I startled awake. My sister, Hali, helped me up off the floor. "Some dream, hah?"

My sobs startled her. "I have to go!" Like a madwoman, I jerked my dress off the hanger and shrugged into it.

"Go where? Ya haven't got school until—"

Her phone went off. "...signals from SETI are very strong. The aliens want a treaty, and it's being transmitted to the UN right now! They—"

"It's happening! I have to go on a walkabout!" It's 640 am. I pulled on my tennis shoes. They didn't go with my bright blue interview dress. Got my coat. I had a bag of magnolia seeds hanging in a grocery bag. I grabbed that, too. Ran.

"A walkabout! This is the states, you can't—"

I raced downstairs. Mum and Dad were just putting breakfast on the table. "A walkabout? Are ya daft? Ya can't do that here!" They ran after me.

My brother came last.

"Lock the door! Stay here, we'll handle this."

"Yes, sir." Knowin' Heremanu, he'll eat it all before we get back! I ran out of the door. Barely knew how to get to GSU on MARTA, but I turned right instead of left. My family ran after me. I sobbed so hard, I barely kept goin'. Couldn't see well for tears.

"What's wrong? Why ya cryin' like that?"

"He'll die if I can't get there in time!"

"Who?"

"Perr! He's Prince Of Aryll—"

"A Scottish Prince! Well!"

"He's not Scottish, 'e's from another planet!"

"An alien? You just wait!" Dad grabbed my wrist.

Just then, another man grabbed my other hand. His hand had two-foot fingernails. "Well, what a prize you are! You're my ticket onto their ship. Think of him." People at the bus stop backed away.

I tried to jerk my hand outa his but I was too scared. Our neighborhood with all its fancy houses vanished. Nearly dropped the bag of magnolia seeds I carried. In a plastic grocery bag.

He saw that, too. "Ah, a prize to bargain with. Ray, Trader Of Earth, I am Satauuver. If you value these people, you will trade with me. Eriganh is tired of your interference."

We appeared in a huge crowd, hundreds of people who stared at him.

A blond woman came through them. "I am Trader Ray." She waved and a light blue robe just appeared over her light blue T-shirt and medium blue jeans. Medium blue eyes, that gave him an icy stare.

But, by us, another man appeared. He stared at Satauuver, who glared at him. "This woman wants you." He shoved me into his arms.

I didn't think. I ignored his two-foot nails, razor sharp for killing victims, and I hugged him. "Perr! This is for you!" I put the bag in his hand. As I did, his long fingernails shrank so they were short as mine! He sweated, just like in my dream.

With one gentle arm around me, he waved and the bag floated. Magnolia seeds came out. He sang that song and I added harmonies. From each seed, a tree grew! Bloomed!

A scream startled me. Satauuver stared in horror at his hands! There were 16 other Aryllans and they all had short fingernails.

Ray faced Satauuver and red light swirled around her. It lifted her hair around her face. "You do not belong here! Feel the rage of your Collective? They hate you!" Blue light also swirled around him.

He fell on the floor, and red light hid him! Suddenly, all that was left on the floor were his blue robes like hers, but jeweled. They flew up and another, older man lifted his hands. The robe went onto his arms and shoulders. This is Perr's adopted father, the King Of Aryll!

Another man stood there. Ry'nao, Emperor Of The Seven. His fire-engine red skin paled to white. "What are your intentions here, Wtensau?"

He bowed with one leg far behind him. It was a split, and his forehead rested on the floor. "My liege, I surrender my kingdom to you! I, I can feel your Link, and all of my diplomats agree! I beg, these plants my son grew, may I send them to Aryll? We are dying, all of us, without this!"

I tried to run over there and bow, but Perr came with me and we did. He put pressure on my shoulders so I couldn't bow low. "Did you mean to give these plants to these people?"

"Yes! I want to save Aryll! They are like the Zheien! See how King Wtensau prayed for them, for all of them, to be forgiven for what they all did!" I didn't have telepathy, but he saw.

Father put his hands on my head. So did Perr. They closed their eyes, so I did, too. Father spoke softly, not his usual harsh, critical tone, in a formal dialect of Aryllan they hadn't used since the Plague. Perr listened with awe.

"Father of All, I have not been able to pray, but now my children are married for time, and I wish them to be married for eternity! My daughter is without the heavy sins we bear, though she feels guilt for the crimes of the man who dared touch her against her will!

"I pray for Thy wisdom. Help me to lead my people into the light, when we craved the darkness for so long, too long! I feel many minds heavy with sorrows, and they ask of me, Father, of me, and I have no answers. All of us seek Thy wisdom, and I dare to ask for blessings. What answers shall I give my people, that a king can give? Kaling, my brother, you need to pray with us. A prophet cannot lead us without much prayer." He paused, and shuddered again. Hugged us both against his chest. Wept.

"Oh, I feel the love Thou hast for us! I feel it! Our innocent children, they are blameless, the ones who suffered while they watched others become the Adversary's. All of us who turned from the Evil, we are Thy children, and Thou lovest us! Thou lovest us still.

"Our Temple sealings are valid, if we keep the Covenants, if we pray, if we serve others, if we practice repentance! We must find comfort in Thy Word. We must gather and share Thy sweet Spirit. My people, we know what we must do, to be good. I ask that all of you, strive to be good, and repent. Try to do something to help the ones you hurt. Try to forgive yourselves.

"Then, pray for that loving Father to forgive you, and He shall. My people, we left evil, most of us. Release any slaves you might still have with you. Help them return to their families, their healers. Give them much trade, and ships that do not belong to us. Return all items not ours.

"We must not assume that all is lost and these things, this repentance does not matter! It does. We are not lost, my people. We are found. There is hope for us. Pray with me, for the blessings of Aryll we have because of Bess, an Earthan!

"We thank Thee for Aryll, the scent that brings us life, the life Thou givest to save us! We thank Thee for Bess, and her children, that she gave without asking trade! She gave the Earthan magnolias that made the Aryll bloom again. All worlds of Aryll now enjoy the scent, and feel the strength. Healers report miracles to me. We thank Thee for all of these mighty blessings! Let us never, never forget to be grateful."

He said a lot of things I forgot and shouldn't have, but the way he prayed for me made me weep. I felt the gratitude, and the tears, and the guilt of our people, but most of all, their humble joy that in this prayer, they finally felt forgiveness! This wouldn't happen on Earth. Only a telepathic species could join in prayer this way. In the other future, some were still slavers. But the plants brought minds to him, to Kaling, and there were none who didn't hear. They all agreed to release all of their slaves.

I heard old Kaling touching minds, and hearing the ones with the most guilt. He prayed for each one of these suffering people, and got revelation for each one. Others had blessings from their religious teachers. Children knelt in prayer with their parents, and some, like Earthan kids, misbehaved. Some of the adults got distracted with thoughts of what they needed to do, or memories that came from something their king or prophet said, just like I'd done in Church as a kid.

This began as my sharing memories from my future memories that I saw, but as I shared, King Wtensau prayed it!

Some liked that this joint prayer session went on a long time, and some were impatient to get on with things they were doing, although most of them still kept on listening. Tens of thousands of worlds of people! King Wtensau got a growing headache, but he felt he deserved it, and kept on. Queen Selafae tried to get him to quit before he hurt himself! He told her he drew strength from all these minds, enough not to get hurt.

Finally, he let go of a lot of people and concentrated on a few that needed him the most.

Queen Selafae directed members of their Council--The Nolo, same as my last name--to take the rest, and Wtensau reluctantly let her guide them. His head drooped.

Ry'nao helped him up. "King Wtensau, you may keep your kingdom. I know that you will lead your people as you did before the accident happened."

Another girl appeared. Ry'nao seemed surprised to see her, too. "Uh, you don't know me. I'm Morgan."

He took her hand. Startled. Brushed leaves off her arm. A homeless girl? "Pas, please see her. Morgan, I do know you, I know of you. Have you something to add about the Aryllans?"

She cried. "Llsam didn't do it! Not willingly. He, and Sela, and her parents, Toning and Semana, they were forced to create the plague by Ker'rant'hru, Prince Of Tch'Zbbatr. He knew if he could corrupt anyone Aryllan, he could deal in higher level slaver herbs for Opseh Wenh Cet!"

A Zbbat appeared and drooped before Ry'nao. Blue light hit him and a green slick spread. Perr pulled me away from it.

Another Zbbat appeared. Touched the slick with a finger. These people had six large arms and six large legs, big around as maybe 6 meters! Everyone looked scared.

Still another Zbbat took his hand. "I am Mollysias. Learn from me, their language. I will not allow anyone to hurt themselves, just to talk to you."

"You are one to talk! I am King Tch'lanterserah! I am powerful! You killed my son. But, today, we will all change. Now that Satauuver is gone, I will not bow to Rentappenen or Eriganh. We renounce slavery, and I am destroying all the slaver herbs from upper levels.

"King Wtensau, we stole your plants from Aryllan worlds to enrich ours. I am willing to return what we took, what did not die."

Wtensau sweated like rain on the red-violet floor. "We will free all of your slaves. Does Lyyyrah also agree?"

He appeared in blue light. This alien was a meter wide and a meter tall. His two arms ended in round mouths. One spoke. Green skin like a frog's, and frog eyes like two basketballs blinked. "Adia taught me that friendship is important. I want to be friends with all of you. Is Ryee here?"

A Zheien with deep orange skin bowed to him. "I am here."

"I want a treaty between Esteerr, Tch'Zbbatr, and Aryll. All slaves must be returned to their home worlds. I will supply healers but I wish healers to teach them." All his neon-yellow bulk quivered.

"I taught them. Pirad can clone me and send my children." Mollysias bowed and I could see her star-shaped mouth between the arms move. For her size, she was graceful. "I know healing for all the species Pirad knows, including Aryllans." She reached a tentacle to King Wtensau and hummed. He stopped sweating and stood straighter. Another tentacle reached for Perr.

Ryonne~--I knew who he was from my memories of all the news holos—got a group of diplomats together and they wrote a treaty with Ry'nao. Lyyyrah and Tch'lanterserah wrote it fast. Perr thought to me, centuries before, all of Wtensau's sons vanished on Esteerr trying to discuss a treaty. Lyyyrah took power during their visit.

They all appeared in blue light. Ray looked sick. Her husband took her to a room.

Another couple sang healing. They had yellow light around them!

Wtensau tried to hold all five of them! There were Zheien with them.

Molly and Binneas, I knew them from Rainbow, held the Zheien and sang healing. The yellow light surrounded them, too. Perr knew them. Binneas' uncle, aunt, and four brothers.

Perr's mother appeared in a holo. "Fine husband! Your words gave us great comfort! I will organize all our women for Nolo in every place, along with men of the Nolo, until all can meet in prayer often! We need Father of All most in this time of blessings, to help us feel that we are worthy to enjoy them! You are very wise, Tens."

He cried loudly and pressed his hand against her cheek. "Sela, my Sela, Father of All gave those words, not me! I could never have wisdom, that He did not grant. Feel that joy that drips from our people?" Gently, he put their forearms together. Both dripped sweat, that's their tears. "I feel peace, at last, and I feel the Aryll enough to help. Perr, I can help you more, now. Finally, the Gift is in my Sela again. We shall live to see home. Look, your Bess gains strength! She carries the name of Nolo, and I shall appoint her Healer to Nolo!"

I shook my head. "Father, Nolo is a nickname--a shortname, as the Zheien call it—" No one ever called me by my last name until I joined Diplomatic Service, years from now.

"What does that matter?" He laughed, a soft, gentle laugh more like a low purr. "Father of All brought you to my son, when he felt he would die soon, for lack of a wife! Now, he shall not die. Let me teach you to gain strength, in your telepathy, by taking strength from others!"

"I don't want to make people feel bad--"

Again, that wise laugh. "If you take just a little, from those who have much, after rest, they will not miss it. Everyone contributes to my strength, because I am an old man, and travel is bad for me. Once, I could travel alone. Now, I have to take 20 men with me, and my poor wife can't go with me much now. She is strong on Aryll and weak on even Abyll, where I gain health!" He tried to teach me. I have telepathy now?

They worked on that treaty and all those people went to sleep.