Sea's Puzzle

By J. E. Andrews

Sea's Puzzle is bk4 of the Science Fiction series SeaScape. After Sea's family grows by five more little ones, she intends spending time on their home planet to raise the babies before going in pursuit of another of Valeria's missions. Gloria's birthing was difficult so recovery takes time. Sea has no reason to rush back into space for another mission. Val has the data of earlier missions to continue working on. As both the Warders and the corporation funding Val's missions offer new prospects, Sea refuses to be persuaded from their R&R, hoping to spend a few years at least for their newest babies to grow stronger.
Yet, the right mission, with all the correct benefits presents itself in a timely fashion. The system is far removed from the normal travel lanes of the Civilization, there is no extant population, and another archaeologist has already begun a standard exploration. These are positive factors to Sea in choosing the mission.
Discovered years ago, the distant, abandoned system presents an enticing mystery. Three planets display the remnants of a single civilization. The people of that civilization are missing. There are no signs of war, natural disaster, or atmospheric disruption. There is no obvious explanation for the missing populations of three planets. While the three planets have been inhabited by a single civilization, there is little or no evidence of spaceflight. This absence could either heighten the mystery or simplify it... if answers could be found.
While another archaeologist is investigating the three planets, CSIC asks for Val to join the expedition, bringing her expertise to bear on the mystery. The corporation hopes she can find information within the alien computers.
Even before they left for this system, they get hints of the difference awaiting. The commander of the support ship for the current mission seems haunted. His unease piques Val's interest and Sea's wariness. It isn't until they arrive on the first planet in that system that they get their own hints of unease. Sea has always been uncomfortable amidst the abandoned locations Valeria must investigate. She has been especially troubled by dead ancient starships.
Arriving on a planet filled with empty buildings and unanswered questions, Sea finds her discomfort growing. This unease spreads through all the family and eventually among the crew. It has already grown within the crew of the archaeological mission... within each across all three planets.
While Sea never dreams, but sharing in the dreams of her others and family, she begins having nightmares. Distractions and unusual preoccupations in her mind further the unease she owns. With nothing to fight, she must simply deal with the situation, coping while healer and doctor work to mitigate the discomfort they all feel.
After making an amazing discovery of a hidden temple events soon rumble out of control for their family. Their pair of toddlers vanishes from...
They encounter a group of aliens, of a species they'd never seen before... trouble ensues...
Voices from her nightmares reach out to Sea, creating a different and unusual situation.
There is a fight... or two... the puzzle is solved... and life goes on...
It's not as easy as that, of course, it never is with Sea, but it's an adventure the family will not soon forget.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. E. Andrews
• Release date: Dec 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005409944

J. E. Andrews

Born and raised in and around Baltimore, Maryland.(I started the year the Orioles moved there) I started reading at an average age, then I found fiction - Ghost stories - and my imagination kicked into gear. Between reading science fiction, fantasy, comic books, detective stories, westerns and other tall tales I didn't have much time for writing. But in those spare moments when the dreamer held rein... I considered what might go on paper.During a busy life I met all kinds of interesting people and have seen some interesting situations, both fun and tragic. What that richness has given me, (besides two wonderful daughters) is a wealth of information to create characters who enjoy telling the stories they're in.I've created worlds, universes and tales in stacks of notebooks (yes, I write with a pen) that I enjoy and I hope others will as well. It takes time and effort to write but I find it takes nearly as much to get my stories to the epub stage.This isn't much of a profile or bio, I suppose, but I hope you find more enjoyment in my stories. It's always more fun to read the story than look to see who's behind the curtain making it up...

Book preview

Sea's Puzzle

SEASCAPE

BOOK 4

by

J. E. Andrews

Copyright 2021 by J. E. Andrews

Smashwords Edition

Cover Art by The Swan Maiden

Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Dedicated to

My girls

Jess & Joy

&

Grandkids

Hayley, Lydia, Harper & Ryan

with

Thanks to

Brian E.

&

My Friends

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Things to Come

Chapter 1

This story starts in the year 1602sc on Icannius in the Central Systems of the Civilization. It was only a short time after returning from our mission in the Delio system where we had to make a brief layover on the way back from the Arane system. That side trip had been unplanned but necessary after Val discovered the ancient alien artifact she'd gone to examine was an AI ship of the mythic Adaptability Corps. A small fleet of these ships had left the Old Earth Empire on a mission to colonize planets with genetically altered humans and livestock.

It had been an incredible attempt lost in history, space, and time. The AI ship told us he was designated as AC2. Yes, the ship seemed to be alive, with an AI that was, even though ancient, more advanced than anything known today. The genetic data it carries is also more advanced than ever expected. Our doctor, Mariashto, was beyond impressed. With the aid of Warders, we were able to return the ship to space and park AC2 in the Delio system with friends, who could look after him.

These friends happened to be ancient alien warships. They were living ships with a biological entity possessing and piloting each ship. They enforced the system quarantine. The reason for this is contained in the official report filed with the Warders, which they also classified.

After that successful mission we returned to Icannius so Gloria could give birth on-planet.

Leah was three months old when Gloria gave birth to her latest brood, five darlings. Three girls and two boys. The girls were Vella, Belle, and Marya… the boys were Lynder and Corin. After returning this second time from Delio's Star we'd only had a month to prepare for their arrival, their emergence, at Master Ro's compound.

Everyone had been excited for their emergence, as the kids called it, rather than a birthing. They had some obscure reason for using the term, based on a discussion with Valeria over semantics. It had a lot to do with the fact of being aware of them, learning of them, before they came to term.

They were all growing up fast, too fast for me to keep track of most times. That's not to say I didn't keep track of them, it was part of my nature. While they weren't linked to me with the same strength as Valeria and Gloria, I was aware of them. I was aware of all the children.

I was one of their mothers.

With the difficulties Gloria had with this pregnancy we'd been concerned for her recovery. Of we three mothers, Gloria was the most dramatically altered. We were each altered from our genes and up, physically, mentally, and psychically, but Gloria's body had been especially modified. She'd been a petite blonde human, back aboard the ship when we'd arrived at Beta – we measure most events in our lives from that point, Beta. For whatever reason, Azkor had broken her down and reconstructed her. She now appeared more feline than human. Azkor had broken her bones, rearranged her physiology, and nearly broke her mind, before linking her to Val and me.

Azkor… I suppose that creature must be mentioned. Its influence was never far from touching our lives, even though it was long dead and burned to ash.

When I'd first meet the creature, I'd assumed - like everyone else - that it was simply Val's strange alien pet. She'd had it since it was a kitten. She'd discovered it on one of her early archaeological expeditions. In reality, nothing had been as it seemed.

Though she had raised Azkor from when it was a kit, it was Valeria who had been the pet between the two, although that term hardly applied. Azkor had trained her with fear, punishment, and rewards, teaching her mind how to decipher and comprehend the lost languages of the ages. He influenced the construction of some of her code-breaking gear. He molded her to become the tool he required, all the while hiding himself within her expeditions as it worked on its mission. It wasn't until I came along, as her guard, that he applied himself to expand his plan.

Val, Gloria, and I had been changed by the Azkor, on our first mission together. Back then I'd been an ordinary guard… one of the Elite Squad. I'd been Val's personal guard on that mission. It's not something I'll forget. I was the only female guard. While we'd been in deep space, Azkor changed us. First he'd linked Val and me mentally so we were one person with two bodies. That had been a difficult adjustment.

Later, Gloria was connected to us and altered more drastically. That alteration made this birthing difficult.

Her first pregnancy had gone well. It hadn't been easy but there had been no complications. There'd been six borne of her first brood. This time around it had been difficult, though she'd only borne five children.

How Azkor had determined his appropriate time, we shall never know, but he took me, broke my mind, merged me with Valeria, and began training us. It did not go well.

Considering I had once been enslaved to a mind-leech, a mechanical device that enslaves a body, being compelled by Azkor was wrenching. Still, he trained us, taught us, worked at making of us greater tools for his purpose. Then he joined Gloria to us, altering her physical and mental nature. No matter how much I was offended by him, I could not summon the strength to resist or escape his control. It wasn't until our exploration led us to the Source of all Knowledge that we found freedom.

The Source cleared our minds, allowing an opportunity to escape and destroy that Azkor.

The Azkor was something unique among the many species known to those of the civilization. While the Azkor I met was a single individual, we learned it was one of a multiple species… every one of those creatures, across space, whether on planet or ships was mentally connected to every other. There was likely some variance on how connected they were, how immediate the connection was, assuming it was similar to the connection Val, Gloria, and I owned.

What we learned was a far cry from what Val and I owned. The Azkor as a breed had gone to war with everyone… any race they encountered among the stars was perceived as a people to be overcome, to be owned, and used. They conquered through any means they found. They were a plague that destroyed entire civilizations. Complete star systems were destroyed to contain them in isolation.

This was all ancient, distant, unknown, and forgotten history. We only learned of it all due to our Azkor connection.

Even the Warders we knew of in our civilization were but a weak offshoot of the Warders that held guard over the distant territory of the Azkor. In our few years of knowing the creature, the changes it made in us were both a benefit and a curse. There were many ancient races still on guard against the Azkor. Our altered nature suggested that we were Azkor, since they could alter their physiology within a generation and the ancients knew of their tricks.

Of course we learned those secrets over time. We learned much more of the Azkor by dipping into the memories implanted within us. Though our medic, Mariashto, argued genetic memory, of the type we described, was impossible, we owned it.

It wasn't only that Azkor altered me, Valeria, and Gloria, but he altered our DNA so our changes were maintained and… in some cases… perpetuated. The full healing of my body was great until I found he intended to breed through me. I had no control of that, nor did Valeria. We each had children of Azkor. They looked human… they were ours… they are ours. The strange genetic memory continued in them, my first child was Elise, and we found she had my memories, as Jason did of Val's memories. They owned Azkors memories as well.

Gloria's children were formed as feline from the embryonic stage. Val and I, using the healing methods Azkor had forced on us, worked on those babies in utero, adjusting them to something essentially human.

We had to do the same pre-birth alterations to this second brood, to have them appear normal. Azkor's genetic work continued to force their growth to conform to his image. Even dead and burnt, its plans continued to affect our lives… and bodies.

These five looked enough like young WRash no one would question them. The WiRasshitearla were a catlike, space-faring species that had early on made contact with humans. Indeed, those creatures had assisted humans in joining this Civilization. The reconstructive work we'd done took a toll on Gloria, to where we'd spent days keeping her alive with our life-energy… mothers and kids. Even Mariashto's skill, knowledge, and tech were used to the max.

During the last days of carrying them, we'd barely kept her alive. As much as Mariashto wanted to cut her open, she talked herself out of it. The alterations to Gloria's physiology made such a procedure more risky than the doctor wanted to try. We brought in all the tech she'd wanted, but in the end she and Lyres thought it best to go natural, as long as we could hold it together.

Of course we could, would, and did, even though natural for us was hardly normal for humans.

We three mothers had been altered in more ways than we'd ever figured out… ways that Mariashto considered impossible.

I didn't count us as human anymore.

We didn't worry about that, though, not much.

This time around it had been different.

The first time we could blame Azkor for her pregnancy. We blamed him for this as well, of course, but it was worse. There was no way to know how far worse it might yet be.

We only know he'd implanted something to trigger Gloria's sex drive when the correct mate was sensed. She'd gone nearly three kilometers to ambush the father of this group… this brood. It had taken us all by surprise.

We didn't know what else might surprise us in the days and years ahead.

Mariashto studied our genetics. There were things we had yet to discover.

We didn't know what surprises had been planted in us or the children.

I was hoping Mariashto would get a handle on it in time to prevent further surprises. She'd given AC2 a complete sampling of our genetics. Even though the ancient Adaptability Corps ship had the greatest databank of human genetics, it was still puzzling over it all when we'd left Delio's star system.

It seemed understanding programmed manipulative genetic coding wasn't as easy as figuring out what caused blue eyes. Or, in our case, green eyes.

I'd been right about the doctor and AC2 getting along, and while Mariashto wouldn't actually laugh at me about my genetic misconceptions, I was pretty sure the AI scoffed at my beliefs a time or two. They agreed I had a lot to learn about genetics. I didn't have time.

In a year or two we would go through the Delio system to check on his results. The kids had grown closer to the ancient Warships from this time with them. They had furthered their tech and mech education beyond anything we could school them.

They were strange friends though – three ancient warships living with an Old Earth Empire AI ship. The kids credited it with sentience but I wasn't ready to commit, yet.

Give me a little time.

~ Why are you in such a mood?

-- You know why. Even with our abilities, she barely survived. Blazes, Val, if she goes through this again it could kill her.

+ I shall not die so easily, our Sea, you need not worry for me.

-- I thought you were sleeping.

+ I believe I am. I am getting stronger.

~ It's her size that's the problem, as Mariashto has said. Her metabolism cannot handle the demands of such pregnancies.

+ Azkor failed with me.

~ No, more likely events distracted him so he couldn't…

-- Enough. I'm sorry, okay. I was worried.

+ There is no need. I am healed and recovering. When next the urge is upon me, we shall fight it together. It will not come as a surprise.

e- Mama, Master Ro desires your presence.

Knowing the location of my daughter was automatic, a thought and awareness.

-- Do you know why?

e- I believe it has to do with our lessons. Will you be able to come?

-- Yes. I'll be there shortly. You may tell him.

Our thought exchanges happened nearly instantaneously, significantly faster than verbal exchanges. She was with her cousins, as they were finishing their lesson.

Master Ro had desired to teach them what martial arts they could learn since he first met them. Since I was his student, he felt some obligation in the teaching of my children.

Leah's blue eyes blinked slowly as I stood. I touched her nose with a fingertip. She smiled. Val didn't move as she watched me.

~ Something wrong?

-- Don't know. I never can tell with Master Ro.

Leah turned away, seeking her mommy's breast. I wondered what of her father this little one held within her. It would likely be years before we knew answers to any of our questions, our wonderings and our fears.

It's not like you to worry like this, Sea. What's wrong? Val said.

I shrugged, tried for a smile… failed at that.

With us sharing thoughts there was no chance of faking.

What if it continues? I said.

Then we'll deal with it, you know we will, Val said.

Yes. I suppose we will.

There was no option.

I wanted to ask about her memories. She held an ample supply of memories of the future we'd dance through. Memories we'd seen when first meeting the Source of All Knowledge, now they resided within our Valeria.

I turned from that desire, the temptation. We couldn't plan for those future things, so knowing didn't help. Some of her memories of the future showed more as faded dreams than anything I could use.

Leaving her and the baby with another shrug, I headed to Master Ro's buildings.

I couldn't help my thoughts. One of the most profound changes the creature Azkor had instilled in us was his genetic memory. Val, Gloria, and I had all of his memories locked inside. His memories were genetic, stretching past into a history we could barely imagine and hardly fathom. We had yet to explore their depths. It was nothing like a straight progression of memories as trails led through various family branchings, making the past seemingly infinite. When we tried to plumb its depths we could never make it all the way through.

We didn't know why.

I didn't like not knowing.

Our children held the memories of Azkor and ours, depending which mother birthed them. We didn't know if Ryan held his father's memories. Mason, my mate, was Ryan's father.

Leah's father was Janus… and Janus was complicated.

So, all this memory and gene stuff was confusing, screlly, and it meant I never knew what would be happening. Screlly didn't quite cover it.

I was our leader, Valeria, and Gloria were my others and submissive to me, therefore I led the children, and the missions Val took. I had to make decisions for all of us. Now there were five more.

~ Is that what all this turmoil is, darling? Are you feeling overwhelmed?

-- No. Yes.

I drew a deep breath, looking around, scanning to all sides. There was no chance of danger in Master Ro's compound… I always looked around.

-- I don't know. Val, I don't know what's coming next.

~ Nothing can be coming. It can't, Gloria's only just recovered, she needs time yet, as do the babies, and I do mean planet time. We cannot take on any missions. Not now, not for a year, at least.

+ I only get a year this time? Why can't we go back to Beta?

~ I'm not saying we'll have a mission that soon. I'm only…

-- Yes, well for us years will be soon.

+ For the record, I'd like six years to raise them on planet.

I very nearly smiled at that. Beta had been such a wonderful planet for the years we'd been on it… just us. It had been family and the reduced crew of our starship living alone on a paradise world. It had been idyllic.

Even simply thinking about it I felt an electric tingle, a caress of memory, move through me. I shivered before forcing my pace a little faster. I hadn't been completely alone all that time. Even though Mason had hated me for most of that time… I knew another.

We had two general missions in our future. The problem was they were in opposite directions. One mission was to track AC2's star charts and check the Adapted human colonies it had planted. We'd promised to do that.

Val's archaeological drive was burning for that choice.

The other mission was to find the traces of Azkor's race. This would be a search-and-destroy operation. From what we'd discovered with Jordana and Atlan, the two planets of Delio's system, we couldn't risk failing to pursue the Azkor trail. Two planets with thriving colonies had fallen to an alien plague that altered its hosts, changing, and destroying them like a virus… an intelligent virus that had been set against the rest of civilization. Its origin was the Azkor.

It is complicated but it wasn't simply the creature Val had kept as a pet, it was its ancestors. Every one of them was the same creature and they were a collective, like a hive mind but to a greater extent.

We couldn't let any such threat exist. Our alterations and abilities had allowed us to defeat and contain that threat… making it our duty to seek and destroy any other threats of the Azkor. Some of that obligation was my fault. I didn't like what had happened.

One direction would likely be safe. The other… we could seek for years and never find any trace of Azkor. Time, as measured in memories, was inconsequential.

~ Please, Sea… no decision has to be made now… give us a year before you struggle with this. I'll do what I can meantime to make the data work.

-- Yes. Okay. I simply need something to focus on now… that's all.

+ Perhaps you will find that soon. Do please relax, our Sea.

Gloria's thought pointed out the fact that I was squeezing my hip guns. I loosened my grip, leaving my hands on their familiar curves. I'd taken to wearing fewer guns recently. Two adjustable needlers rode in hip holsters. A pair of pulsors were slung armpit style beside my breasts. I had my sticks as usual and a couple of microneedlers discreetly placed. Of course I had my knives as well.

For me it was light. I didn't carry spare ammo paks, either. Except for the needlers, but they were really small.

The kids suddenly appeared, coming through a gate. I'd heard them coming, known where each was, it wasn't a surprise, just sudden.

Without listening to their thoughts, I picked up their excitement. They were enjoying the martial training as well as the philosophy.

An assortment of greetings came my way. Each touched me as they raced past, one hand or the other. Seven passed. One didn't, Elise, my daughter.

Mama, I know one question he has for you, she said.

And what will that be? I said.

Whether you will allow us to have weapons.

Knives? The image was in her thoughts.

Aye. Tasha said something of it… what you told her before.

Yes. I will allow it at the Master's choice, I said.

So we thought.

That's why you're all so… excited?

Somewhat. It is low tech but likely it is all children are allowed, yes?

That would be up to Master Ro, as well. You must start at basics. Even if you all can build a penetrating darter to destroy a warship, you have to learn hand to hand combat like any other warrior.

She laughed, her green eyes sparkled.

e – You know most of us are not interested in such tech or mech. We learn it to have fun. What else could we learn from warships?

-- Yes, my daughter, what else could you learn? But knives are a good beginning.

Yes, so we all know, she said, smiling.

When she stopped and turned, I wondered what they were up to.

Jolai asked us to find what we might think of as a garden place, she said. The idea is interesting. We must each find a separate spot. Did you not know?

No, I said. But it sounds like an interesting idea.

Yes, she said before laughing and racing away.

***

I found Master Ro standing by the door to his dojo. He stepped away from it, coming to meet me.

How are you, Sea? he said.

Fine, Master, I replied, giving a bow. Most of the strength we expended has been balanced.

So Gloria is recovered?

Yes, Master, I said. Mariashto was able to find a nutritional supplement that boosted her healing.

She has yet to find a means to correct the genetic failing, he observed.

That is true, I said. We have another team member working on it, though.

You speak of AC2, then?

Yes. We don't expect an answer anytime soon.

Complicated questions do take time to be resolved.

We were strolling towards his home.

Once we were inside with tea and sliced fruit, we got to the questions.

We have yet to decide on a mission, I replied to his first. Or a direction.

When will you leave?

In a year… maybe two. These children need some time to grow.

This is not Beta, Sea, he said. The secrecy you once enjoyed no longer covers you. Even without the specific data, the corporation knows of you… your family… something of your abilities.

I nibbled at a piece of fruit, choosing to avoid his eyes.

What can they do? I said. The crew are free-hires now, the ship is Val's…

The intervention of the Warders has raised questions that have yet to be answered.

When I looked at him, I could tell nothing of his meaning. He was one of the few humans whose thoughts I could not discern.

They needed Val's expertise, that's all, I said.

Why? That is the question, Master Ro said. The Warders are considered infallible and nearly omnipotent… if they need the help of one such as Val, it has raised questions not only of Val but of you and your offspring. You are under observation.

I looked into the teacup.

~ There's no answer in there, darling.

-- Is there an answer for any of this?

~ In time, you know.

Is it only the corporation, Master? I said, avoiding Val's thoughts.

No. It is more than the corporation but it is they who are most avid in gaining your knowledge.

This was not what I wanted to deal with. We had so many secrets there was no way to trust others. Perhaps only the Warders were safe, though they wanted us for their own reasons.

So… Elise seems to believe you will allow them the use of knives in their training, I said.

~ That's abrupt…

-- Hush.

Master Ro nodded, selected a piece of fruit. His dark eyes remained intent on the actions of his slender fingers.

While the children may be capable of fighting without weapons, he said. I would be more comfortable if they were able to kill their opponents. A knife is an extension of form as you learned. Would you give permission?

Yes, Master, of course, I said. You must teach them according to their needs, using your wisdom.

For a moment our eyes met. I could sense nothing of his thoughts. I trusted him. It was he who tamed my wildness when I returned to Civilization after living among the WRash. It was he who provided an introduction to the guards of CSIC, ConSect Interstellar Corporation, where my path opened up to this moment.

I felt a buzz from the children as permission was granted. Some thought knives would not be enough but they were in agreement to learn. I didn't concern myself with why they thought more weaponry was required. Considering our past missions, it was logical.

Val admonished them for listening in but it wasn't their fault, they were curious.

I know your connection does not give privacy, but would you take a secret path? Master Ro said.

-- Keep this from the kids, please.

+ Yes, Sea.

Gloria was more capable of keeping the children obedient these days. We thought it was due to her new brood. We couldn't know for certain. It wasn't obedience as much as it was a matter of directing their listening thoughts. It was a difficult concept.

What do you ask, Master? I said. Watching his eyes told me nothing.

I held my thoughts locked about us three, minimizing accidental leaks.

When last we spoke I mentioned another step of training. Are you ready?

I would be ready soon, I replied, giving a nod. This would be within your grounds, yes?

Indeed. It must be you, singly, in these lessons, for this will be your time to gain strength.

Recalling the test he'd put me through the last time we'd stayed, I knew what he meant. It would be no good learning new methods if I used resources I could not rely on. I couldn't use my others when I had to trust myself. Using the perceptions and awareness of Val and Gloria was nearly the same as using my own eyes and ears. It was when I used the children where I'd trip myself up.

I will need time to ensure the children understand what these lessons will require, I said. Our joining and combining is so natural that… well… it might take time.

I understand. I do not know when my friend will arrive, in any case.

We talked more… it was random… simply conversation. After I left him, I realized how interested he was in the babies. There were no children in his compound other than ours. I wondered if it was significant.

Yet, it had to be. The dance, after all, was one.

~ So this friend is likely the one who helped him learn to control his thoughts.

-- I believe so.

+ This will be interesting.

-- Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if I can train without the children in my thoughts all the time.

~ We'll manage.

-- Yes, we will.

I took a detour, moving from the path. The natural appearance of the estate was carefully tended. It gave the appearance of wild growth, untamed, and random, yet was very well kept.

Back on Beta I had developed a habit of retreating, I'd climb the rocky cliff-face above our settlement to my ridge, working out the tension of the moment. That particular tension had taken a long time to resolve. I could say years but on Beta there was little measure of time. Our measure was in the growth of the children, those first. There were no cliffs here, nothing to climb for the sake of climbing. So I'd found a spot away from things, away from the activities of my family. It was a physical separation only, since the telepathic connection did not change.

There was too much in my mind. Possibilities and necessities… decisions I had to make.

Even though I didn't have to make a decision immediately, I had to let it settle… my mind, that is. Val and Gloria were so occupied with their new babies our inner merge had taken an odd turn.

I had to get into myself by myself now.

The wide low branch of a curling niabrec tree had invited me to sit and rest months ago. It was even more comfortable now.

I slipped away, loosening my hold on self, allowing my awareness to open within each of us. Val was resting with Leah, nearly sleeping… watching her daughter's blue eyes as she watched her. I looked up to Val through Leah as well. Her thoughts were gentle, mostly simple emotions concerning her mother.

Gloria was nestled with all five of her newborn, with two suckling even as they drowsed. Their thoughts were gentle, hardly more than murmurings of emotions.

Our older children were more active in their thoughts, my son Ryan was the middle-ish one, born after our firsts and before these. His was a more active mind, considering the meal his sister was preparing. He was hungry.

Elise watched him for me, doing her typically wonderful job. Her thoughts, besides those concerning what she was doing, were turned to worry over me. Something about the weapon training that Master Ro had mentioned was bugging her. It was unfocused as of yet.

The others were more concerned with the gardens they were starting.

Jason, Val's son, was contemplating the curve of a rock he'd discovered in the place he'd claimed. Rosal was near him, looking at the trees between his area and hers, wondering how she could prune them to create a barrier that was something more of a merging. The pair were nearly inseparable.

Sparo was kneeling beside a stream watching small fish. He wondered about having a part of his garden pass through the water… if it would be acceptable. Sylva was perched on a rock downstream from him, watching. She was trying to organize the patterns hovering in her mind, patterns that reflected how she wanted her garden. Hedaro and Lyres had begun moving several large stones. The pair had decided to create a meditative garden together.

There had been no rules put forth by Master Ro's wife, Jolai. A few words of guidance and the examples were all she would share. The children knew it was a