Ley went on sharing the memory of the Panic:

Suddenly, we knew Eriganh headed to D'gharr. None of the council members were interested in what Farley said. They got drunk, and we left. When we reached the Diplomats House, it was empty. We went to the ship.

The spaceport had only a few ships and hordes of slavers trying to steal them! Pat, Tis and Han were writing progs to hide all the biomes from slavers. Han fabbed a jeweled terminal like tenters use to run the progs. Pat looked up. "Ley, I saw an Esteerrian ship here, in this spaceport! We need to leave!"

Farley shook all over. "We can nae. Diplomats can nae. Half the Council left! By Alliance rules, the moment they lifted, they are nae longer Council. Those without ships already take dorna from the corrals, if they have trade, and soon there are nae dorna left. They go to lower-numbered provs. Eriganh has five world destroyers with him."

"Farley, take some bis tia." I waved up his leiwege and he let me put him there.

"I—use too much!" His herb terminal had one left. It didn't help him.

"My brother says a little marsa could help. Other teams used that, even when Zheien didn't have nesfa—"

He turned gray, and I made my doctor give me a vial. I put just a little on his neck. At least he stopped sweating, but fear kills Zheien. He's sick, every respite now. Marsa makes a Zheien stare. The moment I gave it, I couldn't feel his thoughts! But people in his Diplomatic Link kept asking if he was all right. I answered a few, then got them to help him with others. Novas! How can a man rest with that going on in his mind?

I made Han hold Farley, and Pat and I went trading. We found Zheien terminals, herbs and slaves, as well as food in large supplies! Riding animals! Tessite! Valuable items! People were trading everything they had for a few ships that weren't spaceworthy! I let Berto know, and he gave me trade for larger quantities, for Elshar Zheiea!

Every trader in Elshar Zheiea brought every ship available and filled 'em! Their normal items wouldn't trade if they weren't ships. They needed every ship. So, they used up their trade. Somehow, friends gave more trade. Areon gave ships from their five shipbuilding facilities, so people could get away! Berto told us to trade the small ones for slaves and food, and items Elshar Zheiea could trade later. There were mostly large ones, but the small ones were extremely fast.

D'gharr also sent ships with council members and pilots, who were supposed to bring them back with food and healing herbs. We saw them trading them for slaves! DS trace progs we ran told us later, none of those ships went back to D'gharr.

And, he let me know all the worlds of Rahn Estar, Par Vu, and all of Elshar Mashai Zheien Colony was moving! We were to go to Council the next day, and if they weren't meeting, we'd be helping the Elshar Zheien move homes, farms, and every animal we could get! Ferrimos coordinated everything. They hid stores in dorna corrals and people's stone homes. Even underground in Burial Chambers!

The rest of the day until sunset, we traded and loaded our ship. Farley had shock on his face when I told him. Didn't he know? All diplomats have the Diplomatic Link and know things from it.

He asked me where we went, and that's when I knew he resorted to umar seg. Han slept beside him. Ran the ship's doctor to see what Farley had, and it was umar seg and not another dose of marsa. I took it out of his herb terminal. I'd seen him use it multiple times when upset, and Elshar Mashai is enough to keep any man upset! My brother was furious when he knew how often I saw healers using it on Esta Faho last respite! His best friend's a healer in the Diplomats House in our jeia. When Han saw him reach for it, he didn't let him put much.

We brought large amounts of Zheien healing herbs. But, he wouldn't use much bis tia. We brought nesfa but didn't let him use any. We're not traveling.

The next day I went to Council, and they were drunk. Too drunk to even know I was there. So we moved the ship to Elshar Zheiea without getting permissions. No one contacted us! Berto told me we had progs to hide us. From an Alliance Hub? Novas!

People cried when we unloaded food! They told us Marenalay was attacked, and no one came back with food and they were lost. That was weeks ago. When we came back from our respite to get Farley, we found him in Ashapat's Chambers and he told us not to mention Marenalay. So it was when we gave people food in Ferrimos that people told us Farley's tutor survived the attack, went for food, and didn't come back. He was one of the few skilled riders who could ride a ferrisna, a surprisingly fast riding animal. Tech's rationed, so you have to have a reason Elshars consider important to port or take a ship, and they don't consider supplies. Has to be a mission. So many stupid rules designed to exterminate Zheien!

Peh Ras was exhausted, so Pat, Tis and I helped until he was sure we could do some work while Ashapat helped him sleep. We were in the middle of all that and the Hub went down! It had been on and off. This was Jan 10. So we used the ship's server to pack everything that we could without it being obvious if Elshars came. We spent our time trading and brought our ship from Prov Nine to Ferrimos 15 times. They transferred everything, including slaves in stasis, to other ships, some that wouldn't fly.

We also had thousands of slaves! People took them into their homes and tried to care for them. We could trade for large quantities of herbs, some obviously stolen from Elshar Mashai Zheien Colony farms in Marenalay. Many farmers pulled up all of their crops and traded them for transport in the lowest numbered Elshar provs. They came to the Colony in droves and King Challet promised them safety. Many were artisans. Few had any trading skills.

So was that when Marenalay was taken?

No, that happened December 16. We packed Marenalay. Left Farley with Ashapat! He was with his tutor there when it was taken. Helped evacuate people. But he didn't remember much.

Ashapat pulled me aside. "I find nae injury with him. Did an Elshar touch him?"

"He used umar seg." Han shared how he pulled it away so he didn't get much. And I showed him that I had it. "Should I give this to you?"

"Did you run analysis on it?"

I had my doctor show him what it found, and he paled. Took it. Put another vial of the clear gel in my hand. "Do not use this unless you feel he will die if he remembers. In his colony they use umar seg as remedy too oft! More than once a year invites severe injury! But this is contaminated with many mine poisons. I will give it to our Science Council. They will know, perhaps, what I must do." Ashapat took Farley's yellow herb terminal and replaced it with a red one. He complained that even Farley's herbs were contaminated.

They suggested vek ea and yllis, and we even had a large supply of those rare herbs! People from Gowa cleared their fields and brought it here to trade, to Elshar Mashai!

Even after that, Farley was very sick, but he got up to help us herd scared Zheien onto ships. When he's working, he looks and acts fine.

But, when we went back to Prov Nine to trade again, Council members gathered crowds onto ships. They shoved a bunch of scared Elshars and diplomats on ours! "We are going to D'gharr to fight! Stay with these diplomats. They will teach you to fight!"

Between us, we had gotten some weapons stolen from high-level Thordes diplomats. But, I think even Stepan De would say this was a time to forget ceremony. We gave weapons to anyone willing to learn how to use them.

Farley shocked all of us with how much he knew about them! One of his tutors in diplomatics worked at Esta Faho's weapons facility. He showed us things about these weapons we didn't know, and we studied advanced weaponry in Sigan Mas!

Farley had a set of green metal balls shaped like a plant Esteerrians have to eat, like Elshars need that fruit once a week. But these would kill them in a few days. Operatives knew Esteerrian ships landed on D'gharr in droves.

He taught methods that would kill Elshars quickly. I worried about him! Zheien can't stand to see things like that, and he showed us detailed memories of battles from an Elshar! But he taught us all. Even the older Thordes diplomats of Ka were impressed! But my friend was in training to be a galactic minister before Marenalay. He didn't get hurt, but Ashapat had to keep him two weeks before we left for Prov Nine. He wasn't well.

Farley laid out plans to attack Esteerrian ships. Our Team would attack five ships, each of us, alone, ships marked with a certain symbol. Skilled soldiers manned those ships. I wondered how we'd get anywhere near them!

But he led us off the ship past twenty guarding the Spaceport and they didn't see us! I wondered who in the Diplomatic Link helped him? I didn't get special help.

Farley kept contact with our minds. We each carried an armful of those balls, and Esteerrians grabbed 'em! They gobbled 'em, then fell over! But not one seemed to see that happen to another one.

The ship I was to go to had a lone Zbbat. Esteerrians apparently travel in groups of 20. Zbbat travel alone. They don't need help.

He didn't see me, just stood there. I took aim and threw the ball so it arced over and into where his six arms joined at the top. He startled, then jumped around wildly! Jammed all six tentacles into his top! They don't have heads, but a mouth up there. His slaves ran, and he didn't even try to stop them!

Farley came to me with his arms bleeding and I carried him. The fake fruit had sharp parts. Without our armful of weapons, I felt helpless! Kajarian soldiers shot people who didn't board ships. But people we armed cut them down as we passed! They died, too. As we saw that happen, we picked up the weapons and armed someone else. We got people to follow us to the ships we captured and a lot of these people knew how to fly them. They crammed terrified people in and took off. But they left weapons and we armed others again. It amazed us they kept coming back to us in that crowd! People fought as far as we could see! Our weapons were unique and not anything like what the few others carried, mostly captured Kajarian plasma weapons like eende's.

D'gharrans and others who came off ships fought! Every slave freed who could stand fought! But, suddenly, all the Kajarians ran to their ships and left!

I thought Eriganh was about to aim his world destroyers. He sends troops to plunder and take slaves, then they destroy the world for minerals.

But the red sky, filled with ships, went blue with portals, and they were gone.

People begged us for help, but there wasn't much we could do. The herbs we had were mostly for Zheien, and Rahn Estar needed all of them. After a while, officials of D'gharr ordered people to begin searches for injured, or rebuilding. The Hub was down while we were there, and diplomats with the officials gave instructions.

Occasionally, someone led a dazed Zheien to us. We took all that we found with us, and some DS Teams. They carried Zheien.

Others led us to our ship and returned weapons to us, all they had left. Some had red blood on them and I felt bad. Ran hygiene when we got back to the ship.