Xia Phar had a good life for a human on Saer’kah. She didn’t wear a restriction band and the Saer’khi family that had raised her since the Migration treated her like one of their own. Others humans on Saer’kah though had no reason to love the Saer’khi . At least Xia had some semblance of freedom. So when the humans decide to rebel against the Saer’khi and she discovers the real reason for the presence of humans and other aliens on Saer’kah Xia decides to take action. Enlisting the help of her family and her friend Tarek she forms a plan to get everyone out of the alien barracks without arousing suspicion and get them off Saer’kah on one of the newly built colony ships. Sounds pretty easy right? Now Tarek’s crush on her is the least of her problems and leaving Saer’kah is just the beginning.     Twice Removed Chapter 14 Storm Watching By Amethyst

The genetic codes of the slips and the unity-corns were fascinating. I had suggested the possibility of selective breeding to get the empathic traits both series shared, but the idea was quickly dismissed. First of all those branches were identical, and in general all the branches that had been added to the original genetic code of both species were far too organized to just be a random ability that the people here discovered and considered useful enough to breed those who showed the trait. Secondly there was the presence of empathic abilities in both species. We agreed that if the slips and unity-corns were evolutionary offshoots of the same ancestor then this probably wouldn’t be a concern, but these species were so dissimilar genetically that the possibility was highly unlikely. The only similarity between the two species was the slightly enlarged parietal and temporal lobes in relation to the rest of the brain. This was likely the physical cause of the empathic abilities, but the odds of it occurring naturally in two completely different species, from the same geographic region, were just too high.

“Maybe it’s something in the environment that caused it,” Mandy suggested at one point after checking on the twins and Amy. The three had fallen asleep on Amy’s gel bed and were all cuddled together with their slips, so Mandy had decided to just let them stay there for the night.

Krie shook her head, “No this had to have been designed. Those branches are one hundred percent identical, which makes me believe that it was intended to give them empathic abilities or it’s some sort of signature.”

“A signature? You mean like how an artist always signs their work the same way?” the geologist asked.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what she means,” I answered. “Think about it, both of these species have not only the empathy and an inherent survivability, but other traits that make them very useful as domesticated animals. The slips are omnivores, very smart, can sense predators coming, bond to people, and they even use their empathy for herding, like they did with the unity-corns. Hell, Kit was using hers to herd the children earlier today. Then we have the ‘corns themselves. They can be mounted and they’re practically built to survive against predators with their speed, armor, and those horns the males have. Not to mention they just obeyed the slips when they had every reason to either run away or defend themselves when Tanna and Nu-Arr found them.”

Mandy frowned as she considered what I said. “But the people who lived here couldn’t have done what you’re saying, if Krie’s team was right about their level of technology. So if they didn’t who did? And where are they now?”

None of us seemed to have an answer for that. Krie stared at the screen for several minutes before saying, “I have no idea, but whoever did this was very advanced. Our race has only recently begun trying our hands at genetic engineering and Xia’s hybrid form was our first big success. We couldn’t have done that without the nanites, and our mother said that the only reason she turned out so well was because humans are extremely genetically compatible with the Saer’khi and other humanoid species. What’s been done with these creatures is way beyond what we’re capable of.”

“This whole planet is one huge contradiction after another,” I grumbled.

“At least it’s never boring,” Tarek offered with a smile as the door hissed open and Matt entered from outside with his new slip happily following.

“What’s never boring?” the cyborg asked.

“This planet,” I clarified as I motioned for him to take a seat. “Did you need anything Matt? We were just discussing the possibility that the slips and ‘corns might be genetically engineered.”

He shook his head as he sat down beside Tarek. “Nope, everything is fine; Luiza was feeling tired and decided to turn in early since Dennis figured there’s no need for us to take our usual watch. He told us to take the night off and he’ll keep an eye on things. I wasn’t tired and I figured the conversation here would be more interesting than listening to old ghost stories by the fires. The scenery is better too.”

“Not enjoying the ‘fireworks’ Matt?” Mandy teased.

“It got old after the first hour,” he answered with a shrug. Then he added with a wink and that movie star smile, “Besides my bud Tarek is here alone with three lovely ladies. I thought he could use a wing man.”

“That’s ironic, since he’s the one with the wings,” I pointed out playfully. “So wouldn’t that make him your wing man?”

“What is a wing man?” Tarek asked in confusion.

“A wing man is a guy who helps a male friend get close to a girl he finds attractive,” Mandy explained. “It would be like if the five of us were at a social event or a bar or something and Krie, Xia and I were all sitting together and you and Matt walked in. Now say Matt finds one of us attractive; as his wing man you would tell us all the good things about him and try to set him up with the one you know he’s attracted to, so they could get to know one another better. Give it a try Tarek.”

I could feel my Tess’hir’s confusion and uncertainty with the concept, but after a moment he nodded. “Xia I think Matt is attracted to you. He is a good and reliable person, he told me he was something called a ‘movie star’ on Earth, and I think he would make a good husband.”

Mandy laughed at that. “That’s coming on a little strong, but yeah that’s sort of the general idea,”

To my surprise Matt was actually blushing as he added, “Also, probably not the best choice of women to try to get to notice me.”

“Why? Are you not attracted to her? I thought you were with the way you look at her sometimes, how you smile when we talk about her, and the way you two interact. Was I wrong about that? Did I misread your non-verbal cues?” Tarek asked in genuine confusion.

“Dude, she’s your fiancée and we’re buds,” Matt said with a groan as his blush intensified. “I’m not saying she’s not attractive, it’s just… it would be wrong of me to pursue my friend’s girl.”

“Why is it wrong? I am not bothered that you find one another attractive. I only told her that you would make a good husband, which is true, and by Saer’khi traditions she needs more than one. You have treated her and us other Saer’khi well since we met and I would trust you to care for her needs as much as I do. The fact that you two are attracted to one another and you and I are friends only makes you an even better candidate.” Tarek wasn’t just confused now, he was getting flustered too.

I thought about how to explain it for a moment before saying, “It’s an Earth thing. I know you were being honest and it was a sign of your respect for him and love for me, but you just told him he would make a good second husband for your fiancée. On Earth any relationship that isn’t just one woman and one man is frowned upon, they happen sometimes, but even then it’s usually same sex relationships. Multiple partner relationships are seen as a deviance.”

“You do not have any problems with Saer’khi marriage and family customs,” he argued.

I shook my head. “That is true, but living with a Saer’khi family for as long as I have, really helped me with that, and I was desperate for any kind of loving family after all my foster care issues and being in the hospital as long as I was. Matt hasn’t had the luxury of being part of that kind of family and learning all the Saer’khi customs like I have. He’s still used to Earth customs.”

“I understand that,” Tarek conceded. “I just do not understand why someone would deny their feelings and desires to hold onto the impractical and closed-minded customs of a world that cast them aside. I care for all the non-Saer’khi friends I have made here, but not being able to know what they are thinking, and why, can get very frustrating sometimes.”

“I guess it’s what I’m used to, and venturing outside of what is normal and comfortable to us is really intimidating and confusing. It’s probably a lot like how you feel about not being able to sense our thoughts when you find something we do confusing,” Matt tried to explain. “And as thankful as I am for what your people did for me, Xia’s right, a lot of this is new to me. I appreciate the compliment you were paying me, but I really need time to adapt to and accept to your customs and ways of thinking before I can let go of what I am already used to.”

Tarek nodded, “Thank you for taking the time to explain it instead of getting upset. It is of course up to you if you decide to offer your mind to Xia someday, but please do not feel that your attraction to her is wrong. Saer’khi males seldom get jealous; we grow up knowing that we will not be our Tess’rha’s only Tess’hir.”

“Okay then, I’ll try not to let it bother me then,” Matt replied quietly before adding, “Could we… change the topic now?” His slip sensed his discomfort and hopped up in his lap and the former actor grudgingly began to pet it.

“Have you decided on a name for your new friend yet?” I asked with a grin.

To my surprise he laughed. “Actually I have. I decided that turnabout was fair play and decided to call her ‘Mine’.”

Mandy groaned at that, but I think she was trying not to laugh at the joke. “That’s terrible Matt, what did you name yours Tarek? And where is it?”

“Amy suggested that I name it Fido, since I’ve never had a pet before. It’s sleeping in my room; I let it in there before coming to make sure Xia ate something.”

There was a short silence after that and Krie was the first to speak again. “Matt, I have a question for you. Tarek said you were something called a movie star on Earth, what is that?”

Matt’s face wore a look of confusion as he tried to figure out how to explain it. “I know you have music on Saer’kah, but do you have performance art? I know deception is hard for your people, but do you have like plays or re-enactments of historical events where people play parts and pretend to be someone other than themselves?”

I decided to answer that myself since I could feel the confusion in Tarek’s and Krie’s minds. “We don’t really have acting as such; too much of the communication is mental. The closest thing I can think of is Yionwa, it’ a form of dance where each dancer portrays an emotional state with their movements. Sometimes there’s one emotional theme and sometimes a large range of different emotions are involved to tell a story for entertainment.”

“Okay, it’s sort of like that,” Matt said after a bit of thought. “Movies are a form of entertainment on Earth meant to tell a story. Sometimes the stories are things that really happened, but often they are fictional stories that are meant to inspire specific emotions. Actors play the parts of the people in these stories. Acting is all about pretending to be that person in the story well enough that people watching the movie can believe that the characters and the story are real while they are watching. The ones who are really good at it are sought after by the people who make movies, make a lot of money, and are treated like royalty, and those people are called movie stars.”

“In other words, he’s really good at making people believe that he’s someone other than Matt Scott,” Mandy put in.

“But you are Matt Scott. Isn’t it wrong to deceive people that way?” Krie asked.

Matt quickly shook his head. “People go to movies knowing that actors are playing parts, and not being themselves. They usually know who those actors are and often go to see a movie because a specific actor that they like is playing one of the parts, so it’s not really deception. They know it’s not real but they watch movies to be entertained, relax, and to take their minds off how hard their own lives are for a time by losing themselves in the story. Good acting helps them to do that and I don’t deceive people for reasons other than entertainment. I probably could intentionally deceive people if I really needed to for some reason, but I act for the fun of it, and the challenge of making people believe in the character.”

“We might just need those skills if people from Earth somehow manage to show up before the Saer’khi,” I muttered, trying to hold back a yawn.

“You’re getting tired Tess’rha, you really should get some sleep while things are quiet,” Tarek pointed out in concern.

“Yeah Xia, I’ve noticed you start to get all brooding when you’re tired,” Matt agreed. “Maybe we should get you to bed.”

Mandy’s face lit up in a grin. “But Matt, I thought you needed time to adjust, isn’t jumping into bed with her moving a bit fast?”

“Even if he had offered his mind to her, we would both need to wait until we could hold the union ceremony before we would be allowed in Xia’s bed. And before that she would have to decide whether two Tess’hir were enough or if she wanted more,” Tarek said with a nod.

The non-cybernetic parts of Matt’s face were bright red. “I did not mean it that way. I think I’m going to head to bed myself, in my own bed, where there is nobody to tease me.”

We all got a good laugh out of that before Mandy finally said, “Sleep sounds good to me. Xia, do you mind if the girls stay in there with Amy? I really don’t want to wake them.”

“Sure Mandy, the girls are welcome in here any time,” I replied with a tired smile. Then I picked up Kit and stood up to head in the direction of my bedroom adding, “Good night everyone, sleep well.”

The storm was still going strong the next morning, so I set people to what few tasks needed to be done inside the EM shield. There weren’t a lot of those tasks though, so we were all trying to enjoy the relaxation while we could since we would have to work hard again once it was over to replenish our firewood, water, and food supplies. I was a bit concerned on that front and I announced that if the storm didn’t look closer to ending by the next morning we might have to start rationing. Hopefully it wouldn’t have to come to that, but I felt better preparing the colonists for that possibility.

During the morning most of the colonists gathered in the personnel ship to relax as Rebecca taught the kids a lesson about Greek mythology: The Various Gods and some of the more well-known myths and legends of that ancient culture. The children had showed an interest after she had suggested the names of the moons and Hope in particular seemed to enjoy the lesson, she even named her slip Hermes, spurring a rash of similar naming from other children who hadn’t yet named theirs or weren’t sure about the names they had picked. Talia had decided on Jess for hers the night before and seemed content to keep that name for it.

To my surprise, and great pleasure, rampant slip naming wasn’t the only result of this lesson. Other colonists asked to be able to teach a bit about the Gods, mythologies and legends of their own people and by mid-afternoon we had heard from people representing the cultures of China, a pair of African nations, Ireland, India, the Haran, the Murqui, and the Nezans. Pallu’s mother Kani had just finished telling us a Yazuik creation myth about how Jorrun, the tree God, and Seitu, the ocean Goddess, had fallen in love and together created the Yuzuik as a symbol of that love. Then she turned to me and the other Saer’khi present. “Do the Saer’khi have any stories like these?”

After a mental consensus it was decided that Tanna should answer for us. The other Ji’turi thought for a moment before finally saying, “We had some similar beliefs about our creation long ago, I think all cultures do, but the most important story we have is the story of ‘The Silent One.’ That is the story that changed us as a species and made us who we are today.”

“The Silent One?” Dallas Murphy, a willowy redhead who was one of our kitchen workers, prodded.

“Nearly a millennium ago we were only just beginning to tap the potential of magnetism and other technologies,” she began uncertainly. “We were nowhere near computers or space flight yet, but as a species we were starting to make great strides in the sciences.”

“From what I was taught I figured they were probably about equal to Earth about a century ago, but it’s hard to do any real comparison between the cultures since there are two huge differences between Earth and Saer’kah at that stage of technology,” I quickly put in as Tanna pondered a way to describe that era. “First, the Saer’khi of that time relied on solar and electromagnetic energy rather than fossil fuels. Second, the Saer’khi being a psychic race that can fly makes for a lot of cultural differences. They tended to work together for the good of the species, there was no need for things like radios or telephones, ground transportation wasn’t really needed, there were no major wars, and weapons were only really used for hunting and defense from the jungle predators.”

Tanna smiled at me. *Thank you Xia, I was not sure how to reference that in a way humans would understand.*

She was about to go on, but Woody shook his head as he interrupted. “Sorry for interrupting Tanna, but I was wondering how a species couldn’t have wars. Don’t you have disagreements over territory or differences of opinion?”

“Of course we have disagreements,” Xawin provided, “but we also can’t help but feel what each other feels and thinks. When we hurt other Saer’khi, physically or emotionally, we feel that pain too, as does anyone nearby. Would you deliberately hurt somebody or a large group of people knowing that you too would feel their pain? Could you bear the feeling as not just their bodies, but their minds go still as well?”

Krie nodded in agreement. “With the level of mental intimacy our people share it is much easier to resolve differences mind to mind then through actions that would make us all suffer.”

There was a pensive look on Woody’s face as he shrugged his large shoulders. “I guess that does make sense. Things would have been a lot easier on Earth if humans thought that way more, especially the politicians. Sorry for interrupting Tanna, so who or what was The Silent One?”

Tanna just smiled again and shook her head. “Do not apologize for asking questions Woody, it is the best way for our kinds to learn about one another. The story goes that The Silent One fell from the skies with the stars themselves. A Pi’tak named Lom was out that night watching the stars fall when he saw one bigger and brighter than all the others. As luck would have it, that star crashed not far away and he was able to find the crash site. It was not a meteorite that fell though, but rather a large metallic ship, damaged and warped from the heat of entering our atmosphere and crashing in the jungle.”

“We figure that the ship was damaged in the meteor shower and got pulled into Saer’kah’s gravitational field,” Karran clarified.

Tanna nodded and continued on with the story. “Lom found someone crawling out of the wreckage, a grey humanoid with a large head and eyes, and sent out his thoughts to see if the creature was hurt. We call it The Silent One because Lom could not hear it’s thoughts, not even the surface thoughts, and all attempts to communicate telepathically were unsuccessful. Lom ran off to get help, but when he returned with others the creature was gone. Eventually the searchers found the strange being, or what was left of it after one of the jungle predators had gotten to it. It was not flesh and blood like you and I, but an artificial construct.”

“So you’re saying that a robot from some other world crashed on your planet nearly a thousand years ago?” Matt asked.

“Yes,” Tanna agreed. “We then knew that we were not the only intelligent life out there and that knowledge fueled our desire to explore beyond our own world and find others like ourselves. The ship was mostly destroyed from the crash and what was left of the construct was in a similar state, but the components we salvaged from both were more advanced than anything that our species had ever seen before. Studying that technology, combined with the desire to seek out other intelligent species, made us move beyond just surviving as a species and allowed us to thrive and become what we are today.”

After lunch Rebecca gathered all the aliens and other non-English speakers back in the personnel ship and gave them their first lesson on English as a second language. I decided that this would probably be a good time to check that atmospheric sensors on the medical ship and begin teaching Amy to read and write in Saer’khi. The sensors showed that the current weather system was nearly passed so I was hoping that the storm should be over by the next morning or sometime overnight. Amy and I were in the lab with her holding a data pad while I displayed each of the letters of the Saer’khi alphabet on the main display screen and explained the basics of the alphabet. “Saer’khi words are constructed a lot like human words, as a combination of phonetic sounds. We use a total of thirty-two phonetic sounds and each of those has a corresponding letter. The language could be spoken vocally by other species if it weren’t for the hituv.”

“What’s a hituv?” my ward asked with a confused look on her face.

“The hituv are silent letters. There are nine of those, each representing a base emotional state, which brings the total number of letters to forty-one. There are over two hundred words in Saer’khi whose meanings change depending on what emotion is connected to it. When speaking telepathically these words are accompanied by an empathic push of the appropriate emotion, but in the written language we indicate these emotions by placing the corresponding hituv at the beginning of the word.”

I pointed out nine of the letters on the display as I continued on. “These are the hituv, and they represent love, joy, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, confusion, surprise, and pain. In the data pad I gave you I have recorded each of the forty-one letters with their names and their phonetic sounds or emotional meanings. We’ll start you off learning those and once Krie and I feel you’re ready we’ll move on to basic words.”

“What about hate? Isn’t that an emotion?” Amy asked as she looked at the letters on the display and absently petted Violet.

“Hate isn’t considered an emotion in and of itself; it’s usually based on another negative emotion like fear, disgust, or anger. Base emotions are primal, they are natural reactions. The Saer’khi believe that hate is a secondary emotion like despair or jealousy, a learned behavior, something we choose to feel or not feel when we allow strong base emotions to rule us instead of our minds,” I explained.

I received a ping from Tanna and as soon as I opened my mind to her I could sense worry in her mind. *Xia, we have a medical situation. Luiza was complaining that she was feeling cold and suddenly she lost consciousness.*

*I’m getting my things right now, did you let Krie know about this too?* I asked as I grabbed my pouch and turned to Amy. “Something’s happened, I need you to prepare room one for a patient.”

*Krie asked me to tell you, she’s examining Nu-Arr. Dennis found him unconscious on his way to the latrine area,* she responded in concern.

*Shit. I’m on my way.* I turned my attention back to Amy and frowned. “You better start prepping all the patient rooms.” Then I hit my comm disc and said, “All team leaders, there is a possible medical concern. I need you all to make sure that all colonists are accounted for and find out if anyone amongst the colonists is feeling ill. I don’t care if it’s a sniffle, a headache, an upset stomach or whatever else it might be. I want anyone who is feeling even the slightest bit sick to assemble outside the medical ship until Krie and I can have a look at them.” Then I took off at a run out of the medical ship and toward the personnel ship.

Luiza was fevered with an elevated pulse and labored breathing when I got to her. She was also shaking violently. “Does anyone know how long she was feeling ill?”

“She seemed fine last night,” Lirra replied. “She asked for an extra thermal jumpsuit after breakfast, but I didn’t think that was too unusual since I was feeling a bit cold myself.”

“Matt, help me bring Luiza to the medical ship. Lirra, I’ll want to check out you as well, and anyone else who has been feeling cold.” I thought about that and shook my head, “Check that, I want all colonists to be ready to provide blood samples as soon as possible. I want to know what this is, who has it, how serious it is, what’s caused it, and why.”

Once we had fully examined Luiza and Nu-Arr, taken blood samples, and had them resting as comfortably as possible in quarantine shielded rooms, Krie and I spent the rest of the afternoon taking blood samples from every colonist and finding out what symptoms, if any, that they had. With the exception of Krie and Tanna the whole exploration team was sick. Whatever this illness was it was a virus with a short incubation period that hit hard and fast and left those infected weak with a high fever, nausea, and acute respiratory problems.

By dinner time well over half of the colonists were showing early symptoms and by late evening almost all the colonists were ill to some degree; we had to move Krie’s affected team members to the medical tubes to keep them hydrated and their vitals steady. Even Krie and Tanna were starting to become fevered and the Saer’khi immune system may not be as adaptable as a human’s, but it is very aggressive. The only people who seemed to be immune were Matt, Sarah, Dennis, Bixx, and myself, but that was because our nanites were programmed to destroy any foreign organisms or substances that were deemed harmful like virus’ and poisons.

The only good thing about this was that since the exploration team was hit first we had a pretty good idea where to start looking. First we used our goggles and medical scanners on the few artifacts they had found in the ruins and then we turned our attention to the ‘corns. We were looking over blood and hair samples when Krie pointed out tiredly, *Look at this Xia, I think I’ve found our virus. It’s mutated some, but the DNA markers for this virus I found in the Unity-corns blood are identical to what we’ve found in the infected blood samples.*

*These ‘corns are probably survivors or have an inherited immunity to the original virus and they’re just carriers now, it’s probably spread through physical contact, bodily fluids and such,* I replied.

*Now that we know what caused it, what do we do about it?* my sister pondered. *It’s too late for normal vaccination methods. Could we use nanites to take over for the immune system temporarily?*

I shook my head after considering it. *No, they could become dependent on the nanites afterwards and I don’t think I’m a good enough nanite programmer to make them do something as complex as completely taking over for the immune system or even to isolate that feature from my own nanites. Perhaps something more limited? We have a simple nanite program that’s designed to search out and destroy Cancer cells and I think I could alter it to do the same to this virus using it’s DNA as a targeting parameter. If I make them permanent and self-replicating, with only that purpose, then they should make the host immune to this virus and any future mutations. If it works we could use the same method as a vaccine for future viruses as well.*

*You’re going to get some rest and get some fluids into you while I work on the nanite program,* I told her sternly as I began to move my hands over the input screen to pull up the nanite program I wanted. *And get something to eat from Sarah. With Amy and Kyle sick now too I’ll need you healthy enough to help me administer the nanites when they’re done.*