Chapter 4

While working with Fred Williams on the new formula, the twins had plenty of time to reconnect with their family. Welsche seemed just a bit down, a touch sentimental, and maybe a little longing. Jackie and Helen, somehow, were the ones to notice it first.

On the way back from the other side of Tallook, after a sales trip for some electronic farming systems, as well as stopping for some cases of whiskey and some of several wines for the resort and for the manor at Anschene, Jackie, Maliope, Helen and Steph talked to the kittens, asking them if they had noticed anything.

Tappi told them, “Yes. She’s homesick. She heard her family blessed her joining with us and yet hasn’t seen any of them for an age. Remember, ladies, she mentioned this before, but can’t ask, as she feels it above her position in the family to do so. I think we should take her home. We can stay on the ship or pitch a tent for Goddess’s sake. Sleep under the stars with each other. We don’t care ... As long as it’s not raining.” The kittens both giggled. Jackie and Helen caught their mirth at that possibility but were thinking.

Tippi had a brainstorm. “She can’t live far away from the manor, Tappi. We shouldn’t have to stay anywhere. How far can a young elven Angelene girl travel, alone, in the woods. She couldn’t have made it more than a day or two prior to getting hungry enough to turn around. When the forest wolf cornered her, and Maliope found them and saved her, was she healthy? I think we can take her home in the morning and return in the evening. Unless she used magic. Then I have no idea. I don’t know anything about that. We don’t know of any magic on Pranar, except in children’s stories from other worlds.”

“You are both so, so correct. We’ll do that as soon as we can clear it with Carl. We’ll be home soon.”

Upon reaching the manor, they called for a driver with a large hover, and the family went for a drive. All of them attended the reunion noting the obvious differences between the people there. The elves were a very cute people, even the elders maintaining their attractive qualities in spite of their age.

Welsche approached her mother then stopped, just before they embraced, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around her mother’s midsection.

“I am so sorry I defied you. I’m sorry I was angry and left you. I’m sorry for being an impetuous child. I’m sorry for hurting you. Please, Mummy, please forgive me.”

“I already have, Princess Welzie. I already have. I love you. I always have and I always will. You are my child, and a part of me. I will always love you. You hurt me terribly, and I hurt you terribly, and we are now older and wiser for it. Stand. You don’t need to grovel to your mother. I love you.”

Welsche stood, bent over, hugged her mother and kissed her cheek, then brought her over to her family and introduced her.

“Mummy, Belzie Cotch, this is my mistress, Crown Princess Maliope Schren Matthews and her husband, Carl Matthews. Next are Carl’s other wives, Princess Jaqueline Alden Matthews, and Retired Major General Stephanie Carlson Matthews, her prized possession in fondness, Lady Deborah, Debbie, Conner Matthews, his girlfriend Helen Matthews, and their cherished ladies in waiting, and pet kittens, Ladies Tippi and Tappi To Matthews, of the Pranar Tos. Mummy, this is my family.”

“Welcome to our forest, Mr. Matthews. To our home, sir, welcome to you and yours. Princess Maliope, especially, thank you for saving the wretch that was my little girl. She has grown to be a coveted possession of the crown princess, I take it. No mother in her right mind could ask for more than to have her only child become the fondest possession, lady in waiting, and confidant, of royalty in the Angelene worlds.” She stepped forward and hugged Maliope firmly, then asked that she lean so Belzie could touch her cheeks with her lips.

“I was crown princess to the fairy clan here in the forest until I was soiled by Welzie’s father. At that time, that honor passed to Welzie on her birth, but she’s been away. We’ve managed. Our king and queen, my parents, are both in good health and able to rule without the need for a side show. Here, Welzie, you are the crown princess of the fairy clan Inan, in County Anschene, the Angelene forest. When you are here, you are their crown princess. When you are away, you are missed, but we care for you deeply, and are our fondest child, so know we want what is best for you. It is more than obvious this situation is that. Best for you. Our fondness follows you wherever you travel.”

“Belzie, you call her Welzie? Is that a local interpretation?” Carl asked.

“Let me, please, Lady Belzie,” Maliope said. “When I stoned and chased off the forest wolf, I embraced her to calm her. I asked, and she told me her name was Welzie. It sounded so much like welsche, the old Angelene word for ‘a beautiful motion’, I changed it, then and there, for my purposes. Her real name is Welzie Cotch, unjoined girl child, or if you will, Carl, bastard daughter, of a man whose name is not mentioned in this forest or in my family. He was a second cousin to my mother, the queen, and word of his death, caused by the hands of the Inan fairy clan’s men, caused an uproar, until we found out why, then the roar became a whimper and an apology, and Welsche became my pet. Not known to us at the time, saving the life of a fairy bonds that fairy, and their offspring, to you for their lives. In their terms it deems them your possession, slave, and subjugated thrall, but I couldn’t live with that, so we just use the possession, pet, and confidant definitions. Belzie, thank you. I hold her in the most fondness now, and we, as a family, could not exist without her.”

“So we have heard, Princess Maliope. We have also been notified that our princess helped save the Federation of Similar Societies, working hand in hand with the Goddess of the Angelene Women’s Gathering in Freedom. No one is prouder of her, Princess Maliope, save you possibly, than we are. Come. Come and sit in the garden, family, and partake of dewberry wine with us. Never has there been a better cause for a celebration, nor after, a cause for such sorrow as she leaves again. Raise a toast to her future with the Matthews Clan as she leaves us yet again, albeit this time under much better circumstances.” Belzie laughed gently and patted Welsche on the knee. “We love you, precious one. We love you. I almost said. ‘little one,’ but I must tiptoe as well as pull her down to greet her, so it’s ‘precious one’ to me.” The whole family shared the funny note in that one.

They drank, laughed, and heard stories of Welzie’s youth, then laughed again. Belton, Welzie’s grandfather, was quite a tale spinner and had a ball telling tales on the little troublemaker. Torin, her grandmother, didn’t hold back. After hours of making sure Welsche knew she was their daughter, grand-daughter, or fond neighbor, they took the young woman home with them on the hour drive back to the manor.

Welsche’s attitude lightened. She seemed happier, somehow, like a weight had been lifted, even though she had always seemed satisfied with her lot before, it seemed she was even more satisfied. Her sense of humor did not change. She was still the dry wit she had always been, so they knew she was fine.

That night in bed, Carl reached over Maliope and took Welsche’s hand. “I’m so happy that you come from a clan, a people, a society, that cherishes life and didn’t end your mother’s pregnancy after the rape by an Angelene animal. You have no idea how happy I am.”

Everyone in the huge bed seconded Carl’s thoughts on the matter, verbally, and with kisses and hugs.

Welsche told them, “Mummy, or any other fairy girl, or woman, could have been raped, bred, and impregnated by a melch bush monkey and they still wouldn’t have killed the fetus. Not even if the tail wasn’t all curly and cute. It just isn’t done in our culture. Every elven, pixie, and faerie child is a gift from the Goddess.

“Yes, I’m an anomaly, and to know now that I am loved, and to know they care; still care after my misguided petulance and running away, changes everything. I have always held my doubts. I no longer do. It’s different now. I just want you all to know that. Don’t fear me leaving, I won’t, wouldn’t, and can’t, as I and my children are bound for life to my mistress, but my life is more, I have more, I am more, and therefore I will give more. I am steeped in fondness for you all. Carl, Jackie, Helen, Tippi, Tappi, Stephanie, Debbie: I love you. Mistress Maliope, I am yours. I am part of you. Until we reach the Edge of Darkness, and beyond, hopefully together, I hold you, without bounds, most fondly.”

Maliope actually clapped when she was done. “That was most profound, my fondest pet. Most profound. Just for the record, dear, now that we have spent more time around Jacqueline, Stephanie, and Carl Matthews, and Debbie, and especially Helen, with her colloquialisms dating her knowledge several millennia hence past, I love you, too. Immensely. The kittens don’t use the term very often, they just do it. Well, I might add. Family, I love you all, I hold you all in the most loving and fondest of ways possible, but as our Lady Helen would say, I’m beat, and I’m hittin’ the sack.”

They all laughed, shared more kisses and hugs and snuggled each other to sleep.

Several weeks later, during an interdiction raid and ambush of a Roogedet gunship, they traced the path of the ship using sensor data collected as it approached. It hadn’t come directly from Roogedet itself, but rather seemed to come from off in a near right angle from them in relation to the lizard planet.

They found another life supporting planet, and civilization of human like creatures, just three star systems away. From a distance, it was visually comparable with earth, with different shaped continents, of course.

A message was sent, in English and in the language the lizards used. “We come in peace. We are of the planets Earth, Angelene, and Pranar. We have no hostile intent. We would like to ask your authorities about the presence of the fearships from Roogedet. Will you please communicate with us?”

Not hoping for much of a reply, one did in fact come back in an alien, as well as the lizard’s tongue. “We are of the planet Glemma. We are not like those of Roogedet. They come to try to kill our men and take our women and sustenance. They do not always succeed, but often they do. We welcome you if you come in peace. If you are hostile, we will defend ourselves, much as we do with them.” The message was in the voice of a woman.

With Debbie’s help, they scripted a reply asking for any type of directions to find a place to land and speak to the authorities. Their navigation scheme was almost identical to Earth’s, using different graduations, but really similar. Helen entered it into a set of formulae and with a few pictures of locations and coordinates of a point in those pictures, it was translated and calculated. The landing zone was located and off they went to meet ... Someone. Something. The authorities.

They all carried weapons now and had practiced quite a lot with each other at the manor. Jackie, Stephanie, and Debbie all carried both impulse laser carbines and the old style explosive projectile weapons with cartridges containing what was called ‘gun powder’ in the day, and bullets with points on the ends that would pierce most thin shields used to deflect small lasers and such. Not many civilizations had this technology, regardless of how primitive it appeared, but it had been the standard weapon style on Earth since its inception in the fourteenth century, and still had its uses.

Helen, Tippi, and Tappi carried both impulse laser carbines and pistols. Carl’s and Maliope’s carbines were an experimental Angeline shoulder fired nitroxolite emitter with computerized sighting. The two of them were basically as deadly as their large drone. She also had an impulse laser hand weapon, or pistol for emergencies. As if it wouldn’t be an emergency if she released a volley from the emitter. Humorous thought, that. He carried an old-style pistol, similar to his earth women, only with bullets that expanded on impact.

Welsche carried only a small impulse laser pistol for self-defense as a last resort. She wasn’t mentally geared for hostility and didn’t have an aggressive bone in her body, let alone a violent one, but Carl refused to allow her to accompany them unless she was armed, and she didn’t want to stay behind. He was the boss, and she knew it.

Once on the ground, they were surrounded by what could only be described as a massive army of women with weapons. Weapons of all types, some looking extremely modern and state of the art, and some reminding them of the old-style pistols, only longer, in a rifle style.

“Hello, we come in peace,” Carl said in English. Debbie echoed in the Roogedet language.

“I am Thayna. Aide to our leader. She would speak to you if you desire.” Debbie translated for her.

“We would like that. We need to discuss the people of Roogedet, among other subjects.” Debbie translated for him, then they were all walked off toward a bus. The women did not disarm them, but kept a very close eye, and as they departed with Thayna and her armed guards, the legions drifted off until they were dispersed entirely.

Helen noted and discussed with them that these women were all humanoid in physical stature, very similar to both the Earth and Angelene women. The bus ride, on a wheeled bus using some sort of pliable tires made of an amber substance, was smooth, and not very long. It seems they were at an airport of sorts and there were flying machines outside of some fairly large hangars on the way from the Hummingbird to a large building not two or three Earth miles from the runway of the aerodrome.

Thayna and her crew guided them off the bus and into the building, a three- or four-story stone wonder, from an architectural standpoint. It had many glass insets between columns and rows of stone, but it was hard to tell where the floors started and stopped. In fact, once they were inside, it was obvious it was split levels and easily four stories but staged in half story increments with short stairwells leading to and fro, here and there, in an intricate pattern. It was beautiful, and complicated, yet somehow simple. Interesting, if nothing else. They were asked if they would like to leave the carbines with the building’s entry staff. A woman spoke to Debbie, who let Carl and his women know that they were not disarming them, but merely allowing them an option in opposition to lugging their long weapons around the building. Tippi and Tappi kept theirs, and the rest laid their weapons in a rack designed for the purpose in the guarded lobby.

The woman who spoke to Debbie introduced herself as Rela Vey. She was a translator for her leader on this, the planet Glemma. She took us from Thayna and led us into a large conference room. Once in the room, we were offered seats, and men came in to ask us, through Rela and Debbie, if we wanted anything to drink or eat. We all asked for water and while Debbie was trying to explain that, Rela said a single word which caused the men to scurry out.

Rela told Debbie, who relayed to all of us, that because of the Roogedet raids and war, lasting so many years, the language was absorbed by several women in the warfighting staff, both the leader’s personal staff and career military, so that they could try to communicate and reason with them.

Debbie, with Helen’s help, explained as well as possible what happened in our case. Rela Vey smiled. She touched the table lighting up a small panel, touched a portion of it and said something in their native language, Carl’s party presumed.

A large door opened at the end of the conference room and a tall, beautiful specimen of not so alien origin entered the room. She was regal, if not just overwhelming, in her outward appearance.

She spoke in her tongue, which was translated by Rela Vey, to Debbie, who translated to her mates. “She says, I am Lona Lan, the leader of Glemma, our world. I inquire as to you, your business here, and your desires.”