Walter and the animals moved out of the way and Jeff and Christopher got next to the screen. Christopher put his hand on the monitor and Jeff put his over it. This was a combo empath and imageer move, where the imageer got the picture of the being or beings and the empath picked up their emotions. It had worked well during Operations Fugly and Destruction and more, and Christopher and other powerful imageers had been able to get reads on beings in ships that were far, far away, and despite the virus, Christopher’s talent was still reasonably strong. So I had faith we’d learn something this time.
They were quiet for a few long moments. Then they removed their hands slowly. “They feel like no Z’porrah I’ve ever felt before,” Jeff said.
Christopher nodded. “It’s not all Z’porrah in that ship. There are some Ancients, too, at least going by the fact that they look kind of like John.”
“They felt like John,” Jeff agreed. “Basically, the overriding emotions on that ship are fear and hope.”
“What does that mean?” Buchanan asked.
“I have no idea,” Jeff admitted.
“Test the other ships,” I suggested. “John, tell them about the people in those ships, too.”
Wruck explained the giant honeybees thing, so they tried on the Lyssara’s Comb next. Jeff shook his head. “I get nothing. I haven’t met any of these in person, and I think it’ll take time to adjust to them.”
“They look like giant bees, though,” Christopher said. “Walking and talking, but bees.”
“Hope their honey’s good. Check the Faradawn Treeship.”
“The Faradawn resemble living trees,” Wruck said, as the guys put their hands on the screen. “Mostly willows, as Earthlings would see them, but others as well.”
“So they’re dryads from Greek myth?” White asked.
“Similar, yes,” Wruck said. “They might have come out here long ago.”
“Seems like everyone has.”
“Is it truly time for sarcasm?” Christopher asked me.
“It’s always time for sarcasm, as you know. You feeing alright?”
“This takes a lot of focus. Lots of trees in that ship, but there are a lot of other races, too. And I mean a lot.”
“Yeah,” Jeff said, as they took their hands away. “Far more than I can get a read on right now. General feelings of fear and hope, though, from the few that registered as close to other races I’ve read before.”
They checked the Vrierst ship, which were, per Wruck, sort of ethereal and cloud-like while still having shape and substance, and the Yggethnian ship, where the races resembled lemurs and sloths and other rather cuddly Earth creatures. Same thing—not enough history for Jeff to go on and lots and lots of different beings there, particularly in the Yggethnian ship.
“I don’t get what’s going on,” Christopher admitted. “Why are any of these coming here, to Earth?”
“Especially since none of them seem aggressive,” Jeff added.
Time to put on my Megalomaniac Girl cape and make the leap because this was actually my real job. “Would we think news of our repelling the Z’porrah more than once has gotten around the Greater Galactic Expanse?” I asked Alexander.
“Yes, it has. We’ve been approached, as we’ve said, to join the greater galactic community mostly due to our handling of the Z’porrah. Especially when we repelled them so effectively from our solar borders.”
“Yeah, Operation Civil War was fun, wasn’t it? So, anyway, I think I know why these ships are heading here, and it’s not to rain down fire on us from the sky.”
“Why then?” Jeff asked.
Looked over at Chuckie. Could see the wheels turning as he studied the screens. “Why does anyone come to America?” he asked quietly.
“Yep.” This earned me blank looks from the rest of the room. “Really, guys? Let’s put it another way. Richard, why did you guys come here?”
“We were exiled and seeking asylum.” White jerked. “Oh. Oh really?”
“Yeah. I don’t think we have attacking races. I think we have six ships full of refugees.”
“Don’t you mean five ships?” Siler asked. “The Z’porrah are our enemies.”
“Yes, they are, as a whole. But as John just told us, all the Z’porrah don’t hate the rest of us, just like not every German was a Nazi. I think they’re fleeing, just like the rest of these ships.”
“Why are they coming here?” Jeff asked. “We have one inhabited planet. Alpha Centauri has ten.”
Thought about how Wruck had described the Vrierst. “Could those ethereal people live on a planet like Jupiter, John?”
“Probably. Their home planet is a gas giant.”
“And I’ll bet some of the others could handle being on the moon or Mars or whatever. Maybe most would have to be on Earth, but still, we have seven or eight other planets, depending on who you ask about Pluto and Planet Nine.”
“So does Alpha Centauri,” Jeff said flatly.
“But we are not who was perceived to repel the Z’porrah,” Alexander said thoughtfully.
“Um, you guys are the only reason Earth isn’t a smoking crater overrun by dino-birds.” Well, them and ACE, our benevolent superconsciousness currently housed in Jamie. I was going to need to talk to ACE the moment Jamie went down for a nap, which didn’t happen a lot these days.
“Yes, from that attack. But Earth forces came to rescue us from our own civil war and to help us to repel the Z’porrah. And it was Earth who created the alliances with the Shantanu and Cleophese.”
“You mean it was Kitty, Alexander,” Chuckie said, turning around. “Kitty created those alliances. She’s created every alliance Earth has made with any alien race we’ve met, starting with you.”
“And she flips your enemies all the time,” Siler added.
“Right,” Chuckie said briskly. “Meaning they aren’t going to Alpha Centauri and they’re not really coming to Earth, either.”
“Now you’ve lost me, dude.”
Chuckie rubbed the back of his neck. “Kitty, they’re coming to you.”
CHAPTER 8
LET THAT ONE SIT on the air for a few moments. “Um, excuse me?”
Chuckie heaved a sigh. “Look, when I was strapped to that mind-expanding machine the Rapacians had, I could see everything in the galaxy. And everyone. Every living thing.”
“I’m amazed your mind didn’t explode,” White said, as he patted Chuckie on his shoulder. This wasn’t new news, and White was aware of all that had gone on and the harm that had been done to Chuckie. But we were all still waiting for Chuckie to have another Migraine Meltdown Experience. He’d been doing great since Operation Epidemic, but none of us wanted to just assume he was cured simply because the Mastermind had been exposed to the world.
“It would have, except for Jamie and Kitty.” Chuckie looked directly at me. “I know you saw it too, when you were protecting me, Kitty. They’re all out there.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to argue that there are probably more living beings in our galaxy than we can all comprehend. But I don’t see what that has to do with this situation.”
Chuckie shrugged. “I’m not sure, either, but who’s to say that we didn’t project as well as perceive?”
“You mean you think all those people know about you, Kitty, and Jamie?” Jeff growled protectively.
“Jeff, I have no idea. I’m just hypothesizing right now. But I think it’s possible.”