Tavush

Grudge Match - A Prime Team Realm Story “I knew this meeting would eventually come about, Dr. Wiggin. However. Two things about this situation have me confused.” Said Dr. O’Mara as Valentine entered his office. The sternness in his voice sounded close to anger. “The first is how long it took for you to develop some kind of problem dealing with the Educator Tapes, and second, the suddenness with which this problem has manifested itself. And NO. Do not say anything yet. I’m not finished saying what I have to say. Have a seat and listen.” Valentine sat in the Human DBDG configured seat facing O’Mara’s large desk. She grudgingly held her silence. She was anxiously eager to tell the Chief Psychologist what she had come to learn about Dr. Skadden’s shady past. “From the start, you have shown a levelheadedness in your encounters with members of other species. From the Dragon DDKGs and the Valenglen VAAGs, to the overwhelming variety of races you encounter in your day to day duties

Chapter 27 I Am Pleased to Say . . . Cardlen-Ged and Keinuvon rode with Ludon on the main control deck of The Wanderer during the flight from the non citizens’ cemetery complex. Kabin spent part of the flight watching Kerin’s ship from the aft control deck. Narishal and the boy rode with Kerin and Tavush on Kerin’s ship - it seemed the boy was still a bit unsure of Ludon’s friends. Their flight took them from an equatorial island to Cardlen’s home near the city of Pwag which was on the northern coast of the Primary Continent. Ludon would have liked to have led the two ship formation in a sightseeing pass over the Capital District, but the weather spoiled his plan. A heavy snow storm had been predicted for Pwag so Ludon and Cardlen decided to try to reach Pwag before the storm. Ludon, Cardlen and Keinuvon conversed during most of the flight. Much of their conversation was dominated by Ludon’s telling of the accident and of the boy. At one point in the conversation, Ludon asked

Chapter 26 A Post-Life Ritual Ludon explained, “I’m sorry Cardlen, but I do not have enough time to explain what is going on right now. We will have plenty of time to talk after the boy has finished the Post-life Ritual for his parents.” Cardlen Ged had waited for Ludon at the entrance to the cemetery and Ludon had been pleased that the boy displayed no tension when he saw Cardlen. Ludon was still not sure if this was because the boy had become used to people looking so different, or if the boy was just too occupied with the sad task at hand. There had been a bit of fright when he saw the Varkelm - with their reptilian bodies - who came onto the Wanderer to inspect his parent’s bodies. However, The friendliness displayed between the Uthwains and the Varkelm officials seemed to have put the boy at ease. He had approved the caskets for his parents and accepted that the caskets would be placed on a sled during the trip from the ship to the grave site. All seemed to be going

Chapter 25 “Learn” The boy stood looking through the windows in the aft-control station - Ludon and Kabin had gone below after returning Kerin’s ship to the upper tow assembly with the remote control. He looked at the stars and contemplated the idea that he was closer to these stars than he was to home. He had known about traveling beyond the blue of the sky and he even knew about going to the moon. These notions had come from some stories his father had signed to him from books just before he went to bed each night back home. Daydreams about traveling to the stars had kept him occupied often after his father had signed those stories and now he was really doing it. A wave of sadness moved him to shed a few tears when his thoughts about those stories reminded him of his loss. With no one around, he let himself cry for a bit. He climbed into the seat then sat back and let his thoughts wander. Eventually he focused on his old home in San Francisco. That was where his father had

Chapter 24 It Did Not Seem to be Wrong “All that I am saying is that I wish you had discussed this with me before you told him yes.” Kerin spoke while she, Tavush and Ludon sat around the galley table finishing their morning meal. Narishal, Kabin and the boy had already left the table. Kerin continued “I’d have tried to convince him to let me study the bodies before we burry them. I have to confirm that our food supply is safe for him to eat and I have to do that quickly because the small quantity of food we found in the cargo containers might last only another day or two. Also, I want to try to figure out why the Sujaens induced pregnancy in his mother.” Ludon responded, “I understand all that, however, you should consider this from the boy’s perspective. How would you feel if you had to watch and wait while a Yanos doctor dissected the body of one of your loved ones before letting you recite the Barnal-Tal? Furthermore, the reason for the induced pregnancy is certainly not

Chapter 23 A Simple Request The boy’s series of drawings were crude and simple. Still, he hoped his drawings could convey the request that he had been trying to make during the day after he had woken to find himself with these strange but friendly monkeys. He had found the paper and pencils when the monkeys allowed him to look through his things and the things that had belonged to his parents. At first the boy tried writing out his request but that didn’t work - the monkey with the blue spots gave him a written response that looked like squiggles and dots. This led to even more frustration than all of his signing had created. Later, he noticed some drawings while he explored this strange but not so threatening ship that the monkeys had made their home. He quickly realized the girl monkey had drawn the drawings. When he recognized things like houses, trees and monkeys in her drawings, he decided to try making his request with a series of drawings. The boy refused to let the girl

Chapter 22 How to Tell Him Tavush watched while the boy ate a meal consisting of plain water and small portions of food which Kerin and Ludon had let the boy select from the few food items they had found among his family’s belongings. While watching the boy, Tavush fidgeted with a recording disk - a disk that contained the difficult answer to the boy’s question. He had already briefed Ludon and Kerin and received their approval on the recording which he had quickly thrown together. Still, he hoped he had made the answer simple enough for the boy to understand. Ludon said, “I think he has finished eating now. Give me the disk.” Ludon took the disk from Tavush, then walked to the boy. The boy looked up but he did not back away, nor did he become tense. “He seems to be becoming used to us.” Tavush said to himself while Ludon placed the disk on the table. The boy looked at it but he did not reach for it. He looked at Ludon again as though he was waiting for Ludon to make the