The Sarran Senator (16 page)

“We’re so happy that you accepted us.” Sam
leaned over and gave her a hug. “We let you sleep as long as we
could, but now we have to hurry to get to council on time.”

“I’ll be done in a minute.”

* * * *

Council Chambers 09:00 tines

Meg sat quietly in the front seats between
Sam and Tarin. TeBron called the meeting to order.

“What happened last moontine was
unforgivable. How is it that after we caught Stoker, yet we missed
Hilnut? Thank the Goddess we didn’t discuss Sky Shield at home. The
Zyptz meant to destroy us last rising by killing our fems and
rendering us helpless. I personally, wouldn’t have survived the
loss.”

“It was the quick thinking and leadership of
Meg O’Neil that prevented total disaster for the galaxy. We
wouldn’t have been able to recover from another loss like that,”
TeWell added. “TeAllen and I just bonded. Without the leadership of
TeBron and TeZaron we would have lost the fight. I was never so
frightened as when we received the report from the surface.”

TeAxit spoke. “Are all of the feline leaders
present?”

Aloysius led the feline contingent to the
front of the chamber. TeJonal continued, “You not only guarded the
Ta and the fems, you captured and executed the Warrior who tried to
rip apart Sarran. How did he hide his aura?”

::He mostly stayed out of sight of the
cats. We did notice it was wavy, but he was good at being
unobtrusive. If we didn’t notice him, we couldn’t see what he was
doing.::
Tigger hissed.
::He suffered before he died. Thirty
of our biggest and best fighters mauled him. Personally, I took an
eye and left it for the bancs.::

::We waited until we scratched out his
liver before I slit his throat.::
Aloysius put up one paw and
started cleaning a long talon.

TeJonal spoke. “I saw the body before it was
spaced. The cats gave us justice for what he tried to do.”

::We have three awards to give out this
rising. The first is the key of Sarran. It is awarded to the feline
sentients with whom we now happily share our planet. Any cat or
kitten who wants one is entitled to a collar with the ribbon
Defender of Sarran. It should be worn on formal occasions.::
TeTonas held up the ribbons.

::Sarran has been good to felines. It is a
pleasure to serve our new home.::
Aloysius circled and padded
to the back of the room.

TeZaron stood. “My Syn was at risk last
moontine. We not only almost lost our fem but also our bebe, Nara.
Words cannot express our gratitude. We would like to award the Star
of Sarran to Meg O’Neil whose quick thinking saved the council
fems, thereby preventing our defeat at the hands of our enemies.
The only weakness in a Sarran WarriorPair is their love for their
fem and family. The Zyptz couldn’t get through our shield but
almost ripped out our hearts. We have you, Margaret Mary O’Neil, to
thank; because of you, it didn’t happen. We won the battle and
returned to our fems who were safe due to your timely intervention.
Please approach the dais.”

Zaron held an open box that held a diamond
necklace with a star encrusted with diamond and sapphires. “Please
allow our fem to give this to you.”

Syn walked up to Zaron, took the box from his
hands, removed the necklace, and attached it around Meg’s neck.

“I don’t know what to say…”

“You need to say nothing. You are a true Ta.
You may be seated.”

“In order for Meg to be a Ta, her WarriorPair
have to be Te. Bron and Tarin designed the shield that saved us
from invasion. Sam fought like a man possessed for his new home.
For these and many other reasons too numerous to mention, we are
awarding the title of Te to Tarin and to his bonded Samuel James
Johnson, late of Earth but now a hero of Sarran.”

Tarin bowed and Sam copied his motion.
TeTonas said, “Will our newest Te take a seat at the dais and our
newest Ta join the others in the box reserved for the Ta.”

The packed chamber broke out in cheers. Meg
began to sob until Syn, with the bebe in her arms, came over and
said, “You earned this and so much more. Your life on Sarran will
be sweet. Come meet your new femspring and her offspring,
Michael.”

“What about me?” Naffie’s voice cut through
the room, causing a few to chuckle. “I’m Michael’s bonded. Tarin
and Sam are my grandsires too. You are our Zinna.”

“I think TaMeg is a bit young to want to be
called a Zinna, Naffie.”

“No, TaSyn, it’s a great honor to have such
brave grandspring who will grow into a proud Sarran WarriorPair. I
have only been on Sarran for three tides and yet these have been
the happiest tides of my life.”

The audience burst into applause. The Ta all
ran up to Meg to show off their bebes and give her a hug. “Next
time it’s your turn.”

“Aren’t I too old?”

“With the snippet of DNA you were given with
your vaccination for the Zyptz plague, you have the potential to
live to two hundred cycles here on Sarran. You can have bebes
safely until your hundred and twenty-fifth birthday. Sarran had
Elders once who had seen many cycles. Hopefully now with the Zyptz
beaten back again, we will see many Elder WarriorPairs ready to
give good counsel to the next Te,” Anya said. “Goddess bless you.
My femspring is named Mary, after you.”

Tears flowed down Meg’s cheeks. “I don’t
deserve this.”

TaEllen rejoined, “Yes, you do. You must come
for coffee with Syn and I to rid yourself of the pink in your aura
that makes you believe you’re not worthy, because you are worthy, a
true Sarran fem.”

“Besides, you have to pick up your tea. All
of the fems on Sarran looked through their household goods this
rising and we found six more boxes of Irish Breakfast Tea from
various vendors along with several boxes of Lipton and English
Breakfast tea. Tea has been officially added to the import list.
The Brightstar returns to Earth in a half-cycle. We hope we found
enough tea to last you until then.” Meg got to hold and admire the
two femspring and the two offspring and then sat down with the rest
of the Ta.

“Last moontine proves that we have relaxed
our vigilance. Sky Shield cannot guard against a cancer within. Did
Hilnut take the birthing classes? I would have thought his black
aura would stand out,” Zaron asked.

“We believe he learned how to suppress his
aura so it became wavy and the color became harder to detect. Now
we need to find those traitorous Warriors who have wavy auras that
seem to change colors and question why.” Jonal stopped pacing and
sat next to Tonas.

“All of the older WarriorPairs bonded last
moontine. We still need fems for the younger ones. We leave for
Earth in one-hundred and eighty tides. If any fem wishes to leave
they may leave at that time,” TeBron announced.

A loud chorus of “No…” rang through the
chamber.

One of the younger fems stood and said,
“Sarran is now our home. We’ve discussed this. Not one of us wants
to return to Earth.”

“Sarran welcomes all of the new fem and
wishes them happiness with their Warriors. The council watched the
mixing last moontine. We would not be averse to holding one once
every three tides to entertain the unbonded fem and unbonded
Warriors. TaAdele, you are in charge of this project and may enlist
any help you need from the Warriors and the fem. This meeting of
the council is concluded. The Te have some fem and bebes to spoil.
And to all of you due in the next two phases, the Ta managed birth
despite horrific circumstances without pain and were up and walking
thirty mots after the birth, so there is nothing to fear. Good
dawntine to all of you on this special day.” TeZaron sat to be
soundly kissed by his bonded, TeBron.

* * * *

I love those who can smile in trouble,

who can gather strength from distress, and grow
brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to
shrink,

but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience
approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto
death.

―Leonardo da Vinci

The Duchy/Silver Sea Village: 11:30 tines

“The Te declared this rising a holiday. I’d
like to get to know the Warriors in our new village. Meg, would you
like it if we called Sara, Mark, and Juraens and had lunch at the
tavern?” Tarin asked as he opened the door of Falling Waters for
his Fox and his little one.

“Yes, that would be lovely.” Meg was smiling
from ear to ear.

“We also need to pick out
some material so the tailor can make you some dresses until you
have time to make your own. You also need shoes and Sarran gowns.
You might want to improve on Sarran designs. We haven’t had a dress
designer for the fem on Sarran since before the Zyptz.” Tarin
pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug.

“One or two things would be nice, but you
can’t spend all your credits on me.”

Sam laughed. “Dearheart, we will spend our
credits this rising because you are our fem, but you have credits
of your own. The dress designs you uploaded to the fabricator were
copied at least two-thousand times in the last half-tide. At five
credits per design that gives you ten thousand credits. Certainly
enough to add to the household coffers and to buy a closetful of
made dresses, shoes, and small clothes. You probably have more
credits than any other fem on Sarran.”

Meg’s mouth fell open in shock. “I thought
everything was free.”

Tarin explained. “As I told Sam, that’s a
misconception, little one. People need to be rewarded for their
work. The government allocates credits to those who do creative
work and place it on the fabricator for all. Food items uploaded
gain no credits, nor do Sarran clothing designs. These have been
here since before our fems passed. But your designs are new, the
result of your agile brain; the government will compensate you for
them. Just as we compensated the craftsmen for the made items at
the Duchy. After about one cycle when the designs are no longer
fresh and going out of style, you will receive a gradually
decreasing amount of credits until they join the other common items
that are fabricated daily.”

“So the government is actually paying me for
my designs.” Meg’s expressive blue eyes sparkled.

“Think of it as a limited patent or
copyright, as you will. Everything you hand make will still bring
you credits even if you use the fabricated designs because it’s
made, not fabricated, which is the ultimate cachet on Sarran.” Sam
kissed her on the back of the neck. Meg’s head pivoted to face
Sam.

He continued, “Falling Waters is filled with
made items as a gift to Tarin because he designed the baby
monitors, an essential item. Every time someone downloads his
design, he gets twenty credits, just as you received twenty credits
each for the gowns you made for the Ta.” Sam smiled. “The Duchy was
awarded to Tarin because of the Sky Shield he designed with Bron.
“I’m the freeloader here. I made some credits speculating on
coffee, chocolate, and cocoa, but I won’t have more until we return
to Earth to import more trade goods. So you two are going to have
to support me and I have a terrible coffee habit. Coffee is
expensive.”

“Oh, my fox, you will get credits in your
capacity as a council Te and as the Advisor on Earthen Affairs. You
will not be as you say, penniless. We can afford your coffee.”

“Let me call Sara and her Warriors. We can
spend the doubletines shopping and have the midtines meal at the
tavern. We’ll have Sara, her Warriors, Michael, and of course,
Naffie. That will give Syn a break while she cares for bebe
Nara.”

This time to call Sara, Sam used the comm.
“Good midtines, femspring. Would you, your Warriors, Michael, and
Naffie like to go to the tavern in Silver Sea for the midtines
meal? My treat.”

“I’ll ask Mark and Juraens, you don’t mind if
we bring the offspring? I’m sure Syn, Bron, and Zaron need some
sleep. Bron is trying to design some things to make carrying the
baby easier for the fem and their Warriors. I looked up the Babies
R Us catalog on the comm and gave him some ideas.” Sara went quiet
for a moment.

“Since you already had Michael, you would
know. We bow to your experience.”

“I just asked about going to the tavern and
they said yes. We’re going to corral the offspring and we’ll be
over to you in fifteen mots.” Sara cut off the comm.

“They’ll be here in fifteen mots,” Sam
announced.

“I’d better comb my hair.” Meg got up to go
to her dressing room.

“Little one, would you mind if we did your
hair? It’s the duty of a Sarran Warrior to dress his fem when they
go out. Since you are already dressed, let us do your hair.”

“All right, I’m not very good at hair and
makeup anyway. I’ve always worn a bun and no makeup. Da forbade me
from going to the beauty salon and he got all my wages, so I
couldn’t buy makeup.”

Sam’s blood boiled. “You can get as much
makeup as you like although you are a natural beauty.”

“There is makeup in the replicator the Sarran
fems who passed used to use and the Earthen fems added some of
their own. Ask Sara and Syn what they think you need, they always
look natural although I know both our femspring and Syn wear
makeup.” Tarin took the styling brush from Sam. “Sam is new at
this; I have to show him how. We had a course at the Academy on how
to use the styling brush.”

Tarin brushed Meg’s hair until it shone and
the ends curled slightly under. He parted the hair and placed the
left side behind her ear. Going over to the fabricator, Sam watched
Tarin replicate a silver filigree barrette to hold it out of her
eyes. He placed her silver shoes on her feet. “You’re ready.”

The bell rang. Sara, Mark, Juraens, and the
offspring were in the courtyard. Sam answered the door and invited
them inside.

“This place is cool, Grandpa. I like it
better than your old house.” Michael held up his arms for hugs and
kisses from everyone.