by S. H. Jucha
It was Alex’s hope that the single-file, one-at-a-time entry method into a catch-lock and subsequently bay would be familiar to the Swei Swee, as it imitated the prison ship’s recovery method for the dark travelers. When the Outward Bound was floated into the bay on a grav-sled, Alex and Étienne disembarked at a run to await the arrival of the dark travelers. After a few tense moments, the catch-lock recycled and the first dark traveler entered the bay, ignoring the grav-sled and choosing its own place to land on the deck. Alex and Étienne shared a grin … The fighter had power and therefore maneuverability even in a bay without endangering anyone nearby.
For the first time, Alex noticed a slight flattening on the base of the fighter, which allowed it to maintain an upright position on the deck. The females were already opening the first shell when the second dark traveler entered the bay and landed beside the first fighter. Once the Swei Swee had exited their craft, Alex, with a few gestures and whistles, prompted the Swei Swee females to seal one of the shells, allowing his engineers to have a completed shell to study. When the females finished, Alex waved the males and females alike to follow him as he climbed the Outward Bound’s gangway ramp.
While the Swei Swee worked on the dark travelers, several hundred Librans had come through the bay’s airlock, which accommodated twenty people at a time. Boarding the Outward Bound, the Hive First paused and turned at the top of the gangway ramp to regard the Librans. As one, the hundreds of Libran well-wishers raised their hands over their heads and snapped their fingers. The Hive First returned their farewell, raising and snapping his claws, bobbing up and down, and whistling his excitement. He turned and joined his brethren aboard the shuttle, hunkering down in the aisles with them and joining their conversations, whistling and warbling their impressions of the Star Hunters’ ship to one another.
Alex was careful to point out to Edouard that the dark travelers probably had extremely smooth acceleration and deceleration, and asked the Captain to give their guests the smoothest flight possible. Within hours, they were landing back above the cliffs along the Clarion Seas.
After the Swei Swee had disembarked, Alex felt a moment of sadness. He wanted to continue to get to know this unique alien species. He had to be satisfied with one thing he had done to maintain contact with them. Alex had ordered Julien to reposition the FTL station that had survived the Nua’ll’s earlier incursion into the system. It was moved from its hiding place behind a moon of the outer planet to one over Libre, arriving only a day behind the flotilla.
Alex requested the Hive First call the Swei Swee First. With eight eyeballs trained on him, Alex presented a small device housed in a waterproof shed that Lyle and Zeke had anchored to the ground. Alex pointed to the device’s hand-sized button under the thin, but sturdy cover. He whistled, “Swei Swee shelter. Sing Star Hunters. Star Hunters plus Swei Swee.” Then Alex smashed the cover, striking the blue disk beneath it. A whistle emanated from the small structure, singing “Star Hunters” over and over for several moments. His instructions resulted in the usual dialog between the two Swei Swee males, then both turned to Alex and bobbed up and down, singing, “Affirmative.”
As his farewell gift to the Swei Swee, Alex had the leader call all the people to the cliff top. Several engineers and techs had assembled a mini-comm station that could transmit to and from the FTL station overhead, but rather than a simple comm speaker, it had a set of the best audio-duplicators Julien could design and Mickey could build.
Once the people were assembled, the Swei Swee First whistled his acknowledgement of the Star Hunter First’s offering. Many of the People bobbed in anticipation, but Alex used his hands to gesture for quiet. Their Hive First intuited the gesture and warbled softly to the People. The hundreds of assembled Swei Swee quieted and settled to the grass, tucking their walking legs under them.
When all was whisper quiet on the cliff top, Alex sent,
Mutter had chosen to serenade the people. This was to be the Star Hunters’ farewell, even though as the anointed Hive Singer, she could now entertain the People from afar whenever she wished. Her song was melodic and soothing.
As Mutter sang, Alex watched the Swei Swee settle into a dream-like state. Even their ever searching eyestalks pulled back into their carapaces. He signaled his people to quietly board the ship, which had been deliberately set back hundreds of meters from the cliff face. When the voice of the People’s Hive Singer faded away, ending her serenade, Alex ordered Captain Edouard to lift off and return to the Rêveur.
-26-
Cordelia had a critical piece of intelligence to deliver. She waited until the ships were under power and exiting the system. The news was important, but little could be done about it now and she had not wanted to interrupt the momentous events taking place with the Swei Swee.
This was the part where Alex could hear Julien asking him if he was sitting down rather than pacing or walking the corridor.
* * *
Before reaching New Terra, Alex held a conference comm with Renée and his officers, laying out a request for two lists of supplies. The first request was to ensure each ship was fully stocked before they left Oistos. The second request was for their wish list.
Before anyone could puzzle out Alex’s response, the elderly Captain Cordova added his thoughts.
Renée said.
The excitement about the uses of gravity drives suddenly had everyone sharing their thoughts. Méridien technology had perfected grav-lifts, but they were limited to lifting a few meters above a substantial mass. Sky-towers required the installation of groups of grav-lifts on each floor to offset the enormous weight of the buildings. But grav-drives had no such limitations. Shuttles could be inexpensive to operate, environmentally friendly, and whisper-quiet.
Alex let his people share their thoughts for a while longer. Their excitement was doing much to help them imagine the future, where he needed them to focus.
Julien had just announced their impending FTL exit into the Oistos system. At the Money Maker’s pace, New Terra’s orbit was seven days out.
* * *
The flotilla’s second visit to New Terra was the exact opposite of their first. No public officials warned them off. No fighters launched to destroy them, and their return wasn’t hidden from the public.
Julien’s summary vids had continued nonstop until they had exited the Arnos system. His last entry had contained images from the vid unit Mickey had installed in the cliff-top FTL comm unit. Mutter had sung her now thematic twining of two notes to call the Swei Swee forth at their sunset. When the People had settled down, she had delivered a composition she had been working on for the last four days. Julien had become adept at capturing various images of the People and splicing them into his vids—the People assembling, walking legs tucking under carapaces, eyestalks sinking into carapaces, young climbing onto females, and the scarred claws of the elderly juxtaposed against the shiny ones of youth. He laid Mutter’s songs over the images of the Swei Swee.
Julien borrowed a concept from New Terran media companies. Any vid of the flotilla that contained Mutter’s songs was allowed to be broadcast on a one-time basis by any media company or the government. Subsequent airings or reader distributions required a small composer’s fee. Said fee was transmitted to the bank where Alex’s account was kept. Julien had Z set up a subsidiary account under Alex’s name with Mutter’s name attached. Her occupation was listed as a Libran singer, and the bank manager assumed it was a Méridien associate of the Admiral.
To say the least, every New Terran knew every chapter of the saga of the Admiral’s flotilla at Arnos. A cult had sprung up, dedicated to Mutter’s songs. As a result of her popularity, over 18,000 credits flowed into Mutter’s account daily, and that amount constantly increased.
The flotilla had exited FTL, but Alex kept bridge watch with Edouard. It was late evening, but Alex wanted to ensure a peaceful return.
“Admiral, you have an FTL vid comm from President Maria Gonzalez,” Julien announced.
“Good evening, President Gonzalez,” Alex replied.
Maria’s hesitated at Alex’s use of her formal title. She had been pleased when Alex had begun calling her by her given name, but that was before his enemies launched the Strikers that killed his pilot and attempted to kill him. “Welcome back, Admiral,” Maria replied. “The entire population of New Terra has been following your exploits through your summary vids. We are all proud of your efforts to free the Swei Swee and rescue the Confederation from the Nua’ll’s predation.”
“Thank you for your welcome, Madam President, but I must set the record straight. The Swei Swee freed themselves. We just provided the excuse.”
“A bit too modest, as usual, Admiral, but I take your sentiment. I’ve had a few conversations with Director Stroheim. He and the people aboard the Unsere Menschen are quite certain that they are leaving this system with you. I take it no Libran or Méridien is choosing to settle here.”
“That’s correct, Madam President. Once our final supplies are loaded, the entire flotilla will be exiting the system.”
There was silence for many moments, but Alex waited Maria out.
“So this is the end of it, Admiral. You and your people leave our system, never to be heard from again?” Maria asked sadly.
“On the contrary, Maria. I thought you might like to do some business with our new world.”
Maria burst out laughing. She should have been angry with Alex for stringing her along with the use of her proper title as if he still harbored resentment against New Terra for what Downing and his associates had perpetrated, but she was too relieved to hear Alex refer to her by her first name. That he did so while offering a future for their two peoples, one tied to economic opportunity, made her day. She composed herself to deliver her response. “Well, Admiral, I would be curious to see what your fledgling society might offer a mature culture such as New Terra.”
Maria’s response had Alex laughing in return.
Edouard was smiling to himself. Their new society would have much to offer not only the New Terrans, but the Confederation as well. I must find the opportunity to speak to Miko, he thought. I want a new life for myself.
“Be coy all you wish, Maria,” Alex said. “What I have will make Méridien tech look like children’s toys.”
Alex watched Maria’s quick intake of breath. It had him chuckling.
“Well, Alex, I want you to know that New Terra will do all it can to ensure the successful launch of your ships to your new world. Also, a bill has already been prepared for the Assembly’s ratification. New Terra stands ready to acknowledge your new world, wherever it may be, and to form trade agreements with your government, including the recognition of your currency.”
“That’s very generous of you, Maria. On behalf of my people, let me offer my deepest appreciation for New Terra’s efforts.”
“We’ll see you in seven days, Alex. Safe voyage,” Maria replied and closed the comm link.
Alex sat reviewing Maria’s words. The negotiation for the grav-drives would be tricky. They didn’t have any product yet, just technology—alien technology at that. He sent off two quick comm messages to his father and his Uncle Gerald. Both might have an idea about the optimal way to negotiate an agreement. While he was considering the aspects of the agreement, a sudden thought occurred to him.
And Julien, who had been enjoying the banter, suddenly focused on Alex’s change in tone.
Julien listened to Alex trail on for several more moments as he logged each item. Before Alex finished, he had reached out to Cordelia and Z, sharing his impending responsibilities. When the two SADEs expressed their lament for the burden of his new assignment, Julien said,
Immediately the SADEs divvied up the categories
and began contacting all those that could help—Prima’s city administrators, the Ministers of Space Exploration, Health Services, Transportation, Communications, and many others.
* * *
A day out from New Terra, Andrea and Tatia met with Alex and Renée in the Co-Leaders’ cabin.
“Admiral, it is my duty to report that over half of our New Terran crew is resigning their commission, per their original contract,” Andrea said.
“Half?” Alex said, leaning back against his desk to steady himself, the message hitting hard.
“Yes, Admiral, fifty-four crew members, including myself,” Andrea said, her eyes beginning to blur, but she held herself steady.
Renée walked forward and wrapped her arms around Andrea’s well-endowed shoulders. “You have my heartfelt thanks for all you have done for our people, Andrea. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Andrea had never taken her eyes off Alex, nervous about his reaction.
Alex walked forward and extended his hand to her, a sad smile on his face. “Each of us must go where our heart leads us, Andrea. I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your service to our people.”
Andrea offered her thanks for their words, saluted quickly, and left.
Alex looked at Tatia, who had remained behind. “Yes, Commander,” he said, then sighed, fearing the worst, “how may I help you?”
“Respectfully, Admiral, I want the job,” Tatia declared.
Alex and Renée shared a quick glance before regarding Tatia, now grinning at them.
-27-
Orma, the Chief of Staff, was walking with Maria on their way to a Cabinet meeting.
“What’s the latest, Orma?” Maria asked.
Public confidence in the government had wavered after Downing’s debacle, as had her personal support. People were unsure of their leaders. Julien’s vids were changing that, thankfully. There were powerful aliens out there, and the people wanted a strong leader who could manage their defense. An ex-TSF general fit the bill nicely.
