Horizon Seeds (Complete)

Chapter Twenty Two

Headline: OTHSHALI'I WITHDRAW FROM EARTH, GOVTS PANIC
Headline: ALIENS INVITE EARTH LEADERS TO PRESS CONFERENCE
Headline: ARMY DONATES FOOD AND AID TO OTHSHALI'I SUPPORTERS
Headline: KAUAERANGA VALLEY IN LOCK DOWN, SURROUNDED BY ALIENS
Headline: LOCAL POLICE FORCE GIVEN FINANCIAL BOOST

Valerie woke up again and groaned as she heard another media vidbot being fried by the electric webbing that surrounded the boarder of the property. That one was close too. When another electrical buzz sounded followed by a small explosion, she gave up on getting back to sleep. It was almost dawn anyway. She got off the stretcher bed she had been provided with and picked her way around the canvas tent that housed the women and younger families. After using the make-shift toilet and cleaning up a bit, Val got back to her stretcher in time to see Mari settling City back to sleep.

'She's OK, Val,' the elder woman whispered. 'She just woke up and startled when she couldn't find you. We'll take care of her, you go get dressed and get on with your day.' Mari hugged her and pushed a bundle of new clothes into her arms. She took a moment to make sure they were Othshali'i made, and not some cheap nasty nylon jumpsuit that the government had donated. The cloth was silky smooth on her cheek and she smiled, knowing she would never wear any other type of material again.

It had been three days since the attack on village and two days since then the government had turned up and demanded answers thinking that the alien's had caused all the damage. When they learned it was a bunch of locals backed by a large corporation in an attempt to evict the village, they quickly left and returned with a camp full of equipment and facilities for the refugees to use. Hence the cheap nasty clothing. Other things had changed too. The Othshali'i had established a security detail around the whole site to stop unwanted intruders coming in again. Her Father's property had been donated to the Othshali'i for an Embassy and sent out invitations to world governments to a press conference. Already, work had begun on the first building and it was nearly complete. It had been laid down near where the old bridge had been and it was to be the new visitor's centre.

Val dressed quickly and moved from the tent to the large galley area that housed the new fire pit. She found a pot of water heating over the fire, fill up a mug and sat on a canvas chair to drink a terrible cup of coffee. Fitz and Carl arrived, still deep in conversation, and it looked to Val that they hadn't slept at all. She caught the tail end of the conversation about the nano bot builders working four times the speed of anything they'd ever seen, then they too sat and made themselves a terrible cup of coffee.

'You two look like all your Christmases have come at once.' They grinned and drank, but kept quiet, not interested in filling the silence. But it wasn't quiet silent. She turned her head and was trying to figure out what was different. Her father arrived with Tatiana and Frank held Melanie's hand as they too, sat down for an early morning cuppa. It wasn't uncommon for them all to be up this early, or for them to have a morning hot drink before their working day started. What was unusual was the grin that each of the council members were trying to hide. Even Fitz was hiding his face behind an upturned mug.

Five arrived with Nata and Gary in tow. It had turned out that Nata was betrothed to the security guard and had missed him terribly over the year that Five worked in the city. Now with the Othshali'i camping out above the humans in their mother ships, and well within the safety of their community, Nata and Gary had become inseparable. She saw Five turn down a cup of coffee and find a chair near Valerie and Tatiana. He started stoking the fire and it was at that point that Valerie knew something was up.

'OK, what is going on.' She stood and they all laughed but no one would speak. They were quiet again. Too quiet, then she heard it. The bubbling of water, the rushing of the river and she gasped and they all laughed at her. She smacked her father's arm, dropped her mug and ran to the river.