Standing in the usually-soft but currently-calloused hands of Mpola Vidol would have once been completely bizarre, the stuff of pure fantasy. For humans working with the Empire, it was Tuesday.

Ahek Uɉa had long-ago stopped worrying about it; indeed, she barely noticed it anymore. (It helped, she would always admit, that her earliest experiences had been with officers like Tig Belfsec and Ulala Ix, who had taken extra duty to help acclimate humans to it; both were patient and careful, and if you started out afraid, they were both very good at helping you to get over it.)

So Ahek didn’t mind the short trip very much, which gave her the opportunity to tweak her number two.

“I will never understand,” she said, “how someone who grew up on Avalon would be more concerned about riding in someone’s hand than someone who grew up on a tiny rock.”

Emidus Zery rolled his eyes. “As I’ve told you, ma’am, it’s not like Lady Tarsuss wanders around Atlantis picking people up at random. You’re as likely to see one of the Titans Titan-sized in Atlantis as you are on Itabanoɉa.”

“I’m sorry,” Mpola said, “I hope this doesn’t….”

“Oh, it’s fine, Imperator,” Emidus said. “I’m always a bit apprehensive, and Col. Uɉa always takes the opportunity to needle me about it.”

“Ah, just teasing your subordinate,” Mpola said. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“Not at all, Imperator,” Emidus said. “I for one was grateful for the interruption.”

Mpola closed a door shut behind her, and set the two senior officers on a desk. This was an office-slash-bunk area, that was full to the rafters with pieces of shattered station tech that they had been slowly cannibalizing. It was clear they hadn’t just been sitting around, waiting to be rescued.

“I am sorry for the mess,” she said. “Not a lot of room, especially since this area was designed for five people, max. At least…five Titans,” she added. “Humans…you’d have space aplenty.”

“It’s the handy part of being small,” Ahek agreed.

“I understand why the Tusolan ambassador is here,” Emidus said. “Who are the others?”

“I’m guessing, given what you already know, that the Ambassador and the other evacuees made it back to the Empire.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ahek said. “All safe. You’re considered a hero, you know.”

“I just did my job,” Mpola said, with a sigh of relief. “Thank the Emperor that Joseu got home. All right, you know then, we evacuated about 65 Imperial citizens. Our best estimate was that over 2500 Imperials were on the planet. Those out there are the four out of 2500 who made it here. Based on what they’ve said…we believe the others are all dead.”

“Goddess protect them,” Emidus said. “The ones who survived must have some stories to tell.”

* * *

“These fighters are fascinating,” the older man, Dr. Regda, said, walking a bit closer to the table. “What shipyard were they built at?”

“Airframe is built by the EXPLORE consortium in Seattle, United States,” Amon Stopri said. “Avionics are out of Tokyo, power plant is Avalonian.”

“What kind of power plant?” asked Vif Stauseo.

“Freeman-Chandrasekhar-Freeman,” Stopri said.

“What does that mean?” Regda asked.

“Mr. Stopri,” Sachini Ranatunga said, not needing to complete the sentence to communicate the warning.

“I know, ma’am,” Stopri said with a nod. “That’s the kind of drive, and that’s about the only unclassified thing I can tell you about it.”

“So did Lady Tarsuss build these for you?” Regda asked.

“Dr. Regda,” said a teenaged girl who’d been relatively quiet, “they’re people. Don’t treat them like they’re idiots.”

Regda looked over his shoulder at the young woman. “Miss Usilu, I certainly do not think they are idiots. Idiots could not pilot these ships. But they were emancipated less than a year ago. I find it difficult to imagine that they have moved from pets to spaceships in such a short time.”

“Dr. Regda, you surprise me,” the Tusolan Ambassador said. “How is it you can have studied Earth so little, or Avalon? I am intrigued by your ships,” Ambassador Ssutassa added, “and I am certain they are your ships. In space, they would be a devastating weapon, if you have the equivalent of a standard reactor on it to channel phase power.”

“Ambassador, gentlemen,” the young, red-haired Decanus said, interposing herself, “I know we’re all very impressed, and also, the four of you are civilians and one of you, with due respect, Ambassador, is not even an Imperial citizen. So stop asking about these ships’ specs! That help, Crewmate?”

Sachini Ranatunga smiled. “Yes, Decanus, thank you.”

Regda and Stauseo wandered away; the Ambassador simply said, “I look forward to further discussion,” before he, too, took his leave.

“You said Gama fleet was engaged at Tau Ceti?” Decanus Jokhanan asked, as they walked away.

“Yeah,” Sachini said. “They showed up just in time. We’d held off the bugs about as long as we could, but….”

“I know you said the Troji, Gyfjon, Jev, and Tenal were lost. Did…did the Gorrk make it through?”

“It took a bit of damage,” Eudo Ytego said, after finishing her check of Acolyte Nine. “But casualties were under ten percent for them, and I think only…what, thirty fatalities for the Gorrk?”

“Thirty-three,” Sachini said. “Only the Omicron had fewer in the fleet.”

“You don’t…by any chance…was Gaktu Jokhanan among them?”

Ytego blew out. “I don’t…there were 974 Imperials lost in the fight. I don’t know for sure. I don’t remember the name, though.”

“He’s my older brother,” she said. He’s an engineer on the Gorrk.”

“Oh, well, then he should be okay,” Ytego said. “Think the only deaths on the Gorrk were strike forces.”

“Yeah, and that one gunner,” Sachini added. “Engineering was fine. In fact, they took lead at getting some basic power back to the colony, didn’t they?”

“Think that was them,” Ytego said. “It gets blurry, you know.”

“You weren’t knocked out, Eudo,” Sachini said. “Amon, do you remember, were the engineers from the Gorrk part of the initial damage control team?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Stopri said. “And does your brother have your red hair, Decanus Johkanan? I remember a Jotnar engineer with red hair from the Gorrk, he ran a line out to our station.”

“Jar. I mean…yes, he did. I…oh, thank….”

Johkanan wiped a tear away. “I don’t want to die, but when I heard…I couldn’t imagine my parents hearing Gakka was dead and I was missing. Not that either’s good, but both….”

“How many of the colonists died?”

The teen who’d corrected Dr. Regda before had knelt down by the table. She was pretty, if disheveled, but she appeared very tired. No, not tired – weary.

You didn’t have to be able to read people well to see that she had been through hell.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Ranatunga said. “I’m Sachi Ranatunga.”

“Myo Usilu,” the young woman said.

“It was over a hundred thousand,” Sachini added, quietly. “Almost all human, though we lost a couple of Titan workers.”

The young woman looked down. “It makes 27 seem like a small number.”

“Mademoiselle, please,” Hercule said, walking over to join the conversation. “If these 27 have died…their number is too high, I think.”

“The school I was at,” Myo said, softly. “Dr. Regda and I…warriors hit it. It was…we were….”

“Our school,” Regda said, quietly, “was for the children of Imperial citizens who worked on this planet, in business, mostly. Ms. Usilu’s parents worked for Sanavar Imports. Do you know…did they make it out?”

“I don’t,” Sachini said. “I know a couple of ships made it out, but just a couple. A bit over 100 people.”

“They killed two teachers,” Myo said, barely listening. “They killed them first, and ate…they ate them….”

“We had been holed up for two days after things fell apart,” Regda said. “I tried to get students out, but in the chaos of the attack….”

He looked over at the teenager. “Ms. Usilu and I were the only two who made it here. We were fortunate that Embassy-Guard was up above when we got here…he brought us down to this bunker. But…if any others survived…we think the 20 students and seven teachers there…well, we have seen no evidence to indicate they are alive.”

Sachini walked over toward the young woman, who was staring off into nothing. “Ms. Usilu, during the battle on Tau Ceti, my fighter crashed. You saw, we were three-officer teams. Our gunner, Pri, her leg was broken, and she was pinned inside. The fighter was on fire. Our pilot, Captain Carey…he went in for me – I was knocked out – and her. Got us both out. He was burned. Terribly. So badly.”

She sighed. “He survived, barely, and I feel guilty about that, even though he’s told me not to. Ordered me not to, actually,” Sachini added. She intended to smile when she said that, but no smile came.

“And that’s not even getting to the Four, or the Ten, or the Eleven,” Eudo Ytego added. “Those three ships…we worked with all of them. Trained for years with them. And they weren’t any less skilled than any of us. It’s just…luck that has me here, alive, and not Neda Vanchev.”

“Or me as engineer on the six, and not Elic Demios. Hells, that was basically a coin flip,” Sachini said. “Gen. Martínez and Capt. Carey, they assigned us based on who-knows-what, but the six and the four…we were basically up for the same positions. Just luck that I ended on the six. And I know Elic, he was frakking good, nothing I would have done would have been better than what he did.”

“Hells, I was just at the base,” Amon Stopri said. “I was a reserve engineer. If any of you had been sick or downchecked, I would have been on one of them, rather than off the front lines and safe.”

“You were on the front lines, Amon,” Eudo said. “And nowhere on Tau Ceti was safe. But Ms. Usilu…that’s the point.”

“Right,” Sachini said. “You shouldn’t feel guilty for being the one who survived.”

“And that won’t change it,” Eudo added. “You still will. But I hope you believe me when I tell you that at the very least…you aren’t the only one in this room who feels guilty. I’d wager my salary that everyone does. Every one.”

“I told you,” the Tusolan ambassador said, to nobody in particular. “The humans? They’re quite intelligent.”

“I don’t feel guilty,” the blonde woman said. “I just want to kill the frakkers.”

“Ms. Abidilidi, I completely understand,” Regda said. “But it would be suicide.”

* * *

“Sibel Abidilidi was a merc on a carrier. Running rodentics from Gerys. Legal for trade, something of a delicacy here. Not humans…no offense,” Mpola said.

“None taken,” Ahek said. “Our early training was under the supervision of Secretary Xanthopolous, he explained exactly how much of a delicacy the Insectoids think we are. I take a small amount of pride in it…though I hope never to be sampled myself.”

“I’ve always wondered, though,” Eudo said. “Why, when they could buy rodents, do they bother with us? I can’t believe we taste that much better.”

Mpola drummed her fingers on the desk, sending slight tremors through the feet of the human officers. “I do not have an Insectoid palate. But I’ve studied them. And my hypothesis, such as it is…I believe that what really attracts them to you is your sentience.”

“Sentience? Why would they care about that?” Eudo asked.

“A way to dominate us,” Ahek said. “At least, I imagine that’s it. They consume a creature that is as smart as them, and they feel…whatever emotion those things feel.”

“I think that’s right,” Mpola said. “You really should take pride in it, Col. Uɉa. The Insectoids realized your true intelligence long before we did.”

“At least you had the decency not to test our intelligence in the same way,” Eudo said. “At least…most of you did.”

“So Sibel was a merc. What happened?” Ahek asked.

“Her boyfriend got them both jobs on the freighter. They’d accompanied the shipment for delivery, and they were caught away from the ship when things fell apart. He had the idea of trying to get to the Embassy, get help here. He didn’t make it, and she showed up missing her left arm.”

“Awful,” Ahek said. “And the last one, Stauseo?”

Mpola leaned back, and smiled. “Yeah, he’s interesting….”

* * *

“No, I would never run anything like roe. I was just running tech that wasn’t legal for export,” Vif Stauseo said. “Not exactly proud of it, but it paid the bills. But when the Insectoids lost their gorram minds, and ate my co-pilot…I’m not an idiot. Few years on Rura Penthe won’t kill me. Probably, anyhow. Even if it does….”

“Even if it does,” Sibel said, checking the charge level on her pistols, “it’s better to die on Rura Penthe than have the bugs eat you.”

“Gorram right,” Vif said. “Knew getting busted was a possibility when I started the job. Eaten…not so much.”

“So if you have a ship, why didn’t you take off?” Ranatunga asked.

“You have no idea…it was like a nightmare,” Vif replied. “The bugs tearing apart anything that moved…I was lucky to be close enough to the embassy to make it here.”

“Why didn’t you lie about why you were here?” Hercule asked with a smile.

“Stupid,” Vif replied with the same smile. “Was too much in shock, accidentally told the truth. But it’s okay. Imperator Vidol has been fair, all in all. And the way I figure it…I was smuggling tech. And now there’s a war. I’m a runner, not a traitor. She doesn’t think the stuff I brought in has military applications, but still…I’d rather the Empire knew they had it, I guess. I was just trying to make money, not see Azatlia get destroyed.”

A new voice – clearly translated – broke in. “Embassy-Guard-Leader has said she respects the honesty of Detained-Smuggler. But he is being honest about lying.”

“Embassy-Guard isn’t so sure about me,” Vif said. “Can’t blame him.”

* * *

The video message switched off, and Mpola leaned back, and tented her fingers.

“Congratulations on your promotion, Krator-Imperator,” Ahek said. Mpola chuckled.

“All in all, I would have preferred to keep my gold comet and have had the past few months to hang out in Tuaut, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Ma’am, I do want to say, the current plan in place prioritizes the data you’ve retrieved over any of us. But you are the senior officer in this forward position, you outrank Capt. Gwenn. If you disagree….”

“No, Col. Uɉa, I do not,” Vidol said. “Honestly, if we could hold this position and transmit safely to the Empire, I’d stay and do it. We were in the dark about the situation in the Empire, but you have no idea what’s going on with the Hives.”

“Hives, plural?” Ahek asked.

“Five of them,” Mpola said.

“Five hives, all fighting,” Zery said with a smile. “That’s pretty big.”

“It’s just the start. There’s data on where they’re attacking each other, what the plans of the local hive are. With analysis…we could figure out exactly where the lines are, and cut behind them. Cut what’s left of their military capacity to shreds. This war could be over very quickly. And every day we can cut from this war is a day that people aren’t dying. So yes, I agree with the plan. If all of us die but the data gets to the Bass, it’s more than an acceptable trade.”

“I concur, ma’am,” Ahek said. “Still, I wanted you to be sure.”

“I am very, very sure,” Mpola said. “All right, let’s discuss the timing of this plan. When, exactly, are we getting out of here?”

* * *

The Avartle officer’s patience was waning.

“This conversation is pointless,” Embassy-Guard said, swishing his tail back and forth. “When are human-pilots planning to evacuate us?”

“That’s what Imperator Mploa is discussing with Col. Uɉa, Mr. Embassy-Guard,” said Eudo Ytego. “We are quite aware that you want to get off this rock sooner, rather than later.”

“Still, you discuss it, you prattle and prattle. I am tired of this,” Embassy-Guard signed, before leaping away from the table.

Ytego looked to Jokhanan in shock. Nasti shook her head slightly. “Ms. Ytego…I’m sorry about Embassy-Guard. He’s…I know you humans don’t live as long as us. Avartle…they don’t live as long as you.”

Ytego looked across the vast cramped room, and softened. “Frak, that’s…for you, it’s a few months, for us, a bit more than a year, for him…it feels like years.”

“He doesn’t talk about it. But it’s started to show,” Nasti said.

“He’s got every right to show it,” Sachini Ranatunga said. “Believe me, we know you want out of here. We’re leaving sooner than you think.”

As if to punctuate that statement, the door to the office opened, and Vidol walked out toting the two human officers. “Attention, everyone,” she said, quieting the room.

Mpola was beaming, and not because she’d just received word of her promotion. She’d been waiting to say this for three long months.

“Start packing,” she said. “Our ride gets here in twelve hours.”