^{“Well, since you expect to solve the problem, I don’t understand your doubts.”}
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Previous: Book 08 - Post 068

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“I… are you saying that if I don’t have reasonable hope then I should not? That I should destroy them now just because the hope I feel is not ‘reasonable’?” Oh boy! I could see Robbie was going to lose the ultimate argument. “Dad, do flowers have souls?” “Huh?” “Should we rid our planets of flowers because they do not have souls? The Whites are beautiful, their minds and thoughts are beautiful, they have the right to exist because life is beautiful for them. We must lie, evade, do whatever we have to if there is the vaguest hope that someday we can help them. Even more important, we must find a way to make them feel loved, for that is all they crave for their existence to have meaning…a simplified answer that applies to all of us don’t you think Samuel?” With a wide grin, “You need to be loved?” “I am, by those I need to be loved by. Thank you for your concern Samuel.” Alki laughed and that sort of killed our sparring because it made me laugh also. Strange huh? If I had looked like a woman, it would have meant I’d lost that round when I laughed, but because I look like a child, it meant I won and Samuel knew it. At least it amused him, so he gained something out of it. That night Robbie made me feel very special, but afterwards he sort of miffed me by chuckling as he turned over to sleep. https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaH1rDrevdwTn4kisQ8KED5hrAbUQ1UMUNfbYwCQPPNza/Orshiir%20image+Txt,%20Bk08,%20p5581.png Our partly alien sisters and wives, Ashia, Annavi, Solace and Orshiir, who were Cherinian born of us and alien parents, are still very close to their ‘mothers’. (I put “mothers” that way because of Ordinx.) Orshiir also treats the son of Ashiir and Ordinx as her brother and Annavi as her ‘direct’ sister. As we’ve said before, our relationships do become quite complex. Speaking of Orshiir, I placed a photo of her. She asks I tell you that she was not posing for you, Rosie took the picture and she does not like it. If she had known I would post it for you, she says she would have been looking into the camera so that you feel she is looking at you with love. Hmph! Seems everyone wants to love you (except when we think of Sheena). Oh dear, I seem to have stepped on some toes. Robyn, Shelif and Aven are asking why I did not include them and want you to know they love their mothers very much (Shiyra and Haven). Arthur, I promised to post at least one picture of the girls not in the diary yet, but I’ll leave Haven, Shiyra, Aven and Rania for the next book. As for Sheena, do I count her as family? We all love her and she treats us as family in many ways, but we do not feel she is really bonding with us. If she does get snapped in by the ‘family circle’ I’ll put her picture in the next book, but I guess you will find it really difficult to replace it with a photo of a little girl with snow-white hair and her fine features. https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmcwVsAumYt8C2WZ3gXvAZW7mKf73BErjnCHrDXAXchFxQ/Arthur,%20abt%20Sheena%20photo,%20Bk08,%20p5581.png

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https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbFDj4dJt9LfELJyDZrXYqGufKciBYpf3mboBzVFZ1NuU/Arthur+Sam,%20wondering%20abt%20the%20other,%20if%20real,%20Bk08,%20p5582.png Since we are not chatting now, I’ll admit that I too sometimes feel about him the way he says he feels about Cherine and I.
Robbie has decided it is time he visits the Whites. We are all fighting him. Just Sheena alone was able to send everyone in Freddie into a crazy spin, alone with even just twenty of them he would not have a chance. Robbie did not answer us, just grinning at us, as if we were funny - or stupid. Cherine worked it out first. “You think Sheena can protect you? You want to take her with?” “She can my love and yes, she should come with. Until now there was a purpose to procrastinating, as I had to be certain we understand each other and she knows how to control her yearning. For a child her age she has done well and I am confident she will help me.” “If anything goes wrong I can only save you by changing. Robert, every time I do so, I fear the day comes closer when I will change forever.” He put Sheena on her feet and picking Cherine up held her closely as he walked around. He stopped and looked into her eyes. “I no longer fear it as I used to my love.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Well, I do! None of you are ready.” “As long as you love us you will be the Cherine we adore…”

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“For how long Robert, for how long will I love you the way I do if I change and you don’t? You are presuming that because I did those times I changed I always will. I was still in control Robert. If you are not ready to follow me, will I be able to hang on, be as I am now, or will I love all of my family the same as I will love all of life?” We were all shaken by her words. Although I had suspected, insisting she must keep the younger Cherine with her for that reason, it was different hearing her voice my fears. Robbie had grown pale and he wavered for a moment in his determination to visit the Whites. They reached into each other’s minds and we held our breaths as they communed. She was the first to move, resting her fingers on his cheeks and then turning to us. “He is calling Vincent to join us.” He felt our relief as he arrived and first checked that none of us were in danger and then looked to Robbie. They shared and Vincent sat down as if he were tired. Maria brought him a coffee and he smiled. “Next thing I know she will be bringing me cigarettes. She is breaking away from you Robert.” “Another time Vincent, we have more urgent concerns right now.” He tilted his head, just like Robbie does. “Are you certain? If she can, what about Freddie and me?” Robbie looked and felt as if he had been sandbagged. He sat down heavily. They all felt my amusement so he was not the only one to turn to look at me. I shrugged. “What’s the big deal? If you want to prevent it, all you have to do is reabsorb them for a while until the connection is strong again. As for me, I like the idea of them being our partners. I think it makes us stronger.” Even as I spoke, Cherine was searching my mind. She sent me a kiss and returned to her own mind. “Is the other Robert giving you a hard time?” “I’d forgotten how prone the Robert of his time was to inviting trouble.” We all laughed as Rosie answered, “Don’t worry, ours has not changed that much.” Vincent came to a decision and nodded. “I will stay out of range so as not to be affected too strongly. Robert, the decision must be mine, if I decide you are no longer able to act rationally I will remove you.” “That was understood, why are you warning me as if it was not?” “Because you are bound to fight me.” “Just see that I do not harm anyone else.” Vincent was right and we girls silently decided that, at the moment Robbie is forcibly withdrawn, we will jump to them. We do not believe he would fight us and it might save Vincent if Robbie is about to use his powers instead of his gifts.
Yarousa asked for permission to withdraw the Unation ship into normal space as soon as we arrive back in the Iktrian reality and Robbie agreed, not really concentrating on the odd request. Sheena stared at him in wonder as he changed, his hair turning white and his features becoming delicately fine. We also watched with curiosity and felt each other, pleased that none of us prefer him like this - although he is extremely good looking. Allan, as usual, could not help baiting him. “Your gay admirers on Earth would be delighted if they could see you now, I bet they would all willingly change themselves into little boys for you.” Claudia laughed. “You are wrong, they would prefer him the way he looked for me, with massive thighs.” The teasing continued as we tried to control our nervousness, but Robbie was lost in his thoughts, trying to prepare for all the contingencies from before. We felt a growing need to rush to his side, touch him and reassure him that we all love him, but his eyes remained on Sheena. She stared up at him with a tiny frown and then her fingertips touched his cheeks. It was obvious she did not know how to react to his yearning for love. It lasted longer than was comfortable and then, as it stopped, he sighed.

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“It is just as I thought, she cannot love.” “If that is true, then it must be a self-defence mechanism.” Athia’s eyes were squished up as she thought. “They do not know what they are asking for dad, it must have started as an instinctive need, as it does with all babies. The yearning for love is their way of asking to be protected and cared for. It does not mean they can never learn to love, something must have arrested their learning pattern. Give me a moment.” We saw the startled recognition of truth in Cherine and after glancing at her, Athia continued. “Imagine, they are born and begin to emote. They are not given the opportunity to learn to love because they ensnare those they emote to and have their love without being taught they must return it. Even with a normal baby of our species, there are times the parents do not give love unstintingly, perhaps because the mother is tired, she just changed the nappy and now has to do it again or because the baby is teething and its incessant crying is driving her nuts. I think that in immeasurably small ways we have to learn to give love if we want to be loved. Our babies do not learn to love if they are not loved; with them it is because they are loved without bounds or needs from the parents. All they know is how to fear and their only weapon is the overpowering yearning. Maybe Sheena cannot love yet, but she has been learning to control her needs out of respect for ours. I think that with time she will learn that to be truly loved, she must love in return.” “If what you say is true, then she should have learnt how to by now, she is still not much more than a baby.” “And most of her short life has been with her own kind. Don’t expect miracles dad.” “I was hoping for one…from Arthur.” “I doubt he would want to influence her dad. He wants her to love because she can, not because he assumed for her.” I am right, aren’t I Arthur? “Then we’ll have to see that she does, I cannot imagine an eternity with us loving her without her feeling anything for us. Sheena and I better go.” He gently pulled her face up and they communicated with words and pictures, “Sheena, you and I are going to visit your people. Will you help me if they try to make me love them?” “How?” “Teach them what you learnt from us, that your needs can harm us.” “Not good. Not harm you, need you.” “That is a good enough reason for now. Thank you.” Even Vincent was caught by surprise when they suddenly disappeared. Freddie focussed on the village Robbie went to and we all watched. It was still before dawn and when Robbie looked up, he saw Freddie in the sky, like a small bilious moon. He sat down in the centre of the village and created an envelope of warmth around the two of them. Sheena was afraid and clung to him, losing control of her yearnings in small bursts, but with time she calmed down and even dozed in his arms. “He will do the same to them as he did to us?” “I doubt it Periga, they will not attack him.” “They will, in their way.” The sky had barely begun to lighten when an elderly White walked out of his home. He glanced at the two of them and walked over to his animals to feed them. Soon another man came out, but he too ignored them and went about his business. Soon there were over ten people walking about and none of them were curious. Sheena looked up at Robbie and when he smiled at her, she gave her first tentative smile back. Robbie was enchanted and forgot where he was. We too were enchanted but also puzzled. This was no city where they might not realise he is a stranger, why did they not feel threatened or curious? The sun was just peeping over the horizon when a woman walked out with plates in her hands. Robbie, both the man and the artist, reacted to her beauty and she must have felt him, for she stopped a moment, looked around and then handed the plates, speaking in pictures. “Eat, if you travelled at night you must be famished. No houses are free so a room is being prepared. The little one, from which town?”

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“Her people were all killed. I found her hiding and alone.” She looked horrified. “Then her past is lost! She is of the unlinked! You should have let her die.” Robbie almost grunted in surprise. “Aren’t all of us unlinked, in those ways that really matter?” “What do you mean? We all know who our parents are, is it so different in your home?” Sheena giggled (in picture form, a spluttering of colours dancing and bobbing) and Robbie looked down at her with obvious love. The woman quickly moved away, calling to a man. They talked and as she returned to her home, the man came over. “Eat while we talk. Why is it you speak like a child and speak thoughts like a Parent?” “The little one taught me to speak. Why do you say I speak like a Parent?” “This is a puzzle. Wait.” He left, but soon returned with two older men. “You say the unlinked one taught you to speak? How did you speak before that?” “In the way of the dark-haired ones, with my mouth.” “Your Parents did not send you away, you grew up with them!?” Robbie had to lie. “Yes.” They became a little bit afraid and gentle yearnings for love licked out at him, but mostly they were excited, discussing their thoughts openly so that Robbie could hear/see/feel them. They interpreted his answers in ways that suited their own needs, giving different meanings to the ones he’d intended. They thought the Darks were changing, willing now to allow the Whites to stay with them. “Speak to us as they do.” “Your way is better, they do not understand so much of what each of them tries to tell the others. Do you understand the meaning of their words?” “Some of them.” His voice startled them. “I have named the little one Sheena. My name is Robert.” Suddenly the entire village seemed to be standing there listening. Their thoughts were chaotic and Robbie could not understand them, but he sensed their feelings. He looked down at Sheena and whispered, “Is it time to frighten them? Protect me my love.” She nodded, her eyes huge and dark with fear. “Look at me.” As they did so, he changed the colour of his hair. He stayed seated on the ground so that they would have no reason to fear him, but it did not help. They thought they had been tricked and were about to be killed, certain that the rest of the Darks had surrounded them. The fear of the villagers terrified Sheena and she forgot to help Robbie, her own yearnings drilling into him with theirs. Vincent let him endure it for a minute and then jumped to collect them. We were ready to intervene, but they were almost instantly back with us. Sheena screamed in her mind and collapsed, huddling on the ground. Gently Dommi took her in her arms and soothed her, while Robbie shook in Vincent’s arms. As soon as Robbie could, he took Sheena in his arms and floating into the sky, he talked with her until she was happy again. He sat on the ledge and teasingly told her to jump off. She shook her head, refusing, so Candy jumped to them and coaxed her to dance with her. Soon her feet floated off the ledge and when Candy showed her how to will herself into swoops she forgot her fear and did not want to stop when Robbie called them to him. “I have to return to the village, do you want to come with me?” She shook her head, slightly emoting her yearning. “You don’t have to, but it would make me happy if you do. I love showing everyone what a lovely daughter I have.” He smiled at Candy. “What if you come with?” “As I am?” “Yes.” Vincent jumped to them. “Robert, that is not a good idea.”

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“I doubt they will harm her. The after effect of them putting me through the wringer is a stronger need to help them; that is not bad Vincent. Anyway, the decision is hers.”
They landed at the same place. The Whites froze, but then circled in, emoting again. “If you want us to stay you must stop trying to make us love you. Look, I have come with two children, would I do so if I intended you harm? We’ll return tomorrow, think about what I said.” They returned to Freddie before they could be ensnared. That became the pattern over the next few days, Robbie always taking Sheena with a different girl. isi-mi-Metti was thrilled when he chose her also (in a Terran body). Gradually familiarity worked its magic and the Whites relaxed, their yearning not overpowering them. At each visit, Robbie repeated himself, explaining that their fear is trying to make him love them and that it interferes with his ability to reason. He had Sheena show them how she controls herself. By now she was preening, just like a two year old does when adults admire them, and we all spoilt her rotten. I think her best moment was when Robbie kept her with us one night and she slept with her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her. During their visits, Robbie tried to monitor the crowd and feel who is trying to control him or herself. We’d expected a mature person would be the one, but instead it was a young man of about twenty five. For the next visit, Robbie turned up with three girls and a canvas and paint. He set up his easel and started to paint. The young man rushed off and returned with primitive artists’ implements and sitting closer than usual to Robbie began a painting. That night Robbie sat painting until nearly morning. When they arrived, they found the young man was already in position and waiting for the light so as to paint. Robbie sat fiddling with his painting to give the other time to finish. The crowd had gathered behind Robbie and was already emoting their yearning even as they discussed the painting between themselves. The young man sat back, not looking happy. “May I see it?” Robbie stood before the painting, trying to puzzle it out. It was too abstract for him to understand and he was trying to ‘feel’ it. “Is it an idea, an emotion, like the pictures you talk to each other with?” He nodded, emoting his yearning. “It must be too adult for me to understand. Will you leave it here for me to look at until I do understand it?” Once he had his agreement Robbie invited him to take a look at his painting. “Can you see how different our paintings are? The paintings of your people are made up of emotions and ideas, while those of my people are of what we see in this world with our eyes, or, as we would like to see the world. The two people are meant to be you and I, each extending a hand to the other. Look at the painting my figure is trying to paint. It is meant to be this painting, but do you see what is happening to it? You are sending your painting to me so strongly that I cannot paint my own picture and it is half yours and half mine and it is not beautiful.” There was a look of distress on the young man’s face, though Robbie could not tell whether it was at the sight of his painting or the painting within the painting. He laughed. “Would you like to hear of another way of talking and feeling that is even more beautiful? I’ll ask Wendy to come with me tomorrow and let her sing you a song. Goodbye my friend and thank you.”
“How can I Robert? I have not heard a sound from them! I do not know what is harmonic to their ears and souls.” “Could you sing his painting to him?” “For god’s sake Robert, you are being unreasonable!” “Perhaps I am Allan, but what if she manages it? Would it not help bridge our differences?” Wendy, Candy, Jade and Meli left and Freddie made certain no one heard them throughout that night. Jade had a sketch pad with, she broke down the complex shapes into layers for Wendy, and Meli tried to sense the relationship between them. She became quite excited and talked of writing a book in layers. “I’ll need them with me. They know what I intend trying and will sense if I am going wrong.”

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It felt as if Robbie were trying to melt with love for her. “My Wendy go wrong? Never!” However, he did accede to her wishes. When Wendy sang, their yearning became an excited thing that tore at the order of their thoughts and Wendy's song died. Vincent got them out of there. An hour later Robbie returned with the girls and Wendy tried again. Again she faltered and Vincent got them back. The next day Wendy managed to sing the whole song. Robbie wanted to return without any of the girls, but I insisted on going with this time. “If you must come, then you will do so as an adult. I want them to worry about why I did not bring a child with so that they learn that I am no threat, whichever way I visit them.” “A female with you may be a good intermediate step. Give me a moment to change.”
It had snowed during the night and yet the painting was not damaged. We sensed the young man was watching us from within his home, so we guessed he had protected his painting from the elements. Robbie’s painting was gone. “Can you feel it any better now that you are here?” I stared at it, even allowing my eyes to unfocus so that I saw hazy flows of colour, but it meant nothing to me. “I would like to ask the artist to do something for me.” When he realised we were concentrating on his painting, he came out. “May the sun be cool for you.” “Thank you. I am Samantha. May this day be the first of your journey back to your parents.” For the first time, he stared into my eyes and I felt a shock, like an electric thrill racing through my mind. Forgetting to remain demure and placid, I turned urgently to Robbie, grabbing his arm. “Robert, he has a soul, I can feel it!” “What! How can that be Sam?” I turned to the man who was attacking us with his yearnings as he stood his ground. Attacking is such an unfortunate word to use and opposite to what is occurring, but I cannot think of anything else to use that effectively describes what he was doing. “I became excited, I apologise if I frightened you. What is your name?” See? Even I can be stupid at times. He sent me his name as a picture. Robbie chuckled at the look on my face. “May I choose a spoken name for you?” He agreed. “Raceme. You are like a beautiful flower. I’ll call you Raceme. Please help us understand your painting by speaking it to us as a picture in your mind and try to feel strongly what it means to you.” He held the thought for as long as we concentrated on him. What puzzled me was the emotion. It felt just like their yearning to be loved, but I could sense there was something slightly different about it. It suddenly struck me that it reminded me more of the way Sheena yearns than the adults. “Parent? That is what you think a parent is like?” He was filled with joy at my words so we did not need his confirmation. The others must have been feeling him for they spilled out of their houses and the beautiful faces and forms that surrounded me shook me. My cultural background tagged their long white hair and clothing as a form of purity or innocence, but I think this time the tag is right. They gathered around us with rapt faces, just like children promised something special. “Wendy, she did not tell you?” “No. Wendy sang your thoughts, but she did not understand what they meant. Now that I understand, I can see how her song was of the yearning and love of a child for his parents. Raceme, may we take this painting to keep and remember the special beauty of the love a child feels for his parents?” “Not a good painting, I failed to…make it…sing?” “It sings to me Raceme.” “I painted it for him, you may take it. May we keep his?”

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“If you understand it. What does it sing to you of?” He was silent for a long time and we sensed him communing with the others. “Maybe, that parents will not send away their children because they are different?” I had to make him repeat his thought a few times until I grasped what he was telling me. “Have you understood why they fear you?” “No.” Try as hard as I did, I could not make them understand. This time, instead of inundating us with their yearning we felt a dark despair grow in them, even their wilting postures speaking of their dark mood. “Do not give up hoping. We are taking the first steps and they are difficult. Trust that we will find a way for you to rid your parents of the fear.” By now I was exhausted, despite the freezing cold I was soaked in sweat from trying so hard to find ways for us to understand each other. Robbie put his arm around me. “My Samantha is tired. We will return tomorrow.”
Laak-ist-Eltiorass, Tsiesschkir and Yarousa returned from their spaceship and joined us that evening as we nibbled at our food between our discussions and various analyses of the Whites. They were warmly welcomed and after some polite chitchat, they told us their news. “We have been trying to identify the cause of their mutations. Mutations should not occur as frequently as it does with them, more like it happened with you, we mean Cherine - rarely. Some exterior factor had to be responsible. The first thing we analysed was the background radiation, both of their planet and their sun. The sun is normal for its type and the radiation should not be affecting them. The planet however is a different case.” They paused and we sensed their worry. “The atmosphere, water and the top layer of their soil is abnormal. The tests we have conducted indicate that the radiation that is affecting them is recent, of no more than three hundred years and is not only affecting the Iktrians. Apart from the radiation not being normal to their planet, it seems the saturation levels are ebbing. The peak was about forty years ago and within another ninety years, it should be reduced to safe levels. There are no indications that the level of technology of the Iktrians was ever higher than it is now, so they did not cause the problem, but the cause has to be artificial.” Of course the answer was simple to everyone - all Robbie had to do was take us back three hundred years to discover who had seeded this world with energies that would affect a sentient species so dramatically. Robbie however showed no interest. “We have a problem to deal with now. Once we have solved it, we can then deal with the past.” He looked around at everyone with surprise. “Why do you all assume it was a malicious act? I can find a reason I would be tempted to do so if I had no other methods available to me. What if an advanced race passing by realised the Iktrians had reached an evolutionary dead-end and they saw this as a painless way of forcing nature to resume evolving them?” “It would not be ethical. They should have contacted the Iktrians and after proving their case asked for permission.” “Periga, do you understand what we are talking about?” “No. We are growing slowly, but I have seen that we have a large world to fill. Would that not have brought changes? How can we be at the end of our growth?” “An interesting observation. The question might be, were your people growing three hundred years ago?” The argument continued for hours, but I returned home and slept until I sensed my family had returned. Sheena was fast asleep and Dommi carefully put her to bed before joining us.

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For some reason I was not in the mood to join them in their loving and withdrew into my mind, blocking out most of their feelings. Robyn had just been brought to a lovely orgasm and Robbie was about to climax when I realised what had been troubling me. “I did not sense any sexual energy in them. We must ask whether they have any children of their own.” Only after Robbie had climaxed and lovingly sipped at Robyn’s milky breath did he sit up to stare at me. I blushed. “For the first time you hold back, not joining us in our loving and now you expect us to stop to consider your ideas? Have you really changed that much Sam?” “I’m worried about them. I’m sorry, we can talk tomorrow.” “It is tomorrow. Are you going to sleep alone or are you going to let me hold you?” Quickly I reverted to an eleven year old.
Once I’d thought of it, everyone who had met Whites went through their memories and they admitted they had the same feeling. Solomon told us that the ratio of children to adults is extremely low, roughly one child for every nineteen adults, but they do not know if the adults that care for them are also their parents. Periga also did not know, but he felt it was more likely the children came from the Iktrian towns. “What a cruel joke life has played on them! No souls and no future for their species. If the disappearance of the radiation means no more of them will be born, then they will soon be extinct.” King Illafayéd cleared his throat so we stopped talking to give him a chance to speak. “If you need to remove them from their world, our people would be happy to have them on ours. It might also be good to expose our people and the Neans to their need for love. As Cherinians we could keep them young for as long as we are.” “Thank you, but we have to solve the problem here. What now Sam?” “It depends on Periga.” I turned to him. “Their self confidence is shattered right now. If they meet you and see you are not afraid of them, it will give them hope.” We felt the quiver of fear in him, so gave him full credit when he answered, “I will come.” Allan asked, “Our Jesus was good at teaching that we should love others, what about you Christós, could you teach them?” “That is not fair!” Angelica retorted heatedly, coming to her beloved Christós’s defence, “It is not the same, He did not teach those who do not know how to love, only the philosophy why we should love others.” Christós only answered, “Allan, I am not your Jesus, I had to meet the Cherinians to learn how to love as He did. However, if Robert asks, I will do all I can.” “I have no intention of asking you, this is a job for Themi and the Unation doctors.” Tsiesschkir laughed. “Too late Robert, now that you have set Samantha on the Whites, they will not get a chance to try out their theories.” Allan just has to have the last word. He first gave the kids a wink so that they would not feel insulted. “I think Samantha must have been an Akiard in one of her previous incarnations, she becomes obsessed when she faces a problem and just has to solve it.” Robbie nodded, “It is part of what makes her so special to us - most of the time.” I blushed at the memory of last night I sensed in his mind. “I don’t agree, but even if it is true it does not make me that special, Athia is just the same.” Cherine grinned. “Are you Empathia?” She blushed. “I hope so, I’d love to be special like Sam.”

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“You’re all determined to embarrass me.” Robbie grinned. “You have your friend Allan to thank for that.” Eleni pretended to be frightened. “Samantha, you leave our Allan alone, it was your Roberto who tried to embarrass you.” Even if it was at my expense, it was nice seeing everyone laughing again. I went to Sheena and taking her hand jumped to the pool. I sat her on my lap and stared into her eyes. She was nervous and yearning, but it did not bother me. I tried hard to sense what I’d felt in Raceme, but I could not. While I played with Sheena to soothe her, I wondered what had convinced me he has a soul. Could I have been wrong?
At first the Whites did not realise the other male was of their world. “We told you not to lose hope. Would you agree that if even one Parent is able to love you, there is hope that more of them will? This is Periga, he comes from the town that lies in that direction, four days walking distance. Control yourselves as Sheena taught you and more of them will come to accept you.” They did not listen to his final sentence and their yearning flared up. Luckily it was aimed at Periga so I had time to shout to Sheena, “Scream at them, force them to stop” before we all succumbed. I’d half expected to come to within Freddie, but the freezing cold of snow against my cheek showed that Vincent had controlled himself long enough for Sheena to succeed. I looked for Sheena and saw her with the Whites. From their postures I could tell that she was talking to them and for once they were listening. I turned my head and saw Robbie on the ground, cradling the head of Periga.

*Is he alright?*

“No. They nearly killed him Sam, we should not have brought him.” I could sense through Robbie that Periga was recovering and as I waited, I wondered at how perverse the universe is. First we nearly died because of the gobbies emoting love and now we nearly lost Periga because the Whites need love. A wild idea had me jumping back to Freddie without warning Robbie. “Vincent, I need your help. Christós, you must come with. I want to take some gobbies back to the whites but we must first shield the gobbies so that they cannot merge with the Whites.” “Samantha! They will not send love to the Whites, they only reflect whatever you are emoting. They will send back to the Whites their need to be loved…oh, is that what you intended?” “Yes. They do not understand what we are talking about because they do not seem to send their yearning to each other. If they feel what they are sending they might understand why their need is so devastating and learn to control it.” “Get Sheena out of there first.” “No, I want her to feel it also.” We jumped to the ecological enclosure where the gobbies live and as Vincent shielded them, he handed them to me. I placed them in pillowcases, so that they would not be in direct contact with me. Once we had at least two gobbies for each White, we jumped back to Robbie. I was pleased to see Periga sitting up. I explained to Robbie what I planned and touching Periga he jumped and returned within two minutes. “I took him to his own house, he needs the familiarity of it to recover. This is a weird idea Sam, but I hope it works.” “Raceme, ask your people to spread out. They must stand still so that the creatures we place before them are able to find them. They will not harm you, but they will help you understand what our problem is.”

Next [Book 08] - Post 070

I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{20th February, 2020}
* posted: 20th February, 2020

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