signal and Vincent knew it was his cue to give the background of the children.
“The children are fifteen year old twins – a boy and a girl. They were attending the educational institute where our missionary Tonos is in charge. The father of the children is his deputy, a man called Daniel Ward and who is the grandson of missionary Collen. His deceased wife was Janelle, daughter of missionary Maytani.”
“The onset of power was spontaneous?” Tymoros asked.
“No, in hindsight, the onset was evident over a period of several weeks. Tonos learnt from Daniel that their behaviour had changed, first becoming thoughtless and argumentative and then escalating to disrespect, disobedience, rebellion and finally violence.”
Vincent saw Reslic’s face tighten with concern, so he went on. “Tonos had allowed Daniel to deal with their earlier poor behaviour at school. It seemed that they had entered into a phase common to adolescent Earth children. He became involved when they assaulted a teacher. He noticed the signs of uncontrolled power when they came to his office. That was when he summoned me.”
“What was their attitude at that time?” Reslic asked. It was an important question.
“Tonos told me that they seemed to be in shock, had admitted to being extremely angry earlier, but could give no reason for the attack on the teacher. Both then seemed enervated. The girl mentioned nausea, eyes changing focus and buzzing in her ears.”
Tymoros nodded, recognizing some of the symptoms of transition sickness.
Vincent continued reporting. “When I arrived, they had managed to draw in energy from the ambient electrical system. The lights were unnaturally dim in Tonos’s office, despite the fact that Tonos had an energy damping field operating in there. The purple glow Tonos mentioned had spread from just their hands to encompass their forearms. I grounded out the power they had accumulated, but once out of Tonos’s office they quickly drew in more energy and given a chance, they would have run off. They resisted leaving the school.”
Xyron spoke then. “Vincent had to give them a substantial dose of sedative, and it barely gave him time to get them here. They were metabolising it extremely rapidly and their brain activity was dangerously high. I controlled their power before they had a chance to wake up, and I can only hope the effect will last long enough for us to give them some basic training.”
He did not have to explain the ramifications. The children were so powerful that Reslic would have to take on the task of training them.
Tymoros, considering the ‘why’ of the matter, asked, “With Tymorean forebears on paternal and maternal sides, could it have been a quirk of genetics that gave them the potential? Could any of our missionaries have unwittingly been a catalyst?”
“I considered that possibility,” Vincent admitted. “I spoke to the teacher they attacked and some of their closest friends at school. Neither the humans nor Tonos was a catalyst.”
Xyron returned to his report. “Since the children are unique in our history, I analysed their DNA. I found, as expected, a mixture of both Earth and Tymorean DNA. However, in these children the Tymorean genes are dominant, even though they are two generations removed from their nearest Tymorean relative.”
The rest of Xyron’s findings related to the excellent physiological condition of the children. This however was a common situation with part Tymorean children, when compared to fully alien children.
Vincent used a pause after the summary to add, “Their intelligence is very high. They were two of their schools brightest children.”
Tymoros did not find that surprising. Into the mediative silence, he asked, “Maytani is my father’s cousin. Is she still alive?”
“No, nor is Collen or Janelle. I had to tell Daniel of his origins. He accepted the truth of what I told him more readily than I expected. I think he might have learnt of us from Collen when he was growing up. He gave me his consent to bring his children here.”
“Daniel must be an exceptional man,” Tymoros murmured.
“I agree. He was a highly respected research scientist until his wife died. He became a teacher then, so he could care for his children. I would like to recruit him as an assistant.”
“That would be most appropriate,” Tymoros decided. “And I will foster his children, since Maytani is their closest Tymorean relative.”
Neither Xyron nor Reslic disputed that decision, but Reslic had concerns of his own. “How soon can we begin to teach them?”
“Perhaps a week,” Xyron considered. “I will set up a suite in the infirmary building where I can adjust the gravity. I will have it at Earth normal at first and gradually adjust it up. At the same time, I will administer nutritional supplements, provide regular physiotherapy and massage sessions as well as instigate sleep training in our language. Also, considering their behaviour prior to leaving Earth, I believe a memory block on their past would be appropriate.”
“That usually isn’t necessary,” Reslic remarked, tensing. “Do you have concerns about how they will respond to training?”
“No, since Vincent indicated that they were shocked by their actions. However, they were coming into second stage power without even the basic training our children usually have.”
Reslic’s fingers tapped the arm of his chair as he considered all he had heard. “You found no brain damage from the elevated power levels?”
“No, I believe we reduced them soon enough,” Xyron stated.
“Very well, I agree. Anger and fear in children with their potential will be an added complication. They will accept the training more readily with no preconceived ideas. You will maintain a check on the effectiveness of the power damping?”
Xyron nodded. He began to rise, intending to return to his laboratory.
Tymoros had a further point. “If these children inherited power unexpectedly, might there be others?”
“I will have all of our missionaries alerted,” Vincent promised.
Reslic stood abruptly saying, “I think we have all points covered. I will begin the procedure for granting them Tymorean citizenship.”
“They will need Royal patronage,” Tymoros added. “I will organise that.”
Reslic deactivated the security field and the group transmitted to their individual destinations.
“You didn’t mention all the details of the genetic scan,” Vincent commented to his brother in the privacy of the laboratory, as they moved the beds into position to transmit them to the intensive care infirmary.
“It wasn’t essential to the matter in hand. Tymoros was the logical one to foster the children, as Maytani was their closest relative. Let us see how they respond to their new environment and training. If the children prove to be intractable – it is better that Tymoros remains unaware of those results. As it was, I did not expect any near matches from the DNA analysis program. We only discovered the similarities because I had to identify…” Xyron stopped speaking for a moment and then changed what he was about to say. “Because I had Ty’s data filed. I will tell him if it becomes appropriate.”
Vincent did not comment on the change in Xyron’s sentence. Even after so many years, he recalled the unpleasant necessity of identifying the bodies of two Royal children, from amongst many commoners. The children had been Tymoros’s heirs.
“I will help you transfer them to the infirmary,” Vincent offered. “And watch them tonight.”
Chapter 5 - Integration
Vincent stood quietly and watched the two children. He had just injected the girl with a mild, short acting stimulant. The dose was not enough to bring her back to full alertness, just enough to study her reactions to her current surroundings.
Although Xyron’s monitoring instruments had indicated that his block on their power was effective, part of his mind was ready to react if she grew violent. This girl and her brother were not acting like Tymorean children who reached second stage. It was just possible that they might be able to overcome the block.
The drug took a few minutes to act, but Vincent saw the girl beginning to stir. The first thing she did was to push herself up, slowly, and try to look around. He was out of her cone of vision. She looked at the white featureless wall, the low mattress she sat on, and the blanket she had thrown off as she moved. Then she sat immobile for a few minutes, seemed to begin to fall sideways, but caught herself with her arm. Naturally, she would still be feeling sleepy.
“Tim?”
Vincent saw the girl notice the second mattress where her brother lay. She tried to stand, but could only manage to get to her knees. She began to crawl slowly towards her brother.
Although the gravity in that circular area of the lab was lower than Tymorean normal, it was higher than what they were used to on Earth.
Persistent, Vincent thought as he watched the girl reach her brother and once there spend minutes trying to shake him awake. She finally got a response.
“What?” the boy asked drowsily.
“Where are we?”
“Dunno. Go to sleep.”
Further shaking had no effect, so the girl looked around again, as if for a way out. She tried to stand again, actually made it to her feet, and then tried to turn around.
Vincent saw her start to topple over and moved quickly to catch her.
“Relax, Cindy,” he said quietly, as he eased her down onto her bed. She was asleep again already.
Vincent checked her pulse and breathing, did the same for her brother, and stood up.
The white wall around him became clear, revealing the instruments and screens that were part of the special monitoring laboratory.
Governor Xyron, in his role as the world’s senior scientist, joined his brother. “Satisfied?” he chided gently.
“For now,” Vincent hedged. “You didn’t see how fast they powered up back on Earth. They were able to draw power from the lighting system at their school.”
“I still have the power damping field on,” Xyron admitted, walking over to the boy’s bed. His foot activated a switch and the bed began to rise to waist height. “However, I was watching the brainwave monitor. The memory block is holding. There were no reactive surges and the brain activity stayed at resting level. She didn’t recognise her surroundings, but accepted them.”
Vincent raised the girl’s bed and copied his brother who was moving a hand held sensor along the boy, keeping it no more than an inch from the pale blue gown he wore. When he finished taking readings from the girl, he sent the results to his brother’s master unit.
“I think it is safe to reduce the level of sedation,” Xyron told Vincent. “I will maintain enough to allow them to accept the training and any inexplicable strange feelings. They will need help acclimatising to the gravity. Will you arrange for a group of children for that?”
“I have a few particular children in mind,” Vincent said with a quick grin. Then he became serious again. “Have the Elders foreseen anything more about these children?”
It was Xyron’s turn to give a wry smile. “They have advised me, most earnestly, that they must be handled carefully.” He shared the irony with Vincent. “However, I am not sure if they realise how powerful these children will be, would be now if we hadn’t reversed the transition to second stage. I am aware, however, and I intend to minimise any risk of them resisting the training they need.”
Vincent shuddered slightly. Thinking back to what these children had been like when Tonos first called him…he wanted to distract himself from the spectre of trying to control children who were both powerful and rebellious.
“When should they rouse enough to meet their royal cousins?”
Xyron checked the readings on his monitors. “The last dose of sedative should have worn off enough by midday. Have them taken outside once the other children are back at lessons. The fresh air should help them revive further. However, I don’t expect them to be able to do much more than stand and walk around a little.”
“I will speak to the attendants that His Majesty has appointed, and have a couple of the security guards with them while they are out there. Should I have the attendants come here to dress them?”
Xyron nodded and activated the controls to lower the beds again. Then he and Vincent vacated the circular observation area.
When they were clear, he reactivated the force wall that showed first as a pale mauve glow, and then became like a one-way window, opaque from the inside, clear from the laboratory.
Before leaving, Xyron added more advice, “They are going to need a high level of assistance until they are ready for structured learning. Make it clear to your select little group to act as if that were normal.”
The glowing mauve terminus of a transmitter beam hung in the air under a huge old tree. Two hefty brown clad men, each carrying a docile teenager, emerged from the glow. Two more figures, in the green tunic and trousers of personal attendants, appeared next. These two carried rugs and cushions. The glow then disappeared.
One of the attendants, a mature aged woman, began to set out the rug on the ground in the shade. The other attendant, a young man, set the cushions into two piles. Only when they had finished, did the two other men set the children down onto the rug, so the cushions propped them up.
These two big men were part of the Royal Estate security force, and although they did not expect danger in this area of the garden, they stepped back and assumed an alert posture, and kept their eyes roving around the group. Their current duty was to ensure that these newcomers to the estate remained undisturbed by all but specifically authorised people.
The attendants crouched close to their charges and spoke softly to each other. As soon as the children began to stir, their attention went to anticipating their unspoken needs. Their charges were nowhere near as helpless as infants, but were in a state where they could not think for themselves.
Cindy felt the sun warmed breeze on her face as she stirred from sleep. She smelt the floral perfume of nearby flowers and the scent of damp soil. Her mind showed her the back yard of her father’s house, and gave her the sense of being there.
Her eyes opened and scene of overhanging branches and sunlight filtering through leaves did not match her rapidly fading dream. She rolled onto her side and saw a bed of multi coloured flowers. Instinct, rather than intent, caused her nostrils to dilate and take in the ambient smells and they made her feel safe, and at home.
Movement in her peripheral vision drew her attention. She felt no surprise at seeing a grey clad figure being helped to sit up by someone in green. Instinctively, she recognised her twin, but felt no curiosity about the one who helped him. Nor did she react against the gentle hands that were helping her to sit up, and to support her so she did not fall back down. Even when her view was blurred because the bright light made her eyes water, and some one used a soft cloth to dry them, she did not resist. This unasked for assistance was just a part of how things were.
When her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, she turned to her twin and met his eyes. A fleeting recollection of her waking dream flashed through her mind. In feelings rather than thoughts, her mind dismissed the dream image. That was a made up vision. She belonged where she was and was content.
A glass was placed in her hand and she instinctively grasped it and put it to her lips. Yet her arm felt heavy, and it shook. A hand, poking from a green sleeve trimmed in gold, supported her arm and helped her to drink without spilling too much of the water.
Even though she just sat in the shade, Cindy felt the changes within herself. First, it was the sense of energy returning, or perhaps she was just now becoming fully alive. She began to notice more things, storing them in her mind, but not needing to think of them. Then she began to hear sounds – the buzzing of insects near the flowers, childish voices from some more distant place. When some of the voices seemed to be getting louder, she looked to see where they came from.
A tall, dark haired man led four children towards her.
Vincent noticed the blank expressions on the faces of Tim and Cindy Ward, and realised that they did not recognise him.
“I’m Vincent,” he introduced himself, when he was sure both children were looking at him. “I have brought some of your Royal cousins to meet you. They will help you to learn the way things are done here.”
He moved back and let the Royal children introduce themselves. As he expected, the oldest of the four assumed the leader’s role. He didn’t seem aware that the newcomers weren’t fully awake.
“I’m Gann Reslic; my father is the President Governor.” He turned to indicate the only girl in the group. “This is Lexina; she is High King Tymoros’s niece. Denlic here is Vincent’s nephew and Governor Xyron’s sixth son. The other lout here is my younger brother.”
Vincent gave Gann a look of reproof.
“His name is Stenn,” Gann added quickly.
Both newcomers looked from the solidly built blond haired speaker, to the slender reddish-blonde haired girl, then to the sturdy dark haired boy and finally to the lithe blond boy who was grinning at them. There was an obvious resemblance between the speaker and this other blond boy – both had strong aquiline features, but apart from that and the hair, they were quite different. The speaker was serious and full of self-importance. The younger boy’s manner seemed to indicate he was full of mischief. As Vincent had guessed, Stenn Reslic approached the strangers first.
Stenn squatted down between the newcomers and offered his hand to the boy. He wasn’t fazed by the lack of response. He simply reached out and lifted the boy’s hand to give it a gentle grip of greeting. The boy turned to look at him, but gave no return tightening of grip. Perhaps he didn’t know how to greet people yet.
“Welcome home. Vincent said your name was Tymos,” Stenn said, meeting the boy’s eyes, and finding the blue-green colour quite surprising. He turned then to the girl and repeated his greeting, noticing that she made a move to bring her hand up to meet his. He took it gently and said, “We are really pleased you have come, Kryslie.”
She too had those startling blue-green eyes. “I’ve been told that you are not yet used to being here, and you came from somewhere with a lower gravity.”
Neither Cindy nor Tim reacted to his statement, and while Gann gave an impatient grunt, and Lexina moved closer to the girl, Stenn simply maintained his grin and gave a casual shrug.
He simply chatted as if these strangers were already his friends. “Apparently, the fastest way to get used to our gravity is to start walking around in it. No rush of course. While I am here to help you, I am being spared my uncle’s grumpy attention.”
Gann muttered a rebuke to Stenn, who ignored it, because he had managed to make the new boy smile, even though he made no move to try to get up.
Stenn considered the little that Vincent had said of these two. It wasn’t much, merely their names, and that they had come from off world, and still needed to acclimatise. Then he had requested that they asked the newcomers no questions. That had made him wonder, but he intended to obey that request because he wanted to be allowed to stay with them.
He turned his attention to the girl, without seeming to pay attention to the attendant holding her up. Lexina had knelt down nearby and taken the girl’s other hand. Seeing the two together seemed to emphasise the sense of frailty he had noticed when he had held the girls hand. Lexina wasn’t as big boned as Denlic’s sister Olassa, but by comparison to this new girl, she seemed to be.
“Come on, are you going to sit for the rest of your life?” Stenn teased, grinning again at the boy.
Still no sign of reaction. Was he mentally challenged? No, it had to be something else.
His mind put a name to Tymos’s attendant, and recalled he had gone into the service of the High King. The gold trim on his uniform supported that. Therefore, even though Tymos and Kryslie were wearing the basic grey coveralls, they were not servant rank. Well, wouldn’t be – he amended. They had to have Royal power, despite having brown hair like commoners. In addition, they had to be of high rank, or there wouldn’t be so much fuss over them.
Lexina was talking encouragingly to Kryslie, and had her attention, so Stenn turned back to Tymos. He could hear Gann muttering to Denlic, and caught, “I wonder which of His Majesty’s relatives fathered them.” Stenn recognised disapproval in Gann’s voice. Well his brother was a stickler for correctness. It shouldn’t matter. If Tymos and Kryslie were here, they were not commoners, and his brother had no place criticizing their elders.
“Come on, Tymos, up you get,” Stenn suggested again. He winked at Denlic and shrugged towards Lexina and Kryslie. “I want to see if you are taller than Gann here, or short like the smarter people.”
Tymos’s eyes flicked from Stenn to Gann and back. Stenn saw the start of understanding in them and awareness that Kryslie was on her feet and standing with Denlic and Lexina supporting her.
Gann came and put his hand under Tymos’s right shoulder, as the attendant helped to get him to his feet. Stenn took over from the attendant, without a word.
“Just take a few minutes to find your balance,” Gann directed pompously. “It’s important that you do, or you will keep falling and may hurt yourself.”
Stenn couldn’t smother a faint chuckle.
“We won’t let you fall,” he assured Tymos. “But we don’t intend to be walking sticks for the rest of your life.” Gann’s stifled retort told Stenn that his double meaning had not gone unnoticed.
It amused Stenn that Tymos chose to ignore the advice and try to take his first step, but he was full of concern when Tymos began to tremble with exertion after only a few steps. He knew that this was