God's Dogs Book 2
Chapter 21

Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.

Saint Francis de Sales

The announcement went out, and the reaction was immediate and fierce. The opposing sponsor worlds, the Berndt, and the opposition party on Masul protested to anyone, it seemed, who would listen. The royalist party on Masul was silent, because they didn’t know what to think.

Charvo was on the ansible to communicate with the regional center, the ruling committee, and the ASI in charge, an artificial super-intelligence that sported the name, Tau-14.

They ran their projections, dug deeper into the history of this region of space, interrogated the next level up in the patronage system, and generated a lot of data. However, they couldn’t predict what might happen if the Coyotes trained Timi.

They could project what would happen if any of the four worlds got hold of her: that world would become a Mecca of sorts with Timi the object to visit.

She would devolve into a figurehead giving legitimacy to some dictator. Those competing for that opportunity were inundating the regional center with everything from court injunctions to bribery attempts. The press, of course, argued on behalf of its owners, so that what was actually going on with the royal family, but especially Timi, was anybody’s guess. After the announcement, the royal family had nothing more to say, and since they remained aboard the Congress warship, the press didn't have access to them.

River held to a schedule with Timi and a stubborn, supportive Ronto. Eight hours a day, in one-hour increments, they were either engaged in breathing and counting their breaths – known generically as single-pointing the mind, or River led them on a guided meditation. For the first week, it was all preparatory. Even so, members of the platoon, primarily elves, asked to join the class.

Once the entirety of Charlie squad showed up for class on a regular basis, River was torn about what to do. The elves were experienced meditators, which deepened the meditative field through brain wave synchrony. With them in the class, it was easier for Timi and Ronto to maintain meditative focus. Even so, River was concerned about Charlie squad. The elves were now, in effect, on detached assignment to her. It was a real, chain-of-command issue.

At lunch eight days into the curriculum, Senior Lieutenant Ikel walked into the mess hall with Sgt. Massengat, who relocated everyone so that Ikel and River were sitting alone.

“Haven’t seen you for a while, LT,” River smiled.

“It’s been a busy time dealing with the locals and their sponsors,” Ikel said. “Sergeant Massi has taken charge of Alpha and Bravo’s training, and it seems you are now in charge of Charlie’s training.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No,” Ikel said. “I made it official this morning. Charlie squad is TDY to your command.”

“Thanks for that,” River said, a bit surprised.

“Furthermore, Sergeant Massi and others have recommended you for a battle-field citation,” Ikel went on stoically. “Your action on our behalf during the battle, an action you volunteered for, saved many lives.”

“I appreciate that, LT,” River replied with some feeling, “but Coyote policy is that we do not accept any citations or commendations.”

“I know,” Ikel said. “I read the report about Coyote training and protocols. But you blunted a coordinated and sustained attack on my troops. You took out their leadership and forced a stalemate. Coyote River, you saved my men – and you didn’t have to do so.”

River sighed with both satisfaction and frustration before saying, “In my mind, it was the right thing to do. Quinn didn’t need me; you did. I appreciate your acknowledgment of what I did, but what I did was not out of the ordinary.”

“For Coyotes, apparently not,” Ikel responded. “For the rest of us, it was an act of heroism and self-sacrifice. But I recognize and even agree with Coyote protocol to refuse citations. For our part, our honor demands that you be commended. The citation was sent to Penglai.”

“Thanks, LT. For that and for formalizing Charlie squad’s detachment status.”

“Furthermore,” Ikel said and took a deep breath and let it out, “we were wrong – I was wrong about you. I apologize to you and your team for my behavior.”

“Wow, Ikel. That must have been tough.”

“It was,” Ikel said as he stood. “Carry on, Coyote River.”

River grinned as he left.

“Today,” River said to her class, “we begin exploring the Nature band of reality. For those of you who are brain scientists, we are sustaining an alpha brain wave meditation, and we will slowly deepen it without dropping into the theta band.”

She smiled at both the confused and knowing faces. Timi and Ronto were among the few that knew, as River had them look up the theory.

Once again they were seated in the training room. River sat before them. Pax happened to have a small Tibetan singing bowl, which he loaned her, and she began dragging a wooden dowel around its edge until a persistent tone emerged.

“Make the sound the only thing in your mind,” she told them.

And they did, dropping fairly immediately from normal waking state, signified as beta state, down to alpha.

She stopped working the bowl and the sound slowly faded. Then she told them, “Imagine you are standing at the top of a staircase. The steps going down can be anything you want: stone steps, metal steps, earthen steps. It doesn’t matter, except that you like them. Now, to your left is a wall or the sheer face of a cliff. To your right is open space, but it is hidden in a mist or fog.”

She waited to feel a shift in the meditative field that signaled they had completed the visualization tasks.

Once they were ‘there,’ she said, “Take a step down to the first step and feel the shift in energy. When you feel the shift, take another step down. Feel the shift and another step, and again. At the next step down, pause for a bit. You are halfway through the alpha band, and the changing energy is noticeable here.”

She paused again until she felt they all shared this discrete frequency in the alpha band of consciousness.

“Now, step down one more step. Turn to your right and walk slowly into the mist. After a few steps, you’ll see the entrance to the crystal cave.

“This cave is a gift from the Creator to all of us. It is found at this place of meditation on all the worlds in the galaxy and probably the universe.

“Enter the cave,” she went on. “Notice the details of its construction. It is filled with obsidian, tourmaline, black quartz, and onyx. Black crystals fill the cave; they grow from the ceiling and walls; and they form a flat floor. They also form the table at the far side of the cave.

“Taking your time, absorbing the wonder of this gift from the Creator, approach the long table and place both your palms on it.”

She paused again to let the students catch up to the instruction. She smiled briefly as she remembered the first time she entered this cave. It was immediately transforming and terrifying. All that power concentrated in one place, and it was there for her to use.

“Draw the energy of this place up through your feet,” she continued, “up through your legs and torso, up to fill your neck and head. Now direct the energy down your arms and out through your hands into the table. Then through the table into the ground.”

She paused for a long moment. Then, in a different voice meant to explain as well as instruct, she told them, “Your task is to create a circuit of energy that flows through you. Up from the ground, through your body, and back into the ground.

“Once the circuit is flowing by itself, widen it from a stream to a creek to a river. See how much energy you can channel through your body.”

There was a surge in the meditation field with that prompt.

River now told them, “When you heal others, you come to this place, envision the patient on the table, and run this energy through their wounds or ailment or just fill their entire body. The truth about healing is: you cannot heal anyone. You can channel the healing energy of nature that is concentrated here in the crystal cave. The energy heals; you do not. What you do is crucial to healing, because you must channel and direct this energy, but never take credit for healing anyone. If you do, if you let your ego run with that lie, the universe will slap you down.”

She let that sink in before saying, “Lift your hands from the table to break the circuit. Let all the energy drain out. Then return to the stairs.”

Quinn sat with the king and Charvo in a briefing room to go over the reports of their adversaries’ activity.

Charvo was saying, “Whatever united front they used to have, it’s gone now. Each is advancing its own self-interest by saying, ‘I’m the best custodian for the savior because of whatever, and they are the worst choice because of whatever.’”

“And our response?” Quinn prompted.

Dami answered, “It is the prerogative of the royal family to make that choice.”

“I think there’s a rule about that,” Charvo said.

Shiva, Quinn’s A.I., told him, [Article 39, Section 4, paragraphs 7-9. ‘Heads of state operate with autonomy concerning internal matters of state.’ It goes on to define exceptions but those fall in the category of treason against Congress.]

Quinn relayed what Shiva told him, and Dami said, “They could make a case for treason, or a savior is not exclusively an internal matter. The prophecy does say the savior will return us to our former glory, which could be treasonous.”

“Not a good enough case,” Charvo reckoned. “The ancient government would likely be welcome in the Congress had it existed.

“No. I think we just ride out this storm of protest. The longer it goes on, the more time River has to train Timi. When the storm is over, Timi will have achieved healer status. When that is announced, it will spark a different storm of protest.”

“The shaman guild, or whatever name it goes by, will be quite upset,” Quinn predicted.

“It’s what I worry about the most,” Dami said. “They have strange powers.”

Quinn half-smiled. “So do we.”

River stalked the corridors after dinner, looking for the platoon sergeant. She banged through a hatch to the platoon’s common area, and those present snapped to attention.

“As you were,” she called, both irritated and flattered at their response to her presence.

Sgt. Massengat strode up. “Coyote River, what brings you slumming in the deepest depths of the ship?”

She chuckled and said, “I need five people in the morning and five in the afternoon. My class will begin practicing healing in small groups, and each group needs a live body to serve as the patient.”

“Tough duty,” the sergeant said. “Lay there and get healed. I’m sure a few of my troops may volunteer.”

She grinned at him. “I can cause some injuries to make it realistic.”

“Sparring matches are during the lunch break and after you release the training room in the afternoon. You would be more than welcome to attend.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she said and turned to go. “Thanks, sergeant.”

Then she made her way to the cabin she shared with the others. All three were present when she entered.

“Oh, good,” she sighed in relief. “You’re all here. I need some advice.”

They sat on the bottom bunks and Quinn said, “First, tell us how the training is going.”

“Tomorrow they will start with group healing. The platoon sergeant will provide the patients.”

“That was quick,” Pax observed.

“Yeah. I didn’t show them what else they could do from the staircase. We’ve only been to the crystal cave.”

“Is that wise?” Quinn asked.

“I don’t know. It’s why I need advice. The cathedral of light is a bunch of levels from where we are,” she said. “I don’t think I can take them directly there, and if we traverse the places in-between, I’ll have to explain what’s going on.”

“I see,” Quinn said. “Timi wants to be a healer, and that’s what you’re giving her.”

“The elves, too,” she shrugged. “And Ronto. The group energy is fairly strong.”

Quinn nodded before saying, “Let’s suppose the shaman guild gets pissed at us for training Timi and mounts a psychic attack. How would they hold up?”

“Crap,” River muttered.

“Yeah,” Moss put in. “They are going to need the full course.”

“It took us a year,” River lamented, “just to get the basics. The nature level alone was months.”

“I know,” Moss grinned. “I was there. And the really dangerous stuff is in the spirit realm.”

“Crap, crap, crap,” she whined. “Okay, what can we do?”

Quinn answered, “I’ve discussed this with the powers-that-be.”

She punched him in the arm. “You saw this coming?”

He grinned. “And they agree that we need to be on a safe planet, in a secluded area, and ramp up their training to include learning how to protect themselves.”

“Where?”

“Penglai.”

“Thank the stars,” she breathed in relief.

Moss nudged her with an elbow. “You don’t want sole responsibility for training the savior of the galaxy?”

“Fuck you, Moss,” she laughed. “When do we go?”

“When our ride shows up,” Quinn answered. “A week or so.”

Their ride was the Satya, upgraded to use the jump-gates and travel at faster FTL speeds. Charlie squad came with Timi and Ronto. The king and queen stayed to deal with the political quagmire. Consul Singh was still at the regional center with his aides to handle Penglai but also League interests.

It was cramped quarters aboard Satya, but the trip was less than two weeks via the jump gates.

That was long enough for the workers at the temple to isolate a wing of the sprawling complex for the exclusive use Quinn’s team needed. It also allowed time for Master Lu to gather retired trainers to help with their task.

When the Satya landed on a pad designated for their use, they were all glad to disembark.

Master Lu met them with six ancient-looking monks and nuns, and a group of acolytes.

“Welcome back,” Lu said to the team, “and you brought visitors.”

The acolytes hurried forward to help with luggage and direct the visitors to their living spaces. Timi and Ronto, though, moved next to the Coyotes.

“Ah,” Lu greeted them, “Princess Timianulos and Prince Rontomin per Sangoro. Welcome to Shentong Temple.” He turned to wave at hand at the monks and nuns. “These are your instructors.”

Timi tilted her head. “Coyote River is our instructor.”

“And they taught her. I’m sure she will welcome the help.”

“No shit,” River muttered.

Ronto laughed at that and turned to face Lu. He bowed awkwardly from his waiste and said, “Thank you for your hospitality, honored sir. This is a lovely world.”

Timi looked at him as if he had grown two heads. “Did father tell you to say that?”

“He did,” Ronto replied with a smug look on his long face. “He also said you couldn’t be trusted to observe the amenities.”

She blushed – her skin darkening to a light purple – and turned to bow to Master Lu. “Thank you for your hospitality, sir. The royal family of Masul is in your debt.”

All of them fought to keep straight faces until Lu broke the tension.

“We are honored to be of assistance. Please follow the others so you can inspect the facilities we’ve prepared for you.”

The brother and sister charged off.

“Good kids,” Lu observed.

“In a bad situation,” Moss added.