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Jenny stood beside Anwhal in the village square where she had instructed “the girls” to meet her and Chidwi. The Daringi forces all had the coordinates to this place, and a delegation would be arriving shortly after her bodyguards to meet with many of the leaders of the Groga. Those assembled here had all committed to the resistance of the Insenium and could be trusted according to Anwhal to help the Groga people accept the Daringi and other Alliance representatives as allies.
Chidwi was perched on her shoulder with her reflection turned on, as she generally did these days. There were others coming and going in the square and they nodded and smiled at Jenny and Chidwi as they passed.
The air shimmered slightly in front of her and Nona, Lyra and Mynn faded into view, each with an accompanying Daringi with a hand on their shoulders.
“Reporting as requested, Jenny.” Mynn said immediately, the three of them snapping to attention.
Jenny assumed she was trying to impress the officials that surrounded her. “Stop that,” she sent privately to them with a grin, “None of that military stuff here. I saw enough of that as a kid growing up to last me a lifetime.”
“Yes, Jenny,” they sent nearly in unison, without appearing to relax the tiniest bit.
Jenny rolled her eyes and introduced them to her companions. Each nodded in turn somewhat solemnly, and Jenny sighed. She would have to learn to deal with this, but she couldn’t help but remember the shopping trip she and her bodyguards had indulged in, which now seemed such a long time ago. It would have to do for now, but she knew she would need to have a bit of a “sit down” with the girls later when they could be alone.
Their Daringi transport officers faded away and just behind that, several Daringi in muted robes appeared, each bowing slightly to Jenny and her entourage. “Welcome, my Daringi friends. I will introduce you to our company in a moment, but for now, let’s retire to the village inn to a room our hosts have set aside for us to eat and discuss what needs to happen moving forward.”
They nodded and the entire group moved off to a large inn at the edge of the square. Mostly traders and merchants stayed there, and it had a large great room and some private meeting rooms able to accommodate a few dozen people depending on how it was arranged. The one the inn-keeper had set aside for this meeting was set up with chairs arranged in a loose circle, per Jenny’s request.
They waited for Jenny to sit first and her guards arranged themselves behind her, declining seats for themselves to Jenny’s discomfort. Oh well. For now, it would have to do, but she didn’t want any of the others to think her pretentious. The rest sat in no particular order, which was what Jenny had hoped for. She remembered Bob telling her that Merv said the round table wasn’t so much about King Arthur being wise as it was that he needed a table quickly. Nevertheless, a circular meeting format, as Ingot was fond of, was perfect for diplomacy, as none of the participants could take any visual precedence over the others.
Anwhal stood and introduced the various members of his party. These included the mayor of this town and mayors from three other towns, a couple of military officers, and a teacher who all seemed to hold in great regard. Jenny stood in turn and introduced her group.
Anwhal then sent to the group, “I don’t want to sit here for days trying to figure things out, so I will summarize our purpose today and let our new friend Jenny tell us where we go from here. Time is not our friend at this point, so we can’t be hashing and re-hashing every detail.
We are here because we are finally being given an opportunity to end the tyranny of the Insenium over our people once and for all, as we support the efforts of the Dimensional Alliance to rid the multiverse from the Inseni not only for our people, but beings throughout the multiverse.
These people want to help us get our lives back, but they are not here to tell us what to do, how to act or what to decide. That is up to us. Each of us here has heard what Jenny has to say, and we have agreed as one to commit to her cause. The beings she has brought before us today are here to teach us and support us in our decision to once again become a free people. There will be more coming, but first they need to know of our commitment to learn and to support this effort.”
His fellow Groga nodded somberly and placed a fist to their chests. Jenny knew this was her cue.
“Fellow beings of the multiverse, I must tell you that this is very humbling. I am but a young woman and not a career politician or public figure even in my own world. Regardless, I have been put in this position and I will serve.”
She gestured toward the Daringi and then toward the Groga, taking all in with a sweeping gesture.
“Those of us seated in this circle, including my dear friend, Chidwi, all come from different dimensions. And at one point or another, our people have been enemies. But now we find ourselves with a common cause. The Daringi have put aside contention to come here, and you have also put it aside to have them here. As we gather in town after town and city after city in our plan to eliminate the Inseni threat, more Daringi will come to counsel and advise your leaders on how to prepare for the adversary who will come.
Gall will not willingly allow the Groga to change their allegiance. Nor will he simply shrug his shoulders and move forward without you. As a people you must choose your path and it will be difficult regardless of which one you pursue. For now, we have a strategy that should give you the best chance to survive this with the fewest possible casualties, but we cannot promise your safety.
It will be vital that we glean as much information as possible from those of you who have worked closely with the Inseni in the past. This will help us to not only defeat them in the long run, but better protect your people.
As you know, we are not asking you to actively fight in this war. In fact, what we want from you is exactly the opposite. We do not ask you to fight for us against the Inseni and potentially against your own who will be fighting for them. We simply want you to defend yourselves, if necessary, and aid us with the information you have that may make the difference between victory and defeat.”
All in the circle nodded solemnly. “Then we are ready. Anwhal has the list matching up the Daringi with the Groga mayors and captains. I will leave you to it.”
She stood, and nodding to each with a gentle smile, left the room, her bodyguards behind her.
She had been given rooms in the inn. Freia came each evening now to check on her wound, but she said it would soon not need bandaging. The stubble on her head now reminded her of a honey-colored version of Chidwi’s fur. Chidwi had told her it was very becoming and that she should let her body fur grow as well. Jenny wasn’t sure the Linkling wasn’t serious about it, but she laughed and was glad mirrors were scarce in the Groga culture.
If she was honest with herself, the lack of comb-able hair was more of a big deal than she wanted to admit. She had never taken a lot of time on her appearance, preferring neat and clean to stylish. But now that she was in the public eye, she couldn’t help but think she was less than imposing to look at. The bandage no longer encompassed her head, front and back like a wool hat. It was now more of a band around her forehead, reaching around to the wound on the back of her head.
She also wondered if Burt would be so obsessed with her if he could see her this way. Not that she had enough time on her hands to worry over this much. She couldn’t talk to Chidwi about this sort of thing. Human dating was a great puzzlement to her. And she didn’t dare say anything to Elizabeth about it, considering how much time she spent with Burt these days. Not that Elizabeth would say anything to Burt, but she also didn’t want to color that relationship.
She got to her room that was conveniently on the main floor of the inn. Technically, it wasn’t a room they usually rented out. It had been intended to be a guest room for visiting relatives of the inn-keeper, but the inn-keeper’s wife, Lida, had insisted, saying she was grateful to have the honored one and her disciple stay under their roof. Jenny hadn’t argued. The idea of climbing stairs at this point was tiring just thinking about it.
Jenny closed the door and sat carefully on the bed with a sigh. Chidwi hopped down from her shoulders and stood behind her on the bed stroking the back of her neck, starting at the base of her skull and down between her shoulder blades. She barely felt it as Chidwi continued. It amazed her how such a light touch seemed to give warmth deep into the muscles of her neck and back. As Chidwi continued, Jenny did her breathing, focusing on simply being. Later she would mindspeak with her various contacts in the Alliance, but for now she just needed to let it all go. It had been a long day arranging the meeting she had just left.
In no way had she ever imagined herself in this role, and now she was learning as she went, one day at a time. Each evening before bed she took out the little jeweled box Miriha had given her that came from another dimension Jenny didn’t even begin to understand.
When she had awoken from her unconscious state, the little box had been in her MDP however, so she couldn’t doubt that the experience had been real.
All of these were part of her life now. It was so bizarrely different than her life before she inherited the little house on Infinity Loop, that she sometimes felt that her previous life had been a dream she had awoken from to find herself in the midst of conflict and constant movement toward...what? That was the big question. Where was this all heading?
And the thing with Burt? In her old life would they ever even have met? Could she afford to invest herself in anything but a friendship with anyone? Both she and Burt were in danger; the recent past had proven that. Either one of them could be injured or killed at any time. Dared she commit herself? And would he even want her now? She ruefully touched the fuzz on the top of her head. She just couldn’t face any of that at the moment.
Chidwi tapped her cheek with a finger. “Jenny must breathe. Jenny must relax.”
Jenny realized she had been tensing, lost in this disconcerting train of thought. She put it aside and focused on her breathing. She only had about an hour before she had to move on to the next stage of her journey.
She relaxed into Chidwi’s ministrations with a sigh, willing herself to blank her mind and tune into Chidwi’s crooning. It wasn’t any cadence or music pattern that Jenny was familiar with and yet, she often found that she was humming along. She assumed it was a part of the link she had with Chidwi that she could harmonize with Chidwi’s music perfectly, as music had been such a small part of her own education.
Finally, she realized that Chidwi’s warm little hands had ceased their stroking and Chidwi had climbed onto Jenny’s lap, looking into her eyes with her sweet smile. “Jenny is better now?”
“Yes, Chidwi, I feel much better. I think we must go out to meet the others. We have a bit of a journey yet today. Anwhal said he would get “the girls” settled in, so I’ll check on them and we can leave.”
There was a light tap on the door. It was Freia. “I need to check your dressing before you leave, if that is alright.”
Jenny nodded and Freia went to work, gently unwrapping the band from around her head.
“I think we can leave it unbandaged today and just start wrapping it at night,” she said as she gently touched the wound. “It has scabbed nicely and is healing much more rapidly than I ever expected to see. I am sure this is because of the treatment by the Honored One. In a week we may be able to leave off the bandage completely. I would recommend you wear a hat, but I am concerned it might rub on the wound, so I brought you a kerchief to shield it from the sun.”
“And to cover my horrible hair as well,” Jenny sighed. “Thank you, Freia. I don’t know what I would have done without you and your family to care for me.”
“It has been our honor, Jenny. Never did we think we might have the opportunity to care for a disciple like yourself. The entire Groga people are forever in your debt, regardless of the outcome, because you have brought us the chance to make things right again. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” was all Jenny could think to say.
Freia finished her task, carrying out the soiled bandages. She wasn’t giving Jenny the potion for pain anymore. Jenny had told her that she would gladly take the healing broth and the herbs for healing, but she was handling the pain with breathing and mental pain control techniques Lova and Amenia had taught her. She didn’t need her senses dulled at this critical point in her mission.
They left the room; Chidwi once again perched on her shoulder. In the common room of the inn at a large table were seated Lyra, Mynn, and Nona, along with Anwhal and his son, Grephan. They all stood as Jenny entered the room. She was still having a hard time getting used to this, but she realized that telling them to stop wasn’t working, so she smiled and nodded at them.
“Where to now?” she sent to the group.
Anwhal answered, “We are joining my battalion on their way to the capital city. The word has spread quickly of what you are doing, and the ultimate leaders of our planet have gathered every authority amongst us from villages to cities. We will be meeting them in two days, so we will need to pick up the pace. My troops have found sturdier transport, but I’m afraid the ride might be a little bumpy.”
Up until now they had not had to travel long distances. She had been ensconced into a little market cart pulled by a farm animal the size of a large goat. The little cart had fairly good suspension as it was intended to haul delicate goods to market, but even on the main roads it was a little jarring. She understood that the roads between here and the capitol were not all well paved, and for her head that was a concern.
Jenny decided to take a chance. “Anwhal, if it will not be offensive to your people, I have my own transportation that will be smooth and allow me to easily keep up with your battalion without compromising my wound or the pace they need to keep to get us where we are going in a timely manner. Is there a private place outdoors where I can show you?”
Anwhal considered. “We can go into the assembly area for the local troops. It is currently empty, as the contingent here will be accompanying us and they are assembling on the square.”
Jenny knew she had to be careful about this. Exposing these people to “dastardly alien tech” might be a mistake, and it’s hard to put the genie back into the bottle once others have seen it. However, right now, they needed every edge they could get and time was the real enemy at the moment. She also knew that the soldiers had seen alien tech on other worlds during their time serving the Insenium. She probably wouldn’t have considered it, but the previous night, as she had viewed the fleeting images from the little jeweled box, she had seen herself in one of the hover cars surrounded by Groga troops.
They walked down the street, greeted with nods and waves by the townsfolk. Small children delightedly pointed out Chidwi, laughing when Chidwi waved back, crooning at them. At length they entered a side street that led to the barracks and training area of the local militia. It was quiet, not a single lingering soldier in sight. They finally paused in a fenced off area that served as the training ground. Jenny waved the rest back and invoked one of the hover cars out of her MDP. It would hold up to 6 passengers comfortably.
Anwhal didn’t flinch, nor did he display any surprise as the vehicle unfolded itself, seemingly appearing out of thin air before Jenny. Grephan’s eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t betray any more than that.
“The Inseni have similar vehicles. No one on our planet will probably think much of it. Though we have not been allowed the use of such technology, we are aware of it. Because we have been under the thumb of one dictator or another for so long, we really don’t have any sciences of our own.”
Jenny nodded. She realized that the Groga were in an awkward stage. It wasn’t like exposing a primitive culture to advanced tech. The Groga were fully aware of tech beyond their own. Perhaps this wasn’t the kind of tech pollution she needed to be worried about and it might give her the ability to keep up with the timetable set before her.
“So, you think it would be alright for me to ride in this to your capitol?” Jenny asked.
“I cannot foresee any problems with it, unless it requires fuel that would not be available here.”
“OK. Then I will meet you with my guard and Chidwi in the square. When do you wish to leave?”
“My troops are ready to go. They’re waiting for us. Do you require anything from the inn?”
Jenny lifted the flesh colored armband from her MDP so all could see.
“This is a tool I use to store my belongings. It is keyed only to me. No one can invoke anything out of it but me. I keep it hidden so as not to expose it to curious eyes. I have everything I need as do my guards.”
She replaced the armband, which immediately looked as if it blended in with her skin.
“I would appreciate it if you do not tell people about it. At some point, after this is all over, we can discuss possible exchanges of ideas and information, but I can’t promise this technology will ever be able to be shared with your people. It is not my decision to make.”
Anwhal nodded, saluted, and he and Grephan turned and left. Jenny felt that Anwhal understood, but she was also pretty sure he wouldn’t leave it at that. There would definitely be discussions in the future.
