“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”
–Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“They’re too quick,” Yelena Bobrova said. “They’re reacting almost as soon as we act.”
The Lem had acquitted herself quite nicely. She’d actually managed to surprise the Gyfjon more than once, which had prolonged the chase by all of two minutes. But Xú was under no illusion that her ship could outrun the vast, agile pursuer. She could only resist. And she would.
“Ma’am,” said Bobrova, as the Gyfjon overtook them. “They’re opening a hangar bay door.”
“Hard about, Captain-Lieutenant. Stand by to engage all ion and gravitic thrusters at 110 percent.”
The Lem shuddered as the Gyfjon fixed a gravitic tractor beam onto her.
“Engage all thrusters full out!” Xú cried. For a second, the Lem trembled, as if she might just break free, but the Gyfjon clamped down all the harder.
It was over. They could not escape.
“All stop,” Xú said. Bobrova killed the engines. And now they were simply drifting backward.
“At current speed and acceleration we will be inside them in one minute,” Bobrova said.
Xú wiped a tear from her eye. “Send message to the JTSA. From Xú Mùlán, commanding, TSS Lem. We have been caught in a tractor beam, and are being taken aboard their vessel. We will detonate….”
She stopped, and looked out the fore viewport. She stared down at Titan, down to where Viktor and Tatenda and Ted were, where Hala was held.
She could destroy their ship, and her ship, and kill dozens, if not hundreds of people. She could strike a blow – a blow against these giants. One they’d talk about for generations.
What would they say about it, exactly? About her?
She might become the most famous Mùlán of all, famous throughout the galaxy. Her name might ring out on hundreds of worlds…the human who, faced with an invincible foe, gave her life and the lives of her crew to destroy it.
The human who brought death to the giants. That would be her legacy. A name that would live on. Forever.
She nodded, and sighed, and spoke.
“Delete last three words, pause message.”
Bobrova turned to look at her captain. Xú sat wearily down in her chair on the bridge, and hit a button. “Dr. Chandrasekhar?”
“Shang Xiao?”
“Weapons hold.”
“Ma’am?”
“Repeat. Weapons hold. System, append the following to pending message.” She hit another button, and a whistle sounded the general alert. “All hands, this is the Shang Xiao. Our ship has been captured. We will not resist further. We will not end First Contact between our peoples with destruction. Whatever they may choose, let it be said that we chose peace. Send message. All hands, don full dress uniforms and stand by to be processed as prisoners of war.”
And gently, carefully, the Stanisław Lem was pulled aboard the Gyfjon.
* * *
Darren paced on the console, trying to pull together the intel Sorcha and Lessy had passed along. There was a human prisoner on the station who’d been picked up after some sort of accident – that much was clear. They were still piecing it together, but Rixie thought it likely, based on the heightened alert status and attitude of security officers, that they at least believed another human or two were loose on the base.
Darren chuckled in spite of himself. Damn brave of them – sneak into a station run by giants to try to free their friend. Damn brave, and damn stupid. He wasn’t sure whether the commander of this mission was nuts or brilliant, but he certainly respected their gumption.
The doorbell chimed.
“Sorcha, Rixie, either of you trying to come back in?”
“Negative, Darren.”
“No, Darren.”
Darren looked over at Niall, who frowned. Aerti couldn’t be moving on them this quick, could he?
Naskia set her jaw. “All right,” she said. “Hopefully this is someone I can handle.”
She walked carefully to the door as its bell chimed again. She didn’t think that anyone on the base would be charging their position, but it was better safe than sorry. She reached the door, and depressed the video button.
“Hello?” she said, to the figure with her back to her.
“Naskia, let me in,” the figure said, turning.
Naskia took a deep breath to steady herself, which she thought was probably silly. Still, though her shock overwhelmed her, she opened the door.
“Um…Eyrn?”
“Hey. We need to talk,” Eyrn said, pushing her gently inside.
Naskia took a couple steps back, as Eyrn surveilled the small suite; Naskia stood alone in the common room; one bedroom door was closed, one open. Without even looking, Eyrn said, “Hi, Niall. Hi, Darren.”
“Hey, twat. What the hell are you doing on this rock?”
Eyrn smiled at that. “Same thing you are. Trying to help keep this clusterfuck from getting any more clustered or fucked. At least, I’m assuming that you weren’t headed to Myxar.”
“Obviously, my brother knows we’re here too,” Naskia said.
“Obviously. Look, guys, I appreciate what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, but I wanted to give you a bit of warning – the pressure on Aerti right now is intense. He’s trying to keep things from flying out of control, but if you guys are thinking of playing heroes, he’s not going to be able to ignore it.”
“Is that a…Eyrn, is that a threat?”
Eyrn breathed out heavily. “No, Nas. I wouldn’t threaten you, ever. It’s a warning, though. Look, I can’t tell you everything I know Aerti’s doing to try to keep this from blowing up, but the situation’s completely unstable already. You have to trust him.”
“I want to,” Darren said. “I do. But the Navarchos has to worry about his career and his oath to the Emperor. I don’t. And that could come in handy at some point. Due respect, but if Aerti loses his job and we get first contact, it’s worth it.”
Eyrn walked into the bedroom and over to the cluster of monitors, over to where Darren stood on the desk. Abruptly, she bent her face down as close to him as she could without touching. “Darren, I love you like a brother,” she said, voice shaking. “But don’t you dare even hint that keeping his job is my husband’s primary motivation here. You know him better than that, and you damn sure know me better than that.”
Darren studied his shoes for a minute. He was not afraid of the angry titaness. He was ashamed.
“Eyrn, I’m sorry,” he said. “Honest. I trust Aerti. But this…if this goes well, this could be it. This could be everything. And if it goes bad….that could be everything, too. I can’t blindly trust Aerti. I couldn’t trust this blindly to Pryvani at this point.”
He looked up at Eyrn and smiled, sadly. “Twat, I couldn’t even completely trust this to you.”
“I know,” Eyrn said, softly. “And I’m not going to tell you to stop. I’m not sure I want you to, and I’m not sure Aerti wants you to. Just try to be discrete. And know that if things fall apart, Aerti is probably going to have to detain you – if he wants to keep from being detained himself. Because if he’s detained, then the folks a few rungs up on the ladder are going to have free rein, and God help us all then, ‘specially the humans.”
Darren looked up, a wry smile on his face. “Well, twat, we’ll take our chances, same as him. I do appreciate the fair warning. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Yeah,” Eyrn said. “I like family get-togethers. I’d hate to spend them with you all hating me.”
“You? No,” Naskia said. “Aerti? Possibly.”
Eyrn gave Naskia a big hug, which they held for a while. They didn’t want to forget this. If this was the last moment they loved each other, they wanted to make it last.
* * *
Sorcha and Alesia had made it up to the fourth floor of the bazaar, working their way through the various shops and stands, talking to people about the various rumors they’d heard. The civilians leaked like a sieve. Sorcha would have felt almost good about it, if not for her horror at the captured human, and her fear for any others who might be trying to save her.
Sorcha looked over at her friend, perched on her shoulder, holding on to a mass of black hair. Alesia was quiet; she turned on the “pet” act pretty well, but each time ended with her being a bit more withdrawn.
“I’m sorry,” Sorcha said, as they headed for what appeared to be a nature store at the end of the corridor. “It’s not fair.”
“You know, my mom started out as a pet,” Alesia said, quietly. “I know…I know it, intellectually. But…I kind of forget it. I’ve never had to be sweet and cuddly.”
“It isn’t your forte,” Sorcha said, trying and failing to lighten her friend’s mood.
“My mom had to be. And she is – sweet and cuddly, I mean. But I wonder what she would’ve been like if her first years with Loona had been like mine.”
Alesia stared ahead. She thought about Loona, buying her mother. It still seemed impossible; she had never known Loona to be anything other than a third parent, someone who treated her parents as equals, who treated everyone as equal. She could no more imagine Loona going out and buying a human for a pet than she could imagine her mother eating a baby.
Yet Loona had done just that. Alesia knew the basic story, knew that when Loona had first met Niall, she had introduced Nonah to him, trying to get a rise, a reaction…something. Niall’s reaction had been to treat Nonah as an equal, despite the fact that she was uneducated and he was a genius. He worked to teach her – to read, to write, to demand equality. And slowly, surely, Loona came to see her pet as something more.
So much of that was Nonah’s doing, of course, and she had not stopped merely by proving herself equal to Titans. In her own way, Alesia’s mother was as bright as Niall. Once exposed to language and literature Nonah took the stories she’d been told in a pet shop and shared them with the Empire. She had crafted marvelous works, novels that did not merely relate the stories, but filled them with detail and dimension, all written in lush, beautiful prose. As renowned as Niall Freeman was as a scientist, Nonah Armac was arguably better-known to the average Imperial citizen. She was inarguably more beloved.
And yet her mom had started out as a pet. How much more could she have become had she been educated as a child? How much further would she have gone had she not needed to struggle just to be seen as equal? How much energy had she squandered simply asserting her right to be?
Those questions haunted Alesia, but the one that really shook her to her core was much more direct: had Alesia been born a pet, as her mother had, would she have been strong enough to become half the woman her mother became?
As her friend mulled this, Sorcha was uncharacteristically quiet. She despised what Alesia was going through. She couldn’t know exactly how Alesia felt, playing the pet; Sorcha was surprised at that realization, but she knew it to be true. Sorcha could pass for a Titan, and she’d never understood just what that meant before, but she was starting to.
As she’d watched her friend pretend to be the paragon of a naïve animal, Sorcha realized that nobody would ever see her that way. Nobody would ever assume she was foolish or incompetent at first glance. If they knew her history, perhaps. But when she went to the store, she was seen as just another Titan, and that was something Alesia could never be.
Sorcha wished with everything she had that she could trade places with her friend, take on the role of pet for a while. Let her enjoy the privilege of having people presume her to be as brilliant and worthy as Sorcha knew her to be.
But for all the humanity in her soul, Sorcha could never be that kind of human.
And so they walked in silence to an old nature store, one advertising real creatures from Earth. The store had clearly seen better days. A few Earth animals still were up for sale – a couple wolves, an elephant, a few dodo birds – and a sad-eyed human male practicing backflips in the corner. But most of the cages were empty; it was clear the shop would close soon.
Sorcha paused as she saw the human, and her stomach turned. Part of her wanted to simply turn and run.
“Well, go in,” Alesia said, quietly. “We didn’t come this far to gape.”
Sorcha passed by the animals, and took a wide berth around the human’s habitat. Instead, she wandered through the aisles, looking at the small plants for sale. She presently arrived at a display of trees on a shelf. One in particular, about a quarter of a unit tall, drew her attention. It was lovely, with tiny green needles for leaves, and though it was a bit asymmetrical, it had a rough-hewn beauty to it.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
Sorcha fought not to jump at the sound, but even so, Alesia just barely managed to hold on. “It’s called a Scots pine. Or…Scotch pane. Something like that. Native to the northern part of Earth. You want it? I’ve got a deal going right now. I’m moving back to Archavia at the end of the month.”
“I like it!” said Alesia.
“Oh, cute human! Hey, little girl. I’m Jeska,” said the fiftyish woman, stroking Alesia gently.
“That’s Lessy, I’m Sorcha. Nice to meet you. Why are you closing?”
“My mom’s sick. And I’m kind of getting tired of hanging out on Titan. I’ve made enough to retire, least for a while. Besides, it keeps getting harder and harder to get actual items from Earth. The one human I have for sale is from Archavia, and the dodos are captive-bred.”
“I see,” Sorcha said, looking at the detritus stacked up in the corner, the remnants of over twenty-five years in business.
She walked over to a pile of crates, and leafed through a stack of ancient signs listing sale items from long ago. “Real Dolphins! 25 percent off.” “Kangaroos – watch how high they jump!” “Live Humans, Cryo-Preserved, Discounted 50% off.”
She held that last sign for a long second. The plasticine was worn and tattered. It had to be decades old.
Her heart skipped a beat, as she forced herself to ask, “Jeska, when did you have cryo-preserved humans for sale?”
“Huh? Oh, wow, can’t believe I still have that sign! My mom always said I hung on to junk too long. Must’ve been twenty years or so ago. I remember, the peacekeepers found a couple Insectoids that had actually managed to get in through the quarantine. They grabbed real wild humans from Earth! They arrested the smugglers, of course, but they didn’t see how they could get the humans back home, so they gave them to me to find homes for.”
“Wow,” said Sorcha, not daring to look up.
“Yeah. Always nice to get items at no cost. Made a nice profit. Funny thing – you remember that one human, pretended to be a professor?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of him,” Sorcha said, still staring at the card.
“Yeah, he was in that batch! Get this — the girl who bought him married him! Can you believe that? Of course, I don’t judge. My cousin’s dating a Ler. I don’t know how that works either. But still…married!”
Sorcha looked around the store again, in awe. Here. Right here. Her mum had bought her dad, twenty years ago, right here, picking him out from a group of them, stacked on a shelf under a sign advertising people, on sale, half off.
She couldn’t quite believe that. Just as Loona buying Nonah had never made sense to Alesia, Naskia buying Niall had never made sense to Sorcha. It seemed downright alien. Her mum loved her father. How could she ever have seen him as just a pet, just a thing? And yes, she knew the story backwards and forwards, she existed, it was true – he’d managed to prove himself. But how?
“Tell you what,” Sorcha said. “If I bought one of those trees, would you be willing to let me have this?”
“When I was younger, I’d have demanded more for the sign than the tree, kid, just knowing you wanted it. Still should, but that’s why I’m getting out of the business. Too much stress. I was going to throw it away. Take it; you can have it whether or not you buy a tree.”
“No, I insist on buying a tree. Can you hold it here?”
“Of course.”
“I like that pane tree. Alesia, do you want to talk to the human while I pay the lady?”
“Y-yeah,” Alesia said. She’d put it together at the same time Sorcha had. This pet shop had brought Niall to Archavia, where he’d taught her Aunt Loona that her pet, Nonah, was not a pet, but a person. Alesia’s journey began here, no less than her friend’s.
Sorcha carefully set Alesia down outside the small cage, giving her a brief, stunned look which Alesia mirrored, before heading over to the counter.
“Hi there!” Alesia called to the tall human, maybe three Archavian years old. He was skinny, with dark skin and his head shaved clean. His deep brown eyes lit up when he saw her.
“Hi,” he said, walking over on his hands. “You’re pretty.”
“Thanks! My name’s Lessy.”
“I’m Moze,” he said, doing a flip onto his feet, “but Jeska says don’t get too ‘tatched to it, cause when I get adopted my owner may want to change it.”
“Hi, Moze! Is Jeska nice to you?”
“She gives me food, and she talks to people before they can buy me. ‘Cause this one woman wanted to buy me, but Jeska thought she was mean and would be mean to me, and she said she won’t sell me to someone who’s mean.”
“Good,” said Alesia. She wondered how much it would cost to buy Moze, and resettle him on Avalon. Surely, when this was all over….
“So is that girl your owner? Is she nice?”
“That’s Sorcha. She’s my friend. And she is nice.”
“Maybe she’ll buy me, so you can have a human friend!”
Alesia laughed. “Maybe, but not right now. We’ll come back though. Promise.”
“If you buy me, I don’t have to be the only one. There are also other humans running around out there, you could catch them too, and then there’d be a bunch of us!”
“Really,” Alesia said. “Other humans?”
“Yeah, two guys, they were running away from a Titan girl. They went down the stairs to the place where Titans get food, I seen ‘em go there, and they jumped into the floor to hide. I think they’re still there, but Jeska moved my cage this morning so I haven’t seen ‘em since.”
“Wow. We’ll have to look for them! Thanks, Moze!”
“You’re welcome, Lessy. That’s manners, Jeska taught me.”
“How nice of her.”
“I know.”
“All set!” Sorcha called. “You ready, Lessy?”
“Yeah,” Lessy said. “Bye, Moze! Maybe we can come buy Moze later? He’s nice.”
“Maybe, Lessy,” Sorcha said, forcing a laugh into her speech to mask the anger. “Maybe.”
They walked out of the store, and Sorcha took one last look. “So I take it you want to buy the human and set him free?”
“Don’t you?”
“Of course I do. We’ll need to talk to Rixie, but we can’t just leave him there. Besides, I hear that humans from that store go on to do big things.”
“Damn right,” said Alesia, “And Moze is no exception. He told me where we can find a couple of the astronauts.”
* * *
“Gorram, Solis, this isn’t a game! You made me look like gorram tuppshaka out there. And now you have the balls to try to tell me you’ve got this handled? When did you get elected Floor Leader?”
Rodrec Zeramblin was screaming into his pad at this point, and Ziah Solis was doing his best not to show his growing concern. He had expected that if word leaked of humans reaching Titan, there may be some consternation. But this seemed excessive.
“Mister Floor Leader, the fact is that these are just humans. Surely nobody cares.”
“Nobody cares? Nobody cares?” thundered Zeramblin. “Tell that to my gorram constituent outreach guy. His pad’s damn near melting from the traffic. Less than an hour, and it’s leading the gorram news, Solis! Half of it’s because you left me out here with my ass swaying in the breeze, and the other half is because everyone’s freaking out about how gorram amazing this ship is for a species that they thought was eating its own shaka two days ago.”
“It’s a primitive ship by imperial standards,” Solis said.
“I don’t care if it’s made of gorram stone, it’s a ship with humans on it, orbiting our station, you idiot! The kids love that crap!”
Solis sighed. “Mister Floor Leader, surely nobody is suggesting first contact with humans should occur?”
Zeramblin let loose a string of profanity. When he settled, he said, “Look, assleak, I know what the gorram polls say. 64 percent of people think humans shouldn’t become citizens, right?”
“Exactly, so….”
“So fraking what? That’s all people 50 years old and up. It’s 80 percent with them. Voters under 50? They’re split down the middle, 41 for, 42 against. The voters under thirty are 61 percent in favor of humans being given full citizenship immediately. Those kids grew up reading books by Nonah Armac and flying through gates that Niall Freeman helped develop, they think old folks are nuts for having ever thought humans weren’t as smart as us. We don’t even poll first contact, but I guarantee you it would’ve been close yesterday, and I guarantee it’s a majority for it now. Emperor’s hemorrhoids, they flew a ship to Titan Station, you think I can avoid a vote on saying hello? No, I don’t want that, my base will hate it, but if I take too hard a line, I risk fraking off the next three generations of voters. Pushing them right into the arms of the Aspire folks.
“And I can’t stop it now,” Zeramblin said. “There will be a vote for first contact. I guarantee it. Probably tonight. And that vote’s going to frak my caucus off because they all read the same polls I do, and as much as the wacky liberal members don’t want a vote on full citizenship, my members don’t want a vote either. But a vote’s a-comin’. And pass or fail, everyone’s gonna lose.”
“Well…perhaps it needn’t. If the humans left orbit….”
“Yeah, that’d be swell, but I don’t think they’re going to oblige our timetable.”
“I can make it happen,” said Solis.
There was brief silence. “I don’t even want to know what you’re suggesting here,” said Zeramblin. “I’m not authorizing you do to a gorram thing.”
“Yes, of course, but Mister Floor Leader….”
“Not a gorram thing! If they magically leave orbit on their own, maybe I can push this back a bit. If we haven’t talked to them already. If they haven’t tried to talk to us. But if I find out you shot them down or some crap, you’ll be lucky not to be sent to Rura Penthe – frak, you’ll be lucky if I don’t cut your balls off with a gorram spoon! Got it!?”
“Of course, Mister Floor Leader. I think you’ll be happy with the reports out of Titan Station soon enough.”
“You’re gonna kill me, Solis. You’re gonna kill me. I’ll talk to you this afternoon, and I want a complete, up-to-date report, with everything that’s happened so far. No semshaka. No lies. I find out you lied to me and I’ll rip your gorram face off and crap down your throat.”
“Of course, Mister Floor Leader. I look forward to talking with you.” Solis terminated the call, and shook his head.
Tobin Gernhatt looked over at Solis. He felt sure he was white as a sheet. “You…you aren’t going to lie to the Floor Leader…are you?”
“You said it yourself, doctor. If we put this to a vote, things get unpredictable.”
Gernhatt shook his head. “Yeah…but…I mean, this is…this is against the law, isn’t it?”
Solis’ lips curled into a tight smile. “If lying to a politician was against the law, no politician would be free,” he said.
“Right…but you’re not a politician.”
“Well, perhaps you’re right,” said Solis, fiddling with a stylus for his pad. “I tell you what, you go to your apartment, get some rest….”
Gernhatt shook his head. “I can’t do that, Navarchos Imperii. I…I can’t be a party to lying to the Floor Leader. I’ll talk to him, tell him the danger….”
Solis sighed, then smiled. “Well, you’re right, I suppose. We dare not break the law. Perhaps we can find a way to persuade the Floor Leader. I did start to work on a statement outlining our argument, would you care to look it over?”
Gernhatt nodded. Thank the Emperor, Solis was talking sense. He rounded the desk and took the pad from Solis, looked down at it, and frowned. “I think you’ve got the wrong file up, Navarchos, I….”
He said nothing more, as he felt the sharp jab of a hypodermic needle into his thigh. Before he even had time to work through his shock, he had lost consciousness; before he had processed that, he was dead.
The Navarchos Imperii clucked his tongue. He did hate loose ends. But no matter. He had a timetable. And he wasn’t going to let Gernhatt mess it up. He carefully lifted Gernhatt, and carried him over to the closet, where he unceremoniously dumped the professor’s body. He couldn’t cover it up for long, but then, he wouldn’t have to.
Solis walked back over to his pad, and keyed in another call. He had no time to waste.
* * *
Laurnya Gwenn hated dress uniform, hated it with a passion. But she was adjusting hers meticulously, as quickly as she could. She had to leave in bare seconds if she was to beat the honor guard down to Shuttle Bay 4.
“You look fine. Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” Izzy asked, regarding her friend carefully.
“I do want you to come,” Lauryna said. “Desperately. But it would just confuse them, and the issue. I need to greet them myself, let them know that whatever happens, they are viewed by me and my crew as worthy of respect. They deserve at least that much.”
“Yes, they do,” Izzy said, sitting down on a chair atop the captain’s dresser. She checked the ship’s chronometer. “All right, you’d best get going. And Red?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell them about the pets. Not yet. It’s hard enough when the person’s friendly and you’re in a good mood.”
Laurnya nodded. “I think that may still be the second-worst moment of my life.”
Izzy smiled gently. “No, dear. Never think that. You were honest, and I appreciated it. But they don’t need honesty right now. They need respect.”
Laurnya laughed in spite of herself. “Appreciated it? Izzy, you called me a dirty liar, if I remember right.”
Izzy grinned. “I didn’t say I appreciated it right away.”
Laurnya gave Izzy a quick kiss atop her head, and pausing just a moment, picked her up and cradled her against her breast. She set her back down, and smiled.
“Thanks, my love. I needed the laugh. Now you rest.”
“Rest? Not likely, kid. Good luck.”
* * *
Xú sighed as she looked about her bridge for what she expected would be the last time. It was cramped, she supposed. She’d never liked the placement of the helm relative to the command chair. The whole thing was a muted white that she swore had been designed to induce headache with prolonged exposure.
It was beautiful. Utterly beautiful. She would miss it more than she could have ever believed.
She wondered what history would make of the brief voyage of the Stanisław Lem. They had managed in just a few short days to do something marvelous. They had made first contact with an alien species. Yes, they may be about to be detained by that species, but the Lem’s name would live in history. Though hopefully not in infamy.
She also hoped history would forgive her decision not to strike back. But she could do nothing else. As angry as she was at her captors, she would not let her legacy be that of a killer, even a justified one.
“Ready to disembark, Shang Xiao?”
“No, Oliver,” she said to the Doctor who stood behind her. “But it’s time.”
“I’m proud of you,” said the doctor in his laconic Australian accent. “I remember the first time I met you, in Singapore. You were just a kid, screaming in broken English that it’s not China, or Australia, but humans or not-humans, and if we don’t work together, it’s not-humans. You saved our lives that day. If you don’t rally folks, we lose the base, we lose Singapore – I don’t know if humanity survives.”
“I was just giving you time.”
“Bullshit. I’ve said it a million times, we were all a team. I just had the honor of pulling the plug. You were far braver than a 20-year-old had any right to be. It was the bravest decision I’ve ever seen anyone make. Until today.”
“It was easier to shoot at ‘em. I still want to.”
“Yes, but that’s why what you did is so brave. Mùlán, you could’ve kept fighting the wrong enemy. Instead, you chose to keep trying to work together. Just like Singapore. Not with humans, but with them. That was the right decision. Don’t ever doubt it.”
Xú paused, and teared up; Oliver pulled her into a bear hug. “I’m honored to know you,” she said, quietly.
“The honor’s mine,” said Oliver, stepping back and giving her a full salute, palm-out; Xú returned it, palm-down. She motioned, and they headed to the back of the bridge and the ladder that would take them down to X deck.
The climb was quick enough — too quick, frankly. Before she knew it, she was stepping into the cramped antechamber by airlock X-4, reviewing the remaining 17 crewmates under her command.
They were scared. But they were standing tall. She could ask no more.
“Crew of the Lem,” she said, dry-eyed and alert, “You are ordered to abandon ship.”
“Abandon ship!” called out Yelena Bobrova, the acting XO. “All hands, abandon ship!”
One by one, the crew filed out of the hatchway, climbing down the short ladder to the foot of the emergency landing strut, and leaping onto the deck of the hangar bay; Xú waited until all had departed, and touched the wall by the hatchway reverently.
“We won’t be gone forever,” she said. “Someday, we’ll come back for you. I hope I’m there to see it.”
And she went to join her crewmates.
As she leapt to the floor, she could not help but notice how massive the bay was. The ceilings rose 120 meters up, and dozens upon dozens of football pitches could fit on its floor. The Lem, huge as she was, looked like a toy compared to the space available.
Yelena assembled the crew into two lines, with herself at the head of one and Dr. Chandrasekhar at the head of the other. They stood at parade rest, waiting anxiously. Xú nodded to them, and walked out alone, standing between the two lines and the giant hatch, far in the distance, which was clearly the connection between the bay and the ship. She stood there, as if she herself could protect her crew, and waited.
There was an expectant hush. Xú had warned them of the size of their captors, and tried to warn herself. She had seen horror beyond horror, and this would not be that; these were just really big people. Just people. No different than her.
Still, as the main doorway to the bay opened, her stomach lurched as if she’d missed the bottom step.
A young alien crewmate – a slight, small woman who appeared to be in her early twenties – entered the room and came to attention. Xú gasped, and she heard her crew do the same.
She was enormous. Even three hundred meters distant, she rose like a skyscraper. The tiny assembled humans barely crested her shoe. The woman had gone directly in and to the right of the door; she had stopped almost as far away as she reasonably could. And still, she dwarfed them.
As the second officer – a taller, well-built man – entered, she heard the gasps turn to muted cries of horror. Part of Xú wanted to join them; part of her wanted to run in fear from the monstrosities who lined the wall. Instead, closing her eyes just for a second, she forced herself to attention and executed a perfect, precision turn.
“Crew! Attention!” she called, looking at her crew severely. They looked back at her. Not at the third small building entering the room. Her. And as one, they snapped to attention. “Ten-HUT!” they called in unison. Xú nodded. “They are not gods. They are not monsters. Face them bravely. Face them like humans.”
“Aye aye, ma’am!” the crew called out in unison, doing their best to ignore that a fourth officer had entered the room, turned, and snapped into place.
Xú nodded to her crew, and gave them a smile. She then turned to face the giants. She had steadied her crew’s nerves. Now she just had to steady hers.
A fifth officer entered, ending the brief parade. Xú tried to look past their resemblance to a skyline and look at them as people. There were a mix of officers, young and older, different races. Had she seen them in a picture she would not have questioned their humanity. She observed their positioning, their posture. Xú wasn’t sure how similar their cultures were, but the giants seemed to be there to greet them as much as to detain them.
The giants saluted as a sixth and final officer entered. Her rank insignia could be deciphered as more impressive than the others’, but Xú would have known it was the captain had she been wearing cut-off shorts and a tank-top. She carried the aura of one who had sat in the worry seat.
Swallowing hard, forcing herself forward, the captain of the Lem walked ahead to meet the captain of the Gyfjon, who passed her saluting crew, heading for the center of the room.
Each step the titanic captain took made Xú a little less sanguine, and she resolved to stop well short of where she’d intended to. She hadn’t really understood how far back the officers were standing, how kind their positioning was. As the enormous woman closed the gap, she grew larger and larger and larger until it became almost impossible to view her as a single, discrete entity, rather than a mass of thudding feet and churning legs supporting a mountainous body.
Gwenn came to a stop, still thirty meters from Xú. The Lem’s captain craned her neck. She struggled to keep her face dispassionate, even as she struggled to see the face of her adversary.
Ancient instincts were screaming at Xú to run, but she ignored them. Instead, she brought herself to full attention, and saluted.
“Xú Mùlán, commanding, TSS Stanisław Lem,” she said. “I surrender my vessel.”
The giantess looked down and smiled, gently. She laid two fingers against her temple in a clear return of the salute. “Lauryna Gwenn, commanding, Imperial Starship Gyfjon. I acknowledge your surrender, captain.”
Lauryna then did something Xú was not expecting; she dropped.
Not all at once, mind you; she eased herself downward, taking care to make no sudden moves forward. Though it was startling, like watching a landslide in slow motion, Xú was surprised to realize that she had remained calm. It was, she thought, because the titaness was doing her best not to frighten them.
Captain Gwenn tucked her legs under her, and said in perfect, unaccented English, “I am sorry to have to detain you.”
“Not so sorry as we are to be detained,” Xú responded.
“I’m sure,” Lauryna said, with a smile. “Captain Xú, I want to make you and your crew aware of what is going to happen so that you are not surprised; I know that no cage can equal freedom, and I do not pretend that this is anything but terrible for you. I will promise that your crew will be treated well so long as you are under the jurisdiction of myself or of Navarchos Bass, who is in command of Titan Station. We must detain you, those are our orders, but we will not mistreat you. I would resign my commission rather than do so.”
“I appreciate that, Captain Gwenn. Your English is excellent, by the way.”
“Thank you,” Lauryna said. “When I was much younger, I was a xenolinguistics officer.”
Xú was glad to have the opening. “Have you much need of it? My understanding was that we are blockaded.”
“It is a long story, and one I cannot get into right now,” Lauryna said, smiling. She admired the attempt at intelligence gathering. “I do want you to know that we will be providing your crew members with basic translators which will allow them to understand Archavian, which is the primary language spoken aboard this ship and on the station.”
“Thank you,” Xú said. She thought she was starting to get a read on this captain. She thought, sadly, that under different circumstances they might be friends.
“I have ordered water be brought to you; we will be landing on Titan Station shortly, or I would offer food, as well.”
“Thank you again. I do not appreciate being detained, Captain Gwenn, and I obviously protest. But I do appreciate your attempt at being civilized about it.”
Gwenn smiled sadly. “You and your crew are owed no less, Captain Xú. You are owed no less.”
* * *
“I’m sorry, sir…could you repeat that?”
“Just what I said, Navarchos. You are ordered to not discuss the situation on Titan with any civilian authority, including the Office of the Floor Leader. All inquiries are to be directed to me.”
“But…sir, regulation 037.2….”
“Screw the regulations!” Solis bellowed. “I’m giving you a direct order, Bass!”
“Acknowledged,” Aerti said, evenly. “So if the Floor Leader does call me, and asks me what’s going on….”
“You are to tell him only that the human ship is no longer in orbit around Titan or any other moon in the Saturnian system. And then direct him to speak with me.”
“Acknowledged,” Aerti said. “The Gyfjon will be landing within a few minutes, I need to meet it.”
“Understood,” said Solis. “Dismissed.”
Aerti got up, and rubbed a hand through his hair. He couldn’t quite believe it. He’d literally been ordered to violate his oath. By statute, the Floor Leader had the right to request any data from any military outfit or ship; the Navarchos Imperii had just told him to ignore the law.
Aerti headed out of the office quickly. He needed to talk to Kir.
As he left, two humans emerged from hiding behind a wastepaper basket under the desk.
“I can’t believe it,” Lysis said.
“You don’t think Bass would follow through with that?”
“I don’t think so, but that’s not the point,” Lysis said, grimly. “If Solis wants to close communications to the base, it’s because he wants to keep the legislature from knowing these humans were ever here.”
“But he can’t keep that up forever. Eventually, they’ll be shipped back to Archavia; they’ll talk.”
“No…they won’t.”
Zhan’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
“We can’t assume Aerti Bass will disobey orders,” Lysis said. “Not that I think he wouldn’t. I’m almost certain he would. But almost certain isn’t enough.”
Zhan nodded. “It doesn’t matter anyhow. We can’t leave it up to the Titans. Because if Bass refuses to kill the crew of the Earth ship, Solis will just find someone who will.”
Lysis sighed. This was going to end badly; she could feel it.
Just realized :
“Those kids grew up reading books by Loona Armac”… Shouldn’t it be Nonah ? Or is Zeramblin so angry that he’s mixing them up ? 😉
Zeramblin is a bigot who still thinks the books are the work of Loona because a human can’t be a writer.
He might be one of those people that thinks that Nonah’s books are actually written by Loona, and is using her pet human to make some kind of publicity stunt. Right up there with the folks that think that Niall is just an excessively long con, that somehow managed to trick some of the smartest people in the empire.
Well to be fair they did confuse the situation when Nonah ghost wrote her first book under Loona’s name.
It’s actually called OHH named Loona and Nonah too similarly, especially once they both ended up with the same last name. 😛
I’ve made the correction.
Makes more sense that way since he does recognize Niall’s scientific achievements. 🙂
Finally I was able to catch up. I took a two week break from this site to go on vacation and what do I find? A practical library of new material I needed to read. I am curious though that fusion weapon that was aboard the lem was that thing the same thing that Niall figured out in that equation back in titan physics?
Also DX let me just say that the captain’s decision to act in nonaggression killed me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell. I wanted them to fight to the last man and leave a large jagged scar on titan history forever. I though some pretty nasty things about you as a writer for that decision. For that I am truely sorry.
After I calmed down I relized that the whole point of this entire universe has been for people to show what they are made of without the use of violence. Not one cheracter in this entire project of yours and the other three writers has achieved anything with the use of force.
Change is a slow process in any culture made only slower when a major event is underway. I am sure that I sm not the only one who believes that the rusty wheels of change are finally getting some oil. Thank you for a wonderful series. I look forward to all the surprises that the lem will have in store for us in later chapters.
Sincerely, story smith
Niall’s equation was for an ultra-tiny (the size of a human fist) antimatter reactor. It’s not the same as the fusion weapon. Actually, an author comment a couple of chapters back said that as soon as Earth brought an antimatter reactor online the Empire would detect it and investigate, assuming that someone violated the Restriction Zone. In other words, Earth doesn’t have antimatter reactors at all yet, tiny or otherwise.
Not right now, no, but if they feel that their existence is in danger, they may speed up their weapons research to the point where they do develop small antimatter bombs. With their human speed, they may pull it off fast enough to catch the Empire off guard.
However if you did have a Freeman reactor in hand you could easily turn it into a weapon. Todays conceptual designs for the VASIMR engines such as those used on Lem produce an ion stream of 1 million degrees Kelvin, several hundred times the surface temp of the sun. Power such an ion engine with a Freeman reactor and you have one heck of a blowtorch. The same reactor could provide very powerful magnetic defensive shielding against attacks.
Rodrec Zerablim reminds me of Malcolm Tucker. For the non Brits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaMb-5w-V0Y
Also one for the Doctor Who fans.
Zeramblin has a lot of Tucker in him. Not so much the Twelfth Doctor…. 😛
So are the Lem and their Gools still transmitting inside the Gyfjon, or are they being jammed? It’ll be interesting to see what everyone on Earth thinks of this.
After Xu’s last transmission Earth is busy putting its nanoweapons back into commission.
I expect that they’ll turn Earth into a fortress and develop a working warp drive ASAP after this, and probably use it to take Titan.
And nanoweapons would be a great way to shock the Empire.
QFT
They know what they face, this is a threat which justifies inhuman weapons. Stagnation means death for a species – humans know this. Confinement to earth is no option mankind needs to expand into space.
On a macro scale humans have one amazing advantage (in the titanverse): speed. Not just their fast technological advancement but also social & biological progression. For example, 10 titan years don´t change much for the titan society, but for humans these are 2 new generations. Lets face it Gernhatt is correct – the moment humans reach a similar technical level they will outpace the empire quickly. War isn´t even necessary at this point, titans incredible slow development speed will be their downfall.
Hala’s gool stopped transmitting as soon as she was brought aboard the Porfirayon, and that was just a shuttle. While the Stanislaw Lem no doubt has a transmitter more powerful than a simple gool, I seriously doubt it’d make a difference. Radio signals are a type of electromagnetic radiation. If you want to fly around in space and live to tell the tale you’ll need a hull that can stop space radiation from getting in. But as a consequence that same hull will also stop radio signals from getting out. And furthermore, not only does a titan-sized ship need titan-sized walls (so much thicker than what we humans would use), the outer hull of a major military vessel like the Gyfjon can be counted upon to be extra thick in order to stand up to attacks better.
In which case, the last thing Earth sees is the Lem being captured, with no idea of anyone’s fate. Cue predictable response.
This is stretching the suspension of disbelief. There is no possible way that what Aerti is doing is not treason.
Sure orders must be followed, and orders trump regulations (in the short term – subordinates are expected to complain) and they even trump some laws (if your commanding officer tells you to exceed the speed limit, you exceed the speed limit). But every military that’s ever was has limits on what orders should be obeyed, and the “I was just following orders” defense didn’t work at Nuremberg and doesn’t work anywhere for important crimes. Nowhere in the world does following orders justify treason, and nowhere in the world is “you do this and don’t *my* superior officer” a valid command.
IOW I can’t see how any conscientious officer would do anything else in Aerti’s shoes than to go immediately to the floor leader.
Well seeing as we haven’t seen what he has or hasn’t done since that phone call yet, it’s kind of premature to jump to conclusions. Aerti knows the laws and regulations, and Solis knows that. Solis is just trying to be as forceful and intimidating as possible in order to buy time. Aerti is probably heading over to Kir first to make sure that Solis doesn’t go around him in order to make things happen.
Synp is right in that Aerti has a moral duty to take action against an unlawful order, and Soatari’s answer makes sense to me. Let’s wait until his next chapter before judging him.
From Commander Gamma Fleet to Commander Space Exploration Corps Re: Terran Fleet in orbit above Titan. Sir I have the honor to report earlier today ISS Gyfjon received surrender TSS Stanislaw Lem and has it in custody. We continue to monitor the unoccupied shuttlecraft near Titan Station and search for humans that may have infiltrated the station. Per your express instructions we have not provided any information to the civilian authorities but I did take the liberty of notifying the Emperor of our glorious victory! I also offered him first selection of our 18 new pets. Your Obedient – Bass
Aerti going to see Kir makes me optimistic.
Suppose Aerti openly defies Solis. What does Solis do? The obvious thing (although after seeing him resort to murder, I’m not sure anymore) is to call the station commander (Kir) and instruct him to arrest Aerti and take over.
It’s important for Aerti to make sure that Kir is on the same page with him and will cooperate in defying the illegal orders.
If all Aerti is going to tell Kir is to be nice to the humans within Solis’ orders, that’s fucked up.
If Kir plays to character he probably doesn’t want to be in either Bass’ or Solis’ camp. Aerti can’t trust him at his back and will likely suggest he take personal leave or find some task to send him and any other risky station personnel away from Titan likely as passengers on Gyfjon. He then “discovers” Rixie is on site and puts her back on the payroll as his deputy plus pulling in any other reliable personnel off the Gyfjon to give him effective control of the station. Titan station and Gyfjon then go radio silent leaving Solis blind and buying.
Can’t help tearing up when the terrans abandon ship. What a courageous and ethical commander Mulan shows herself as. I hope the Dunnermac Council managed to gather the communications as sent. Truth will prevail! And Gwenn will protect them in her custody. I am enjoying this story so much! And so sweet to know the characters as they walk in… Bringing home the sign for her parents is so sweet of Sorcha. Her mother will love it!
I wonder if they will have time to liberate the man in the pet shop. Better than throwing him in the streets to be free on his own when the legislature wakes up. Nice little entry for a new character.
And yes, marriage and motherhood,as well as living as a respected member of an established society that she fits into, seem to have mellowed Eyrn a bit. I imagine she had to adjust to being truly independent and autonomous as an adult, but growing up on a military base suits her well to the military life with Aerti. She is still intelligent enough to figure out danger and politics.
Thank you for posting so steadily. We look for chapters readily and with alacrity. Awesome and appreciated…
I have a question for the peanut gallery………
What if….
After all the yelling and shouting is over..The empire finally decides thats humans really are C1 and decides to formally open communications and offers membership in the club…
Humans say; No
It would be completely understandable after the rather cold first contact and the fact that Titans have enslaved their species for thousands of years.
That’s actually what I expect to happen.
Imagine all the people working to get humans an invite to become full members of the Empire, convincing a whole lot of people and politicians. Then the Empire offers Earth this gift and they’re like “Thanks, but no thanks.” The surprise look on a lot of people would be priceless. I wonder how many would understand their feelings.
I would certainly hope that a few key figures would manage to convince them to change their minds about it. Without the protection of the empire, Earth is in extreme danger from some less than friendly races out there.
Or Earth and the Empire could be allies but still separate nations.
I could see that happening. Aside from protection against the Insectoids (which is a huge factor) there’s not much that’s appealing about being in the Empire, or at least the empire as it’s currently constructed.
Other than technological assistance from one of the richest companies in the empire. After all is said and done, I wonder if Pryvanni would try to get Earth’s approval to set up a human-size gate between there and Avalon.
Oh the Avalon-Earth gate is probably already built and waiting to be deployed but its full size. Think Pryvanni makes a big splash on Archavia? Just wait till she makes her first tour of Earth.
I’d love for that to happen but no way. The truth is, Earth needs the Empire’s protection from the Hive, and that need will remain until Humanity has the military means to defend itself against a full Insectoid assault. So a couple centuries at least.
Earth simply has no choice but to accept Titans’ protection, no matter the conditions. As usual in the series Humanity doesn’t really have a choice at all.
I’m talking about being a member of the club (citizenship) not being protected – that is a different issue
Aside from needing protection, Earth will also want the Empire’s help to uplift itself from “near warp” to “like any other galactic power” as quickly as possible.
There is also the fact that most of the galaxy’s territory has already been claimed by various powers. Settling on other worlds without some agreement with the Empire is going to be all but impossible.
And finally, the Empire has lots of humans in it already. If Earth intends to actually help those humans instead of just crying foul at their treatment, it’s going to have to work from within the Empire.
Of course, the fact that joining the Empire is the best course of action does not make it a pleasant one. Only the ignorant should be surprised to find that humanity will only grudgingly accept an offer to join the Empire.
My question wasn’t really about earth (human) reaction, it was geared towards the reaction of the other non-human species…particularly Los Titans..
The territory question will be easy to solve I think. Human expansion into the galaxy actually works to the benefit of the other species in the empire because humans will be able to populate higher gravity planets like Earth or moons like Avalon that can’t be easily developed by titans and the others. Effectively, a human federation centered around Earth and Avalon can overlap the traditional empire boundary while boosting trade between the two and allowing for mutual defense.
There are a lot of assumptions you made there…..
– If a world that is to be settled that is not within the empire why would Earth need permission?
– Earth would want to help other non-earth (empire) humans..Its a mind-boggling problem to just settle the overpopulation from earth, now earth has to settle (and re-train, and re-humanized) empire humans?….
Since TETH is so mouthy about the subject this is one area that they could be of actual use….
– Joining the empire? Hmmm a place that not too long ago considered you to be nothing more than an animal, occasionally tasty, fighting each other for their entertainment, being used as (non-consensual) sex toys and stupid. Also what was not written was the fact that if humans were considered to be animals it would not be a stretch to imagine their use in Titan drug testing and other testing..That was one topic that the authors did not broach…. Also just being in their presence could be fatal. I could go on but you you get the point..
– Also only part of the galaxy is settled. I think the majority of the galaxy is not. There are also a (whole bunch) of other galaxies out there..man I’m talking gazillions that don’t require Los Titan’s permission to go…Earth could develop a super-warp technology or even non-warp tech to traverse the vast distances..
Earth needs a Plan B if it is to say no other than going it alone. The non-Titan class one in the empire need a political redistribution of power. Most titans are going to need a means of dealing with the collective guilt of having messed up another first contact. The political chaos that Solis & friends may have unwittingly unleashed may weaken the power structure so that what is now an empire will by necessity begin a migration to a more open federal style of government that will be much closer to what Earth itself has in 2155.
Which humans?
The ones on Earth can stay where they are and ignore the empire. They can probably have their own autonomy and never send representatives to the house. Being C1 will mean that nobody will interfere with their ships flying around exploring space.
But I don’t think the humans on Archavia and the rest of the empire are going to take that stance. Definitely not the humans of Avalon.
In fact, humans getting the right to vote may turn several districts on Archavia, changing the the house even if no representatives from Earth ever show up.
So, just whose team is Solis playing for anyway? The insectoids? His own? Killing Gernhatt sure looks like a preliminary to a possible military coup d’état. And…is the next empress of Archavia and all it’s possessions hanging out downstairs in the imperial dungeon just about ready to make a comeback?
He might be setting up to create some sort of disaster there at Titan Station in order to make it look like Earth took hostile action against the empire in order to get the Terran Protection Act repealed. Once that happens, it’ll by open season on humans by a certain chitinous race.
I tend to take the opposite tact. It’s usually best when dealing with titans to assume humans are not the primary focus of their attention and that might even include the original reasons for the Terran Protection Act. Solis is desperate enough to violate the law, kill titans and commit acts of war against humans to preserve the exclusion zone that is put at risk by first contact. Whoever he is allied with does not want titans or any others roaming around loose in Sol system whether it is to trade with the humans or trade in humans.
Ziah actually seems to care little about humans and Earth. Earlier he dismissed them as pets and savages who should remain confined on Earth, while thinking that Tobin is a pure conspiracy theorist for regarding humans as a mortal threat to the Empire. And in this chapter he is genuinely surprised that Rodrec is so worked up about humans reaching titans. I think that Ziah’s statement “Mister Floor Leader, the fact is that these are just humans. Surely nobody cares.” sums up his attitude pretty well.
Of course, if Ziah doesn’t care about humans, why is he going to all this trouble? He’s trying so hard to essentially erase the human presence and wipe it from everyone’s memory that he’s stooped to deceiving the man he’s sworn to serve, followed by cold-blooded murder. Well, I don’t know why. But whatever he’s planning has a timetable and will apparently be completed before long.
What?! WHAT?! Holy crap I did not see that coming, he just straight murdered him! This has gone from a matter of policy and belief to something far darker. I don’t think he considers Humanity a threat by any stretch given that he felt Gernhatt’s theories were delusional, and more to the point there was no point in killing him. My guess he’s either affiliated with or in the pocket of the Insectoids which is scary as hell given his rank, and would explain his ‘timetable’.
Aside from that bombshell, Xu shot up a lot in my respect-o-meter with her decision. Detonating the ship would guarantee relations wouldn’t be salvageable. Combined with the surprising news regarding Titan polling and there’s hope yet…provided Solis doesn’t have them all killed.
There’s no way Aerti is going to even pretend continue following orders much longer. The problem is making sure that he has the immediate support of those around him. He can count on Lauryna, no doubt, but the rank and file is another question.
The scene in the pet shop was really well done, really goes back to the beginning and that every thing can be traced back to that first incident.
Phew, probably the biggest testament to how good this story is running is that we haven’t seen the sally ride characters for a couple chapters and they haven’t been missed. Not because they aren’t interesting, but because there are so many intriguing plot lines to touch on!
Oh and one last thing.
“-I hear that humans from that store go on to do big things.”
Hahaha, I have a dirty mind…
*Crunch crunch crunch crunch…crunch…..mmmmm.* these are REALLY good nachos ..with my own homemade salsa too..baby!
Well artichoke my man, its time to grow a pair as they say in my neck of the woods…Ever hear of the Caine Mutiny; well… (you’re welcome)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046816/
Or..you know go dither and dather and have discussions, fret and wring your hands, perhaps commission a study or have a conference …………
Sooo why is Xu being so polite and formal? They are taken prisoners by a hostile race that will kill them in a few minutes
Being the bigger person, so to speak. Getting violent and angry will do nothing for them at this point, especially when the commander of the ship that just captured you is being so respectful and polite.
Mùlán has no reason to assume that the aliens are going to kill them. While there was little communication, the aliens did say that they’re taking the Stanislaw Lem‘s crew into custody for being somewhere that the aliens don’t allow them to be. They also said that they recovered Hala and that she would survive.
And earlier Mùlán read all about Eyrn. She likely concluded that the aliens are humanlike enough that despite all that happened there is still a chance that the aliens can be reasoned with.
Finally, the politeness and formality serve to keep the dignity of the Stanislaw Lem‘s crew intact. Like Soatari said, they’re being the bigger person. Well, figuratively.
They have taken hostile action against her crewmates, her ship and her. It would be logical to assume that execution would be an option in their collective fates..
She is also Asian and in some Asian societies there is no worse fate than to surrender without honor.. The Japanese had contempt for those who surrendered to them and did not die in battle in glory..
If I was in that situation I would rather die than become a prisoner, a slave (pet) or worse…
Right now, I expect that they’re safe as long as Lauryna knows their status and Solis doesn’t. If he finds out that they’re alive and on the Gyfjon, they’ll survive only if Lauryna can resist the Navarchos Imperii.
Can the Lem be remotely detonated via Gool?
It’s safe to say that Ziah Solis knows that the Gyfjon has captured the Stanislaw Lem. He gave the order to capture or destroy the Stanislaw Lem, and Aertimus just told him that the Gyfjon is landing on Titan Station. The most likely reason to land the Gyfjon is to transfer the Earthlings and their ship into the station.
I agree with you about keeping the dignity of the crew. If I were the captain I would assume that I am a prisoner and act accordingly. – name, rank, serial number – no more. Stone blank face along with similar body language..
I really don´t get Xu´s actions at all in this part. From her point of view she faces an inhuman, alien opponent. A species/enemy which denied her a (peaceful) first contact and instead meet her and her crew with threats, aggression and hostility. It must seem to her at this point that these beeings don´t consider humans thrustworthy/equal nor worthy.
I can´t imagine how she would come to the conclusion that she should surrender her fate and that of her crew to these beings. Yes I know she has this “we-all-worked-together”-background, but seriously she also fazed an inhuman, monstrous enemy. Now she faces an non-human opponent again, one which didn´t give her any reason to trust – why is she so trustworthy now?! I think it doesn´t suit her character at all, she doesn´t seem that naive.
For gods sake at least she should give every crew member a cyanid capsule instead of just putting them at the mercy of these aliens! But no! Lets all just step out and hope for the best…
Who says they don’t have cyanide pills? But those are certain death; better to hold off on using them until they’re absolutely sure that death is preferable to what the aliens are going to do.
As for Mùlán’s actions, she had the chance to read about Eyrn and come to the conclusion that the aliens might not be as inhuman as their actions made them look. And even then it’s obvious that Mùlán was very much torn on what to do. But when it came down to it, Mùlán decided that she didn’t want to be one who started killing first.
“…with a spoon”
That dressing down by the floor leader was great. And then Solis turned full on evil villain.
The question is how many loyal troops does Solis have who would break the law for him. Because I’m not sure what his end game is, but he can’t coverup the murder of a well known professor without at least some who would. But if he is full on crazy, Bass’s best course would be to not wait for the floor leader to contact him, and to reinforce Titan’s defense just in case. It’s looking more and more like we may see a civil war happen.
Solis has to know that Aerti will talk to the floor leader. He knows that his unlawful order cannot supersede existing law, and when asked by the floor leader what’s going on, will tell him the truth and will also tell him about Solis’s order. And Aerti should do exactly what he’s trained (assumedly) to do, and report that unlawful order up his chain of command.
Well, I most certainly do not envy the position Eyrn was thrust into. Forced to walk the delicate tightrope with Aerti, walking the line between supporting her lover, and her strong ties to humanity, and what I would even consider HER humanity.
As a married man, I can understand the desire, rather the NEED to support your partner no matter the cost, but I think for Eyrn its more than that. I see an older, wiser, more rational Eyrn, who hasn’t forgotten her irrational, brash youth when she would have stormed into a room screaming and yelling, or threatened to beat the crap out of a jail guard for doing his job.
The team doesn’t need TWO Sorcha Freeman’s after all, and its odd but I sort of see Sorcha Freeman as a younger Eyrn Fitzgerald.
On to Aerti, jebus I don’t envy that man at all. He really is all that stands between team Lem, and destruction. I don’t think even the brave folk of Team Tarsus understand just how thin the line that Aerti has to walk is.
This story gets more exciting as the chapters go on, I am glad I haven’t read it since you completed it, because I get to experience it all over again!
Okay, Ziah definitely went off the deep end.
There is a good chance that Eyrn is going to feel pretty awful about herself before long. It makes perfect sense for her to urge Team Pryvani to not do anything rash and jeopardize Aertimus’s already precarious position, but the situation is even worse than she realizes. If Team Pryvani were to follow Eyrn’s advice to not interfere, they all would no doubt find that it was exactly the wrong thing to do. With Ziah acting the way he is, not even Aertimus can avoid disaster without help.
Aertimus, keep your guard up when you visit Kir. I have the sneaking suspicion that Ziah has been giving Kir orders behind your back because he doesn’t trust you to obey orders that’ll make the Earthlings and their vessels… disappear.
On a more comic note, if Rodrec is like this now, one can only imagine how he’ll react once he finds out the full extent of what’s going on at Titan Station.
“On a more comic note, if Rodrec is like this now, one can only imagine how he’ll react once he finds out the full extent of what’s going on at Titan Station.” I’d say the same thing about several people.
I think Izzy is doing what I thought could happen if LE never happened, she is leap frogging through time, staying awake for a year or so and goes back in cryostasis till Laryna gets older that way they can be together till old age takes them both. If this is true what they are doing Izzy will be around longer than the ones that got the LE, only down side when she is in cryo she is not up to date to whats going till she is told whats been going on when she was in cryo.
There was a part of me that wanted to see the humans of the lem blow it up to make a point but oh well.
Eryn has seem to be lot less of herself yeah she is older now but she seems to be lacking that thing that made her, her. Not really getting a smile when she shows up. I guess to me she seems more titan more so than that self that added some human to her.
I don’t think Solis and other like him will ever be ready for first contact with humans.
“Child of my enemy why have you come? I offer no forgiveness. A father’s sins pass to his son.”
Nail that quote without googling it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXB89UWV-v8
I have a feeling we are heading to a similar situation to the Docar crisis ( http://titanempire.wikia.com/wiki/Docar_crisis ).
If not Aerti, Lauryna at least will openly rebel against Solis.
yeah the scene in petshop is indeed poignant. Nice to see reactions from Lessy Sorcha. Emotinal and Disturbing. Quiet shocked Solis killed Gernhatt the madman. Solis gone insane! Xu has been brave n wise to not blow everything up!! Interesting to see Aerti seeking Kir.
I guess this means that Team Avalon will have to do that drastic thing that Eryn warned them against. I hope Aerti recorded that conversation. It would give him a defense and discredit his boss if he decides to violate his orders, which he SHOULD do. I wonder if the Imperii has some kind of dealing with the insectoids? ANY kind of elevation of Earth and human’s status could seriously jeopardize their hope of taking Earth for themselves without a massive interstellar conflict.
Its so hard to wait for each new chapter when things are this tense. I look forward to your next one!
Glad to see Xù coming back to her senses. No point in blowing shit up against a much more advanced adversary, what would be the ultimate outcome of such an action ? She realized that in the end – wished she had done so sooner.
So Lauryna and Izzy are a thing huh ? I like that but that makes Izzy refusal to go through the LE treatment even more puzzling. If she spends her life on the Gyfjon, around titans in general and her lover in particular, why would she not prolong her life ? It’s not like she has to worry about kids or something. And then there’s the fact that she spends years in cryostasis, what’s up with that ?
Strange… 😉
The scene in the pet shop was really poignant. Lots of emotions for both Lessy and Sorcha. And it takes *us* back too. 🙂
So, Solis just murdered Gernhatt ? Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…
I thought Gernhatt was the paranoid madman biased against Humanity but… Solis fears Humanity that much ? Seems unlikely. So what’s going on there ?
And what’s his endgame exactly ? It’s not like he can pretend the ship was never there : he just learned the Legislature knows about it.
Is he really just gonna destroy the Lem and its crew and pretend they went back to Earth ? Is anyone, even – or especially – Zeramblin, going to believe that ? I just don’t see how he thinks he can win in the long run.
Years in cryostasis by her perspective, not Lauryna’s. If she spent every other Earth year in stasis, she’d still be awake for most of an Archavian year. To Gwenn, it’s just like if her partner went on a several month long business trip a couple times a year. And from Izzie’s perspective, she goes to sleep and wakes up, almost as if she had just taken a quick nap. It’s actually rather clever, and no doubt something the two of them came up with after Izzie turned down LE (for some insane reason), but still wanted to grow old alongside each other.
The wiki says she spent 7 of her 22 years in Cryo-stasis, but not when, or for what reason. It could have been for a transitionary time Gwenn was unable to take care of her. As far as I know, she doesn’t really exist as far as anyone outside the Gryfon is concerned.
Lauryna served on two other ships before returning to Gyfjon. Guess is that Izzy would not have been as acceptable on those ships and spent the time in Cryo.
Presumably whatever the reason, it was with Izzy’s consent. However, that thought is scary. Being perfectly preserved, basically totally outside of time, for potentially eternity. When you think about it, Izzy’s cryo-statis for 40 terran years was really nothing. Eyrn was in cryo-stasis for *over 6 millenia*, using much older technology, requiring presumably much greater power for the time and size, and didn’t age a bit during that time. I can’t imagine what might happen to someone forced into cryo-stasis.
She probably exists as rumor or urban legend in the military. Plenty of people have come and gone on the Gryfon over the years.