Chapter 16
***Nancy***
Nancy and Srath braved the possible wrath of Alexis and Nabvan by reporting back to the spaceship. The guards had changed, leaving Srath without any information on what had occurred when his commander had been informed of his plans to stay with Nancy. The new guards were able to tell him that the commander and his wife had already left to give President Bolton the report from King Siefer's communications with the other planets' leaders. Nancy and Srath were relieved. They wouldn't have to argue with anyone fornow.
Srath and Nancy were assigned to oversee the recovery centers’ arrangements to send home the aliens or find them jobs and places to live. It was a daunting task. The aliens who wished to return home would need to be sorted into groups by species. Each planet would not send a ship to every city that had some of it's kind. So, the species would need to gather in one city each. One ship from each planet would retrieve its people from one city. Nancy and Srath had to coordinate these rendezvous spots all over the world and send the aliens by air transport to their designated pick-upspot.
Then, there was the work of finding lodging and jobs for those aliens who wanted to stay. With the unrest on Earth, even the proprietors who were sympathetic to the aliens' cause would be reluctant to hire one. The job also had to match each of the specific alien's skills. Nancy would need to reach out to volunteers in every recovery center on the planet for help in thisendeavor.
Nancy manned the communication center in Washington D.C.'s recovery center. She would be spending the day speaking to every recovery center to learn how many of each species they contained and ask them to find out who wished to leave and who wished to stay. She would also have the volunteers ask the ones who would be staying what skills they had. She would then make a master list of all the information she had gathered. This research was only thebeginning.
Srath volunteered to speak with each alien in their recovery center to gather information for Nancy. He promised to be patient and rein in his temper no matter how hostile the other aliensbecame.
He was already aware of the Voltuni's desire to go back to her planet. He took her the good news first. Knocking on her door, he asked, "May I enter?'" Hearing a simple "Yes,” he opened the door and steppedin.
Startled to see the Milisarian instead of a human volunteer, she shrank back as he entered. "What do youwant?"
Srath held his hands up as if surrendering. "I only came to bring you news. Strategy for extracting you and any other Voltuni from Earth is going forward. Soon you will be returninghome."
"What is this strategy that you speak of? Why can I not be taken immediately toVoltuni?"
Srath patiently replied, "Each planet can only afford to send one ship to pick each member of their species up. We have to gather all who wish to leave in one place. Some of your people are in other countries far from here. There is a Voltuni ship hovering over Earth now. Your species will be the first to leave. We will bring them all to D.C. forextraction."
"Thank you for explaining. I will be ready," the Voltunianswered.
When Srath left her room, he was surprised to see Nancy coming down the hall. He had last seen her in the communication room. Following her was a lovely, blonde woman dressed in a flowing, colorful dress that fell all the way to the floor. Both women were grinning. Nancy whispered into Srath's ear and what he heard put a grin on his face as well. Instead of entering the next room as he had intended, Srath made a detour to the stairs. The group climbed to the next floor and knocked on the firstdoor.
A deep male voice replied, "It is open, and I would like some company." Only Srath and Nancy entered. Dayac's regal head nodded in greeting. "Have you brought news? Is King Siefer forcing me to return to Milisaria forpunishment?"
"Our king understands love,” Srath answered. "He has sent word that you may stay on Earth. He has no desire to punish you for acting on your emotions. He also sends his blessing for a marriage if the new alien rights will allow it. We have committees working onthat."
Dayac let out a sigh. His shoulders relaxed. He was free and alive. Now he just needed to find Rose. He asked Nancy, “Did you find my love? Is shemarried?"
Nancy tried to hide her grin and keep him in suspense a little longer. "I did manage to find her. She still works as a chef in the French restaurant. She is not married orengaged."
"I am afraid to ask, but does she want me to stay away with my new issues? Has she lost her love forme?"
A soft, lilting voice came from the doorway, "You silly man; I love you now and always will. You can't get rid of me that easily." Rose ran to his side, and she was soon lost in his arms as he rained kisses over her glowing, tearful face. Srath and Nancy retreated, closing the door behindthem.
Srath stated, "That was quite fun. I find this love-of-one-woman idea growing on me. It seems to bring great joy to one's life. It is a concept worthconsidering."
Nancy was not amused by his observation. She retorted, "It isn't a concept to me. It's a requirement." She stomped back toward thestairs.
Srath knew he had upset her, but he could not imagine how. He had said he would consider having only one love, and he had meant Nancy. Did she not understand how difficult it was for him to admit that he may have been wrong all these years? It was very hard to explain things to human females. They required far too manywords.
***Valeri***
After returning to Washington D.C., Valeri and Ohber went to the experimental lab. They had been assigned the distributing of the equipment. Much of it had been broken or damaged during the riots. Though he was slightly uncomfortable with his surroundings, Ohber began to clean up the mess left behind while Valeri made a list of the equipment that could be salvaged and the medications that remained on the shelves. Neither one touched the hazardous vials of diseases they discovered in a cooling unit. A hazardous waste team would be required for theirdisposal.
Ohber asked, "Did Nancy say that the Reptilarians had their own hospital in a colony near SanFrancisco?"
Valeri replied, "I'm pretty sure she did.Why?"
"Maybe they could use some of this equipment and the medications. I doubt that they are as well funded as the humanhospitals."
"That's an excellent idea. It would turn something bad into something wonderful,” Valeri said. "We can check for other alien hospitals or medical facilities as well. Some of this could even be used in the recoverycenters."
"It appears we must make some calls to the other cities. All the labs contain specialized equipment that the aliens would welcome,” Ohberadded.
