“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
–T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”
“Eight meters…six…four…mooring. Repeat, we have mooring.”
“Asimov Station, this is Stanisław Lem actual. We show mooring, please confirm.”
“Confirmed, Lem. We have mooring and are extending gangways…hard seal confirmed. You are cleared to disembark.”
“Commander,” Xú said.
“Aye, ma’am,” Tatenda said, a bittersweet smile on his face. “All hands, this is the executive officer. Secure stations, and proceed to disembarkation points. Engineering, power down all reactors.”
Xú Mulan got out of her chair, and looked around her bridge. She was getting used to saying goodbye to it, but this time, she had no doubt that she’d see it again.
She took a deep breath. She’d done it. She’d brought them home.
They cleared out relatively quickly – station staff would offload the ship soon enough. Soon, the bridge was almost empty. Almost.
“Shang Xiao?” Tatenda said, as the last of the department heads departed. “My only regret is that I did not have longer to serve as your executive officer.”
“It’s been an honor, Admiral Marechera.”
“Commander. I was reduced in rank for the duration of the mission,” Tatenda said with a smile. “At my insistence.”
“Well, the mission’s over,” Xú said, saluting her former XO.
Tatenda paused, then shook his head. “No, Shang Xiao,” he said. “No matter what our ranks are…you are never to salute me.”
He came to attention, waited for Xú to drop her salute; then, and only then, did he raise his hand to his temple.
Xú returned it with a smile and a handshake, and then a bear hug, before hearing a soft cough.
“Shang Xiao, Lieutenant Nicholas Allen,” said a young EU officer from the station. “I’m here to secure the Lem.”
Xú sighed, and turned to face him. Allen saluted, and said, “I relieve you, ma’am.”
“I stand relieved,” Xú said, just a bit wistfully. Her command had ended a bit early. But it would never be forgotten.
* * *
It was a cool day in the desert, which was not unusual for late January. President Martin looked out from behind the small building that had been constructed behind the temporary stage, looking over the four temporary hangars that had been built in the past two weeks.
“Impressive work, Madam President,” the Chinese premier said. “You’re sure that you don’t mind turning this base over to them?”
“It was due to be decommissioned at some point. Well…they’re all due to be decommissioned at some point, aren’t they?” she said with a smile. “We got nice compensation from the UN, and the honor of hosting their new embassy. I can accept that.”
“I saw that you signed off on the Ambassador’s plan for her greeting?”
“I did,” Martin said. “I appreciate it. There’s a sense of showmanship there. And we haven’t been very clear in our statements in what they look like, other than humanoid.”
“True,” Lǐ said. “And also a gentleness to it, breaking it slowly, emphasizing our commonality. I sense we will be able to work with her.”
“Yes,” Martin said. “I just hope she’s representative of her people. The fact that humans living in the Empire have gone off to their own planet is not encouraging.”
“No,” Lǐ said. “And we need to question that. But carefully. Even if we find our brothers and sisters are held as slaves, indeed, even if they are sold as food, there is nothing we can do about it. For now.”
“Exactly, premier. For now.” The President of the United States checked the time. “Well, the crew of the Lem should be landing in twenty minutes. And then forty for our new friends. Probably best we get to our seats.”
* * *
Between the large booth in the corner, a box containing quite a bit of equipment, and the seats secured in its back, the Porfirayon was full to overflowing. Ambassador Bass sat with her husband, while Captain
Gwenn – with Izzy on her lap – Archiploiarchos Tam, and Senator Tarsuss completed the Titan delegation. Dr. Geen had been brought along as well, as had Crewmates Grrgmn and Plant-Scientist – the senior non-Titan officers aboard the Gyfjon should be there, Aerti had decided, and Darren and Eyrn had heartily concurred.
Zhan sat on Pryvani’s lap, while the Avalonian Envoy and Lysis sat on an open seat made for Titans. Rixie Tam sat behind the senator, alert as always, despite the lack of any identifiable threat and the distraction of her fiancé, who was currently chattering from her left shoulder with Lessy Nonahsdottir, who herself was perched on Sorcha Freeman’s right shoulder.
“Hello from the flight deck, this is Centurium Starati. We have been cleared for departure, and should be gear down at Homey Airport in twenty minutes.”
“Decurion Jons?”
“Ready, captain.”
“Col. Martínez?”
“Ready, Captain,” Ted said, smiling up at the communications officer.
“Very good. Decanus Belfsec? Contact the Gyfjon.”
“Yes, ma’am. Gyfjon, Porfirayon departing,” Tig said.
“Porfirayon, you’re cleared for departure, have a safe flight.”
Naskia had skipped the flight; she wasn’t going down without Niall, and though she suspected she knew the real reason he didn’t want to go down yet, she wouldn’t push him. Nothing was down there that he had to see right now, and hopefully, she or Sorcha would be able to talk him into going someday. Instead, she watched from the observation deck as the Porfirayon accelerated out of the shuttlebay toward the planet.
“It’s beautiful, sweetie,” she said. “You gave up so much to be with me.”
“Yes,” he said. “But petal, I’d give it up a thousand times over.”
They watched as the Porfirayon entered Earth’s atmosphere, heading towards the west coast of the United States.
* * *
The dignitaries and visitors on hand gazed up at the tell-tale whine of gravitic impellers. Xú nodded approvingly as she saw the shuttle descending, immense in size, almost two football pitches long and just as wide.
The crowd couldn’t help but gasp as it came down slowly, settling gently for a vessel of such immense size, a good two kilometers behind the stage
As she was scheduled to, Xú rose and was introduced. It was her job to welcome the Titans to Earth. She looked to the front row of the crowd; her crew, save Lt. Col. Martínez, were there for her, and that was the only thing that allowed her to push forward. Nearly dying had been easy compared to addressing a crowd of six thousand, including thirty-two world leaders — eleven of them on stage — plus the Secretary-General and the UN Parliament’s First Minister. Not to mention the roughly one hundred percent of terrestrial humans tuned in to the welcome ceremony.
As Mùlán was acknowledging the dignitaries in the crowd, a small access door opened on the side of the Porfirayon. It was, in matter of fact, an access panel, but it had been repurposed to allow the humans on board to depart before the Titans. It was everyone’s opinion that it was best to move slowly, which was one reason why the official description of Titans thus far had been kept to “humanoid.”
Eight humans stepped off the ship, and were greeted by American military officers who had been tasked with bringing them to the stage. Of course, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to buttonhole a couple soldiers.
“All right, all of you can go on except for Sergeant Avery and Corporal Ibanez. We need to debrief them,” the sergeant said.
“On whose orders?” Ted said, stepping forward.
“I can’t say,” the soldier said.
“I’m sorry?” Ted said, straightening his tie. “First off, sergeant, did you skip the part of basic where they explained rank insignia?”
“I’m sorry…I can’t say, sir.”
“Better. Now, sergeant, tell me this: Do your orders come from the President?”
“No, sir,” the sergeant said.
“Mine do. Channel 9,” Ted said, transmitting the orders he’d secured from the White House. He was grateful that Izzy had thought to check in formally; it had then occurred to him that something like this was inevitable.
“Colonel, I still….”
“Sergeant, if you want to disobey direct orders of your commander-in-chief, be my guest. Dishonorable discharge is not fun, or so I’ve heard. But as the C-in-C’s orders state, Secretary Xanthopolous is here on a diplomatic mission and enjoys all those privileges of a Minister Plenipotentiary, and Corporal Ibanez has been assigned to me as a charge d’affaires; you may question her when, and only when, I give you permission.”
“Sir, I understand, but –”
“You do realize that I just came from space, don’t you?” Ted said. “You do realize I am well aware of their history? Sergeant, if you have a problem, take it up with the President. Until then, escort our guests. That’s a direct order. And not from me.”
The Sergeant sighed; he had relayed the orders to his commanding officer, who had relayed back that everything was in order; the brass may not have liked it, but they had learned not to cross POTUS. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, snapping off a salute. “We were unaware of these countermanding orders. My apologies, colonel. Sergeant. Corporal. This way, please.”
“Sorry for the delay,” Ted grumbled.
“It’s okay,” Alesia said, looking around in wonder at the salt flats. “It’s…it’s beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Man, I’d forgotten how bright the Sun was.”
“I’m on Earth,” Lysis said, with a chuckle, as they headed for the transport vehicles.
“Yes you are, and….” Darren looked around, then let out a guffaw. “Oh my God…that is…Izzy…anything look familiar?”
Izzy looked in the direction Darren was pointing; it was an old hangar, one that had to date back two hundred years. Soldiers were busily working to ready it for inhabitation for the person who’d last lived there 140 years before.
“Sarge – that’s…we’re at Area 51, aren’t we?”
“Damn hell!” he said, looking over his shoulder and grinning at the woman seated behind him. “You know about this, Ambassador?”
The short, dark-haired woman adjusted her holoemitter and smiled. “I did. Darren. But I couldn’t spoil the surprise for you. Welcome home.”
Soon, they were driving for the stage, as Xú entered in to her closing statement. “New friends will be arriving here very soon,” the Shang Xiao said. “They are not perfect. They have not ascended to a higher plane. They are more technologically advanced than we are, but that has not made them into creatures beyond our comprehension. They are people, like you, like me. And like you, like me, they are trying their best to find their way forward toward a brighter future for all of us. In our brief time with them, we have found among them many friends. I have no doubt that we will meet many more. And no matter what our differences may be, no matter what advancements and new ways of thinking we may offer each other, the chance to meet new friends, to know that we are not alone in this universe, is far and away the greatest gift we could ever gain. On behalf of my crew, my fellow humans, I thank you.”
She received enough applause to make her feel as if she had not completely failed in her task.
“My fellow citizens of Earth,” Xú said, as the motorcade arrived, “it is my great honor to introduce the Archavian Empire’s Ambassador to Earth, and my good friend, Eyrn Bass.”
Eyrn walked confidently up to the stage, shaking Mùlán’s hand. “Eyrn, this is going to be fun,” the Shang Xiao said.
“I hope so,” Eyrn said, pulling Xú into a bear hug. She walked to the podium to a mixture of cheers and gasps of surprise; she attributed those to the fact that many had to be stunned that a human was about to address them. Waiting for silence, and buoyed by the fact that Pryvani had said her speech was good, she addressed the crowd, and the peoples of Earth.
“Mr. Secretary-General, Madam President and other leaders, citizens of Earth,” Eyrn said. “I bring you greetings from the Titan Empire.”
It was an applause line; she waited for the cheers to die down, and continued.
“My name is Eyrn Bass, and I am the Imperial Ambassador to Earth. And I know, that leads to a thousand thousand questions. I know because I have asked them all.
“First, let me tell you that what you are seeing right now is not me,” she said, ignoring the murmur that brought. “Not exactly, anyhow. This is a projection, one designed to show me in human terms. Now, I’m not a lot different than this,” she added, with a smile. “I look very similar to what you see. But I wanted to first address you on your terms, so that our message did not get lost in the differences in appearance between us. That does not mean we intend to hide who we are, any more than you should hide who you are. Just that before we show you the shape of our bodies, we hope to show you something far more important: the shape of our souls.”
Eyrn smiled as the line drew some applause, which built. She’d thought they’d understand.
“As I said, I have asked all the questions about the Empire that you have, and there’s a very good reason for that. I did not grow up in the Empire. Nor on some far-off world you have never heard of. I grew up here. I grew up on Earth.”
That line had an impact, as she knew it would. She waited for calm, and when it was restored, she continued.
“The Empire has known of Earth for thousands and thousands of years. We have visited this world many times. We have an affinity for it, and for your peoples. Between five and six thousand years ago, we made regular visits to Earth, to see the land, and the animals, and yes, to see humans.
“My biological parents and I were here back then. Yes, I know I look good for my age,” she said with a chuckle, as the crowd murmured. “They were scientists, studying the culture of peoples living near the Arctic Circle. I was a kid, a toddler. Now, I should tell you that my species ages more slowly than yours, but not that much more slowly. Had things gone as planned, I would have gone home with my parents long, long ago.
“But at the same time they were doing research, the Empire was coming to the conclusion that our continued visits to Earth were affecting your culture. That you were unable to develop normally because of our interference. And so an order came down to all Imperial citizens on the planet to leave.
“I’m not sure why my parents and I missed the pick-up,” she said, softly. “All I know is that my parents put me into cryostasis, and themselves, too. There we waited, for thousands of years – for no ship returned to retrieve us. My parents…they rigged the stasis chambers so that mine got more power. I survived. My parents did not.”
The crowd murmured again. Eyrn continued. “I was revived in 1872 by the United States government. They did not, and could not, know that I was not human, but they did know I was different. Nevertheless, rather than the hundred different things they could have done, they decided to raise me, to let me grow up. I suppose part of it was curiosity, but curiosity did not dictate that they find kind people to care for me, nor that they try to find things to occupy my time, nor that they befriend me. And yet they did,” she said, giving Darren and Izzy a smile. The smile faded, just a bit, into something more wistful. “Curiosity did not require my adoptive parents, Zeb and Marcy Fitzgerald…it did not require them to love me. Yet they did. As I loved them – as I always will.
“I was not free to come and go, and of course, that wasn’t easy. And yes, when you see me, the real me, you will understand why, I suppose. Despite that, I do believe, with all my heart, that humans tried their best to give me a decent life. You were my family, the earliest one I can really remember. I have always been grateful to you for that, and I will always be.”
She let the crowd applaud one more time, and nodded in gratitude.
“Now, eventually, the Empire figured out one of its citizens was down here on Earth, where I wasn’t supposed to be. And they came and recovered me, which is a nice way of saying they kidnapped me from my home,” she said, with a grin, “though they didn’t realize that was what they were doing. In the process, they managed to inadvertently kidnap two of the people you see standing beside me – Darren Avery Xanthopolous, and Izzy Ibanez. They were my friends before I left Earth, and they have been throughout my time in the Empire, and they will be long after we all are gone.
“They are not the only humans with me today. Secretary Xanthopolous is accompanied by his wife, Epistratichos Lysis Xanthopolous, and they are joined by Epistratichos Zhan – Zhan and Lysis were born on a world called Avalon, where hundreds of thousands of humans are living, even today. Alex Carey, who was born here on Earth, also lives on Avalon. The final person I am joined by today is Alesia Nonahsdottir, who has been living on Avalon of late, but was born on the Titans’ home planet, Archavia, where many more humans live.” Eyrn did not mention how they lived; it was not the right time. “Some of these humans are the descendants of humans who we visited long ago – Lessy, for example, and Lysis, and Zhan. Some, like Alex and Izzy and Darren, found their way to us much more recently. All have made our empire a richer place; even before first contact, your people have had an impact on mine.”
She let the crowd applaud for the penultimate time. “When I returned to my people, my other home, I found many parts of it unfamiliar and challenging. It took time to get to know and understand the people of the Empire; it did for me, and it will for you, just as it will take time for us to get to know you in full. But in time, I have come to see that whether Human or Archavian or Dunnermac or Ler or Avartle, our peoples share simple goals. To live, to love, to find friends; to learn and to laugh and to push into the unknown; and to leave a better future for our children than our parents left for us. What unites us is far more important than any differences we may have.
“Citizens of Earth,” Eyrn said, “My role is not just to negotiate on behalf of my people. It is to help make sure that we are able to know each other. Because I believe that when the Empire and humanity truly know each other, and truly understand each other, when that day comes, we will be the friends we are destined to be.”
The crowd applauded boisterously, and Eyrn grinned. “My friends, I hope I have given you some understanding of our souls. And now, because I know enough of you to know how curious you are, I am going to introduce you to me as I am.” She grabbed her holoemitter, and looked at Darren with a grin, and flipped it to him as she said, “End Program.”
Darren caught it clean, and then turned around toward the Porfirayon, which was now making warning sounds as its back hatchway opened.
“Where the hell did twat learn this kind of showmanship?” Darren said with a grin.
“She had to make you interesting enough to win sponsors, Darren. That took work,” Izzy said, scanning the horizon.
The crowd waited anxiously; the speech by the Ambassador had been nice, but they weren’t overly calmed by the Porfirayon’s warning klaxons, nor by the fact that the entire back of the ship had opened. Were they bringing out a vehicle? Another ship? A weapon?
The thud was not encouraging.
The next thud was less so.
And the third was downright disconcerting.
The fourth, though, brought something into view that made rational thought rather impossible. For out of the back of that massive vehicle, a woman was emerging, the small, slight ambassador who had just addressed them.
She was not so small or slight.
And that’s when a bit of panic began to set in.
So is Rixie still activated, or has she once again been dropped into retirement and back as the private bodyguard for Pryvanni?
“Magister-Imperator Tam, I am officially reinstating you to active duty, effective immediately, for the duration of the present crisis. Welcome aboard.”
Of course Rixie should probably just accept as her fate the words of Allan Quatermain: “The Empire is ALWAYS in crisis.” 😉
I had a feeling things were going too well. Wonder what Eyrn will do now?
Trip and fall, ruining her nice clean suit.
Like in early Exile : She’s gonna do a titan-sized sprint, cartwheel and acrobatic flip, landing right in front of the audience.
Success guaranteed ! 😀
That, or a cartwheel that takes her over the audience. That’ll make an impression.
“…Your attention ladies and gentlemen…as an example of Earth-Titan sports and cultural similarities, Ambassador Bass, a.k.a. The Puppetmaster and Crewmate Grrgmn will now give a vee ball demonstration re-creating the 1990’s Charles Barkley-Godzilla basketball commercial.”
Eyrn will probably just stand still and wait for order to be restored (while thinking that she should have said a few words of warning about the size of her real self before shutting down her holoemitter).
A thought: Technically, Izzy and Darren were on active duty when they were abducted. Unable to contact or return to Earth, they were technically not AWOL, they were POWs (ish). So that means that the US government owes them 140 years of pay.
Darren was probably listed as Missing-Captured as Reese Jones would have reported his status at the time. Izzy would have been listed as probable Missing-Captured. Neither would have ever been AWOL. Darren was offered release and he volunteered to follow his orders as minder and stay with Eyrn.
I think in one of the epilogues they had a funeral service for Darren, so that would technically make him……deceased…… an unusual and potentially advantageous situation for the EPi-secretary …
——
Back on the ranch (on earth) only two people knew he wasn’t dead..Reese Jones and Sorcha Freeman – the elder…Man, it would have been tempting to write a book or tell someone about it, once he’s out of the service…
I don’t remember that happening at all.
Reese delivered Niall’s message to his mother in Northern Ireland..I think either Dann or OHH wrote that piece. Its in the epilogues of Exile or Nomad. Unfortunately it was published but not archived so I can’t post that link here
https://thetitanempire.com/epilogue-part-3/
Nothing in there about a funeral.
Soatari: (from that link)
“And of course he thought of the Sarge. Ruff, tuff, mean Master Sargent Darren Avery. If there was anyone out there Eyrn could use on her side, it was Darren. The Sarge had been grieved deeply, he had been given full military honors, even the President himself was in attendance. Earth’s loss was the galaxy’s gain, and what ever happened up there, Reese knew, as always, the Sarge likely had a handle on it, he always did.”
Eh… that’s just the public face for it. Official (and probably very classified) record will show that he didn’t die that day.
That means he was ‘officially’ dead or legally dead in other words..They really don’t know what happened, if he survived the abduction.. ..So they threw a funeral for him…………fun fun……..Unless their is another version of this in a parallel universe 🙂
Damn you all and your cliffhangers! Lol I’m going to have to wait at least till Sunday for the next one aren’t I!
The new ad system is REALLY annoying when reading from a smartphone. Ads pop up like every 30 seconds to a minute and take up half the screen. Trying to close them opens them half the time.
No kidding. That is unbelievably stupid how often they pop up ans the size on a phone. The hell is with the sudden ad spam?
I thought it was just me. I installed a virus scanner on my phone and everything. We might have gone over our bandwidth. Will check with DX. We get a surprising amount of traffic.
Out of curiosity, what are your stats?
I think I’ve found the issue — part of the notification email system appears to have gone rogue. I’ve killed it for now, but if you keep seeing issues, email me at gtsorama@gmail.com.
I set the view to desktop when reading on my phone. Actually like it better than the mobile site version.
Ah, I see what you guys mean. Can you set your smartphone browser to desktop, no ads. Though you well get the occasional Facebook log in pop after 20-30mins.
Grr, enough of this. Back to desktop where I can see what I’m typing for more than 30 secs.
Bittersweet for poor Eyrn. She doesn’t really have any old friends or favorite places to visit. Maybe go out and run later… But still a closure, so to speak. she might want to come back to Minnesota for a bit…
I see interesting character pieces coming in the future… Shang Xiao will have family to introduce, perhaps. Sorcha has beaucoup people and things to see and do, as do all her friends. Darren has relatives to reconnect with. Sneaky government, trying to re-abduct them. Won’t the terrans be surprised by the non-titans in the delegation?!? explain the Avartle, and the Dunnermac. Hehehehe. Let Dr. geen swim in the Pacific for a bit. Fun, fun, fun!
They’ll still be stampeding, try to run from the giant aliens there to be worried about that. I figured the story would end the moment they touched down, seems I was wrong, DX still has more to tell.
Ah the military, trying to abscond with Darren and Izzy to “debrief” (aka interrogate) them about the empire. If they had gotten ahold of them, it is doubtful they’d have ever given them back. There would have been some extreme tension then. Good thing they planned ahead with the president.
The earth military types probably looked at Darren’s and Izzy’s former rank and drew some very out of date assumptions. It would have been fun to see them taken into custody and watched the interrogation process play out.
Hopefully setting up a splinter element here, as seen with the generals early in contact not wanting to share with Martin. A sort of section 31 or Illusive man looking for intel and tech. They’d probably not have had them long, they’d have been missed by the titan delegation.
Confused as to why titans would allow an avalonian delegation, seeing as 1) it’s not a recognized entity 2) vast majority of titans don’t know it exists 3) it’s presence would be seen as undermining the official titan first contact procedure. I know Eyrn may be ambassador but surely there are limits to what liberties she can take with diplomatic gestures like this especially on day one of her job.
I imagine it’s entirely unofficial as far as the empire is concerned, also with the Lem crew already aware of Humanity’s position in the empire having humans as part of the delegation doesn’t hurt.
I would really call it an Avalonian delegation. Lysis is there, in part as Darren’s husband, and Zhan is there, in part as Pryvani’s husband. Whether or not they are representing Avalon, the empire in general, or neither is not entirely clear. While both are high rank, and well respected by Avalon/Atlantis I don’t believe either holds a government position outside the military.
It doesn’t have to be official, either. They could talk under the table and establish a relationship, and when the time is right move their agreements over the table.
Well its just a bit of panic……….no biggie … (erf I did it again!)
Ah they forgot to mention the size difference? Surely that ought to have been brought up earlier than now?
now where is the fun in that?!
The next chapter will be much more fun because of it. Can’t wait.
Its a stupid thing to leave out from the character’s pov. From an author’s pov, I see your point JS.
Well it had to happen sooner or later, not sure the reaction would have been better if they had been properly warned. Still the ending was hilarious and the public reaction should be interesting to say the least. Hope the delegation at least keep it to one at a time…
Overall I kind of surprised they’re this public about it, at least initially, thought they might start with world leaders and work their way up. Still while their open in some areas, they’re definitely still silent on the pet thing even if the respective world leaders do fear the worst.
Imagine you’re an army private assigned to security for the alien landing. You see the aliens, and they are 140 feet tall. Do you tell your girlfriend? Your Mom? Your bros? Your blog? Of course you do.
What about the official secrets act? The UCMJ? They’re nothing compared to 140-foot aliens. And there are hundreds or thousands of people involved here. It only takes one to leak it.
That’s where all conspiracy theories fall. They require a huge amount of people to keep a secret. People want to share what they know. There is no way to keep this secret.
Well there wouldn’t be that many people if it weren’t a public affair. I was just surprised they didn’t have a private introduction first before introducing them to the world.
Reminds me of the old saying about three people keeping a secret…Helpful if two aren’t breathing 🙂
So it is fully public, with TV broadcasting worldwide. Okay.
I know people are all kumbaya in this story but that shouldn’t mean uncautious to the point of stupidity : given what happened on Titan station, it’s foolish for all the major world leaders to gather in one place and greet the aliens in person.
A scene from Mars Attacks comes to mind.
Here, a few footsteps could entirely cripple Earth’s political and military structure. (Not that there is that much military left apparently : “Well…they’re all due to be decommissioned at some point, aren’t they?” I rolled my eyes…)
Eyrn’s speech was very nice which makes the fact that it’s based on a lie even more disturbing. A lie of omission, sure, but that’s the most important part.
What’s the plan here ? Tell only the world leaders what’s what in the Empire and somehow leave all the rest of Earth in the dark ? For years ?
ps : technical questions : if the shuttle is parked 2 kilometers away, did the humans get transported to the event or did they do the 20 minutes walk there ?
And how does Eyrn manages to have a holoemitter on stage ? How did it get there ? What’s the power source ? (I thought they still had to be “plugged in”). The cramped shuttle is modified to be holosuit ? And how does Eyrn image gets all the way to the stage ? Is there a cable ? Is it Titan wifi ? What ?
It seemed like she was using a small, portable holoemiter (like the Doctor on Voyager). Which is just weird because there’s no precedence for it in the Titan-verse.
There kind of is. I imagine it’d be about the same size as the holoemitter’s in Alex’s Bar (and apparently throughout Avalon now) The only weird part here is that it was clipped on to her hard light self. Presumably that’s why she has to toss it to Darren as she is shutting down the program.
Not yet anyway…
Can’t speak to the holo stuff, but the story definitely mentioned the humans arriving in a motorcade, so they were driven.
Well Eyrn is now a diplomat and an Ambassador so its her job to sugar coat things. Easier to deliver the nice sugary stuff first before hammering them with hard core reality. Hence the nice speech. The world leaders should have an idea whats happening. I’ll give them a bit of a pass (for the time being) to establish formal relations.. The whole unvarnished truth should come out – soon..
I’ll be very interested in seeing the world leaders reactions from this point forward…
The information she didn’t volunteer (humans being pets) was not the basis of her speech, so therefor her speech was not based on a lie at all.
What good does it do ANYONE for the entire population of Earth to know that fact? Many titans are already working their damn hardest to get that changed, and having a planet full of angry humans doesn’t help at all. It would only serve to HINDER relations, and everyone in charge knows this. Humans are still a good ways away from practical interstellar travel, so I think both sides of the table here are hoping and planning for things to be changed before then.
As for it being a “Mars Attacks!” kind of situation, I imagine it’s representatives of the world leaders, not the actual leaders themselves.
Okay, one simple objection to this : how is it different from Titans treating humans as dumb pets ? From Pryvani playing goddess on Avalon ? It’s still denying people the truth because “they couldn’t handle it” (those dumb humans).
It’s a matter of respect. Either Humans are people or they’re not.
Wait a little bit to break the news “gently” ? Sure.
Hide the truth from billions of humans ? Maybe for years ? No.
And sure, in this story, Earth leaders are on board with that plan. Setting aside the fact that this is yet again unbelievable behavior (not one leader is gonna disagree and spill the beans ?), it is not their place to hide such a monumental truth from the people. They are elected leaders, not god-appointed overlords.
And think of the consequences later on : who’s gonna trust these people again ? Elect them again ? Think of the backlash.
I’m gonna quote MiB here:
Edwards: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.
@Soatari : “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”
I actually agree except…
From the start, Contact has been about how Humanity has made so much progress in wisdom and world peace. That everyone on Earth or close to it is an infinitely forgiving Zen Master. The whole crew of the Lem as well as Earth’s leaders have been depicted that way. Completely unbelievable but that’s what Contact has been selling us all along.
And suddenly, now that it’s inconvenient, people might act like real people ? Humans like real humans ?
Which is it ?
Not everyone has anger management issues.
And not everyone was being “zen master”, as you put it so hyperbolically. Hala was furious when she was in captivity, and Mulan was about ready to detonate the Lem in a fusion/fission explosion. She was being almost irrationally angry, but managed to catch herself just in time to prevent what could have been considered an act of war.
This is a post-war society that very nearly wiped itself out with weapons of mass destruction, so of course the leaders are going to be level-headed and patient about things.
Also, being internally angry or frustrated, yet externally calm and collected is nothing new.
And finally, you’re comparing the actions of world leaders and “best of the best” astronauts to the average person. Not really comparable.
@soatari : I exaggerate of course, for the sake of the argument. It still feels too easy, fake as far as behavior are concerned.
But maybe I’m judging too fast here. It will all depend on how long they’ll keep the truth from people.
However I do question the first formal public contact to be this venue. Most humans don’t know much about the Titan and thier status in the galaxy. Having a stampede (panic fleeing) being broadcast worldwide as the first formal contact doesn’t make the most dignified of images. It would unsettle most people and cause them to really dig into their nature (Who are these galactic giants and are they friendly? How did we initially contact them and what happenned? etc)…
I seriously doubt that all the world leaders are present. The leaders and the agencies responsible for protecting them are undoubtedly well aware of what could happen in the meeting with the aliens were to end in disaster (whether on purpose or by accident). But being too cautious would give the wrong impression. Especially because the Empire delegation are the ones on foreign soil.
I can’t see the rest of Earth being left in the dark for years. It’s much more likely that Eyrn and the world leaders will work together to break the bad news as gently as possible to the general population, and have measures in place to prevent the resulting unrest from devolving into rioting and such.
Eyrn does appear to be using a portable holoemitter. Presumably it’s a smaller version of the device that Dorok had for his studies (and that Niall used to beat him up). It could be that we haven’t seen anything like it before because it’s the result of improvements in holographic technology made between events of 2102 MA and the present day.
Looks like they managed to build a mini-holo suite inside Porfirayon: Between the large booth in the corner, a box containing quite a bit of equipment, and the seats secured in its back, the Porfirayon was full to overflowing.
And obviously Myona & Niall have reduced the human side to a TV remote sized device and made it mobile. There’s still a lot of hardware on the titan end but you can see where this is trending with eventually a human with a portable device will be able to be carried inside a hard-light self projection at titan scale.
I thought about that for a long time but I couldn’t see that happening without a new power source : namely, micronized antimatter reactors, which Niall won’t build.
Humans able to appear Titan sized anywhere ? Such a Deus Ex Machina would solve many issues.
This technology may not really be as advanced as you think (other than the hard light aspect). 2 km is not a huge distance, even in human terms, and it’s practically nothing in Titan terms. If I had to hazard a guess, the distance from Atlantis to the mountain is further than that. Also, Eyrn’s speech was what, 5-10 minutes maybe? Technology today has hand held projectors that can last that long, so it’s not much of a stretch to think Titan’s would have such technology 120 years in the future that are either more powerful, last longer, or both.
@faeriehunter Not sure if they had hard light projectors the whole time, but when Shaar was setting up the projectors in Alex’s bar, they would have had to been more or less self contained. I doubt Atlantis had any sort of power grid at the time to support them. I think as you say, technology has just improved rapidly since then.
“Well…they’re all due to be decommissioned at some point, aren’t they?” I rolled my eyes…)”
I think you’re misinterpreting that line. I read it more as Martin saying that no base lasts forever and eventually every base, ship, whatever is decommissioned to make way for the new.
But I guess thats a DX question
@ Nighteye Agreed. If Earths relationship with the wider Titan world (which the Titan world considers it owns) is one of lies or half-truths then I cannot foresee good relations. Break it easy or no, people need to know, then deal with the people that cause problems or exaggerate. The coverup is usually worse than the lie.
The kumbaya is actually very frustrating. Certain leader and elements within those leaders governments are certainly already moving to counter immediate reconciliation. Any other outcome is not believable.
If this is a universe where humanity is more like Star Trek TNG rules then they are enlightened and should know, because they can handle it, if apparently we havent advanced in 140 years then people won’t be able to accept it. There should be conflict among the leaders and the people. (theres plenty of room here for people to rise up in anger) A cabal of leaders who control the populace and information isnt too different from Pryvani’s “enlightened” goddessness. I really worry for this series when it praises humanity and its ability to grow and understand, but ignores its basic instincts and then professes to be ok with ignoring them and controlling them through higher enlightened authorities. Getting a bit too close to Plato’s Republic here.
This part of the verse is really a prayer..A wish for the future, an idealized Plato’s Republic or a variant of semi-democratized socialism, with its own inherent philosopher king(s) or as I would like to call it in todays’ nomenclature – elitists. Directed by uber wealthy and powerful people who control and influence (corrupt) governments – get them to enact laws that restrict freedom (for the good of the people) while exempting themselves from said laws and regulations..
Doing this under a cloak of a myriad of social causes ranging from the environment, world poverty, climate change, social justice et al as an excuse. The masses lap it up because they are for the most part lazy, stupid and jealous. Terrified of doing anything to improve their own lives and taking responsibility for themselves. Much easier to blame others and create scapegoats.
But I digress 🙂
“Citizens of Earth,” Eyrn said, “My role is not just to negotiate on behalf of my people. It is to help make sure that we are able to know each other. Because I believe that when the Empire and humanity truly know each other, and truly understand each other, when that day comes, we will be the friends we are destined to be.”
Getting outside the box of imagination is a step by step process. In today’s chapter Eyrn just took the fist step. 🙂
” Here, a few footsteps could entirely cripple Earth’s political and military structure. (Not that there is that much military left apparently : “Well…they’re all due to be decommissioned at some point, aren’t they?” I rolled my eyes…) ”
I took that to mean that all *American* bases are due to be decommissioned, because Earth is uniting and in the end all military bases will be UN bases rather than nation state bases.
“some point” could be 500 years down the line. I didn’t really think much of that line. It does however seem that the world is more unified than it was in 2015, so I’d imagine there would be less need for certain types of military. However, not everything they do is against another country, take taking care of Eyrn for example.
great speech. can’t blame the crowd to panic…. it’s human instinct ! hope panic will be short.
Well, at least Eyrn resisted the temptation to wear Tapp’s Puppetmaster costume 🙂