The Cradle

Part I

 Leighanne Leight-Carstairs studied her old friend from across the well-appointed office on Illia, the floating surface-side of the Shan city two hundred twenty-two miles off the coast of Texas. The last time she'd seen Miranda was at her first husband's funeral, seven years ago. After Dillon's murder, Leighanne had gone from being a field-agent to simply a profiler so as to better raise her son, Corey. And of course Corey was why she was here, hat-in-hand. She hated to think about it that way, but she was honest enough to admit it to herself. She'd exhausted all her other options. She was by no means out of money, but the money was useless at this point. The government had stepped in and simply said no.
"It's good to see you again, Leighanne," Miranda said sitting down across for her. Miranda Hassan appeared to have changed very little over the last seven years. She didn't appear to have aged very much, her mocha complexion showed no signs of wrinkling, and her black hair hung down her back in an iridescent cascade of ebony. If anything she appeared to be more toned, but Leighanne concluded that was due to a life of living in the in the water. Leighanne felt her old partner's mind reach out and briefly touch her shields. With some effort, she dropped them and let Miranda scan her.

 :What's wrong?: Miranda asked mentally. Her mind-touch was as light and gentle as ever, only touching the old channels they shared when they worked for General Presley. Leighanne knew that there would be no hiding the turmoil of her soul except behind the strongest of shields, and that would be rude at this point.

 She lowered her shields and spoke from her heart, "I need your help, Randi. You're not quite my last hope, but you're my best hope."

 "What can I do?" Randi asked, the concern not only evident in her voice but in her mind as well.

 
"It's my son, Corey," Leighanne said fighting back her sense of desperation. "He's been hurt, and the government insurance won't pay for the treatment, and they won't let me pay for it either."

 Miranda's eyes narrowed at her words, two wrinkles appearing in the dark skin above the bridge of her aquiline nose. "Corey hurt? When? How?"

 
"Three years ago, when UNIPACT Beta attacked Birmingham. He was there visiting with some friends. When Neutron started blasting away at Storm Force, Corey was caught in the crossfire. He tried to get an old man out of the line of fire, and was hit himself. He was burned horribly, but the worst damage came from the radiation. It did something to him. He's in a coma, the doctors say he's stable, but he's not getting any better. The problem is that health panel for my insurance refuses to allow treatment anymore. They say the resources could be better used elsewhere. I offered to pay for the treatment out of my own pocket, but the doctors say that if they take payment, then they'll lose their license." It was everything she could do to keep the desperation out of her voice, much less her mind.

 
"What?" Randi exclaimed. She literally came out of her seat to come over and sit next to Leighanne. "Why didn't you tell us? We would have helped."

 "There was nothing to do. At the time, they were just trying to get him stabilized. That took almost six months. He's not getting worse, but he's not getting better either. I wouldn't have come if the insurance hadn't forced my hand."

 "What kind of insurance company would do something like that?" Randi asked.

 "It's the the one for federal employees. When the new health-care bill was passed our old provider went bankrupt. The agency forced us into the government option," she said. The last three years had been a nightmare for her as she watched her then eleven year son, slowly vegetate. His mind had turned in on itself as his body tried to heal. She couldn't reach him telepathically, but she knew he was there. She hoped the advanced biomedical technology of the Shan could do for her only child what the best doctors in the States couldn't.

 Randi put an arm around her shoulders and said, "What can we do?"

 "Can you have your healers look at him? I can pay you," she told her, trying not to sound too desperate but knowing that she was failing miserably.

"Of course, we'll have them look at him," Randi said. "When can you have him here?"

 Leighanne nodded and thanked her old friend, "Tomorrow if you want. George is working on getting a medivac flight scheduled on the contingency that you can help."

 "George?" Randi asked.

 "Oh, you haven't met George. I remarried," she said. Last year, she and George had finally tied the knot. It seemed like they'd been friend forever. She Dillon and Corey had stood by George and his son, Chris, as George's wife Melinda died of brain cancer. Six months later, Dillon had been killed in the line of duty. She and George closed ranks in order to try and raise their sons who'd been best friends since they were toddlers. Over the years, a day didn't seem to pass that they didn't see or check in on one another. When Dillon had died, it was George who stood by her and Corey. Then Corey had been hurt, and if it hadn't been for George, she'd probably have gone insane. Only George's steady presence had kept her on an even keel, kept her fighting for her son.

 "We'll send a craft," Randi said confidently. Then looking to the ceiling, she said, "Mother, would you inform the medical center that we're bringing in a human patient?"

 "Right away Randi," a soft woman's voice seemed to originate out of thin air.

 Leighanne almost jumped out of her seat at the sound. "I'm sorry, that was Mother, the colony's electronic intelligence. Who all do you want to come with you? So I know many to tell the squ'ks to prepare for."

 Leighanne shook smiled, "George, Chris, maybe Chris's girlfriend, Bonnie."

 "Bonnie? That was the little girl I saw standing with Corey at the funeral?" Miranda asked.

 "Yeah, she and Chris and Corey have been inseparable for years." She smiled weakly, "I'll never forget the day, when they were about five, that she sent both boys home without any pants. Their game of "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours" turned just a little surreal on them."

 Miranda chucked and then asked,"Now exactly what are they saying about Corey?"

 Leighanne reached into her purse and pulled out a flash drive. "Here's all the files; all the tests; and all the results. They say it has something to do with the radiation poisoning."

 Miranda took the flash drive and lay it behind her on her desk. She knew the desk would immediately scan and download the information. "But what have they told you?"

 Leighanne shrugged, "It's radiation poisoning, and it's something else. The doctors have hinted that it's the AGG virus but won't come out and say so. I think he's afraid that if he does, the government will pull the plug right away."

 
"How old is he now, about twelve?" Miranda asked.

 Leighanne nodded, "He just turned thirteen back on Independence Day." It was one of the saddest days of her life. No child should miss their thirteenth birthday. It was such a rite of passage for them. She had planned on going alone to the hospital that day, to spend it quietly with him. She wasn't the only one with the idea though. As the day wore on, Bonnie and Chris, then George, and several of his friends from school had wandered in and out. Only Bonnie and Chris spent the whole day there with her.

 "We'll see what we can do for him," Randi told her. "I can't promise you anything, but we'll do our best. If itisthe AGG virus, there may not be much we can do short of rebuilding him from scratch. For that, we'd have to do a brain tape." Leighanne had heard of the brain-taping that the Shan did as a matter of recourse. It was a way of preserving a person's memories to be restored after brain damage, or even if cloning was needed.

 "I appreciate anything that you can do for him," Leighanne said.

 Miranda stopped and looked deep into her old friend's eyes; something that Leighanne found strangely comforting. Leighanne remembered the rumors that used to circulate through office back in their days together at the Department of Nocturnal Affairs. A third of the office was convinced that she and Miranda were lovers; another third thought that she and Dillon, Leighanne's husband were stepping out; and the other third were speculating that it was a threesome. What none of them understood was that Randi was so dedicated to a love she thought she couldn't have that she really had no interest in either Leighanne or Dillon as anything other than friends. Finally Randi said, "I have to ask this. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings later. Before you bring your family to Illia, especially before you bring Chris' girlfriend, you are aware of Shan cultural differences, aren't you?"

 Leighanne nodded her head. In a droning voice she quoted, "Yeah, I've been watching the news, and I've heard all the talking heads on both sides arguing about it. By the nature of their environment, Shan are generally nudist; and by biological necessity they are bisexual." Her voice resumed a more normal tone, "That's not a problem with me, or my family. As for Bonnie, her parents are pretty broad minded. I think that as long as George and I are here, they won't have a problem with it."

 
"It's not just that Leighanne, you most probably will be exposing yourselves and your children to concepts that a lot of humans have difficulty understanding. Many if not most are shocked by the idea. From about the biological age of ten or eleven for baseline shan, and around three for defenders, they become openly sexually active. It's part of their socialization- especially for the defenders. It's not unusual to pass recreation center or even a park and see a group of children engaging in a rather vigorous game of what we call pin-to-the-bottom."

 "But no adults are ever involved?" Leighanne had heard the reports, and she'd done the reading for herself. The Shan were very open about their sexuality, and for them sex was both a form of recreation and a for reproduction. They had a great deal of control over their own biological directives, and generally chose when to become pregnant. An adult female would not come into estrus without intimate contact with another adult female, and then only if she chose to. An adult male had to take on the genetic material of another adult male to complete his own code for reproduction. It created a society where reproducing families consisted to at least two males and two females. However, children always played with children and adults with adults.

 
"No, adults play with adults and children with children," Randi echoed her thoughts. "There is some crossover at the cusp but it never lasts long," Randi told her. "But you will be exposing your stepson and his girlfriend to what could be considered a shocking experience. Shan children do not usually invite human children into their games- not from any lack of interest mind you- but because we've asked them as general rule not to. Also since humans don't breathe water, it could be fatal. We don't want any misunderstandings with our human guests," Randi told her.

 
"I heard that you had baby here while back. How do you cope with it?" Leighanne asked.

 Randi smiled at her, and Leighanne could sense the turmoil in her own friend's mind. "D'an'a is a defender," Randi said. Leighanne could sense her choosing her words very carefully. "Defenders age much more rapidly than human or even baseline Shan in the first three years of their lives. I've watched my child grow from an infant into the puberty in three years. I'm told that it will now settle out to something more normal for the next eight or nine years and then stop completely. But D'an'a is the first Human/Shan hybrid so we don't know how things will work out. We're in entirely new territory. D'an'a also inherited mine and Adam's transhuman gene as well as K'hori's first defender genes. Things didn't turn out exactly the way we expected them to. Hell, she even has a minor mage-gift, not that she'll get much use out of it around here. I'm thinking of sending D'an'a to Wolf Creek for a year or so for further training when they get it rebuilt."

 
Leighanne could tell there was much more to it than she was being told but chose not to pry. She smiled and said, "I can't wait to meet her."

 "You'll get your chance tomorrow evening. You of course will be staying with us," the dark haired woman smiled. "That way you can meet my husbands and my wife."

 "We don't want to be any trouble," Leighanne said.

 "You're already trouble, Leighanne," Miranda said with a smile. "That's why I love you, girl."

 

Leighanne smiled at the comment and said, "I don't want to put you out...,"

 "Leighanne," Miranda said seriously, "If you hadn't convinced me to transfer out of the DNA, I would have never been in a position to go on that first-contact mission, I would have never met K'horal and I would have never confronted Adam with what was going on in my heart. I owe you more than I can ever repay. This is a small thing."

 
"Helping my son live is never a small thing, Randi. He is literally facing a bureaucratic death sentence. This is more than I can ever repay," Leighanne told her.

 
Randi smiled and said, "You don't have to repay anything, it's what friends do. I'll do what I can. In the meantime, why don't I take you down to speak with some of our med-techs." She looked back up at the ceiling and said, "Mother, would you please download all the information on the flash drive on my desk to the medical computers?"

 "I have already done so, Randi," the voice said. The medical center is awaiting your arrival. I have taken the liberty of informing your family that you will be having guest as of tomorrow evening."

 "Thank you Mother," Randi said.

 
"Please, don't make a big deal out of our staying, Randi," Leighanne tried to soothe her own pain for having to turn to a friend for help. Deep down she felt a burning anger toward the people who were exacerbating Corey's condition.

 
"Iwill make a big deal out of it, Leighanne. Mainly because I'm glad to see one of my oldest friends. We're going to get Corey the best treatment possible, and while we're waiting for him to recover, you and I are going to catch up on old times, and get to know each other's families and I'll show you the sights of the colony," Randi told her as she stood. "Now, why don't you and I go downstairs and talk to the doctors. I'm sure they have all kinds of questions."

 

 Twenty minutes and a tube ride later Leighanne found herself almost a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The technology she was seeing was fantastic. She'd heard that the Shan were masters of biotechnology, but this was almost unbelievable. For the first time in three years, she started to have hope for her son. These people had built- no, they'd grown- a civilization in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. They were living Captain Nemo's dream.

 
Some of what she was seeing took a little getting used to though. She felt somewhat overdressed, actually she felt rather conspicuous in the fact that she and Randi were the only people wearing clothing. Worst of all, she got the feeling that the only reason Randi was wearing her smart business outfit was because of her. She briefly wondered if she would have the courage to "go native" while here. If it were just her and George, probably. She didn't know if she would with Bonnie and Chris present.

 
The Shan themselves were a handsome people, all tall and lean with long flowing hair that ran the gamut of colors from almost black green to what could only be described as pale pink. The only colors seemingly to be missing were dull browns, and black; even the blonds had a vibrant hue to their hair that no dye-job could ever imitate. She noted that nobody seemed to be any older than their mid-twenties- which made sense since they all had come out of the birthing chambers less seven years ago. Outside of the hair color, webbed hands, and the fact that their feet only had two toes, one big toe and and broad flat fused surface where the rest should be, most Shan were very human in appearance. Their skin tone wasn't even unusual as it tended to run between the light pecan of Randi's own Semitic tone to the pale side of Caucasian.

 Around her, she could see dual passageways: one dry and the other filled with seawater. They seemed to have no barrier between them reminding her of looking at the surface of a tub turned on its side. At one point she reached out and touched the water and found that she could insert her hand into it. It was surprisingly warm for this deep in the ocean. Randi smiled at her and said, "Don't ask me how they do it. Adam and K'horal both have tried to explain it to me, and I still don't understand."

 Leighanne smiled back and shrugged as they continued on down the walkway, their shoes making a slightly muffled sound. She did note that there were more people moving through the water-filled side of the corridor than on the dry side. Most of them were swimming along carry small satchels of equipment or gear totally oblivious of the human who'd invaded their aquatic domain. Now and again she'd see a defender jet by, easily discernible by the broad wing of flesh that ran from just above their wrists along the back of their arms to join at the small of their back. She'd read that the defenders used their wings as diving planes for quick ascensions and submersions in the water. Few were carrying the huge trident like harpoons that were a mark of their position and responsibility.

 Mixed in among them were smaller beings that were about the size of an infant, with long tails that had a flat spade like surface at their ends. They too had the defender wings, and were nude except for small pouches on their forearms that held various tools. They didn't seem to be Shan and most of the people around them were simply ignoring them as they went about their business.

 
Oddly enough, even surrounded by all of this life, all of this hustle and bustle, she detected very little pressure against her mind shields as she moved deeper into the city. No wonder Randi found this place so so peaceful. It was every telepath's dream to find a city full of people who weren't constantly assaulting you with their minds.

 "Who are they?" she asked pointing out one of the tiny beings.

 Randi smiled, "They're called squ'ks." When Leighanne gave her a confused look she said,

"Don't try pronouncing it. The Shan recognize the human word squ'ks. There's a sonar signal between "q-u" and the "k" that you can't hear."

 "What are they they?" Leighanne asked.

 "They're a pre-sentient domesticated species that we keep for general repair and maintenance work. They aren't quite pets, and they aren't quite children. They adore the defenders, and K'hori is their favorite."

 
Leighanne gave her a slightly confused look, "Corey?"

 Randi smiled, "Oh sorry. I guess thatisgoing to be a problem. The Shan use nicknames too. K'horal, my husband, his nickname is K'hori. I guess it sounds a lot like your son's name without the requisite sonar signal."

 Leighanne smiled and replied, "I guess a lot of the Shan language has a sonar signal to it?"

 Randi laughed, "Just about all of it. Fortunately it does adapt to English, German, and most of the Romance languages quite well as long as you leave the sonar signal out. It plays hell with Hebrew and Arabic though; not so much with Farsi but it's an Indo-European language. You just have to remember that a whole range of tactile, and volume information is missing without that the sonar signal. All Shan names have a sonar signal to them. A signal after the first consonant indicates a male, a signal before the last consonant denotes a female." She shrugged, and added, "But all of the Shan speak English, and about a fourth speak Spanish as well. It's a good idea to know the language of your neighbors."

 They arrived at a wall of water that Leighanne suddenly realized was retreating from them. She watched as it literally shrank back to the far side of the room and and then disappeared from sight into the stone-like wall. As it retreated it revealed a room with equipment all along the walls, the floor and even the ceiling. It took her a moment to realize that in an underwater environment, one was not limited to just using the floor. Standing in the middle of the room was a very attractive young woman with long light blue hair that was pulled back into a pony-tail. Like everyone else, she was nude. She smiled at Leighanne and said, "Hello, I'm Jale'n, Mother asked me to look at your son's files."

 Leighanne nodded to the young woman and asked, "I realize that you've only had a few moments to look over them, but do you think there is anything you can do?"

 She exchanged looks with Randi and then said, "There is always something we can do.

The question is, how far do you want to go?"

 
"As far as it takes to save my son," Leighanne said.

 The woman nodded and indicated a large egg-like piece of equipment. "This is one of our birthing chambers. We can use them to heal those who've been wounded or injured of all but the most severe traumas. But they require an uncorrupted genetic code. I'm not sure we can get that from your son."

 "I thought you said you could help," Leighanne said.

 "I think we can use some gene splicing techniques to rebuild him, but I need to study the issue further. How soon can you get him here?"

 
"Is tomorrow soon enough?" Randi asked.

 Jale'n smiled and said, "Not for my taste, but it will have to do." Leighanne took an immediate liking to the woman. "Let's discuss our possible options before we go any further though," the woman said indicating a low sofa that was rising out of the stone floor. Leighanne nodded and sat.

 She spent the next three hours discussing various options. Most of it depended on the stability of Corey's genetic code and the effect the possible AGG virus was having on it. Jale'n though was confident that she could work around even that, it was just a matter of how much they had to rebuild her son.

 After seeing Leighanne off on a Shan shuttle, Miranda returned to their home deep inside the floating ring of Illia. It was at the bend where the vertical sides of the floating city turned at a forty-five degree angle to begin to slope back toward the main shaft leading the ship below. It was one of the nicer homes, and they had direct access to the ocean outside from their apartment. Still, she took the "dry" passageways from topside to her home, of for no other reason than to avoid ruining a six hundred dollar outfit she'd bought the last time they had been in New York City. It had been a draining day, and she was glad to get out of her clothing and slip into freedom of their own apartment. She did however, choose to drain it. She wanted it to dry out completely before her guests arrive and she needed it dry for another reason as well.

 
She smiled at herself at the irony of that thought. All four of D'an'a's parents could breathe water. It was one of hers and Adam's transhuman enhancements, and of course both Jord'n and K'hori were defender Shan so that ability was natural to them as well. But it was the merger of the transhuman and Shan genes that caused her problem.

 As if summoned by her thoughts, which of course considering that they were both telepaths was very possible, D'an'a appeared through the moon-pool in the center of the apartment and climbed out. "Is there a reason the apartment is dry?" she called hopefully from the drying pad next tot he pool. Randi noticed that she used English. The atmosphere in the apartment was too thin to speak in Shan without shouting. Randi knew what she was hoping for. It was the other reason for leaving the apartment dry. Human foods- especially bread was not possible to prepare in an aquatic environment.

 
"How does baked spaghetti and garlic rolls sound? Maybe with a fresh garden salad?" she asked with a smile. D'an'a, K'hori, and Jord'n could never get enough bread products. The traditional Shan diet was heavy on kelp, sponges, reptile, and the occasional fish. Most vegetable products were a rare treat for them, and bread especially so. Shan would swim several kilometers out of their way for a week old piece of bread. The fact that it had to be prepared in a dry environment was a small price to pay. Grasses were just starting to appear on Earth when the Shan fled the effects of the Sslelkian atomic war on the surface, so it was a food they had little contact with.

 "Mom, did you run up the credit card again?" D'an'a asked with a grin, and implying that she was making a peace offering to the family.

 Randi turned and smiled at her only child. D'an'a's body was still in that stage where it wasn't sure if it was going to put on mass like a boy or become more curvy like a girl. Randi suspected that her offspring would always have a somewhat small frame, that wavered on the edge of androgyny- which considering the child's particular condition made sense. Long blue-white bio luminescent hair was pulled back into the functional ponytail worn by most defenders, male or female. Randi could detect that her baby was starting to develop breasts, already at a small A-cup.

 
She took a moment to look D'an'a up and down and could tell that puberty was starting to really work its magic on the lithe body. A sparse tangle of the same blue-white pubic hair was starting to come in above the lengthening form of what looked as if it was going to be an impressive penis sitting atop a set of testicles that were already beginning to drop. Just behind and lower to those, she could detect where the scrotum disappeared into the opening of D'an'a's vagina. Long lithe powerful legs split from there to support a rather attractive androgynous frame. D'an'a's hermaphroditic condition was becoming more evident as he entered the final stage of his development.

 
"No I didn't max out my credit cards. That's why I have investments, lots of investments. I can't max out the credit cards. Besides which, the last time we made a huge purchase, that was your father." she said with a smile. "I want the apartment to dry out for a while. We're having human guests as of tomorrow and I want them to be comfortable."

 
"Who?" she asked.

 
"An old colleague and friend of mine, Leighanne Leight, or Leighanne Carstairs now, and her family."

 "The one you worked with at the DNA?" she asked coming over and pulling the plates down for the table.

 
"Yeah, that would be her," Leighanne said.

 
"So, why are they visiting?" she asked.

 
"Their son is going to be in the medical center to see if they can repair some damage from radiation poisoning," Miranda said.

 "Radiation poisoning?" she asked. "How was he exposed? I thought that he mess at Orlando had been cleaned up," D'an'a asked referencing the nuclear attack on the city of Orlando two years before the Shan had returned to Earth.

 "He was Birmingham when it was attacked."

 "The UN didn't use nukes on Birmingham...,"

 "No, but more than one UN operative was creating using radiation, and more than one uses radiation as a weapon. He was caught in a blast while saving an old man's life," she said.

 
"So he's a transhuman?"

 "No, not that we know. Corey was just a kid doing the right thing at the wrong time," Randi told D'an'a.

 "K'hori?" she asked obviously using the sonar signal for one of her father's names.

 "No C-o-r-e-y," Miranda said spelling the boy's name.

 "I thought we'd given the humans an effective treatment for radiation poisoning. Why didn't it work?"

 "The new insurance program that my friend is forced to use by the government, won't pay for it, and won't allow her to pay for it," she said. "So they're coming here, so see if we can cure the radiation sickness, and maybe the burn damage." Leighanne hadn't said that specifically, but Randi knew it was an issue. The images she got from her friend's mind were horrific. She knew that even if he were healed tomorrow, he'd never lead a normal life because of the scarring.

 "I see," D'an'a said obviously picking up the image from her mind. "What would you like for me to do to help?"

 "Show Corey's stepbrother and his girlfriend around," Miranda said.

 D'an'a shrugged and said, "Unless they can breathe water or are qualified to use a rebreather there's not much to show."

 "Well, they both are master divers," Miranda told her remembering Leighanne mentioning that when they were catching up.

 D'an'a nodded, and said, "Then teaching them to use a rebreather won't be difficult."

 "Actually, they probably already know how. Chris' father is George Carstairs who's done some work with our engineers. I know that his divers are trained on rebreathers. Leighanne tells me that Chris and Bonnie spend so much time in the water that she sometimes think they're part fish. I'm sure they've both been trained on them."

 D'an'a smiled and said, "It should be fun then." She stopped and thought a moment, "Do you want me to wear something while I'm showing them around?"

 "Not if you don't want to," Miranda said.

 "What will you guys be wearing?" she asked.

 "I'll be wearing what I normally wear," Randi said.

 "Normally wear around the apartment and the city, or when dealing with humans and gandma and grandpa?"

 "Considering that my routine is not going to change that much, I thought I would wait and see their reactions before I adjusted my attire. Leighanne has always been fairly open-minded, and I've never met George, so we'll see."

 D'an'a smiled and put the bowls and plates on the table. "How about school?" she asked hopefully. "Do you want me to miss classes?"

 "What are you studying right now?" Miranda asked. It wasn't that D'an'a was actually learning any new knowledge, Shan children had most basic skills and knowledge brain-taped directly to them. It was a case of attending training in the practical application of that knowledge.

 "Mornings is naval tactics of World War II simulations, and comparing them with modern tactics. It's really kind of boring, since I got most of that already from playing war games with father." D'an'a said referring to Adam's favorite hobby. Most Shan children did not attend military style training, but defenders were charged with the defense of the civilization. Combat and military training was mandatory for them. "Early afternoon is sculpture, I'm ahead in that class. My piece is almost finished. Then late afternoon is Ship's drive system repair. Not something that I think we're going to need anytime in the near future."

 Miranda smiled at her as Jord'n surfaced in the moon pool. "Evening', Sugar," she called to her wife. Jord'n was tall and lean like all defenders, and had electric pink hair that always reminded of Randi of cotton candy- hence the nickname.

 
"Good evening Miranda," the tall woman stood on the drying pad until the device had pulled all of the water off her body and hair which went from a deep rose to a hot pink in a matter of moments. "Hello, D'an'a. Mother tells me we are having guests starting tomorrow."

 "Is there anybody she hasn't told?" Randi tilted her head to the ceiling and asked.

 "I believe that repair crew working on the outlying intake valves are unaware of the event," Jord'n said with a smile as she kissed their child on the head before kissing Miranda. "But she told me that she'd informed you that she was informing us." Miranda then recalled her mentioning it.

 "Just wait until they get back into the city," D'an'a said rather snarkily. "Haven't my noble parents yet figured out that their daily lives are the source of much speculation and gossip among the general populace?

  "I'm not sure whether or not we should be insulted or run away to the bottom of the Puerto Rican Trench," Randi said.

 "I would settle with being insulted," Jord'n said. "From what I've heard from our husbands, that is not a pleasant place. Some of the creatures there date back to from our time on this world."

 "What have dad and father discovered?" D'an'a asked.

 "That the trench has managed to preserve some creatures that put fear into the heart of even a first generation defender," Jord'n said. "But not to worry, they are trapped there, only a First Defender can reach them."

 
"In other words, Dad."

 "In other words, both of your fathers," Miranda added. She looked at Jord'n and asked,

"And what were they doing exploring the Puerto Rican Trench?"

 "They were looking for place to safely drop the reactor of that Chinese submarine that attacked yours and Adam's mini-sub on the first contact mission," Jord'n said.

 "I take it then the Trench is out?"

 "It is a unique ecology upon which such an action would have a very detrimental effect. We've decided to enlist the aid of the Atlanteans instead. For now, the reactor is off-line and inside a containment field."

 
"Mother says that I may be able to skip some of my lessons to act as a guide to our visitors," D'an'a said hopefully.

 Jord'n gave her a questioning look and Randi said, "I said it might be possible, depending on where her studies were."

 "And your studies are where?" Jord'n asked

 "I'm pretty much ahead in everything, and I'm bored out of my skull in my tactics class," D'an'a said hopefully. "Everything that Defender Mr'ell is covering is the same stuff father and I go over in his war games simulation. I've had plenty of practical application of it in the games tank."

 Jord'n smiled over at Miranda and they said in unison, "We'll wait and discuss it with K'hori and Adam over dinner.

 "Which I suspect is baked spaghetti?" Jord'n asked hopefully.

 "Spaghetti, salad, and garlic rolls with cheesecake for desert. Also Leighanne gifted us a bottle of good California wine which considering most of the state is now under water, is rare as hen's teeth these days," Miranda said.

 "Hens have teeth?" Jord'n asked bringing the salad makings of out of the fresher and began chopping them.

 "Exactly," Miranda said with a smile.

 To Miranda's surprise, both Adam and K'hori thought the idea of D'an'a showing Chris and his girlfriend around was a good idea. They both felt that it would give her an opportunity to meet some humans who hadn't completely adjusted to Shan culture. It was also decided to wait and see how Leighanne and her family acted toward the Shan tendency toward casual nudity before determining on whether or not clothing would be worn in the apartment. Randi desperately hoped that her friend would not be embarrassed, and would take it in stride. She knew how Jord'n tended to react to humans who who became prudish about such things.

~*~

 "They said they'll do it," Leighanne told her family that evening over dinner.

 "No stipulations?" George asked.

 Leighanne shook her head, "No stipulations. I told you Randi wouldn't play politics where he godson was concerned."

 "I believe you," George said pulling out his cell phone. "I'll call the airport now and get the flight arranged."

 Leighanne shook her head, "Don't bother. Randi's sending a medical shuttle to pick him up at ten in the morning."

 George gave a sigh of relief. Leighanne knew that he was worried about getting clearance for helicopter to take a patient all the way out to Illia. Some pilots refused to fly outside of US territorial waters, and being as the city floated two hundred twenty-two miles due south of Port Arthur, Texas in the Alaminos Canyon it had taken a lot of work to find one that would. As it was, the flight would have to be from where they lived in Miami, to Mobile, Alabama where they would refuel, then fly to New Orleans for another refuel, and then on to Port Arthur where they would change over to a Sikorsky that would take them out to Illia. That was a lot of favors to call in, but he was willing to do it for his stepson.

 Putting the phone down he said, "You do realize that doing this is probably going to cost you your job at the agency. Again, I'm not criticizing, and I'd do it in a heart beat myself, but I want to make sure you know what's going to happen."

 She nodded her head, "Yeah, Deputy Director Jennings has already told me that if I don't cut ties with transhuman contacts, that my job could be in jeopardy. You know how it is with the pencil-pusher types."

 "Just so you know," he said.

 "It's not like I need the job. The only reason I kept it was to keep insurance on Corey. No other insurance company would take him if I changed jobs, and under the new law I'm not allowed to pay for treatment out of pocket. If this works, it won't matter. With the investments I've made over the years, we can afford it. The house is paid for, the cars are paid for, Corey's and Chris' college is paid for. I don't give a damn about the job. I do give a damn about getting my son better."

 "I know, Sweetheart," George said. "I just want to make sure that you're thinking clearly."

 "George love, when it comes to my family, I don't think clearly. I think about protecting them," she told him.

 He nodded and then looked to where Bonnie and Chris were sitting quietly listening to the conversation, almost afraid that if they said anything then the adults would send them away. "Go pack for two weeks in Illia," he told them.

 "In a Shan city, that could just be a toothbrush and a comb," Chris said snarkily.

 "I will if you will," Bonnie replied.

 "Uh..., uhhh...," Chris started to say.

 "Remember how the last game of I'll show you mine if you show me yours, went, guys," George warned. Then noticing his son's deep red color, he added, "Besides Bonnie, we're talking about a twelve year old boy and cold water. Not a good combination in his mind."

 "Dad! I'll be thirteen next month!"

 "Yes, but we're going to Illia tomorrow," George said. "Now go pack your wet suits. I'm sure you'll get a chance to see the city, and it does get cold that deep."

 "Yes sir," the both said.

 "I'll walk Bonnie, home," Chris said looking outside. "It's getting dark."

 "Good boy," Leighanne said kissing them both on the forehead.

By noon the next day, Leighanne found herself standing in the medical center with Jale'n as they pulled Corey's burned and emaciated body from the stretcher and placed it inside one of their healing chambers. Leighanne's heart was breaking at the sight of her once vibrant healthy child now reduced to a scarred husk. "Mother, please run the diagnostics that we set up," Jale'n said.

 "Beginning scan, now," Mother said.

 Jale'n turned to Leighanne and said, "These scans will take about an hour to complete. After that we need time to study the results. I should have a beginning of an idea of how to proceed by this afternoon. You can stay here and wait, or you can go and get settled in with your family." It was clear to Leighanne that the woman would prefer to work in peace, but she was giving Leighanne the option of staying.

 "I think I'll wait outside in the corridor and give you room to work. If you need me, I'll be right outside." She slipped out into the passageway and was surprised to find a bowl-shaped stone chair sitting off to one side. Smiling, she sat down and waited.

 She watched as people came and went at the medical center. After a while, one of the small creatures that Miranda had called squ'ks came up to where she was sitting. It stood there with it's huge blue eyes and looked at her curiously. She noted that his large head head was somewhat out of proportion with its body. Furthermore, unlike the shan his fine green hair was short, almost in what we would call a page-boy haircut, but she got the feeling that it was its natural length. His long delicate fingers reached out and brushed against her wrist. He made a series of clicking noises at her and smiled.

 "He says, Jale'n fix," Mother said. Then she made a series of clicks and wails to the him.

 The creature gave Leighanne a long sad look and patted her knee. Leighanne smiled at him, nodded and said, "I hope so, little one. I hope so."

 To her surprise the small creature crawled up into her lap and hugged her around the neck, his long eyelashes tickling her face. When he let go, he settled down in her lap, lay his head against her breast and crooned softly to her. "I think he means to stay with you," Mother said.

 Leighanne found herself holding the small creature as he sat in her lap singing to himself softly. After a while he reached into one of the pouches on his arm, pulled out a small device and some tools and began to tinker with it. Leighanne lost track of time after that. She lost herself in memories. Memories of Dillon, of Corey, and of happier times.

~*~

 D'an'a observed his guests carefully as she stood in the living room with the three of them; an older man, and a boy and girl of about his own developmental stage. "Cool, I've been trying to finagle a trip here, since you guys landed," the boy called Chris said as he, his girlfriend- D'an'a wondered if that term was right; it implied that humans saw cross-gender friendships differently than same-sex friendships- and his father set their bags down in the main room of the apartment.

 "You'll have to forgive Chris," the pretty brown-haired girl, Bonnie said. It was strange to hear a name without a sonar signature associated with it. "Sometimes his mouth engages before his brain does."

 "That's not an uncommon trait among teenage boys," D'an'a's father, Adam said. He noted his father was wearing what he called trunks for their first meeting with his mother's old friends.

 "Nice to see you again, Commander," the father, George said. D'an'a noticed that for a man who was supposedly in his fifties, for a human supposedly past his prime, the man was remarkably well built, and trim. His salt and pepper short cut hair was the only indication of age on him.

 "You too, Chief- wait a minute? You're Leighanne's husband?" his father said in surprise.

 "Guilty as charged Commander," George said.

 "We're not in the service anymore, George. Call me Adam." D'an'a's father said.

 "Am I to understand my noble father knows, Mr. Carstairs?" D'an'a asked formally.

 "Noble father?" George asked.

 "It's a Shan custom," his father said somewhat sheepishly. "D'an'a only uses it when he's being snarky."

 "Children, snarky? Never!" Chris said pertly. "We always respect our elders." He winked at D'an'a.

 "And to answer your question, D'an'a," his father said. "Yes, George and I served together as SEALS. George here liked to blow things up."

 "A predilection, evidently shared by my noble father," D'an'a said with a smile. "I believe Dad once said that your first solution to any problem was the correct application of explosives."

 "Wait a minute, Dad. You were a SEAL? You never told us!" Chris protested.

 
"You never asked. You knew I was in the Navy," George replied.

 "Yeah, but a SEAL? I mean, they're the best of the best. Runeclaw was a SEAL!" Chris said.

 D'an'a noted that both his father and George rolled their eyes at the mention of the transhuman, Runeclaw. His father said, "Yes, Commander Greenbough was a SEAL. He could also drink an elephant under the table."

 "A herd of elephants," George added sarcastically.

 "That's why I always bet on the man in drinking contests," Adam, D'an'a's father said.

 "Did you know him?" Chris asked hopefully.

 "We worked together a time or two," George said. "Adam here, graduated Annapolis with him."

 "We were in different brigades," Adam commented. "It was the only thing that kept either of our brigades from dominating the cadet competitions. We kept canceling each other out. Of course he also kept disappearing every summer."

 "According to my wife, he was already working for General Presley," George added.

 Adam said, "Ah, the DNA has long arms."

 "Leighanne worked with him a time or two while he was there," George commented.

 "Really?" Adam asked. "Uh..., you do know his reputation."

 "She was already married to Dillon at the time, and you know as well as I do, that he doesn't play with the married ladies- or gents for that matter," George said.

 "I hadn't heard that about him," Adam answered.

 "Scared the piss out of me the first time I turned around in combat and found seventeen feet of weretiger standing behind me though," George said changing the subject.

 D'an'a's father took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. He and I went toe to toe a couple of times in combat training, and although I could take just about anything he could dish out, there was still this underlying reaction to a cat that damn big. It was like looking down the maw of a twenty-foot little death." He shook his head, "Uh, great white."

 George chuckled and then looked over to where both Bonnie and Chris seemed to be staring at him. "Chris, Bonnie, it's not polite to stare."

 "Yes sir," they both said and tore their eyes away.

 "How do you get your hair that color?" Bonnie whispered. D'an'a smiled.

 
His father gestured toward him. There was no hint of condemnation in his voice, something he knew that difficult for him to control when it came to D'an'a. "Is this going to be a problem?"

 "No," George said. "I suspect when the kids get over the novelty of it, that it won't be." He turned to D'an'a and smiled, "Please bear with them for a little while. It's outside their cultural norms, but I think they'll adjust to seeing you, and everyone else nude after a day or so."

 D'an'a nodded, and said, "I don't think it'll be a problem. If you feel uncomfortable, I'm willing to adjust to your cultural standards for the duration of your stay." He really didn't look forward to wearing clothes for an extended period of time, but he was willing to make the sacrifice for his mother.

 "I'm sorry, I'm just wondering how you got your hair such a beautiful shade of white," Bonnie said.

 "Uh, it' s natural?" D'an'a replied. Blushing, he said, "Actually it's bio luminescent."

 "Huh?" Bonnie asked.

 "It glows in the dark," Chris told her.

 "Cool," Bonnie replied.

 By then the adults had moved off to where his father was showing George the suite of three rooms prepared for them. He wondered briefly why they needed three rooms, but did not press the matter. He would ask his mother later.

 "Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" Chris asked.

 D'an'a shrugged, already seeing the nature of his question in his mind. His mother had taught him not read other people's minds indiscriminately but when they were mentally shouting, :She's got dick, and damn it's bigger than mine! I'm so hosed here,: it was kind of hard not to. "I am both male and female," he said answering his question. It's a genetic anomaly that occasionally crops up in the gene pool. Unfortunately, it lined up with my Shan genes to the extent that if it was removed, I'd also lose my ability to breathe water."

 "That's gotta' suck," Chris said.

 "If I understand the nature of that particular expression," she said. "Yes it does, and not in the good way."

 "You understand it," Bonnie said as she slapped her boyfriend upside the back of the head.

Noting the head slap, D'an'a asked, "You a student of Agent Gibbs?"

 "Yes, yes I am," Bonnie said. Then in a cult like voice she said with a smile, "All must memorize the rules of Gibbs. I'm surprised to find that a Shan knows about NCIS."

 "It's one of the few entertainment programs, my parents will allow in our home. That and something called Babylon 5. I can watch all the educational programs and news I want however."

 "You sure your mom and mine haven't been talking for three years?" Chris asked.

 "One never knows. However, I believe that if Mother knew of your brother's situation, she'd have have offered our services before now."

 "Up until now, the Doctors had hope. The health-care bill pretty spelled the end for Corey."

 He cocked his head sideways at the young human. His sonar was giving him some conflicting information. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

 "I'm an open book," he said.

 "Actually, you're not," he said.

 "What?"

 "I'm a telepath too. I have difficulty reading both of you."

 "What's your question?" Chris asked.

 "What's it like to have a sibling?" he asked.

 "Fun, annoying, and generally a wild ride," Chris said. "But Corey and I were only best friends. We didn't become brothers until after he was hurt."

 
"So you are step-brothers?" D'an'a asked.

 
"Yeah. But we've been best friends, all three of us, since we were about three," Chris said.

 
"Is he aware of your relationship now?" he asked.

 "Mom's told him. But we don't know if he's actually heard her or not," Chris said. "We're pretty sure, he'd be happy for us."

 "Pretty sure?" D'an'a asked.

 "What the lunkhead here is trying to say, is that we don't think there would be any jealousy over it," Bonnie said.

 "Jealous of your relationship with Chris, or his with you?" D'an'a asked.

 
"No, no, no," Bonnie said. "Corey's the one that threw Chris and I together. I'm not Corey's type."

 "But is Chris, Corey's type?" D'an'a asked unknowingly getting to the root of the question.

 Bonnie looked around and then said, "Yes and no. He likes Chris, and probably wishes it was that kind of relationship, but he knows that Chris is straight. So, he told me he'd rather have a brother and a friend than a lover."

 D'an'a nodded. "Sounds like your friend has pretty level head on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and told them something that he hadn't even told his parents yet. "I'm still waiting on the right person or persons to start that kind of experimenting with."

 
"What?" Chris said. "I thought Shan kids your age were already experimenting. Mom called it playing pin to the bottom."

 "I..., haven't found anyone yet to play with," D'an'a said. "You have to understand, there are certain problems for me. First, is my dad is the leader of the colony, and very much a legend among our people. That scares quite a few of my age-mates off. Secondly, there's this." He indicated his body that now showed the sexual characteristics of both male and female very prominently. It wasn't such a problem when he was smaller. His male organs tended to hide his female ones, so people most treated him as young boy. Now that the breast were starting to develop and the muscle mass wasn't always where it was supposed to be, it confused even some of the Shan. "Most of the offers I've had so far, have been more out of prurient curiosity and a certain level of bragging rights than any interest in me personally." He shrugged, "Sometimes being a telepath can "suck" worse than being a hermaphrodite."

 Bonnie smiled and said, "Well, there's no pressure here from us. We would like to see your colony, and make some friends though."

 D'an'a smiled and said, "I think I'd like to show you around. Mother said that you may already be trained on the use of a rebreather."

 Chris nodded and said, "Yeah, we both have. Dad's construction company does a lot of underwater construction. Corey and I got trained fairly early, and Bonnie learned so she could keep up with us."

 "More like to keep an eye on you," the brown-haired girl said sarcastically. "Sometimes they pull some pretty boneheaded stunts. Somebody has to be there to call 911."

 D'an'a chuckled and said, "Well, we can fit you with rebreathers and warm-suits and take you out in no-time."

 "We brought our own wet suits," Chris offered.

 D'an'a asked, "Are they rated for three to four degrees Celcius?"

 "No," Chris said shaking his head. "Only for reef diving."

 "We're a hundred and fifty meters below the surface. The temperature is much colder than most humans prefer. I think we'd better outfit you with a couple of warm-suits."

 "That might be a good idea. Hypothermia would kill us in a matter of minutes," Chris said.

 "See what I mean," Bonnie commented taking the boy's hand in hers.

 "Yeah," D'an'a said. "Let's go see the dive master and get you your rebreathers. If you have your certification with you, he'll accept that and just show you the differences between Shan and human rebreathers."

 "What are the differences?" Bonnie asked following her out into the dry passage.

 "Mainly in the duration of effectiveness. Most human rebreathers are only good for about six hours. Ours are designed to allow for indefinite diving for humans. We've also eliminated the large backpack. Our entire system is contained in a full face mask that allows for open communication," D'an'a told them. "An added benefit is that since they control the oxygen release much more efficiently, they require less decompression time."

 "I'm looking forward to trying it," Chris said genuinely excited to see actually get to use a new technology that was practical to his own experience. D'an'a could tell that he thought it was cool to think about blue-green lasers capable of cutting plate steel under water, but that was something he knew he wasn't likely to have much of a chance to use. However, he was a diver, and a rebreather like D'an'a was describing was something he could definitely appreciate.

 Ten minutes later, Tan'a was fitting both of her companions with warm-suits. D'an'a briefly smiled at the outline of effect the attractive dive master was having on Chris in his warm-suit. His father was right. Human boys reacted to just about anything they saw. To D'an'a, seeing the dive master or any other Shan nude was no big deal, but he could tell the young man was in a state of perpetual excitement. He could also sense that watching her boyfriend react this was was disturbing Bonnie somewhat. He took a short lull in the training while Chris visited the "facilities" to approach the young lady. "He's not doing it on purpose," he told her.

 
"Huh?" Bonnie asked.

 
"Chris not reacting that way on purpose," D'an'a said. "My father says that human males are hard wired to react to visual stimulation, and teenage boys especially. Considering the cultural norms of your own society, seeing an attractive nude female, is not something he's experienced much in life. He can't help but react the way he does. It is not meant as a slight to you. I'd say that if you were to present him with a similar sight, he'd react much more strongly than he is now."

 "Why would your father tell you something like that?" Bonnie asked candidly.

 D'an'a smiled, "Because he knew something like this was likely to happen. He was afraid I might misread this kind of thing and act wrongly around humans. That I might think that under these circumstances that Chris' reaction was an invitation to play."

 Bonnie, nodded and smiled. "Do you really think that he would have a stronger reaction to me?" she asked.

 D'an'a laughed and touched his temple and said, "I know so. I can read minds you know, and he's literally screaming it at me."

 
"Thought you said you couldn't read our minds very easily," she said.

 
"I can't normally. But like I said, there are some things that he is screaming at me. His attraction to you is one of them," D'an'a told her.

 
"Out of curiosity, what are some of the others?" she asked him.

 
"Do you really want to know?" D'an'a asked.

 "Is it anything bad?"

 
"Not really," D'an'a said. "It could be if I took offense easily, but I understand these kinds of things. I've heard them a lot lately."

 "Such as?" Bonnie asked.

 D'an'a smiled and said, "Well one thing was he was surprised at my own anatomy. I think that his mother told you that I was a girl. His comparisons of our penises was quite flattering to me, and somewhat of a let down to his own ego."

 Bonnie smiled wanly, "So he's worried about size? It's good to know that I'm not the only one who looks at all of you fantastically beautiful Shan and find myself not stacking up. It's not exactly like I compare to someone like Tana."

 D'an'a smiled and said, "Neither one of you are unattractive Bonnie. And, you're young, and haven't fully developed yet. So am I," he said and indicated his own budding breasts with his hands. "But then again, so are our age-mates and that's who we are supposed to play with; not Tan'a and not any of the other adults. Trust me, you've got enough to keep Chris' interest."

 Before Bonnie could reply Chris returned from the changing room, the long outline in his warm suit now reduced to a bulge at his groin. D'an'a knew exactly how the boy had managed to get his recalcitrant organ to go down. The images the boy was conjuring up were quite powerful and quite clear. And they centeredmostlyaround Bonnie. It really was a shame that the girl had not been there to help him with it, but that was a cultural difference between their peoples. It would have facilitated their getting underway more quickly.

 Ten minutes after that, they were cycling the airlock between the dive master's station and the outer ring. D'an'a usually preferred to use the moon pool in their apartment, but he thought that an air lock might be more comfortable for his guest. As the water began to rise, he reached over and touched the light amplification mode on the side of each of their masks. This deep underwater, less than one percent of the sun's rays reached the city.

 Of course there were various lights all around the city, but due it was dispersed rather quickly. If all of the lights on the upper city were shut down at night, one could still not see the grow lights almost a mile below on the bottom. D'an'a could see just fine in the pitch darkness of the abyssal plain below, and probably could even see at the bottom of the trench, not that he'd ever ventured there. Add into his senses, his sonar, and he could maneuver quite easily in the darkness, but Bonnie and Chris were obviously another matter.

 As the lock cycled open and they were free to move about the exterior of the city, D'an'a generated a column of water down his legs, spread his arms to deploy his wings and jetted out ahead of his guests. A quick sonar ping told him where most of the traffic around him was. He noted the presence of a rather large oceanic white-tip shark about a kilometer away, but for the most part it was cruising and not hunting. Most of the sharks had discovered that their life expectancy was rather short this close to the city, especially if they wandered into the cattle pens.

 He watched as his companions ventured out of the safety of the airlock and look around. He could tell that they were both very accustomed to being underwater, and handled the experience rather well. He found himself smiling and showing off, making wide circles around them. Two thirds of D'an'a's genetics might have been transhuman, but he was purely a creature of the sea, Shan to the cartilage that made up his skeleton, and he was never felt more happy than when he was underwater.

 "What would you like to see first?" he asked.

 Both Bonnie and Chris looked at him in surprise. "You can speak underwater?"

 D'an'a laughed and nodded his head saying, "Our language is not all sonar. We can speak."

 "I heard that you guys had brought back the plesiosaurs," Chris said, referring to the fact that Shan had brought the genetic code of many of their time's flora and fauna with them. As soon as the city went online, they began breeding their primary food stock- a smaller large headed, short-necked member of the pleisosaur family known as the trinacromerum. D'an'a's people called them 'cau.

 "You want to see the cattle pens?" D'an'a asked in surprise.

 "I've never seen a dinosaur," Chris said.

 D'an'a swam up to him winked and said, "And technically you won't now. From what I've read of your classification system, the plesiosaurs are not technically in the Dinosauria superorder but are instead Sauropterygia. I'll be glad to take you to see them though."

 Chris and Bonnie exchanged glances and then she said with a smile, "By all means."

 Luckily, the pens were not too far away and he knew a route to them that would take them through several sites that might be interesting to Bonnie and Chris. He waved for them to follow him, and gently glided downward along the sloping outer hull of the city. They crossed the four hundred meters of the outer ring to enter into the open area of the outer pond. It was basically an expanse about a kilometer wide between the outer ring, and the next of three rings inward to the core shaft.

 As they ascended they reached the edge of the city's predator defense field. He warned them, "The next twenty meters or so, you'll feel a pressure in your ears and be somewhat uncomfortable. It's a field that keep sharks and other large predators out of this area. It'll pass." He was careful to take it slow so that Bonnie and Chris would not suffer from decompression sickness They were now basically between a two vertical walls that rose two hundred meters above them to the surface. It was one of the few near-surface areas where the smaller children were allowed to play.

 As they exited the field, they were bathed in lights from two ring they were in between. Several baseline and one or two defender children of various ages were playing in groups all around. There was a rather intense game of tag going on, of which not even D'an'a could determine the rules. Some of the older ones were clustered together against a wall, and were exploring each other in more intimate games.

 As soon as Bonnie and Chris entered into the main area, D'an'a could hear the calls of "Look, it's them!" echo around the play area. Even the half dozen that were against the wall turned to see their visitors. It wasn't often that Shan children got to see human children, especially in their own world. D'an'a was surprised that they weren't suddenly knocked back by all the sonar pings that hit them. She know they had to have felt the vibrations.

 In a sudden swarm, the children were chattering around the new comers asking all kinds of questions in English. "What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from? How long have you known how to use a rebreather? Can yo speak Shan?"

 "I'm Chris, this is Bonnie," Chris said. "I'm twelve, and she's thirteen."

 "We're from Miami," Bonnie said. "I've been able to use a rebreather for a couple of years."

 Both shook their heads and said, "No we can't speak Shan, but we'd like to learn."

 "Do you want to come and play with us?" One of the older girls asked Bonnie running a hand across her warm suit covered breast.

 "Yeah, that would be fun," one of the boys said touching her other breast. D'an'a noticed Chris moving in, and decided it would be best to interpose himself before someone got hurt. Chris really was at a major disadvantage because of his rebreather.

 D'an'a pushed jetted between him and Bonnie to gently push the other two Shan children out of the way. He said quickly in English, "Remember about asking first."

 The others quickly back-paddled and began to blush deeply. "My apologies," the girl said.

 The boy nodded and said, "I as well. I forgot."

 D'an'a could sense Chris beginning to calm down behind him. The anger that flashed so quickly had dissipated. He wondered how humans could become so angry so quickly about such a small thing. "I believe no harm is done."

 "You could always come and play with us, D'an'a, the girl said.

 D'an'a shook his head, "I don't think so. I have duties to attend, and our guests wish to see the cattle pens."

 "Ah well, we are scheduled to return to the classroom soon anyway. Maybe later," the boy said. D'an'a had seen what was in his mind. He had no intention of letting the other boy touch him. He was the kind who was much less interested in the pleasure of his playmates as he was in his own. It was an attitude that would eventually cause him problems if he did not work it out before he reached adulthood.

 D'an'a turned to Bonnie and Chris and said, "Come on, the pens are on the other side of the interconnecting spoke. It's about two kilometers in that direction." The three of them swam off in the warming waters.

~*~

 Miranda took a long hard look at the stuffed suit in front of her. He was short, swarthy, with a hooked nose and a greasy complexion. He reminded her the kind of self serving ideologue who'd been giving her grief ever since her identity became public knowledge. The kind that had turned their eyes and saw nothing wrong with the "honor killing" of her parents for daring to convert from Islam; the kind who turned a blind eye to the fatwa issued for her own murder because she refused to return to the faith and because she dared to practice her mage gift openly. He was the kind of man she'd take a great deal of satisfaction out simply spitting in his face.

 She also knew that she would never do it, or a hundred other things that she wanted to do. It was the real reason K'hori preferred to have her with him on these excursions to New York instead of Adam or Jord'n. Adam would simply lose his temper and beat the man to a pulp. Jord'n on the other hand would likely start a war. Miranda knew she was the best person to help put a more human face on the negotiations, and her own gifts were much more useful in the conference room. After all when dealing with politics, it was always good to have a telepath along. She just wasn't happy about this emergency meeting. She had a very close friend back home who needed her help. She knew that Adam and Jord'n would see to her and her family's needs, but she felt she was letting her down. But K'hori had been right. The needs of the colonyhadto come first, and this was the kind of threat they could not pass up.

 The special UN envoy had requested their presence for a meeting to try and avoid a diplomatic incident. She looked deep into the man's eyes and let her mind scan his. At first she felt the presence of an artificial mind shield. It had a strange feel to it that vaguely reminded her of her brief contacts with Sundancer back before he died defending Cape Kennedy. There were gaps in its frequency however, and it wasn't difficult to attune her mind to slip through those gaps.

 The Saudi envoy was pushing this conflict. Oddly enough, of all people the Chinese had threatened to veto it in the Security Council. The general consensus was that the Chinese were trying to make amends for trying nuke Ship when K'hori first brought him back to Earth. But the Saudi's had something up their sleeves and this man didn't know what it was.

 "I am uncertain as to why you have requested us to attend this meeting," K'hori said. "Illia is not part of the United Nations, and with its present policies, it is not likely to become a member." Miranda noticed that he'd at least given over enough to human conventions to put on a long ceremonial style loin cloth with an orchalchum belt. He carried his three pronged harpoon with him as a badge of his office. Even mostly naked in this room of diplomats and power suits, he commanded their attention.

 "It is absolutely necessary for you to come to chambers half naked?" one of the delegates asked sarcastically. Miranda could tell the felt his own manhood threatened by the presence of her husband. He was after all, a fine specimen of a Shan defender. Standing almost two meters tall, and a body of sculpted muscle that would make the most dedicated gym rat hang their head in shame he cut a striking figure. Add in his long flowing green hair held back in a pony-tail by a single circlet of orchalchum and his water wings marking him as a defender and it was enough to make most men shrink back and question their own masculinity.

 "Not at all consul," K'hori reached for his belt. "I can always appear fully naked if you prefer. I am dressed as I am out deference for your own customs."

 Randi reached down and touched his hand. "Not yet, Love," she said.

 "Illia is not part of the UN. Why are you wasting our time again?" she turned and asked the panel of diplomats. "Do you have something you wish to trade?"

 "We are concerned about the massive increases in the Shan population over the three years since you've arrived. You have gone from an initial population of just over three hundred to nearly half a million. Our intelligence suggest that you are using your advanced teaching techniques to breed and train an army of aggression," Andreii Belanov, the Russian consul said.

 "We are a peaceful people, Consul," Randi said. "Our population increase is a natural process of growing the Shan culture. We expect the population to again double in another twenty years, at which time we will found a second city further out in the Atlantic."

 "You are training your people in what many of us consider combat and support skills," Belanov said.

 "I don't understand your concerns Consul Belanov," Randi said. "What combat and support skills?"

 "You people are trained through some form of electronic brainwashing that gives the skills to make emergency combat repairs, you train your defenders in fleet tactics. You have a fleet of armed submersible vessels. Even the United States is starting to look askance at your build up."

 "Consul Belanov, you served in your country's submarine corps. You of all people understand the need for all crew persons being able to repair as many systems as possible aboard a submersible craft. The entire city of Illia is a submersible craft." She stopped and thought, "Oh, never mind, you are still having trouble keeping your submarine fleet seaworthy. Perhaps its that lack of training that downed the Kursk." Randi did not feel like playing nice.

 "We are also concerned about the corruption of your youth," Consul Balyuzi of Iran said.

 "Corruption of our youth?" K'hori asked.

 "There have been stories, videos, and photographs appearing on the internet of your children and adults alike engaging in what can only be described as pornographic orgies," Balyuzi said.

 "I find the concerns of a country who hangs its youth for the crime of loving their own sex to be laughable," K'hori said. "My people do what we have done since we left this planet sixty five million years ago. What you describe as pornographic is simply socialization for us. You wish to remain a sexually repressed people, that is your business. But you will not enforce it onto my people."

 "You are corrupting your youth," Balyuzi said. "Even the American Christians, even the Vatican have spoken out against it."

 "And you enslave your women, and marry off little girls to old men. Our children play with children and our adults play with adults," K'hori said. "I believe you have a saying about attending the beam in your own eye before worrying about the mote in the eye of another. Now your communique suggested a diplomatic incident was brewing. What is the probem?"

 
 Consul Martinez of Venezuela cleared his throat and said, "It has been decided by the General Assembly that unless Illia allows immediate access of UN observers and peace keepers, turns over its biotechnology to this body for world distribution, and allows free and open elections, then we will impose economic sanctions against your government."

  "May I ask you a personal question?" Leighanne asked the child.


He felt Corey pull himself up along his body, and the two stood there holding each other.
He felt his sex begin to rise between them, and the other boy's was pressing hard under his balls and lay along the slit of D'an'a's vagina.
Corey was still trying to absorb it all, actually it was more of a case of him trying to process it all. Mother had done a very good job of programming his body for certain concepts, and reactions, but he still had to give it a practical application. Trying to process all of that on top of trying to catch up with three years of being in a coma was proving difficult- especially on a personal level.