by S. H. Jucha
“Aren’t we just passengers on a luxury liner excited to find an unusual ship in our system that claims to be from Earth?” Tatia added. “And would it hurt if we appeared a little wealthy and frivolous?”
“The idea has merit, Mr. President,” Julien said. “The more innocuous we appear, the more the Earthers would consider us easy to manipulate.”
“And that would entice them to let down their guard,” Alex concluded.
“Precisely, Mr. President,” Julien replied.
* * *
All the individuals who would take part in meeting the Earthers were assembling on the bridge where Alex, Julien, Mickey, Étienne, Alain, and Captain Cordova waited. Only the captain wore a uniform, all the other individuals were dressed in casual Méridien styles, and the twins were without stun guns.
Renée and Tatia were the first women through the bridge access way. Tatia took a more conservative approach with her clothes, but they still hugged the generous curves of her New Terran body. Renée opted for a more revealing style, and Alex was torn between objecting and staring.
Tatia walked up to Alain, taking his arm and draping it around her waist.
Pia and Miranda arrived next. Pia dressed as Renée did and received a huge grin from Mickey. She sidled up to him, pressing her body against his.
Miranda watched the women pair up with their men and for a moment the persona faltered, a sense of isolation halting the programming, right up until Étienne gallantly stepped forward and offered his arm. Then she visibly brightened. “Why, thank you, kind Ser,” Miranda said, her persona in full play as she smiled at Étienne and then the room in general.
Last to join the group and making their own entrance were Christie, Eloise, and Amelia, who strode onto the bridge as if they owned it. The three young women wore the barest, sheerest sheaths possible in bright, vibrant colors. The dazzling colors artfully concealed the skin that threatened to show through.
Alex drew breath to object, having reached his limits, when Christie’s message hit hard.
As they assembled in front of the central vid pickup, a happy-go-lucky band of well-to-do cruisers, Eloise noted that Miranda hadn’t chosen to wear a Méridien-style dress. Instead, it was a single-shoulder strap dress of bright blue that hugged her body. Cut high on the thigh of one leg, it angled across to just above the knee on the other, and she wore sandals that laced up her calves.
Alex was ready to initiate contact when the bridge access way opened again and two crewmen whisked through carrying trays of brightly colored drinks.
“Something to foster the image of merry holidaymakers, Mr. President,” Julien said. “They are only colored water, but I thought it might help sell our message.”
“Smartly done, Julien,” Alex said.
The two young crewmen made first for their preferred targets, regardless of seniority or rank. One tech stood grinning in front of Christie, Eloise, and Amelia as he offered them drinks. The other young crewman made a direct line for Miranda.
“Ser,” the red-haired, New Terran crewman said, while holding up the tray to Miranda.
“Ah, the blue one, if you please. It will match my dress,” Miranda purred. The crewman happily offered up a fluted glass of light blue liquid, and Miranda offered him an engaging smile. When the poor entranced server continued to stand there, Miranda took pity on him, whispering, “I believe the others should also be served, my young, red-topped admirer.”
Watching the crewmen trip over their tongues to serve the women, Alex hoped the same reaction would be true of the Earthers.
When the group was ready, Julien sent a comm to the UE ship, using the Earther carrier frequency. The moment a connection was established with the explorer ship, Julien relayed the comm through a SADE on a Méridien freighter passing by the Earthers in the event the UE ship did not possess FTL comm. It was a technique that every SADE was using to communicate with the Earthers and prevent a lag time in their responses.
“Captain Lumley, sir,” the second mate on the Reunion’s bridge exclaimed, “I have a contact from a ship in system. He’s asking for the captain.”
“Send for Speaker García immediately. Now put him on speaker,” Lumley directed. When the comms officer nodded his readiness, Francis responded, “This is Captain Francis Lumley of the United Earth explorer ship Reunion. With whom am I speaking?”
“Greetings, Captain Lumley,” Cordova replied. “This is Captain José Cordova of the passenger liner Rêveur. I have several guests aboard my ship who are anxious to speak with your leader. Have you visual communications?”
“We are pleased to receive your greetings, Captain Cordova. We have visual comms, but no way to integrate our systems,” said Lumley.
“If you will give us just a moment, Captain, I’m sure our computer can establish a link with your visual system,” Cordova replied. He offered an apologetic shrug to Julien and Z, who were busy tapping into the Reunion’s systems via the comm link, for having called them computers.
In the meantime, Speaker García and Major Barbas gained the bridge and caught the last exchange. The speaker looked at Captain Lumley and nodded his assent. He was anxious for a visual of the world’s people. With a nod to Major Barbas to join him, he positioned himself in front of the visual comm and waited.
“There we are, Captain Lumley,” Cordova announced as the audio comm was updated with a closeup of just him.
“Captain Cordova, may I present the leader of our expedition, Speaker Antonio García,” Lumley said graciously, indicating the tall man behind him as he stepped aside.
“Greetings, Captain Cordova,” the speaker replied. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak with you.”
“Let me introduce you, Speaker Antonio García, to the leader of this group, who wishes to speak with you, Ser Alex Racine,” Cordova replied, and the vid comm, which was closely focused on him, widened to include the bridge group.
“Greetings, Speaker Antonio García,” Alex said, and he and the entire group hoisted their glasses toward the screen.
The speaker and the major stared at the revelers on the screen. Body types and clothing shocked both of them. The speaker’s eyes were drawn to the incredibly striking woman standing beside the huge human who was addressing him, while Barbas couldn’t take his eyes off the raven-haired beauty in the blue dress. The speaker snapped out of his shock and focused on his mission task. He had a first contact and needed to make the most of it.
“Please, Ser Racine, call me Speaker García. We are so pleased that you have deigned to communicate with us,” he replied graciously.
Alex took in the two men onscreen. The speaker’s dark, wavy hair was worn collar length, and a patrician nose and gray eyes dominated his face. His uniform, if that is what it was, was a severe cut of deep black with no insignia or decorations. The man was tall and wore an arrogant expression even when he smiled. On the other hand, the major wore his decorations ostentatiously, and, despite his short height, he was powerfully built and stood with hands behind his back,
radiating tension.
“Is it true, Speaker García? You came from Earth?” Alex asked, doing his best to act the part of a good-natured traveler.
“That we did, Ser Racine,” Antonio replied. “We’ve been in search of our colony ships’ landing sites, hoping they were successful, and wanting to establish relationships now that we possess FTL capability.”
“We are so pleased by your efforts, Speaker García,” Renée said, having noticed the speaker’s eyes often flicking toward her.
“And whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?” Antonio queried, extending Renée a gallant bow.
“Oh, forgive my rudeness, Speaker García,” Alex said, slightly sloshing his drink as he swung his arm out apologetically. “This is Ser Renée de Guirnon.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ser de Guirnon,” Antonio said. Everything about the woman appealed to him — her face, her slender figure, and the uninhibited manner of dress. She was everything his wife was not. “Ser Racine, might we have the opportunity to meet and get to know each other?”
That didn’t take long, Alex thought. Turning around to his bridge audience, Alex asked with a flourish, “What do you say, people, would you like to meet our far-flung cousins?” Everyone dutifully cheered their assent and raised their glasses.
The speaker was inordinately pleased by the rousing response to his request. “Might I suggest we meet aboard your liner, Ser Racine? As an explorer ship, we have little space to entertain, crowded as we are with scientific equipment.”
I bet it’s crowded over there, Alex thought. “Captain Cordova, is that possible?” Alex asked congenially.
“Your pardon, Ser Racine,” Captain Cordova replied. “We are a half day out from the orbital platform, and I have other passengers waiting to disembark. Speaker García’s ship is nearly two days out from our position.”
“Ah, well, Speaker García,” Alex said, “my fellow travelers and I would be happy to have you join us aboard the orbital station for a small fête. When your ship gets close to Méridien, the good captain can guide you to our station. We have so many, you know. ’Til then, Speaker García, safe travels.”
The last shot Antonio saw of the group before the visual comm closed was the hoisting and spilling of drinks to his farewell.
“You were right, Speaker García,” Major Barbas admitted. “You said if we were patient, someone would come knocking on our hatch, but who would have expected this group of intoxicated, over-privileged, loungers?”
“They’re perfect, Major,” García replied. “They will happily share everything about their society with no thought to what they will be giving us.”
“Very true,” the major agreed, his mind dwelling on the woman in the blue dress. He was annoyed that she hadn’t been introduced and fervently hoped she would be in the group he would meet.
“Captain Lumley, did the guide get a fix on the ship that signaled us?” García asked.
“Yes, Speaker García, it did,” Lumley replied.
“Excellent, Captain. Track it and head for the orbital station where it docks. Three-quarter speed, as usual. No sense showing these people our top velocity,” García said. “And Captain, get a copy of this communication to Administrator Wombo and his colleagues. I want their observations.”
-10-
While the Rêveur was a half-day out from Méridien, Alex linked with Julien to contact Leader Gino Diamanté as prearranged to do soon after arriving in system.
Alex asked.
Alex recalled the image of Confederation Leader Ganesh struggling to stand while he controlled her limbs in the Council chambers and the subsequent anger she directed at him.
Gino directed his House SADE, Esther, to send the pertinent details to Julien.
* * *
Julien made contact with the Le Jardin SADE, Didier, and confirmed the docking details for the Rêveur.
Didier’s phrasing made Julien realize how far the Haraken SADEs had progressed since they met Alex. His priority? Julien thought. How did he explain to Didier that he had fallen in love and would have traded his potentially centuries-long life to have a few years in Cordelia’s company? The memories accumulated during their nine years were already worth an entire lifetime.
Julien sent.
Didier said.
Julien replied.
Julien’s records noted that Didier was installed in the orbital station 197 years ago.
After Julien ended the comm, he considered their exchange. What should have been a casual sharing of data had turned into a highly emotional experience. Every SADE across the Confederation would have learned that eight of their kind were free. It occurred to Julien that, in all probability, each SADE was wondering when it might be their turn, and, for that, Julien had no answer.
* * *
The anger inherent in the Council Leader’s thought froze Oren Blumenthal in place, and his staff, recognizing the intensity of the director’s fugue state, vacated his office, and signaled his office doors closed.
