16
Mid-afternoon, Tirry found herself sitting, watching the voting activity, but thinking about Jenna.
“She’s in good hands,” Yewan said sitting next to her.
“I know. But labor can be a scary thing. Especially the first time. I wish I could give her one of the massages she gives me,” Tirry said.
“I seem to remember that the story was that it was Tle-sun giving her massages that got through her walls,” Yewan said with a light laugh. “I’m sure Jenna is getting the massage she needs right now.”
“I hope so. Getting the stress out of the way helps a lot,” Tirry said. “My mother would use it on her patients. It usually sped things up quite a bit. That’s why I go to Jenna for massages so frequently. She really helps me to let go of my tension.”
Tirry felt Yewan’s hands on her shoulders, kneading her tight muscles there. “You’re right, you do hold a lot of tension there,” he said, working out one knot after another.
Tirry wished he could do something about the knots in her stomach and her heart. Still, she relished both his touch and the relaxation he was able to give her muscles.
Just then, a worker came up to Tirry. “We need more ballots.”
“Thank you, Yewan. I feel a lot better,” she said standing up to go with the worker. Yewan drifted after them to the store room. Tirry pulled out a box which was well secured with plastic straps.
“I can’t get this box open,” Tirry said in frustration. “Do you have a knife?”
“I have one better,” Yewan said pulling out a small purply sheath. Better than a knife though, the blade blazed and barely touched the bands securing the box.
“Overkill, perhaps?” Tirry asked with a smile.
Yewan shrugged and grinned. “It did the job you required.”
Tirry stifled a giggle and gave the worker a bundle of ballots.
“This room seems secure enough,” he said. “No worries here.”
“Good. Thanks for your help.”
They returned to the job of overseeing the election process.
“Sorry it’s such a boring task today,” Tirry said, sitting on a stool and glad she could spend more time with the abári. She struggled to push her feelings out of the way of the day’s task.
“It’s okay,” Yewan said. “I don’t mind so much.”
The worker came back. “I don’t mean to bother you again, but we’ve got something strange happening with that bundle of ballots.”
“What’s happening?” Tirry asked as she and Yewan followed the worker to one of the voting booths.
“I marked my ballot,” the man at the booth said. “I dropped the pen, and bent down to pick it up. When I stood up again, I saw that the paper was eroding where I marked it!”
“Making it an invalid ballot,” Tirry said.
“I did it correctly, I swear!” the man protested.
“I even handed him a second ballot,” the worker said. “It happened again. That extra box of ballots seems to have been tampered with.”
“What should we do?” Tirry asked Yewan, her personal struggles forgotten momentarily.
“Do you have a copy machine in here?”
“I don’t think so. There hasn’t been much need for awhile.”
“Paper?”
“No, the restrictions...”
“Nothing way in the back of a storeroom?” Yewan asked. “Was it all used up?”
The worker suddenly remembered something. “I’ve seen some – I will go and find it.”
“Thank you!” Tirry said as the worker scurried off.
Yewan strode confidently towards the line of voters. “Voters currently in the booths. Please stop! We know now that there was box of faulty ballots. We are finding a box of paper for you to mark your choices on. I know it’s not the best way, but it is a way that will work. Please be patient while the paper is hunted down.”
“But paper is illegal,” someone protested.
“So is tampering with ballot papers. Which are exempt from the law, in any case. All we are doing is using some paper that already existed to complete this election,” Yewan explained. He took a PCS link call. “Yewan here.”
“Have you seen the supplemental ballots papers?” Mikor asked.
“Yes, Mikor. They have been tampered with.”
“But did you see how?” Mikor asked.
“What?”
“If you selected the ‘right’ option, i.e. the Terrenden Freedom Party, then the ballot was good. If you selected any other option, it eats through the paper,” he replied.
“That’s crazy,” Yewan said. “We’ve halted voting here until one of the workers gets back with some paper to write votes on.”
“I’ll have someone see if they can find some here too. It is a good solution, Abári,” Mikor said.
“Let’s just pray we caught the problem quickly enough,” Yewan said. “Please make sure Lataya and the other stations are aware of the problem and the chosen solution.”
“Will do!”
The worker had returned with a box of regular copy paper. More workers were crowded around by this point.
“You will have to assist each voter. Put one sheet of the intact paper up in each booth. Direct them to simply write down one choice for each section. We can handle the rest,” Yewan directed.
The workers got back to the voters and got the process moving again. It was slower this time, but at least it was working.
Tirry decided to investigate the faulty ballots herself. She took one aside and marked it. Except she marked every option. She had to reproduce the fault.
“Yewan,” Tirry called as she looked at the results a few minutes later. The ballot was thinning under the ink. “Yewan!”
He joined her. “What have you found?” he asked.
“Look. I have marked in each section. You can see how the paper is just melting away under the ink… except for the Terrenden Freedom Party.”
“Good thing they didn’t get their compound right,” Yewan said.
“What do you mean?” Tirry asked.
“Their mistake is that it melted too quickly. Had they managed to make it take longer – ten minutes or longer, the ballots would have got into the box before disintegrating,” he said.
“That would have destroyed yet another election,” Tirry said, her fears returning.
“We will have a good one,” Yewan said, a hand on her shoulder for calm.
Tirry had forgotten to be nervous around him, but now, at his calming touch, her heart was too exposed. She felt a bit of panic too, her determination to regain control of her emotions making it almost worse.
“It’s okay,” Yewan said giving her extra calm.
She wondered whether he was referring to the elections, or whether he referred to her emotional battle. She took a deep breath and returned her focus on making it through the elections.
Other Chapters of this set
Acting the Part - chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Building on Promise - Chapter 1
Maps and Guides
- continents of Alacantis and Kranisis (five maps)
- continent of Almara (five maps)
- countries of Kri'enden and Yezi'im (four maps plus "other places")
- characters, pronunciation and glossary
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Brighid's Blood 2006 and 1200 B.T.C.E. Katja and Rachel are so desperate for love that they cast two love spells one night. But the Guardians do not consider spells "fun", but rather as cries for help from the very depths of your soul. Certainly Katja and Rachel could not have possibly imagined where these spells would take them! |
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Birth of the Neví 829 T.C.E. It is a tumultuous period of Terrenden history. As is all too common, there are those who wish to profit from the misfortune of others. Some of these come together in a new "charitable organization" and step on the toes of the notorious Uugli. Combine this with draconian new measures to combat pollution and Terrenden has a situation ripe for a power struggle. |
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Rebound of Power: 850 T.C.E. Collection of Romance Terrenden is being terrorized by a previously underestimated Neví who, through the mysterious “Curator,” have been controlling elections all over the planet. In this collection, we meet some interesting women. Iyva - a homeless teenager in Irola whose untrained power leaves her close to death; Marc’la - a breeder of prized caballus in Kasago whose heart lives in the past; Zukie - an abused widow whose heart is afraid to try for future happiness; Jenna - an elections assistant manager and masseuse who has a prejudice against A’mara; Kami - a chola student in Varkevand who has been assigned to protect Ardin, a man who has his own reasons to distrust A’mara. |
| COMING SOON | TO AN EBOOK STORE NEAR YOU!!! |
| Rise of the Neví - 830 T.C.E. The Neví begin their rise in power with the completion of several large housing projects that seem totally charitable, but also hide a great evil within. The draconian measures brought in the previous year has caused major distress throughout the world, perfect for giving the Neví a further foothold on the Terrenden stage. Will the A’mara, now removed from the Council of Peers, be able to shut down the Neví? |
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Acting the Part - 851 T.C.E. Collection of Romance The Neví have infiltrated the Terrenden Freedom Party. Dr. Jarly is on the run and the Curator still dominates the Terrenden stage. Famous actor, Derick Aiden has released his Neví expose film and now the Neví want him dead... In this collection, we meet more interesting women. Kauri - a simple receptionist who doesn’t realize one of her wildest dreams has come true; Tirry - an elections manager who is always the bridesmaid and never the bride; Zara - a chef who has all but given up on finding love for herself; D'zani - who isn’t even looking, but has to chaperone her more vulnerable roommate; Soala - an heiress who is expected to marry, but refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love; Moxara - one whose past griefs have locked away her heart. We also get updates on some of the lovely ladies we met previously. |
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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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