“I’m sorry you were made to watch the images, Minister, but the Ambassador and Professor Tindas would not be able to convince you any other way. It was important for you and the other delegates to feel what those people felt; to understand the terror as your own.”
White struggled to speak, mumbling out the words.
“I…we had no idea…”
“Neither did we, but now you know all that we know, and what must be done.”
“Of course,” White replied, straightening herself with the resolve of one who understood at last.
“Will you be able to convince President Fernandez?” Rantara asked softly. “Ambassador Embree has asked me to inform you she is willing to accompany you when you return to Earth, as will Darrien and I, if needed.”
White smiled sadly and said in an uncharacteristic, feeble voice, “I don’t think that will be necessary, but thank you for the offer.”
“We have everything we need, Lieutenant,” Nishikawa echoed, moving to embrace White where she sat. “This moment is not one we will soon forget and I will ensure the President understands what we witnessed; we will tell the Congress and the Terran people.”
As the delegations filed from the chamber in silence, Qural gathered the others against a wall. At last, their mission had passed through to its final phase; the four great civilizations, joined at last by the strange, new Terrans from beyond the Sector, had seen and understood the gravity of the moment. It remained only for them to convey the images of horror, pain and despair to their respective governments with the hope of support.
They watched as St. Mawgan appeared from the west, easing past a comm tower to settle on the landing pad. Noriko Nishikawa offered a last wave from the hatchway and they were gone. Norris wondered about the safety of their passage, but Tindas reminded him the course pre-sets that would take them to the Hyperthreads had been laid-in and confirmed; they had only to engage the nav system and the reciprocal journey to Earth would be an automatic process. Qural turned to Norris and Rantara.
“We depart for Aremor City in the morning, Darrien; will you remain the night and join us tomorrow?”
He looked at Rantara.
“We’re going to stay in Tevem for a few days; Onallin wants to go house hunting.”
“Of course,” Qural replied. “This is a very pleasant place and I know you’d be quite comfortable here. Please alert us when you are on the way to Fells Moll; Banen and Theriani will be excited to see you again.”
After the last diplomatic shuttle soared skyward, they walked from the city center taxi stand back toward the north. Rantara had made arrangements from the bank, and their room was waiting at the Hotel Balavas, just as it had been months before. Norris looked and remembered, but it was different this time; he was no longer an alien stranger, overrun by strange sights and sounds as they had been on their first evening in Tevem so long ago. When they registered and checked in, Rantara insisted on dinner at the same outdoor café where they passed a lovely summer evening before, determined to recreate a special moment when their unlikely relationship began to grow. She worried Norris would find it overly sentimental, but it was what she wanted and he simply nodded his agreement with a smile.
Afterward, they strolled along the riverfront, walking off their dinner in the warm, gentle breeze. The moment was magical and they paused at the railing of a footbridge over an intersecting canal to enjoy the dazzling reflections of light off the water’s surface. Suddenly, Norris reached for a thin infopad in his pocket.
“I brought the listings for apartments and houses in and around Tevem the hotel guy gave me, if you want to do some early browsing?”
She smiled and turned to him.
“Are you sure?”
“I can think of worse places to be, once this mission is finished.”
She waited a few moments, measuring her words carefully.
“Darrien, I wanted us to come back here, but not just for nostalgic reasons.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sannaris is a remote world, but it’s also a place where people don’t cause trouble. There’s almost no crime in Tevem, which is unusual for a city this size. Most people here are quite comfortable and many are very wealthy.”
“It’s a better crowd, I’ll give you that.”
“Also…”
“Yes?”
“Well, they’re very tolerant and welcoming here, so no one is going to care if I’m Khorran and you’re human; it doesn’t matter to them.”
“Are you worried about what your people are going to say about it back home on Belex?”
“No. It will be noticed at first, but they’ll adjust. I’m just saying this is a good community for people to live in; they have the latest in every technology you can imagine, and…”
“You sound like a chamber of commerce advocate.”
She ignored the mild insult and took his hands.
“They speak every known language here, their schools are some of the best in the quadrant, and…”
Norris’ eyes opened wide.
“Wait,” he said quickly; “is there something you know that I don’t?”
She laughed at what she knew he meant.
“No! It’s nothing like that. Well, at least not yet, but…”
“But?”
“I’m only saying we would be happy here as a family someday.”
“That’s not something I ever thought I’d hear from you, but I know what you mean.”
“I just want to start out on our own right here where it’s clean, safe and quiet.”
“I’m with you, Onallin—you don’t have to sell me!”
“All right, then,” she said, “it’s settled. In the morning, we’ll take the listings and look around.”
He smiled and shook his head.
“I wonder what your sister would think of all this domestic tranquility we’re aiming at.”
“She can think anything she likes; it doesn’t affect what we do, so…”
“I’m not talking about her likes and dislikes; I’m only pointing out how much you’ve changed—how far you’ve come since we first met.”
She looked away.
“I didn’t know if I could ever become this person, Darrien; the things I’ve done…”
“None of it matters now, Onallin, we’re almost there and when we get back from the last part of this insanity, we can settle down a little and live like normal people for a change.”
She looked at him again.
“Sometimes I wonder if I needed to escape that place worse than you.”
“We both needed to, and we did. Problem solved!”
With a hug and a very long kiss, they started for the hotel, but Norris looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“I think it’s great that we’re going out on a real estate adventure tomorrow, but this is not a cheap place to live, Onallin; are you sure Tremmek’s selfless donation before we left Kalarive is going to be enough to cover it?”
She grinned and said, “We may have new problems to solve some day, but money will never be one of them.”
“Well, it’s not like he didn’t deserve it.”
She smiled and looped her arm inside his.
“And anyway, the entertainment vids on Belex alone will pay more than you could ever spend, just for the privilege of interviewing us when we get back from Primus Station.”
“I guess so,” Norris replied. “Now, are we finished being tourists tonight?”
“No more tourists,” she said, “but I’m certainly not finished with you.”
He shook his head and said, “I wish I would’ve known about Tepseraline four months ago…”
“You weren’t ready for the consequences, Darrien,” she replied with a seductive grin.
“What the hell does that mean?” he asked warily.
She turned and cradled his chin in her palm.
“If I had you in my bed back then, there would be nothing left of you today.”
> Norris’ eyes opened wide.
“That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Forget I mentioned it.”
She smiled again and said, “Come with me; I’ll show you what you missed if you promise not to cry.”
THE DIPLOMATIC LANDER moved quickly in from the north and Nishikawa stared in wonder at a throng gathering in the streets below. Thousands filled the triangular plaza in front of the Congress building, but more trailed out along the side streets and avenues of central Geneva, all of them moving in a slow, multi-colored tide in the excitement of the moment. As she expected, the news nets had been alerted in the moments after their final transmission while St. Mawgan sped past Titan on its inbound course for Earth.
“Couldn’t they have waited?” she asked.
Underhill peered over her shoulder, shaking his head in disgust.
“Bloody fools…”
White didn’t budge from her seat.
“I don’t know why either of you are surprised; Eduard could never resist a photo op, and what better way than his Ministers’ dramatic return from a first contact mission to alien worlds preparing for war? It makes perfectly good sense to me.”
Underhill spun in disbelief.
“While my natural cynicism may pale into insignificance next to yours, Anne, I would remind you our task just became considerably more difficult. If that lot down there in the streets already knows, you can bet the other Ministers are going to be enraged they weren’t consulted before we went on our merry way to the far side of the galaxy!”
White was unmoved.
“What if they are? None of them were needed for this and Eduard knew it. If there’s going to be a row, it’s for him to deal with, and not us.”
“I’m glad you’re keeping a positive outlook!”
She stood and grabbed an overhead rail.
“Gerald, think about it; he needed every human to hear about this before we returned! It lets them internalize the biggest discovery in our lifetimes and adjust to what it means as they wait in anticipation. More importantly, it bought him precious days to make a few of his stern, passionate speeches about the evil enemy over the horizon. The masses will be pliable and understanding when the draft boards begin sending their children for military training, but only after they learn to hate the Namadi, sight unseen. He did exactly what he should’ve done.”
Underhill looked to Nishikawa for support, but her eyes told him White’s direct—if slightly jaded—assessment was hers, too. He sat again, shaking his head in helpless exasperation as the shuttle pivoted to a touchdown high on the building’s roof. When they stepped from it and into a freezing, afternoon drizzle, Fernandez was waiting.
“They’re gathering in the hall, but I want to take a few moments in private.”
The three followed him down two levels to the senior offices floor, noticing at once the press had been denied access. When the big doors closed behind them, he looked first to Nishikawa.
“Before we go in, I need to know from each of you if anything has changed since your last message this morning; there can be no doubts and not the slightest reservation.”
“We saw it for ourselves, Eduard,” said Nishikawa; “I have no reason to change my position now.”
“People see a lot of things, Nori, but it doesn’t mean they’re true.”
White stood suddenly.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Eduard! Why would so technologically superior a civilization bother with all this if the threat wasn’t real? We just returned from the other side of the quadrant in less than a week, or have you forgotten?”
Nishikawa moved toward him slowly.
“We didn’t just see the memories, Eduard, we felt them. I can’t explain it any other way, but I’m telling you we lived the last days of a genocidal extinction event that happened twenty-two years ago. You can’t fabricate emotion.”
Fernandez looked at last to Underhill.
“Gerald?”
“They gave us additional information before we left that planet—technical specifications.”
“And?”
“They’re showing us how to build weapons and…well, a shield generator that outclasses anything we’ve ever seen. With them, and the design for harmonics engines they gave us already, our warships will be on a par with theirs in only a few years and Anne’s military may one day be the most powerful force in the entire sector.”
Fernandez shook his head in confusion and said, “What does any of that have to do with the validity of these memories?”
White turned toward him, but her voice had calmed.
“You’re missing Gerald’s point, Eduard.”
“Please enlighten me!”
“The four races we met, but mostly the Khorrans and Anash, have put us on a nearly even military footing overnight. They have willingly turned over some of their most guarded technological secrets to strangers. No one does that unless they need friends desperately. The Congress can wring their hands all they want, but this is real and it’s happening right now.”
He stood away with folded arms.
“I seem to recall it was your voice that was most skeptical when Norris and the alien girl first came here. Now, you’re beginning to sound like a zealot—a neurotic UFO believer from the past who wants this to be true!”
White walked to the window and looked across the plaza toward the lake where the new Jet d’Eau fountains sent five columns of water 200 meters into the sky. She waited for a second or two, now burdened with all they had seen, but also the responsibility to convey it.
“Yes, I was skeptical. But you’re wrong about one thing, Eduard; I didn’t want this to be true. I wanted instead to expose a clever, elaborate hoax. I wanted to remind myself that we are the lone power in this little corner of the galaxy, but now, we know better. We help those people or we will face our own destruction alone when the Namadi ships arrive over Earth. It’s not a question of zealotry, Eduard—this is survival.”
Fernandez drew in a deep breath and exhaled through his nostrils slowly. At last, he nodded and motioned toward the door.
“Then we are now at our decision point, but it seems as if we have little choice.”
“It’s clear enough to us, Eduard,” said Nishikawa.
“Very well. What comes next, Noriko? What is it, precisely, these people are asking us to do?”
“They’re waiting for our answer,” she replied. “If we intend to decline, there will be no further contact. If, on the other hand, we are prepared to help them, they are asking for us to organize and deploy orbital and surface assets that will be added to an invasion force.”
“And then?”
“We will help them find and destroy the Namadi where they live.”
“Until they regroup and try this again one day,” Fernandez said softly.
“You misunderstand, Eduard.”
“What is it I am missing, Nori?”
“They intend to kill them all—every last one of them, so that none of us will face this threat ever again. Ambassador Embree, the Anashi representative, will put Anne in touch with her counterparts and sort out the details, but that’s the gist of it.”
Underhill shook his head.
“We’re going to help them discourage genocide by committing it ourselves; what a wonderful introduction to the rest of the bloody galaxy.”
“Gerald, please,” Nishikawa said with clear exasperation, but Fernandez wanted specifics.
“Did they have an idea as to how many people and ships they would need?”
“I don’t think a firm number could be derived at this point without Anne’s verification, but we were left with the distinct impression they are expecting the bulk of our inventory.”
Underhill smiled and said, “Which would leave all of humanity defenseless, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, I suppose it would.”
Fernandez looked away.
“The Progress Party will make that point and hold onto i
t like grim death when the question comes up in the Congressional deliberations. We haven’t mobilized on this scale since the Partition War and people are going to die—our people.”
“Yes, they will,” said White, “and the Ambassador knows we have to convince our own before anything can proceed. We’re not mindless of the cost, Eduard, but there’s no easy, diplomatic way out.”
“Do you agree with this?”
“I have to,” she replied. “Aside from simply declining the request, there is no better option. We face a binary question, Eduard, and there’s no halfway here; we’re going to do this or we’re not.”
“Presuming we agree,” said Nishikawa slowly as the thought formed in her mind, “Anne could redeploy any remaining Colonial units to defend Earth, but it would be a token force if this turns out to be a clever feint designed to draw off our defensive capability as a prelude to invasion.”
“We’re wasting time!” White said, shaking her head. “I’ve already told you, they could’ve invaded and conquered us centuries ago! Instead, they have given away most of their military advantage by unveiling the design specifications for their shield generators and weapons, not to mention the Hyperthread engines. Their ships can mask themselves so efficiently, they become nearly invisible! Why would anyone do such a thing unless their call for an alliance was genuine?”
“Then what is the purpose of asking for our help, if they’re so profoundly advanced?” asked Fernandez. “From your description of their capabilities, they have little need of Terran involvement.”
Echoes of Esharam Page 32
