Little Cherine Book 11 - BPost055
Now everyone wants to try Hesina’s obstacle course just for the satisfaction of saying they succeeded where we did not. Good luck to them.
7591
I see that when (when not if) I split for him I must make her stronger than me - otherwise, no comment.
Just for fun and without thinking it through, I sent the following email to Campbell:
‘From the book Arthur told us to read, I found the following worth quoting:
The tribe or sect of which the conqueror is the head follows him willingly, and feels itself magnified by his successes; those whom he subdues feel fear mixed with admiration. No political training, no habit of compromise, is required.
Do you agree?’
He replied, ‘If memory serves, he asked me to read it - however you are welcome to continue doing so if it teaches you. I presume you felt the quote was relevant to your family? I’m surprised you did not bother to continue reading and quote from the next page:
So far as the majority of subjects are concerned, fear, rather than consent, is the original cause of submission to a king whose power extends beyond a single tribe. More relevant to yourself and I recommend you give it some thought: Monarchy has, however, very great disadvantages. If it is hereditary, it is unlikely that the rulers will continue to be able.
If you wish to continue our correspondence for the purpose of showing me that your thinking is deepening, please feel free to do so.’
Of course I shared our exchanges with my family and they laughed at my losing an argument to Campbell - except for Robbie. He has always been sensitive to his fear that others might end up considering us the royal family of the Cherinians and has worried as he sees signs that he has not been able to do more than discourage it happening, and at that, without much success.
He’s worse than Robbie! He guesses and it becomes fact for him. The truth is, we don’t know, will Robbie jump back to before the war and bring our alternates so as to save them from the suffering? What if they don’t exist? What if they do exist, but refuse our help and are killed by a bomb? Now that he’s got me wondering, I guess I’ll have to hope Robbie decides it is time we return to find out the truth.
If we’re going to do business with Campbell as a partner we’re going to have to stop taking our time and act fast. He sent documents and a letter showing what he has already done to prepare for the tourism venture and by him arranging everything, he has delegated to himself most of the key positions by setting up departments, staffing them and doing the preparatory work. Robbie asked Hettie not to fight him, but to make certain we retain the rights to deciding who, how, the number of tourists per tour and when the tourists travel.
I’d no sooner written the above, than Campbell asked to visit us in Freddie. He arrived with eight ship containers filled with items he believes Kiris will need for the business from his side. He asked Robbie whether we could make the delivery immediately. Robbie just stared at him, bemused, so I asked Freddie to go to the world of Kiris.
“If we allow him to continue taking the initiative we’ll soon lose control of the partnership.” Alki complained, once we were at home.
7592
Empathia answered for us. “As long as the partnership includes all the partners we agreed on, including our Allan, I don’t see that it matters. Surely he is having to make investments and he’ll be forced to soften his stance against us so that he doesn’t lose his money.”
I shook my head. “No, we cannot afford to lose control of the business to Campbell. I suggest we call for a meeting of shareholders once we’re with Kiris and we lay down some rules. Anyway, I don’t want him to soften his stance Empathia, he is more valuable to us as a hostile friend.” I grinned. “I’ll explain to him that we could have let him get away with it as the money is not that important to us, but I feel that if we do so it would be an insult to him. I bet that will make him angry so that he starts scheming to get the better of us. If he succeeds with pappou, Hettie and Eddie and Elias on our side, then good luck to him.”
Robbie gave pappou an amused look. “Alki, I don’t think we should count Sam as being on our side, it seems she has her own games to play.”
“Perhaps I should then be included as being on her side?” I still think he deserved the blast of love I sent him.
Campbell knows about our ability to event-time our arrival and he asked us to time it to the period Kiris will be close to launching his ships. We arrived about two years after our last departure since that would suit Samuel King also.
It seems that whenever we arrive here we have to wait a day or two before anything happens. Just as with the world of Orgg and Jeskine, the local Cherinians arrive in force and show such delight at being here and at greeting friends again, that we cannot concentrate on business. Luckily, those that want to go to the Sparkler World to visit their friends there, are taken by Sparklers. Again I had to be Tsina for Niriki and once again Kiris did not come, sending his apologies. We had to wait until it was late on his world for his supper with business friends to end.
It was almost with sadness that I saw how my little Niriki has grown. She is still child enough to show her excitement and she ran to me calling out my name. Once we’d settled down (emotionally) we sat at the taverna to talk, I with Niriki on my lap. She is the only Kabetu who does not have to try and disguise a slight repugnance for our true forms, accepting us as a natural part of what seems to her to be a world of magic.
“Kiris has been very busy and often we are asleep by the time he returns to us and we have to wake up very early to see him before he leaves. Cherine, he has not forgotten what you asked of him and every day, at his office, he stops working to read for a while.”
“That’s wonderful news Neri.” Cherine grinned. “Does he enjoy reading?”
“I don’t know. He is so determined not to be ashamed of himself when the tourists come that he tries too hard to enjoy it - I think. He also asks to see what Niriki and I have learnt so that he can be proud of us. Niriki does not like having to study, but she wants him to love her so she tries hard.”
It was my turn to grin. “How do you enjoy being her parents - especially you, still so young and still with virginal nose flaps?” We had to explain what ‘virginal’ meant and she found it funny.
“I think we are more like her older brother and sister to Niriki. I think she still thinks of you as being her father.”
Robbie laughed. “You sound like a very weird family; brother and sister who live together as male and female and a younger sister who has an alien female as her father.” His comment made everyone laugh.
Kiris arrived and we sensed he was surprised to see Campbell with us again, though he did hide his emoting and greeted him warmly. Campbell also seems to like Kiris and he monopolised him for a while. When Campbell is relaxed and not busy scheming, he can be quite charming, but when he actually likes someone and is enjoying their company, he reverts to being the simple man he started off as and sheds his sophistication for a more earthy manner. It is good for us to see him like this as it serves to explain a lot of what has caused so much friction between us in the past.
7593
Campbell overlooked one detail that sent Kiris into a spin. Products on all Earths usually bear some writing, giving country of origin, name of manufacturer and or name of the product. There was no way Kiris was about to give up one single item in the containers, but he worried about the writing. He still feels closer to Jade than to us so he listened to her when she made a suggestion, half in jest. She told him to tell his people that he created a new alphabet for his girls and then decided to use it for marking his products. I doubt he’ll be believed, since the products are strange to his world. Even when they have something similar, ours are different - alien. He cannot claim he manufactured them as he would need too many factories. The last container only compounded his problem when he saw books in many of our languages plus some written by/in Anadir and the Unation common speech. He decided those he will hide until the tourists arrive and then they must undertake to keep them hidden from the non-Cherinian staff and crew. It sounds far simpler to me that they only employ Cherinians for those who’ll come in contact with the tourists.
We visited the shipyards and watched without commenting aloud, but exchanged privately our amazement at their obvious enjoyment of doing their work. It highlighted something we’d seen but not noticed. Rarely do we see that pleasure at a job being done well among our people, and yet we’ve rarely seen among some of the other species the resentment our workers feel. We realised that it is a matter of attitude. Many of our young start out taking pride in their accomplishments, but with time they lose it, considering their time at work as being a sacrifice of time they could have spent doing what they want - enjoying themselves. How terrible it must be to spend the largest part of your life disliking what you are doing. What makes it almost pathetic is that those same people, when free to enjoy their leisure, spend most of it being bored and complaining there is nothing to do. The business people among us corrected us, explaining that there are smaller companies where the owner works with his employees and his pride in the quality of his product sweeps them along so that they share in his pride and enthusiasm. It was a sad kind of amusement we felt when they discussed how large an industry has been created of companies that do nothing but plan for other companies ways to inspire their workers with the enthusiasm that should have existed naturally, and that they are only paid to do so because it raises the profits. The word ‘professional’ among our people mostly describes people who restrain their emotions and desire to excel, so as to first examine every point with an eye for maximising profits.
7594
Samkin, Sebura and Birshima have related many anecdotes about the time they spent among the Kabetu and it was interesting hearing from Kiris, Nericha and even Niriki the same anecdotes told from their viewpoint. 
Kiris faces a problem the day he begins his tourism business. He thinks he can claim they come from Dakost, but I think the total population of Kabetu is far too small for him to practice the deception successfully. When I told him so, he laughed and told me his tourists will then have to be nomads. That made Samuel laugh. He then explained that he plans on every third trip being for the Kabetu, which means there will be a number of them who’ve taken the trip and nobody will be able to judge that the number is too low. With a scowl he informed us that those trips will hardly bear the cost as he’ll have to keep his prices low. Even then, it is likely he’ll be hard pressed to fill the ships. Elias suggested he raises the price slightly, but allow them to pay off the price over two years, especially if they take the whole family. Kiris suddenly had a grin that told us he’d found another way of making money. We were right, it is not an original idea for us, but the Kabetu traders do not give extended credit, only short term. He saw this would be the way for him to sell houses, furniture and so on. At least he is keeping his interest charges low. It feels strange when something we take for granted is treated as a breakthrough and innovative. It makes me wonder, what do other species take for granted, a way of life to them, that would amaze us? We’ve never really paid attention to such details.
Sirdusa Rapperten promised not to speak about his identity or about us so Rakil brought him clothes and took him to visit the city named after him. He returned five days later, but we did not sense any pleasure in him. After a drink he opened up and swiftly grew angry as he talked about his people. He was dismayed by the way they reverted to barbarians - mostly angry at the superstitions that dominate their lives. Us girls just found his attitude narrow-minded, but the adults and Robbie talked to him for hours, soothing his feelings and explaining why the way they’d regressed is natural.
During the day when there were no Kabetu with us as they were at work, Campbell sat by me. “To quote, ‘Of the infinite desires of man, the chief are the desires for power and glory’. Which of the two do you believe Kiris covets the most?”
“Definitely power. It will probably take him another century to recover from the fears of his childhood.”
He nodded and smiled. “And you Samantha?”
“Power.”
He looked startled at my answer. “What kind of power?”
Robbie frowned in his mind, so I also spoke for him. “There are many kinds of power. Those that turn inwards and those that turn away from us and reach out to empower the lives of others. If it is my dream to be a part of the second kind of power, therefore, does not my dream empower me also? Social science tends to ascribe power as the motive for all, from the most selfish to the most benign of intentions. Even those who submit and meekly hand over power to the ambitious can be said to be empowering themselves for they do not have to handle the responsibility for their own lives and those of their family. The purpose and the way the ambitions of the power are achieved are the important criteria we should consider, not the fact of power itself. The ends are important, but the means never justify the ends, so a strict code of beliefs must be part of my dream and therefore it is. What about you Arthur?”
“My need for power is perhaps less selfish than it used to be, but if we did not face a calamity that would destroy all, I would perhaps still be as selfish as I used to be. Selfish power is purer in that it is easier to achieve - in the sense that the demands it makes on us are less complex, not easier.”
“We are that threat that made you less selfish?”
“Yes. You only see yourselves as you are now, I see how you could become and that makes me wake up from nightmares. The concentration of power available to your family means that if you change, if you stray even to the extent that Michael did, mankind will never be free of you.”
7595
“I’m convinced we never will change. We are inspired by the needs of survival, as anyone else is, but our primary needs include the gift of Cherine - empathy. For as long as we hold to her gifts, we can never become a threat.”
“Is that not true for Michael? Samantha, I did not say you would do so out of evil purposes. You’ll change because of your dreams and empathy, unable to see how imposing yourselves and your beliefs on everyone crushes the spirit out of man. I already see signs of that happening. In the early years our governments and people resisted you where they could, now they acquiesce to your every whim.”
“Could it not be that to the extent you are correct, they do so because their fears no longer drive them?”
“The reasons do not matter, the result does.”
I shook my head from frustration. “You would have us deliberately provide them with reasons to distrust and resist us? The gap between us Arthur only exists because you refuse to open yourself to empathy.”
“Is that so? What is it then that drives me to resist you? I have the ability to protect myself, you know it is my empathy and love for my fellow man that drives me.”
“I think that you are both wrong in some ways.” Empathia said. “Arthur, Samantha fulfils the role you see for yourself. She has fought with Robert and even with Cherine at times, forcing us to remain true to our dreams. The difference between the two of you is that she does it out of love for our dream and for all of humanity. You, on the other hand, do it out of fear while you also taint your dreams with selfish purposes.”
He coldly glared at her for a moment and then seeing my grin he calmed down. “I have already acknowledged that I am human enough to have ambitions and selfish dreams. However, I do see you as a threat and my selfish dreams will have to wait for the day you are no longer a threat.”
“In the meantime, as you told David, please do continue to resist us whenever you feel that the path we are taking could lead to what you fear. Talking about ambitions,” I asked, “is it your ambition to take over the tourist venture we are supposed to be partners in?” Alki was shocked, for such problems are dealt with by intricate manoeuvres behind the scenes, rarely by direct confrontation, for it can lose you the opportunity to take effective action.
“What makes you think so?”
“You seem to be rushing to take over all the key facets of the business.”
He stared at me with surprise for a moment and then chuckled. “You sit back and do nothing or very little, taking your time as if Kiris could wait for a century for you to get your act together, and because I am efficient and get things done, you see me as a threat?”
“Not really, I was more amused than frightened. Arthur, we’ve grown accustomed to the fact that time is our servant, not the other way around. We could take a century, as you mentioned, but could return to Kiris within the same day we left. We have dozens of projects waiting and we’ve lost the sense of urgency that used to drive us because of the fact that we can manipulate time. To do otherwise would destroy us. Think of the Akiards, as far as we are concerned, they wait, frozen in time and it is projected it will take us thousands of years to deal with all of them. With the growing number of Akiards assisting us, it could end up taking only a thousand years, but that is still a long time. We cannot concentrate on them for then we would be abandoning others and, just as bad, we would become paralysed and lose the ability to help anyone. We need time for ourselves and for my arguing with you so that we remain sane.” I gave him a smile to show I was being humorous, but he remained stern as he answered me.
“How do you know there would be any potential tourists in a century? The way you’re changing our people into sheep, by then it is likely they’ll be too comfortable grazing in the fields they know, to risk taking such a trip.”
Rather than take our debate back in a circle, I said, “Just recall that it is a partnership that includes Kiris, Allan and us. You must also not forget to apprise us of your expenses so that we pay our share.”
7596
Back home, as they started to tease me, since the time for serious arguments had passed, I grimaced, “Robbie, can’t we go find some Gnolats to fight - it would be easier.” As everyone laughed, Robbie swept me into his arms and I instantly regressed myself to a six year old and looked at him with my finger in my mouth. He laughed and pulling my finger out he kissed me. I needed the extra tenderness in his loving that night.I’m only writing this because my loves challenged me, claiming I would not dare let Arthur know what was said. Over the years my relationship with Samuel King has evolved, almost without me realising it. He is now able to sit beside me with his arm about my shoulders without me tensing. I can sense that there is only friendship between us, so I no longer fear hurting him. On this occasion he put his arms around me and pulled me for a hug. I looked up at him with a smile and question in my eyes.
“Sometimes I almost envy Arthur, our author, but there are times I almost pity him. How is he going to survive having a Samantha and manage to keep his ego?”
“He has the same fears, do you remember when he told me to forget about splitting for him, that we must only remain friends? I think it was because he was afraid and not for the reasons he gave.”
He smiled. “You managed to reassure him?”
“No, I used what he feared and terrorised him until he gave in.” Samuel was not the only one to burst out in laughter, Campbell laughing just as loud as the others.
Hmm, I see he’s keeping quiet. (Robert: I don’t blame him.)
That was fun, until Robbie added his comment. I climbed into him and demanded to know what he meant. He started off by trying to excuse himself by saying that I can be daunting at times and suddenly I projected that I ‘was’ icy cold angry with him. He forced himself to finish and said that however daunting I am at times, because there is a soft center in me he is able to continue loving me without fearing me. I would have softened when he said that, but then he just had to add that the way I was at that moment was enough to frighten anyone. Only my wives and Robbie think he was funny.
When it was time for us to go to bed, Ashia asked Robbie to wait outside. The girls sat in half a circle before me and the next thing I knew they were projecting my face at me. None of them spoke, all they did was show me my icy cold look. Robbie has at times said that us females must have a private way of communicating that does not need words. It seems it must be true, for I did not sense them agree to do what they did and yet they all did exactly the same. 
Kiris must have given a lot of thought to my discussion with Campbell, though our discussion of power must have held a different meaning for him as their social sciences are not that well developed. He did not come to Freddie the next day as most of us were on planet and he was very busy, but he came the next evening. After talking with us for a while he asked Campbell to talk with him privately. I only know what was said because Campbell shared with us (he gets a tick from me on my score-board for that).
“Did Samantha speak the truth?”
“About? Oh, about the business? She spoke of what they feared, which is not necessarily the truth.”
“I am Kiris, not one of your world. May I speak what I think without anger?” Campbell reassured him. “My loyalty does not lie with Samantha, it extends to her, but my first loyalty is to Cherine and then to Robert. When he was released from me, his first thoughts were not of anger with me as I’d feared, but of wonder and understanding. There is no business between us if you intend using your abilities to take what is theirs.”
7597
“I also believe in talking straight. Kiris, if I have any loyalty to the Teller family, I would have to say that it primarily extends to Samantha. Not because I like her, but because she is the only one who can stop what I fear will happen with time. The business is a separate issue. I am more like you, business is important and I get things done, I don’t just sit back and talk about it. I saw what had to be done to get your business going and I did it. They did nothing.” He paused, expecting Kiris to rebut his statement. Kiris only stared at him, tightly controlling his emoting. “They fear that I will grab control of the business from my end because I am more efficient, that is what our discussion was about. I suggest you speak to Samantha if you need further explanations or reassurances.”
“If she does, then you must be rewarded for the effort and money it cost you. I will talk to them.”
Perplexed by the reaction of Kiris, Campbell asked us to share when they returned. I realised that Kiris has put us on the spot. “Arthur, what do you want?”
“I have not asked for any changes in our working relationship, but, I do expect more assistance. If none of you wish to be involved in dealing with the business, then I must ask for the authority to deal with the problems on my own.”
I did not have to ask Robbie, we never know when and where we will be from day to day. “Granted. What Kiris said is also true. Arthur, the shareholding of all parties remain as they are, but before the distribution of nett profits after tax and withholdings to meet our budgetary requirements, we’ll first have ten percent deducted and paid to you as reimbursement for your time and effort. Agreed?”
Kiris nodded, agreeing it was fair and when Campbell looked at Robbie, he only nodded in my direction. “It is more than I expected. To be honest, I considered my effort as being part of the package in return for you allowing me to join you in the venture. Accepted as you outlined Samantha.”
“Kiris, you are the main shareholder, do you confirm my offer? The ten percent only comes from earnings and profits on our side, not locally on your planet.”
“Accepted.” He turned to Campbell. “Would you like to have a share on my side also? If you do, we must talk.” Mentally I grinned and sent to Robbie and Cherine, *Michael is going to have a fit when he hears.* For a while it felt like Alki was going to have a fit. Gradually he got over it and told Cherine that it was not a bad deal, all things considered.
Later, Alki followed me as I went for a walk and asked me in privacy, “Why did you make the offer Samantha?”
“To forestall his making demands we would not have accepted and because it is fair.” He changed the subject, but his hand on my shoulder was warm and loving.
Not much else to say about this trip. Kiris has compiled a list of what he needs, we’ve nipped a potential problem with Campbell in the bud and we’ve seen our friends again; that’s about it.
The evening before leaving we had a party with as many Kabetu Cherinians as could come. Just as we were about to go home a Unation scientist spoke to Robbie.
“Would it be possible to visit a black hole? One of our younger scientists has evolved a theory and we need to confirm the possibility before we spend too much time on it.”
“I hope the visit does not entail entering the black hole?” Still laughing at his joke Robbie escorted us home.
Today Robbie is not thinking he is as funny as he thought. Since we’ve been by a black hole before Freddie jumped there directly. We waited as the scientists conducted their tests, which included sending some equipment into the event horizon within a platform created by Robbie. We divided our time between watching the screens and talking, eating and so on. An agitated Admiral from the Unation arrived by us suddenly.
“Robert, it is urgent that we halve the distance…we cannot believe what our computers are showing us.”
“A new law of nature or a spaceship?”
7598
“Until we can confirm…we’d rather not answer you.”
“Freddie, go as close as you feel is safe.”
The screens showed what the scientists had noticed. It was a tiny thing moving at the event horizon. Freddie tried zooming in, but it only grew to about the size of a walnut. Robbie suddenly looked grim as he called out to Freddie to go to the void, without even asking the scientists whether he was interrupting an experiment.
From the void Freddie extruded a tip and we were now less than a quarter of the distance we’d been. We gasped and it looked as if Cherine were about to faint, her eyes two pools of despair. We could clearly see now that the object is a Freddie.
“Admiral, is that RT?” Robbie asked.
He jumped back to us. “Robert, we need more time for a positive identification.”
Suddenly Freddie connected his screens to the computers of the Unation and we saw an enhanced picture. the admiral looked as if he were about to collapse as he sank onto a bench. “Robert, that is not RT, it is Freddie - unless RT has five treehouses.”
“How can you tell?”
“The energy levels of the shields are affected by the treehouses Robert. The computer has positively identified five treehouses. That is us down there.”
As we stared with hearts racing, Robbie seemed to flip his emoting and sitting back he picked at a few leftover chips as he thought. He gave Cherine a smile. “I guess that’s us from the future, we must have returned slightly to our past and that is why they were here when we arrived. I wonder what experiment the scientists thought up to convince me to go that close.”
I spoilt his effort to soothe us. “Dad, what if we are hiding there? Remember how Jesus lost us when we went close to a black hole?”
He gave me a reassuring smile as I heard myself and felt dismayed at my thoughtlessness. “We would not hide there unless the scientists proved to us that it is safe. Admiral, is it safe for Freddie to be that close?”
“We’ll examine all the theories, but I’m certain it will need for us to experiment further before we can do that.” He pointed at the screen.
Robbie grinned. “There have been a number of science fiction stories about ships doing that - even one about a civilisation that chose such a spot to live and grow. It must be quite an experience being there.”
Cherine was still emoting her distress and her face showed it. “What if it is your vision coming true? If you enter the black hole I’m coming with you!”
“You can’t love or else it will not be what I saw. I definitely was alone. Anyway, I would not do so unless I had proof that it is possible and there is no way anyone could prove it is possible.” He laughed with delight. “Of course! Cherine, I did not see myself entering a black hole, I saw myself flying out of one!”
“You mean you entered through a white hole? How could you do that, it expels matter!”
“There you are Sam, see how many questions it raises?”
I kept my smile strictly hidden. “I’ll only support you if Cherine does. Dad, I trust her instincts more than I trust yours when it is your life in danger.”
Empathia just had to go and point out the obvious. “That is why Freddie is stuck there, if Robert doesn’t return we’ll all fall into the black hole after him and die - so his instincts won’t allow him to risk himself.”
7599
Just as we began to react to her suggestion positively, Cassie threw her idea into the pot. “He can Empathia, he knows we will be here to watch for them and if he can’t return then this Robert will have to save us.”
Campbell ordered another bourbon and stage-whispered to Samuel King, “Do they also drive you insane?”
Samuel grinned as he rebuked him, “In Freddie we don’t say insane, we say crazy.” That made some of us smile.
7600
I am writing in public so that all may share. I’ll return to the moment our conversation with Arthur ended. We were too shattered to do anything but walk out of the office and house, each lost within their own thoughts and fears. Only one of us acted unselfishly, despite her own turmoil, Goldi. She sensed Campbell and taking his hand gave him the strength to walk with us. As he felt, so did most of the people in Freddie as we shared with them. Nobody seemed to have anything to say and it took a long time for conversations to begin. Within the hour the taverna was surrounded by Elipians, the Akiards and every single species. Awe was mixed with fear so there was no rejoicing. If that is to come, it will take a greater time.
The Unation arrived with a suit for Robbie. Although Tsiesschkir is not their highest ranking member, it was he who presented the suit to Robbie. “We have awaited this day Robert with fear and hope. You could not return to our past without us sensing the changes in you, so we have known that this time would come, but we did not know when or how it would happen - you refused to divulge to us our future. You did, however, ask for this to be made for you. It took our scientists over eighty years to succeed in meeting your specifications.”
Robbie muttered, in his mind, ‘another damn paradox’ and for the first time Cherine half smiled. “I don’t know what I will be asking for. Do I have the knowledge to make the request?”
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)- posted: 13th Jly, 2020
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 10, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
