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Chapter Five: Minds and Mishaps

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Spalatro

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June 1823

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- It is boring…

For once Arthur, his little brother, was with him and not a part of the Mindshare that was currently in action along Spalatro's residential beach.

Arthur who was in a small phase of hero worship when it came to Lionel was at his side and their hands were building a sand castle while their minds were doing, as usual, quite a lot of more intellectual things.

And their latest subject of conversation has for the last hour been Science as in Physics and Mathematics.

- No, it is not, Arty, countered Lionel. It's only boring because none of you loves it. As a mind-sharing group you have no passion for anything, and science is no exception there. You just swallow whatever you can get and regurgitate what you've taken in without ever trying to understand the underlying beauty of the matter.

He let out a long sigh.

- You are, when you are in your common mind like those machines Ichalon praises and Uncle Charles worships. You just collect facts and information, and you rework them to get a better picture of the reality you've been fed. But, while in that state or mood, you forget the pleasure you can have when you deal with something you love.

They were on the beach and Lionel had, since he liked being with what everybody in the family was calling the Brood, proposed to be in charge of the little ones. He was only nine years old but he was known to be a very serious little boy who took his word with great seriousness.

Not that guarding the brood would ever be a problem while on a Mediterranean beach.

With Speedy and half the population of Croatian Dolphins in attendance there was not the smallest chance that anything bad could happen to one of the bathing little ones. And since the Dolphins were very proprietary about their Humans no man nor beast would ever be able to even come near them.

Luckily for Croatia the ilk of local Fishermen had mutated a few years ago into the new tourists' herding subclass of service providers who earned their money by guiding the huge mass of sun seeking tourists who chose to roam the coasts of French Croatia in the hope to be able to see members of the British Royal Family.

Hence the huge numbers of boats, ships and other flying equipment that was cruising just outside of the beach's 'no trespassing' limit…

The fact that Spalatro bay had become a few days after the family's arrival the new meeting point of quite a huge numbers of no longer so-savage sea mammals had, this year, added another layer of attraction to Spalatro Harbor.

It was early in the season and yet all the Hotels and Inns and Apartments and Rooms to rent were full and overbooked till October.

Mamma Jane's coming…

Both Arthur and Lionel looked up and, as announced by the mind-hive who was dealing with the Dolphins, their favorite mom was walking towards them.

Lionel was always amazed by the truthfulness of Aunt Jane's smile. Not once in his life had he seen her fake a smile like everybody else did way too often.

- Building Sand-castles?

- I love Sand-Castles, said Arthur while being swooped up by Jane. It's fun to build things. I love building things.

He didn't say that it was also fun to destroy because most adults didn't like to see them destroy things. Adults were weird most to the time.

- I've seen your cabin in the courtyard, dear, said Jane with a smile. Are you sure that Uncle Charles will be alright with you taking over a part of his beloved shady siesta garden.

- We've asked and we've negotiated the place, said Lionel. And it is only for this year. Next year, Dad's Mansion on Solta will be finished and we will move to live there.

Solta, like Brac, Stari Grad, Vic and Otok had been, in the first years of Charles' rebuilding of the Vespasian palace, bought by the Family Foundation to avoid having strangers -hear enemies of the family- buying things in the vicinity of the site to get a chance to launch attacks against it.

And after the integration into the French Empire and Napoleon's cronies' attempts to get their hands on every stretch of buildable real estate the Foundation had gone on buying whatever was possible to protect the coast surrounding Spalatro Castle.

He pointed towards the sea where hundreds of Dolphins, four young whales and half a dozen Orca kids were transforming what would have been an oily sea into a real pandemonium.

- And it will be better for our friends too… The adult Whales have asked to be able to stay with their young ones outside of the Harbor. They prefer more open waters, and they want, like all the adults we know, be able to keep an eye on the young ones.

He frowned at Maureen who was standing just a yard behind Jane.

- As want all the grown-ups!

- We are always worried when we don't keep an eye on our offspring. And even with the mind-share it is not the same, dear. We feel your happiness and we share it but deep down in the most archaic part or our brain there is the worried she-wolf who needs to see what mischief her pups are currently brewing. We know that we have no chance to ever be able to intervene in time but it changes nothing at the fact that we need to see you!

- We brew no mischief, protested Arthur. Things happen all the time that aren't our fault. They just happen without us doing anything.

Jane and Maureen looked at each other while smiling.

- Of course, and we don't imply that it was your fault, love. But with twelve of you risking being unlucky at the same time, it does worry us…

Arthur snorted at Mamma Jane's refusal to believe him. Time to change the topic.

- There will be a whole forest reserved for us to build tree cabins and other buildings.

- It will mostly be you and Godefroy, protested Mamma Jane. The others don't really like building things. They prefer playing with Speedy and the Dolphins.

- I do like building things too, said Lionel.

- Your things are small and with lots of moving and blinking parts, complained Arthur. They are too complicated to handle.

- You'll soon be able to handle them too. You'll see, electronics is the technology of the future. We will built astounding things in the future.

- Better than Athena?

- Way better than Athena, answered Lionel. Athena is a flying fortress with no delicacy at all.

- Can a fortress have delicacy, Mamma Jane?

- In Lionel's mind, it clearly can, love. So you'll have to wait to look at the delicate fortress he's clearly going to build some day.

Arthur was immediately back to shining eyes and a happy smile.

- That's what I'll do. He will be true to his word and his fortress will be delicate.

Jane smiled in Lionel's direction.

- Good luck with that, dear.

She looked up and made a sign towards Maureen.

- Ready to go deal with the Sea mammals' invasion?

Maureen answered with a smile of her own.

- Do we have a choice?

- I fear not, dear. I fear not.

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At least swimming was a lot easier with a score of very willing and very eager young Dolphins ready to give you a hand -or a fin- to bring you in the middle of what was happening seawards.

Hello Mamma Jane.

Hello dears… Hello Friends…

Jane wasn't totally sure but there had been a good chance that the Mind-sharing of the kids had been including some Dolphins, so, it was only polite to greet them.

Greetings in our world, healer…

They were, indeed, included.

A pair of bigger Dolphins came to look at her. Probably young adults in charge of the pack.

I've heard that your parents are asking for a more accessible place outside of the harbor?

Parents are always eager to reign the small ones in. The young ones prefer it here. It's quite desert when it comes to food but we've eaten before arriving this morning. There is a huge school of Tuna fish just outside the Harbor. Some of the adults are staying out there to coax it to remain in the vicinity. Tuna are a little smarter than anchovies, but they still are fish. They will never fathom that they are being herded. With them it's good feeding ground…

No problems with the Humans around here?

A lot less than anywhere else. They seem to appreciate our presence. Most Human like us but there are always some that are competing with us for our food sources. They try to chase us, but they are too clumsy to catchup with us. Here it seems like there are no such Humans around.

Most Fisher on that coast have changed their activity. Fishing is a tremendously hard job. Herding other humans to sit in your boat to look at Dolphins splashing around is a lot easier and, when you are as numerous as now, a lot more profitable.

You think they come for us?

And for the whales and for the Orcas… You are rather shy normally. Here you are everywhere and splashing in and out of the water. That's why they are here. To see you and is possible your acrobatics.

That's interesting and weird. You are sure about that?

Indeed, we are. Seeing you jump in and out of the water is quite spectacular, you know. And should you be able to splash them once or twice with water, they will like it even more. Being wet when it is hot and sunny is a pleasurable experience and if you link it with a small scare born out of a big Dolphin having jumped over your boat it will be even more enjoyable for them. Just be careful not to overturn a boat by accident. Some people don't know how to swim.

All Humans ignore how to swim, they waddle at best…

Let's say that some don't even waddle!

We will be cautious but if they want to see us making fun of them, we will gratefully concur.

Good, said Jane. You wouldn't know where those Humans who are our offspring can be found?

Of course, we know. I'll guide you towards them.

Thanks a lot, it is so much easier with you pulling us.

No problem, it's always a pleasure to be useful. And since even the Orcas behave with civility everything should be fine.

Won't the presence of whales become a problem?

Not anymore. Now that we know where the Whalers are they never come even close to us!

But some will hear that you are gathering here and come to hunt you…

Good luck to them. Now that we know how to warn you, I'm quite sure that they won't be allowed to even arrive… It's great to have you at our side. It changes everything.

Clearly Whaler was an endangered job. At least in the Mediterranean Sea.

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- You were out there with the herd?

Mary had been on the beach and even if she wasn't a big fan of swimming, she still insisted to stay at he beach to have a eye on the circus.

- I know that school is for fish, is there a specific word for Dolphins?

- For what I know, answered Mary, school does apply but there is also the word 'pod' which seems a little more dignified than school. Fish are, if you listen to our friends, the dumbest things you can encounter under water.

- They are probably right even if, I will confess that I never tried to communicate with any fish.

- Louisa did, said Mary with a smile. She was quite disgruntled with the result; birds are smarter than fish. Her words, not mine. The only non-mammal underwater dweller she believes smart are octopuses but since octopuses are on the Dolphins' diet, she hasn't found a way to interfere with them without having them eaten by their new friends. She's thinking about a way to get it done without risking an octopuses' survival…

Jane couldn't help but smile at Mary's words. Louisa was the family's animal freak. She even refused to eat meat because it can only be obtained by killing one of her protégés.

- This last brood of us will change our lives, said she finally.

- That it will, answered Mary, but I believe it a good thing, we have become quite complacent these last years.

- Complacent? We just ended a war and are about to welcome China within the family of Nations. Complacent is something else for me.

- Let's not include world politics in the bargain, dear. I'm speaking of what we have achieved these last years on a more personal level. When I look at it we've been stagnant… Where is Betty's Magical College, for instance? We spoke about supporting her, didn't we? And where is it? There's not even the beginning of a launch.

Jane couldn't deny that Mary was right. They had been quite amorphous on that question. Probably also because Betty's wedding had put a lot of new feelings in her daughter's mind. She hadn't forgotten but becoming a woman and a wife had been a stupendous discovery for her eldest and from what she could judge Betty was still very involved in getting a covering impression of married life. And since Mazymkhan was as involved in said marital life, she hadn't been quite as militant as usual.

- I agree and more, I acknowledge that we've been less than aggressive on cultural questions these last years.

She let out a long sigh.

- It's not that I'm tired, Mary dear, but weary? That I probably am. We've done quite a lot and what we have achieved can be considered as rather successful, wouldn't you agree? When I think about it I'd say that the fire that was burning inside me is no longer as bright as it has been. And still we've spent three months in the spring touring India and spreading the Bennet feminist catechism. With debatable results, I'll admit but still we were there, and we've met with thousands of people. One cannot accuse us of having slowed down and eased up.

Mary stood and walked over to her eldest.

Soon they were hugging.

- I'm not accusing, love, I'm just wondering what happened to us. To you especially. You've always been the most driven and now… Now you show yourself in a more sedate light. As if…

- As If?

- As if you no longer feel the drive to change things…

- It is perhaps because what we achieved could be enough for a lifetime?

She looked her sister in the eyes while still hugging her.

- I was hoping that this time the raising of the little ones would be easier. Because we had already found out so many different things about parenthood and child-raising. And I can only confess that it is worse than the times before.

- Worse?

- Worse is perhaps a bad word to use but this time I really hoped that I would just be able to egotistically enjoy being a mother and basking in my little ones' love. As you know, once more, it came very differently. And this time it took me by surprise. I was indeed full of illusions and so certain that I was, for once, ready.

Once more she shook her head.

- With the five of you at my side I was so sure that we would be able to master the whole endeavor with ease and efficiency. And it came not at all as I wished it to be.

She frowned at her sister.

- And Mary, I fear that we messed up severely. I have no idea where we go to from here. It's, once more, as if we were running into the unknown. And it's scaring me. I fear it was one mistake too many.

- It was no mistake, said Mary. We planned everything together and, to be very frank, what came out of it is no mess at all. I am more than proud with our little ones. They have shown us that they are smart and efficient and reasonable.

She increased her hug.

- I'll agree that it's not at all how I thought it would be, but I'm still delighted with what we got out of that experience. My Alice and my Godefroy are everything I wished for and more. I wouldn't want them to be any different even if I must admit that they are even more difficult to manage that the previous ones.

She pointed towards the sea facing the Palazzo.

- Without them we would probably never had discovered the Tiki. Who would have thought that whales and Dolphins had developed a civilization within their watery domain? Now we know and now we can convince those political animals we've chosen as husbands to deal with the problem we've unearthed. It will make their life a little more difficult but, when all is said and told, it has helped to show a little more of what makes Earth that extraordinary Jewel we discover day after day.

She let go of her hug and took hold of Jane's shoulders.

- I'm sorry if my demand has felt like a rebuke. And I will admit that I was wrong to ask the question like I did. But I still would like you to remember the time when you woke up everyday with a new plan. I don't ask for a replay, I just ask you not to give up because what we have currently gotten seems overwhelming. We will overcome that phase, I'm sure of it and however you feel, please don't forget that you have sisters who are ready to help you whatever silly guilt complex you seem so prompt to create. We've dealt with the common pregnancy together, let's deal with its outcomes in the same way: together, united and resolved.

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Chandrapur – Administrative Capital City of the Indian Federation

Palace of the Vice-Roy

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June 1823

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- I'm worried…

Fitzwilliam looked up from the report he was reading and frowned at his wife. He was now very efficient in feeling what was worrying his Lizzie.

And the tone used was the special family worry she used when speaking of one of her sisters.

And when that was the case the probability that she was speaking about Jane was around fifty-fifty.

Time to take a little risk and to show insight while being vague enough to cover Mary and Kitty too…

- She's in Spalatro with the rest of the family. Why should you be worried about her doing what she always preferred to do?

Lizzie turned around and he could see at the sparkles in her eyes that his gamble has paid. It was Jane she was worried about.

- She feels guilty…

Jane feeling guilty could only be in conjunction with the kids. For everything else she was as steadfast as the Himalaya Mountain Range.

So, if it was linked to the kids, it was also linked to the latest botched experiment the sisters -with Anne's approval and complicity- had launched three years ago and that had ended with the whole mind-sharing thing most people in the family considered a major disaster.

That was no disaster at all if he was honest about the whole matter.

He had lengthily spoken about the whole endeavor with Geoffrey and Charles who were the brothers he had the most affinities with and they had all agreed on the fact that what had happened had been a chance. The fact that the sisters -with Ann and both grandmothers- all present at the same time and able to support each other had been the absolute best way to deal with the awesome discovery the kids made.

The six mothers and two grandmothers had been there from the very beginning and together they had been able to assess the kids' new possibilities and to find methods to counter efficiently what could really have become a disaster had the young ones not been corralled into being reasonable.

- If I remember well the whole idea has been born in Lydia's mind and since Lydia has always been a master in manipulating the Bennet women into doing what she wanted, Jane has no reason to be guilty of anything. If there's a culprit it's, as usual, the Bennet family's minx…

Lizzie shot her husband a disapproving frown but chose not to react vehemently. After all, he was right, they had been manipulated by Lydia's wish to have them be pregnant at the same time than her.

She wouldn't condemn her little sister for her winning -if devious- strategy, after all she was and proud and happy to have born Charles and Charlotte. Without Lydia's prodding -some would say nagging- she would probably had stayed steadfast with her resolution that two children were enough.

The only thing that would -from time to time- made Lizzie's blood boil -a little- had been the fact that Lydia even while having been the moving force behind the shared pregnancy endeavor, had born only one little one. Which had been an evident disappointment for Lydia who would have loved to have twins a second time and closing once and for all the Chapter of Lydia's pregnancies.

Because when all was said and told Lydia was not a very loving mother who liked to be with her children. Lydia had never had any scruple to let Jane deal with her kids' education. And it wasn't better this time since she clearly preferred to use her brother in law's new Status to travel all over India.

Being the Vice-Roy's sister-in-law did make wonders to open doors and hearts.

Since she was a rather gifted writer Lizzie had great hope to see one or more books about the Subcontinent published by her sister.

Lizzie took a long breath and forced herself out of what was a residual anger she always held within herself towards her younger sister. Whatever Jane's efforts had been Lizzie wasn't the forgiving type and what she considered Lydia's betrayal of the family in Brighton was still very present within her.

- You are right but that doesn't change a thing at Jane feeling guilty. You know that her commitment to the children's education has always been tremendous. And now she sees them slip away from her even faster than in the past. She's scarred that without her supervision bad things will happen.

Fitzwilliam made great efforts not to sigh but stood up and went to his wife's stand and embraced her from behind.

She was immediately leaning in and relaxed.

- Jane is a worrier when it comes to the kids but she's wrong in this matter. Geof and I we've spend quite a few hours discussing with them. The kids have now fathomed that clicking into the *Mind* too much and too often could be a dangerous and possibly hurting experience. And they are smart and numerous enough to have been able to create methods to make sure that nothing bad can happen even if one of them is not as prudent as he or she should be.

- But…

- No buts, here, love. You must convince her that there is no reason to feel guilty. Even if the range of the mind-sharing transformation wasn't wanted by any of the mothers, it still was a good idea to do it in such a manner. You were together and you have been there when one or two of you would have been overwhelmed by the sheer power of the mind construct the kids had been able to build as soon as they had discovered that the possibility was there.

He hugged his wife with all his love and energy.

- It was luck, I agree, but then I believe that God when He is pleased with what certain people have done with their lives, do grants them the luck they need at the moment they need it. And thanks to the ridiculously weird circumstances Lydia had forced upon you, all of you have been there, under Jane's supervision, showing love and understanding where others could very well have been engulfed by fear and drowned under by the vastness of the undertaking.

He forced his wife to turn and look at him.

- Do you believe that Charles and Charlotte are still in any danger?

She shook her head.

- No, they have clearly understood what had been about to happen and what would have occurred had they followed suit. And what's even better, the others members of the *Link* have fathomed it too in a very deep and convincing way. Lionel had been a great help there…

- Lionel? The Lionel Darcy who has the empathy of a werewolf and the social skill of an angry bull?

- Indeed, that same Lionel! I will admit that he is not the most sympathetic nine years old kid in the courtyard. But you should, from time to time forget that he is George's son and remember that he is also dear Anne's offspring. He has probably got the superb analytic mind of his mother which when wrapped into his father's deviousness ends up as the best thinking machine available to Mankind.

She smiled at her husband's smirk.

- And even if you have problems admitting it, the result is one hell of a fine mind! I'm quite sure that, considering that sciences and technology are his favorite matters, one day he will be the number one scientist of the whole world. And, to add insult to injury, said Lionel has a lot of remarkably exciting and useful character traits! Not only is he the only one who's able to be at par with *Link* when it comes to pure intelligence but, when his vis-à-vis has proven that he isn't a moron -which is not the case for ninety nine coma ninety nine percent of the population- he's not only very patient when he explains but also very crafty while finding examples to explain things. And he has been our best ally when it has been necessary to convince the kids that being *Link* wasn't the best way at all to use their minds.

Fitzwilliam who had listen to more than one lecture of *Link* had great difficulties to believe it. Because *Link* was the most impressive mind he had ever met. There seemed to be no problem that, with enough time and data, it wouldn't have been able to resolve.

- How did he do that?

- By showing them that *Link*, if better at computing data than each of them taken individually, had been forced, to achieve that, to forgo any imagination. *Link* has no talent to guess new solutions. It has what Lionel calls computing power. And that computing power allows him to test each and every solution until it has found one that solves the problem. And it can do it very, very fast. But if there is no solution available, it won't find anything. And here comes the huge superiority of Human imagination which is capable to invent new ways to look at a problem. And those ways are accessible only to those who still are independent and talented minds.

She turned around and she too embraced her husband.

- Little Lionel who is a very emphatic boy even if his shyness pulls him into avoiding other people, was able to show each and everyone of our little band of mind-sharing freaks the talent he or she had that would have been smothered if they had insisted to remain linked indefinitely. He, since he is as brilliant as they come, was able to show them that they could have access to both worlds if they had the wisdom to resist to the lure of pure logic. And to resist the lure of pure logic Jane and we, the other mothers had the ultimate weapon: our love for them.

She let herself melt within his basking love.

Love is the ultimate answer, Fitzwilliam. And Jane, whatever her doubts and silly guilt feelings is the one who has always been able to bring us back on that marvelous path. Let's never forget it.

As long as you are at my side there is no chance, I'll ever forget it, love. But what about your worries?

You put them to sleep. I'll just to do the same with Jane's…

Let Geoff handle that, please. I'll inform him and he'll take it over form there.

Good idea!

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Spalatro

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- There are sources that say that you are worried and guilt ridden…

Jane was smiling as soon as she heard his voice. She turned around and looked into her husband's eyes. He was shrouded in darkness, but his eyes were full of shiny sparkles and she could feel his amusement.

For once she was alone in her bed since Maureen had departed to go to Ireland to spend a few weeks with her family and Summer was an excellent season to go to Ireland.

- Those sources should have stayed silent… My thoughts were meant to stay secret.

- Said sources think that you are too prompt to wear other people's guilt and that you worry too much when the crisis is already resolved.

She frowned at him. He couldn't see it, but her energy changed just a little bit.

- Resolved? I don't th….

His fingers were on her lips before she could end her sentence.

- But you should, you know. Ask Lionel tomorrow and let him explain what he did to convince the kids. And once you've heard him, you'll know that he did what was right and that it did solve the problem. They still will be a pain in… You know what. But we no longer must fear losing them into that Hive-Mind that calls itself *Link* or *Mind*. They now know that it is a tool. A tool they will go on using but they now know the difference between them and their tool. And that's the best news we will ever get in that matter.

- You are sure about that?

- As sure as I can be after having Lionel have it explain to me. He's not the easiest to understand but you always know when he believes what he says.

He put a delicate kiss on the top of her nose.

- We no longer risk losing them, love. They will go on interfering with our lives as if they had every right to do it, but they will do it as Jamie and Cassy. Not as the distant and cold *Link*. I fear that's the best we will ever get out of that particular bargain.

- It's way better than I feared…

- Good, now that you are of a calmer mind, what about a little exercise? You are tight and stringed up… I do know a few moves that should get things better.

- New ones?

- No, but efficient and well-known old ones. They will suffice, you'll see.

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Soon to come: Difficult Choices