by Lisa Eskra
They wandered into the center of the room to investigate the scene. A host of delegates from the PAU and AC milled around with fleet officers and other cultural notables. Aliane had never found such gatherings enjoyable. Throughout her life, she made every effort to not be the center of attention. As a psion, the skill kept her alive more times than she cared to remember. She knew Zingeri would've been content to mingle with the high-standing politicos, but they were here for one purpose only—to speak with a member of the Xuranian delegation.
For the longest time aliens had been nothing more than the yarns of madmen. Maybe after all this time, they'd been right. They might have shields that allowed them to travel unseen through the galaxy, appearing only to those deemed worthy of contact. Romantic notions swirled through the room of humans finally being offered a place in the galactic kingdom after years of struggle and hardship. Humanity stood on the precipice of destiny, and Aliane positioned herself to cut their lifeline.
A handful of Xuranians engaged in conversations throughout the room. All were about the same size as humans. Two of them had near-black skin marred by numerous fissures that ran across their skin in jagged gashes of luminous red. They wore their thick black hair slicked back, revealing small pointed ears. The whites of their eyes blazed in bright crimson, causing their black pupils to stand out. Both of them wore black tunics, highlighted by intricate gold stitching around the collar.
The others didn't resemble their companions at all. Their leathery skin had a brownish tint in varying shades of the hue. An inconspicuous bump marked their nose, and their large violet eyes squinted from the bright lights. Part of her wondered if they'd been the offshoot of an amphibious species due to their rounded facial features and elongated muscular legs. In place of hair a mass of dark tentacles curled around their skulls. None possessed external ears, just a small hole obscured by their long tentacles. The three were sheathed in blue tunics that resembled taffeta.
A tall lanky male with an orange gem around his neck and a female carried on a conversation with President Scheidecker and Vice-President Taylor. The male carried himself proudly so Aliane suspected their negotiations should be with him. A shorter male also with an orange stone spoke to Chairman Dodd and several members of his staff.
Zingeri's eyes flashed for a moment when he planted a suggestion in the President's mind to draw them away from the male. <
Aliane listened to their conversation from afar to see if the subliminal message took.
The President turned to his trusted ally. "Has Nadine had the chance to meet Eniqua? Now seems to be as good a time as any."
Bryan Taylor shook his head. "I don't think so. When I last saw her, she was speaking with Viktor Kornienko."
President Scheidecker gestured for Eniqua to follow him and they started toward the other side of the room. The second lady stood against the far wall, laughing and making small talk with the PAU emissary.
Mr. Taylor bowed to the Xuranian they left behind. "If you'll excuse us, Havier."
The three of them distanced themselves from the Xuranian, who stood alone contemplating the design of the room. A few moments later, Aliane moved toward him and Zingeri shadowed her. The alien's gaze oscillated back and forth between the two psions. They had no reason to expect their mental abilities to work on the aliens, but the fact it didn't disturbed her.
She shuddered as she stared at him. The creepy tentacle-hair made him look more like a demon than an extraterrestrial. His hands had three fingers with slight webbing between them. He bore unsightly scars all over his body—a seemingly random pattern of iridescent spirals and lines near his eyes and on his cheeks so intricate it must've been self-inflicted. The marks continued down the visible skin of his arms and legs. She tried not to focus on his appearance; judging someone based on their looks was a trait of the normals, and she would not stoop to their level.
Aliane strummed her fingers through her hair and lit up her face with the most realistic smile she could muster. "Welcome to Astra. My name is Aliane. It is quite a privilege to meet you."
He bowed his head toward both of them. "Greetings. I am Havier, lead negotiator in the human peace talks."
Her smile faded as she focused the conversation on the reason they'd come here today. "How much have you heard about psions?"
"While they are often referenced by your media, I do not think I entirely understand the subject. Enlighten me, please."
"Some believe that psions represent the next level of evolution beyond humanity. Whether it was merely a frightening accident or a gene mutation is a moot point. Psions are more enlightened mentally than normals are. We're telepathic, masters of persuasion, and a few of us are lucky enough to have the power to dominate an entire room full of people or drive a human permanently insane. There are a few variations: some can foretell the future or move large objects with only the power of their mind. Some can extend their life indefinitely."
Havier contemplated her words. "It sounds as though you are blessed by the Divine. Though I assume by the context in which you have approached me that psions are not viewed highly by humanity. Rather, your people are ostracized."
"Exactly."
"Did you come to me to ask for a seat at the negotiation table in order to facilitate peace amongst all humans?"
Aliane shook her head. "I think it's much too late for that. The discrimination against psions is already too prevalent, and I don't think overcoming their fear of us will ever be a priority."
"So what are you asking me for?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. An alliance? To be considered for integration in your own culture? Even if it's a tiny moon, we'll take it. It can't be any worse than where we've been forced to live in Astra."
"To be honest, Aliane, I am not in a position to consider a request like that. I am not certain the Xuranians would be willing to recognize psions as a different species. You are still human, are you not?"
"I suppose that depends on how different two groups have to be in order to qualify as different. I think by most human definitions, we are uniquely different."
Suddenly, her eyes darted across the room as though in her mind she'd heard people whispering about her. The second lady wandered through the hall with her brows clenched. The amount of psionic potential emanating from Aliane, regardless of whether Nadine could see her or not, had alerted her to their unauthorized presence.
Aliane glanced at Zingeri and issued a brief yet urgent command. <
While she continued speaking to Havier about the various differences between humans and psions, Zingeri walked toward the second lady. Aliane found it difficult to continue the conversation at hand with Nadine lurking about. The woman continued to scan the room, combing it for a stray thought from the intruder as Aliane muddled on. "Do you not have a similar evolutionary distinction in your own society?"
Havier began telling her about how the Aikona had been integrated into their society, but Aliane hardly heard a word of it. In her mind she monitored Zingeri's situation while he approached Nadine. She never understood why the woman dressed in costume all the time. She looked more like a vintage doll than an actual person.
The temptation to dive into her mind was more than he could resist. <
Gasping, Nadine spun around, and the little color of her skin drained out of her face. He'd never met her, but the ease with which he forced his thoughts into her mind shook her to the core. After all, most psions wouldn't dream of trifling with her.
He stuck out his hand and tried to distract her from continuing her search. "Hello, Mrs. Taylor. I'm Zingeri, and if I were you, I wouldn't do anything stupid right now."
She narrowed her eyes at him, which began to glow a soft violet color, certain this was a bluff and that he'd just been fortunate to get his thought through to her. He tried to clear his mind so she wouldn't grab onto any threads th
at would incriminate him. "Why is that, exactly?" she whispered.
"You don't want a bloodbath on your hands, do you? Because that's exactly what would happen."
"Don't take me for a fool," she said, her eyes still pulsating. "I feel her…her mind is a part of yours…and you wouldn't be so brash if she didn't have your back."
"Maybe, but that doesn't change anything. We're not here to start any trouble."
"Trouble and Aliane go hand-in-hand. So don't patronize me. There's more to telling the truth than simply not lying. Tell me—are you as evil as she is or do you just follow her around like a puppy?"
He clenched his jaw, knowing she'd chosen her words in order to push his buttons. "I'm her confidante."
"But obviously not her conscience. She's using you the way she uses everyone else, and when she's done with you, she'll kill you. It's delusional to think anything else."
"Well, not all of us can have a Prince Charming like you do."
"I've been through a lot worse than you have, I'd wager."
"Is that so…" Zingeri's voice oozed venom. "I doubt your father mind raped you while your mother did nothing but watch the drunken pedophile destroy your childhood. He was an abusive molester, but every time I tried to tell people, he'd work his mental magic over on them and the trouble would mysteriously go away. To this day, I still have nightmares about the things he did to me. So don't you ever compare growing up alone in some lab to the kind of horror I went through."
She lowered her head, and her face flushed with guilt. "I'm sorry. I just—" She forced her eyes to meet his. "I don't get the feeling you're a bad person. Not in your heart, anyways."
"Well, that's where you're wrong," he assured her. "I'm every bit as driven as Aliane. Doesn't it infuriate you that psions are not taken seriously? That we're discriminated against like we have the plague?"
"Of course it bothers me. But things are changing."
"Really? What things? We're no longer killed on sight? Whoop-de-fucking-do. If that's all the progress normals have made in two hundred years, equality will take eons."
"So what is it that psions really want? You seem to think the only right answers to the problem are your solutions. So tell me, Zingeri: how can normals right things to your satisfaction? Most psions I know favor integration. They're satisfied with our progress. Why aren't you? Has your past left you so bitter that the only thing left in your soul is revenge? If so, all I can do is pity you."
Long ago, her words would have been enough to goad him into attacking her. The reason he didn't talk about his abusive childhood was due to the fact people assumed his motivations were revenge—like the past predestined him to a future of violence. Zingeri never considered himself a morally reprehensible individual, though when he was out with Aliane, he played the part of one. "I don't expect you to understand."
"Fine," she said. "You have five minutes to leave."
"Thank you." He felt her hot stare on the back of his neck as he returned to Aliane and Havier.
Aliane cleared her throat and interrupted her companion mid-thought. "So there is precedent for some kind of integration. Granted, I understand the challenges something like this would pose and the fact that other solutions seem more ideal, but as a spokesperson for the psions, I feel a complete dissociation would be in our best interests. Could you at least bring our case to the Chancellor?"
"You have my word I will do that," he said. "We do not take the persecution of sentient sub-species lightly."
Zingeri wrapped his arm around Aliane's waist. <
"Thank you, Havier. I hope we'll be in touch soon."
He nodded. "Indeed. Good day to both of you."
As the Xuranian strolled away, Zingeri took her hand and led her through the crowd. Neither relaxed until the two of them stood outside the Capitol.
"A productive meeting?" he asked while they descended the stairs of the building.
"I don't know. His mind was completely blank to me. Maybe their brains are more highly developed. Maybe I was just too focused on staying unseen. Were you reading anything from him?"
"No. But he listened to what you had to say. I wish normals would treat us with that kind of respect."
"They will."
She sauntered down the street ahead of him. Every step was confident and deliberate, as though she didn't walk in a pair of stilettos at all. The two of them passed the army of reporters covering each and every uninteresting detail of the peace summit. They'd camped near the park kiddie-corner to the Capitol Building, and their hovermobiles stretched around the block for almost a mile.
"What happened to privacy?"
Zingeri laughed while they passed the ANN News vehicles. "I think it went out of style long before you were born."
"Things used to be so much simpler," she said, waxing poetic about the past. "People were more worried about their family and their crop than any of this. Towns had character and camaraderie…that's just not there anymore. And the bitch of it is normals hated psions only slightly more then than they do now. Today, people want to be famous and damn everything else. What has humanity turned into, Z?"
He didn't have a good answer for that. Neither of them did.
***
Captain Ardri Lothian stood with her sister beside a buffet table in the Great Hall of the Capitol in Northampton. Both felt honored to be on hand for the historic appearance of the Xuranians on AC soil. The Schenectady had been their escort ship from Zion to Chara. The journey depleted the ship's fuel reserves, forcing a lengthy stay before returning to space. Thus, her crew had been invited to participate in the festivities.
All of the senior members of the crew hobnobbed with politicos—the lone exception being Commander Ford, who took command of the ship in her absence. The chief medical officer, Dr. Radha Chigurapati, and Lieutenant Faeun chatted with two female members of the AC Council. Ensign Maxia preened, eager to brag about himself to anyone unfortunate enough to listen, and Lieutenant Baca ate lunch at a table with his wife and four young children. The large room was stuffed to capacity with dignitaries of every allegiance hoping for the chance to mingle with the aliens.
"Didi, who's the hot guy over there staring at you?"
The captain had been all smiles before Lyneea nodded in the direction of someone behind her. She spun around less discreetly than she would've liked but had no idea who her sister could be referring to. She hadn't seen a man she'd consider hot since the reception began an hour ago.
"Did I miss someone?" Ardri asked after she turned back around.
"The guy next to the fountain."
Ardri glanced back over her shoulder and spotted Rashad sitting there with a drink and cigarette in hand. She looked back at her sister scornfully. "The one with the black curly hair? It might be time to get your eyes examined, Lynnie."
"That's crazy talk." Lyneea dismissed her sister's words with a slight wave of her hand. "He is one fine piece of dark meat."
Ardri snorted so loud she drew a few stares. "He's not your type."
"Do you know him?"
"He captains the Kearsarge. He's an egotistical asshole who always does things his own way. I don't know what his problem is, but I can't stand working with him. On the bright side, definitely not a psion."
Lyneea frowned at her sister's tasteless assertion. "That is not something you should make a joke about…with what I'm going through."
The last thing she wanted right now was another hour-long story of woe about how her husband kept such a terrible secret from her and she didn't think she'd ever be able to trust a man with her love again. The first dozen times, Ardri listened as any good sibling would. But after that everything went in one ear and out the other. Lyneea's words only reaffirmed her choice to remain single.
Her sister's eyes lit up. "He's coming this way. Smile so you don't look all pissed off."
Ardri forced a grin before she turned in Rashad's direction. She'd wanted to leave Lyneea on the ship, but her sister
still wanted to enjoy the perks being Mrs. Zoleki afforded her while she could. An occasional person recognized her from images splashed across Viva Vega, and being married to a popular philanthropist and businessman thrilled her. Dozens of women secretly longed for a divorce so they could have the chance to be the next Mrs. Zoleki. Ardri shook her head, glad she'd never end up in that kind of mess.
"Commander Mundammi," she called as he approached. "It's been a long time."
"Captain Lothian. Always a pleasure." He took a drink from his cup and glanced around the crowded room. "This must be an exciting moment for you. To be here as history is written after making history yourself. Admiral McKirin's probably drawing up your promotion as we speak."
"I doubt it. I did the same thing any one of us'd do."
A long, uncomfortable pause filled the air between them, both aware that wasn't quite true. Many captains wouldn't have pursued the phenomenon, instead reporting back to command about it where it'd slip between the cracks and be forgotten. They'd never have met the Xuranians and never find out why they were at Gamma Pavonis.
"The Xuranians seem to be an interesting race. Highly evolved, highly advanced."
She nodded. She'd been answering the same questions over and over since she'd returned to Northampton. "Yes. I was quite relieved to find their intentions peaceful."
"That initial encounter must've been…interesting." He smirked and his stare seemed contemptuous.
"As you know, Commander, the crew of the Schenectady is well-trained to handle any situation that we encounter."
Rashad took a long drag of hashish and blew the smoke out the side of his mouth. "A credit to your leadership, no doubt."
His underlying sarcasm irked her.
Just when she thought the awkward exchange would never end, a member of the Xuranian delegation approached them. The composition of the party from Xur was similar to what she'd encountered during their first contact. This one was shorter than the other two Xuranians with softer features and no visible tattoos. Her purple eyes were almost beautiful. Rashad and Lyneea stared at her with curious fascination when she bowed before them.
