“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
–Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
“The embassy is coming along nicely!” Admiral Xú Mùlán called up. The Admiral – the JTSA had given up trying to merge dozens of different rank structures, and had simply adopted its own equivalent – was being carried in Eyrn’s pockets, along with Darren and Lysis, who would be departing tomorrow. They were the last of the original Avalonian delegation left. Lessy had gone back a couple months ago after breaking up with Yoshi, and Pryvani and Zhan had to leave to prepare for the hearings, which had just started the other day. As for Mùlán, well, in the six months since the Lem had been captured, she had been working feverishly on the next steps for the JTSA and her former crew. She, too would be leaving for Titan soon, along with more than a few of her former crewmates.
This was not to say that there were no familiar faces along with them; the Gyfjon was back in orbit, and Captain Gwenn was carrying Izzy. Izzy was complaining a bit about the heat; it had been much more pleasant here in January. One other Titan trailed behind.
“I’m just glad we weren’t kicked out. The General Assembly took it better than I expected, honestly,” Eyrn said, as they walked to the southwest. “If you hadn’t laid the groundwork, and Darren hadn’t been there….”
“You would’ve done fine,” Mùlán said.
Eyrn doubted that; she was far more worried than she let on. They were keeping an awfully big secret, and she wasn’t sure they could forever. So far, the people of Earth were being kept busy with the basics about the Empire, and the Insectoid threat was certainly something that had their attention. But humans are curious creatures, and Eyrn knew it was only a matter of time before the right person asked the wrong person the right question. She just hoped by the time that happened that the goodwill of the Imperial government toward the people of Earth would be evident.
But that was a concern for the future; for now, things were working as well as could be expected. The Imperial embassy was growing quickly, covering nearly all of the original Groom Lake footprint. There were offices, living quarters, some recreation facilities, and an area for humans to visit and interact with Titans. And of course, the holoboxes had been replaced with two dozen state-of-the-art holosuites, which were used regularly; Eryn made it a point to meet with foreign leaders at their scale, save for Robyn Martin, who insisted on meeting her at their normal sizes. Not far away, at Groom Lake itself, they were building Prometheus Station, which was already partially operational, bringing in construction and support staff on a regular basis.
“Mom, where are we going again?”
“Polymnia, we’re going on a bit of a tour of the embassy grounds, which is where I grew up; if you’re bored, you can always lay down and pout,” Eyrn said, evenly. Then, muttering, she said, “I swear, Darren….”
Poly was Eyrn and Aerti’s oldest. She was currently on a break at school, and she wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to spend the time visiting her mom on Earth. Of course, her dad had hinted rather strongly that it was that or be disinherited, so she’d obliged. It was a bit claustrophobic, she thought, but then, she knew better than to cross her parents when they made their minds up.
Eyrn smiled as she reached their destination, kneeling down and removing her passengers. “Izzy, this look familiar?” Eyrn asked with a grin.
“It’s a big flat plain,” Poly sighed. “Wow.”
“It’s Papoose Lake,” Izzy said, as Eyrn gave her daughter a side-eye. “I remember when you talked me into letting you sneak out to go here.”
“Always made me feel small,” Eyrn said with a wide grin. “Poly, you can’t imagine what it’s like to live in a world where you’re completely out of step with things. Part of why I wanted you to come here. Your father and I have a lot of friends who are managing through that every day.”
“I know, all right?”
“No, you don’t, but you’ll figure it out,” Eyrn said, starting to stretch out. “Someday.”
Darren chuckled. “Twat, at least you don’t have to deal with Teddy, or Abe, or God help us all, Amelia.”
“That is true,” Eyrn said. “But they’re your kids, Darren. I just don’t know what Lysis did to deserve that.”
“I was dumb enough to marry him,” Lysis said with a laugh.
“Your own damn fault,” Darren said. Then, as he watched Eyrn, his expression suddenly changed. “Now…wait a sec. Twat…you ain’t gonna….”
“Might want to brace yourself,” Eyrn said, and she took off at a dead sprint.
“Aw, hell, if she breaks her ankle….”
Eyrn was ignoring him, though. It had been a long, long time since she’d done this here, and she was loving the feel of the wind in her hair, whipping it back against her cheek. She got up to top speed, and she leapt.
“Fucking hell,” Darren said. “I’m not a kid anymore, Twat!” he shouted, as he and Izzy hit the dirt. Xú looked at them quizzically, until the seismic shock from Eyrn’s landing knocked her from her feet.
“Whoa!” she said, with a laugh. “That’s impressive.”
“Keep an eye on her,” Darren said. “Damn fool thinks she’s twenty-five still.”
“Yup, damn fool,” Izzy said. “Maybe stop grinning if she’s being so foolish.”
“Aw, hush up, corporal.”
“That’s ‘sergeant,’ Sarge.”
Eyrn turned a few cartwheels, but decided not to try a forward flip; still, she landed in a graceful round-off, and walked back to her friends and daughter with a grin on her face.
“You’re a damn idiot, Twat!” Darren called. “And as usual, got’dang incredible.”
Eyrn looked at her daughter, who looked shocked. “That was…that was kinda….”
“Used to be better than that,” she said, digging out a water-tower’s worth of liquid from her pack and downing it. “But it’s still fun.”
“Can I try?”
Eyrn looked at her daughter, and grinned. “Make sure your antigrav devices are very secure – you don’t have ‘em welded to your spine. They go out, you’re gonna land real hard.”
Poly checked the devices on her wrists and ankles, looked out at the dry lake bed, and tucking her short black hair behind her ears, took off.
“Got’damn it, Twat,” Darren said with mock indignation. “Bad enough I gotta look out for one of you.”
* * *
Ammer sat in front of Loona at long, three-sided table, watching his girlfriend work.
Inna had mastered the art of working for the public version of Sen. Tarsuss; she handed Pryvani notes that she and Pryvani both knew she didn’t need, and appeared to talk to the senator quietly and earnestly as they approached the call to order, smiling as if explaining things to a hyperactive, easily-distracted child.
Finally, Inna pointed to the clock, as if to remind Pryvani that they were starting in just a minute, before swinging by Rep. Armac’s desk.
“I’m sorry, Representative, we can’t have your chief of staff hanging out on your desk. It wouldn’t be fair,” she said, with a wink.
“Of course, but if he needs to get me information?”
“You didn’t have a staffer here to help him?” Inna said, feigning exasperation.
“No, she didn’t, as we’re all only allowed one staffer,” said Ammer with a groan. “We discussed this last time.”
“Fine, fine; I’m doing everything else, if Mr. Smit needs to speak with you, I’ll bring him over. And we’ll allow him send you memos by pad. You’ll have to sit by me, sir.”
“You can tell Sen. Tarsuss I’m not thrilled with this,” Ammer said, stepping into Inna’s hand. “New lotion?”
Inna stuck her tongue out. “You should know, you bought it for me. And I’m sure the senator will take your complaint under advisement should I ever register it. Now, I’m sorry, we’re about to begin.”
Pryvani rang the bell, and looked down at her notecards as if briefly befuddled, before saying, “The committee will come to order. We will be continuing to take testimony from experts invited by members of the committee. Later today, we will hear from Navarchos Aertimus Bass of Gama fleet; the chair of xenosociology at Tannhauser Gate University, Dr. Filba Jinn; and Jozan Loqal of the Joyous Human Pet Food Company. At this time, the chair would like to welcome Lyroo Prenn, Chief Executive Officer of the Archavian Human Owners’ Society, who is testifying at the behest of the Representative from Telemaki Three Rivers. You may proceed, Ms. Prenn.”
“Thank you, madam chair,” Lyroo said. “As you all know, I have dedicated my life to the goal of making life better for humans in this Empire. Not to throw them to the shaars, as some would have us do, but to make sure their safety and security is assured, and that they are treated with love and care. I believe that any steps we take must first take into account the utter fragility of humans when they are confronted with this vast Empire.”
Lyroo smiled. “That does not mean, however, that there might not be places humans can live safely, under our protection. This committee has heard a great deal of testimony over the last week about humans on Avalon and Earth, and how advanced they are; how they have built their own societies and run their own lives. And I believe that some of this is compelling,” Lyroo said, triggering a murmur from the crowd. “I believe it’s possible that wild humans, and especially those on Earth, may in fact be class one sentient beings, or at least, something more than class two.”
From Inna’s desk, Ammer perked up. “Oh, you magnificent bitch,” he muttered, suddenly catching her new tack. “Oh, that’s brilliant.”
“But I believe that those who say the examples of Avalon and Earth are proof that all humans should be emancipated…well, they’re putting the thruster ahead of the rocket. Certainly, the humans on Avalon and Earth have done interesting things, remarkable even. But are humans who are pets, who have been raised as pets for generation upon generation, really the same as those who have had to live in the wild, to adapt on their own? I do not believe so. In my long time working with humans, I have seen some differences between wild and domesticated humans. Wild humans do display a sense of self that borders on class one, but I have yet to see a domesticated human truly behave in the same way another fully sentient creature would. Now, my experience with working with Earth humans begins with a human named Darren….”
Ammer quickly jabbed a message into his pad and hit send, and looked across at his boss. Loona was already angry, and was growing more livid as Lyroo discussed a pet who styled herself as a writer…but she saw the message flash through.
“Don’t do it,” it said.
Her expression did not change, but her eyes flicked over to him and she nodded, slightly. He was right. They’d have to adjust to this. It would take some time. Probably a couple years. Biting Lyroo’s head off today was not advisable, even if she deserved it.
But damn it, she had to hand it to Lyroo. This would make the debate a lot more difficult.
* * *
Ziah Solis had been convicted swiftly, and was awaiting his sentence, which seemed certain to be death. He accepted it; he had tried. He had come so very close to winning. But he knew the price of failure when he started this mission; it was his noble fate to accept it.
He was more upset at the financial hit his family had taken. Hurassen Bass had successfully petitioned to run a civil trial alongside the tribunal, and he had been relentless – as one would expect, given that Solis had attempted to kill roughly a third of his family. Bass was far too savvy to merely seek money for the Bass family, however; they didn’t really need it, and it wouldn’t hurt Solis nearly enough. Instead, he had won a sizable chunk of Solis’s possessions, and promptly had them assigned to the Aenur Foundation.
Solis despised it. But he had lost, and while he had allies…well, they could hardly come to his aid without making their presence known. He understood it. He was a soldier, after all.
His only hope was that the Emperor would hear what he’d said and come to his aid. And that hope was raised, significantly, by the fact that he was currently sitting in an interrogation room at the military prison he was being held in, waiting to talk to someone. Someone very important, given how badly protocol was being bent.
The door opened, and a very tall man walked in. Despite his age, he was strong and broad-shouldered, and his very appearance demanded obeisance. He wore a flag pilot’s duty uniform; only the four-comet insignia and the “ColVanos” on his chest gave any hint of who he was.
“Your Imperial Majesty,” Solis said, rising and bowing. “Bless you.”
Tiernan ColVanos, Fourth of that Name, Emperor of Archavia and All Its Possessions, simply nodded, and sat down. “You will not be sentenced to death,” he said.
“I knew it!” Solis said, returning to his seat. “I knew you’d understand! I did what I had to do, Your Majesty. To preserve the Empire. I knew….”
“Be quiet,” the Emperor rumbled menacingly. “I am not doing this as a favor to you.”
Solis’s jaw dropped.
“You tried to take on the role of Emperor, Navarchos Solis. You tried to dictate Imperial policy to the legislature, and to me. You tried to set things up to ensure that we would attack Earth, or they would attack us.”
“We have to….”
“You disgust me,” the Emperor growled. “You tried to foment war between us and beings who have just stepped out into the wider galaxy. You tried to make us commit a vile atrocity. I have seen your righteous lecture on the failings of humans, Solis. You would have fit right in with the worst of them. You certainly fit in with the worst of us.”
“But…they will…we cannot trust them.”
“And they can trust us? After what we’ve done?” roared Tiernan; he was known to be a kind, friendly Emperor, a man who laughed easily and loved freely. But then, his enemies usually didn’t have the opportunity to talk of his other side.
“We hold their people in bondage, Solis. We treat them well, I suppose, but they live in cages. And this is not a fact that we can hide from the governments of Earth. We have not tried.”
“And I’m sure they’ve reacted with characteristic anger, Emperor. You must –”
“They have shown patience. Patience for our failings. Patience for our mistreatment of their brothers and sisters. And it is mistreatment, Solis. We have known for centuries that this cannot stand. Studies of captive humans from 214 years ago showed them to have similar capacities to ours in learning, reasoning, and rational thought. Other studies have shown them to bond with other humans at levels similar to that of Titans bonding with Titans. These studies were ignored, and hidden, because they would upset things in the Empire, and we do not like letting things get upset, not before we’re ready for them to be.
“This is unconscionable, and yet they have shown patience. And do you know why, Solis?”
“Because traitors are representing us.”
“Only one traitor here. No, let me tell you of a different world than ours, one where the Earth space ship pulled up to Titan Station, and we simply welcomed them. None of your attacks, none of your drama. Do you know what happens? I don’t, but I have my suspicions. I suspect that we would have told them about our human pets, and they would have demanded we leave their system, and demanded we have nothing to do with them – and then they would have gone home and prepared for war.
“You see, the captain of that ship, the one you called a savage, has been eloquent in her defense of us. She has lobbied her leaders on our behalf. Do you know why? Because she saw our officers willing to lay down their lives for her crew, saw them fight with everything they had to keep her crew safe, and when that appeared impossible, she saw them volunteer for death rather than let them die alone. Had she not seen that, would she have been as active? Or would she have viewed us as the perverse evil that enslaved her species? And in her absence, would her leaders have listened to our Ambassador? Or dismissed her as lying?”
Tiernan smiled. “It was you, Solis. You gave them exactly what they needed. You tried to stop first contact, but instead you ensured its long-term success. You proved to the humans that there were people in our Empire who were not evil, but who viewed them as equals. There will be bumps along the way – there have to be, I’ve never read a story that didn’t have them, have you? – but in the end, humans will ally themselves with our Empire, and with our protection and their curiosity, there is no telling what we will accomplish together.”
Solis stared at the Emperor as he got up. “So why make sure I can’t be sentenced to death?”
“Because,” the Emperor said with a smile, “I want you to spend a long time in prison, watching the growth of the seed you fertilized. I want you to be sitting in the Imperial dungeon when I greet Earth’s leader here in the capital, when the first human captain takes command of a capital ship, when the first human takes their seat in the House. I want you to see it all, Solis, and know that none of it would have happened had you not tried to stop it.”
The Emperor gave out a hearty laugh as he stepped out of the room. Solis could hear it echoing down all the way down the hall.
Lets check the list:
“Because, I want you to spend a long time in prison, watching the growth of the seed you fertilized.
I want you to be sitting in the Imperial dungeon when I greet Earth’s leader here in the capital, (checked, assuming ambassador Martin, which was earlier president of US counts for that)
when the first human captain takes command of a capital ship, (checked, congratulations Ryan)
when the first human takes their seat in the House. (checked, congratulations Ammer and Alex)
I want you to see it all, Solis, and know that none of it would have happened had you not tried to stop it.”
Here just a thought on economics, if an unlimited supply of humans came on to the market, the price breeders could get for their inventory would severely drop. So, by making it illegal to buy, sell, or keep wild humans the breeders would in fact have a cartel controlling the price a human could be sold for. Is it possible that Lyroo and her fellow breeders would want to advance legislation that would take all wild humans off the market so that they could be the only ones able to provide human pets? I am not saying that this tack that HOS is taking is planned but it seems to have a logic and I am sure that this compromise
would be push to attempt to satisfy the immediate drive to take action on the Human question.
The thing is Wild Humans both on Avalon and Earth were already off the market. It’s been illegal to poach from Earth for Titan centuries (our heores being the rare exceptions) and Avalon is owned by the Tarus family.
Lyroo was introduced as CEO of the HOS but there was no mention of whether or not Prenn farms is still in operation or if she’s involved with the farm. As the opinion among titans, especially younger titans has shifted to recognition of humans as class 1 the demand for humans as pets must have sharply declined in the last 20T years. The fact that the HOS shelters continue to exist suggest the demand for humans as pets is less than the supply. This is different than the demand in the Hive where attempts to raise humans purely as food fail and they are forced to seek external supply.
The guess here is that as Lyroo is testifying her HOS shelters are filled to overflowing with unwanted humans and whoever is running Prenn farms is trying to quietly run humans to the insectoids and preparing to move their farm operations to isolated locations, probably within Hive controlled space before the empire shuts the whole business down.
What the HOS director should be testifying to is that as the countdown to the emancipation vote nears she is expecting huge numbers of humans are going to be dumped on the HOS before their liberation expenses become the financial responsibility of their former owners.
“But he had lost, and while he had allies…well, they could hardly come to his aid without making their presence known.”
So there’s still hope; there may have been something more to Solis’s character.
BTW anyone surprised Avalon being a thing didn’t seem to cause any stir? For a moment I thought this might get told in another story, but then realized Titans can be so blase about everything that an independent human planet in the Taurus system probably got no more than a shrug.
Another thing…
Build a full-fledged embassy but not tell earth of the details of the empire? Talk about thruster before the rocket eh….I agree about not telling right away but it has to be told- soon. Really soon. I mean in a matter of month or so (human) word WILL get out and Los Titans will deal with unruly earth humans (not really unruly in this kumbaya era but you know..annoyed…..slightly miffed…..perturbed if you will)
I think an Embassy is important, the longer there’s a Titan presence on Earth without any conquering or enslaving or standard evil alien tropes, the less likely it is when the truth gets out (and it will) that there’s a full scale panic.
Better protests and xenophobia than people saying it’s the end of days.~
Isn’t it customary for the host country to build the embassy building or give an existing one ?
I understand why that can’t be the case here but as Nitestarr pointed out, that poses quite a few issues.
I mean, Titans are building the place, stuffing it with their tech – much more advanced than Earth’s – while everything is still in flux. Let’s not forget an embassy is never “just” an embassy, it’s also the center of spycraft for the guests, here, the Titans.
We come to this paradox that, before Contact, Titans were to far away to get a clear picture of what’s going on Earth and now, nothing Earth does technologically will escape their sight.
It’s not like Earth and the Empire are buddies already.
That embassy is indeed, “putting the thruster before the rocket”.
The issue here isn’t titans keeping secrets from Earth governments. It is Earth governments keeping titan secrets from Earth’s media and population. What better place than a remote site with a 200 year record of keeping secrets and spreading mis-information?
The whole thing has to be built with empire built gravity compensators anyway if Eyrn expects to have any help sweeping the floors and carrying out the trash.
Looks like other than Robyn Martin there’s not going to be very many folks come to visit in person anyway. At least to begin with although the other Earth leaders may have to reconsider if they think she’s playing that to her advantage.
I will simply note that at the height of the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union maintained embassies in each others’ capitals. Accepting an embassy != establishing an alliance, it simply means one has recognized another sovereign state.
Maintained Occupied 😉
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/15/world/the-bugged-embassy-case-what-went-wrong.html
Reminds me of a French embassy in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, built by the host country.
When French counter-espionnage checked the building, they discovered pretty much the same setup as in your article.
So when France took possession of the building, what we did was to dig a 20 feet deep trench all around the building, severing all landlines (telephone, electricity and of course bugs), then demolishing and rebuilding pretty much the whole building room by room.
Took months before the building could be used.
Good old times. 🙂
That doesn’t make any sense – unless C1 status has formally been established. Thats like sending an ambassador to a world of intelligent gerbils if said gerbils are still considered (legally) to be just intelligent animals..
This is how it reads:
“We are sending an ambassador to you and (de-facto) recognizing you as a sovereign state, but you are still considered to be property”
Huh?
The USA and Soviet Union at least recognized each other as people
In fact I think the earth government should strongly urge (or suggest or urgently recommend – can’t really demand) to the Titans that the latter should legally bestow C1 status upon all humans, as a protection against a change of heart or viewpoint on the latter’s behalf, should such an event occur…..*oh my gosh*
“Sentience Classification is a method used by the Titan Empire to determine qualification for citizenship, self-determination, and affiliation within the Empire. The classification is used to divide sentient species into those which are capable of living independent lives within the empire and which are not.“
Prima facie: Earth born humans have lived in complete isolation from the empire for over 1000T years and advanced to a space fairing society capable of first contact.
Humans on Avalon have lived in self-imposed relative isolation from the empire and advanced from a medieval society to an information age society in less than 25T years.
Humans in the Maris preserve have lived independently for over 50T years and in the last 20TY developed themselves into a self-sustaining commercial success.
All of those groups have met the essential requirements of class one status and any or all of the humans from these groups including all abductees and any of their descendants living with the empire ought to be recognized immediately by the empire as C1 foreign nationals until or unless they receive empire citizenship.
All other humans living within the empire have the right to appeal to Earth or Avalon governments for political asylum until their citizenship rights are acknowledged by the empire including the right of these governments to intervene proactively with empire authorities to protect the welfare of all human life.
Essentially the Earth position: Recognize any human not an empire citizen as by default either a citizen of Earth, Avalon, or under their protection effective immediately by amendment of the existing Earth-Empire treaty. Eventually, after Earth and the empire have a solid defense pact and the means to impose it, this doctrine gets extended to the rest of the galaxy. After the empire acts on redefining or better yet eliminating class two status then begin on the road towards reciprocal citizenship if not full political union.
Thats all very nice…
Won’t matter a hill of beans though, cause if the Titan Legislature doesn’t enact laws making humans C1 then none of the above will matter. Humans will have no rights and any Titan at any time could do anything to any human (including the ones on earth) and not suffer any consequences, unless they are cruel then the cruelty laws will kick in….
The ambassadorship on earth right now is more of a PR thing, than anything of substance…
But it makes great talking points for TETH 🙂
You are also assuming that humans (earth, avalon, empire, elsewhere….EAEE hmmmnmn) would WANT political union or even citizenship with the empire.. You are making that rocket thruster thingy argument…..
In fact the Titan presence on Earth would make it quite easy for Los Titanos to abduct humans. They are right there with easy access to a whole bunch of humans. So they take a few dozen or so as pets or souvenirs. (hey check out this ‘free’ human I got from earth, cool eh? shhh don’t tell anyone..) They can scoop them up hide them in their embassy compound, then secretly spirit them away to the rest of the galaxy.. Earth has about 10 bil people so I doubt they would miss 20 or 30. that would be their thinking
Soo if the Terrans find out about this what could they do? Complain about it? Send another strongly worded letter? The Titans would either deny its happening or start the process of instituting a search committee for the missing humans which would take the usual amount of time these things take (in other words a long frakking time)
There are some strong points for citizenship, first more legal protections, second full citizenship allows for governmental representation. It won’t be much power by itself, but the Empire isn’t going anywhere and better to have little say in its actions than none at all. Not to mention the coalition of non titans that would be eager to welcome Humans into the fold, it would certainly give humanity more political clout to regulate their own affairs than any isolationist stance.
As for abductions, that only makes sense if the Governments of Earth aren’t monitoring the Titan Embassy or their own skies. Darren hints at helping the Assembly on such protections against rogue titans so it’s only ‘easy’ if they fall asleep at the wheel. This is also a hypothetical where Eryn is either incompetent or flat out evil :p/
As an add on, right now Titans are only allowed in their real bodies at the Embassy so the only way to abduct people is Humans entering the embassy unchecked, so no one notices when they never come out again…how many embassies do you know that are tourist hot spots/have such lax security?
Or I suppose Titans could just kidnap people in their holo bodies, then drag them back to the embassy completely unnoticed by anyone.
@Kusanagi: There are strong points for citizenship. There are some points against as well. Being part of the empire means losing control. Florida can’t set immigration policy for the US, and neither can Arizona. They have to defer to Washington for that.
In our context, being part of the empire means Earth cannot forge ties with the Drazari or the K’Gapti. Can’t develop our own technology. Suppose Earth had some technology that the Titans didn’t have. Suppose we got Izzi’s wish and had Star Trek-style transporters. As part of the empire, Earth can’t keep that for humans only.
And if you want to know what happens to an even slightly less advanced province in a big empire, look at Greece. Look at the so-called “flyover states”. Look at rural China. The economic advantages of an entire empire tend to accrue to the strongest parts. Even if the Titans share technology, at some point the best human researchers would go to where the most exciting research is going on. And that won’t be Earth.
I could be wrong, feel free to correct me, but if Earth entered an agreement similar to the other alien races they would maintain autonomy over their own worlds while also having a voice in the empire.
Though admittedly we haven’t gone into just much control they have/ how tight a leash the Empire has on them.
Understandable but in this instance its like US sending an embassy to Guam if Guam was only populated by tiny monkeys. US owns and protects the island, owns all of its indigenous wildlife, doesn’t recognize monkeys as citizens, and can do whatever it likes with the island without consulting the monkeys.
That’s called an expedition, not an embassy.
The only difference between an Earth human and a pet human is their upbringing. There’s plenty of evidence for that at The Tribe and on Avalon. The entire tribe, sans Luke, are descended from pets, or used to be pets themselves.
Sure, but the tribe is not a good example of how we want humans to live in the empire. They’re basically share-croppers. They live on the Maris farm and do farm work. In return they’re allowed to live there and get some money. While they’re not in feudal servitude – each member of the tribe is free to go – they don’t have anywhere to go.
A better example is Ammer, he’s just one generation removed from being a pet, and you know standing right there.
A coupla things…
1)
“Only one traitor here. No, let me tell you of a different world than ours, one where the Earth space ship pulled up to Titan Station, and we simply welcomed them. None of your attacks, none of your drama. Do you know what happens? I don’t, but I have my suspicions. I suspect that we would have told them about our human pets, and they would have demanded we leave their system, and demanded we have nothing to do with them – and then they would have gone home and prepared for war.
___
Really?
Assuming that those humans would know at least the basics of the Titan empire, they would go home… argue a bit between themselves and send a strongly worded letter to their legislature stating how disappointed they are in their actions… War?… pfeh..
2)
“And I believe that some of this is compelling,” Lyroo said, triggering a murmur from the crowd. “I believe it’s possible that wild humans, and especially those on Earth, may in fact be class one sentient beings, or at least, something more than class two.”
From Inna’s desk, Ammer perked up. “Oh, you magnificent bitch,” he muttered, suddenly catching her new tack. “Oh, that’s brilliant.” ”
_____
No Ammer she is a crafty bitch and a hot one too……bit on the old side tho…..
She might have financial interests in keeping the status quo…
Hasta….
1) I agree that the emperor is wrong. We would not go to war. We might not accept an ambassador and send the strongly-worded message, but not much more than that.
2) Hey, for someone who’s just two years shy of 300, she looks fine.
The emperor is being a bit arrogant in how he assumes Earth will simply join the empire.
The emperor didn’t make that assumption:
“…in the end, humans will ally themselves with our Empire, and with our protection and their curiosity, there is no telling what we will accomplish together.”
Political union isn’t necessary to laying the foundation of a successful partnership. Sometimes it can be the obstacle to that partnership…
I was the last to consent to the separation; but the separation having been made and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power. – George III to ambassador John Adams
I want you to be sitting in the Imperial dungeon when I greet Earth’s leader here in the capital, when the first human captain takes command of a capital ship, when the first human takes their seat in the House.
He’s talking about imperial capital ships and the imperial legislature.
That would suggest more than just partnership unless he’s talking about pet humans in the Empire but the beginning of the sentence implies he’s talking about Earth humans.
He’s talking about how he wants his empire to change so that humans will want to be a part of an empire that is better than what they have now. That’s certainly not arrogance. Hopefully it’s not wishful thinking either.
They are a part of the empire no need to ally themselves, since alliance would indicate independence – a state that does not exist. Technically the empire owns ALL humans everywhere…This is yada yada feel good semantics
Furthermore if down the road, if the empire wills it the agreement can be rescinded and things can revert back to the way it was..Humans will still have very, very little power or say in it..I’ll go into this line of reasoning a bit later…This is a very real possibility.
The empire has sent an ambassador. The US does not send an ambassador to Kentucky. That is a recognition of independence.
You’re assuming Earth is the only place with humans.
Exactly. In this universe, humans doesn’t necessarily mean earthlings.
While I was certainly expecting the argument to be made between “wild” and “domestic” humans I wasn’t sure it was going to be Lyroo. It does show either some evolution in her thinking, or an acknowledgement that arguing “wild” humans need to be protected in a similar fashion to pets is a losing one that is thoroughly discredited. She may or may not believe what she says about “Wild” humans, but she does understand that she can’t win advocating against Earth.
I really want to know what she said about Noonah though, I’m shocked she even brought her up since Noonah’s life pretty much torpedoes her argument.
On the other big part I feel while the Emperor’s view is a touch simplistic he’s mostly right. Aerti/Team Pryvani acted as excellent ambassadors for the Empire and even in a peaceful first contact things could have gone poorly. I don’t think this would have led to any sort of war since humanity still would have realized they’d get absolutely curbstomped in any actual conflict, but initial relations probably would have been more hostile.
“a pet who styled herself as a writer” That choice of words suggests that Lyroo knows that Nonah is a problem and wants to discredit her.
I may be wrong but it seems Lyroo is proposing Jim Crow laws. One set of humans, those born and raised in the wild would be free class one citizens while those bred to be pets would remain pets. There may be a test similar to a poll test that was given to deny African Americans their rights to vote to determine what rights a human in the empire would have. This led to the inequities that made the civil rights movement of the 1960’s in the United States inevitable. I am sure HOS will retain the popularity of the KKK post civil war after emancipation with those Titans who will want to retain the comfort of their prejudice. In The United States, where 2/3’s of our prison population is of color. A disproportionate ratio, these prejudice still exist though have become veiled through the guise of our political correct veneer. Over time. most likely generations equality will be achieved but delaying the process until the empire reaches a comfort level may delay progress until earth has developed far enough to defeat and exterminate the Titans making Solis prediction a reality.
Espionage is an art form that humans have practiced for centuries, it is covered in detail in the writings of Sun Tzu which is studied in every military academy and human technological progress will be accelerated through contact with the empire. It will not be long until Earth can catch up to the empire and should Lyroo prevail it will come at a massive price to the empire. I eagerly await further progress in the over all story should the author choose to favor us with a continuation of this adventure.
Snowball
It may take another generation of Titans and humans to finish the fight , I don’t see it ending so fast with the second generation of characters, prejudice will run high even after the inevitable emancipation. The children of Sorcha, Lessy,Odin, Thyllia and gang will have to settle it, no matter the result. Unless the quartet of writers can somehow write a logical way to get around Lyroo’s Jim Crow laws.
We’ll we’re assuming Lyroo is victorious which is not necessarily the case.
Her argument has several flaws, it relies on the old ‘Loona really wrote the books conspiracy’ for one. I doubt it will be convincing to an audience leaning human rights. What it may do is drag this process out for years (ty) which will strain Earth relations.
We’re not assuming her victory, we’re assuming she’s going to muck things up and cause delays.
Nostory, who I responded to, said the next generation of protagonists would have to overcome Lyroo’s jim crow laws so yes that’s assuming she’s victorious.
Are Earthlings building the imperial Embassy or Titans? I may misread, Help me please! great chapter, with Lyroo’s return by the way !
It’s not said who is doing the construction work, but most likely the Empire is doing most of it. Since the embassy will have titans living in it, the Empire will want to make sure that the embassy satisfies their building code. And I also assume that the Empire has advanced machinery that can do a faster and better job than anything humans currently possess.
Brilliant? Meh, I’m unimpressed. It was only a matter of time before someone on the Empire side started advocating segregation “for their protection” and before the ‘no true hoplite’ fallacy made its return. And while I didn’t know that Lyroo would be the one, she was an excellent candidate. I’m actually a little surprised that the good guys didn’t seem to be prepared for these viewpoints.
None of it would have happened had you not tried to stop it. I liked most of what the Emperor said, but in my opinion he’s overestimating Ziah Solis’ role in events. Sure, what Ziah did ended up smoothing the road to emancipation immensely, but saying that emancipation would not have happened without him? That’s underestimating both human adaptability and the forces in the Empire pushing for change, at least in my opinion.
I wonder if those studies the Emperor mentioned were prompted by something specific. My first thought was that they were the result of Tez Magilna’s efforts; the wiki mentions that at one point she unsuccesfully pushed for a study into the cognitive abilities of humans. But I was mistaken; Tez Magilna was assassinated in 1807 MA, while the year 214 years before the current year of 2124 is 1910 MA.
I doubt Tiernan was interesting in just reciting facts to Solis. He might have exaggerated a bit to twist the knife.
Oh Lyroo, do you really want to take on Nonah? She already schooled you once. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to give your bake a good slap.
There are plenty who would love to give her a slap. Guess its time to finish her off.
OHH is right. Lyroo Prenn now faces a fate even worse than being written out of Titanverse history: Being written into galactic lore and vilified by Nonah Armac 😉
Clever, the emperor decided not to give opponents of emancipation a martyr but still got his $.02 worth in.
History is written by the winners, after all.
Never mess with writers, they’ll destroy your reputation and demonise you if you cross them.
Lyroo is defending her business aslo the same time. sure she can reconvert herself into education for ‘pet’ human for example, but it cost a price for formin and training staffs.
I don’t think a martyr is worth more than a hero in chains. If in 1962 Nelson Mandela was killed instead of arrested, we would all have forgotten about him and the world would be spared a really sucky song by Jerry Dammers.
Finally, we get to see a bit of Lyroo. Would love to see more of her, specifically her reaction to the news of first contact. That said, she seems to have opened her mind just enough to think that “wild” Humans are capable of being class 1. I’d say that’s some progress. =p
The Emporerer is certainly a man you want to be careful around. X3
Ugh
And yet the question of What if Earth Does not want to Join the Empire is still isn’t asked.
And there’s Lyroo, ever determined to be on the wrong side of history.
“she had to hand it to Lyroo.”
No! No she certainly did not! This is too important of a subject to show her even a modicum of respect for the ignorance she’s spreading, and you can tell she’s going to make sure this whole process takes as long as possible. She’s a damned deluded fool.
Oh… and I think it’s probably appropriate that the Emperor release those studies to the public now, instead of continuing to sit on them.
We finally get to see Lyroo, and well she’s actually progressed in her view of humans. It’s a view that’s 20 titan years out of date, self serving, and also held despite knowing about both Nonah and the Maris Farm Tribe who have adopted a large number of humans from her shelters, but there it is.
And it seems Solis has pulled a Trell, helping humanity out despite seeking to harm them.
I wouldn’t call it progress. She still thinks that domesticated humans aren’t fully sentient and need titans to provide for them, and that wild humans should be kept on their own world(s), protected from the larger galaxy by the titans. The only real change is that after her experience with Darren, she’s decided that wild and domesticated humans are fundamentally different as a result of the passage of many generations. Which in my opinion is a step backward rather than forward.
It’s actually Pryvani’s position from way back in the first Titan novel, she tells Alesia as much earlier on in this novel. It’s also Bedra’s position when Eyrn and Aisell were working on converting her, and she was already considered somewhat liberal about humans to begin with.
Considering where those two where and where they ended up, well this is still a kind of progress given we’re talking about Lyroo here. It only looks like a step back because every other character who has seen the evidence she has have progressed on.
Lyroo was beating a skillful retreat, as Ammer was quick to notice. The real question is whether she is doing it because she is in fact trying to protect her family’s financial interest in exploiting humans or whether it’s just her ugly dominant nature coming to the fore as it did in Exile. Or both. Either way she can in no way be compared to Pryvani, Bedra, Asiell, or any of the many other open minded titans who learned from personal experience.
D.X. cut her off just when it was starting to get interesting with her mentioning Darren, as if he wasn’t the most famous human in the galaxy already. The guess here is that she’s still fighting that lost cause trying to prove her dominance over him and that’s how Loona and Ammer and Pryvani and friends corner her.
The arguments trying to separate “wild” and “tame” humans only prove all humans are highly adaptable to circumstances, maybe even more adaptable than titans…oops. Take her down the way she wants to go and let her spell out the differences between what she thinks humans are and her own definition of class one and hang her with her own rope.
Guess we’ll all just have to wait for Hybrid to see how this turns out 🙂
It is over already? Well that was one hell of a great ride. Gotta say though, his royal highness sure knows how to twist the knife at just the right angle to his enemies. Loved that scene
Author’s Note: This is the last formal chapter of Contact, though one epilogue remains.
We have been waiting for this announcement. I accept it with sadness; it is clear that the story has come to a conclusion. What rich and complex characters you wove for us… What outstanding adventure. Kudos, for sure! Thank you very much. ;-}
Ah figured if this wasn’t the last we were getting really close.
already?! it means, we have to wait a bit longer for Hybrid!
It means that we might have to kick the 4-5 chapters a week habit cold turkey
http://24.media.tumblr.com/9365cfe6de0419afa5df89e019c73b5e/tumblr_mrdy178jeZ1rlfsw2o1_250.gif
Yeah, that’s my biggest concern.
My biggest concern is now that it won’t be updating every other day is keeping up while the subscription service is non existent.
Like you don’t come here everyday. 😛
shhh