[piosenniel]

Most of the companions were seated around the table at various stages of beakfast. Even Angara was present, sitting on Child's lap and wheedling small tidbits of toast and jam from her.

Tulë cleared his throat to draw their attention away from the food and asked for some volunteers.

'When you are all done eating,' he said, their faces now looking at him expectantly, 'I want to see if we can determine how to move more than just this ship to another time. We'll need to be able to do that once the captives are gotten on board. We cannot stay in or near Númenor. I'll need several people to help me try out an idea that I've had.'

Daisy volunteered immediately, as did Rose. Tulë smiled at both of them, 'Not this time, little ones, though I do thank you for your enthusiasm. I will need both your pairs of sharp eyes on deck to tell me details of how it goes.'

Angara, feeling somewhat uneasy about the word 'volunteer', had quietly slipped off Child's lap and under the table, where she was slowly making her way to the steps.

'Ah, Angara, you were first in my list of candidates to help.' said the elf, spying the escaping dragon. 'Along with Veritas, Khelek, and Mithadan.'

'Why can they volunteer and we can't?' chimed in Rose and Daisy together.

'Because they each have a strong talent for osanwe, mind to mind communication, and that is what I'm hoping will solve the problem of moving the ships.'

'And how do you propose to do this?' asked Khelek,looking sceptical.

'I want Veritas to remain on board the Star and set the crystal for a date you've already visited, one we can easily verify as having reached. The rest of us will take the small skiffs out in a line from the ship. I'll position myself in the lead boat, about two miles out, with the rest of you evenly spaced between me and the Star. Then you must open your minds to me and I will link us each to the other as a whole. When Veritas then activates the crystal it is my thought that we can all shift together.'

'Sounds rather "iffy" to me.' returned Khelek. 'Have you thought through the possible outcomes for this experiment?'

'As best I could, having never done or heard of something being done like this before. I think we are looking at three possible outcomes - first, it could be completely successful; second, it may prove a complete failure, with only the Star shifting and us left sitting in our boats. Third, might prove the "interesting" one - it's possible that the Star and just ourselves will be able to shift, leaving us in the drink, so to speak, when we come into the new time frame.'

He sat down at the table and poured a mug of tea for himself, stirring in a little honey. The clink of the spoon against the pottery was loud in the uneasy silence.

'I'm open to suggestions, comments, concerns about this.' he offered. 'Anyone?'

[ August 27, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]