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(As Jenny continued to read, enthralled by the descriptions of the many places and beings Lizzie explored, she found herself feeling a bit bereft. Her own journey had been fast and intense, and she had been given little time to explore the dimensions or to receive any detailed training. She knew there was still much ahead for her, but with the complex duties before her as the official Gatekeeper for the Dimensional Alliance, she could see no way she would ever have the opportunity to receive the detailed training Lizzie had received.
Her training would continue to be “on the job,” and she also had a husband and needed at some point to deal with her dad, who was now in on her “secret identity,” as he called it. They had only had a few very short telephone conversations since that day she had visited him mentally, and in her evening mental visits she had taken the time to give him a very quick rundown of what she was dealing with. He had promised not to tell another soul, but she felt like he almost wished he could also be a part of it all.
In the meantime, she had to be content with her life as it was, not as she wished it could be. Nevertheless, as Lizzie continued her account of her training, Jenny felt herself wishing she had some special ability to go back in time and experience it for herself.
As Lizzie’s training continued, and as Jenny neared the last part of this journal, Jenny felt like there was something looming ahead.)
Lizzie started awake. It was still dark. The automatic lighting for wakeup time hadn’t yet turned on. It was unusual for her not to sleep completely through the sleep period. By the end of each and every day, she was both physically and mentally depleted. Normally, she, like her podmates, sank onto her bed at the end of the day with a deep sigh of contentment.
What had wakened her? Ynni was still asleep on the pillow next to her. She didn’t hear anything, but that wasn’t surprising, with the sound barriers between the beds in the pod. She sat up, trying not to disturb Ynni, and looked around her. She could dimly discern the sleeping beings around her, lumps on each of the beds, chests rising and falling. A slight glow around Minth indicating the static field that surrounded him was the only light inside at the moment.
Then, a gentle touch on her mind. “Lizzie, it is Liliath. I know it is very early. Please quietly wake Ynni and come. You needn’t dress for the day. I will meet you in my office.”
“Ynni?” she sent softly. “I need you to wake and come with me.”
Ynni opened huge sleepy eyes and nodded. She didn’t question, and Lizzie remembered she didn’t need to. The tiny linkling stretched pale green furry arms and pulled herself up onto her accustomed perch on Lizzie’s shoulder.
Lizzie slipped on her socks and shoes and left the pod, closing the door quietly behind her. She shivered a bit in the cool morning air, although the dimmer of the two suns was peeking from behind the pods across the training field. The t-shirt and sweatpants she normally wore to bed were a little less covering than she would have liked, considering this was the coolest part of the day.
Nothing stirred on the grounds as she walked quickly down the path to the admin building. There was no breeze, so not even a leaf rustled around her. This made her a bit uneasy, as if she were disturbing the surface of a crystal pond of peace.
She entered the quiet building, lights turning on automatically as she passed down the long corridor to Liliath’s office. She didn’t knock and found Liliath waiting on her chaise.
“Thank you for your promptness. Please be seated. I am sorry to wake you, but I needed to consult with you and Ynni privately. This office is shielded to prevent potential mental eavesdropping—”
“I had no idea that was even possible!”
“Ah yes, that will be part of your next unit of training, but for now it is important that we not be overheard.
“Ynni, have you sensed the ‘bad ones’ lately?”
“No, Liliath, but I listen, I do. Ynni believes the bad one is not alone and means no good to the Alliance or its servants.”
“Servants?”
“Those who serve the beings of the Alliance. The word is not good?”
“Excuse my prideful nature, Ynni. Of course, that does indeed describe what we do.
“I need to tell you that I have heard whispers here and there of some discord among some of the beings in some of the other pods, and some of their rancor seems to center on your pod. Lizzie, I didn’t want to disturb your other podmates, but Ynni is sensitive to the thoughts of those around them. I am about to call an assembly of the trainees and their leaders, and I will be ordering the arrangement of the pods on the training ground with your pod in the center of the gathering.
“Ynni, I need you to ‘listen’ to the thoughts of the crowd around you. This might take a while, as there are over two hundred trainees in the training unit at any given time. Tell me how long you think you will need, and I will make sure the assembly lasts long enough to do your work.”
“Ynni takes in thoughts in large groups mostly as feelings. As I feel discontent or anger, I can then focus on an individual being. But that is many, many beings. Will need at least the span of one of your hours to do this. Also, Liliath should know some beings can feel it when I probe specifically.”
“I see. We must try. When we assemble, I suggest you turn your reflection off before coming out onto the training grounds. I don’t wish your participation to be obvious. I don’t know how many of the trainees in the camp have any idea of your abilities, and we don’t want to put them on their guard if we can help it.
“Lizzie, please go back to your pod now, and try to be quiet enough not to disturb your podmates. Go back to bed until wake time.”
Lizzie nodded and left. She was able to slip back into her bed without anyone noticing, but she didn’t sleep a wink for what remained of the night.
The next day she tried to pretend all was normal but found herself nodding off in the middle of Professor Lulindu’s lecture on the fine points of the Agent Agreement, something she would have normally paid rapt attention to, since this was the part of the interdimensional agreement that pertained most to what she could and could not do as an agent. The overall document covered many aspects, such as trade and military cooperation, how the council made its decisions, and the agreed responsibilities of Alliance members.
During their usual routine of workouts, classes and defense, she kept wondering when Liliath would call the assembly and how she might disguise the true purpose of the gathering.
When they had returned from their expedition to Negoth’s dimension, which was very similar to Earth but much more advanced in technology, they were informed, as they emerged from the gate that an assembly had been called and they were to proceed to their pod, refresh themselves, and assemble at a specifically marked place in their usual pod formation.
Lizzie’s belly did a flip-flop. She had been shifting from fatigue to edginess all day in anticipation of this, and now she wondered how she had managed to put herself in the middle of it. Ynni had turned her reflection off, and no one in her pod remarked on it as they left for the assembly. It wasn’t unusual for Ynni to casually disappear from time to time from Lizzie’s shoulder, and she didn’t always accompany them to every event in training.
But Lizzie felt Ynni’s tiny warm hand on her cheek as she sent to her, “Breathe, Lizzie, and be calm. Ynni is here.”
She took a deep calming breath and did her breathing exercises as they walked to their place in the assembly. There were around two hundred trainees in their pod formations. Their stations had been marked by a small stake with a flag bearing the symbol for their pod. Lizzie’s pod symbol was the silhouette of a white tree on a green background. As she glanced around, she was once again impressed by the mixture of the various sizes, shapes and colors of the beings that surrounded her pod. Their pod was roughly in the center of the gathering.
All eyes shifted upward when, out of the sky, Liliath descended to a raised podium where the professors and administrative staff were already gathered.
She was majestic. The blues started at her hind feet, which blended gently to deep greens at her head. Her eyes tended to shift in color from amber to green as her moods changed, and her extended green-veined-in-blue, nearly thirty-foot wingspan, and her tail, which could be as expressive as any cat, combined to make her more than a little formidable. If you did not know how gentle and kind she could be, anyone would have been intimidated.
She definitely knows how to make an entrance, Lizzie thought, and couldn’t help but grin. No one seeing her in this way would misjudge her authority or her ability to enforce it.
“Agent trainees,” she began without preamble, “I greet you from the Alliance council and wish to acknowledge those of you who are putting in such an effort as we train you to represent the Alliance. You have taken upon yourselves a significant responsibility, and we wish to honor you for it. For this reason, we wish to announce a celebration, which will be held over the next four days.
“This event will allow each pod to participate in various competitions and also to create a special visiting space. We will be transforming the training ground into the equivalent of a market square. Each pod will have its own booth space, which can be used for gathering, storytelling, displaying art or entertainment, and, if you wish, marketing crafts native to your dimension.
“All transactions will be done in Alliance credits. You will be able to draw credits from your account via your tablet. You will also get two days off of studies to plan for and prepare your booth space. Therefore, all classes for the coming two days will be postponed, including physical training.
“At the end of the event there will be rewards for the best booths and recognition for many of you for your diligence and hard work.”
“Lizzie,” Ynni broke in, as Liliath continued to expound on the coming events, “There are stirrings of anger and ill intent in the pod to the right and up one rank. I am sending picture thoughts to Liliath, and she has responded that you should not react in any way. She will send instructions to you via your tablet. She has identified the discontented ‘bad ones,’ which is the purpose of this gathering. She wishes you to pay attention carefully to your surroundings.
“Ynni is not to leave your side at all until this is resolved. Liliath is pleased we were able to find these but has passed no judgment until more information is gathered.”
Lizzie was astounded that this happened so quickly. She would have never thought of discovering these people in this way. Obviously, she still had much to learn to be able to think more like an agent. She resolved to pay more attention.
When the assembly was dismissed, she walked back to her pod along with her podmates, listening only halfway to the mental chattering of the group. They seemed excited about the event and were already coming up with ideas of how to create a great booth.
Lizzie had been surprised that she had an Alliance credits account. When she asked Minth about it, he blinked in surprise. “Oh wait, you didn’t attend the first week. We were told about our Alliance credits account during the first day of orientation, and you obviously missed that part. Each of us receives a monthly stipend, which can be translated into the currency of our dimension if we wish. You probably have accumulated quite a bit, if you haven’t made arrangements to transfer it to an Earth account somewhere.”
Lizzie shook her head. When she consulted her tablet and selected the icon Minth showed her, she was astounded at the quantity of credits in there. The account page showed not only credits but also the value in her native currency. Evidently, she had to go to the admin office treasurer to arrange to transfer the money to her Earth bank account. She found herself wondering how much else she might have missed in her late arrival, but she decided, that was much less important than her instructions from Liliath via Ynni.
She mostly allowed the others to enthusiastically plan the booth and activities they wanted to display. She agreed with Gi to do an impromptu concert, harp and mbira, along with Ynni and Gi’s vocal accompaniment. This meant she got to practice frequently over the next two days, which was soothing.
Ynni didn’t report “bad ones” at any point over the days of planning. Lizzie didn’t know if this was a good thing or if it just meant that these beings were cleverer than she had hoped they would be.
It felt a little odd not to be doing their usual physical workouts, but since Mang, Linlin, and Feth had decided to do a demonstration of quarterstaff fighting, she found herself working the forms before meals every day, even though she herself would not be participating in the actual demonstration. She was actually glad for it, since she now was more motivated to get better at defense and approached it with a much more open mind.
She knew she would never be as graceful or quick as most of her podmates, but now that she was paying careful attention to the comments of the others as they diagnosed various techniques and tactics, she found it came more naturally to her. She had thought the others just had natural talent but realized that this was only one aspect. As she listened to them discussing the bouts, she realized a lot of thought and focus went into what seemed effortless to the watcher.
She and Gi took breaks to practice their music together, Ynni joining in with enthusiasm. She heard that Geln had taken a gate home to retrieve some paintings he/they had made, and Reanni was planning to present a dance native to her dimension. After having seen her in the revelry on Gi’s planet, Lizzie was looking forward to it.
The spontaneous dance had surprised her so much, and she wasn’t the only one. They all agreed they had been drawn into the dance by the overwhelming pull of the music and would have never done it otherwise. They had discussed the power of music more than once since then and had agreed that perhaps music of other cultures might have been good to have included in their study of dimensional cultures in Fin’s class.
As they prepared, Lizzie continued feeling mild distraction and worry, constantly alert to any warnings by Ynni. She was concerned that not only had Ynni not felt any further bad feelings around them, but that Liliath had not mentioned anything to either of them about the incident at the assembly after Ynni had reported it.
She was sure that Liliath could handle anything that came up. Of course, she had a strategy in place. Of course, she was putting precautions into place, but there was no hint of any of this that Lizzie could see.
The third day after the assembly, they arose early to put together their booth presentation. Food for the next two days would be provided at various stalls throughout the square. As they worked, Lizzie was delighted with the experience, despite her worry.
Geln’s artwork was mostly pastoral, beautiful scenic vistas, somewhat surprising to them all. They had not noticed this side of Geln in all the time they had spent together. It may have accounted for the fact that he had been the first to succumb to the beautiful music that day.
Negoth would be performing a series of complicated acrobatics on a balance beam that he, to their surprise, was able to pull from his MDP easily.
Minth was going to be creating a light show at the end of the day that would shine over the entire training area. He would say no more about it than that since he wanted it to be a surprise.
When they had everything in place and had uploaded the schedule of their performance events to the main computer network so it would be available to all participants, they visited some of the local food booths and sat beside their own booth, eating and waiting for the event to begin.
They had finished their booth before many of the others. They had agreed on a rotation schedule of who would attend the booth, so that each would have an opportunity to view the other displays and potentially purchase something with their well-earned credits.
Lizzie really liked the Alliance philosophy that learners should be paid for their diligence, because their training would ultimately be an advantage to the Alliance. It was a lot like soldiers being paid, if somewhat poorly, during basic training on Earth. This was much more like the university, notwithstanding the physical part of their training. Fortunately, she thought, there were no yelling drill sergeants bawling insults at them as they trained.
When a fanfare of some kind of wind instruments announced the beginning of the fair, the normally silent square burst into a quiet hubbub. Of course, mindspeech prevailed for communications, but several of the booths had displays and demonstrations that made various levels of noise, including occasional outbursts of applause or shouted encouragement during various contests.
If nothing else she had experienced so far had taught Lizzie how diverse the trainees were, this event definitely awoke a sense of awe in her, from those who reminded her of mythological creatures to forms and shapes and colors she had never imagined.
One such was a being who Minth described as a “trrfn,” pronounced “terrfin.” It was orblike, about six feet tall, with tentacles instead of legs which undulated along the ground to move it in one direction or another. There were no mouth or other facial features she could discern, and the deep purple iris and humongous black pupil rotated freely around the orb. Its companion was wearing an environmental suit filled with water, bubbles floating up the clear breathing tubes on either side of the helmet. This being, called a “fleon,” was from a water planet and had greeted Lizzie before going to and from classes. Lizzie found herself grateful for mindspeech, as she was able to greet them warmly when they came to see Geln’s painting, which seemed exotic to them, neither of their races having any reference to this kind of art.
It was about this time that Lizzie, Gi, and Ynni were scheduled to do their first music presentation. And, as it turned out, this was the reason these two had come to their booth.
Lizzie, Ynni and Gi sat on the cushions they had placed on the grass and began to play, Lizzie beginning with a few lingering individual notes on the mbira. Slowly Gi began her harp descant, mingling enticingly with the ringing notes of the mbira. Then, Ynni began to croon her own addition to the composition. When, finally, Gi added her rich multivoice harmony, they were all lifted into a blissful state.
The surrounding bustle and competing sounds seemed to fade out of their consciousness. They continued until the crescendo and then faded once again, one voice leaving at a time until Lizzie did an arpeggio followed by a glissade. The last sounds lingered for a moment on the still air.
When Lizzie looked up from this musical meditation, she saw that quite a crowd had gathered. They were each applauding in their own way, some vocally and some with staccato claps, taps, and clicks.
Lizzie, Gi, and Ynni each bowed their heads humbly in acknowledgment of the applause and set to answering questions from the group. Some few had no previous exposure to music. But many had questions about not only their instruments, but also Gi’s ability to harmonize with herself.
If Lizzie had thought to bring some mbiras to sell from her booth, she would have sold several on the spot. As it was, several of the crowd singled her out later to ask if she would bring some back from her next holiday on Earth.
When Lizzie and Gi got their turn to take a stroll around the square, they were also impressed by the arts, crafts, and cultural demonstrations by their fellow agent trainees. Dancing, music, and art were common, as well as displays of different stones or plants from various dimensions.
Their booth had gone over very well, Lizzie thought. Mang, Linlin, and Feth’s demonstration of defense techniques had been brilliant, each of them moving so quickly as to make it hard to follow the fight. Three on three, the three-cornered quarterstaff fight had been like a very fast-paced well-choreographed dance. After it all, Lizzie found herself feeling very inadequate in self-defense and grateful they were her podmates and she could yet learn from them.
Once again, Lizzie felt like she was not even the smallest speck on a speck in the multiverse. The incredible diversity of creation demonstrated by the fair took her breath away, and she noticed she wasn’t the only one of her podmates who was silently contemplative at the end of the first day.
A few minutes before they headed to their pods to sleep, Minth ascended a ladder to the top of a small metallic tower. Banners had been strung in a circle several feet around the base of the tower to prevent anyone from coming too close.
It was twilight, and the light had faded the sky to a deep violet. He stood at the top of the tower and did something astounding. He removed his rubber boots and his gloves. He began to glow blue in the fading light, and then he started to sketch in the air above him. As he did so, patterns of light began to form, widening from the center to a circle the width of a tennis court. The patterns became more and more complex.
The entire training ground had gone completely silent. Nothing stirred. Lizzie realized that Minth was painting with light. It was like nothing she had ever seen; and, by the hushed silence around her, she was sure that she wasn’t alone in this.
He sketched the skyline of a large modern city, dotting the skyline with various flying vehicles. A banner then appeared above the skyline as if held on either end by some of the flying vehicles. On it, in script none of them understood, was some kind of a motto.
The blue glowing vista lingered for a few minutes and then slowly faded away, leaving behind impressions on Lizzie’s irises.
Calmly, Minth redonned his gloves and boots and climbed down the ladder. As he lit upon the ground, silence exploded into cheers of delight from all of the onlookers. Lizzie was glad he had saved the best for last. In her opinion and that of her podmates, their pod had outdone the entire assembly.
After much clamor by their fellow trainees and faculty over Minth’s impressive show, they had dismantled their booth, grateful for their MDPs, which greatly reduced the work involved. Exhausted, they went to their beds in their pod, not even pausing for a quick game of cubes, which for some of them had become a nightly ritual.
The following morning, they arose, rested and ready to begin the day of competitions and the award celebration to be followed by a huge outdoor feast accompanied by music from various well-known music and dance professionals from all over the Alliance member dimensions.
One of the tournaments had been sponsored by Professor Baird. A dozen cube boards had been set up, and Minth, Reanni, Linlin, and Negoth had all signed up to participate. There were chairs set up around the perimeter of the gaming tables, and Professor Baird sat on an elevated chair so he could overlook the game play. Spectators came and went, but by the time they got to the final round, it came down to Minth and a sleekly-furred otter-like being named Belial, who had large black eyes where the irises and pupils blended together. Lizzie realized, however that he had a “tell” and hoped Minth had caught it. His long silvery whiskers twitched every time he was about to infringe on Minth’s cubes, or when he spotted a clever move while Minth was deciding on his own.
Lizzie was sure her skills weren’t up to the level of play in the tournament, but she had definitely learned a lot playing with her podmates outside the classroom, so she wasn’t too surprised when Minth tied up Belial’s tiles before the main cube was expended, stopping the game as there were no plays left to make, and Minth had scored two more matched sets than Belial.
Muttering something aloud but reaching out a furred hand to shake Minth’s, Belial didn’t look him in the eye as Baird announced the winner of the tournament to the excitement of Minth’s podmates who had gathered in anticipation to watch the final match.
Unsurprisingly, Mang, Feth, and Linlin decided to enter the hand-to-hand self-defense competition as a team. After battling several other teams to a standstill, they lost by one point to the final team on the playing field. Nevertheless, their podmates cheered as they received second place medallions.
By the last part of the day, the pace began to slow, and they were dismissed at one point to their pods whilst the staff set up for the award ceremony and the celebratory feast. Their feelings of team spirit were at an all-time high, each of them congratulating one another on their various triumphs, large and small.
Ynni hadn’t reported any “bad ones” at any point in the celebrations, even though Lizzie and Gi had traversed the training field, examining goods at the various booths and watching exotic performances by so many different types of beings that at times Lizzie’s head was spinning, trying to take it all in. The more of her fellow trainees she met, the more incomprehensible it was to her that so much diversity and such vast distances could possibly be managed by any governing group, no matter how complex.
The word “science” somehow began to feel small to her and inadequate to encompass this really big concept, that creation seemed to be truly infinite and that the word “control” could no more apply to the dimensions than to, as her uncle would have said, “herding cats.”
As they entered the pod and sat in the training area, with the chairs now arranged in a circle, Geln sent to the group, “I have never had such close relationships in the past beyond my family. I hope to always remember this time together. I have reserved this painting, one for each of you, to give at this time. Please put them in your MDPs and hang them somewhere at your home base to remind you of us.” And he gestured around the circle including each of them.
He pulled a painting about the size of a piece of newsprint, neatly stretched on canvas but unframed. Lizzie was delighted to see it was like a family portrait, only instead of a formal sitting it portrayed them all sitting in the shade under the large tree between the pods, enjoying the music being played by Gi, Ynni, and Lizzie. The faces were rapt, and their pleasure and unity were as tangible as if Geln had inscribed the words at the bottom of the painting.
They were all stunned. It was evident in their faces. For a moment all three faces of Geln looked uncertain and embarrassed. Then the responses were sent all in a rush from each of them. “Brilliant!” “Amazing!” “Beautiful!” “When did you find time to do all of that?”
“We have been painting at home during break when you were all engaged in other activities. We even missed some of the impromptu concerts to do this. One of us watched while another of us painted.” Geln replied, sighing vocally in relief that his offering wasn’t being rejected. “We have always loved painting, as there is so much beauty in the multiverse. We felt this was beauty that needed to be kept not just in memory.”
Geln handed each of them a painting, each slightly different in minor details, but all depicting the same scene. Each of them gave one of him a hug, at which Geln blushed slightly as they carefully stowed their painting in their MDPs.
It turned out that they each had actually purchased some kind of memento to give to their podmates, chosen either for a humorous shared memory or something that they felt suited their personality.
Even Ynni wasn’t left out of the gifting. She crooned delightedly at each trinket. Lizzie suspected her favorite was probably the soft little blanket that was just her size that Minth had given her. At Ynni’s instruction, Lizzie stowed all of her gifts into the MDP. They still had no idea where they would end up, and Lizzie had a suspicion that they wouldn’t have a permanent place other than Sanglarka for a long time yet.
Sharing like this seemed to have united the pod even more than before. Lizzie would never forget all of the times they had helped, supported, and encouraged one another on this journey.
Their gifts stowed safely in their MDPs, they trooped out to the training ground where pods were beginning to assemble before the raised dais at one end of the field. Per her instructions from Liliath, once again Lizzie’s pod centered themselves among the assembly, facing the dais expectantly. Lizzie had relaxed over the days of this event, but she hadn’t forgotten the hidden reason for it. Ynni was alert, and that translated somehow to Lizzie’s mood.
She had begun to notice that Ynni’s moods often were transmitted somehow through their bond, not in words or specific thoughts, but just through feelings. For instance, she knew when Ynni was happy, excited, or focusing on something intently. At the moment, she was very focused on the minds around her. It occurred to Lizzie that large crowds like this would be somewhat stressful if Ynni wasn’t able to control her ability to read thoughts. If she had no way to filter it, it would probably come across as an incoherent and overwhelming babble.
Lizzie was more and more impressed with her little companion. Just when she thought she understood the breadth and limits of Ynni’s abilities, she found she had underestimated what she could do. Ynni’s personality was mild and gentle; and yet, there seemed to be another side to her that Lizzie suspected would continue to amaze her the more time they spent together.
Finally, the crowd settled as Liliath made her spectacular flying entrance and alighted lightly on the podium platform. It amazed Lizzie that someone so large could be so graceful and dexterous as to not even make a sound as her huge clawed hind feet touched down.
The waiting crowd couldn’t help themselves. They broke into applause and cheering. Spirits in general were high and enthusiastic. They had all benefitted from this break from their intense training schedules. And now they were less individual pods and more a congenial group of trainees, all dedicated to the same cause and with a communal experience that tied them together.
Getting the opportunity to mingle with one another on a casual basis and to learn more about each other and their associated cultures had created new friendships. Now, when they saw one another on campus or in the dining hall, they would be more likely to greet one another and begin conversations.
Regardless of Liliath’s hidden intent for the event, it had definitely done much more for each of them than simply to define a potential threat to the Alliance.
“Agent Trainees of the Dimensional Alliance,” Liliath began, and she immediately had their entire attention.
“It has been a delight to see you interacting with one another on so many levels. There is so much that cannot be taught in the classroom or in the field. One of those things is to recognize the beauty and potential represented in the diversity of beings and cultures in the multiverse. It is our hope that the opportunity to mingle and expose yourselves to that diversity in events such as this will prepare you for the many experiences that lay before you.
“We have seen some excellent presentations by each pod, and there is a lot to be said for how quickly you were each able to create something that allowed us a peek into your culture and the dimensions you represent.
“Now let us celebrate your excellence. Each of the instructors has decided on an award to give out, representing different aspects of the booths, presentations, and competitions during this event. I know you are all anxious to find out what they have decided. I will let them get on with it, shall I?”
With her somewhat frightening dragon smile, she moved to the side of the dais.
Each of the professors had something to say and something to give out. Best booth award went to one of the pods that had constructed a holographic museum, complete with rooms filled with artwork and sculpture. There were awards for the funniest, most informational, and best merchandise displays. Geln received an award for his artwork. All of the winners of the competitions were announced and applauded. It was good to see her podmates recognized for their talents.
Finally came awards for best presentations. Lizzie’s pod received two awards. One for Minth’s amazing electric art display, and the other, to Lizzie, Gi, and Ynni’s surprise, for their little concert.
All during the celebrations, one part of Lizzie’s mind was listening for Ynni, but no cry of “bad ones” came.
The final feast was joyful, and Lizzie began to feel that perhaps the “bad ones” incident was just an isolated event after all.
