“A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable.”

–Robert Fripp

Darren looked at his pad, trying his best to get a lock on someone, anyone, who was a friendly. This was necessarily going to be a human; the one salient part of being registered as someone’s pet is that you end up with a chip in your body that allowed your owner to find you should you wander off.

He could just activate the chips, but that might tend to remind security that those chips exist, leading them to easily collect whomever was left. So instead Darren used a program that had been written several years ago by Niall, to just ask the chips to state their position, briefly, and go dark again.

Of course, that meant that rather than getting a real-time report of where his compatriots are, he would get, if he was lucky, a snapshot. But it was better than nothing; quite frankly, it gave him something to do, rather than just hide in a ventilation shaft.

Finally, he got a ping. He wished Lysis had gotten chipped, just for occasions like this, but Lessy would do. He began to wind his way through the ventilation system, trying to work his way in her direction.

* * *

“All right, we’re about half a click out, it looks like. Fortunately, it looks like we’re on the same level. Elevation’s within 50 meters.”

“Great, Hala,” Ted said. “Be careful, they start pushing air through it can get a bit rough.”

“Roger that,” she said.

Tig futzed with the wrap; she had torn a strip of fabric from her undershirt, and was doing her best to make it into a crude toga for Ted; she knew he wouldn’t want to face his crewmate naked.

“Okay, looks like two turns; probably five minutes out,” Hala said, her voice giddy.

* * *

“Another Titan?” Xú said, as Eyrn entered the room.

“Another one,” Eyrn said. “I thought I could use the help; this is my sister-in-law, Dr. Naskia Freeman. Nas, this is Shang Xiao Xú Mulan.”

Nas knelt down and extended her hand. “Captain, it’s an honor.”

“Thanks,” Xú said, frowning. “’Freeman.’ That last name almost sounds human.”

“It is,” Naskia said extending her other hand, and setting Niall down. “Captain, this is my husband, Dr. Niall Freeman.”

Xú simply stared at the man, utterly stunned. He was in his forties or fifties, perhaps, with graying hair and a world-weary air.

It couldn’t possibly be.

“Hello, Shang Xiao,” he said, extending his hand.

“I…pardon me…you…uh…Niall Freeman?!”

Niall was slightly taken aback. “Yes. I actually grew up on Earth, in Northern Ireland. I….”

“…went to work for ITER? Developed the theoretical groundwork that made cheap fusion power a practical reality? Only posthumous recipient of the Nobel Prize? The man whose disappearance spawned a half-dozen amazing conspiracy theories? That Niall Freeman? How can you be alive?”

“Well…it’s a long story. Suffice to say that I’ve had some treatments done to extend my life. I’m confused, though. They don’t give out Nobels posthumously.”

“They did for you! You were missing, hadn’t been declared dead yet. But your work’s merit was so clear that they decided to give you the prize for physics in 2019, as you’d be declared dead by the following year.”

“My God. I….I never.”

“Shang Xiao, I’m sorry – did you say something about Niall Freeman?”

Xú pointed wordlessly at Niall; Dr. Chandrasekhar looked him up and down. “You’re Niall Freeman?”

“I am.”

“You’ll forgive me if I find that hard to believe. Freeman disappeared over a century ago.”

“142 years. It was rather disconcerting to realize that.”

“So, if you’re Niall Freeman, what was the Q factor on the last experimental run made before you disappeared?”

“Q was 2.04093, plus or minus one percent. We’d maintained it for fifty-five seconds, and kept it above break-even for eight minutes, fourteen seconds. I always have been disappointed I didn’t get back for the next run. My hope was that we could get the reactor to stay over two for more than a minute.”

Mukta goggled for just a second. “It hit 2.119. They kept it there for three,” Chandrasekhar said, extending her hand. “I had a Freeman Scholarship to Hyderabad University. Dr. Mukta Chandrasekhar, It’s an honor, sir.”

“The honor is mine,” Niall said.

“Oh, no,” Naskia said, smiling down at her husband. “Don’t you dare, I love him to death, but he’s already conceited enough for ten men my size.”

“No more than seven,” Niall said with a wink, shaking Chandrasekhar’s hand. “Perhaps eight.”

Niall’s head was swimming; the entire engineering crew was soon swarming him, peppering him with questions; Chandrasekhar was discussing how she used his theoretical framework to build a power plant for the Lem that approached an infinite Q factor. He had always hoped that his work on Earth, however brief, had done some good. That people were able to build on it. But he had never dared hope that he would be remembered a century later.

He thought, idly, as he began to ask his own questions about materials science advances, that 2019 would always be one of the happiest times in his life. The award didn’t figure into it.

Xú simply stared after, as did Naskia.

“Niall Freeman,” Mùlán said, shaking her head in wonder. “Jimmy Harwell is never going to believe this.”

Eyrn poked her sister-in-law. “You know, he’s gonna be insufferable after this.”

“Ten, twenty years ago? He would have been,” Naskia said, beaming with pride. “Now? I think he’ll be fine. And if not, I have my ways.”

Xú continued to stare, until a new thought shocked her back into action. She stared up at the pretty giantess above her and fairly shouted, “Husband?!”

* * *

“All right, what’s the whip count?”

“Aspire, we’ve got 97 of 101, we’ve got all 86 of the New Empire caucus, and 39 from Forward. Plus 54 Independents have lined up with us, and all 180 non-Titans.”

“We’re at 456 then for First Contact. We’ll need to peel off 45 from the majority. That’s better than I was expecting, actually,” Ammer said, rubbing his temples. “So Joram, who’s a possibility there?”

Joram Dirx was a junior staffer in Loona Armac’s staff, and if Ammer had been a different kind of man, he would not have been. But Ammer was quite secure enough to have hired Inna’s college boyfriend on; for one thing, Joram was dating someone else, but more important, he was too damn good to pass on. Ammer figured if he lost Inna to Joram – or anyone else – it would probably be his own damn fault anyhow, so he was not going to penalize anyone over his own potential insecurities.

He hadn’t regretted it. Joram was rising almost as quickly through Loona’s staff as Inna had. And the two or three times he’d caught Inna flirting with Joram – as much out of old habit as anything – she’d blushed, and then promptly made it up to him, to the point where he had encouraged her to flirt a bit more.

As Joram went through the list of potential yes votes, Ammer kept a running tally. They could maybe get up in the 550s, if Zeramblin didn’t push back.

Suddenly, he stood up. “Joram…what about Zeramblin?”

“I don’t think so, chief,” Joram said, looking through his notes. “He’s never been particularly enthusiastic about the human question.”

“I know, but after this morning, he may be looking to save face. You think we could get the boss a meeting with him?”

“Good question,” Joram said, thinking carefully. “Would Senator Tarsuss be willing to go with? It seems to me I remember an interview in Politicus from his early career where he mentioned a crush on her.”

“How do you remember this stuff?” Ammer said, smiling. “I’m pretty sure I can talk Senator Tarsuss into being in the meeting; can you get it?”

“I can try. My friend Cala is on staff with the Majority Caucus; I’ll talk to her.”

“Great. Don’t give up on the others, but if we can get Zeramblin, we don’t have to worry about peeling off his caucus. They’ll come along.”

“Right. On it, chief.”

Joram almost got out of the office, before turning.

“Chief?”

“Yes, Joram?”

“A couple things. First…you’re dating Inna, aren’t you?”

Ammer looked up, frowning. “It’s not really something I would discuss either way.”

Joram smiled at that. “Of course not, chief. I just…she mentioned dating someone, and I’ve put some rumors together…it’s not important. I just wanted to let you know I’ve never seen her happier than she is now.”

Ammer crossed his arms, but smiled. “All right, Joram…I’m neither confirming nor denying anything, but I’m happy to hear that.”

“Of course, chief. The other thing…whole office is pulling for you on this. We’ll find a way to get this bill through, or we’ll die of exhaustion in the attempt.”

“Do that on every bill, and I’ll tell the boss that you guys might just be worth keeping on next term,” Ammer said with a wry smile.

“Yes, chief.”

As Joram turned, Ammer said, “Joram – thanks. I really do appreciate it. And all of you.”

Joram looked over his shoulder. “You don’t have to get all mushy, chief.”

Ammer laughed. “You’re right. Get back to work.”

Joram smiled, and turned the corner toward his desk. Now, if he could just get Cala to remember that she owed him three favors, he might have a shot at pulling this off.

* * *

“All right, about twenty more meters…you look to be elevated about twenty meters above me, too.”

“Right. Tig, they must be heading for that vent there,” Ted said, peering off the end of the bed. The vent he pointed to sat at the junction of wall and floor; Tig smiled, and lowered him carefully to the ground.

“All right,” he said, I’m on the floor; I’m heading for the vent. You should be here in just a moment.”

“Right. I see it, I think. It’s…ha!”

Hala broke into an all-out sprint as she saw her crewmate waiting at the grate of the vent. She reached the slats, easily slid through, and embraced Ted as if he were her long-lost brother.

“Oh, man….” she said, quietly. “I never thought I’d see any of you again.”

“Hala, if you hadn’t done what you did, none of us would have been around to see.”

They held each other for a while, then broke, both of them tearful. Ted looked, and saw a new person sliding between the slats.

“Ted, this is Alex Carey, he helped me after I escaped.”

“Thanks,” Ted said, helping the man through. “Honestly, I can’t thank you enough.”

“No problem,” Alex said.

“I did want to introduce you guys to my friend,” Ted said, beaming. “Hala, you may remember her; this is Tigoni Belfsec.”

Hala gasped in recognition as the Titan kneeled down to get a closer look, and then both crewmates gasped as Alex went pelting by them at a full sprint.

“You goddamn bitch!” He shouted, and before anyone could react, he was pounding away just above her knee as hard as he could, landing blow after blow, in a blind rage.

It was her. The slutbag who’d hurt Rixie. That she was fourteen stories taller than Alex made no difference; he was going to make her pay. He didn’t care if this cunt killed him – as she could certainly manage with one blow – he was going to do as much damage as he could on the way out. He threw punches, kicks, roundhouses, uppercuts, everything he’d ever learned from Rixie. It was impressive, if rather ineffectual.

After a while, he was vaguely conscious of someone trying to pull him back, but he fought them off. Then, suddenly, he felt himself being lifted. He continued to pound on her fingers, only giving up when he finally looked her in her enormous eye. At that point, he stared sullenly at her.

“You seem a bit upset with me,” she said, with a smile. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what my offense was.”

“You hit my…my Rixie with a stun prod right in the trachea, and you don’t know what your offense was?!?”

“Rixie? Was that the woman who was interrogating Maj. Nejem?”

“Yes, you bitch. And she wasn’t interrogating her. We’re here to help her.”

“Was she going to help free Maj. Nejem?”

“We’re working on it. It’s gonna take time.”

“Hmmm. My way was faster,” Tig said. “But if she was really trying to help Maj. Nejem, please know that I am sorry for hurting her. If it makes you feel better, I did look to see that everyone was breathing before I left, and the doctor was heading toward her – he had no interest in fighting me.”

Alex stared down in anger, and said nothing.

“Now, I don’t mind you hitting me if it makes you feel better. Frankly, if I hurt someone who was trying to help, I deserve it. But you whacked Ted pretty hard when he tried to pull you off of your attack; I’m not going to let you hurt anyone other than me.”

Tig put Alex down carefully, and he turned to see Hala tending to Ted’s nose, which was bleeding rather significantly.

“Oh, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t….”

“Listen, motherf—”

“Ted,” Tigoni said, quietly, “during my rescue of Hala I stunned his friend. If his friend had stunned me, how would you react?”

Ted sighed. “All right, fine. It’s okay. It’s not broken, I don’t think.”

“Good. And Ted, thanks for defending me,” Tig said with a grin. She turned back to Alex. “All right, if you want, you can feel free to keep pounding away. At me.”

Alex looked at the young woman. He wanted to hate her, but he could see how it could have played out. Not that it made him happy. Sighing, he shook his head. “No,” he said. “But God help you when you cross paths with Rixie. She does not like to be stunned.”

* * *

Rixie had activated Alex’s tracker chip with a heavy sigh. She hated the damn thing. She hated that it marked him as a pet, despised that it marked him as her property. Alex was hers in the metaphysical sense, and she would not have traded that for anything, but her property? No more than she was his. That he had asked to be chipped for just such a circumstance as this, that this chip would lead her to wherever he had fled with Maj. Nejem – this was beside the point. Alex was a person, fully and completely, and she abhorred the reminder that there was even one person in the universe who might doubt that.

Nevertheless, she activated it. Alex had asked for the chip because he wanted her to be able to find him. So it was her responsibility to find him, and Maj. Nejem.

She wasn’t quite sure what she’d do with them when she found them. She didn’t relish giving Hala back to security, even with Aerti Bass running the show on base. Both she and Aerti knew that whatever Solis had planned, it was going to be awful. Did it make sense to put her with the rest of her crew? Not remotely. She knew what she would have done before she was activated – she wouldn’t have brought them back for anything, not even to Aerti.

But she was active, and she had a duty, to unit and Emperor. And that made it very hard to ignore the fact that her duty in this case was clear.

Then again…well, given the disaster that was unfolding, she felt pretty sure that she could find a legal argument that would keep her out of the brig. She wouldn’t refuse to bring Maj. Nejem back…but she wasn’t going to be in a hurry about it.

At any rate, this was all moot until she found them. She swung her pad back and forth, trying to pick up the signal. It took her a while to get a hit, and a bit longer to triangulate it, but when she finally managed to, she smiled. She knew this station like the back of her hand; it was only a ten minute walk to where the tracker said he was. She started off at a quickmarch; she wanted to make damn sure that Alex was okay. Everything else slid behind that on her priority list, and she made no apologies for it.

* * *

Eyrn was talking with the Lem’s captain about what else they needed, the crew was beginning to spread out blankets. They’d had a long day, and while Xú seemed to be going strong, others seemed to be tiring.

In a corner of the holding cell, Niall sat on his wife’s knee, explaining the status of Earth’s technology with glee.

“They’ve instantiated a first-order warp shell in the lab; they’re building a ship to test its practicality. A warp shell! They’ll break the light barrier in the next three years. They’re still a long way from a fifth-order shell; that will take decades – or years, depending on your point of view – so they’re quite a way from anything practical for deep space travel. But Dr. Chandrasekhar described it perfectly. They have the theory down, it’s just putting it into practice. It’s like when I was at ITER; we knew we were on the right path, it was just a question of walking down it. By the time Sorcha’s forty, they’ll have ships capable of making it to Avalon in just a couple months, even without transdimensional gates. By the time she’s eighty…sky’s the limit.”

“Pretty good for a bunch of savages,” Naskia grinned.

“We do okay,” Niall said, reclining.

“You got a pretty warm welcome.”

“Well, when Shang Xiao Xú explained to me how my disappearance was covered, it made sense. It became a huge mystery – my body never turned up, of course, so they couldn’t say for sure I’d died in the climb. It became an even bigger story when the reactor actually worked. Believe it or not, aliens were on the list of suspects among conspiracists – though it was supposed to be because of my key importance to humanity, not because a startlingly beautiful young student mistakenly thought I’d make a cheerful companion.”

“Hm, and yet you did make a cheerful companion…eventually.”

Niall sighed contentedly. “I won the Nobel Prize, Naskia. I know, that doesn’t mean anything much to you, but it’s the highest honor a scientist from Earth can win. I won a prize won by Einstein, the Curies, Schrödinger, Higgs…men and women who transformed the world.”

Naskia felt like her heart might burst, so proud was she of her husband. She teased him for being conceited, but she’d seen him solve equations using symbols he’d never seen, using only a litter box for scratch paper. She never doubted his talent.

“You know,” Niall said, quietly. “I dreamed of winning the Nobel. When I was young, I couldn’t imagine anything bigger than that. I was wrong, though, and not just because of the obvious pun,” he said, with a smile. “That I get to tell you this, share this moment with you…that’s so much more important….”

Naskia stroked his hair, and smiled down on him. And they would have stayed like that a good long time, had a commotion not drawn their attention, Eyrn’s attention, and the attention of a good percentage of the Lem’s crew. A tall young woman, even by Titan standards, was being brought in. She was shackled, guarded by two heavily armed peacekeepers, and she was jawing loudly with them the entire way.

Niall watched them drag Sorcha in, and turned to his wife. “Then again, petal, if I’d just stayed home, things would have been much simpler.”

“Tell me about it, sweetie,” Naskia sighed.