by J. S. Fields
JANU FRUIT JUICE and bits of pulp slid down the side of Ekimet’s head and onto the paved footpath. The Mmnnuggl youth responsible, a secondary female just past puberty, chittered from the other side of the street. The purple-black sphere, which levitated right around the height of Ekimet’s wide hips, spun counterclockwise and wildly spouted a colorful assortment of insults from the lateral opening of her mouth before zipping back into traffic.
It wasn’t worth responding. It never was. Ekimet loosed zir long, black hair from its bun and pulled the janu flesh from the strands. The blue juice stained zir translucent skin and left a rotten smell. Ekimet had never been physically attacked before—not in public, anyway—but zie supposed it was the logical next step in Mmnnuggl harassment. Ekimet had been on Ggllot, the Mmnnuggl homeworld, for nearly three years, and in that time, the populace had progressed from abrasive disinterest in zir to active harassment. Ekimet had known the risks when accepting the assignment, knew the Mmnnuggls thought little of the gatoi sex. Where the Eld dictated, however, one followed. The Eld were of the andal. Ekimet would fulfill zir duties as diplomatic envoy, no matter the humiliation.
Ekimet rebound zir hair and moved to the noisy street corner just outside the capitol building. Zie waited for the rushing glob of Mmnnuggls to pass before entering the street.
Ekimet still wasn’t used to the aesthetics of the planet. Here in the capital city, huge spherical buildings of pale green and dark purple hovered centimeters off the ground, tethered to their positions by a unique blend of gravimetric forces and cellulosic engineering. Residential spheres sat in tight rows on the outskirts, each individual dwelling surrounded by a narrow moat of green water. Even with all the infrastructure, however, the city was not overly large. A twenty-minute brisk walk could take a biped out of the main commerce division and into plantations of janu, the cultivated, golden-leaved tree species native to Ggllot whose oval fruit burst from the branches twice a season. Beyond the trees lay endless hilled pastures of grass that were perfect for grazing titha, a ruminant prized for its meat and thick leather hide. Even a year ago, there would have been second-don Science Talents working the fields on apprenticeships, learning about soil and growing conditions for non-andal species. Now there wasn’t a biped to be seen for kilometers, and the fields stank of negligence.
Ekimet covered zir nose as zie walked across the street. In the capital city of Mmnn, the stench of the overripe janu trees, left fallow in the fields past what Ekimet considered a reasonable harvest date, hung right at biped nose level. The smell, something in between cooked wet cloth and kneecap sweat, stuck to Ekimet’s clothes like titha dung.
Ekimet jogged the few, remaining blocks—all mercifully on an unbroken footpath put in for the convenience of visiting bipeds—to the short landing strip behind the main city communications building. Here, there was no masking the smell of the janu trees, their low-hanging branches swaying slowly, golden leaves dripping foul, gooey sap onto the edges of the tarmac. Ekimet moved to the small strip where the trees had been cleared, and zie scanned for the Ardulan governmental skiff that would bring zir new assistant.
The skies were clear. Ekimet frowned and dug zir toe into the seam between the landing strip and the loose, red soil, flicking a few bits onto the tarmac. High-ranking or low-ranking, as long as the Eld sent a male or female Ardulan, Ekimet could make it work. Another gatoi, however, would spell disaster for diplomatic relations. The Mmnnuggls, as with the other sentients of the Alliance, reproduced in binary or quad systems. Ekimet’s presence was meant to have been an honor for the Mmnnuggls, but it seemed cultural mores traveled poorly across space. Ekimet was ignored at governmental banquets. Ekimet was not consulted when new trade deals were being established. Ekimet’s seminars—the ones zie painstakingly put together on Ardulan culture, andal evolution, and Mmnnuggl-Ardulan history—all went unattended.
A familiar, high-pitched whine filled the air, startling Ekimet. A quick glance skyward confirmed the presence of a stellar skiff. The delicate, triangular ship cut its thrusters and drifted gently to the tarmac with only three short stabilizer bursts to steady its descent. Its wooden frame groaned as it came to rest on the planet’s surface. When its glowing halo of heat evaporated, Ekimet was able to make out etched andal tree designs across the bow, the curly bark unmistakable. The ship’s name was carved on the stern, the letters cut to look like thin andal branches placed tightly together. Renewal. It was a prophetic title. Ekimet hoped that the Ardulans inside lived up to the stylized name.
The Renewal’s main hangar opened, and her captain stepped into the bright light of the Mmnnuggl city. Ekimet smiled appreciatively at her thicker build and feminine hips. A female was likely to do well on Ggllot. Hopefully the passenger also identified as such.
“Sister,” Ekimet began, erring on the side of formality as zie tried to subtly peer inside the Renewal to catch a glimpse of zir new assistant. “Welcome to Ggllot. I am Ekimet, diplomacy Hearth of the second don.”
The captain flashed Ekimet another bright smile. “I’ve heard such things about you, Ekimet,” she said. “We’re from the same province, you know.” She flashed Ekimet her ID badge. “I’m really excited for this assignment, and to meet you, of course.”
Ekimet blinked. “This…assignment?”
Her grin broadened. “Yes, the assignment to assist you. The orders came down through the Eld this morning. I barely had time to pack before the skiff dock called me for departure.” She looked up at the sky and then turned slowly around in a circle. “The Mmnnuggls have some crazy architecture. They’re brilliant engineers—did you know that? How they get those huge buildings to stay put while hovering…well…I know you probably don’t like calculations, but the math is incredible!”
Ekimet’s jaw hung agape. Was this someone’s idea of a joke? What was Ekimet going to do with a Mind Talent? Calculus? Zie needed someone with poise, with tact. This—this pilot was simply not going to do.
The woman caught Ekimet’s facial expression and blushed. “Sorry,” she said, her tone abashed. “I haven’t been off-world before. However, I have a lot of experience in xenocultural manipulation. The Eld did get your messages. I specialized in cultural discord alleviation at the Mind Academy on Ardulum, with a minor in Mmnnuggl studies. I’m up to speed and ready to help.” She paused, considered her words, and then smacked her forehead with the flat of her hand. “Oh, sorry. My name is Miketh. I’m third don.”
“It’s…a pleasure, Miketh,” Ekimet stammered, still processing the information. Ekimet managed a partial smile. At least she was female. “It does seem like your background is applicable. Would you like to grab your pack, and I’ll show you to the residential spheres?”
After jogging back inside, Miketh returned carrying two small bags, one slung over each shoulder. They were woven of beaten andal bark, standard issue for interstellar travel, and neither looked particularly full. Ekimet reconsidered this pilot’s usefulness. They might as well have sent me a Science Talent. Rational thinking—rational packing. No room for fun or creativity. No room for passion. Zir uncle was a Science Talent, forever tending andal plantations, bogged down in the minutia of farm work. If Miketh was anything akin to him… Well, at least she had the advantage of having a clearly curvy figure. The Mmnnuggls would take a female much more seriously than a gatoi.
“Ready,” Miketh pronounced when she reached Ekimet’s side. “I memorized the city layout on the trip over. I know the way but have a tendency to gawk. Keep me from running into something, would you?”
Ekimet nodded and set a brisk pace off the tarmac and into the west side of the city where the residential spheres hovered. “It’ll take about ten minutes,” Ekimet said as they reached the first intersection. Zie had to hold an arm out to prevent Miketh from stepping right into oncoming Mmnnuggl traffic. A trill of high-pitched whistles sounded from the commuting spheres, warning the foreigner of her peril.
“Doesn’t smell so bad away from the landing platform,”
Miketh commented as she scanned the multitude of large hovering buildings. “The books don’t really do a great job of explaining just how awful the smell of rotting janu fruit can be.”
“It takes some getting used to,” Ekimet replied sympathetically. Zie grabbed Miketh by the front of her flight suit and tugged her across the street during a break in the traffic. Miketh followed, tripping over the uneven surface as she focused her attention on the architecture rather than down at her feet.
“I don’t really understand why we bother with the Mmnnuggl cultivation anymore.” Miketh straightened her clothes after Ekimet released her and quickened her stride to keep up with Ekimet’s brisk pace. “We got what we wanted. The Risalian toys are all dead. Why take the time to deal with this headache?” She sniffed. “They’re not of Ardulum, and andal can’t grow here. They have a large star fleet. That’s it. If we aren’t going to war with another species anytime soon, our presence here seems superfluous.”
Rational. Always so rational, Mind Talents. How was zie going to explain the delicacy of their current diplomatic ties? The Eld were invested in Ggllot and the Alliance for reasons far outside seeding and genetic resources, but if the rulers of Ardulum had not seen fit to explain the details to Miketh, Ekimet wasn’t certain zie should, either. Still, the importance should have been apparent. A gatoi would not have been sent to an unstable world to mediate simple political unrest.
Ekimet led them down a steep slab of pavement to an underground tunnel. The ceiling was low, and the two Ardulans had to stoop to continue walking. The dim, green lighting made it difficult to see too far ahead, but Ekimet knew the way. They continued down the tunnel in silence for several minutes, Ekimet unsure how best to continue the conversation. As they reached the first T-junction and Ekimet veered them to the right, a peculiar sound began to build. It was soft at first, a gentle hum that grew to a buzzing after another few moments of walking.
“What’s that noise?” Miketh asked, tilting her head to the side when she finally heard it. The buzzing was causing slight vibrations in the tunnel walls, and Ekimet’s teeth started to chatter.
“Don’t know,” zie replied. Ekimet reached back and gently grabbed the sleeve of Miketh’s flight suit, pulling her along as they broke into a jog. Zie caught sight of a row of spheres ahead, but the group turned a corner and was gone a moment later. “I don’t like it. It isn’t normal. I suggest we get out of the tunnel and into the open as quickly as possible.”
The tunnel sloped down and the ceiling height rose momentarily, allowing Ekimet and Miketh a brief respite from their bent postures. Five more spheres zipped past them, clipping Ekimet at the knees before turning right and out of sight. With a deep breath and a hand on Miketh’s shoulder, Ekimet led her to the middle of the intersection and turned towards the noise.
“Andal save us,” Ekimet murmured under zir breath as zir guiding hand turned into a death grip. Here, where the main tunnel for the business district intersected the tunnel for the habitation district, Mmnnuggls swarmed. The buzzing had turned into a vibrating roar with the agitated shaking of nearly a hundred Mmnnuggls of various ages stacked three high throughout the intersection.
The Mmnnuggls were throbbing in agitation and still more were arriving, blocking off the way they’d come. Graffiti covered the dark walls of the tunnels—splotchy, purple writing that dripped into viscous pools on the floor. It looked like Mmnnuggl blood. It smelled like Mmnnuggl blood. Ekimet couldn’t see any bodies anywhere, but that didn’t mean anything.
“They’re displeased. We need to leave. Now.”
“I think displeasure might be too gentle of a word for this mob,” Miketh responded, bringing her hands to her ears in a likely ineffectual attempt to block the sounds. “What are they so unhappy about, specifically?”
“Any number of things.” Ekimet surveyed the crowd for the best route of escape. “They don’t like how the Charted Systems conflict ended. They wanted the Risalians wiped out along with the Ardulans. They see the Risalians as the architects of the entire problem. To add to that, a month ago, someone got information about a captured Risalian Ardulan being brought back to the Alliance for testing, along with some inconsequential Terran. They don’t like that they missed one, and that the Eld haven’t sent reinforcements to finish everything off.”
Miketh nodded gravely. “The Eld briefed me on the flare situation before I left. I’ll bet the Mmnnuggls want to tear that altered creature apart. Disgusting thing—I can’t blame them for that.” She shivered. “Why we sold defective stock to the Risalians in the first place is beyond my understanding.”
A high-pitched shriek went up from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. A Mmnnuggl, slightly smaller than average and with only one ear, rose up and began to twitter loudly. It took Ekimet a moment to realize that what zie thought was a trick of the light reflecting strangely off the top of the Mmnnuggl was actually the top half of a separate Mmnnuggl perched on the first. It was wearing half of another Mmnnuggl for a hat. Ekimet turned aside and vomited.
“Looks like they’ve got a ringleader,” Miketh commented, her voice a pitch higher than Ekimet remembered. She grabbed Ekimet’s hand and tugged. “Let’s move while they’re distracted.”
Ekimet ignored her. Zie straightened instead and tried to listen to the speech, hoping to catch the purpose of the gathering and perhaps the supposed crime of the victim.
“Today I speak to you, fellow Mmnnuggls. I am Oorpp, who has freed you from our president’s poor decisions. No more shall we listen to these sycophants. There will be no more mercy for those who bow to the Eld of Ardulum!” The twittering Mmnnuggl rotated forward. The half-Mmnnuggl slid off his round body and cracked on impact with the floor. Purple blood, thick and partially congealed, streaked across the shiny, purple-black surface of Oorpp’s body. He twittered quickly, the words running into each other. Ekimet had to strain to understand.
“The Eld have forgotten Ggllot the Ardulans use us Mmnnuggls for their technology without giving anything in return the Eld do not lead the Eld do not help the Eld must be removed and Ggllot taken from Ardulan rule death to the Ardulans.”
They were treasonous words. Murderous words. Coup d’état. Ekimet’s mouth fell open. The Eld were selected by the andal. No matter how strange their orders, no matter the outcomes, their removal was not an option. Unseating the Ardulan government—or the Mmnnuggl government, for that matter—simply didn’t make sense.
Miketh tugged at Ekimet’s hand again. “He’s speaking very quickly,” she whispered, eyes wide. “But is he…is he talking about us?”
Ekimet nodded and began trying to scoot along the concrete edges of the intersection, hoping to reach their exit while the Mmnnuggls were still occupied. More had filled in the passage behind them. The only route left was forward.
“This has been a long time coming,” Ekimet whispered as they progressed. “I’ve warned the Eld, many times in fact, but you’re the first help they’ve sent. A little too late, I think.” Ekimet bumped into a sphere and rammed a hand into the wall to prevent falling. The Mmnnuggl beeped, irritated, but did not turn around. “I’ll explain once we get out.”
Miketh nodded. They kept their right shoulders to the wall as they wove through, leaning away only to sidestep obstacles. Their destination, the second right exit of the intersection, was quickly filling with more Mmnnuggls. The spheres ranged in size from twice to three times the size of Ekimet’s head, packed tightly together. Still, Ekimet could make out a few small spaces narrow enough for bipeds to pass through. Ekimet pointed to an opening between two Mmnnuggls just off the wall.
“Over there,” zie yelled above the increasing din. “That’s the exit.”
Miketh nodded and released Ekimet’s hand, preparing to push apart a small pool of Mmnnuggls that was directly in her path.
The intersection went quiet. Oorpp stopped his fast-paced twittering, and the other Mmnnuggls rotated, simultaneously, to face the Ardulans. Ekimet and Miketh stopped wa
lking.
“Perhaps our Ardulan diplomat can address these concerns,” Oorpp said quietly. He spoke cleanly now, without accent, in High Uklam, the formal language of Ardulum. That did not bode well. Ekimet hadn’t heard High Uklam on Ggllot since the last Eld visit.
“He seems to be so very well educated in other matters. We’d appreciate his thoughts on the issues presented.”
Ekimet’s face reddened with anger, the blood a deep maroon beneath zir translucent skin. “I am not male,” zie said loudly, turning towards Oorpp. “Your perpetual attempts to shame my sex do nothing to endear me to your cause.”
“No?” Oorpp responded, his tone falsely apologetic. “How rude of me.” He swiveled around completely and then rushed towards Ekimet, stopping two meters before zir and hovering right at face height. “I do have questions though. Tell me—why allow so many Mmnnuggls to perish in a war fought for you, when their deaths were so easily preventable? We know what your species is capable of—the powers you possess.” Oorpp turned back and addressed the crowd. “Why worship gods who refuse to use their powers to help those who help them? We rid the Charted Systems of their mistakes, and we are the ones that died!” Oorpp whistled a low, wavering note. “Yet, our janu fruit remains unharvested. Our ships unrepaired. The families who lost fathers and mothers uncompensated. Meanwhile you, you Hearth, you speak of manners and formalities. You are worthless!”
The buzzing began again, building until it felt like the concrete walls were beginning to shake. The Mmnnuggls started to rise higher despite the crowded area, individuals stacking in even higher columns and surrounding Ekimet and Miketh, preventing their escape.
“We have to get out of here!” Miketh yelled. “Do you have any weapons?”
“Haven’t got anything useful,” Ekimet yelled back. The Mmnnuggl columns shoved the two Ardulans, forcing them back-to-back. Ekimet heard Miketh mutter some calculations under her breath, after which she swung one of her packs at the nearest column. It connected with a loud smack and pushed the middle Mmnnuggl out of the column, causing the entire structure to topple onto the ground.
