by S. H. Jucha
“To defeat the Colony,” Kasie promptly replied.
“And after that?” Pia inquired.
“Job done, right?” Kasie offered.
“That’s it?” Pia asked. “Job well done ... everyone go home?”
“What else can they do?” Kasie asked. “The insectoids are the only enemy in alliance space.”
“Is that the only ill in alliance space?” Pia inquired.
“What do you mean?” Kasie queried
“Any inequities?” Pia pursued.
“Yes, sure, but there’s not much that can be done about those,” Kasie replied glibly. She regarded Pia, who quietly watched her. “Are you saying that’s the purpose of the outpost?” she blurted.
When Pia still didn’t reply, Kasie sat on the bunk with her mouth open. “I doubt Jess is ready for that job,” she said uncertainly.
“Why not?” Pia asked.
“Because I don’t think he knows that’s the job?” Kasie replied. Her thinking was that if she didn’t know that’s what Alex intended for Jess, then her brother wouldn’t know that either. Then again, Kasie had always underestimated her twin. Her gift had given her an edge of superiority when they were children. As an adult, she’d yet to come to grips with reality.
“You sure?” Pia asked, an eyebrow rising in inquiry. “Look who’s your brother’s partner. Do you think Admiral Bellardo would love a man who didn’t have the ability to see the future’s needs?”
“But you’re describing a lifetime job!” Kasie exclaimed. “In fact, it’s probably many lifetimes.”
“Yes, it is,” Pia replied gently. “Welcome to the real world, Kasie. It’s not just the big things that need to be corrected among biologicals. It’s also the little things. Some of these might seem minor, but they’re insidious. Think of the way the Tsargit waits for emerging races to achieve a certain level of technology before they’re invited to join the alliance. Why don’t the elder races help the younger races?”
“How would someone, or even a group of someones, shift the attitudes of hundreds of races representing trillions of citizens?” Kasie asked.
“A little bit at a time,” Pia said smiling. “You’re right about the amount of time it will take, but in our lifetimes we have two choices. We can either work for a better future, or let the future take us over. Which do you want? Your brother made his decision.”
* * * * *
Before the group left the outpost for Hyronzy Station, Jess requested Miriam send a cube. It was addressed to Jarmonin, the Tsargit lead councilor, and it requested an assembly meeting. He stated succinctly that the outpost had tremendously important news for the representatives.
Miriam amended the message with the approximate arrival time of Captain de Long’s Trident at Hyronzy Station and the number of guests accompanying the commander.
The Trident exited its transit into Hyronzy space in the system’s mid-cycle. Within hours, a traveler launched from the Trident arrived at Hyronzy Station.
When the passengers disembarked down a gantry, which connected the shuttle to one of the station’s lengthy docking arms, they were met by Fistonia, the station’s director.
“A pleasure to greet you, Commander Cinders, at this accommodating hour of the cycle,” Fistonia said. The director had spoken pleasantly, but his words were issued through a thick, heavy muzzle, which made them sound like growls.
Alex chuckled. The station director was rebuking him. More than once, Omnians had arrived unannounced in the hours of late evening or early morning, necessitating Fistonia be rousted from his comfortable bed to greet them.
“Alex Racine, you are also welcome,” Fistonia said. “Suites have been prepared. I trust that you can sort yourselves out depending on your relationships.”
As Fistonia led the passengers down the arm, he briefly eyed the number of SADEs. In addition to Julien and the enormous Miranda and Z, he saw two new artificial beings. Briefly, he thought to worry for the integrity of the station, especially its communication system, which the SADEs had been so fond of commandeering. However, as there was nothing he could do about it, he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had entered his mind.
Those who had never visited Hyronzy Station remarked that much of the vast spaces and wide corridors reminded them of the city-ships. But it was the sight of so many races, which captured their attention.
The newcomers’ ear comms beeped constantly, as the communication devices registered the presence of a new language. At times, the devices eliminated a language to adopt a new one. Memory space had been exceeded.
“How do you stop the ear comm from beeping so often?” Kasie whispered to Pia.
“You’re asking me?” Pia retorted, irritated by the insistent beeps, as she eyed a triumvirate of Veklocks striding past her.
With sighs, the four humans touched their ear comms and received relief. After which, they could enjoy the menagerie of aliens who came their way.
“Nice accommodations,” Kasie commented to her roommates, Pia, Edmas, and Jodlyne, when they’d been assigned a suite. “They’re a great improvement over the Trident cabins.”
“Warships aren’t designed for comfort,” Jodlyne reminded Kasie. “They’re meant to protect you from dangerous things that sail out of the dark.”
The more Kasie talked to Pia and the two engineers, the more she felt as if she were speaking with aliens. Their views seemed foreign to her, and the thought occurred to her that quite possibly her opinions were the ones out of sync with the others.
What irritated Kasie was that none of her roommates knew why they were visiting the Tsargit. Generally, they knew, yes, but no one knew how to proceed. She was surprised that the Omnians accepted these circumstances without knowing, and that too bothered her.
Kasie’s confusion and irritation didn’t last long.
Early the next morning, Jess woke everyone and requested they prepare for the meeting with the representatives. Within a Pyrean half hour, servers arrived at the suites’ doors, and human-style food was made available.
When Jess was ready, he cued the suites’ occupants. They met in the corridor, and Julien led them through the station to the huge rotunda that held the alliance representatives and their staff.
Julien stopped at the lift that serviced the councilors’ dais. Then he stepped aside.
Jess listened to Jarmonin, the lead councilor, explain to his audience the reason for the emergency meeting, as if every representative and staff individual didn’t know the outpost commander had news. When Jess heard Jarmonin finally introduce him, he reached for Lucia’s hand, and they stepped on the lift.
As the lift deposited the pair in the center of the councilors’ circle, Jess released Lucia’s hand. Then they exited the circle to face the tiers of alliance members who comprised the Tsargit.
“Thank you for accommodating our presence,” Jess said, his voice amplified to fill the vast hall. “I would like to introduce six individuals to you. These aren’t the entirety of those responsible for the news I’m about to share, but these six risked their lives for the proof of what was learned.”
Jess was linked with Lucia and Julien. He called for pairs of individuals before he started their introductions. In the end, four humans and two SADEs stood on either side of Jess and Lucia, as Lucia had directed them.
Not knowing the reason for the introductions, the audience remained silent.
“Twelve Pyrean cycles ago, these six individuals were at the consoles of two unconnected domes,” Jess said. “It had been discovered by a larger group of outpost SADEs how to install a new platform at each dome.”
Jess’s comment caused a stir. Murmurings of various types — growls, chirps, hisses, squawks, and burbles — reached the dais.
“Immediately afterward, the d
omes’ consoles were operated with entirely new instructions, and two new gates were linked,” Jess finished.
Bedlam ensued. Representatives stood and yelled questions. Jarmonin called for order, and he went unheard.
The lift delivered Alex, Renée, and Julien to the dais.
The Omnia Ships leaders’ imposing presence only cut the noise by about half, which surprised Jess. It told him how politically charged his announcement had been.
When Miranda and Z stepped through the councilors’ circle, the huge rotunda went quiet. The reps and their staff remembered the means by which SADEs had previously silenced the assembly, such as with a horn’s resounding blare.
Alex raised a hand. “We acknowledge that many of you have questions,” he said. “Renée, Julien, and I are here at the behest of Commander Cinders, who summoned me from Omnia. I would suggest that you send your questions to Lead Councilor Jarmonin so that Commander Cinders and Admiral Bellardo can respond in good order.”
It didn’t take long for Jarmonin’s message queue to fill. With the tap of one digit, he prioritized the list based on race seniority.
“Commander Cinders,” Jarmonin said, “the Veklock triumvirate wants to know who’ll own the technology.”
Lucia sent privately to Jess. He’d bet on the Usaanan speaking first, and she’d selected the Veklocks. What they didn’t know was that the Usaanan member was first, but in Jarmonin’s sorting, he’d been moved a few positions down the list.
Jess stared quietly at the audience, refusing to respond to Jarmonin.
Recognizing the opening, the Jatouche representative called out, “Commander Cinders, what disturbs you?”
Lucia replied for them. She said, “We’re disappointed by this assembly. You’ve just been told that these six individuals risked their lives to discover a technological advance for alliance space that could rival most advances among the races. What’s your response? You ignore these four humans and two SADEs to demand to know about the discovery’s ownership. I’ve a mind to recommend to the commander that we bury the information. You can try to emulate the research for yourselves.”
Lucia’s words stunned the assembly and the councilors. The members weren’t accustomed to being confronted with their arrogance — not at this level.
One by one, a Resistance rep, with his or her staff, rose and delivered a salute to the six. The methods were diverse. Some hooted. Some clapped. Some stomped feet. Others opened their wings and fluttered them high and wide.
Slowly, more races joined the acknowledgment of the sacrifice. A few elder races refused to rise, and the SADEs noted them to their human companions.
The noise ascended to a crescendo, and Jess let the sound sweep over those onstage with him. He glanced toward Lucia, who grinned at him.
Kasie started to wonder how Alex had managed to be part of the team’s conversation. Then she quickly realized that within the group of six were two SADEs. Her brother’s words came back to her, “What one SADE knows, every SADE will eventually know.”
When the approvals subsided, Jess thanked the audience for their appreciation of the six individuals presented to them. Then he signaled the group, and they exited the dais the way they entered.
24: Usaanan Charge
“Now, I’ll answer your questions,” Jess said to the hall of reps and staff. “Who owns the technology presumes we invented something. Actually, we didn’t. The technology and the processes belong to the Messinants.”
Jess’s comments elicited various degrees of twittering among the audience.
The Tsargit membership was under no illusion about the order in which questions would be asked. The first request always came from the Veklocks. That the triumvirate had failed to phrase their question well amused the other members.
“What we discovered,” Jess continued, “is what the Messinants actually did when they wanted to connect two new gates.”
The triumvirate males prodded their female to submit a clarifying question, which she did. Unfortunately, Jarmonin moved on to the next member’s submission.
“Commander, how does the outpost intend to apply this discovery?” Jarmonin asked.
Jess turned his attention toward the Hyronzy member and said, “Good question.”
The Hyronzy’s heavy, powerful-jawed head tilted in recognition.
“In concert with the Omnian leaders,” Jess said, indicating the other group standing to the side of the dais, “we’ve decided not to request fees for the installation or subsequent use of any new gates.”
Murmurs swept through the audience at the admission that new technology wouldn’t accrue credits to the organizations that had discovered Messinant secrets.
Jarmonin skipped the next question. He sought one that would continue the dialog.
“Commander, will you control who is allowed to have new gates?” Jarmonin asked.
“Absolutely not,” Jess replied. “The outpost exists to protect alliance space. We don’t exist to participate in alliance politics. However, we want to play a role that protects the integrity of member relationships.”
“Could you elaborate, Commander?” a senior councilor asked.
Lucia turned to observe the councilor who’d asked the question. Then she replied, “We believe the alliance races must define a process for new gate requests that is equitable.”
“When you say alliance races, Admiral, you’re speaking of the Tsargit, are you not?” another councilor asked.
“We’re not, Councilor,” Lucia replied. “We believe the Tsargit must communicate to young races, who haven’t achieved Tsargit membership. It should include them in this all-important decision.”
More murmurs swept through the audience.
The Omnians and the outpost individuals noticed that the elder races were disturbed by this notion, while younger races seemed accepting of the idea.
“Will the outpost play a role in defining this crucial process?” Jarmonin asked.
Jess picked up the question. “We don’t wish to insert ourselves into the decision process,” he replied. “However, we expect to hear that all voices have had an opportunity to participate and are satisfied with the final outcome.”
The tiers of members and staff went quiet. The discussion had taken directions that were unanticipated.
“Commander, should more questions be asked?” Jarmonin inquired.
Jess regarded Lucia, who shook her head.
“Unnecessary,” Jess said. “It’s also been decided with the Omnia Ships leaders that the process that we’ve discovered won’t be shared.”
When uproar shook the rotunda, Jess grinned and turned toward Alex, who grinned in return.
Shouts of questions and angry comments were thrown at those on the dais.
Z took two steps forward, opened his mouth, and the members instantly quieted rather than risk the ear-splitting sound of a SADE demanding quiet.
From Alex, Z received an image of himself. The SADE’s lips projected a meter in front of his face and widened to a cone that obscured his head.
“As I was saying,” Jess continued, “we won’t share the process. However, we’ll install any approved pair of gate connections. Let me re
peat. There’ll be no charge for our services.”
“Why not share?” the Usaanan member said, without waiting for recognition by Jarmonin.
Alex signaled Jess and Lucia to wait. Then he moved to occupy the center of the dais.
“I’ve always enjoyed the presumptive attitudes and hubris of the alliance’s elder races,” Alex said, his voice booming throughout the rotunda, with the assistance of Miranda. “You demand things without knowing the consequences of possessing them.”
The Veklock squawks, the Usaanan hisses, and the Hyronzy growls clearly reached Alex, and he laughed.
“Let me demonstrate what I’ve said,” Alex continued. “You want to own the process of gate connections so that you can expand your system’s access to allied members and to systems yet to be occupied. That’s understandable. Not desirable, but understandable.”
“You’ve yet to offer us a reason,” the Usaanan representative hissed loudly.
“True,” Alex replied good-naturedly. “In a succinct explanation, an undeveloped system is missing an entire moon and dome.”
Alex stood on the stage with his hands clasped behind the small of his back and waited.
“That’s it? That’s the reason?” the Hyronzy member growled. “What happened?”
“Now you want details?” Alex inquired. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”
Lucia replied, hiding her desire to laugh.
“Humans and SADEs discovered that there’s much more to a Messinant dome than has been imagined,” Alex continued. “During their research, they encountered an unexpected window that popped up on the primary panel. The SADEs intuited that shifting glyphs beneath the window represented a countdown. A SADE in the primary dome communicated to every individual in both domes to evacuate.”
