The Order Under Question
Forming Command
Morgan was at her desk when she found out her mate was selected. She watched the video of him and her father playing. Lilith Stopped pacing and rolled up her screen. She tucked it away and hovered over Morgan’s shoulder and listened. They both started nodding to the beat. Lilith tapped Morgan’s shoulder and said, "Do you dance? This music needs to be danced to and I could stand the exercise. Come on dance with me."
Morgan set her screen on projection mode. The room was scanned and populated with Morgan’s parents, dancing candies and drumming wooden figures. Lilith was jumping and spinning, Morgan started jumping clapping her hands to the beat. Their bodies were scanned into the program Lilith was converted into red candies, Morgan blue. The image was transmitted and merged with the program and sent universal.
All of the hour got the file as the song of Accenda got them nodding they heard Lilith’s words," I want it known that teaming with us isn’t a punishment it is the coolest thing people will do since loading up the Nassim." When the beat picked up they got her invitation, "Do you dance? Come on dance with me. This music needs to be danced to." Glimpses of her face were cast on the dancing and drumming images but not clear enough for the eye to register her as anyone but everyone. The request to be assigned queue filled as the young women danced. Each youth’s request to leave and join Accenda went directly to the head entertainers of their present tribe Korn, Bands, Digerati, Alsip, or Verges. The Korn contest on building the best looking space ship was folded into the craft specs. Digerati hour had a staple chase only the fastest though the 20 mile corse that included puzzles and calculation were given a ship built for them designed to spec in Digerati colors. Verges, champions at raising plants and animals, made adjustments so their ships would include lush bio habitats. They were evaluated through contest winners given to the new tribe. Each new member was sent through the sorting program Lilith made to join each petitioner to their assignment according to their proven abilities and motivators. The Accenda rank and file filled.
The song ended and Morgan’s husband was revealed to her only. Mat in typical Entertainer fashion teleported into the room and smiled at his new bride. When the song ended and all of the images faded he bowed to his bride. Morgan blinked,"Your mine?"
"Yes, if you are happy with your father’s choice. I also have your mother’s assurance that I am all you asked for." He stood, "What do you say are we Morgat?" She smiled and nodded yes. Her mother was right, her father chose well. When ever they and their children watched the video file they would see that ending. All others will see at the song’s end each drumming dancing image melt into one, who sat down to blow a wand of bubbles. When the biggest bubble is blown the wooden doll with candy outfit climbed inside and floated away toward Accenda.
"Before all that." Lilith intruded on the couple’s first moment before it got any more awkward to do so, "Here is your screen of responsibilities the one in blue is a request from my old tribe’s head entertainer he said it is urgent."
As Mat took the rolled screen he smiled at his new leader bowing with it over his heart and his brides hand in the other. "I will be sure to fill my duties to Accenda before any more of that." He straightened and rolled his wife under his arm. "Take me to our homework station."
Turning away from the couple to the wall she said, "I’m done here. Open." The wall opened into a large empty blue hallway and she was alone again. Lilith did not like being alone she just was most of the time. It became a natural state of being. Yet for now she did not want to be so she went to the far side of the hall and ordered, "My door to command should be here." The builders created the hole for a door quickly instead of growing an opening wanting to see their leader’s face so she was human instead of a on going stream of technical specs and orders. They stood and smiled at her and she smiled back at them. The room felt charged with a positive energy. She took in the a circle of stations each manned by two people, varying in size shape and color but not age facing her and an empty round desk with rotating chair.
She did not need to be introduced to her top builders she picked them out by hand. She clasped them and said, "Thank you!" To have people she knew as the first site in Command was comforting. The two held her between them for the full 3 seconds before returning to their station. Beside them were navigators who won their old tribe Digerati’s contest to be on board.
Their eyes seemed larger than normal as if they never stopped looking at star charts. The taller one smiled at her. "We are your ships Pathfinder and Mover please call us Cora."
"Pleased to call you Cora." She nodded and touched the two at once her hand lightly grasping under the elbow and brushing down until Cora’s right most and left most hands were held firmly in hers at the end of the sentence.
She repeated the pattern with each grouping of award winning crew mates. The partitioning of duties and mates she did at her desk to be sure every tribe had two representatives on her principle crew. As she made the full circle putting faces to stats she amazed herself at how accurately she had rendered them in her mind. Until she was before her husbands. They where perfectly male in matching blue suits and looked like the Creation Statue. One perfectly black the other unbelievably white. "History-Physiology pleased to call you husband" she said before they could speak holding their hands as she looked into their eyes and backed into her work desk chair to sit down.
She pulled her screen out and unrolled it. Her station filled with images each image corresponded with the position of a workstation. Once again she was isolated by data, yet not as alone. Her husbands worked near by every so often they would send her data points based in their fields to help her decide a matter. She looked at them through her screen wondering why they both fell to her. Yes she was very happy to have them. They were helpful and nice to look at and the anxiety in the back of her mind caused by not knowing if she would have a mate was extinguished.
When the new operators came and presented their self. She directed them to a work and dispatch orders and specs to be filled by their wedge. She had ordered her room to conform to the universal dynamic. A leader with her abilities needed her vessel to part at her will so she could land on the new planet and return without alerting anyone on board or in the outer layer ships. Three cycles of workers came and went before the Lead Builders felt they could tell her it was finished. The Holder of Worlds and most leaders after they are put over a planet never touch their planet’s surface. The builders had assumed their leader would stay in orbit only her lead builders knew. The husbands wrote her asking why. Lilith wrote her husbands, "Does a planet’s leader have to never touch the ground? Is it the leader’s choice or does it put anyone in danger?"
"The first person to lead from ship off his world was Tarchin. His life was under consent threat so he created a ship he could lead from. Other leaders saw how much easier it was to be secure if you can see every threat." Her history husband wrote back. "As long as a hazmat layer is grown their is no medical reason for objection." Her physiology husband added. From that point on she asked them questions about the reason for ways of being that differed between the tribes and clans. The three made sure the living space would accommodate them. They fell into a comfortable communication style. She would use their answer to back hers in "the Order of Decision" attributing the genetic line of people with thanks. The Accenda Order of Decision would solidify the wedge and allow its future lines to understand why the tribe did things the way it did. No matter who they were born to by the time the children are seven they would know how to read their tribes order of decision and follow it. Parents would tell them to read the portion they violated out loud and the various consequences possible. Of the consequences they would ask the child for the one they wanted or how to avoid any.
Morgan came into ops within seconds of getting Lilith’s request for her to. Everyone in the room was working contently but stood. They seemed tense as she and her shift came in for the hand over as if leaving with their leader they were not sure the ship would continue. As Lilith stood up her chair reformed into one well suited for Morgan’s short frame. Morgan unrolled her work screen and read the stats to see what could be improved. She saw that for now all was as it should be. Entertainers do not have a work station out of their home as they are distracting and so is their work. She would not have her husband to look at but with a stroke of her earlobe his music was there to accompany her.
Lilith turned to her husbands once they cleared the door of their personal dwelling. "The post announcing you as my husbands did not give you signifiers. History and Physiology Accenda are your outside names but what shall I call you at home? I need you to call me Lilith." The two looked blindsided she blinked waiting a full three count before lifting her finger and pointing at History. "Tory. Ghee. Until you tell me other wise please remember out there I am Leader in here I am Lilith." The room had been a blue cube when she left it but now it had a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and all other things a living space needed to be a home.
Her husbands looked at each other and Ghee said, "We are fine with Tory and Ghee. Do you like this layout? We tried to furnish it well for each of us to be comfortable as possible. The puffs that you like are in the bowl by the work station."
Tory stepped closer "We added our personal ships to yours this way you can come and go as you please and no one walking in the hallway between here and ops even will know. I’m keeping mine fully functional Ghee’s needed to be partially dismantled for the medical labs." She followed them as they gave her a tour of home smiled at her men as they talked in unison most of the time. Although they looked different their voices were the same to a note as were the way they moved.
She had been working four days straight without a shower and felt justified cutting the tour short, "I want to wash where is the shower?"
The men smiled, "This way." Both walked toward a doorway that was big enough for both to walk through. It was a Korn design making walk ways and doors big enough to accommodate many the doors met in the center sliding into pockets when asked. "Our shower." They waved her toward it.
"It is beautiful." She said the shower looked like a waterfall with stone work water jets. Hidden filter works reclaimed the water to keep it on a loop so it was always fresh. Her husband with red haired started to disrobe first but Tory was faster sinking into the whirlpool beside the shower he spread his arms along the back and closed his eyes. Ghee stepped into the still side. She joined them carefully finding an equidistant spot.
"You’re beautiful wife we hoped you would be. Yet have to tell you that when you did not want to come home. We believed you were not willing to have us." they said.
"Are you going to speak as one always?" Lilith laughed she didn’t know why it was important but she wanted to be sure she knew both of her husband’s voices. "I just wanted to know all of the main crew and give my top Administrator time alone with her husband. This also enabled me to be sure that we would be able to be uninterrupted. I am sorry if you think I took too long."
"We don’t try to speak as one it just happens." they said. "We will spend time with you alone to make it random. What kind of soap do you want? Floral or spice?"
"Spice." She said and Ghee came over to her with the biggest smile kissed her on the nose and claimed out of the tub taking the floral soap with him. He lathered himself from head to foot and stepped into the cascading water. She watched him fascinated. Troy watched her noting her eyes never met his until Ghee left the room. After taking a calming breath Tory said, "I like spice too." He showed her the spice soap ring he had placed around his neck before getting into the water.
When Ghee went to bed alone he was sad but sure he saw disappointment in her eyes that he left. It was amazing how quickly he fell asleep. He was never good at the transition from awake to asleep. His dreams were vivid so he was groggy unable to wake up quickly. He dreamt. In the dream he was a blood cell moving along toward a heart. The other cells around him looked very healthy and the vessel was clear. He entered the heart and saw nothing out of place as he past from one chamber to the other. He came out of the heart and continued his path through the circulatory system of this great being.
It was a peaceful dream and waking up to his wife curled up next to him smelling of spices was even better. She was asleep breathing softly the heartbeat he was hearing was coming from her wrist that was under his ear. He wanted to lift his head and watch her but did not want to move it from her wrist. She had not slept for one hundred ninety seven hours in his estimation. Humans are able to force their bodies to go without sleep seventy two hours but hallucinations and head aches are the result. How did she go so long without sleep?
Her eyes opened and she smiled, "Will you lift your head please?"
He complied raising onto his elbow. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I generally sleep twenty minuets per four hours but there was too much to do so I had to meditate instead. How was your sleep?" She had relaxed look he rubbed her wrist, she rolled onto her back one leg straight the one furthest from him was bent at a forty-five degree angle her foot flat on the bed.
"I’ve never timed my sleep I just know it is something I need to do." He placed his hand on her hip and traced her pelvic bone with his thumb. His eyes connected with hers.
"So your body just sleeps when it needs to and is finished whenever it is done? Are all your body functions spontaneous or are some on demand?" She asked his body answered.
As they enjoyed each other Tory came into the room. They welcomed him to bed. For the rest of the week the three devoted their selves to bonding as a procreative team. The world outside was not on hold but went on without interrupting them.
The Keeper
At the exact end of their seventh day Accenda was reached they put out an arrival announcement. On Earth West Virginia at The Green Bank Observatory its steerable telescope received FRB121102 fast radio burst. Lilith washed dressed and left her sleeping husbands for Command. She walked to the center chair reformed to her tall frame as her administrator stood. Lilith smiled at her, "Well done. Display the planetary grid. Cora, bring us to 22240 sets above the equator. Measure geosynchronous equatorial orbit with the planet’s rotation on my mark."
Cora stopped the ship at high orbit, "Halt point reached."
Lilith smiled, "Mark. All ship. Good morning Accenda. Today is our first day all clocks set to mark our first hour above our planet. Have a pleasant rest day if you are a builder tomorrow is your Monday. We start constructing the grid and building the frameworks. All breakers report to stations place your ships on grid dynamic twenty one low orbit let’s see what our planet looks like."
Communications played the applause from the builders and the affirmative voices of the breakers to Command. The three diminutional representation of the planet filled the command. Each ship as it came on the grid made the representation more accurate. Data also was displayed so she could find the planet’s soft spot. She knew it was there. A place that the right strike could crack into its core where change can be introduced and acceptance of life on the planet could be hanged.
Lilith was looking at it five years later when Translation sent her a communication. "See that translation and raw audio pushed into my home station." she ordered. Waking her husbands to the knowledge they had jobs with the demand they translate. Mentally she told them she did not know what the words meant but knew the tone was hostile. When Communications received an odd signal they made sure it was not coming from the planet they had put it through to Translation. Translation was able to decipher the words but had problems with the pattern.
One of her husbands, Ghee had awoke to the sound of her daily all ship announcement. He sent her a thought of comfort and greeting. Her telepathic voice was pleasant. He told her he was drinking tea and chewing his biscuit when her demand for immediate translation of a communication came. During their first week together he noticed his body doing as she wanted quicker than if he had asked. When he awoke to find her out of home he researched what happened.
Bonding with Lilith made them closer than regular mates. All husbands and wives eventually can finish the other’s sentence or anticipate a want. Her mind absorbed theirs during bonding. The electromagnetic energy needed to move a nerve or recall a memory that all humans used was not cancelled. They still had free will but bonding with her changed it. He smiled thinking about that first shared dream. They had each other’s memories, thoughts and goals.
His co husband was at the in home work station naked when he arrived. He was there sifting through the tonal language. Ghee handed him a bowl of puffs when Tory tried to say no thank you Ghee pushed one in his mouth. "You must eat and hydrate for us to have your best work." Tory hated to admit it but Ghee was always right. Sharing memories with a person who was in most of them gave him confirmation that when it comes to the basic "shoulds of life" Ghee automatically did them.
"Ghee I have not ever heard these words before yet something about them seems right and comfortable. As if grandfather had spoke them so I could not understand what exactly was being said." He thought Ghee nodded and pushed more food in his mouth. As he was fed Tory understood that if he did not start taking care of himself he soon would be washed and dressed by Ghee. Lilith sent the image of him being fully hooked into a screen like an elder refusing to die and the word pitiful. He laughed and got up to take care of himself as he worked out the translation in his head. He mentally her to requested her to bring Morgat.
Lilith received their request as Morgan came into Command. She motioned Morgan to her side, "Breaker Veraildis you have point. Start direct drill now. Dega compressive wave on the drill site until one set is removed." She smiled at her friend, "I need you with me is there an Administer who can fill 30 minuets of your time for you?"
"Yes." She paged a young man who came into Command took his duty scroll and quickly stood facing the model. The women left Command for Lilith’s home. Lilith pressed her wrist sending a page to Mat.
Until they reached the planet assignations did not matter all who were not in the command were at rest. Building Rest day was usually the busiest day for Entertainers. Builders forget how to rest and seek entertainment to show them how. The story of why a rest day was needed came from Earth. It was believed humans would work non stop hurting their self and all who relied on them if they were not told to rest. They also would lay around all day accomplishing nothing if they were not told to work. He was loading the serving banks when he got his first emergency page. What if it had happened five years ago during his first year of entertainment selection? No one would have anything to remember their first day to. He would have failed his first Rest day. He had made a note to have a listing that went 72 hours so that would not a worry. He consulted with his parents and Iilka on building a auditory stimulating music cues that ensured their people would be smart, healthy and well entertained. He put his hand on the page light and was transferred into the ruling home.
Ghee was standing in the kitchen. Tory was at the desk. His wife was sitting on the sofa and his ruler was facing him with a look of determination. "We received a threat. I need you to craft a response that says, ’If you don’t fall back I will blow your whole world up.’ In the most non violent way. I want them to love and fear me. We don’t need conflict this quickly but I am born Band the weapon clan. It is difficult for me to hear this and not want to kick back."
She turned her back to him sat on the sofa next to his wife who put an arm around her both put their feet on the same foot stool they looked at him with an aggression he never seen before. This is what he was born for not to make a danceable beat or fun song. The young women looked nothing alike until then. With one arm around the other they used their hands to manipulate the screen they projected above them, huffing and mumbling to each other.
He turned to the husbands, "What was the message? Play it for me." He paced as he listened. "Now with the translation."
"Welcome to Accenda. I trust you came a long way. I am this planet’s Keeper and would rather you move on to another one." The voice was male and pulled through the nose, the tone was menacing.
He paused and asked Tory, "Is there any music that uses this language? Ask Communications explore the way this was sent and send me anything they have especially if set to harmony or entertaining. Thank you." He paced as they listened. Soon he found the rhythm of these people. With Ghee and Tory Mat reviewed the history and files until they understood them and what they valued.
"Our reply will be in their words Lilith’s voice." He took out his drum hitting it to the rhythm he needed the words said. "You must use your voice to form their words. Let them know who we are invite them to except the new reality. Remember how you invited all to dance with you? I think they haven’t danced in a long time. They need rhythm in their lives."
Lilith smiled at her Entertainer, "Thank you for the cadence of these people. I did not want to sound as angry as I was. Now I will be able to use his words efficiently. Tory the five of us need to know their way of speaking as if we were born in this "Keeper’s" home by the end of this hour. Ghee can you form a bio film that will implant it into our language center so we don’t have an accent?"
"I will need my overlay to have the statical and mathematics they use too." Morgan said.
"Why don’t I just make a biofilm that comprises all Tory Communications and Translations can data mine? I will adapt them to each of us." Ghee went to his lab coming out with his equipment five minutes later. He knew he would be asked to build the film. He and Adel were working on an alternative to screen implants the day met.
Biofilms were now liquid but originated as a thin wafer that was implanted on the frontal cortex to give knowledge you would have to study years to acquire. They were an artificial neural network that fed off the biological one. Before the surgical implant people had devices that stored information. Ghee’s Biofilm traveled along the optic nerve making use of the image recall and decode activity to implant itself. The process to build the delivery system took ten days longer than the idea to do it this way instead of the old way. Tory’s digging through the archives days in advance of this crisis payed off. He sorted the new information into history, communication and statistics transferring it to Ghee in minutes of their wife’s request.
"Who is first?" Ghee asked placing his cart by the reclining chair. Mat sat down and leaned back. "Don’t fight the new knowledge let it be added to yours. The music they played had a real good beat try to remember that song they were singing at the last night on Earth." Ghee put the drops in his eyes as he talked. "It was a rhythm that had a tricky end slide. What was it? Close your eyes and try to play it for me. Please?" Mat searched his mind for that beat his fingers soon touched his pocket drum and the song came back to him the more he played the stronger the memory of it was. Soon all of the five had the drops in and were remembering the song singing its words and doing the steps to the dance that went with it. They laughed as they recognized the memory set was a part of them now.
With a hug Morgan and Mat left Lilith and her husbands. Ghee had a dress made for his wife that should put them in biological awe of her. Lilith put it on and walked into Command. All stood and watched her until she to stood at her desk. "Communications open a channel toward that signal you gave me an hour ago."
"The channel is open Ruler." Communications said.
"I am Ruler Lilith Accenda this is where I am going to stay. Show yourself and be counted hide and be discounted." She projected her image with the words, "RULER LILITH ACCENDA LEADER OF THE HOLDER OF WORLDS BLUE STARS AND THEIR SURROUNDING PLANETS." Her stance right foot forward hands clasped behind her hips allowed all to see she had a harp on her left hip and a weapon on the other.
An image appeared in the room of a portly person one set high dressed in a traveling suit of shining purples. He bowed and retracted his face shield. His face was completely round his nose was flat making his profile also round, "You are mistaken if you think I’ll allow your tribe here."
"My tribe is here. You are not. If you or any of your people want to become a part of the people who live here. My people. You may apply." The words under her changed to a list of personal needs with instructions on how to apply.
"What do you mean?" The Keeper asked. His image looked upset.
"I mean you are either one of us who lives with this planet or you are not. Are you in orbit around this planet? No! We are there is no place on the planet that doesn’t have one of us above it." Lilith took a step toward the image on command and her projected image took a step toward the Keeper in his room. "Where are you really and why do you want our planet?"
He did not know. He never even anticipated the question. It was just his and no one ever told him different. He pulled himself to his full hight, "If you want this planet you will have to pay me for it.
"No. It is already ours. The Holder of Worlds gave it to us. There are no humans on it nor any life forms beneath. We have started the bombardment and soon its core will be producing full current. If you had this planet it would not be so useless as it was when we found it. If you had plans for it you would have submitted them to the Holder for review and permission as we did. You made no proclamation either in time for us to review legal claim until we got here and made ours. What you are is fat and lazy. You think you can sit somewhere and tell the universe what to do! Here is a song you for you. Entertainer play the good bye song. Communications mute him."
The Keeper was able to hear the song and see the young woman dance to it soon his room was full of young people dancing and singing, "This world is not the only world where a boy can find a girl. It is just the world my parents found each other to make me. I was born to fly. Good bye. Good bye. Me. I’m meant to be out there flying free. Accenda! Ah A! The song was not just in his room but boosted by his transmitter to play all over the Western system. Along with the song was the format to ask the Holder of Worlds if you could be a part of Accenda.
Mat placed the song on a loop adding graphics of Earth’s departure party. The people boarding the ships were so young. He sent the advertisement to the Band Entertainer and Ilka with another film of Lilith’s encounter with the Keeper.
They told him he did everything well but advised him to talk to The Entertainer. At his name The Entertainer appeared in a sleek white travel suit. He knew everything because he had transmitting eyes and ears everywhere so he silenced Mat with a raised finger. He was born Band. Lilith was Band her success was his, "Lilith Mat needs you Command has you. Rectify this." He said. She was there as soon as he said "this"
"I’m here." She said walking into the room quickly running to him pausing half a finger width away from him.
"Yes you are." He took a step back. Ichabod told him all about her being able to transmit her will to others. It was a Band trait they kept well hidden by turning into a trait of marriage bonding. "Put on your travel suit we are leaving to negotiate trade routes for this new world." He looked at Mat "Your work is very good Ilka as always was right."
Her husbands arrived with her suit, "Ghee and Adel had to make adjustments. This way your dress will stay excellent." Tory held it out and she steppe into it. Ghee bonded the suit so nothing could harm her.
"You can’t live in the core of a sun for a week in this suit but it will protect you from most anything else. It also produces all you need to live so you are not dependent on them for anything. We are coming as are Adel and Cora." Ghee said.