I spotted another poor fella hiding under a blanket near our portal. Went to him. Sat near him, but not touching. "Ba, may I put ea fae on you?"

He shuddered. I got some on my hand from my pocket pyramid and held it barely touching his twin-fingered hand. He jerked it away. Then, startled. "O!" Rubbed the finger with his other hand. Looked at me, blue eyes wavering. I barely saw his eyes under the blanket.

I held more almost to his hand, and he reached to it with a finger. I nodded. "You may touch, my son." I spoke Zheien.

"Master, I be good?" His head nodded.

"Eae, my son, you are good. You earned ea fae. I wish to put some on you." This poor man had deliberate scars down his legs and toes. And his arms and hands. I held out a lot more ea fae.

He took it and rubbed it on his fingers. Smooth, unbroken skin. I kept pumping it out, and he bathed his face in it. Smiled. Then, he put it on the back of his head and I had to catch him!

Pas gasped and came running! "Let me help you, Ella. My son, I am Pas, a healer."

When he took him, he got a grip on his hand, then studied it. Looked at his hand. Back at Pas'. "You are—you are—"

"Is there pain, my son? You lie in healing." With great care, Pas lifted him and leaned his head against his chest.

The man felt the material of his white robe. Then traced one of the Tessite symbols on the purple stripe down the front edges of the robe. "Generosity."

"Ea, my son. You remember the 7th Aspiration."

He sobbed. "I put. Namesign."

"Is there pain to remember this?" Pas moved towards the Esta Faho group.

"Nae. Slavers nae ask."

"Did they punish you to see kinsmen?"

"Wanted Tessite. I nae tell. My king. Tell him."

"O, I will, my son, but you see him soon. We travel home."

"Home?" He cried. "Bae."

"I know you miss him. Is there pain, to see these men, my son?" He slowly turned around so this poor man could see every face. When he saw Fa, he reached. "Bae! O! Bae!"

Fa turned gray and jumped up! "Fa! Father Of All blessed us today!"

Slowly, he reached both hands for Fa's blond curls and pulled his head against his chest. As he did, Pas bent and sat on a leiwege so he didn't have to work at it. "Bae! Mind pain? Pah~!"

"I am nae harmed, Fa! Rest. This healer is for you—"

Konomai put both hands on Fae's head. "I am here! Rest. I see you quickly!"

"Kono! Bae! Far!"

"Eae, Fae, I am here—"

"Who?" He pulled my hand against his chest. Zheien never, ever touch the chest! I froze.

"Fae, see my wife, Ella! She found you, Fae!" Farley wept. They missed Fae so much! He carried Fae's terminal with him. When he felt bad, he held it against his chest, just like Fae held my hand--

Fae kissed my hand. "Sae. Help Bae, ea fae?"

"Eae, Fae!" I waved up a big bowl and slathered it on all three of 'em. What a happy reunion! My family came back and helped me with it.

Pas checked Fae and had me write progs for him. He needed everything! Progs to give him nesfa, heart herbs, epilepsy herbs, anxiety herbs, and to sedate him if he tried to harm himself. His file had a lot of stuff we couldn't believe, but added protections just in case. Slavers can train a slave to do stuff that will kill him. I really wanted to test this when we got it written, because I wrote it and Farley added to it, and Fa, and Peh Ras, his wife, Sharon, Camen, his wife Lindy, and Elsie, too! As soon as Elsie added her line, Pas ran it!

I worried. Fae shook all over. Then he and Farley went limp. Farley's progs went off when Fae's did. Fa wept, then his progs went off, too.

But Kono and Pas looked at all three of 'em, and relaxed. They looked at me. Pas hugged me against them. "Ella, your idea saved them!"

"Me? But all of us added things! Elsie's line kept him from going into shock!" She startled and gave a shy smile.

"Ea, but see this line. This one saved him."

I didn't see it. That line just called another prog if the others weren't working. It wasn't even an action, just a diagnostic.

"You ne saw this line in that one?" Then his mind pointed it out. The diagnostic alerted Pas not to heal Point Four on Points Six. I still didn't get it. He explained it, and I still didn't get it.

Kono tried. "Daughter, a healer can only heal so much damage in one healing. A person so injured must have healing in small steps. So we must decide which injuries we heal first. If Pas healed the point, the prog warned him nae to heal, he missed healing another point that allows him to wake. At this time in his healing, he needed the second healing more, so much so, if Pas made the other choice, he died. He is very injured, Sae, and your diligence saved him."

Wow. I kept my arms around all of them.

Peh Ras kept dark eyes as he talked to me. "Eae, this is why our task is so very difficult! We must add progs to our healers' progs that other Zheien nae need. Elshar Zheien are among the most difficult to heal, and the most difficult to write healers' progs to help. Parameters can change too quickly for a thinker to predict, and a healer must oft decide differently as he heals, and a server instructor must try to follow him quickly. You added that line at the right time, Ella. You added it as Pas healed him, and as he made a decision between those two exact points. I noticed that you hesitated. Why added it you, when you thought it, perhaps, redundant?"

I felt my face burn. "I just had a feeling that I needed to put it there. Everything else, I had a reason, a justifiable reason, for each line. That one, I'm not sure why I did it. What if I make the wrong decision, Peh Ras? Somebody could die!" I shook all over.

He rubbed the back of my head. "Ella, I feel that dread every time I write a prog with so many choices! Ask Father Of All to help you, for so I do. At times, we will make wrong choices, for we are mortal. But, Father Of All finds nae fault in us, that we are nae perfect. Always, He looks on what is in our hearts. If we try, he cares that we try. He cares that we love our unwell and try to save them. But we must accept, that at times, it is that moment of our mistake that He chooses to lift them from their life with us."

Camen nodded and picked him up. "Friends, we are too weary to work more. Call on us if you have need." Huge Camen carried Peh Ras, who went right to sleep. Their wives walked with him to a tapestry with all of them on it, and they melted in.

I wasn't tired. But no one else was waiting for a prog. Maybe that Moment Of My Mistake will wait longer!

Pas and Kono propped Bae and Fae and put Fa in between 'em, and Farley in Fa's lap so all of 'em could be touching. And he put me against Farley.

In his sleep, he hugged me, hard.

Kono frowned and wrote a containment so he couldn't squeeze that hard! I wouldn't be able to breathe deeply.

I wanted to watch 'em sleep, but with my back to them, I couldn't. Pas smiled at me. Reach with your telepathy, and see them.

Telepathy's new, and he taught me how to use it better than eyes. I could feel how warm their skin was. Listen for bad dreams. See the rhythmic twitching of Fae's left hand, and how he startled and felt for Fa's curls. Went back to sleep.

Every time one of 'em moved, or groaned, all four of 'em groped for hair or fingers.

I looked around at other Zheien. Lots of 'em slept, but I could tell the diff whether they'd been slaves or not. At least, among most of the orange Zheien, the blue ones, the few red ones. But, all of the yellow ones and green ones startled a lot, and that grab for hands or heads or arms.

You are perceptive, Ella. Know you why they do this?

No. Why? They expect a slaver to come?

Know you how oft slavers came to Ea~ or worlds with yellow ones?

He explained that in all provs of Ea~, a very wet, lush world, with cooler poles but not ever frozen, all the provs are farming provs and large. Slavers can land a small ship and take children as they sleep. Most people love their kids. Slavers who want to upset Zheien so that they die, just have to take a child.

The shock of losing that child can kill an entire prov of Zheien, just from grief. Usually, their family dies, and Zheien usually have enormous families that are couples, their parents, their grandparents, their great-grandparents, their great-greats, and their 3rd and 4th great-greats. Now you're counting cousins, and that many generations of grand-kids. One family can easily add up to an entire prov.

Almost an Earthan month ago, there was Marenalay, a large farming prov on Elshar Mashai in the Elshar Mashai Zheien Colony. It had 2000 people. Elshars rode across the Barrens from Prov Nine to there. They took kids and killed them in front of their families with primitive weapons, clubs, rocks, slings, rod launches, whatever wouldn't register on the Hub.

By the time people in neighboring provs knew they were attacked, it was too late to ride a dorna there. Five Elshars fought back. They came just before the attack and warned people. They brought dorna from Prov Nine and people were too scared to ride when the first slavers came and people fell. So they got cloth from the weaver's house and used bolts of it to tie people to dorna. Used their telepathy to show the dorna which direction to run to the next Zheien prov. Because they did this, they saved over 200 people. And one of them used a rod launch to pick off the slavers. Slavers got 200.

But, half of the saved people died of fright. Most of the prov escaped. But, by the next morning, 1500 died of 2000. The remaining 500 stayed with healers, and moved to Ferrimos. Few could work. Their crops were stolen when everyone left. The colony was already starving.

That many, 1500 of 2000? In one attack? Horrifying!

But, this is Elshar Mashai Zheien Colony. There were more attacks on Ea~ because is remote. Most attacks are on farming and mining worlds. These have mere hundreds of colonists, and only one prov. There is nae help to come when attacked.

Rahn Estar is a mining world and has 12,000. Because they have Antera colony to protect them, attacks are few, but many yet die. Is all one prov, but families leave to maintain automation on one mine, and there are many thousands of mines. An attack is on one. The people of Antera have very strong telepathy, and if there is an attack, they kill all the attackers. But people die to see such.

Esta Faho is also a mining world, but he has one Tessite mine and all of his population is near that mine. So when he is attacked, is usually one slaver, who takes one child. But, the alertness of their colony is so, nae one child is ever taken. Fright can kill. But, healers quickly give a slaver herb, umar seg, to take the memory of the event from all but diplomats. In this way, is misery, but they recover in a day.

The cost of this is in the mortality of their diplomats. Few return from Sigan Mas, much fewer than from any Zheien colony. Lack of restful sleep kills. They bear the terror of frequent attacks, and fear to sleep, lest they lose people to a slaver.