Kchoo III- Ages of Beginnings

The door chime interrupted Gaveh's concentration and he staggered.

Julia frowned, "Ugh... I can train grace and power into the most uncoordinated. I work with physically challenged, I even taught a deaf and blind man to feel the moves and they are all better than you. I can see myself going insane before I teach you to this style of dance- Ooof.... so let's try a different approach- Forget this dance, and just be YOU."

Gaveh frowned, then relaxed into his natural posture... and stalked forward, staring at Julia's eyes.. Gaveh slowly began advancing one step, and held his position like a statue, then took one more step, freezing his pose again. Then with all fores lept high and turning in mid air Gaveh grabbed a girder above and slinked across and dropped down behind Julia, then silently lept again to her her left.

Julia put up her hands instintively in a defensive posture as Gaveh lept over her head flipping mid air to land facing her right flank. Julia instinctively kicked at Gaveh as he lept adeptly backwards and took one step gently back.
His eyes smiled as he motioned a heart shape and blew a kiss toward Julia as he stood upright and motioned in his sign language,
" My Dance is a hunting tactic, but I am not hunting you... Can you see the dance in me now?"

Julia signed back, "I can work with this."

Gaveh motioned at the door.

Julia opened it to see Darran leaning his back against the opposite wall with arms crossed and one foot crossed in front of the other, "Hi Julia. may I have Gaveh for a moment?"

Gaveh entered the hall and let the door close behind him.

Daran spoke,
"I am praying for the Destiny Planets- That we remain smart about policies, for people to be smart in their behaviors, to be able navigate the issues properly and expediently, and for all to adopt truth as the best way to gain understanding.

Gaveh motioned,
"Already, and always. "

Darran repeated those motions back to Gaveh, "Already and Always."

Gaveh tilted his head at Darran, motioning, "What?"

Darran spoke, "I just wanted to say that."

Gaveh modded the affirmative and motioned, "I hope you are not implying lack of trust in me. I vow to be true."

Darran, "I know Gaveh. I know. I do trust you, and I truely need our alliance. Your people can help us in so many ways- You are not just an ambassador to your world, but a teacher to all worlds.

I can tell by the speech you made. You are a natural leader. With your help, I have no doubt the RAR will become a most powerful alliance.
I am running for President, and the stakes are high. I could use your support, so I am asking you early, but I am asking you now- Can you help the Rar to trust The School of Peace and to help the cause by endorsing me as Destiny's President?"

Gaveh assumed a pose low to the ground, keeping his eyes fixed on Darran's gaze, then stood, and motioned,
" Not yet - you remain an unkown- Give me time to learn your ways and I will pass on to RAR what I learn. That is all I can say to keep my promise."

Darran, "My dad taught me me how to read people, and really like your honesty. I will trust your vision on this matter."

Gaveh signed, "One thing the RAR do have, is very good vision in everything. Already and Always. This you can trust most of all- Now, if you can excuse me I need to get back to my duty of dance. I think Julia is starting to understand me. Perhaps as well as you?"

Gaveh nodded, and Darran returned the nod.

As Gaveh re entered the studio, Darran could see Julia attempting her own best version of the Stalking Dance..."

Gaveh joined in as the door slid shut.

Darran leaned against the wall again and closed his eyes, "This has got to work."

Excerpt from ‘Ages of Beginnngs’

-Hardly Campaigning-

Darran’s view of City Park reminded him of his childhood summers at the farm. That always helped him to relax a bit.

Most of the park land was a reserved nature preserve with just a few hiking trails and some open areas near some small lakes. People gathered in the lush relaxation garden and grassy flats for meditation, games, or just to relax a bit.

The population seemed to be enjoying their lifestyle there. He knew it wasn’t always true, but mostly people gave an appearance of being casually oblivious to anything problematic.

They just enjoyed Destiny and all its perks- "Blissful Paradise can be a nice illusion, but paradise is as fragile as a rainbow. A small change of perspective- and it can disappear. "

Destiny had welcomed him, even knowing his father's reputation- Baron's mindset was not a welcome thought to them, but the people here understood Darran because they came here for the same reason.

Destiny afforded a safe haven if they were accepted. Many of them were from his home world. They too defected here, even after some had accepted the genetic modifications. They knew the paralysis and oppression of the old way of life. Mountain range battles did not suit everybody, no matter what his dad wanted to believe.

Some had even had their genetic alteration reverse engineered, and some of them decided to remain enhanced, but wanted a better way of living. The Destiny Planets became a better place for them. It was easy to be different here -different in any way- if it was of a peaceful mindset.

Darran was instantly successful in fitting in. His studies afforded him an excellent education, and his determination to avoid war and seek peace seemed to cause a natural following.

The School of Peace came to be, as if it were his idea, but it was what the majority of parents wanted for their children. He just listened and offered some advice, and he would get nods of approval, as if it seemed he understood exactly what they desired.

In only a few years the school grew from a single room to a full campus, and it quickly advanced to carry levels of all interests.

He didn’t work hard at it. He didn’t even recruit teachers- they came to him in droves and competed with each other to show him why they were the best of the best.

He just managed things a little and organized a little… and delegated much of the work back out to them. It happened because they made it happen.

It only became challenging to him when they started to look to him to help ensure a future for each of the graduates. Parents wanted their children to be leaders and diplomats and tycoons of all sorts. So Darran did the logical thing and began to organize a form council, and the council managed the School of Peace for him.

Then last year they surprised him when they came to him, saying he should think about a campaign for President of Destiny.

There was no one in the room, but Darran wanted to say it out loud, as it might need to be polished for a future speech someday,

“I honestly didn’t see it coming. When I arrived here I didn’t have any large ambition. I simply became their servant and learned to point out what they wanted for themselves... The people were leading me… and now here I am, and they are still leading."

Darran stepped closer to lean into the window, studying the pristine architecture and perfect blue sky above it.

"Exactly as it should be... We all want the same thing- a self-governing with the very people from the park and from these buildings... a council of randomly selected volunteers... each serving a short term to support their own efforts but yet large enough to require absolute consolidation on each issue. It will help us all to stay alert and perhaps keep in mind the fragility of this great paradise, and we will help ourselves to persevere and protect the futures of our children’s prosperity and continue a harmonious life here at Destiny...”

- Darran tapped on the glass -
"Good luck Destiny."

Excerpt from "Ages of Beginnings"

The alcohol flames and false logs were not the same, but served as an adequate visual stimulation and made Darran feel cozy despite the boring cookie cutter condo that would otherwise be the same as everyone else. Darran warmed his hands on the flames of the round fire pit in the center of the room. It was the one luxury he insisted he have., but it required special permission from the Building Managers to install it, along with a fume scrubber that looked like an upside down funnel projecting from the ceiling. "Overkill..." He said in a whisper as he thought about how an alcohol flame itself is fumeless. "Oh well. I don't control regulations..." The authorities had insisted these flames could leach compounds from the glow stones of fire pit despite any scientific evidence of that.

Darran reassured himself- "People leading themselves... is a good thing."

The Science Explorers Group at the School of Peace had been fiddling with Neural link technology and had been successful at shunting nerves back to the brain electronically. By attaching a simple transmitter and receiver to span a break in a nerve. Through this technology they began to explore the brain itself and had already begun human trials. Dr. Karhall had suggested that the best way for people to govern themselves would be to electronically vote and thusly govern from the convenience of their homes, work, where-ever, just by accepting a call from the High Council Lottery Of Service.

When Darran heard this proposal, the shivers of his youth returned violently. He didn’t like the thought of tampering with people’s physical bodies via ‘Gene Therapy’ on his home world. In fact, he left because he couldn’t stomach what he had seen happen to his mother- lovely and kind as she was - he never could accept that she was still the same person. How could he now Preside over a society who wants to do nearly the same thing with electronics? Back home, telepathy was like a form a brainwashing… enough collective thoughts could dominate a common belief, and the pressure of adopting that philosophy would practically default or reboot the mind into the acceptance of it, even if it was initially adamantly opposed! He watched his mother’s thoughts change- the look in her eyes became more distant as a collective mind began to motivate her more than her autonomous self.

Darran swallowed hard. This isn’t what he was hoping for when he came here! This isn’t the self governance he was promoting when he ran for office of The President Destiny. This was primally disturbing to him. Darran slammed his fist onto the window so hard he burst open the skin on two knuckles, leaving only a pink mark on the glass as a reminder that he must learn to control his temper….