“I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about, sir,” said Jint, more bewildered than ever.
“I’m talking about the mock-attack we received from the landworld’s surface, naturally. I do think it was quite a novel element for a training exercise...”
Jint finally realized Roiryua’s misinterpretation. He was under the impression the Forr Da Antohbeeta, the pride of the Martinese people and the administration of the Hyde Star System, were merely mock-weapons for use in warship training.
“So you don’t believe it to have been an actual attack, sir?”
“An actual attack?” Roiryua raised an eyebrow. “That?”
“You may find it hard to believe, but that was an attack against the Star Forces,” said Jint, miffed.
Roiryua really didn’t believe it at first, but Jint exhausted every means to explain it to him, eventually getting him to accept that it was, in fact, an attack meant to do harm (though he still looked somewhat dubious).
“If I may, Hecto-Commander, what sort of strike did you launch against the landworld?”
“We shot mock shells at first. They burned up in the atmosphere, of course, but even so, the attack should have registered as hitting the target. Yet the surface kept firing. Which I suppose makes sense if they truly thought they were doing battle. We could have ignored it, but they did have some punch for mock-weapons, and there was a possibility it would hinder the conveyance ship, so I chose to forcibly remove it for the sake of continuing the exercise as normal. That is to say, we issued an evacuation advisory, and then made use of the EM cannons.”
“Did you shoot nuclear fusion shells!?”
“No, we wouldn’t go that far. We used non-exploding irzamh (mass-shells). And extremely lightweight ones, at that.”
“Did the landworld citizens heed your warning to clear out?”
“That, I’m sorry to say, I do not know. I can tell you we gave them six hours before attacking. I judged that to be enough time to properly evacuate.”
Jint thanked him for his time, and dropped the call.
“Were those anti-orbital weapons manned?” asked Lafier.
“No. Or at least, they weren’t before the war.”
“That’s good, then. No lives were lost — only objects.”
“That is a relief, but those cannons were a comforting presence for us. Though I did leave the planet soon after it happened, so I’m not totally in the know...”
“After what happened?”
“Oh, sorry, I mean after you peo — er, after the Empire annexed the Hyde Countdom. My father took the Empire up on a deal — he handed over control of the anti-orbital weapons in exchange for being made the system’s Lord. The most powerful of the anti-orbital weapons were the Forr Da Antohbeeta. The people of the planet had pride in them, I think, not to mention how reliant they felt on them. They were the Forr Da Antohbeeta, the dread weapons even the massive and powerful Empire feared! That they were misconstrued as fake little playthings meant for combat exercises comes as a pretty huge shock.”
“I don’t claim to understand, but surely there’s nothing for you to get so upset over,” she said, trying to be nice in her own Lafier way. “It’s not as though you created them yourself.”
“I didn’t create them myself, no. But it’s only natural I’m upset. My dad became a noble thanks to the Forr Da Antohbeeta. Which means I have them to thank for my being nobility, too.”
“You can look at it that way,” she replied, though not without feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
“Lonh-Dreur,” said Sobash. “Would you care to speak to the landworld administration?”
“I can?”
“Yes. I just got the Commandant’s permission. All that’s needed now is your and the landworld administration’s consent.”
“Well, you know I definitely consent. Please, go ahead.”
Sobash nodded lightly and signaled to the Communications Officer.
“This is the raid ship Flicaubh of the Imperial Star Forces,” started the Officer. “I’m calling on behalf of the Count of Hyde, who would like to speak with the landworld administration. If you wish to speak with the Count, please reply through this frequency. This is the Imperial Star Forces...”
Given the lead-up to this moment, Jint wasn’t holding his breath for a reply. Yet his pessimism was turned on its head quite readily.
“This is the Government of the Hyde Star System,” came a woman’s voice, speaking in eerily fluent Baronh, “calling in reply. Please bring the one who was given the title of Count Hyde by your polity.”
Sobash beckoned, and so Jint now stood before the receiver. “This is Linn Ssynec Raucr Dreuc Haïder Ghintec. May I ask who’s speaking?”
“First, I would like to verify your identity. Are you the Jint Lynn? Son of Former President Rock Lynn?”
“I am,” he said. Man, how long’s it been since I last got called “Jint Lynn”?
“I shall hand the call to the President of the Hyde Star System.”
After a brief interval of silence...
“Long time no see, Jint.”
Jint had no need to ask who this was. That voice made it all too clear.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me I need to say who I am?”
“Oh, no worries there, Till.” Speaking in his native Martinese caused him difficulty speaking.
“Hey, is that really you, Jint? Your voice is totally different, and you’ve got a strange accent.”
“My voice broke, Till. I’m not a kid anymore.” The banter of the man who was a father to him remained as clumsy as he remembered. “And it’s been such a long time since I’ve had to speak Martinese.”
“I’m relieved. Now, the two of us talking are Jint Lynn and Till Corint. Not ‘His Excellency the Count of Hyde,’ and not the ‘President of the Hyde Star System.’ Am I wrong?”
“This call is pretty cost-intensive for a family chat, Till.”
“Are you really Jint? The Jint I know wasn’t the type to be talking money.”
“I’ve lived alone for a long time. I don’t think getting a sense for the economic side of things is too far out of left field.”
Jint scanned the bridge. While it didn’t seem as though anybody was eavesdropping, the place was nearly silent apart from the faint hum of the machines. They’d overhear. Putting aside the standards of Abh culture, engaging in a family chat while getting overheard was not exactly pleasant according to his own standards — despite the fact he knew nobody here would understand what he was saying.
“I think it’d be prudent to shift this conversation to my personal quarters,” said Jint, half to himself.
“I don’t mind,” said Sobash. “However, as the call is linked to Star Forces operations, the contents will be recorded, and later translated.”
“That’s fine. I’m not trying to keep the conversation confidential. It’s more just the mood of the room that’s the problem.”
“Hey, Till,” called Jint, who’d withdrawn into his quarters. “How’s Lina doing?”
“She’s doing great. She wants to see you, you know,” he replied, with nary a pause — as though he’d been anticipating the question.
“Really?” Old memories resurfaced, driving pins into his heart. But he couldn’t sit here and bawl, or cry liar! That was a privilege he lost when he grew up.
“Really,” said Till. “We’ve been looking back ever since it happened. If I don’t get to tell you anything else, know that, at least.”
Jint listened raptly.
“Something had gotten into us. There was no reason to be lashing out at you.”
“It’s okay, Till,” Jint forgave him. “Nobody could’ve come to grips that quickly.”
“Thank you for saying that, Jint, but I fell into a hole of sin. I thought I’d held you in my heart as my own son, but then I went and treated you so shamefully.”
“It’s fine, I’m telling you.”
“Rock was my best friend. I thought I kn
ew every facet of the man. But when I heard his plan... it was like he’d morphed into some stranger. I thought that Rock would never fraternize with the invaders, even if it was an expedient maneuver. Which is why some recess of my brain lumped his son — which is to say, you — in with him. That’s why, in my head, the boy I knew since the day he was born stopped being my Jint Lynn.”
“I daresay we can talk about all of that at our leisure some other time,” said Jint, interrupting when a small break in speech presented itself. “I think the current situation’s more than alarming enough to warrant discussion, Till. Is this the time to be bringing up ancient history?”
“I was against it. Rock’s was an act of betrayal, pure and simple. He needed to be brought to court for it. But it’s not possible to punish Rock via Martinese law. He’d made the decision through all the proper channels. But the reps, they drafted special legislation just to...”
By now, Jint had gotten a vague idea why Till had got on the line with him.
“...There was nothing I could do. The sentence was carried out without delay, and didn’t require the System Premier’s approval. This was the law of the United Humankind. Albeit, the head of government didn’t have veto power under the Hyde System’s old set of laws, either. But even so, I had every intention of letting your father escape. If he escaped with nothing else to his name, I at least wanted him alive. I acknowledge we had to surrender, but I still think his becoming an imperial noble was a massive mistake. But everyone makes mistakes, and he was still my best friend. Do you believe me?”
“Of course I believe you. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Good. Listen, you don’t have to forgive me. If I went so far as to request your forgiveness, God would throw me in hell for that overreach, citing the sin of greed. But despite that, I just wanted you to know.”
“I’ve already forgiven you,” said Jint, and he meant it. All that mess in the aftermath of the birth of the Hyde Countdom was, to Jint, akin to an act of nature. Granted, it was trivially easy to point the finger at the one responsible. But to an eight-year-old child, it was nothing more than a sudden-onset flood of surreality. He’d felt no urge to hold a grudge against anyone.
“Hearing that has lifted my heart,” said Till. “I suppose this is it, then, Jint. I don’t believe we will ever speak again. I would like you to speak to Lina, though. I’m going to transfer the line to her, so do you mind waiting a bit?”
“Why don’t you let me see her? I mean, this call is audio-only.”
“Ahh... if only. I’m sure you look like a fine young man. If we could see your face, I’m sure she’d be elated, too.”
“Then it’s settled,” said Jint, relieved. “I’m wearing Abh noble clothing at the moment, but I’ll change for a private visit, so you don’t have to worry.”
“You can’t.”
“Can’t what...? You mean the imperial noble getup?”
“No. We can’t meet in person.”
“Why not, Till!?”
“Because I refuse to let you people set foot on our wife-land.”
Martin wasn’t the motherland, as Earth was, but rather the ‘wife-land.’
“Us people, as in Abhs?” asked Jint, discomfited. “The Abh don’t set foot on planets.”
“Stop evading! You know what I mean.”
“You’re not going to surrender...”
“Right. We’ve declared independence once again.”
“But you’ve still got Three Nations troops down there, don’t you?”
“Troops that used to be part of the Alliance, yes. But their former allegiance isn’t important. They’ve already acquiesced to following the orders of the Military of the Hyde Star System, and to becoming members of our society. It seems they were never too enthused by the war, and those soldiers are now model citizens of Hyde that we Martinese accept with open arms.”
“Can they be trusted?”
“Is that a question you’re asking the landworld administration, Lonh-Dreur?”
If Jint answered yes, Till would drop the line immediately. Which didn’t mean Jint had to bend himself into a pretzel lying, either.
“No. I’m just worried about you, and Lina... and also about...” Jint tried to speak the names of his friends from childhood, but it was no use. He saw some of their faces, but their names didn’t come to him.
“You don’t need to worry about us, Jint. We’re worried about you. All this time, we’ve been worried — how they’ve been treating you. We’ve looked on Rock, Count of Hyde with cold eyes for a very long time.”
“I can imagine.”
“I think you might not understand the full extent of it. There was animosity towards Rock himself, but that was outweighed by the suspicion against the Abh. When Rock was successfully given patronage as the wee little aristocrat he became, many were shocked the Abh kept their word. They’d thought the Abh would simply ignore their ‘promise.’ I was of the opinion that they’d keep their promise if for no other reason than to earn our trust.”
Jint, of course, was aware that the idea of earning the landworld citizens’ trust wouldn’t cross the minds of the Abh, but he kept mum.
“But following that, the situation shaped up into what you know today. I thought for sure that though you were left inside the Empire, your position would scatter by the wayside. When I learned you’d become the next Count of Hyde, it was a greater shock to me than what Rock did.”
“I get it,” said Jint, talking fast. If he didn’t hurry, he was sure the line would get dropped forevermore. “But I’m both the Count of Hyde and Jint Lynn, a born Martinese. I can do right by the system. I can work with you, and with your successors. It doesn’t even have to be a ‘surrender’ in the eyes of the Hyde government. We’ll just revert things back to the way they were. If intergalactic trade’s a no-go, I’ll suspend it. Lifestyles will suffer a bit, but the planet’s not that poor at the moment.”
“I have no intention of discussing such far-reaching matters,” said Till. He sounded truly displeased.
“But Till—”
“No buts, Jint.”
“I can’t just leave it at that.”
“Then it would be wise of me to simply hang up right now. But I really don’t want that,” he said, his tone softening. “We parted on such terrible terms last time. I’d like our last parting to be more upbeat.”
“That’s asking too much, Till,” he groaned. “Do you even understand how I feel? I was looking forward to seeing you and Lina. Obviously, given the current situation, I wasn’t overjoyed... to tell you the truth, I was more scared than excited. But still, I was looking forward to seeing you. Actually, I was scared because I was looking forward to it. And now, here you are, telling me you won’t even deign to meet me. After which you tell me you’d like to part on sunnier terms. The Till I knew wouldn’t be that unreasonable.”
But that was a lie. The Till he knew as a child was, from time to time, a ball of irrationality. Of course, to Martinese children, most adults were like that.
“There is a way we can meet,” said Till. “If you stop being an Abh, and defect as a Martinese citizen, then we will welcome you whole-heartedly.”
A faint smile cracked his cheeks. He thanked the God he didn’t believe in that no one was here to see.
“Jint?” came Lina’s voice.
“Ah, uhh...” Jint’s mouth apparently didn’t want to produce words.
“What Till said is true. We can’t exactly throw together a big to-do for your return, but I’ll whip up a fun dinner party, just us and our relatives. I’ll even make you your favorite, Melohn Oh Shoo.”
“I’d have loved to have some,” said Jint. “But it’s no use. I’ve got my own responsibilities to deal with.”
“What responsibilities? Your responsibilities as an Abh? As a conqueror? As an invader? Are they more important to you than us, Jint?”
“Lina, I’m sorry,” said Jint. “I really can’t come back.”
“Tell the tru
th. You met a girl you like.”
“That’s not it!” he lied.
“No? Because if you did, I’d be relieved.”
“So you’re saying you’d understand if I couldn’t come back just because I met a girl I like?”
“That’d be far easier to understand,” said Lina. “You are at that age.”
“Easier to understand than having responsibilities?”
“You need to be responsible when it comes to your girlfriend, too.”
“I’m talking about bigger stuff, here. You’ve gotta know where I’m coming from.”
“I suppose, but you don’t need to worry your head about the big stuff just yet. You’re in the prime of your youth. Don’t you want to let loose?”
“I know you still think of me as a little kid, but...”
“It’s fine. Say no more.”
“You’re never going to stop treating me like your little one, huh. I’m already grown enough to be having kids of my own, you know.”
“But you don’t have any, do you?”
“Well, no, but...”
“You are once and forever our baby boy, Jint.”
“That’s no fair, putting it that way, Lina.”
“But it’s true!”
“Let’s table the family talk for now — there’s something more pressing to go over,” said Jint. “You’re listening, right, Till?”
“I’m listening all right. But I’m not about to talk politics. Not while you’re still an Abh.”
“Then let’s talk as fellow Martinese. I’m already voting age.”
“Abhs don’t have the right to vote,” said Till bluntly.
“I know that. But I am old enough to talk politics. And while I may be an Abh, I love the Martinese wife-land, and the people who live on it. I don’t care if that love is one-sided. I love every place the light of Hyde’s sun shines upon.”
“Then why do you refuse to come back to us?”
“Argh!” Jint shouted in pent-up frustration. “Because if I switched sides, there’d be no one left to stop the Hyde System from collapsing!”
“I see you’ve made quite some headway in your career,” he said scornfully.
Dinner With Family Page 18
