You’re matchmaking again, Jeff Raven, his wife accused him.
How can you say that when all these young people will be `polling off to distant star systems and not see each other for years?
Tkat doesn’t matter ri they are only a thought away from each other, does it, Jeff Raven!
Jeff grinned and firmed up all the private arrangements before he called in his administrative assistant, Gollee Gren, to see exactly which Talents suited which of the many other assignments he had to fill. At least, he thought gratefully, he had more available options than Peter Reidinger, his predecessor, had ever had, with all the new generation of kith and kin growing splendidly and strongly into their Talents. Now, if the High Council would get its joint act together, he’d know where he needed the heavyweights of his corps.
Once again he thanked the ghosts of all the Earth Primes who had managed to keep Federated Telepaths and Teleports autonomous and apolitical.
A-what? asked a laughing voice and Gollee Gren, his dark, close-cropped hair showing a sprinkling of silver, entered the spacious office.
`I always do what’s best for my Talents,’ Jeff said in a gruff voice, mimicking his predecessor, Peter Reidinger, so perfectly that Gollee grinned even more broadly.
`So what’s best for whom this time, Jeff?’ Jeff steepled his fingers briefly, pressing them against his lips. Neither mimicry nor laughter was present when he answered. `I hope we’ll see that they’ve been able to make the proper choices.
By the time Damia had settled all her guests, she almost wished that they could have come singly, with a good day between arrivals, so she could fully savour each return. She’d worried most of all about Rojer, returning without Gil and Kat to a house full of `Dinis. The moment the capsule arrived with the brothers and Flavia, she `reached out’ for Rojer. He was steeling himself but foremost in his mind was an eagerness to be home. No sooner was that carrier down, than Laria, Tip, Huf and Kincaid dano arrived. The dust in the Tower yard hadn’t settled when Zara with Pal and Dis `ported in.
Morag, Kaltia, Ewain and Petra, plus their `Dinis, were dancing up and down with the excitement of having their `famous’ brothers and sisters back on Aurigae. Xexo and Keylarion were trying to keep order but the Tower yard was in minor chaos as the younger children kept running from one to the other older sibling, `Dinis dizzy from following.
Like a hard knock on a painful bruise, Damia felt Rojer respond to energetic greetings from Kaltia’s and Ewain’s `Dinis. They were so caught up in the general elation that none of them remembered to give Rojer the time or space to initiate contact. Damia was all set to abandon protocol and `port down to intervene when she felt the sudden shift of emotion in his mind. Then he was lifting Petra up in his arms – Rojer had got taller all of a sudden and muscled up, Damia noted, testing the strength of him – while Big and Sil affectionately flapped against legs which surely had got longer. Any reluctance or hesitation dissolved in the warmth of affectionate kisses and pats showered on him by his totally unselfconscious youngest sister and her friends.
`He’ll be fine, Damia,’ Afra said gently. `This was perhaps the best way to get over that hump.’ He held her briefly in his arms, kissed her tenderly and released her. He peered out the Tower window and a fatuous grin spread across his face. `A bit overwhelming even if they are all ours.’ `Mostly ours,’ Damia corrected him as she noticed that Flavia and Kincaid dano were being introduced and as warmly welcomed. She hurried down the stairs to add hers.
Parental embraces were perhaps more restrained but just as heartfelt. Damia tried not to hug Rojer any harder or longer than she did Thian, Laria and Zara but she had to know.
I am all right, Mother, he said on a very thin line to her.
Really, coming home is going to work out. `GOOD TO SEE TRP AND FLK ONCE MORE.’ And Rojer bowed to his parents’ `Dinis.