Horizon Seeds (Complete)

Chapter Sixteen

Headline: ASIAN AND INDIAN LEADERS ENJOY EUROPEAN TOUR
Headline: JAPAN CHINA MEDIA MERGER FLOATED
Headline: PUBLIC POLLED: GOVTS SHOULD PAY FOR MOON COLONY
Headline: LOCAL GROWER COMMUNITIES LABELLED TECHNOPHOBIC
Headline: OTHSHALI'I ART EXHIBITION DRAWS THOUSANDS

George fidgeted beside Valerie and she tapped his hand to get him to stop. 'They can see your nervousness, just relax. They want this as much as you do,' she whispered out the side of her mouth as the last of the Othshali'i leaders stepped down the shuttle steps and greeted Laupshi'i Flivve on the grass landing. Four mother ships could be seen in the sky about Kauaeranga Valley and could probably be seen as far north as Auckland City. They were enormous and breath taking and as deadly as hell. But they weren't here to attack the small community who had all turned out in their best dress and fanciest accessories. They were here to make history, but no one else in the whole world knew it. The only people in on the know were those gathered and maybe someone at the UN who gave permission for the space ships to converge. Whoever they told must be incredibly good at keeping incredible secrets.

And the only media present was a 15 year old boy named Simon, a student of journalism with a newly minted probationary permit and an incredible knack for getting old tech to purr. With four of his refurbished video drones, all synchronised to capture the whole event in technicolour glory, the air space was surprising void of vidbots. She watched a drone pass the nervous Mayor again and quietly sent Simon a text to ask him to lift them up a bit as they were getting too close to the small gathering. She really didn't want a drone to accidentally buzz the alien leader's head or get tangled up in any of their ceremony robes. And what amazing robes they had. Covered in a multitude of shimmering scale like gems, the Othshali'i leader Bouchi'i Loben, and his three attendants were the crowing glory of the whole event. Nothing on Earth could compare to the beautiful robes that the female aliens wore. From below their shoulders, with bare arms, their gowns draped like waterfalls from the four stunning beauties.

Val watched as the tall grey alien women glided across the green, their dresses - if they could be called that - billowed out behind them on the barest of wind currents. The colours resembled Earth's precious metals, bronze, brass, gold and silver, they were a model photographers dream. Then another Othshali'i woman exited the last shuttle behind all of the rest and Five moved quickly to address the famous face. Natalia, Earth's newest reality TV star walked quickly to embrace him and Val felt a pang of emotion in her gut.

'Jealous? I can't be jealous. He's not even human.' She quietly mumbled to herself then shut up when her father looked at her with a brow raised. They all turned back to the sparkly delegation and one by one they nodded as Five introduced the humans to the group, in their native language then in English so the locals could understand what was being said. Valerie was fairly certain that they all knew most of Earth's main commerce languages and a few of the not so common, but as this was a formal event, he spoke in the languages of both the peoples meeting together that day.

'And lastly, may I introduce you to Senior Constable Valerie Terrance, Police liaison for the community.' Five bowed to Val as she nodded to Bouchi'i Loben, the leader before her. 'She is on loan from the Bureau of Alien Affairs and for a short time was working on my security team in Hamilton City.'

Mr Bouchi'i looked at her and raised a ring studded hand in question.

'We have met before? So lovely to meet you again, Officer. It is an honour to have you join us today.' Val blushed. Then Five started talking to him in their language and for a moment it looked like they were arguing. Five turned to Val, his hand before him.

'That was you? When we first entered this country and were met by gun men?' His eyes were sparkling and his feathers were giving away his excited emotions. 'They have a name for the warrior who stood between two angry peoples that day.' Bouchi'i Loben barked something at him and then Five stepped aside to let him speak.