“Daka!” I sat straight up and Ir put his arms around me.

“He is not in our colony!” Ir’s brown eyes met mine, and his fear rumbled on me!

Zheien poured into our house, including Eanne~! “Ir, what is?”

We searched our people. Many weren’t showing on my mental display.

“Our son is gone, Ean! Many of our people are not here! What happened, while we slept?”

Eanne~ looked towards the wall and that deep pink Zheien came. Bowed. “I am Mon Pa, and I wish to assist you! Will you let me touch your mind, Lady Kia?”

I studied this Zheien, how his purple eyes went darker, like an Elshar’s, and his rosy purple skin got light. “I’m scared to hurt you!”

Ir laughed. “Kia, he is S’ai, and they have powerful telepathy! Once, we had a joint mission and he offered me healing!”

I took his twin-fingered hand and heard a bell choir! That made me startle. But when I put his hand on my forehead, I got lost in my music! I sang “Ode To Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th and he added harmonies! My music reached out and I found Daka. But I also found Rentappenen! We stopped.

Mon Pa wept. “O, I am sorry, Ir, Lady Kia! We cannot send help to them! They are on Tessa and I must prepare my group to go there—”

Ry’nao ported in. “I will nae send you to die, Mon! You must stay and help Kia, Sara and Becky find operatives.”

He went paler. “I cannot see them as these can! No one of S’ai has abilities past our technology level! We work very hard with our Biehshah friends to improve protection, and rely on their advanced knowledge of Tessans, Wesa Fen, Dosilians, Mist Gei Kan, Uritens, Mangans, and others of higher levels!” I felt sweat on him and worried.

Molly ported in, our Molly, not a clone. How can I tell? “Mon Pa, you need to rest.”

His purple eyes went pale! “Eaaae aaaa, I fear to injure you!”

“Pirad gave me telepathy of a Zbbat and a Chor! Need some healing?”

Her husband Binneas waved for his DS uniform, but what a uniform! Purple like a scientist’s, but with a blue sash, complicated decorations in geometric solids, boots with colored ribbons but the twin-toed things like socks that Zheien wear. On his blond curls was a nine-sided hat with lots of Tessite. He bowed low and stayed there.

Molly saw that and bowed just as low. Murmured an apology in a very formal Zheien dialect.

Ir dressed in a similar sash over his neon green robes and a hat like that. He dressed me in a dress that was mostly purple and blue with stripes of the neon green and deep green. I didn’t even have a pin to go on it. But he wouldn’t let me bow.

Mon Pa gasped. Got down on the floor with Molly and Binneas. “All of you are my friends! I will ne ask such formality. Please, rise and be comfortable! Molly, you saved my life and my sanity in the other future! You are my liege, even moreso than Ishmarel who reigns all Zheien!” He did complicated dance steps then bowed lower, to her.

She hugged him. Frowned. “Mon Pa, it’s taking too much effort for you to be here and block our telepathy!”

He laughed. “When I meet with the Urite, I must do so.” The smile faded. “What can we do to help Ir and Kia? Half their people are gone, and also people of Ry Pethe and Areon!”

I wailed. It shocked me, to hear that kind of noise coming out of me! Mama and Daddy rushed in. When Mama saw me, she hugged me. “Oh, Darlin’ hush now! What’s wrong?”

“Our baby—” but I can’t tell her!

“We’ll organize a search party! He can’t be far. Kids wander. I can’t tell ya how many times you sneaked out once ya learned to walk and unlock a door!”

Molly sang healing for me, and I had to sing for our people, who were all very upset and wailing, too. When I did, they realized how many of us were missing!

Mama and Daddy rushed away to get volunteers. They still don’t know what peril it is when Biehshah get upset. In some ways, it’s worse than Zheien because they don’t get upset often. So none of ‘em know how to calm down.

Molly showed all of us how. We breathed along with her, and she slowed hers down. “You people need to learn, when you get upset, there are things you can do not to get sick. Think about those beautiful gardens. I think you need to put little waterfalls in ‘em. But, you all love the ocean. When was the last time you took a swim?”

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People went out of our colony and the ocean on Ye~ was near the northeastern side, and Areon Ye~ also bordered it. People in Bremen and Stuttgart joined Mama and Daddy’s search party. No one organizes like the Germans! The ocean sounds helped me, and Mon Pa and Molly ported us all to the beach. Put us in the warm water.

But I watched the search parties fan out. They got Zheien involved.

Eanne~ let them know to help, but they wouldn’t find our Daka. He also held onto us.

So did Binneas and Molly, until we calmed down some.

Mon Pa spoke to all of us, in our minds. I learned how to calm myself from watching memories of my future self. I had severe injuries and should ne have survived, but Ta Ric, Diplomat Of Thorde, helped me with his mind. We were slaves together.

Because of Rainbow S’ai, we changed how we live. All of us learn from healers, how to comfort the injured. Once we thought keeping anyone unwell separated from us made us more able to work. Now we know we can be well and know what injured men learn. We can care for ourselves better on missions to know of injury and what to do for ourselves while we wait for healing.

Less of us die now away from home. But those of us who had injuries in another future, we cannot work as we did. This is why I asked for assignment here on Ye~. I learned in Rainbow how to communicate without my telepathy, for I lost him. Tears powdered his cheeks.

But I now can control my telepathy far better, and my friends, my six friends who stayed in Rainbow with me, we all can teach others. S’ai will ne longer stay separate from all of Zheiea, only visited by those of great telepathic skill. Now we may speak with all, Zheien or ne.

Fear ne that we harm you by accident, or that you somehow harm us. We must all face this threat together. We will help you all that we can.

His voice brought calm feelings, but all of us felt like bells rang on our skins. A very pleasant sensation.

I still felt very upset that the maniac had my son! What will he do with him?

Ryonne~ came and bowed to Mon Pa. Who pulled him up. They spoke together in that formal language, then Mon Pa sang healing on him. “We must stop, and speak only in the spoken, and in Zheien common speech. Then all can understand us.”

“You are wise, Mon Pa.”

“Shall we use shortnames, as we did in Rainbow? I wish to call you Ryee. Such comfort you gave me, speaking in our spoken form!” Both of them got tears in their eyes. Ryonne~‘s eyes are golden, a very orange-yellow color. Mon Pa’s purple eyes paled to pale blue. But Ryonne~s eyes looked more yellow with tear-powder sparkles. Mon Pa’s shone purple on the glittery powder.

Ryonne~ wiped a cake of tear-powder off his face and then some from Mon Pa’s and mixed them where both could see it. Ryonne~ got more orange. “Mon, I am happy for you to call me Ryee!”

Mon Pa’s eyes got purple again and his skin glowed rosy purple. “Ryee, I am very happy to hear you call me Mon. Today, we are all friends. Ne think to bow to me. I am merely Zheien, as are our Yeff hosts.”

Ir trembled just to be in any S’ai’s presence, so it was hard for me to think of him as just a friend. Everybody talks about S’ai as if they were already gone to the Council!

Molly told me, Wally said we won’t see people rising to other levels as fast, that councils above ours made mistakes in letting people rise too quickly, which made disasters on the levels they left.

Mon Pa startled. Molly, we should ne discuss—

I know, but Rentappenen already knows about this. What can we do?

Dromie popped in. “We will fight! Gather your forces together. When you are ready, my people are ready.” The little neon green man raised a fist, and his mouth full of flat teeth just made him look more Goblin-like, as did his pointy, long ears. But his huge blue eyes opened wide like a Zheien.

Mon Pa trembled, and his purple eyes lightened so pale, they went nearly white! “What species are you?”

Dromie opened his mouth and screeched like metal on metal! Everyone startled.

Mon Pa fell into Ryonne~‘s arms! “I cannot understand this speech!”

With a jerk, Dromie ran over to him and hugged him at his knees. “Don’t be scared! My people are from higher levels. We helped Rentappenen without thinking about it. Granny taught us all to think for ourselves. Kia, I can make Daka into a powerful weapon!”

“No!” I felt faint! “I don’t want him to fight—”

“He is more powerful than you. I gave him a Gift that way. You taught him well, but I can get him out! I can send my brother to him.”

Ir frowned. “Rentappenen’s troops will detect him and kill him before he reaches Tessa!”

“I’ll make Tessa into weapons!”

Ryonne~ gasped.

Ry’nao shook his head. “Tessa will not side with you. Pirad fears your help will worsen things. Please, do not do this!”

Dromie ran to him. Bowed low. “I am loyal to your Reign, Ry’nao! I will not make Tessa into weapons. But see what I can do!”

They got the memory-sharing stare and Ry’nao’s red-violet eyes opened very wide. “This will not work! See the history of—”

“We were there before them. I brought them back and they are fighting Rentappenen.”

Ry’nao mentioned other species, and every time, Dromie said his people were there before them. His skin that should be fire engine red, was gray! “Surely you came after the For. There is no history older.”

“I will give you our history, and many others. We absorbed them as we destroyed them and this is why the Gray Cube does not have them!” Gray light enveloped them.

Ir gasped. We heard it as a jumble of speech in thousands of languages.

But I heard Rentappenen laughing. He thinks he’s more powerful than all of them combined?