We went back to our room to talk about what to do next, and a Ty’nirrhan brought a group. Many people had happy reunions and Deb sang healing. But, she couldn’t bring Greg’s clone back. That hit all the half-Ty’nirrhans hard, even the Areonian ones!

Amidst all the crying people, the man stood up. “I have to go back! There are many more we couldn’t bring! We came to tell you, Rentappenen is killing all his prisoners!”

I grabbed his arm. He grimaced. Oops! “No! None of you are going back! I won’t lose anybody!”

Greg ran in, saw his clone getting waved to stasis, and looked pale! “I agree! All of you, stay here! I am very sorry. We tried to get them all. By now, death orders are all carried out. There is nothing to gain and more to lose!”

People who didn’t get all their relatives cried and some got very angry at Greg. “You have to do something! They can’t die!”

“We didn’t sign up for this! I don’t want this Cube!” A man tried to throw his, but it didn’t leave his hand. He shook it and got madder. “Let me go!” He cussed and asked his server to destroy it, but it said, “You sound angry. Would you like to speak to a diplomat who knows how a Host can be released?”

“I already did! He said there isn’t a way, short of my death! I don’t want to die!”

Suma walked to them and got them away from Greg, who shook all over.

“Kia, what should I tell them?” Tears rolled down his cheeks.

I shrugged. “You can’t talk to people when they’re that upset. Nothing helps knowing your relatives are gonna die. You did everything a leader can do. Just let Suma talk to ‘em. It’s not you. It’s that maniac that wants to destroy everything. What’s wrong with him?”

Greg shuddered. “We had peaceful lives and he thought it was boring. None of us know what motivates him, or how to stop him. Levels above us thought that the shame of sending him to lower levels would teach him to act better. I think it made him worse! He found ways to manipulate people. Most people who sit on Councils do not know what greed is. They are eager to work out differences of opinion, and they will wait for solutions. Rentappenen is a new problem, among societies who only see the same problems, civilization after civilization. Their time is measured in eons. No one even thought a person like him could exist. Deb, I-I need an aspirin.”

She startled and made him lie down. Poured several drinks down him.

Another man came and checked him. “Greg, you must sleep. Do you trust me?”

“I trust you, Kisu.”

“Drink this. You can’t fight any more. Let Deb take over.”

Deb looked very worried, but she got Greg to drink it and held him as he fell asleep.

Ryonne~ and Eanne~ came and talked to all the upset people and they calmed down. Suma talked to them about grief. “It’s normal to be angry, when you lose people you love.” Her brown eyes filled with tears. It feels so weird, but everybody cries now that they’ve lived with Zheien. Even I get teary a lot more now.

“Hug each other. Don’t be afraid to show how you feel. A lot of you already know this, if you came from outside the United States. You Areonians need to learn. Emotions don’t go away if you ignore them. You get headaches. Your stomach hurts. Maybe your whole body hurts!

“All of you need to confide in someone. I’m available, if you don’t have a relative who’s willing to listen, and I had a lot of clones. Some are dead, but I’ve had new ones showing up even here.” She indicated about 20 duplicate her’s outside in the hall.

People openly cried, even men, which surprised me! Men from the US always think they have to be tough and most would rather die than shed a tear.

I cried, too and let Ir hold me. If they can take people from Alb, what’s to stop Rentappenen from sending an army to get us? Security is a big, black hole I don’t understand!

One of the Zheien came over because we were puttin’ out a whole lotta rumbles.All this bowing hurts my back. Healers can only do so much for old injuries. Even recloning doesn’t fix everything, which surprised me. He bowed. When I started to do it, he came up and held my shoulders. “Please, Lady Kia, sit. I am J~oie, First Prince Of Ye~.” He looked like Eanne~ and Ryonne~ in the face, but a lot younger. Auburn curls, but tall like the Elder King.

“You must be Ryonne~‘s younger brother.” I still struggled with the tilde. You breathe out sharply. Mine came out more like a huh.

Stolen novel; please report.

He looked a bit uncomfortable. “I am his older ba.”

“Oh, you were worried about your son because he danced on the way to our colony. Is he okay?”

Then he looked very sad. “Lady Kia, I am newly married. We have ne children yet. Laura is Earthan, and—you are ne?” He looked at my hand, and my mauve skin.

I giggled. “Like Adia, it just happened! But, I still feel Earthan.” Then I realized my nose was about to get embarrassing and waved up one of those white cloths to de-mess my face. “Got any advice for a new Governess?” He paled when I blew my nose. Oops. Zheien don’t do that, I guess.

He smiled, and those golden eyes got teary, too. “As you are, I am a new Councillor, and this new post is quite overwhelming!”

“I agree! So, what can we do so Rentappenen can’t get us?”

“O, he cannot! Pirad has ways to block him. He can see us, but can ne have us.”

“Then, how did he get our people?”

Rumbles startled us. “Dosilians helped him. Now they agreed to help us. Rentappenen will have ne more of our peoples. They work with my friend Be~saech to increase our security. Omalli, Server Instructor Of S’ai, also works with him. Pirad said Dosilian server instructors are better than he can do. But Be~saech’s ideas even inspire Pirad! Ne fear. We are safe in Alb now.”

I shook my head. “I want to believe that, but they told us Alb was safe!”

J~oie rubbed the back of my head and hummed. Ir grabbed his hand! “My friend, do you know of us? Do not try to heal us or you will need your healer!”

He gasped and his face got very orange! “Ea yeo for the warning!” He launched into a long Zheien apology and I tried not to laugh. Zheien are so dramatic! But so are we. That’s why we get along so well.

“Stop these apologies, my friend. There is no reason for it.”

“I should have asked of Pas or another healer—”

“You know now! My wife, in the other future, saved Ten’s brother Jot because she was in synch with us. Most Earthans would die to touch our minds, but she easily did this, when she was. A Deesamor rogue afflicted Jot, and he had Zheien terminals.”

The prince grimaced. “Such a trial! So Adia saw your futures? Is Jot well? I always wished to discuss his Treaty Of Eisen Murg with him!”

I laughed, but they didn’t, and I felt stupid. “Is that a place?”

“Ea. Many places have odd names. Zheien who ne learn Diplomatics also laugh at times, because they sound strange. Ne concern, Lady.”

“I’m sorry. Since I’m a diplomat’s wife, I should know better.”

“We don’t have anyone from Murg here, so it’s all right, Cesarae.”

“I’d sure be embarrassed if there were! ‘Excuse me, but your language is mighty strange, Sir.’ I giggled.

“‘But you put sss sounds in your language like a hissing cow!’” Ir roared. “A Murg thinks Bisillippian speech is very funny, as a lot of Earthans do! ‘I would never speak with a Bisillip! They think a treaty is a percussion experiment!’” He used this very stiff and formal tone and barely pronounced any s sounds! Both of us laughed!

“On Morg, cows are predators. They hiss as they breathe and have very long necks like geese! So hissing noises offend them. I studied with Jot so if he died from the mission before that, I could replace him. But I think I was not skilled enough in Eisen customs to get them to listen. Jot could pass for a Morg with his pink skin! He loves challenges that involve rigid customs.” My husband smiled, big!

“Is it true that they have a law that if one smiles too big, he can go to prison?” J~oie leaned forward.

“Oh, it’s much worse than that! If you smile when the sun is barely off the horizon! In Eisen, you can only smile when the moons align, and your timing must be exact! When a treaty is signed, they time it so the moons align, and if you hold the smile too long, you are executed! There were 523 attempts at this treaty by skilled diplomats of Leheren! We need a substance their cows are bred to give. Morgs don’t want to trade it because it is vital for their children. We have tech to help with cow genetics so they can breed more often. But we need a portion of the output. For centuries, we sent diplomats! It took us a long time to figure out why diplomats would have great success with negotiation and somehow offend the leader and not obtain a signing! Finally, we insisted that two diplomats attend the signing and they noticed when the leaders called guards. Jot was an observer at the last attempt. He was successful a year ago.”

“My fae, W~Via had a mission there and an advisor of Sigan Mas told him no diplomat survived them! Our people expected him ne to survive, but he signed. He gave a very brief smile. It surprised the leader, how quickly he smiled! If one of them were to blink, he missed it!”

“And that is how Jot knew how fast to smile! He practiced with your father until his smile was as quick as your father’s memory of it, when he shared it. It was much faster than our diplomat.” Ir got serious. “We lost many of our friends to stupid races! Why are some species so stupid?” Ir looked up in a very exaggerated way!

“I think is part of our lifetest.”

With his elbow, Ir pointed ahead of him. “So, you believe religion explains it?”

J~oie put his palm behind his ear. “My friend, religion explains everything, for those who see it.”

Ir did the same. “Amazing! Now that we have our own colony, I might wish to learn more of your religion. Zheien are wiser than we are, even though we are an older species. Long life does not equal wisdom.” He put both his hands on the table.

J~oie smiled. “I am happy to speak of it. Ryee sends his regrets that he cannot be here. Many have fears, and he speaks in the Alb Council as we speak. We worry for Pirad. How can we know of his well?”