The Aledan's Children (Chapters 3-4)

Chapter Three

     While the children slept, three more hovercrafts touched down in the yard of the house they occupied. After talking with Otian and Rona, Hankura had contacted his two closest friends Casir and Delmran.  Delmran arrived with Lishaad, Otian and Rona just after Hankura and Chelle.  Soon afterward, Casir arrived with his two wives Jana and Delara.  There were hugs and introductions all around.  It had been years since the longtime friends had seen each other. Lishaad was new to the group but welcomed with open arms just as Chelle had been.

     “They must be exhausted.  They’re asleep,” said Chelle. “They are all feeling vulnerable and confused.  I wish we didn’t have to do this.”

     “I don’t see that there is any choice,” Casir said gently. “They’re children and you are the parents. They are far too young to make this decision. I saw what the psi-mating did to Hankura whenever you were in danger,” he said to Chelle.

     “It was hard for both of us,” she admitted.  “It’s hard for them, too.  That’s why we must do this.  It’s good that they are sleeping, they will be more receptive.”

     “Are we ready?” Hankura asked. When everyone accented silently he said, “Let’s do this.”

     Otian and Rona hung back as the seven telepaths joined hands in a circle.  Hankura started with Chelle and pulled each of their minds en rapport. Individually, none of them were strong enough to convince the children to come home or do anything they didn’t want to do, but together they hoped they could.

     Jamerin, we know what you did. What do you think Mesgar would say after all he taught you? Hankura asked gently. You know that we love you, but what you did to us is unacceptable.

     But, Daddy, they were taking Parei away.  I had to stop them.

     What you have done goes against everything Mesgar taught you.      We can’t allow you to continue on this path. You must put away the memory of recognizing Parei as your psi-mate.

     No! No! I can’t I won’t. His telepathy was so strong that it took all of them to contain it so that it didn’t harm them.

     Jamerin, it’s only until you are eighteen. Chelle explained. Please, put this recognition in a secret place and keep it there until you are old enough to claim your mate. Until then Parei will remain your friend and you will see her every two years when they come to Oltarin.

     I don’t want to! I DON’T WANT TO! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!

Even seven of them together found it hard to hold back the force of his telepathy in his childish tantrum. Muscles tensed and hands squeezed hands. One by one the seven dropped to their knees, straining with their combined psionic energy to hold back the force of Jamerin’s telepathy with their mental shields. The nagging fear that Jamerin would break through if he pushed them much harder slithered through their minds.

     JAMERIN, STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY! It was Mesgar, channeling his telepathy through Hankura and Chelle and their friends. 

     Teacher?  Jamerin’s attention immediately focused on his beloved teacher.

     You have broken the Psionic Code of Ethics using mind control on your parents and encouraging Parei to do the same. You know what you have done is wrong. The Wholaskan admonished. With your great psionic strength comes great responsibility. You must do no harm to those who would not harm you.

     I’m sorry Teacher. I didn’t want them to take Parei away. We are psi-mates. We should be together.

     You are children, Jamerin.  It is not your time to claim your mate. Even at eighteen you will have much to learn about life but you will learn together. If you can’t control yourself, your parents must return you to Velran to learn patience and control. I can’t risk your hurting anyone because you can’t control your anger.

     Hankura and Chelle held their breath.  If they had to send him back to Velran, they would have to put him in stasis to protect the rest of the people on the ship. They would have to send him alone. Their life was on Oltarin.  They had already been gone almost three years.

     Do you want to go back to Velran alone? We have no choice if you won’t obey the Psionic Ethics Protocol. We can’t let you hurt people. We won’t let you.

     Jamerin didn’t answer for a long time. He was crying inside, ashamed that he had broken the rules his beloved teacher had imparted to him and Lara.

     No, I don’t want to go. I will wait for Parei until we are eighteen. I will be good.  I promise.

     What else? Mesgar prompted.

     I’m sorry Mommy and Daddy and everybody.

     All right then, put the memory away and sleep. Hankura told him. When you wake, we will take you home.

     Thank you, Mesgar. The seven expressed their gratitude as one.

     Did you think we would not continue to monitor the Promised One after he left our care? We knew the early psi-mating would be a problem, but it was a lesson he needed to learn. You took a great risk my friends. Live long and live well.

     Parei was a little easier to convince.  As much as she wanted to be with Jamerin and Lara, she missed her mother and stepfather.  She wasn’t ready to live life on her own as a fugitive from the adults she loved.

     Three years younger, Lara wanted to stay with her family.  She was already missing the security of Mommy and Daddy. She wanted to go home if Jamie was going too. Aside from Parei, Jamerin was her best friend.

     When the team finished reprogramming the children, Hankura released them from their rapport.  “Why don’t we go inside and brew up some jern while we wait for the kids to wake up,” said Hankura. “That will give us plenty of time to catch up.”

    “Goddess, I’m glad we took him to Velran!” Chelle exclaimed in relief.  “I thought he was going to take us.”

     “As we all did,” Casir replied.  “I’ve never known a human that strong.”

     “Neither have the Wholaskans,” Hankura said as they all got to their feet. “Thank Goddess for them.”

     “Indeed,” Delmran added.

     “And thank you all for coming to help,” Chelle added.

     “What about Parei?” Rona asked. “Is she going to let us take her with us?”

     “She is,” Chelle told her. “Once Mesgar got Jamerin to agree, she did too. We’ve got them until they turn eighteen. Then the psi-mating will resurge.”

     “I think we can live with that,” Rona said and Otian nodded.

     They went into the house.  It was an interesting take on domed housing build from local wood and stone.  The wood cured to a stone-like hardness that could be polished to a luminous sheen.  It was one of several new plans Casir’s company designed for New Demus.

     “This house is just beautiful, Casir,” Lishaad told him. “I should have no trouble selling properties here with gorgeous houses like this.

     “Thank you,” Casir inclined his head graciously. He was as tall as Hankura and Delmran with a build less powerful than Delmran but more so than Hankura. His platinum hair and pale amber eyes were a stark contrast to Hankura’s and Delmran’s darker good looks. The three of them had grown up together on Velran and become lifelong friends.  Each of them had dated Casir’s two wives Jana and Delara but both preferred Casir, who had never been able to choose between them. So, he married them both on life mate contracts which was entirely legal on many worlds including Oltarin.

     Jana was a tall, slim brunette, while Delara was not quite as tall with a more voluptuous figure.  They had each had two children with Casir. 

     Delmran’s lifemate Lishaad was tall and shapely with short black hair with a streak of bright red at the front and sparkling brown eyes. Their daughter Beyonna was born within days of Hankura’s and Chelle’s son Calan on Velran.  They had become friends with Otian and Rona on the journey to Oltarin on the Sential Trader.

     Inside the house the nine of them took seats around the table in the formal dining room.  Casir used voice commands on the food processor to order jern tea for everyone.  As everyone sipped their tea, they shared memories with Casir on what had happened to them since Hankura and Chelle had parted with him on Zevus Mar.

     “After all that, didn’t you find psi factor,” Casir asked.  He knew Hankura very well and sensed he was not telling him the whole story.

     Hankura glanced around the table at his friends, and silently conferred with Chelle about telling them the truth.

     “We are psi factor,” he admitted.  “As you know, psi is genetically recessive in Normals and homogeneous in psions.  Well, we discovered that it becomes dominant in the offspring of psi-mates through a psionic reaction during fertilization.  That means all our children genetically psi dominant.”

     “The Tregans only suspect this,” Delmran said.  “They tried to capture Hankura and Chelle on the way to Velran to try to prove it.  They want to use it in their genetically engineered soldiers paired with their impenetrable mental shields.”

     “Forn, that’s a scary thought,” Casir swore.

     “That’s why I never reported it,” Hankura explained.  “I’d appreciate if everyone would keep that little secret.”

     “But, if psi is recessive tied to the X chromosome, how come your brother Trevin is not a psion?” Casir wondered.

     “If that were true, only females would be psions. It's recessive in both the x and y chromosomes,” Hankura shrugged.  “Otherwise he should have been, regardless of his father.  Capra had a fifty-fifty chance.”

     “Do you think dominant psi would offset the Tregan minds shield and make them psionic?” Casir asked.

     “I don’t know,” Hankura admitted. “I didn’t have any Tregan genetic material to work with.  The only psi dominant female I know is our daughter Lara, and I won’t experiment with her eggs to find out.  I suspect that the two could cancel one or the other out.  But I could be wrong. In any case, Chelle and I thought it best to let everyone think we failed to find anything new.”

     “I hope that will be enough,” said Delmran. “Renid is in prison for the rest of his life, but he claimed there are others who will continue rebuilding their empire.”

     “The bastards ruined a lot of lives,” Lishaad muttered.

     “That’s just great,” Hankura said.  “Mother of Life, does it ever end?”

     Jamerin was quiet and brooding in the front passenger seat of the hovercraft beside his father as it flew them toward their home in the Cerulean Mountains.  His mother was flying the other craft home with Lara. It was because of him they couldn’t all fly home together.

     He was partly mourning his parting with Parei, but also feeling embarrassed that he’d done such an outrageous thing to his parents.  That Mesgar was forced to intervene when he would have harmed his parents and their friends made him feel utterly humiliated. How could he be the Promised One and do this to people who loved him?

     He had not only shamed himself, but he had also shamed his teacher whom he held in perhaps higher esteem than his parents.       And he loved his parents deeply.  His father was almost killed on the journey to Velran, the journey they were making specifically to help him regain his grip on reality.  He didn’t remember much of that time in his life except the feelings of terror and loneliness.

     Jamerin finally admitted to himself that he really didn’t want to live half way across the world without his parents even to be with Parei.  Neither did Lara.  He was the eldest, he knew better, but he let his emotions overwhelm his reasoning. His parents were right to come after him and make him do the right thing.

     By the time they reached home, Jamerin sensed his father had forgiven him.  When the hovercraft set down and glided into their, Jamerin realized he was glad to be home.

     He had missed his adopted brother and Nalina---even Orin, though he knew the big Tregan didn’t really trust him.  Lanimer came running down the stairs into the hoverport before it even shut off, “Jamie! Hankura!” 

     “Space, I missed you guys.  Three years is a longtime!”  Lanimer exclaimed and ran to hug Hankura.

     Afterward Hankura held him at arm’s length.  “Goddess, Lanimer, I swear you’ve grown ten centimeters.  I bet Saleah has grown too.”

     Hankura released him and Lanimer turned to Jamerin and gripped his shoulders.  “You’ve grown, too, Jamie. You’re as tall as I was when you left. And Saleah is walking and talking now.

She wasn’t even as big as Calan when you left."

     Momentarily, the second hovercraft slid into the hover bay.  As Chelle and Lara climbed out, Lanimer ran to hug her as well.  She hugged him and kissed his forehead.  “I really missed you Lanimer. You look really good and so big!”

     “I missed you too,” he grinned up at her and Chelle smiled back at him.  When she released him, Lanimer turned to Lara who jumped into his arms and he swung her around in a circle like he had when she was smaller and she giggled up at him when he set her down.

     “Come on up everybody,” Orin called down.  “Nalina fed Calan and she’s setting out dinner right now.

     They all climbed the stairs to the main level of the house and took their usual seats around the dining table.  Hankura and Chelle said nothing further to Jamerin or any of the others about his little escapade.  They had both sensed his remorse for what he had done on the way back.

     Even Orin could see that Jamerin had changed from the boy he knew before.  He was amazed that when they told of their run-ins with the Tregans that they didn’t think of him as one. They looked at him as family and all seemed glad to see him again.

     When Jamerin and Lara saw Nalina, they both went to her and hugged her in turn, smiling up at her.  It was good to be home. He was pleased to be reunited with his adopted brother Lanimer who was five years older. Despite their difference in ages they enjoyed many of the same things. They helped Nalina entertain the younger children including her toddler Saleah. She and Orin had a son the year after Hankura and Chelle returned from Velran.

     After the New Demus incident, Jamerin adhered to the Psionic Code of Ethics Protocols as he promised Mesgar he would. It troubled him that he lost control and almost did serious harm to his parents and their friends. He loved his parents deeply but he loved Parei, too. Ten years was an eternity to an eight-year-old to feel the loneliness he felt as the Sential Trader carried her further and further away until he couldn’t connect with her psionically any longer.

     Jamerin remained withdrawn for the first few weeks after Parei left Oltarin with her parents on the Sential Trader. He mourned her absence. Both Hankura and Chelle empathized with their first born because Jamerin couldn’t connect with her telepathically once the ship had left the Oltarin system,.

     “Maybe you are trying too hard,” Chelle suggested. “Perhaps if you clear your mind and concentrate on deep meditating it will just happen.”

     “I tried, but I can't sense her thoughts anymore. I miss her so much!”

     “I know sweetheart. I think it will help if you keep busy.  We brought enough holo-programs from Velran to take you and Lara all the way through university level in multiple areas of study. I think it's about time you two get back to your schooling.”

     “I guess,” he sighed.

     “There's something else the foals Daddy and I picked out for you and Lara before we left for Velran are full grown now and trained to ride.  The McKell's trained them while we were gone.  Kean and Felice are bringing them over tomorrow so you and Lara can start riding them.

     “Orin has cleared a new trail through the forest to a small clearing. Once you and Lara bond with your horses, we will all ride the trail to the clearing.” she went on. “Doesn't that sound like fun?”

     “I guess,” he sighed.

     “You loved riding the horses with us before your dawning. Maybe a nice long ride will help you clear your head so you can connect with Parei.”

     Jamerin let himself think back on the rides they'd taken on the mountain trails. He was a little over three and he either rode with his mother and father. Lara was just a baby so she didn't go back then. They had been talking about getting their own horses while still on Velran---before meeting Parei. He remembered how he looked forward to meeting his new horse. Then psi-mating made him forget all about it. But now he let himself remember his excitement.

     He looked up at his mother and she smiled at him. She had sensed his changed mood. “They should be here sometime this afternoon. They are riding the horses here with their family. They will be staying for evening meal. That will give you and Lara the chance to get acquainted with their children.”

     “Are they psions?” Lara asked as she came into the main family room.

     “No, but they are nice people and they accept us for who we are. It will be good for you to make new friends.” Chelle told them.

     Jamerin tried to feel interested, but didn't quite achieve it. He couldn't quell the utter loneliness he felt while he was still unable to share thoughts with Parei.

     Chelle was beginning to fear they had made a grave mistake in separating the children. She wondered whether Parei was having the same adjustment problems as Jamerin.

     “Jamie, you want me to help you think to Parei? We could do it like when we healed Delmran,” his younger sister suggested. “It's not like she's never coming back.”

     “But not for years,” Jamerin grumbled.

     “Why don't you two work on that together? It's time for me to go to the clinic,” their mother told them. “I should finish in time to meet the McKell's when they arrive. Daddy should be back by then, too.” Chelle gave each of her children a hug and a kiss. “Nalina is upstairs with the other children.”

     After Chelle left, Lara sat on the floor cross legged in front of her brother. Jamie, I know we can do this. The Sential Trader is probably about halfway to the Rembatti System. Breathe deeply with me and think of Parei in the ship going toward Rembatti. Reach toward her with your mind until you feel her. Then she will feel you.

     I've tried. It doesn't work.

     Link with me and let's try together. Lara held out her hands to her brother and he grasped them in his. He linked en rapport with her mind. They breathed deeply together, relaxing their minds and bodies in sync. Visualizing the sectors of space, their combined consciousness reached outward, seeking Parei's essence. It seemed like they were hung in the black expanse of space for a long time before Parei was with them. All three were elated to have connected.

     Lara was right. It was a lot like healing. Jamerin then realized he had simply been too overwhelmed with self-pity to concentrate on quieting his mind to go through the process. Lara understood this. She had always been able to sooth him when his emotions overwhelmed him. It was like that with Parei, too. The three together shared a deep friendship.

     It took only seconds for them to share all that had transpired in the weeks since they had parted. Life in the Cerulean Mountains of Oltarin was quiet and peaceful and more than a little boring after Velran. Reconnecting with Parei was the most excitement they'd had since their little adventure to New Demus. Their mental reunion was delightful.

     Although they held the connection for only a few minutes, that was enough to lift Jamerin's dark mood. Both he and Lara were smiling when they came out of their trance like state. After his success with Lara's calming influence, he could connect with Parei easily on his own. No longer overwhelmed by the profound loneliness, he became interested in what was going on around him. Lanimer had rushed downstairs to the sun room as Jamerin and Lara came back from their mental journey.

     “You did it!” he exclaimed. “I'm glad you are feeling better, Jamie. The McKell family is almost here. You're going to like your new horses. One is a buckskin mare and the other is a brown bay colt. They will pick which will get them.”

     “Like Orion picked Mommy?” Lara said.  Chelle had shared the story with them many times. Remembering the good times during their journey on the Searching Star helped their parents put that short terrible time on Zevus Mar behind them. Now it was merely the stuff of nightmares past.

     Orion was a magnificent blood bay stallion with a stubborn streak that neither Brandt McKell nor Jaecyn could tame. Chelle had fallen in love with him at first sight. He reminded her of the horse she'd left behind on Earth. Because of her psionic ability, Orion felt that love and wanted to please her as he understood she wanted to ride him.

     Both Jamerin and Lara had ridden him as well and the powerful stallion was as gentle with them as any pet pony. While Jamerin enjoyed the horses, and liked riding, Lara adored horses and probably would have slept in the barn with them if her parents had let her. She rode exceptionally well for a girl of five going on six.

     Orin had built a special set of steps so the children could easily mount the massive equines. The breed had been genetically engineered from several breeds and most were over eighteen hands high. Eventually, they would learn to use their telekinetic ability to give themselves a boost up, but that would come later.

     By the time the McKell's arrived a few hours later, Jamerin and Lara were happily anticipating the arrival of their first horses. They barely remembered the McKells. Lara had only been three and Jamerin was catatonic when they'd left for Velran. Brandt and Jaecyn McKell were their closes neighbors on Blue Mountain and good friends with Jamerin's and Lara's parents. The McKell's had been entrusted with the care and training of the two young horses while the children had been on Velran.

     Sensing the McKell's were near several minutes before they arrived, the Narcaza family as they were known Oltarin on was waiting to greet them in the front yard. Brandt was tall and powerfully built with long dark hair tied in a thong that hung down to the middle of his back. It had grown back in the years since Zekan Rode had one of his men cut it off just above the thong. Rode then nearly flogged him to death, but Hankura and Chelle and their landing team got him up to the Searching Star in time to save his life. Initially, Brandt and his wife had felt indebted to them, but after they returned to Oltarin to settle the two couples built a deep friendship. Hankura and Chelle had been the first settlers to purchase land in the Cerulean mountains.

     Most everyone else settled near Sapphire Lake or Mari-Sanna Starport. Then the New Demus Continent was opened for settlement bringing thousands of new colonists to the planet. The Horse Clans only occupied part of one of six continents on Oltarin. They called it Equus for obvious reasons.

     Jaecyn’s long blond hair hung in a single braid down her back and all of them wore wide brimmed leather hats.

     Kean and Felice McKell rode the younger horses that they helped train. They brought the horses to a halt in front of Jamerin and Lara. She stepped forward first, drawn to the dark bay stallion. He nickered softly and lowered his great head to sniff her. There was an unspoken recognition between horse and girl. Lara was clearly smitten and it seemed to be mutual.

     Jamerin was drawn to the pale buckskin mare and she was content to accept him as he human companion, but their kinship was not the same as that between his sister and the bay. Lara had a much stronger affinity and empathy for animals than Jamerin. She could communicate with them telepathically in a way that he could not. But then so could their mother. That special ability would guide Lara in choosing her future career.

     Kean McKell, the eldest, dismounted the young stallion. At fourteen, he was the eldest of the four McKell children. Felice was twelve, Alex was nine and Nathan was seven.

     “It looks like Orion's son really likes you,” Kean said.

     “I really like him, too,” Lara said while still petting him. “He is glad to be back. He wasn't sure but now he remembers that this was his home first.”

     “He told you that?” Kean chuckled.

     “It was more a feeling than words. Horses have limited language skills,” she told him.

     “If you say so, kid. You want to ride him to the pasture so I can unsaddle him?”

     “Yes, please.  Can you give me a boost?”

     “Sure.” Kean bent down and held out his clasped hands for Lara to step into and lifted her up into the saddle. At fourteen, Kean was already as tall as many grown men, so lifting Lara at thirty kilos was no strain.

     Even as she sat in the saddle with the reins in her tiny hands, Kean could hardly believe her capable of controlling the big stallion. She looked like a baby atop the huge horse. She couldn't even reach the stirrups.

     “It's okay, Kean, Cavalier won't make me fall. He likes me to ride him.”

     By then Brandt and Jaecyn had dismounted and helped their younger children down from their equally large horse as they had ridden double. They greeted Chelle and Hankura with heartfelt hugs as they hadn't seen them in three years.

     Because it was early summer, evening meal was set up in the shelter by the pond in front of the house.  While the children took the horses to the pasture by the barn, the adults went into the shelter out of the sun to have drinks before going to help unsaddle the six horses.

     Since they were leaving two horses for Jamerin and Lara, they had brought Kean and Felice's horses with them for the ride back. Lanimer joined them and walked with Felice whom he had a crush on. At that point however they were just friends.  It would not become more until much later.

     Because of their difference in ages, Kean, Felice and Lanimer played together separate from the younger children who played together. Since this was their first gathering after their return, the Narcaza children had much to talk about. While Lara lingered with the horse she had named Cavalier, Jamerin told the McKell children about Velran and what it was like to be a Psion. He and Lanimer demonstrated telepathy for them as well. The McKell children admired and respected the ability in their friends, unlike what Jamerin's father had experienced as a child on Aledus where Normals learned to hate and fear Psions as children.

     In fact, Kean and Alex had a kind of sixth sense that was thought to be a precursor to telepathic abilities in their family. They could sense things about people as to whether they were sincere and genuine or if they had ulterior motives in their dealings. So even though they were not telepathic, they could sense that the three Psions were worthy of their friendship.

     “Since we still have to finish school, Mom and Dad brought back enough holo-programs to start a whole school in Blue Summit,” Jamerin told them. “They even have them in Anglic so you can all learn from them as well. It will be just like the school we went to on Velran.”

     “What if we don't want to learn that stuff?” Kean said. “School is boring.”

     “Maybe because you haven't found the right stuff,” Jamerin suggested.

     “I already know how to read and write and do arithmetic,” Kean asserted. “That's all I need. I'm going to be a rancher just like my parents.”

     “But you won't need to do that anymore. You can get food processors that can make everything you need from protein cells and plants.” Jamerin

     “How do you even know what's in that stuff?” Kean asked as he unfastened the girth strap on Jamerin's mare.

     “Because we put the stuff into it. And program it. You only need a few live animals to get the cells for the protein generator. It doesn't hurt the animals much and you don't have to kill them.” Jamerin explained. “Animals have feelings. They don't want to be killed.”

     “How do you know that?” Kean scoffed.

     “Because I feel it,” Jamerin said. “We're psions and I'm not just a dumb little kid. Lara and I learned lots of stuff from the Wholaskans and from the school. And when were on the space ship, I learned how to navigate.  I'm going to be a starship captain when I grow up.”

     “You do that.” Kean pulled the saddle down and levered it up on the fence rail. “Everything I want is right here in these mountains.”

     “It's really nice here,” Jamerin agreed, “but my psi-mate Parei and I want to be in space. She was born in space.”

     “Yeah, I heard about that. You got in a lot of trouble when you and she ran away with your mother's hovercraft.”

     “I did. But I was wrong to do that.” Jamerin moved to the front of his mare. As she looked up at her she lowered her great head so Jamerin could remove her hackamore and pet her head. “Shayna.  I named her Shayna,” he said before Kean could ask.

     The older boy thought he was kind of weird, but he liked him---maybe because he seemed a lot older than his almost nine years.  There was just something about him.

     Shayna nuzzled Jamerin's chest and nickered softly before she turned and trotted out into the pasture to graze. As he admired her powerful lines he realized he loved her already and someday he would regret very much leaving her behind.

     While Kean was unsaddling Shayna with Jamerin, Lara was communing with Cavalier as Lanimer helped Felice unsaddle him. She had never seen a horse more beautiful, not even her mother's blood bay Orion. Once they reconnected, Lara remembered him as a spindly legged colt. She had wanted him to be hers even then, and she knew that Cavalier remembered her now that they were reunited. The younger McKell boys Nathan and Alex were playing a teasing and shoving game outside the pasture fence.

     With six horses to unsaddle and release in the pasture, Orin Hart came to help them make shorter work of it. Although, the McKell's had become his friends as well, Jaecyn and Brandt were seeing Chelle and Hankura for the first time since their return from Velran. Orin had seen them a couple times a month in the meantime. He often helped them move their cattle and any other chores they still did by hand. In return, they did most of the training of the children's new horses.

     Lanimer had gotten his own horse about a year after the others had left for Velran. While they were gone, he spent a lot of his free time riding and playing with the McKell children. Their schooling was broadcast by holo-programs and monitored at the Narcaza home a few hours a day.  The elder McKell children attended with Lanimer and traveled to and from their home by hovercraft.

     Even before the Federation rediscovered Oltarin, the mountain clans had organized schooling for their children but it was limited to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic and many reasoned that was all they needed aside from leaning a trade. But the return of Federation influence brought wealth and technology to the lost colony. With each family getting a share of the proceeds from the sale of land to new settlers they no longer needed to maintain their self-sufficiency. But it had been their way of life for so many generations many were reluctant to change. 

          Brandt and Jaecyn McKell had made some changes in their lifestyle to accommodate technology. Much of their land had been converted from pasture land to automated crop farming like Chelle and Hankura's.  Their home was equipped with the latest mass communication devices and they they'd acquired a hovercraft. A combination or wind generators and solar collectors powered their home. They used that power to heat and cool via geothermal pump their home.

     Even after the horses were unsaddled and turned out to pasture, Lara wanted to stay by Cavalier’s side while he grazed on the lush grass. In the future, she would look back on that day and remember how her relationship with her first horse motivated her to become a veterinarian and raise horses of her own.

     All the Narcaza children could pretty much do whatever they wanted in their careers because the profits from their agricomplexes made them all wealthy.  Hankura still received a share of the profits from his family’s yarrel crops on Aledus. His and Chelle’s family could have lived comfortably on that alone, but he’d put it into a trust to be divided among their children when they came of age and chose their work.

     Knowing their children might change their minds several times before they left the next, they brought back a full complement of university level holo-program courses for their children and to share with the other Oltarin colonists. They hoped to build a learning center in Blue Summit financed by the mountain clans of which their family line was now included. This was one of the things the adults discussed over drinks and dinner while their children got ate and got reacquainted.

     “Things haven’t changed as much as I feared they would after the Searching Star came to Oltarin,” Brandt said to his friends as they shared drinks after dinner.

     “I think it was a good decision to limit the types of settlements here in the mountains,” Hankura agreed. “Mari-Sanna has turned into a fairly modern city. Turning Blue Summit into that might give your clans culture shock.”

     “For some people, it’s already happening,” Jaecyn said. “The best change was ending the feuding among our peoples.”

     “The town’s people like the idea of keeping personal hovercrafts out of the village,” Chelle added.

     “They’re still allowing horses, though,” Brandt said, “so they’re really happy with the new droids that clean up the streets after them.”

     “They voted down the pedestrian belts,” Jaecyn said.

     “That’s okay,” said Hankura, “the village is not so big that people can’t walk from place to place. A dome might be nice in the dead of winter, but it’s a pretty frivolous expense.”

     “People are coming here for a simpler life,” Chelle agreed.           “They are building an artisan settlement on New Demus patterned after Blue Summit. We don’t want Oltarin to turn into Aledus.”

     “In more ways than a city dome,” Hankura commented.

     “No barbaric Psi-Laws,” Brandt verbalized what his friend had been thinking. “That won’t happen here. The Wholaskan Psionic Codes of Ethics are the only psi-laws we need here. The general assembly of clans all agreed to it. It’s just and fair.”

     “Exactly,” Hankura agreed. “One day I hope the Aledan Senate will see it that way.”

     “They would if they knew people like you,” Jaecyn said. “At least you and your children are free here.”

     “And so glad to be home,” Chelle added. “Orin’s got the fire started down by the pond. Shall we go down and enjoy it with the children?”

     It was growing dark and stars were becoming visible in the clear sky above them. Native amphibians made cricket sounds along the shore of the large pond and fish surfaced to capture low flying insects. While old and new families one Oltarin enjoyed the modern convenience reconnecting with the Federation brought, they valued the pleasures of the world’s natural environment as well. That’s why these families camped out when they gathered to socialized in good weather.

     When they were gathered around the fire pit watching the flames and sipping warm jern tea, Brandt said, “Orin tells me that he has finished the new riding trail through the forest and cleared a new campsite.”

     “Yes, it’s about twenty klicks into the forest and there is a natural clearing where we’re going to set up camp,” Hankura replied.  “We are making plans to take the children there on horseback in the early summer.”

     “Even the baby?” Jaecyn asked.

“Even Calan,” Chelle said. “Do you and Brandt want to come along and bring your kids?”

     Brandt and Jaecyn looked at each other and nodded.  “I think we would,” Jaecyn said.  “They all seem to be getting along---especially Lanimer and Felice.”

     “But they’re just friends with a little crush on each other right now,” Chelle said with a smile.  “They are really cute together. Who knows what the future will bring? With kids that young things could change by next week.”

CHAPTER FOUR

     It was like a dream but it wasn’t a dream. Jamerin was sharing memories with Parei as he slept. He was with his family riding to their new campsite on Shayna. Although he was riding alone, in his mind Pariei rode double with him.

     We started the ride after breakfast. Mom and Dad rode in the front on their horses and us kids rode on our horses behind them. Dad carried baby Calan in his back pack because he’s too little to ride by himself. Nalina and Orin brought up the rear.  Their daughter Saleah rode with Orin on his horse and their baby Jared rode with Nalina.  He’s only two.

     It’s a beautiful day, no clouds and the sky is more blue than lavender. A soft wind is blown through the leaves on the trees. The horses are just walking at an easy pace.  At this rate, it takes about three hours to get to the new camp site. Orin rode it himself last week to time it out.

     Just our family is going this time. Later this summer, the McKells are coming with us. It will be even more fun with the other kid going, too. But this is nice, too. On horseback, we get to see the wild animals in the forest close. They don’t really see us just the horses. I don’t know what they all are, yet. The xenobiologists are still categorizing them.

     Most are herbivore mammals and birds in all sizes.  There are reptiles in this area, but we haven’t seen any yet. I’m using telekinesis to keep the bugs away from us and the horses. They are happy not to be bothered by the equine biters. Shayna seems to like this trail. It’s smooth and packed down, but not too hard. It’s her first time on the trail and she likes seeing new stuff and seeing the other animals.

     The ride is relaxing, rocking gently in the saddle at this easy pace. I imagine you sitting behind me in the saddle. It’s big and comfortable with good padding, much lighter than the heavy leather saddles that the horse clans use. Mom and Dad had them specially made.

     We don’t have to carry much with us because Orin sent our hover tram ahead with our bubble tents and supplies. With the bubble tents, it’s almost like being in our house. Brandt and Jaecyn McKell say it’s not really camping unless you sleep under the stars. They have a point.  The tents are self-contained living units with most of the convenience of home. But our parents want to keep the babies contained. They said us older kids can sleep outside, though. We do it at home, but Nalina usually stays in the house with the babies. She says she spent enough time sleeping outside when she was on Zevus Mar with Orin.

     I really like riding. Don’t you?

     Yes. I can’t wait to do it with you in person, but this is almost as good.

     He shared the peaceful rhythm of the horse’s gait and the sounds of the mountain forest. Through their psionic connection, it seemed like she was really there for them both. At that point in their lives it was enough since they were too young for anything but a platonic relationship. Now that he had re-established their psionic connection they could be together in spirit anytime they wished. At that point in his life, it was enough.

     Sometimes, he shared the connection with Lara when Parei was sharing her activities on the Sential Trader. The three were intellectual equals and they studied the same things, Otian and Rona had purchased the same courses of study on the advice of Chelle and Hankura for Parei. In between her studies, Parei shadowed Rona, her Mom when she was on duty part of the time so she was also learning how to run and maintain the tramp freighter. Therefore, Jamerin was learning as well.

     Sharing memories and the experience of the trail ride made the three-and-a-half-hour trail ride pass quickly. The site was a partially shaded meadow with grass for the horses and room for the children to run and play. Orin and Brandt had built a three-rail fence to contain the horses within the natural parameter so they were unsaddled and turned loose within the campsite.  The horses knew to stay outside the inner parameter of the camp as they had been instructed telepathically.

     After midday meal, Hankura and Orin used laser tools to cut trees for a permanent camp shelter. Their friend Casir helped them with the plan. When the trees had been felled and stripped of their branches, Jamerin and Lara used telekinesis to move the logs, competing to see who could move the most at once. Jamerin won, but only by one log. Lara didn’t mind because it was all in fun.

     By evening meal, they had assembled a pile of logs enough to build the shelter and maybe even a table and benches. They were building it big enough for about thirty people---big enough to accommodate family and friends. They worked on it a little each day until. Finished, the shelter was a large picnic pavilion with rough hewn tables and benches

     In between the work and meals, they went on nature hikes through the woods, forging new paths and taking pictures of flora and fauna. These excursions were both fun and educational for the older children. When they got back to their home they would compare their discoveries with the growing databanks compiled by the Federation xenobiologists. Their first time out, they discovered some birds and plants that had not been entered in the world database. Chelle and Hankura helped the children submit their findings to the world database and they were credited with the discoveries. That recognition spurred the children to continue the search for uncategorized life forms and to study ones that had already been discovered to document their living habits.

     The horse clans had been lucky when they were forced to settle on Oltarin that there was no sentient native civilization. Oltarin was barely in the Galactic Federation territory and had not been cleared for colonization. There were, however, a couple species of primates on other continents that might one day evolve into a sentient race. None were native to the Equus continent.

     They returned to the new campsite several times between spring and fall. Various friends of their parents joined them with their children on those trips. Chelle especially loved those excursions. It reminded her of the mountains where she had lived on Earth where Hankura had found her. Delmran and Casir thought it would be a great idea to purchase some forest land in another area of the Cerulean Mountain range and set up a preserve with a lodge, stables, campsites, and horse trails for tourists.

     Although Chelle and Hankura were too busy in their medical practices to be involved in running such a business, they were willing to invest in a share of it. They were all occupied with their own careers except for Brandt and Jaecyn. They were cutting back on their cattle operations due to the arrival of protein synthesizers that made raising and killing animals for meat obsolete. Only a few live animals were needed to donate cells periodically for the synthesizers. The McKell’s also thought their children might be interested when they got older as well as other descendants of the original colonists.

     Brandt even suggested a virgin mountain forest about a hundred clicks to the east. It could also be a place where people could go and enjoy the pleasure of horses and riding without the work and expense of keeping their own.

     It wouldn’t come to fruition for a year or two, but it was the beginning of a new course for the Aledan’s family and friends.

That first year back from Velran, Hankura and Chelle developed new patterns for their lifestyle on Oltarin. In the summer, they took every opportunity to ride to their camp in the mountain forest even when they couldn’t spend the night. During longer stays in the forest they blazed news trails that connected to some natural animal trails.

     In between the family outings, the children spent a few hours each day using the educational programs brought back from Velran. They blazed through the rest of their secondary level courses in few months. By winter Jamerin, Lanimer, and Lara began the Med Tech I course. Jamerin and Lara chose the course because they high level psionic healers. Lanimer was going to be a Master Med Tech and return to Zevus Mar to practice.

     They made it a point to gather a few times a year even when there are no special occasions to bring them together.

Then there were the horse clans’ festivals in Blue Summit that gave them the chance to mingle with the first settlers of Oltarin. Their culture was a combination of that reminiscent of 19^th century Earth leaning toward that of a modern space faring world. The children thought it was all great fun.

     Aside from Jamerin’s early dawning problems and psi-mating, Hankura and Chelle’s children had a happy and well-rounded childhood. As Orin saw that Jamerin didn’t abuse his abilities any further he discovered an honest affection for him that was mutual. Soon as he turned sixteen, Lanimer could start his internship at the Blue Summit Medical Clinic.

     As the children got older they spent much time with the younger children of Brandt and Jaecyn McKell. The McKells were their closest neighbors and the first friends their parents had made on Oltarin. They were also often included in the family gatherings that included Hankura’s and Chelle’s other friends.

     Lanimer’s friendship with Felice McKell turned romantic as they got older. He asked her to go to Zevus Mar with him on a two-year cohabitation contract with a lifemate option.  Despite her love for Lanimer, she was reluctant to commit to a lifetime relationship until she knew if she wanted to stay on Zevus Mar. While he studied medicine, and helped run the family agri-complex on Oltarin, Felice studied agriculture so she could run the Zevus Mar agricomplex.

     While the years seemed to pass slowly for the children who were eager to grow up and have all the freedoms of adults, they passed all too quickly for the parents. Lanimer was the first to leave the fold.  He was a member of the first class of Master Med Techs to graduate from the new program.

     Though sorry for him to leave, they were proud that he decided to return to the clinic his father had run there.  At twenty-one, Lanimer bore an uncanny resemblance to his dead father. It startled Hankura sometimes at the mannerisms Lanimer displayed that were so like Mikal’s. If only Mikal could have been there to see him, he would be proud of the man his son had become.

     Seeing Lanimer off on the Sential Trader, he thought back to his days on the Searching Star before the Tregans. He and Chelle had been looking forward to their leave on Zevus Mar for the chance to see Mikal and his family. Instead, they had gone back months later to help with the rebuilding of Zevus Mar.  With Casir’s help, he had instead found the three graves of Mikal and his wives that Orin Hart had dug for them after he couldn’t save them.

     At least Lanimer was saved. Now he was leaving, and they might never see him again. Now the years would pass even more quickly until the time the rest of their children would leave one by one. In two more years, Jamerin would be next. 

     Lanimer never regretted coming to Oltarin.  Nalina and Orin Hart coming too, helped.  They became one big family with Hankura and Chelle and their children.  When Lanimer was old enough, Hankura and Chelle shared memories with him of his parents and how they’d wanted to raise him on Zevus Mar. Now he was returning to Zevus Mar to one day raise his own family there.  Indeed, Mikal would have been proud.

     The time between the years when the Sential Trader made its way back to Oltarin seemed to past slowly while the times they were together seemed to fly. Then suddenly, it seemed, the day arrived for Parei and Jamerin to claim each other in their psi mating.

     Jamerin waited behind the safety barrier watching as the Sential Trader descended into the landing bay. He forced himself to remain calm against the exhilaration that bubbling up inside him.  Although he had seen her every two years since their psi-mating at age eight, the wait to be together was over.

     The last few years had been the hardest, because they had matured sexually and Jamerin had grown to a few centimeters taller than his father. He had his father’s stark green eyes and dark reddish brown hair.  His handsome facial features reminded Chelle of her late brother Jerry whereas Calan closely resembled his father.

     The last few months had been hell for Jamerin and Parei because of the psi-mating.  Though he tried to keep his libido under control, all too often all he could think about was finally making love to Parei.

     They had shared erotic dreams for months of coming together for the first time. Their only satisfaction completed by their only hands. Now they were deemed by their parents old enough at eighteen to mate.

     Normally, young men and women would be starting university studies at that age, but they had both completed their studies well before their eighteenth year.  Jamerin took four degrees---astrophysics and navigation, math, biophysics, and Wholaskan philosophy.  Parei took the same.  Ever since his trip to Velran as a child, Jamerin had dreamed of going back into space and owning his own ship like Captain Otian. 

     He and Parei would be co-captains. Parei was born in space and knew no other life nor did she want one. She wanted that life with Jamerin.

     It seemed to take forever for the Sential Trader to land and dock in its assigned bay.  Jamerin could sense that Parei was just as eager to see him as he was to see her. Finally, the ship settled to the ground and the docking tube was extended to the loading dock.  The hatch slid opened and Parei burst from the opening, running to Jamerin, and flinging herself into his waiting arms.

     Parei!

     Jamerin!

     Without preamble, their mouths came together in a long, heated kiss. Love and desire resonated back and forth between their minds without words, just pure feelings. In their minds, they had been lovers in love for a couple years. Now finally, those dreams were coming true.

     “Okay, you two,” Otian laughed.  “Get out of here before you embarrass us all.”

     Finally, their lips parted.  Jamerin and Parei were both shaking with desire, needing to complete their union sooner than later.            “We’ll com you later,” said Jamerin, forcing himself to speak in a normal tone. 

     The two slowly drew apart, then left the landing bay walking each with one arm around the other. They took Jamerin’s hovercraft on a ten-minute flight to the isolated cottage on Sapphire Lake that he had rented for their joining.  As the craft set down at the lakeshore in front of the cottage, they realized their first time would not be slow and romantic as they dreamed.

     Because of their psi-mating, they had been so aroused for so long they needed to simply come together.  It was the first sexual encounter for both of them---not that they hadn’t had prior opportunities in their young lives.  They had made a pact to be each other’s first and hopefully last and only. They were both virgins, though Parei had psionically dispensed with her hymen to avoid the pain and mess of first coitus.

     They were barely inside the door when they started pulling off their clothes.  Although they were eager to come together, they stopped to simply gaze at each other naked. Suddenly they were grinning at each other at the pure joy of the moment.  There Parei stood before him, shorter than he by a head with a beautiful figure just shy of voluptuous, long dark hair and dominant hazel eyes, soft full lips parted and ripe for kissing.

     Parei gazed back a Jamerin in wonder.  Tall but more muscular than his father with the dark red hair and stark emerald green eyes. Her eyes fell to his long, thick, erect phallus and she imagined how it would feel inside her.

     “Parei---“Jamerin murmured hoarsely and held out his arms. 

She leapt into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and fused her mouth to his. He walked them into the bed room and they fell onto the bed.  I need you now, Jamie. She planted her feet on the soft bed and opened her thighs wide to welcome him, wet and ready. Even so, it was a tight fit and he had to go slowly, giving time for her inner tissues to stretch to accommodate him.

     They moaned aloud almost in unison at the exquisite sensations of first joining body to body, mouth to mouth.  Feelings of pure joy echoed enveloped them. Jamerin could sense the taut feeling of her nipples rubbing against his chest and how she felt as he thrust into channel compounding his own sensations. Parei sensed the way his cock throbbed with each thrust and his pleasure at the way her nipples felt as they rubbed against his chest.

     Harder, faster! Parei urged and Jamerin complied.  She met him thrust for thrust as he slammed into her driving them toward that pinnacle of their first mutual orgasm. It came quickly and seemed to go on and on in a sensual high that they would never forget.  They had dreamed it many times together across the vast expanse of space that separated them.  Now it was real augmented by the deep and abiding love they shared. 

     In their ten years of knowing as psi-mates, their love had grown from the platonic love of friendship as children to the sexually charged passion that brought them together as lovers.  Every touch, every kiss was born of that love and the passion of sexual maturity. In the heat of their desire, they exchanged their profound love in its purest form, mind to mind.

     In their three days alone at the lake shore, they sated their primal lust repeatedly.  They even made love on the sand at the water’s edge, one of the many sexual bonding experiences they shared in their dreams. 

     At the end of those three days, Jamerin took Parei to his family’s home on the high plateau Blue Summit Mountain for their formal pledging. Their parents originally wanted them to wait until they were at least twenty-one to take a life mate pledge. But their psi-mating made the purpose of waiting superfluous.  Psi-mating was for life.  There was no reason to wait.

     Their families and friends had gathered at the family home on Blue Summit by the time Jamerin and Parei arrived.  The spacious garden in the front had been transformed with festive decorations. At its center was a large pond with a fountain in the middle of it.  The fountain was not as grand as the Narcaza fountain on Aledus that Hankura and Chelle had memory shared with their children, but the water climbed high into the air before it arched and fell back into the pond.

     Jamerin and Parei paused to admire it before they went into the house to prepare for the ceremony.  They stood together holding hands, watching the water rise and fall for several minutes. Having studied Wholaskan philosophy and the Patterns of Insight on which the Path of Insight doctrine was based, Jamerin could appreciate the significance of the fountain. He had shared that knowledge with Parei as well and they had incorporated it into their pledges.  After a few minutes, they went inside and separated to dress for the ceremony.

     Lara was waiting when Parei came inside and ran to hug her friend.  It’s so good to see you again!  I wanted to come and meet you at the Starport, but Jamie insisted the wanted to meet you alone.

     I thought of you, Parei responded silently.

     Right---for about ten seconds before you were in Jamie’s arms.      Was he worth the wait? Lara giggled.

     Yes, but I am sure glad the wait is over.

     When Lara released her friend, Chelle, Rona, Nalina, and Lishaad hugged her in turn.  There were tears in her eyes when they finished at the love these women bestowed on her and she sent it back to them.  They didn’t have to ask about her tears as she brushed them off her face with her hands.  The four psions could feel her happiness and Nalina could see it.

     Lara and Rona each took one of Parei’s hands and led her to the mirrored dressing table in the master bedroom shared by Hankura and Chelle.  Rona applied her daughter’s make-up while Nalina arranged Parei’s long hair in an upswept style with dozens of curls atop her head laced with ice blue ribbons and pearl beads.  When her hair and make-up were finished, Lara and Lishaad brought out Parei’s dress.  It was made of a silky, shimmering ice blue material with a halter top that dipped into a V between her breasts then fell into an A-line to her ankles, and left her back bare to the waist.  It was both sexy and elegant. Lara and Lishaad helped her put it on from the floor up so as not to damaged her elaborate hair arrangement.

     “Oh, baby, you look so beautiful,” Rona said to her daughter, framing her face in her hands. “I can hardly believe you are old enough to be pledging a lifemate already.”

     Parei laughed softly.  “Mom, it wouldn’t matter how old I am, you would still think I’m not old enough. But you only get one psi-mate.  Besides, it’s not like I’m going anywhere.  Jamerin’s coming with us when we leave.”

     “Goddess, I’m going to miss him,” Chelle sighed.  “I never expected him to be psi-mated, but then why not.  His parents are.  We psi-mated when I was five and Hankura was ten. Space, that seems an age ago---45 years later.”

     Yet, Chelle as the other women had not seemed to age at all. With lifespans of two hundred years or more, fifty was equivalent to twenty-five for life spans half that.  It just didn’t seem that her eldest son should be leaving home just yet. The other two would be next, she realized as tears pricked her eyes.  She sniffed them back as she saw everyone was ready to proceed.

     Unlike the weddings of old Earth, it was customary for the mother to give the female child into the keeping of her new mate.  Rona walked arm in arm with Parei down the stone path to the pond where the pledging ceremony would commence. In contrast to Parei’s ice blue gown, Rona and her attendants wore shimmery gowns of periwinkle blue in the same style as Parei’s. The exotic music of a flute like instrument accompanied the procession to the water’s edge.

     Wearing a two-piece tunic and trouser suit, Jamerin was accompanied by his father and attendants who wore slightly dark shade of royal blue tunic and trouser suits like Jamerin’s.

Parei and Jamerin were handed off to each other at the edge of the pond in direct line with the fountain at the center, surrounded by their family and many friends old and new.  Jamerin’s attendants also included Casir, Delmran, Otian, Orin and Calan.  The attendants fanned out so they could all observe the pledging couple.

     The guests included the McKells of the mountain clans, as well as representatives from the lake clans.  Parei’s family consisted of Captain Otian, her stepfather, her mother and her half brother and sister and honorary family, the crew of the Sential Trader.

     The din of human voices filled the air until the young couple came together at the water’s edge. The crowd hushed and waited while the two took each other’s hands, facing each other.

Jamerin spoke first:

     "In the Path of Insight, it was written by Arall: 'The Mother of Life is responsible for the evolution of humankind throughout the Galaxy. She gifts some humans with a special insight--the gift of mind sight . . ..

     "Through the gift of mind sight, those who are chosen will recognize their soul mates as they meet through the will of the Mother . . . And those who meet will be destined to share a Path of Insight for all time. For through time and space, the human soul knows no bounds.

     “Love has many facets, my beautiful Parei, and knowing love is a precious gift. You give your love freely, and what's more, you accept my love freely.  Parei, I give you my love now and always. As it travels the circle of our thoughts from my mind to your mind and back again, it grows and blossoms to a joy beyond words, pure and untouched inside us.”

     He looked at Parei with eyes full of love unspoken that flowed freely between them and waited for her to speak.

     “Beloved Jamerin, I love all that you are . . . with all that I am . . . all that I will ever be. We are like the water that ripples in the pond. Your love is my love . . . and your joy is my joy . . . your sorrow, my sorrow . . . your pain is my pain. We are one with our love. We are one now and always, and with all that we are, we will protect our life together from this moment on.”

     Then they came together and kissed and hugged amid cheers and applause from their guests. An evening of drinking, dancing and socializing followed the ceremony.

     In the days after their pledging, Jamerin and Parei divided their time between packing Jamerin’s essentials and trail riding in the mountains with his family.  Otian and Rona passed in favor of spending a few days at a Sapphire Lake resort.  But Parei had learned to love riding from Jamerin and Lara from the first year she had met him just before the Aledan’s family returned from Velran via the Sential Trader. Though Jamerin would miss his parents and friends, he was eager to start his new life with Parei on the Sential Trader. 

     In the years since Otian had taken his family to Velran and back when Jamerin was a child, Otian had built up his specialty transport business with the help of Rona’s business acumen. They now had two ships and were planning on acquiring a third when Jamerin finished his pilot and navigator apprenticeship in four years.  Parei had a head start on her apprenticeship because she was a resident aboard the Trader. As such she had integrated her general education with her apprenticeship.

     Jamerin would easily catch up.  Though highly intelligent, only Parei and very few others had Jamerin’s level of intellect or psionic abilities. Ever since that trip to Velran, Jamerin always planned a career in space, but he was not inclined to join the Federation Military Space Force.  He wanted the freedom of a tramp freighter.

     Younger sister Lara rivaled her brother, but was bound to make her life on Oltarin by her love for horses.  She had used part of her trust fund to buy a few hectares of land adjacent to her family’s agricomplex to build a small horse farm.  Her house and barns would be built while she attended the veterinary medicine program on Velran.

     The night before departure, Jamerin started to question his decision to leave his home and family.  He was born on Oltarin and spent all but two years of this life there. He was loved here and everything was familiar and comfortable. It would be so much better if Lara and Calan could come too. 

     Jamerin had always been closest to Lara, perhaps because they were closes in age. But they both doted on their young brother from the time he was born.  Staying would have been easy.  Parei probably would have agreed at least to try it for a couple years---until the Sential Trader came around the next time. But Jamerin felt that was not his destiny.  He felt there was more out there somewhere among the stars.  He had dreamed of leaving ever since his journey to Velran.  Staying would only delay the inevitable.

     It made it even harder to leave the next morning when Lara hugged him tearfully.  “I miss you already, Jamie. It’s not going to be the same here without you.”  I don’t want you to go!

     “I love you too,” Jamerin murmured huskily. “It’s not your time to leave.  I’ll see you in a couple years when we come back this way.  Probably just in time to take you to Velran.”

     “Then I will have to say goodbye to you again,” she sniffed.

     “After a six-month journey.  That will give us plenty of time to catch up.”  He grinned down at her and kissed her forehead.  He set her away from him and went on to hug the rest of his family in turn.  He hated the wistful sadness that he felt from them about his impending departure.  It made him feel guilty for leaving them.            Didn’t they know they would always be part of him? That he would always love them.

     His mother hugged him tightly, and he could feel her willing herself not to cry. Chelle felt certain he was in good hands with Otian.  She just wasn’t ready to let him go even though her baby boy was taller than both her and his father.

     Lastly, he hugged his father.  Hankura held him tightly and patted his back.  I am so proud of you, son.  I hate to see you leave, but I know there is much for you to see and do before you meet your destiny.

     As the promised one?

     Perhaps.  You will know when the time comes. Mesgar believes you are.

     I’m keeping an open mind. I hope to see him again before the time comes. Maybe when I take Lara to Velran “Meanwhile, I will see you all in two years.”

     I love you, son.  Hankura grinned at his son as he stepped back from their embrace. Though not happy to see him go, he understood his son’s wanderlust. After all, he had gone to Earth to find Chelle despite all the reasons he shouldn’t go. Of course, he was glad he had or he wouldn’t now be standing beside her to say goodbye to their firstborn before he headed out to space.

     Hankura, Chelle, and his other two children watched as Jamerin climbed into the waiting hovercraft for Orin Hart to pilot him to the Mari-Sanna Starport.