Sholan Alliance - AU Bk. 03 Ch. 06

Bitty had become the spokesperson for the group since she knew Billy. "Good afternoon Amanda. We are pleased to see you and thank you for coming. So what did the Ambassador decide? Please do all of us a favor and simply tell us. All of us want to know and beating around the bush isn't going to do anything but stress us." She was sitting between the other two females as she was talking.

Amanda had carefully settled down in a chair and sighed at the pain from her hip. "Sorry if I seem tired and grumpy. As you have seen my hip bothers me and stress only makes it worse. I came here for two reasons. First to tell you about the alarm and why it was sounded, the second is about Ceo's decision." When Angel went and retrieved a drink for her she gave her a wan smile. "Thank you Angel."

After taking a sip she got to the point. "First Ceo has approved your request and you will be going to Shola. Billy, I mean Ambassador Madlax will be responsible for you and ensure you have what you need. He has been keeping up to date on your status. He has also been reporting that Crystal is doing very well on Shola." She gave them a very pleased smile. "He also informed Ike that Crystal and Kingie are somewhat involved and he has been good for her."

Both statements were received with pleasure based on the women's expressions. Bitty had to close her eyes for a moment. "Thank god and when you see Ambassador Ceolura please thank her for us. You don't have any idea of how much that means to us." She had to close her eyes and take several deep breaths. "We are all very pleased for Crystal and Kingie. It gives us hope that..." She had to look away and couldn't finish the statement. The other two wrapped their arms around her and gave her a good hug.

Amanda lightly bit her lower lips since the next piece of information was going to be hard. "For reasons I will explain momentarily Ceo wanted to know if all of you think you would be able to go to Shola on the former Pirate ship. It has been completely refurbished and I was informed that the warriors who rescued you will be going back with. There are going to be some additional staff going as well for the Embassy. Do you think you could handle that? I want an honest answer."

That caused a silence amongst the women and they were trading looks as they considered it. This time it was Clarice who responded. "Tell us why before we can answer that. Even with having our warriors come with that is a very terrifying idea." Personally she would have to actually look at the ship inside. That and have a lock on the door that only she could use.

Amanda gave her a level look. "I don't know how much you know as to why the Sholan's are here for but they are searching for an enemy. They don't know much about them at the moment other than they attacked one of their ships and not only destroyed it but killed the entire crew. Well the alert was for an incursion into Terran space by the enemy. Almost the moment they realized they weren't going to escape they decided to attack anything and everything." Her eyes showed horror even as her face hardened.

"They fired missiles at anything that could be a target, military or civilian, and took out a habitat. The current estimate of dead is in the hundreds of thousands. The Sholan's transport ships are all heading this direction with humanitarian supplies and will probably be heading back with casualties that Earth can't help." She had to pause and take a ragged breath. "They did that deliberately and as of now I am sure Earth is on a war footing or will be very shortly. They want the pirate ship sent to Shola so Billy can see how he can help improve the engines." She had to stop talking for a moment. Her hands were clutched around the handle of her cane and her knuckles were white due to her grip.

That received another shocked silence. All the women were looking at her in horror at what she had to say. As they were trying to figure out how to respond Shojim contacted the other warriors and asked them to report to the rooms for support. "Thank you for the information Ma'am even if it is unwelcome at the moment. I have asked some of the other warriors to come in for support." As he was talking he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Savanna again.

Bitty tried to speak and had to clear her throat. "Oh god, that is horrible and I can understand now why you are asking what you are. We will need to talk about it and think about it before we can say anything. How soon might we be expected to give an answer?" Her eyes were starting to glimmer with tears. "Does Billy know about this?"

Amanda had to clear her throat as well. "For now I don't think there is going to be any rush since the solar system is dealing with what happened. Think about it and talk to your warriors since they will be going back with you. They have, from what I understand, been training on how to operate the ship. There will be some humans aboard as well to supplement the warriors and yes some will be males. They have all been screened for a reaction to your issues. Across the board they are all horrified and angry about what happened. They will not look down on you and have been given instructions on how best to work with you."

Amanda slowly nodded at the question about Billy. "Ike, my husband, is going to be sending him a message about the four of you and your request. He will let him know that you are going to be coming and what you might need. As far as the attack he will be receiving the message about the same time as the message about your being sent out." She wanted to stand but her hip was really starting to hurt. "Shojim could you give me a hand up? I need to see about some pain meds for my hip."

Savanna moved to the side as Shojim stood and moved over to Amanda. "Most definitely ma'am and do you need a hand to medical? If needed I can contact them and have them send a hover chair for you." She was another human female that they had been watching and been very impressed with. They didn't know what had happened but she stood up to her problem without a complaint.

She had to grit her teeth as she was helped up. "If you wouldn't mind giving me a hand I should be able to make it. Thank you for the offer though." Once she was up she moved her cane to her other hand and wrapped her arm around his and held on. "If you ladies need anything I am going to see about staying aboard for the time being. Contact me with any request you might have at any time."

Right about then the door opened and several of the warriors came in and after greeting Amanda moved to the females. It was rather obvious that they had come to care for them based on their reactions to the stress in the room. Amanda had to smile slightly as they moved out of the room. "It is good that you have in a way adopted them. Even though you aren't human males it is obvious that you care for them and what happened to them doesn't really matter."

Shojim chose not to do anything other and twitch his ears at her. The four women left had almost become family and central to the unit. For now Amanda didn't need to know that. "Once at medical will you want me to remain with you till they are done?"

Amanda managed not to smile at his ignoring her comment. "No, I will contact Ike when they are done with me but thank you for the offer. Go back and sit with Savanna and the others." The rest of the short walk to medical was silent and once inside he gave her a nod and quietly left the room.

~~~

Once Billy had decrypted the messages which had been bundled into a single packet he at first was interested. Shortly after starting to read the messages he started getting angry. By the time he was done he was almost incandescent with rage and he knew that Satasha could feel it. "Those fuckers don't know who they decided to fuck with." He had called Sandi already and when she came in he tried to control his reaction. "Get me Father Shion, the Engineering Board, and Shola High command. They already know it is urgent but do what you need to get a rep from each here as soon as possible."

Sandi had to blink and asked what had him so worked up. When he explained it she became almost as enraged as he was. What made it worse for her was she was a red head and had a vile temper when irritated. "They will be here yesterday if I have any say in it. I will send you updates as I get them." She turned and stalked out of the room.

*Satasha I am going to need you here and since Z'Marl is doing the waitress thing contact her and have her report. As of now the Embassy is priority for anything before our personal lives goes. I will talk to Vangie and Kingie and inform them we are going to have a meeting tonight at Vangie's and everyone has to be there. I will talk to Dani personally about this and hopefully she and Mizaki will be able to be there.* Since the day after they had linked both had been very carefully monitored and Dani had been spending a good amount of time with Z'Marl for support.

Satasha didn't even hesitate. *Yes Ambassador, I will take care of it now. I will let you know what is happening and when. Unless it is a problem I am going to request my family as well as Z'Marl's to be there. It is going to impact on them as well.* She still hadn't talked to her father since that initial meeting but it was time to deal with it.

*Do that and contact me telepathically. I am likely to be more than busy for the rest of today and might not be able to get to the comm..* Billy let her go and started working on some breathing exercises to try and control his emotions. If he couldn't they would impact on everyone nearby. While he was doing that Sandi informed him that the Father was there. "Send him in please." He might be pissed beyond all recognition but he was going to be as civil as possible.

When the Father walked in he was exuding calmness. "Ambassador would you allow me to show you some calming exercises? They will help with what you are feeling right now and help calm and relax you." He settled down in a chair and waited.

Billy was trying to breathe slowly but his nostrils were white with anger. "Please Father Shion since right now I am so angry that I almost can't operate. If you can help me to calm down I would greatly appreciate it and then we can talk." They did need to about a number of issues.

"We have used the Litany's of Vartra for generations and especially for potentially rogue talents. I am not saying you are anywhere near that in any way. I am simply saying if we can calm them down we should be able to help you and yours as well. That is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. I have heard about the issues your youngest girl has been having and I wanted to offer help for her. Now what you need to do is..." He started walking Billy through the calming litany for a start. "Mind you though we are the Brotherhood of Vartra it doesn't mean you are worshiping him. They are simply used as a way to calm down in this case. With some of the others they are used to help you become receptive to contacting the gods."

~~~

Billy had moved over to the other chair in his office and closed his eyes and did as Shion instructed. Suddenly he felt a shift and when he opened his eyes he found he was in a forest somewhere. There was a path leading towards a heavy wooden door that was set into a high stone wall. He had to frown in confusion since he had no idea how he had gotten here. With a slight growl of annoyance he stalked to the gate and examined it. In the center of the gate was emblazoned a symbol that resembled the triad pendant the three of them had been given. "Now what? I am so not pleased damn it."

He glowered at the gate and after an indeterminate time he spoke. "If you want me to come in open the damn gate or I will follow the path in the opposite direction. I am not in the mood for any crap at the moment and have things I need to deal with back on Shola." His voice was hard, deep, and angry as he spoke. There was no compromise in it at the moment.

As soon as he had finished speaking the gate opened and inside he could see a forest of gigantic proportions. There was a path leading inside and somewhere in the distance he could hear what sounded like a hammer hitting something metal. "God damn it I don't want to do this." He stepped into the gateway.

*****

A/N: With the Anxiety/Panic attacks I know what I am talking about. When my son went to Afghanistan I ended up with them. They were so bad I could barely leave the house and there were several times my sister or brother had to come and hold me. If you do come across someone who is or has panic attacks don't tell them anything that I mentioned as not to do. Yes it is in our minds (literally) but saying that doesn't help. Support and concern does though.

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