“Because Mican trained Galarsmen to poison everybody! He wanted to take over the Tessite mine. He’s Councillor of the Black Cube, whatever that means.” Ella shook all over!

I thought about what I saw, and showed him.

Farley paled!

Millie put both her hands on Farley’s head. “You are overusing your telepathy, Farleikon! Let Ben help you.”

Binneas added his hands, and Farley wept. Ella held him so they kept their hands there.

“I must be well to help Tom!” Bless his heart!

Tom added his hands. “I am well for this, Friends. Farley has been very unwell!”

King Challet got very upset! Millie, heal my friends! Mican was a Councillor?! You nae tried to fight him, did you? Ejis faea naea!

“Galarsmen did, and he hurt him! He was going to give him umar seg, but—” Ella shared those memories. Didn’t Pirad?

Lady Ella, Pirad Of Esta Faho died, but he destroyed Mican before he did. I think if he knew, this is why, and we nae knew! I fear for Micansen! He is very unwell and nae is in my link.

But I went to Alb Seer to tell them! Didn’t I? But Pirad’s words came back to me.

Do you see what she is doing? Mican tries to change a timeline, and she prevents it. Tom looked at me and shuddered! I am changing time as I do that. Events, as I remember them, are changing--

I will send—ejis nae, I can nae touch Nathan—Jos will go. He is more well than any of us. Nae, I challenged Mican with words, nae telepathy. Does Pas know he fought a Councillor? Farley shook all over.

Now he does. He heard Ella’s memory when she first heard it. That’s Pas Of Elshar Zheiea. Pas Of Esta Faho—he also knew about it, but didn’t find any damage! That’s dangerous! Why didn’t he see it? Ella thought it, then I heard it.

Farley shuddered. “We have terminals from Lisbaar, made for Zheien, to augment our telepathy. They trained us to hide from Mican.”

My son, this time is past, that you need to hide! Pirad sent another of his clones and he comes.

I looked up and he put a hand on Farley’s head. His three sets of orange pupils flew apart. “These terminals are not for you! Where did Lisbaar get them? Gedda Dier did not have permission to use this kind of technology!”

“When Jain was attacked by Eriganh, you know ScSv teams went to study. One found a building with very advanced weaponry. Some of the same weaponry they used against factions of their kind. I think Eriganh supplied them, then the temptation was too great nae to eliminate those who had conflict with them. Eriganh probably knew they would destroy themselves, and when I toured our weapons facility, I saw Jain markings.”

I felt a wave of awe as someone else got in the mindlink. Ry’nao. Farley shook all over.

My son, let Milly heal you. Nae hide. The time for hiding is past. I wish Pirad to remove your terminals--

“My emperor, we all had these terminals because nae of us could work without them! Must I loose them?”

Let Pirad see you before I answer.

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Now I felt panicky! They put terminals in my husband’s brain! People aren’t the same after those things are removed! Ella thought the same thing I was thinking!

Pirad put his hand on Farley’s head and clicked his jointed face into an expression of dismay! “Why would they do this? Challet, I must destroy your weapons facility. These weapons are from Aegea before they rose three millennia ago. They destroyed 40 star systems, despite warnings from the Council of the 5th at the time my ancestors sat on it.”

King Challet stepped from a portal. “If I knew of this, I never had such danger on any world in my reign! Ejis faea naea, destroy it now!” He was white, and his healer ported in and put him on the bed!

Pirad waved and red light bathed us! Will we all die of radiation?

Farley shook harder. “Nae mentioned that we had this evil on our world! Who was king when this came to us?”

Challet took his hand. “Be calm. The facility existed long before our worlds became part of Elshar Zheiea! Wasa Mai had grave concerns, but the Council insisted—and Mican was on it. O, if I knew! But what could any of us do, against a Councillor? He is gone, and Pirad, you were able to secure the weapons?”

“I destroyed them all! As the Council once decided all such weapons must be destroyed. I ported them all in a red portal, to a sun far from us. The sun is destroyed, but it was almost ready to nova. All the weapons are gone. The building is gone. All the scientists will now work on more peaceful pursuits. None of them understood the weapons, so they did not try to dismantle them. I got their permission to collect their memories, and they are going to my lab now. One is coming here to advise me on these terminals. They are not slaver terminals, but those for soldiers. They should be easy to remove, by design.”

An Xchou came in and bowed. The same one—they died in healer’s chambers! Was it real?

Farley smiled. “Tasafier! It is good to see you, my friend.”

The man’s fire-engine red skin paled to white. “Friend? How do you know me? All of us had strict instructions from our queen, Gedda Dier, to have no contact with any colony that might come!”

Farley sweated. “But, you tutored me in weaponry, before I went to Sigan Mas! You took me into the weapons facility and showed me weapons and how to use them, every day for a year!”

Millie helped the man get on the bed and he laid down! “How can this be? No one is allowed in our facility but myself, Father and Mother! We are Xchou Elders, from Vohl. Was our last recloning tampered?” He shivered.

She looked scared. “Pirad, can you heal an Xchou who’s not mixed with Elshar?”

He laughed. “Yes, I can—” The moment his five-fingered hand touched the man’s head, he clicked an expression of shock onto his face! “What species are you?”

“Chaonoi. We rose and left the Xchou. All our work. You destroyed it all. Why?”

“Because it is too dangerous for this tech level! You are from the 5th, and should know that!”

“We left the Council when Rentappenen had ideas. You do not know what he is capable—”

“He is dead! I made Cubes and hid them. We combined all of them, to fight him, and we destroyed his Collective, then him. He was on Lisbaar when it exploded. Because we had a weapon to prevent porting, tied to his genetics.”

The man went limp. “Then, our purpose is served. Father, Mother, we can go home now.”

They ported in and held him.

I thought they died! Ella shivered.

I begged Pirad. Don’t let him do this!

I cannot stop it. Mican’s clone is on Esta Faho. He must believe this is done!

The father held a hand on his forehead. “I did not tell you. Our home is destroyed. Rentappenen thought to take our tech, and disrupt many levels above ours. I destroyed it, so much so, we can never reconstruct it. Now our lab is destroyed, and all the weapons I hid from Mican. But, all of us, and the people we gave terminals to fight him, we are weapons. My last act is to take the terminals back, and die.”

Milly gasped, “You can’t! Wait!”

A flash of white light came! When I could see again, their bodies were gone! Farley held his temples and cried! So did Tom!

Ahstam ran in! Even I knew of the best master healer in all of Zheiea! He and Pirad got the memory-sharing stare.

Ella held Farley as he went limp.

I held Tom. Limp. Cold. Ella looked as shocked as I did.