“That I, a funny little gesticulating animal on two legs, should stand beneath the stars and declaim in a passion about my rights – it seems so laughable, so out of all proportion.”
–Bertrand Russell
“All right, let’s set the monitors up over by the door.”
Naskia grabbed a couple suitcases and carried them toward the doorway.
“The door? Doc, you’ve got no damn tactical sense. Put them in the dining area, away from the door. That gives us a chance if our perimeter’s breached.”
Naskia paused, sighed, and began moving toward the small dining area in the suite.
“Tactical sense or not, I know that we need a Sigmat-5000 port, and there isn’t one in the dining room. There is one by the door. Petal, set up there.”
“Belay that, buttercup. Doc, I hate to pull rank, but as Secretary of Defense for Avalon, I think it’s my call. We can run cable or somethin’.”
Naskia set down the suitcases, and rubbed her temples.
“It doesn’t really matter what your rank is, I’m neither Avalonian nor in the military.”
“You know,” Naskia said, “If you guys want ….”
“Look, Doc, I appreciate your being here, but we need a clear chain of command.”
“I wasn’t aware this was a military operation. It seems to me that we need technical knowhow more than the understanding of how to blow things up. I would suggest that perhaps….”
Niall did not finish the sentence. He found himself instead rising rather rapidly upward, as did Darren; his field of vision quickly spun, as Naskia turned the two men she held to face her.
“Boys,” she said. “It seems to me that the woman who’s actually doing all the manual labor here is probably the one who’s in charge. Unless you’d like to try to set up headquarters by yourselves. Which is fine by me. Otherwise, stop bickering! Niall, eyes front.”
Niall drew his gaze upward.
“Now apologize to Darren.”
“Sorry,” Niall mumbled.
“Darren, apologize to Niall.”
“I’ll do no such….”
“Darren!” a voice called from below. “Say you’re sorry.”
Darren looked down at Lysis, who was staring up at him with a highly amused expression. “Sorry, Doc. Sorry, buttercup. We’ll play nice.”
“Good,” Naskia said. “Thanks for the backup, Lysis.”
“Any time. They’re worse than the kids.”
Naskia set the two men on the ground, and muttered she was going to go set up in the bedroom, which any sensible person would have realized immediately was the right place to do so; Darren took the opportunity to talk to Lysis.
“Now, y’all know to come back safe.”
“Of course I’m coming back safe. I’m not leaving you to raise our children.”
“Aw, hell, we only got four. That ain’t hard.”
“We have six.”
“George and Ike can take care of themselves,” Darren said, pulling her close, and kissing her. When they broke, he said quietly, “The kids’ll be fine. The grandkids’ll be fine. I won’t. Come back safe.”
“I will,” Lysis said. “As long as you stay safe too.”
“I’ll do as good as you’ll do, Lys,” Darren said with a grin.
“Well then, I’m glad Pryvani agreed to take care of them in case anything happened to us,” Lysis chuckled.
“What did my wife agree to?” Zhan asked, checking his weapons one last time.
“Nothing. Take our youngest kids if Darren and I both buy it.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, try not to buy it,” Zhan said. “Amelia is too much like her dad.”
“Don’t I know it,” Darren and Lysis said simultaneously.
“Don’t worry, though,” added Lysis. “Odds are if I buy it, you do too.”
“Hey! That’s a load off. Rixie, you ready?”
“I am,” Rixie said. “Sorcha just texted, she made the drop, by the way.”
“Good,” said Darren. “That should get everyone nice and riled up. Lysis, Zhan, get into position.”
The two walked over to Rixie, one on each side of her; the boots she wore both had hidden compartments, just the right size for a human. “You need any help?” she called down.
“No, easy enough,” said Zhan, as he pulled himself into the musty leather compartment. Turning on his short-range communicator, he added, “Check, Zhan, in position.”
“Check, Lysis, in position. Rixie, love you, but any reason we needed the mesh backing? I didn’t really need easy access to see what’s going on inside your boot.”
“Check, Alex, sorry guys, that was my request to Tapp when she was designing them. Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“Ah. You haven’t spent much time in here, have you?”
“Um…kinda the contrary, Lysis. It’s not too bad.”
“Check, Rixie, if you’re all finished complaining about the way my feet smell, can we head on out?”
“I’ve been quiet about it.”
“Yes, well unlike those two, Zhan, you have manners. Mr. Secretary?”
“Good hunting, Rixie,” Darren said. “Now, buttercup, are you sure that – oh, okay, yup, you’re sure.”
* * *
“So that’s where we are, sir,” said Kir, as he motioned for the Navarchos to enter the command center. “We have no reason to believe the humans made it into the base….”
“Correction, Centurium. We have every reason to believe the humans made it onto the base. Your search team has seen no signs of them anywhere else on this rock; even this much later, even in therm suits, even dead they’d be radiating so much heat we’d spot them from a kilounit away.”
“But how would they get in?”
“How many airlocks were activated just yesterday on the west side? If it’s at least one, they could have made it on base.”
Kir sighed. It was bad enough he’d been asked to transfer command of the base to Navarchos Bass, but since his shuttle had landed two cycles ago, Aertimus had been casually going through all the mistakes that had been made over the last couple of days. Kir feared that he would be lucky to survive this with his job.
“Don’t feel too bad,” Aerti said. “They’re smarter than we give them credit for. A lot smarter. And they’re driven. If, say, Opito Starati was being held captive somewhere, what wouldn’t you do to try to rescue her?”
“Humans don’t have the same drive to protect that we do, though,” Kir said.
“That’s true,” Aertimus said. “But that doesn’t mean they love any less, or care any less deeply. They show it slightly differently, but believe me, I’ve known enough humans to know that they’re no less willing to jump in front of a blaster than you or I. Major Nejem has told you that this will draw her comrades in; I tend to agree with her.”
“You sound like you disagree with the Navarchos Imperii.”
“I have my orders,” Bass said, not quite disagreeing with Kir. “I’ll carry them out. But we need to carry them out wisely. If the humans are on base, we need to get them secured as much for their own safety as ours. They are dealing with a base with completely different tech than they’re acquainted with; that doesn’t mean they can’t break it, though. And frankly, I’m worried about the reaction of the rank and file if they catch a human. We’ve moved to single-black; everyone’s on edge. We do not want this to spiral out of control – at least, any further out of control than it is.”
“All right. I’ll have station security begin sweeps for humans.”
“Any currently registered on base? Other than Major Nejem?”
“Let’s see…fourteen pets. One in the pet shop – unfrozen, bred on Archavia. All papers up to date for them. Then two checked in from a ship that landed needing repairs – they were en route to Myxar. Got their registration here somewhere,” he said, flipping through his pad, and then froze. “Oh, you’re kidding me.”
“Centurium?”
Kir flipped around the pad, displaying the registry of a pet named Alex. Aerty looked back, and shook his head, a bemused smile on his face. “Okay,” he said, spinning it and turning it back to Kir. “Good to know. Well. I should get a move on.”
“What about….”
“We’re going to assume it’s a coincidence, even though it obviously is not. But if you should happen to run into her….”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to go meet with Major Nejem. I’d like Dr. Geen to look her over.”
“She’s in very good shape. The vet….”
“Is a vet. Dr. Geen is taking a leave from the Gyfjon at the end of the year to take over as the Commissioner of Medicine for the Dunnermac Science Council. He’s got twenty years’ experience treating humans. I want Dr. Geen to look her over.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Kir, this is going to go easier if you don’t fight me,” Aerti said. “Really. I don’t blame you for this debacle. My goal is to help you secure the situation and turn things back over to you as quickly as possible. Helping me do that helps my report state that you’d done as well as you could before I got here. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Dr. Geen will meet us at the holding area. Come on,” he said, getting up from the desk.
He paused as the communicator chimed. “Navarchos Bass? Navarchos Imperii Solis for you.”
“Send him through,” Aerti said, sitting back down. “Navarchos Solis! Good to hear from you.”
“Navarchos Bass. Centurium Oden. Good morning. I received your report that you’ve moved your flag; it is acknowledged, Navarchos.”
“Thank you, sir. I was just getting ready to have Dr. Geen look at the detainee, ensure she’s in good condition; if you ask me to move her, I want to be sure she’s ready to move.”
“Good. I assume that you feel, as I do, that we must assume the humans are on the station? At least a few of them?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Good. I fear that allowing the humans to freely operate has allowed us to lose full control of the situation. Perhaps it is my fault; I should have taken a harder line sooner. No matter. Navarchos Bass, we have given the humans plenty of time to depart. I want you to take down their ship.”
“Sir?” Aerti said, leaning forward.
“Take it down. Bring it aboard if you can, and if they show even the slightest resistance, blow it out of the sky. The longer we allow the humans to operate that vessel, the greater the chance of something going wrong. Understood?”
Aerti tried not to let his feelings show. “Aye, sir.”
“Excellent. Oh, and Aertimus – no need to warn them. We’ve given them enough warning.”
“Aye, sir. Titan Station actual out.”
Aertimus leaned back, and sighed.
“All right,” he said, after a long wait. “I’ll be back within the hour.”
“Aren’t you going to tell the Gyfjon to take their ship down?”
“One hour, Kir,” Aertimus said, sharply. “I want to have a plan in place before we go after them. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed,” he said, and he headed out at a quickmarch. He needed to talk to someone before he called Solis back. For he couldn’t do this.
He couldn’t shoot their vessel down. At some point, he really did need to resign his commission in disgust.
But that was not a decision he could make on his own.
* * *
“I like the Dunnermacs,” Alesia said, doing a cartwheel on the table in the market. “They’re always so calm. Unlike some people I know.”
“Pretty cheeky for a pet,” Sorcha said, smiling. “Still, you show promise. I never knew you could walk on your hands. Maybe we should have you dressed in something other than a handmade tank dress, though.”
“When we were kids, I’d do this naked,” Lessy said, flipping over. She grinned. “You know us humans. No shame.”
“Right. You want some of this?” she said, offering a bit of a ground meat sandwich to her friend. “It’s greasy, but good.”
“Letting your human eat off your plate? Not very responsible of you. You’re gonna spoil me, master.”
“That’s ‘mistress,’ Lessy, and we’d probably better dumb down your side of the conversation.”
Alesia sighed. “You’re right, mistress. Just hard. Harder than I thought.”
“Why?”
“I don’t get to show off at the end,” Alesia said, taking care to eat messily, and keep her speech monosyllabic.
“Oh, I get it. No ‘big reveal,’ where you show everyone what you really can do, right?”
“Right. Just me. Being your pet.”
Sorcha smiled at her friend. “You’re a lousy pet, you know. Nothing but trouble.”
“That’s not nice to say to her!”
Sorcha looked over her shoulder; a young cadet, obviously in her first or second year at the academy, was standing with her hands on her hips.
“I wasn’t being serious,” Sorcha said. “I tease Lessy a bit, but I love her to pieces. Don’t I, Lessy?”
“She does!” Alesia said, comically pulling on meat so hard she fell back, landing on her backside. “Owie! Sorcha!”
“Careful, Lessy!” Sorcha giggled. “Here, pull yourself up. There’s a good girl. You like the sandwich?”
“It’s yummy.”
“How long have you had her?” asked the cadet, who was grinning.
“Oh…what, four years now? My mom bought her for me when I was in high school. She was so cute back then! Just a little girl. Now she’s all grown up, aren’t you?”
“I am!” Lessy said. “But not as big as you.”
“No, Lessy, but very big anyhow!”
“Sorry,” the cadet said. “I just hate when people are mean to humans. Poor things, if people get one, they really need to treat them well. Like family. You know – they’re like your kids, almost.”
“Exactly,” said Sorcha, as Lessy pretended to curl up in the shadow of the sandwich to try to nap. “I don’t know how you could be cruel to a human. I’m Sorcha, by the way.”
“Svenna Botlan,” the cadet said, shaking Sorcha’s wrist.
“You want to grab a chair?”
“Just for a second. I have to go train in a minute. With the Navarchos on the station, the schedule’s all crazy.”
“Navarchos? Really? I hadn’t heard. Our ship just put down for repairs yesterday.”
“Oh, you were on the Galatea? Do you work for Pryvani Tarsuss?”
“Word gets around! I’m just an intern. I’ve met her, like, twice.”
“Is she as weird as she acts in public?”
“You would not believe what Sen. Tarsuss is like in private. But that Navarchos – I thought Titan Station didn’t have a flag officer?”
“Not usually, but I guess it has something to do with…um, sorry…I guess that’s not something I can tell you.”
“Military secrets?”
“I guess. Seems silly to me. But I’m just a cadet.”
“Know the feeling. There’s all sorts of stuff I can’t tell you that I’ve heard about Ms. Tarsuss. Most it is just silly.”
“Exactly! Anyhow, I love your human. She’s adorable.”
“Thanks! She thinks so.”
“It’s nice to see her so comfortable with you,” Svenna said. “I always feel so bad – yesterday, I saw two stray humans. Tried to catch up to them, but they’re slippery, you know.”
“I do. Try catching her for a bath.”
“Bath?!”
“Shh…no bath, Lessy. Go to sleep.”
“Well, I mean, they almost had to end up in the market somewhere, but who knows where. I just wish I’d been able to grab them. I know, they were probably scared, but I just wanted to take them home, get them a hot bath and some food, and let them rest. You know? Give them the love they deserve.”
“I know,” Sorcha said, absently running a finger over Lessy’s hair.
“Well, I’d better go. This isn’t the day to be late,” the cadet said, getting up. “Like Navarchos Bass is going to be personally inspecting the environmental controls.”
“Right,” said Sorcha, taking a bite of her sandwich, then almost choking on it. “I’m sorry – did you say Navarchos Bass?”
“Yeah! He’s taking command for a few days, I guess. Anyhow, if you’re stuck on the station for a few days, give me a call. I’d love to see little Lessy again!”
“An’ I wanna see Svenena again!” Lessy said, looking up at Sorcha, who was paler than usual. She needed her friend to focus.
“Um…absolutely!” Sorcha said, turning and smiling. “I’ll see whether they need me tonight, and if not, I’ll call! Regular comms, right?”
“Right!” Svenna said. “Have fun on the station!”
Sorcha looked down at Alesia, eyes saucer-sized.
“Headquarters, Sorcha,” she murmured after a long while. “We have a situation.”
* * *
“Hey, Rixie.”
Rixie turned toward the familiar voice. She was surprised it had taken this long for him to track her down.
“Well, well,” she said with a grin. “Centurium Oden. Long time.”
Rixie pulled him in for a gentle hug, taking care not to have it impact Alex. “So how are things?” she asked, innocently.
“Busy,” Kir said. “Can’t talk for long, unfortunately. Sorry about the deposit, by the way – I didn’t realize it was you.”
“And why would you?” Rixie said, aware that two humans had just successfully departed from her shoes. “Not a big deal, it took some doing, but it was just a matter of getting Pryvani’s attention.”
Kir nodded. “So I saw you were headed out to Myxar?”
“Yeah,” Rixie lied. “Can’t tell you exactly why.”
“Suppose so,” Kir said. “I imagine half of your job is keeping Pryvani Tarsuss’s secrets.”
“Half? I wish it was only half. Anyhow, long story short, Pryvani has some reason to be concerned, so she’s sending Nas Freeman out to look at their comms.”
Kir chuckled. “Pays to be rich, doesn’t it?”
“Yup. Why send a tech when you can send the designer? Anyhow, wouldn’t be shocked if our ship’s problem is due to tampering – like I said, there are some things going on. If your guys find it, will you let me know?”
“Of course,” Kir said, with a smile.
“So what has you all frazzled?” she asked, innocently.
“Oh…you know. The usual. Can’t tell you exactly what,” he said.
“Yeah, I remember how those usually go. Good luck,” she said. “You’ll probably need it.”
“You too,” Kir said, with a grin. He wasn’t falling for her act, not for a second. But Rixie was a very old friend, and if Pryvani Tarsuss wanted to have someone on Titan Station for some reason, he wasn’t going to be the one to get in her way. Especially as he knew Rixie would play it by the rules. Well, at least enough that he could ignore when she didn’t.
“Great. Anyhow, know you’re busy – but if you want to catch a drink tonight, let me know,” Rixie said.
“Sounds good, Rixie,” Kir said, patting her on the shoulder. He headed off toward his office, when his pad chimed. He looked at it, and raised his eyebrows.
* * *
“I can’t do it, Eyrn. I won’t.”
Eyrn leaned back in her chair in the cramped flag stateroom, watching her husband pace back and forth, back and forth. She’d witnessed her husband make it through dozens of crises with complete sangfroid.
Aertimus got frustrated. Angry. Annoyed. But worried? Never.
“You’re going to have to stop,” Eyrn said.
“That’s what I think, I have to quit.”
“No,” Eyrn said, sharply, “stop pacing. Aerti, it sucks, but if you quit, what happens?”
“Well,” he said, “Kir would take command of the station, Lemm would probably get the fleet for now….”
“And would they be in any better position to make this not happen than you would?”
“Probably worse. Solis would send a new flag out as quickly as possible.”
“Exactly,” Eyrn said, finally standing up and physically stopping him, turning his shoulders to face hers. “Aerti, as long as you’re an officer, you can influence things. You quit, even when you have every right to – and you do, I know that – and you’re just giving Solis a clear path to do what he wants to do anyhow.”
Aertimus looked past Eyrn. “I know. But I can’t order Lauryna to shoot down an unarmed craft full of explorers. That’s an unlawful order. It’s monstrous. If I don’t resign….”
“…then you have to find a way to make that order lawful. To do just enough to keep Solis off your back without destroying any chance for a sane future. You said this to me yourself, Aerti, two days ago. It’s no less true now.”
Aertimus hugged his wife tightly. “I can’t help thinking what Nas would say, or Niall, or Sorcha. And I may find out very soon.”
“When they find out, they’ll understand. You can explain it when you see them next.”
“Well, that could be tonight. They’re on the station.”
“What?”
“Pryvani’s too good. I hoped she’d read between the lines of the warning, and try to talk to people in the government. She must’ve decided to send people here to get intel.”
“What…what are you going to do?”
“What can I do? At some point after we take down the Lem, they’re going to become a pain in my arse, and at that point, given we’re at black alert, I’ll have no choice.”
Eyrn groaned. “Oh, honey. Sorcha is not gonna take that well.”
“Sorcha? I’m worried about Naskia.”
“Sorcha’s got a better left jab.” Eyrn smiled sadly. “Aerti, you don’t have a choice. No matter how bad things get, I’ll stand with you. But if you quit now, you’re condemning the people on the Lem to death, surely as if you order the attack yourself.”
“I know,” he said. “But I don’t have to like it.”
“No, Navarchos,” said Eyrn, standing on tiptoes and kissing his cheek, “You don’t. Now, you know where my sister-in-law is? I think I’ll drop by for a visit.”
* * *
Darren, Naskia, and Niall looked at each other, none of them quite sure what to say.
“Shaka,” Naskia finally said, which seemed to fit the mood.
“So what, HQ, abort?” Sorcha said over her commlink.
“No, don’t abort,” Darren said. “Dollars to donuts Aerti knows exactly why we’re here. Greet him with a smile.”
“Rixie, check-in; Kir certainly does,” Rixie said. “Just talked to him. He wasn’t buying the cover story for a second, but he’s at least letting us continue on. Hopefully, that’s Aerti’s approach as well.”
“Isn’t Aerti being here a good thing?” Niall asked. “I mean, he’s not going to blow humans out of the sky.”
“He ain’t the Emperor,” Darren said. “If he’s ordered to take a hard line….”
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” Lysis said. “We’re in position; we’ll get you as much information out of the command center as we can.”
“Uncle Captain won’t go against Earth,” Sorcha said. “Right?”
“I hope not,” said Naskia. “I don’t want to have to kill him.”
* * *
“…and so I say, let us not waste any money funding foolish temporal mechanics studies! If I’m wrong, then may I come back from the future to tell myself so!”
The crowd chuckled, and the majority caucus voiced its support of the Floor Leader; Rodrec Zeramblin (Wedney-Majority) was a big, barrel-shaped man with a booming voice and a bald head that had a tendency to glisten when he got worked up. But he had a quick wit, and behind closed doors he was a master dealer. He’d ascended to Floor Leader eighteen years ago, and it appeared he could win yet another term next year, provided he stayed on his game.
Of course, that meant doing what Floor Leaders have done since time immemorial – not repeating mistakes. He shook his head at the chair, who had noted that the only Aspire caucus member who had asked for time for a question was the Representative from Tannhauser West; after Armac had embarrassed him last week, there was no way he was going to take another question from her.
Ah, the Dunnermacs wanted to ask a question. That was safe. They would ask something about science or the Great Ocean or perhaps krill exports. And he’d look good, answering their questions like they were full, equal citizens of the Empire – which, of course, they were.
He motioned to the Dunnermac section of the independent caucus; the chair nodded. “The chair recognizes the Representative from Dunnermac North Sea.”
“Thank you, Madam Chair,” Maybel Zimm said, rising from her seat, vocal translator turning her squeaks into comprehensible Archavian. “Mister Floor Leader, may I ask a question?”
“Of course,” Zeramblin said. “That’s why we have Floor Leader’s Questions.”
“Indeed,” said Zimm, whose smile would have appeared to a human or Titan as open and warm. Of course, humans and Titans can’t see ultraviolet light, and so they’d miss the subtle bioluminescence that suggested Zimm was instead quite pleased with herself. As well she should be; she knew the reaction her question would get.
“Mister Floor Leader, is there a reason that you have not informed this body that Earth has sent a spaceship and crew to Titan?”
The floor erupted in a thousand side conversations. The chair struck the bell repeatedly. “Silence! Silence! There will be silence in the Imperial House!” she cried.
When the floor had gone silent, the chair turned to the Floor Leader. “The Representative from Wedney may proceed.”
“Thank you, madam chair. It’s very simple, Representative; I haven’t told you because it hasn’t happened. If it did, obviously I would let this body know.”
“Interesting,” said Zimm. “I am unsure whether you are truly unaware of this or whether it is your intent to obfuscate….”
“Point of order! Point of order!” called sixteen different members of the majority caucus, but the Floor Leader waved them down; if Zimm was gonna call him a liar, the best thing to do was let her hang herself.
“I can assure you, Representative, I would never lie to this body, or to any citizen of the Empire.”
That brought derisive chuckles from the minority caucuses, but Zeramblin ignored them. “If the military is aware of a human ship in orbit around Titan, they haven’t told me. Of course, that’d be ridiculous anyhow. Next you’re gonna tell me that the shaars have warp drive.”
That brought laughter from the majority.
“I believe you,” said Zimm. “That is to say, I believe you do not know. Which is why I ask unanimous consent to display data sent to us earlier today from the Great Ocean Science Commission’s research facility at Titan Station.”
The chair looked to the Floor Leader, and the Floor Leader looked back, speechless.
No way. Solis wouldn’t screw him like this.
“I have no objection to seeing it,” said Zeramblin, finally.
“Thank you,” said Zimm, slipping a datacube into her desk, which brought up holoprojections throughout the chamber of a tiny vessel in orbit around Titan. With the projection came an explosion of chatter from the floor.
When the body was quiet, Zimm proceeded. “This data was provided to the research facility by a passenger en route to Titan; she had seen this vessel and was curious about it. As you can see, it is a little more than eleven units long, and less than two units of draft, most of that appears to be light-collection panels; as configured, I am not sure whether any known sentient species other than humans could possibly operate it.”
“Ridiculous,” said Zeramblin. “How do we know this is real?”
“Objection! Floor Leader insinuates that Great Ocean scientists are not trustworthy! Outrageous!” Rep. Blrrr said; nobody was quite sure whether it was with anger or not.
“I do no such thing!” Zeramblin shouted – and it was hard to tell if he was being angry or polite. “I have the greatest respect for the Dunnermac science council. I just….”
“I can understand your skepticism,” Rep. Zimm said. “We have taken our own measurements; they confirm this ship’s existence.”
Zeramblin shook his head ruefully. “How do we know they’re from Earth? Maybe it’s some Titan pulling a prank.”
“These markings,” said Zimm, enlarging the baby blue flag on the Lemm’s stern. “This appears to be a representation of Earth; these markings in white appear to be a polar projection of the planet’s continents. It is similar to what is described in literature as the banner of the United Nations, which is a superorganization of Earth’s nation-states.”
“I see. I see,” said the Floor Leader, mopping his brow. Solis was going to pay for this. Gorram assleak. “All right. Well, Representative, let me first say how much I appreciate the Dunnermac Science Council’s work here, and your sharing it with us. I do wish I’d seen it earlier, perhaps before the session…but that’s…anyhow. I also want to apologize to the members, I am just as surprised as you. Representative…if I may respond to you with further information at this evening’s floor session….”
“But of course, Mr. Floor Leader. But of course. We want you to be able to give us the best possible information. In the meantime, we ask unanimous consent that all this data be made publicly available in the legislative record.”
“Without objection, so ordered,” the chair said.
No other questions were asked after that, primarily because the Floor Leader stormed off the floor, barely containing his rage.
* * *
As Zimm was showing her data to the House, the Gyfjon was moving on an intercept course.
“Commander Tam, do we have visual?”
“Aye, ma’am, they have not shown any deviation from their course.”
“Thank you. Time to intercept?”
“Three minutes.”
“All right,” she said. “Open a channel.”
Aertimus Bass had been clear – the Navarchos Imperii had told him that there was no need to warn the humans further. Of course, he hadn’t said that they couldn’t do so. Just that there was no need.
He left it up to the Gyfjon’s captain to make that decision, based on the safety and well-being of her crew.
“Terran Space Ship Lem, this is Captain Lauryna Gwenn of the Imperial Starship Gyfjon. We have been ordered to take your ship into custody for violation of the Terran Protection Act. You are ordered to stop engines and to not deviate from your course. We have a translator on this channel and can understand you; please signal that you acknowledge this order.”
There was silence for a moment, before the channel crackled to life. “Gyfjon, this is Shang Xiao Xú Mùlán of the TSS Stanisław Lem. We do not accept your jurisdiction over this solar system and we order you to immediately return our crewmate, and immediately begin preparations to withdraw from this solar system.”
“Captain Mùlán, I understand and sympathize with your position, but my orders are clear. We are to take your ship in; if you resist, we are to destroy your vessel. I do not wish to destroy your vessel. You should be able to see the Gyfjon; this vessel is still one of the fastest in the Imperial Fleet, and carries weaponry that your people have not even begun to contemplate. Your ship is no match for us. Please, stop engines and maintain your course.”
Xú sighed. “First, my family name is Xú. I’m assuming yours is Gwenn. Second, Captain Gwenn, I have a member of my crew who has been abducted by your people. You are saying that you are going to take the rest of my crew into custody. If the situation was reversed, would it matter how badly your ship was outclassed?”
Gwenn smiled. “Captain Xú…I am sorry. Believe me, I understand. But if you had been ordered to take me into custody, an order from the supreme commander of your fleet…what would you do?”
Xú nodded. “I understand, Captain Gwenn. Good luck. You’ll need it. Xú out.”
Xú punched a comm button. “Dr. Chandrasekhar, are we ready?”
“Yes, Shang Xiao. The weapon can be detonated at your command.”
“Good. Captain-Lieutenant Bobrova, evasive maneuvers.”
And the Lem altered her course.
As much as I feel Aerti has done a masterclass of manipulating Solis this chapter clearly showed the limits of that. A well done conversation with Aerti and Eryn post order, while it would be cathartic for Aerti to resign it wouldn’t do the humans any good. He might have taken solace in knowing Solis’ time going unchecked is almost certainly going to come to a screeching halt, but the question is will it be in time.
Figures the one time the Empire moves fast on something it involves killing humans.
The entire story’s direction is going to be set just on what happens between the Gfyjon and the Lem.
I may be wrong but in exile didn’t Rixi use the Titan atmosphere to hide from Darren. Is there any chance Xu would use the same tactics to evade the Gyfjon.
Marionette hid his carrier TF from Iron Maiden’s long range scanning in the Titan soup but those ships may be shielded to take that pounding. Lem would likely be ripped to pieces if it enter the atmosphere at high speed. Given the impellers it carries Lem might be able to slow and perhaps hover but if the Titans could track Sally Ride down almost to the deck they can doubtless find the Lem.
The insectoid corvettes were mentioned to only have limited sensor range (also, no shields), probably because the insectoids fabricate them by the thousands. The Gyfjon is much more advanced. Moreover, the Gyfjon is almost on top of the Stanislaw Lem already and doesn’t need to focus on anything else. I seriously doubt that an attempt to hide in Titan’s atmosphere will be succesful.
Perhaps if they were to detonate a distraction before trying to slip away?
Well the bomb requires the use of their ship’s reactor… so that’d be a straight line getaway.
“We have not sent you up completely unarmed,” said Harwell. “The power sources for the Atmospheric Probe and the Impact Probe can be combined into a small fusion bomb. We are sending technical specifications….”
It requires the combination of two probes.
From chapter six:
“Oh, there is,” Mukta said. “We have enough plutonium and uranium in the probes to build a crude fusion device. Not enough on its own to do much damage, but if we detonated it by the reactors, it would turn the Lem into a fusion-fission hydrogen bomb.”
Point being, they have bomb they can use without destroying the ship if their goal is something other than direct conflit and trying to damage the Gyfjon.
Without the reactor the Lem’s primary drive VASIMR engines are useless so it’s not much of a weapon unless they are planning on either a suicide mission or abandoning ship and moving in with Jeska at Humans R Us.
I’m willing to bet the Lem’s weapons are a bit more destructive than had been let on. Today’s fission weapons can easily wipe out large cities. Fusion is supposed to have a much higher energy output than fission so you would think weapons, even improvised, could be extremely devastating. We know from the Tol-Bot matches that a simple incendiary cloud can destroy a ship. I think a fusion weapon could severely damage if not or right destroy a Titan vessel that’s underestimating the adversary.
If events lead to a human offensive, I think Titan civilization is going to be served a large cup of less-than-tasty reality. Their own laws bar then from a counter attack and they move too slow as a society to stop a human military build up.
http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
This’ll tell you just how much area various nuclear weapons affect.
A 100mt warhead with a surface burst in DC would wipe out most of Maryland and most of northern Virginia. I think a similar fusion warhead would wipe out most of the southern north states and northern south states.
I think it’s safe to say such and explosion would be more than adequate to destroy a Titan ship. That’s assuming the ship doesn’t have some kind of shielding.
Yeah, shielding is the key unknown here. It’s never been stated how effective a Titan shield is against nuclear radiation. If you got inside, though, a nuke would be more than enough to annihilate Titan Station (said to be the size of Manhattan) or the Gyfjon.
Even a 1MT Minuteman I warhead’s fireball would be sufficient to pretty much vaporize the Gyfjon and the radiation and thermal would probably wreck Titan station. The trick is getting the warhead in range.
I wonder what type of weapon Zahn has? Hmm.. It could be one of those pan-galactic gargle blasters I’ve been hearing so much about..
Lessee now, we have that triumvirate of evil; Genhatt, Solis and Zeramblin (I think thats an ingredient in my morning cereal) Irrational as they come…My guess is they are hiding a big secret..mmmm…like a human smuggling ring or a farm or doing something unsavory with the buggies..All in the name of greed and profit.. So thats why they are acting the way they are. If this gets outs to the general public humans will almost be classified as C1, thier biz would be crushed, so the humans must be stopped at all costs….Oh and it doesn’t hurt that they are conservatives…(holy shit! – batman)
And on the side of the angels we have….. the usual suspects…. you know them well. Whats interesting is the folks in the middle like Kir Oden and surprisingly Eyrn..She seems out of character..Not too concerned about the future welfare of the people who raised her…
Pan-galactic gargle blaster is a drink, not a weapon.
Well, the Guide says its effects are similar to having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick. So YMMV.
Like I said to Dann. She’s like “oh first contact…what do you want for dinner Aerti?” And this chapter. “Hmmm we’ve captured a human astronaut and are in a tense situation being ordered to shoot down the human ship in less than an hour “oh I can’t await to catch up with my sister in law, also don’t resign under any circumstances and find a way to tow to party line”. What is this thing calling itself Eyrn?
Catch up with her sister is code for they are up to something, let’s see what it is.
And that was clearly “don’t resign, they’ll send someone worse. Do what you can”.
Hm, I wonder who it was that made Kir’s eyebrows rise.
The media is going to have a field day. Especially once they find out how the military reacted to the human ship.
Lauryna’s line about the Terran Protection Act made my eyes roll. I expect that she shares my opinion that it’s really silly to accuse Terrans themselves of violating the act. It was a good way to alert Earth that a “Terran Protection Act” exists though.
Not sure how I feel about using the fusion device. It’s said to do little damage on it’s own; it needs to be used near the Stanislaw Lem‘s reactor for full effect. Basically it’s a self-destruct. And the device would have to be detonated either extremely close or inside the Gyfjon to prevent the blast from being repelled by the Gyfjon‘s shielding. So using the device would seem to result in either the Stanislaw Lem destroyed or the Stanislaw Lem and the Gyfjon destroyed. Neither of these are a desirable outcome. The best solution I can think of is to somehow use the device to incapacitate the Gyfjon without casualties, but that’s a tall order.
The device itself is essentially a suicide pill which prevents Gyfjon or any other Titan ship from manually dragging the Lem into a docking bay but only if Xu announces what she’s got. However, unless there is a real surprise waiting the Lem has no real chance of evading the Gyfjon or station defenses for long so Xu’s strategy might be to put up the expected show of resistance just enough to convince the Titans to peaceably allow the Lem into a landing bay on the assumption they’ve “won” as an alternative to opening fire and having the whole episode show up on empire wide TV. Once the Lem was inside the Gyfjon or a Titan Station landing bay then Xu announces what she has and there is a military stand off until the Titans are ready to start talking.
Three people on that list with registered humans, all of them capable of getting him to raise his eyebrows.
The Navarchos’ niece, the Navarchos’ sister, and retired Magister-Imperator Rixie Tam.
For some reason I could go for some mexican food right now……….
As any of the Earth-born humans now residing in the Empire will tell you, the next contact from Earth following the self-detonation of the Lem will be a declaration of war. Which I’m sure the Titans will dismiss, until Earth sends a hastily constructed fleet (since Titans seem to move slow, it will seem like a fleet sprung up overnight).
The political maneuvering was brilliant. And putting it into the publicly available Congressional record means that the entire empire will be aware of it by their version of the 6 o’clock news.
Just anxiously waiting for the 2 groups of humans to make contact on the station.
Oh, yes! We have so been waiting for this! What a great story! Good action, great character development; oh, what fun! And what a great family reunion I anticipate. Yay!
I look forward to the humans damaging gyfjon. I hope it can be done without hurting the characters I know and love. Won’t the Navarchos imperii be surprised. Hoo hoo! Take that, Gernhatt! Neener neener neener! ;-}
I suspect the only human initiated damage to Gyfjon, if any, might be done by a certain 166 year old troublemaker with a wink and a nod from her captain.
You know, if Izzy should cause trouble and injure helself, her doctor is down on the station. They might have reach out elsewhere for an experienced human doctor.
That does not make any sense. Why would Izzy damage and potentially harm people in the ship she is on? People who (I assume) have treated her quite well for the last 140 years
I think what Locatus was getting at was that if damage just “happened” to be done to the Gryfon, it might have to pull out from chasing the Lem
Yup. Izzy has as I make it 80+ years of hands on experience of learning every nook and corner and every system on the Gyfjon, doubtless including maneuvering and fire control.
I find it perfectly believable that Izzie might be able to commandeer the ship for a limited period of with some limited capability. She’s been there a hell of a long time, after all.
I’m not sure why but little about the last 8 chapters makes sense. Xu is acting borderline insane since the collision, none of titan series gang seem to be at all serious or nervous or concerned, very flippant despite the fact that 11 billion human lives may be on their shoulders. Eyrn doesn’t remotely resemble her old self. Campaign team too are just so flippant and uncaring. I’m not sure what it is but I’m lacking any passion for these characters because they seem too self absorbed and satisfied despite the circumstances.
The important thing to remember is that none of the Titan series gang is aware of the full details. They have no idea about the collision or humans being detained, humans in titan station, or least of all Aerti’s current orders.
I thought the interplay between Eyrn and Aerti was very well done and showed how much their being together has caused each to begin to mirror the other’s personality. The younger Eyrn would have favored the honorable path regardless of consequences while the younger Aerti would not have seriously considered a symbolic if futile gesture. To me it makes both more credible characters.
As Kusanagi said, the other characters don’t know the full scope of what’s going on, so this might be the reason why they seem so calm.
Xu on the other hand feels quite unrealistic to me : a professional astronaut, ex-chinese military, almost losing her shit, saying Hollywood-style stuff like “we’re gonna get her back or die trying”, and apparently ready quite litteraly to go nuclear about this ?
Come on…
Xu’s behavior probably isn’t in the JTSA op plan for Saturn. But then one doesn’t expect to be sideswiped, kidnapped, warned away, fired on and threatened with utter destruction in any rational first contact situation. Given the Titans unrealistic demands and actions the former fighter pilot and war hero has countered with an equally unlikely counter offer which Aerti properly characterized properly a few chapters back and amounts to saying Titan go home. If the other guy obviously isn’t listening anyway she might as well say what’s best for her crew’s morale.
My point, like nighteye’s, is she is behaving borderline irrational and not in a manner becoming of an officer making first contact. I feel a reasonable person wouldn’t leave her crew member, but sending in a party to raid an unknown species base that is clearly more advanced, being generally hostile and provocative despite titan thickheaded actions, risking her crews lives on long shot to save one, oh and planning to blow up the base or ship of another species for taking 1 prisoner is probably borderline if not completely insane.
But that would be really cool to see….j/k 🙂 Xu should save some of her ire towards mission control for not giving them all the ‘pertinent’ information…
Ya know if earth was just slightly more advanced with perhaps an active functioning colony (or two) the empire would have a rather unpleasant retort..It might become a (brief) shooting war….However if may not be so brief if the Terrans would somehow find an ally that was in opposition to the Titans (not in their current sphere) and not the buggies…(Raid anyone?)
@Ad Augusta per Angusta:
We don’t know that Mùlán is going to actually use the fusion device. She wanted options, and therefore had Mukta construct the device.
She also didn’t send the Sally Ride‘s crew in to raid, just to perform reconnaissance. It was Tatenda who decided to enter Titan Station when an opportunity presented itself.
And yes, Mùlán is risking everyone’s lives on the long shot of rescuing one, but like you said, a reasonable person is not going to just leave Hala behind to who knows what fate.
I do agree that Mùlán is being less than diplomatic, but it doesn’t surprise me all that much. She’s not a diplomat, she’s a captain with a military background, with no training or instruction for anything like what’s happening now, confronted by a force that has shown itself to be generally hostile. And by now she must be very stressed and sleep-deprived.
Question. What do you think that Mùlán should have done?
Continue to sit in orbit over Titan regularly sending transmissions of peace and non-aggression and requesting contact or her pilot back while communicating with Earth to await her higher ups decisions and possible new intel and orders which may include sacrificing one of their own for the sake of peace or practicality. It doesn’t take transmissions to earth THAT long.
She tried all that. They ignored her, then told her to go away, and fired at her people. And Earth’s intel told them too late what they already found out. She’s been sitting quietly in orbit when they came and attack her.
As sketch said Xu tried all that and the Titans deliberately ignored them and then threatened them. This chapter showed Solis was not going to let them sit around. At this point her options are abandon several crew members, be detained by an openly hostile race, or resist.
Well it’s enjoyable to see Floor Leader to be mobbed on the floor haha (joke made by non english reader) can’t wait to see this is gonna to be… explosive!!!! Great end
That Russell quote fits like a glove, and the end is a fine cliffhanger. Blowing up, or at least damaging, the Gyfjon would make quite the impression, on Titans in general and Gernhatt most of all.
Well the standard Titan problem solving approach…just seizing the Lem by brute force, is out. Lauryna just has to be creative enough to hold fire till all that you know what rolling downhill lands on Solis.
I don’t think the Gyfjon is going to be the target. I think it’s going to be Titan Station.
I think we’re going to see a replay of Darren’s and Rixie’s Tol-Bot match, where the ship crashes into the station. At least, I think that is what Xu is planning. Obviously we’re getting a happy ending, right?
“And the Lem altered her course.” That’s a pretty good explanation of the final sentence.
Let’s see if there will be (human) deaths!