by A. K. DuBoff
“But I’m here to tell you, it’s true. I completely understand feeling skeptical right now. I would, too. All the same, I urge you to keep an open mind. Let us prove ourselves to you. Because, I’ll be honest, there are bad things out there. Tarans—and our human cousins—are not alone in this universe, and not even in this galaxy. So, we need to work together. We have our differences, but we have far more that unites and binds us.
“Let this be the dawn of a new age for our Empire, reborn under a shared mission of advancement. We will earn your trust, just as you will earn ours. Please, give this partnership a chance. Let us close this many millennia-old divide and take a step into the future, together.”
When Raena finished, hearty applause sounded in the audience.
Jessica gave a warm smile. “Well, that says it all, doesn’t it?”
More clapping and cheering rose from the crowd.
“We are here to unite with the people of Earth, not any single government entity,” Wil reiterated. “Of course, integration will take time. We come to you now to open the door. I’m sure you’ll have many questions, and we’ll do our best to answer them. Ms. Rodriguez, thank you for the thoughtful dialogue. I’d like to open it up to the rest of the press now to start getting into specifics.”
She bowed her head and stepped aside.
“Great speech,” Wil said in Raena’s mind.
“Thanks. You got them all warmed up!”
“A team effort, for sure. Thank you for being here for this.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
— — —
Breathing the air of his homeworld brought Jason back to his childhood. He’d been down to the planet on several occasions since officially moving away, and each time, he felt more removed. How could this have once felt like where I belong, but now I just have memories?
Watching Raena and his father interact with the press confirmed the nagging feeling that the TSS was now the only place that felt like home. It was strange, given that there was no divide between his ‘work’ and ‘home’ lives. He was an Agent. The two couldn’t be separated, in the same way Raena was a dynastic heiress. Some roles transcended the normal boundaries in one’s life.
I may as well embrace it. When he thought about it, though, he realized that he already had. That was why he’d let Raena go all those years before. Instinctively, he’d recognized that they would need to give their full selves to their roles. Though there was certainly overlap in their respective duties to Tararia, both mandates were too important for there to be any reservations. Sharing their day-to-day lives would have introduced distractions. Thoughts of ‘maybe politics aren’t so bad’, or ‘perhaps staying in the TSS for another year would be helpful’, which could have set each of them on different paths. In truth, each of them had needed every second of preparation to bring them to this juncture.
It was sad, putting it in those terms. His best friend for the first seventeen years of his life—his other half, in many regards—and they’d parted ways in the interest of fulfilling plans set in motion before their parents were even born. Yet, he’d do it all again. Sacrifice was a key tenet of duty.
The press circus went on for almost two hours before Wil finally cut it off. Jason got off easy, only having to answer a handful of questions aimed specifically to him, while his father and sister had fielded the rest. For all his father’s talk of not being a politician, he knew how to spin narrative like the best of them. Given he’d spent most of his life with Cris and Kate, though, that wasn’t a surprise. Just because a person didn’t like something, that didn’t mean they weren’t good at it.
Jason breathed out a long breath to ease the tension in his chest as soon as they were back in the sealed shuttle. “Raena, I can’t believe you do this on a regular basis.”
She laughed. “Oh, normally the audience isn’t so complimentary!”
“Well done, both of you,” Wil said. “I don’t think we could have hoped for much more than that.”
“You did sort of skirt the question about what happens next,” Jason pointed out. “Intentional, I’m sure.”
“We don’t know yet, so I didn’t want to commit to anything.”
The deck of the shuttle vibrated as the craft took off. Jason strapped into his seat.
“The important thing is that people seemed receptive and there was no violence,” Wil continued. “The dialogue is open, and now we can nurture that relationship.”
“A proper planetary shield needs to be installed ASAP,” Jason said.
“That will be our top priority, for sure. Defensive tech is a pretty easy sell.”
“Unless someone decides to call it a cage designed to keep humans in,” Raena countered.
“Oh, stars, that would be a terrible spin. It could tank the deal right out of the gate.” Wil shook his head. “Do you think it’s likely?”
“That someone will say it or that the idea will take hold? The former, definitely. Ultimately, I don’t believe it’s worth worrying about.”
“Okay, then we move forward with expedited implementation. We’ll throw some low-level medical tech toward the UN to get things going and offer to install the shield. If we make the pledges public, the leaders will have to agree if they want to save face.”
“Of course, they’ll try to get weapons out of it—but an exclusive deal only for their country and allies,” Jason said.
Wil bowed his head. “Naturally, and we’ll politely decline. Medical and defense are all I’m comfortable handing over to Earth right now—and the Agents that have been dedicated to keeping the Taran Empire secret can now re-task their efforts on making sure those advances make it into the hands of common citizens.”
There was a bright future ahead for the planet, and that gave Jason great satisfaction. Assuming we don’t all die in an alien invasion. He pushed the thought away.
The shuttle docked with the Conquest, and they flew back to the TSS space dock in short order.
“I should get back to Tararia,” Raena said as they prepared to disembark.
“Already?” Jason asked.
“As soon as word about Earth hits the news streams, we’re going to be inundated,” she replied.
“If you can spare a couple of hours, the Primus Elites have been wanting to do a memorial for Tiff. It would be nice to have you there. We could pull something together in short order,” Jason said telepathically. He’d been stalling about the memorial, not wanting to let go. But it was time, and he didn’t want to face it alone.
“Of course, Jason. I’d love to.” Raena turned to their father. “But I can delay for a bit. It would be nice to see everyone while I’m here.”
Wil smiled. “That would be great.”
“Thank you,” Jason said in her mind.
“I appreciate you inviting me. Let’s go give her a proper sendoff.”
—
The memorial gathering was short and simple, just how Tiff would have wanted it. Tears were shed, laughs were shared. Though Tiff had left the mortal coil, she was far from gone. She’d touched many people’s lives, and she’d continue to live on with them.
Jason was slowly coming to terms with that perspective. It would take time, and he’d feel the emptiness from her loss, but he could try to live his best life on her behalf.
After the service, Jason and Raena met up with their parents to say goodbye.
“I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but please let me know what I can do to support the transition,” Raena told them.
“Thank you for coming. I think your presence made all the difference with winning over the crowd today.” Wil gave her a hug.
“I watched the whole broadcast. They loved you.” Saera beamed.
Always stealing the spotlight. Jason knew their parents loved them equally, but Raena sure had a knack for drawing the most praise. He embraced his sister. “It was great to see you.” And added telepathically, “Thanks for being here for me. I didn’t want to say goodbye alon
e.”
“Please, don’t be a stranger,” she replied in his mind. “We’re both where we need to be now. We can support each other from afar.”
“And we will. Thank you.” He gave her another tight squeeze before they parted.
“I’ll walk you to your transport,” Saera offered.
“Sounds good. See you around,” Raena said to Jason and their father as she headed off toward the central elevator with Saera.
Wil patted Jason on the back. “How are you feeling?”
“A little better.”
“Good. It’s important to find peace in the ways we can. Today was a big day—ends and beginnings.”
Jason looked down. “Yeah, it’s one for the record books.” He had conflicting emotions; joy from seeing his homeworld united with the Empire, sadness from finally saying goodbye to his friend. It was a turning point in many ways. One of those days he’d look back on decades from now and recognize as a critical juncture in his life.
He stood in quiet contemplation with his father, the two of them alone in the corridor. Eventually, their gaze met.
“We actually did it. Earth, reunited with the Empire.” Wil shook his head with disbelief.
Jason smiled in spite of his heavy heart. “Congratulations. You’ve made history yet again.”
“I’m glad you could be a part of it. When we made the call to raise you on Earth, I wasn’t sure you’d ever be able to talk with people from your childhood about the truth.”
“Mom’s side of the family must be freaking out right now.” Some of his tension released as Jason laughed, thinking about his extended family who were always so skeptical about global conspiracy theories.
“Oh, yeah. They’ve already started calling. Speaking of which, I should probably stay on top of that while your mom’s with Raena.”
“All right. I’ll catch you later.”
Jason headed to his quarters, hoping to get time to decompress after the turmoil of the day. However, not long after he’d settled onto the couch, his phone lit up with an incoming call. The caller ID pulled from the contacts list on his old Earth phone as a teenager indicated that it was Seth. They’d been friends during middle and high school, and he’d briefly dated one of Raena’s best friends.
Ah, shite. Here we go.
Jason considered letting it ring and dump into the generic voicemail that existed for this very purpose, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. The point was to integrate Earth with Taran culture. He was in a rare position to be a bridge.
He answered. “Hey, Seth. Long time no talk.” To his surprise, speaking his native tongue of English was strange within TSS Headquarters.
“Holy shit. You actually picked up,” Seth said.
“Yeah, well, how often do you get a phone number ending in 4-3-2-1? Couldn’t give that up.”
“Right. Yeah.” His friend’s voice was deeper than Jason remembered, but that was to be expected now that they weren’t teenagers. More striking was the uncertainty in Seth’s tone. He’d always been confident, often to the point of being brash. None of that was evident now.
“I can guess why you’re calling,” Jason began, hoping to help the other man get comfortable.
“Um, it’s…” Seth sighed and let out a little laugh. “It’s crazy, man. We thought it was a joke, and then we recognized you. So, we decided one of us should reach out. Just wanna know, is it for real?”
“Caught me by surprise, too, when I found out,” Jason replied. “But yes, it’s all very real.”
“A couple of us were messaging back and forth, arguing about if it was really you or not. But twins with the same names and looked that similar to you—I knew it had to be.”
“Yeah, a lot can change in a decade.”
“You’ve been living with aliens this whole time? We’d wondered what happened to you.”
“They’re not aliens, exactly,” Jason said. “Extraterrestrials might be a better description.”
“I guess.” His old friend paused. “So, the ‘Taran Empire’, huh?”
“I’m sure that’s where terra is derived from. I’m not sure why there’s a difference in spelling. Lost in translation, perhaps? But yeah, Tararia is the center of it all. Raena lives there full-time now.”
“Huh.”
“Hey, I know this is a lot.”
“It’s, uh… No one knows what to say.”
“That’s understandable.”
“I mean, there are aliens! And they look like us. And they want to help us?”
Jason didn’t bother to correct the use of ‘aliens’ again. “It makes sense, though, doesn’t it? In a weird way.”
“I don’t know. It all seems pretty out there to me. But I figure it has to be real if I have a personal connection to it.”
“Once the initial shock wears off, it’s pretty amazing.”
“I’ll bet! Those ships look epic.”
“Oh, they are.”
Seth chuckled. “I know we haven’t talked in forever, but we were friends for a long time, ya know? It’s weird thinking back on things. I keep wondering if there were signs I should have noticed, or whatever.”
“Hey, man, even I didn’t know. Seriously, one day everything was normal, and then I was living in the moon. Mind-bending shite. Shit,” he hastily corrected. Figures now I finally get the hang of it.
“I can’t imagine.”
“I had to see it to believe it, as cliché as it is. Actually, our first night here, I snuck out to go up to the surface port. It wasn’t until I saw the walls of the crater and the stars that it started to sink in.”
Seth laughed. “You totally need to take people on ship rides to show you’re for real.”
“We might have to, if seeing a shuttle land isn’t enough.”
“Hey, if that program ever happens, I expect a spot on the first flight.”
“You bet.”
“So, how’ve you been?” Seth asked. “Seeing anyone?”
Jason’s heart was struck by another pang of sadness about Tiff. “Things are good. No one right now. But I’ll say, the dating pool just opened up by a few trillion to everyone on Earth, so there’s that.”
“I won’t complain.” There was a contemplative silence. “Should we be worried?”
“How do you mean?”
“About Earth becoming part of the Empire.”
“This is the best thing for Earth,” Jason assured him. “Tech. Resources. Opportunities. I hope it brings the people of the planet together.”
“Me too. But people are worried. It seems too good to be true.”
Because it is. We’re doing this as an act of desperation to protect you because we’re facing an enemy we have no way to fight. Except, he couldn’t say any of that. “You have nothing to worry about with the Taran Empire,” he said instead. “We’re the good guys in this, I promise you.”
“As a friend, I’ll take your word for it.”
It’s a start. “Thank you. Please try to spread that message to others. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
CHAPTER 18
News about Earth being brought into the Taran fold had taken over screen time in the news broadcasts, pushing the civil unrest on Duronis and surrounding planets into the background. While the rest of the Alliance was annoyed, Lexi found herself drawn to the message of unity. Unfortunately, that sentiment was in direct opposition to the objectives of the Alliance.
I can’t abandon Melisa. If I don’t look for her, who will? Soon, though, she might be forced to abandon the search in fear for her own safety. When she’d decided to personally investigate the Alliance, she thought they were a small local organization and she’d quickly be able to locate her friend. Then she’d learned the scope of their reach was global, and now the revelation about Magdalena’s leadership had made it clear the Alliance’s network was actually on an interstellar scale. It was too much for her to take on alone.
Worse, now that she had been brought into the Alliance’
s planning, she was certain that they wouldn’t let her walk away freely. As much as she didn’t want to go forward, backing out wasn’t an option. I’m in deep shite.
The tense mood around the office had persisted over the past several days, making Lexi wish she could hide out on her bunk and avoid interacting with anyone. She couldn’t un-see the excitement in the eyes of her friends and colleagues when they’d seen the footage of the station’s explosion. Relishing the death of others. It was downright barbaric. What kept threatening to push her over the edge, though, was that she needed to play along. She couldn’t reveal herself as an outsider, so she forced herself to cheer alongside them. Each time it happened, a little bit of her died inside.
Lexi wandered into the lounge room in her continued attempt to keep up appearances. It was where she should be at that hour, having already completed her latest pickup from Niko. The other Alliance members were winding down for the day, enjoying drinks at the tables or lounging while they watched the evening news broadcast.
It only took a few seconds for Oren to spot her after she entered. He beckoned her over to one of the standing-height tables near the door.
“Lexi, just who I was hoping would walk in!” he said. “How did the pickup go today?”
“Nothing to report. Niko is behaving himself,” she replied. Of course, she had left out any mention of going to see him before the explosion in her failed attempt to stop the attack. To her surprise and relief, Niko had also pretended like that had never happened. Perhaps he wasn’t as irredeemable as she would have thought.
