 
                                Epilogue
 
Epilogue
 
 
 
            “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in this garden
to join this man and these two women in the sacred bond of matrimony.” 
Calliope looked at each of them in turn before she continued.  She was
delighted to be performing this ceremony for her friend, and she was
deeply honored to have been asked.
 
            “In this world, marriage has been defined in a restrictive
way to imply the union of a single man with a single woman, and no
other options are available.  However, marriage is, in actuality, a
symbol of love and commitment, of the hope for the future and the
allegiance to each other, of people in any number or combination.
 
            “These young people have been through the valley of
darkness together, and emerged from it strengthened in their love and
respect for each other.  They have chosen, at this time, to outwardly
symbolize their inward relationship through this act of matrimony.
 
            “In as much as this ceremony is already unusual, these
three have also decided upon an unorthodox ornamentation of wedlock. 
Would the best man come forward with the wedding symbols?”
 
            Lars walked forward, bearing two necklaces, two bracelets
and a ring, all in a cushioned jewelry case.
 
            “The ring has been used to symbolize the eternal nature of
the wedding bond.  It has no beginning or end, and it encompasses all
of life.  However, it is not the only symbol with these qualities, and
so other symbols have been chosen in this ceremony as well.”
 
            As Lars handed a bracelet to each of the girls, Calliope
continued, “These two young women have chosen to enter a relationship
of service and companionship with each other.  They are making a
commitment to stand with and support the other through all time. 
Ladies, if you would fasten the bracelet onto the other’s wrist.”  As
Kimberly was fastening the bracelet onto Nikki’s wrist, Calliope
explained, “As a relationship of service is most often symbolized by
the hand, it is fitting that the wedding symbol of these two ladies
encircles the wrist, to show that they will work together, hand in
hand, throughout all time.
 
            “If you would both repeat after me.  I… state your name… do
hereby pledge to you… state the other’s name… my affection and loyalty,
my help and assistance, and my eternal friendship.  I vow to be a
considerate and loving companion to you, and a cooperative and willing
assistant in our service to our chosen husband.”  Calliope had worried
over this language, as it seemed overly slavish, but the words were
decided upon by the girls themselves, and so she wasn’t about to
object.  She continued with the vow, “I affirm my commitment to you,
and to your service to him in our life together, from now until the end
of time.”  The girls had followed along without much need for prompting.
 
            When those vows were finished, Lars stepped forward again,
and handed each lady a small ring.  The rings, which had been specially
crafted by one of the PPA soldiers who also happened to be a jeweler,
were designed to be joined together once they were on Ron’s hand.
 
            Calliope resumed her duties by saying, “Now, if you two
ladies would repeat after me, With this ring, I pledge to you, Ron
Chaffey, my loyalty and affection, my attention and my time.  I offer
you love, companionship, humor, grace, help, and criticism when it’s
warranted, but never when it isn’t.  I pledge to remain by your side
through good and bad, illness and health, wealth and poverty, from this
day forward, throughout the end of time.”  The two ladies recited this
vow in unison, then each slipped their portion of the ring onto his
finger, the second portion slipping into its contact with the first,
and becoming a single wedding band.
 
            Once more, Lars stepped forward, and stood at Ron’s side. 
The two necklaces were the only items left in the jewelry case. 
Calliope said,      “Ron, if you would now slip the necklaces onto the
ladies…”  As Ron did so, she continued, “The necklace is also a circle,
once closed, it also has no end nor beginning.  It encompasses all, and
it rests, as it should, near the heart of its wearer.”
 
            Ron finished attaching the necklaces.  Having them made now
was tricky, for the materials were becoming quite scarce.  Several PPA
officers had voluntarily given up some of their jewelry to make these
items.  It was a final act of loyalty for their commander.  Designing
the necklaces had been another difficult task.  Ron had settled on a
simple design, a necklace made of gold, with diamonds accenting it
along its length, and at the front of it, a stunning blue sapphire.  He
had not told the ladies that this design also came from “Channeling the
Mind”, and it had a purpose he hoped never to reveal to them.
 
            Without prompting, Ron faced the two ladies, and began his
vow to them.  “With this necklace, I pledge to both of you my undying
love and affection, my kindness and my time, my respect and my
adoration.  I give to you all that I have willingly, freely, and
without concern for my own welfare.  I offer to you the rest of my
life, and beyond.  I will stand beside you through good times and bad,
through sickness and health, until the end of time.”
 
            Calliope smiled at Ron before she intoned,  “We are all
well aware that the commitment given here today is not “until death do
us part.”  We know that death is merely a temporary parting, and that
these young people will be together until the end of time itself.  As a
community of their friends, it is upon us to support them and nurture
them in their relationship.  They have taken the first step along a
very hard road.”
 
            She turned to Nikki and said, “Nicole, do you take Kimberly
to be your wedded lifemate and partner?”
 
            Nikki responded, “I do.”
 
            “Kimberly, do you take Nicole to be your wedded lifemate
and partner?”
 
            “I do.”
 
            She said to Ron, “Ronald, do you take these ladies to be
your wedded wives?”
 
            “I do,” Ron said softly.
 
            Turning to the girls, Calliope said, “Kimberly, Nicole, do
you take this man to be your wedded husband?”
 
            Answering in unison, they said, “I do.”
 
            “Then, by the power vested in me as head of the Society of
Guardian Hall, I now pronounce you man, wives, and partners.  You may
now… exchange embraces.”  The crowd chuckled at the slightly awkward
phrasing caused by the relationship.  Each of them kissed the other two
in turn, to seal the commitment they had made.
 
            Calliope turned the three to face the audience, and said,
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Ronald, Nicole, and Kimberly
Chaffey.”  The audience gave them a standing ovation, and Ron looked
over the crowd.  His eyes passed over his mother, who was crying in
joy, and his other family and friends.  He made strong eye contact with
the newest psionic in the world, and she gave him a broad smile.
 
            *She’s going to make a hell of a queen*, he thought.
 
 
 

A Final Look
 
 
 
            Only once previously has a single event so upset the course
of history that the time before and the time after were separated by a
new dating system.  In the years that followed The Great Psionic War,
time was redefined.  The war ended on June 1st of what came to be known
as year 2 of the Psionic Era.  

            Devastation reigned throughout the planet.  In all
countries, in all areas, civilization had been devastated.  Not just
millions, but *billions* of people had been slaughtered, in only ten
months.  The population of the United States dropped from over three
hundred million, to just over one hundred million people by the end of
the war.  This number was decreased by a further forty million due to
disease and the breakdown of civil services.  By the time the
population had stabilized, the world had roughly one and a half billion
people left.
 
            With the death of the masses of children killed by the
Russians, the population slowly dropped even lower, due to the casualty
rate among older citizens who had trouble living in the harsh new
reality.  The population would drop to one billion by the end of the
first decade after the war.
 
            Civilization was almost totally destroyed.  Most of the
major cities in the world had been destroyed.  In the United States,
only Knoxville, Kentucky and Tampa, Florida remained standing.  Tampa
was destroyed by a massive hurricane three years later, and the
millions of people who had flocked to the area were killed.  Knoxville
was overrun with a population ten times what it could handle.  Chaos
and gang mentality ran rampant in the streets.  Those who weren’t
strong either served those who were, or died.
 
            Technology was nearly non-existent.  Without factories to
produce, and shops to repair, soon most forms of technological device
were non-operable.  Televisions were useless without television
stations.  Radios had very little to tune into.  Some small efforts
were made, regionally, to build back a communications system, but with
the worldwide destruction of the necessary infrastructures, even the
systems that had survived soon broke down.  Satellites fell from the
sky with no one to make sure their orbits didn’t decay, and no computer
to relay instructions.  Phone systems were out of order, and the
Internet was quashed.  People’s worlds had once again been reduced to
how far they could get on their own two feet, or by horse, if they were
lucky enough to have one, and be able to keep it.
 
            Government was shattered in every corner of the globe.  The
only country to begin a government soon after the war, the United
States, was being ruled by the remnants of the Corporation for the
Advancement of Mental Proficiency, joined by the remaining members of
the SkuggDrakarna, better known as the ShadowDragon.  

            Ron Chaffey did not take part in this government, and soon
stepped down as Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Psionic Army.  He
and his family roamed the world, trying to help repair the vast amount
of damage that had been done.  As one small group, it was difficult for
them to see any difference, but they tried for several years before
settling down into a quiet, out of the way village, where they made
sure that order was maintained, and that the unfortunate people of the
area were fed, clothed and housed properly.
 
            The world would not soon recover from the devastation
wreaked by the Great Psionic War of 1 PE.  Life, for those who had
survived, would never again be a happy-go-lucky affair.  Life was
dangerous, and cruel, and it could turn on you at any moment.  But
people did their best to get on with their lives, and rebuild.  Soon,
new babies were born, and new lives begun.  People got married, and
raised families as best they could.
 
            And life went on.
 
 
 
 
 
