“Make me feel tiny if it makes you feel tall.”
–Ben Folds, “Cooler than You”
Sorcha arrived back in the Freemans’ suite with a new blouse and a bag in one arm, a tree in the other.
“Okay,” Naskia said from the couch, where she was currently slumped, her husband asleep, curled up in her lap. “I understand the blouse.”
“The tree’s from Earth,” Sorcha said with a grin, as she set it on the table. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It is, tuppy. Still….”
“I actually bought it this morning,” Sorcha said. “I had to buy something there.”
“Something where?”
“A store on the fourth floor. I think you’ve been there before.”
“I’ve….” Naskia’s eyes suddenly went wide as saucers. “It’s still there? No. You’re kidding!”
Sorcha didn’t answer; she just handed her mother the bag. “Closing down soon. I got this as a souvenir.”
Naskia opened the bag carefully, and put her hand to her mouth. “Oh…oh my…Sorcha….”
She slipped the sign out of the bag and stared at it for a good long while. Sorcha watched her mother carefully; she had always been able to read her well. She couldn’t quite tell, though, whether Naskia was bitterly angry or overcome with joy. This was possibly because Naskia couldn’t, either.
“I was a gorram fool, tuppy,” Naskia said, finally. “I’m fortunate that your father wasn’t. I hate that this is what brought him into my life,” she said, waving the sign a bit.
“Do you?” a small voice said from her thighs. Niall had roused himself, and was looking up at the sign she held with no small interest.
“How much have you heard?” Naskia asked, quietly.
“A bit. Is that…is that what I think it is?”
Naskia blushed, but couldn’t bring herself to answer.
“I was fifty percent off?”
“Um….”
“You said I was expensive!”
“You were! Even discounted! That is…gah….”
“Well. At least you got a good deal.”
Naskia sighed. “Sweetie….”
Niall looked up at her, and gave her half a grin. “Petal…it happened the way it happened. I’m not sorry it did. Not even that you bought me. And if it took a discount for you to afford me….”
Naskia rubbed his back. “You would have been worth everything I ever had, and everything I ever will have.”
“Well, I’ll settle for half,” he said. “Frankly, I’m just impressed that our daughter managed to get a hold of this. I’d like it framed.”
“Really?” Sorcha said, shocked. “I thought you’d want to see it, and we could all take turns destroying it.”
“No,” Niall said, leaning back against his wife’s stomach. “No, Sorcha. This is a part of my life. A part of my history and yours. And Nick’s, and Alex’s, Luke’s, Pierce’s, and Sam’s. And every human who’s ever been on sale anywhere in the Empire.”
“Well, yeah, but an awful part.”
“Exactly,” Naskia said. “Why save it?”
“Because it was awful,” Niall said. “Because even when we’ve achieved full equality – and we will – this will still lay in our past. And if we forget it, we don’t just forget where we’ve come from…we forget to be compassionate to the next group that suffers.”
The Freemans were quiet for a while; none of them really knew what to say. Finally, Naskia took the initiative to offer her hand to her husband, and lift him up to her lips, and give him a soft, pleading kiss.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Petal,” Niall said, gently, “I know you are. Which is why you don’t have to be.
“Now,” he said, with a smile, “I believe we should all be getting ready, shouldn’t we?”
“Wait a minute,” Sorcha said, and Niall had to fight back a sigh as he read her face. “How…how can you just forgive that?”
“Forgive what?”
“Mum…she bought you!”
“She did? When?”
Sorcha groaned. “Seriously, Dad.”
“Sorcha, I’m well aware your mother bought me, as is she.”
“But – I mean, how can you just accept that?”
Niall looked at his daughter wearily. “And what would you have me do? Castigate my wife, your mother, because she bought me, and then when she got to know me, she realized I was a person, and she treated me as such? Punish her for buying me when had she not, someone else would have, someone who would not have been so inclined? Believe me, Sorcha, I know far better than you ever will that not all of my potential owners would have done what your mother did.”
“But – still, it’s wrong.”
“Yes!” Niall said. “But it was wrong I was for sale in the first place! Wrong that your mother and I couldn’t have met at a pub near the university, as equals! I don’t believe that was your mother’s idea. And tell me, any humans for sale there now?”
“Yeah, one man.”
“I assume you mean to purchase him, to gain his freedom? If not, we haven’t done a very good job of raising you.”
“Well…obviously, I….”
“And so when he looks back, ten years from now, and thinks about becoming free…he will know he was purchased. Should he curse you for that decision?”
“But that’s different!”
“Perhaps,” Niall said, “but only by degree. Purchase this human, and you will own him, no less than your mother owned me. It may only be for a few minutes, but in those few minutes, you will hold his life in your hands. Should you choose to keep him for your own, there will be nothing anyone can do to stop you. Not even your mother. Certainly not me.”
“But I wouldn’t,” Sorcha said, sullenly.
Niall looked back up at his wife. Naskia had been very quiet through this; her eyes were downcast, and he could see the pain written on her face, see that whatever he said, Naskia tended to take Sorcha’s side in this. And that was something Niall could not abide.
“Sorcha,” Niall said, voice trembling in anger. “Do you know why you wouldn’t?”
“Because it’s wrong.”
“That’s a tautology, Sorcha. Do you know why you believe it’s wrong?”
“It just is. It’s obviously wrong. Humans are people.”
Niall shook his head. “If it was obviously wrong, no human would ever have been sold as a pet. Sorcha, you know it’s wrong because your mother came to that conclusion on her own, and then taught it to you. She bought me, yes. And yes, I asserted that I was not a pet, but there was nothing I could have done to make her see me as her equal had she not been willing to. She wasn’t taught this as a child. She didn’t have parents that taught her this. She wasn’t even taught this by me. She learned it herself. She undid millennia of cultural conditioning on her own.”
“Sweetie, I had you,” Naskia said, softly.
“And that only mattered,” Niall said, turning and gazing upon her, “because you were who you were. Because you actually dared to take me seriously. You didn’t have to.”
“Of course I did,” Naskia said.
“No. You could have kept me as a pet; you had that choice. I gave you that choice,” he said, with tears in his eyes. “And you chose to see me as a partner, a friend, an equal.”
He turned back on Sorcha. “Did your mother purchase me? Yes, she purchased me, but she set me free. If you think I will ever see the important part of that as the purchase, you are not nearly so smart as you believe yourself to be.”
Sorcha looked down, not even sure what to say. “I…I….”
“Sorcha,” he said, more gently, “I understand your anger at this. All of us are angry at this. But aim it where it belongs – at the underlying system, the lie that humans are lesser. Not at your mother. Never at your mother. She has earned your respect, and your gratitude, and your love. As she has mine,” he said, sitting down in Naskia’s palm and stroking it.
“I’m sorry,” Sorcha said.
“Not to me, Sorcha,” Niall said.
Sorcha looked up at her mum, and for the first time, she realized that Naskia’s guilt far outweighed Sorcha’s anger – something she had not realized was possible. However incredulous Sorcha had been that Niall could forgive her mother this sin, Naskia was ten times as anguished.
“Mum,” she said, “I don’t…I think it’s because I know how you feel about dad. I know how much you love him. It doesn’t seem possible you ever could have bought him. I’m sorry,” she said.
“Come here, tupp,” Naskia said, and gave her a hug, taking care to ensure it would not crush her husband. “You love your father, and you think his ever having been sold to anyone is wrong. And you’re right. It was wrong. I just hope I’ve made up for it.”
Sorcha didn’t even know what to say to that. She just hugged her mother a bit tighter. Which frankly was the right answer in that situation.
“All right,” Niall said, after a moment, “we’ve managed to get perilously close to the reception, and none of us is dressed, and petal, I know you aren’t going to be fast about it. So shall we get ready, everyone?”
Sorcha gave her mom one last hug, and headed off to a room to change; Naskia lifted her husband up carefully, and they headed to their room. “You made up for it, petal,” he said, gently. “You have made up for it a dozen times over.”
“Thanks,” Naskia said, wearily. “I just wish I believed it.”
“You don’t get a choice. You’re my pet, remember?” Niall said with a grin. “I’m not giving you the choice to hate yourself.”
Naskia lifted him up once more and kissed him, as she closed the door.
“Remember,” Niall said, as she put him on the dresser. “The second dress will be the one you end up wearing; there’s no reason to go for dresses three through eight.”
Naskia chuckled at that. “But sweetie,” she said, “you do so enjoy watching me change.”
“Hmm. That is a good point,” Niall said, with a wicked grin. “A very good point indeed.”
* * *
“Okay, we’re under an hour, folks! Where’s my booze for the humans, Ntyalone?”
“Five minutes,” said the owner of the nicest restaurant on the station, as she directed her own staff. “Bottles are replicated, bartender’s filling them now.”
“What will we have?” Alex asked, as he checked over the human-sized tables sitting atop the long table which ran through the center of the room.
“Jinnantonix, kapskrasi, holasin dissolved in spring water….”
“What percentage alcohol?”
“Forty-five,” Ntyalone said. “At least assuming they did it right.”
“Great. Perfect. Add the Kapavi and the whiskey Darren brought, and we should be in good shape.”
“You’ll also have Hustain, if anyone wants it. And some non-alcoholic drinks as well.”
“Hustain?” Alex said, with a wry grin. “Now that will be fun. At least watching the reactions will be. All right, we’ve got the two lines set up for food for the Titans, and one for the humans – nice work on the buffet for the humans, by the way, seriously. Now, I should be fine for servers – how about you?”
Ntyalone smiled down at the little man. She had to admit, she’d been a bit disconcerted when Navarchos Bass had told her she’d be coordinating with a human. This little fella had it down, though. Ntyalone chided herself. Sure, back in her waitressing days, when she was twenty and stupid, she’d thought humans were just pets. But that was before she learned they could write books, design clothes, speed up space travel…obviously they could run a restaurant.
“Now that Jana and Inni showed up, we’ll be okay. Those two – came in with some cockamamie story about how they’d been stunned in their room by some random assailant. I swear, good help….”
“Why are you talking to a human? Shouldn’t we call pest control?” the tall redhead grumbled, walking up to her boss. She was dressed in a simple white-and-black server’s outfit, and looked like she had a hangover. Clearly, she was in no mood to deal with the talking animal on the table.
“Like I said,” Ntyalone sighed. “Jana, this is Mr. Carey. He is but one of the humans you will be working with and serving tonight. You are to treat them as you would any other staffer or paying customer. If I hear one complaint, one hint that you were treating them otherwise, you’re fired. Got it?”
Jana groaned. “Why are we serving pets?”
“She isn’t your brightest server, is she?” Alex said, wryly, turning away from the bartender, who had brought the alcohol over.
“What did you say?” Jana said, menacingly, fixing her dark brown eyes on Alex.
“Didn’t even get past hello,” Ntyalone said, wearily. “Why am I not surprised? All right. Go to the office, I’ll fill out your discharge forms. Grab Inni too – I’m not gonna trust her with our customers now that I’ve fired you.”
“You’re firing me over a human?” Jana said, looking at her boss in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding. I get stunned over a human, now I’m getting fired by a human?”
“Got stunned over a human? Why?” Alex said, innocently.
“Half-tempted to grab you and show you, you little….”
“Go in the office,” Ntyalone said. “Now. Before I call station security.”
Jana stared at Alex sullenly, but did as she was told. “I’m sorry, Alex,” Ntyalone said, quietly. “She’s…they’re….”
“Hey, I’ve been living in the Empire for a long time,” he said. “Not the first one like her.”
“Yes, well…that doesn’t excuse it,” Ntyalone said.
“It’s okay,” Alex said with a wry smile. “It was an interesting conversation,” he added, looking over at the security officers being briefed by Rixie. “Anyhow, I hope you can make it short-staffed.”
“I’ll call in Kanta, we’ll be fine. You let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“You do the same,” Alex said. “Oh, and would you mind asking Imperator Tam if she can drop by when she’s got a moment?”
* * *
Eyrn knocked on the door with trepidation. Half an hour before the reception. This seemed like a terrible time to do this. But she’d been around and around it in her head. She couldn’t do this without talking to them, couldn’t make Mùlán toast her without knowing the truth. There was only half an hour to discuss it. Well, there may be more, depending on whether the Shang Xiao requested clearance to take the Lem off base once the conversation concluded.
Ulala opened the door. “Hello, Dr. Bass,” she said with a smile. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, Ms. Ix. Is the Shang Xiao available?”
“I am,” Xú said. “Good morning, Eyrn.”
“Good morning, Mùlán,” Eyrn said, despite it being early evening. “Do you have a moment? I’d like to talk to you in private before the reception.”
“Of course. Tatenda!”
“Ma’am!” Tatenda called from across the room.
“I want everyone ready to depart in 15 minutes! And have we talked to Ted yet?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ulala said. “They were getting ready last I heard.”
“Very good. This way, Eyrn,” Mùlán said, gesturing to an open room. “Nice thing about this suite is we have some extra space,” she added, wryly.
* * *
Ted sat on the countertop in the small bathroom, staring up at Tigoni, a lopsided grin fixed on his face. She finished toweling her hair dry, and looked back at him, and laughed.
“You enjoyed the shower, then,” she said.
“Easily my favorite shower ever,” he said. “And I’m glad I could be of assistance.”
“See? And you were doubting you could do anything for me. It’s never been cleaner!”
Ted laughed out loud, finally forcing himself to get up and start dressing. “I’m a little worried,” he said, pulling on his boxers. “I’m hoping the Shang Xiao is too preoccupied to ask me to return to duty.”
“You’re carrying out vital intercultural interchange,” Tig said with a smile; she crouched down, and Ted watched with blissful awe as her bush became her belly became her breasts became her beautiful face. She smiled widely, and kissed him softly. “And you’ve been doing excellent work.”
“Well, I take it seriously,” he said, kissing her back. “How much time to we have?”
“We need to be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Hmmm…don’t know if I can work that fast.”
“Don’t worry,” Tig said, sliding his boxers back down. “I can.”
* * *
Eyrn sat down on a couch in the bedroom, and lifted Xú up onto the table beside it. “So,” the Shang Xiao said. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, a couple things,” Eyrn said. She’d start with the less difficult one first. “First, I wanted to let you know that I’ve been appointed Imperial Ambassador to Earth. So I’ll be handling negotiation and friendly toasts and all of that good stuff.”
“Well! That’s excellent news! I can’t imagine a better partner to work with,” Xú said. “Congratulations, Ambassador.”
“Thanks. The other thing…it’s not as much fun. But as Ambassador…I want to let you know what the status of humans is in the Empire. And unfortunately….”
“We’re kept as pets,” Xú said, bluntly.
Eyrn stared at her counterpart for a moment, mouth agape.
“What, you didn’t think word would get out? Tatenda heard that we weren’t viewed as full equals from Alesia, and he relayed that to me. That means we’re slaves or live in penury or something, obviously. I mentioned it to Hala, she’d heard about it from Ted – I assume Decanus Belfsec told him. Not exactly reassuring, though I guess it beats slavery.”
Eyrn sighed. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m a monster.”
“No, I think you’re a friend. You don’t think of us as pets; I’m not overly thrilled with the rest of your people, but you and Naskia and Navarchos Bass – I’ve seen enough good from you that I’m willing to try to go forward.”
“That is…well, as usual, that’s more generous than you need to be.”
“Eyrn, we kept you in a cage for a century. I don’t know what we’d have done to the Titans if we had reached the stars before you, but I know enough history that I can guess. Your species is very…well, human. And that’s not always a good thing.”
Mùlán gave Eyrn, her friend, a reassuring smile, before wiping it from her face, and addressing the Ambassador. “I do need to know, Ambassador Bass, whether there is hope of a change in the status of human beings anytime soon. I have a duty to my people to work with you with their best interests in mind; if we’re negotiating so your Empire can get more pets, it’s probably best if we start making arrangements to avoid each other for the foreseeable future.”
“Shang Xiao Xú,” the Ambassador said, “I’m going to give you a three-part answer. The first part is that the legislation that made me an Ambassador and authorized first contact also created a committee to study the future of humans living in the Empire. The second is the official follow-up – the committee could make any decisions it wants to, and the legislature could decide to keep things as-is. Taking those together, my official answer on behalf of the Empire is that we are studying the situation and working toward resolution.”
Eyrn smiled. “My unofficial follow-up is that I happen to know two of the members of this committee, and I got a chance to talk to one of them; Rep. Armac tells me that the committee has a majority in favor of giving humans full rights. It will take some time – probably fifteen, twenty of your years. We move slowly, us Titans. But she’s pretty optimistic that we’ll see it happen sooner than later.”
Eyrn closed her eyes for a moment. “Mùlán, I can’t guarantee everything will work out right. I’ve been working for 140 years to try to get folks in the Empire to see humans for what you really are. I’m not gonna dare to say it’s inevitable. But I promise you, as your friend, that I’m not going to put Earth at risk.”
Mùlán nodded. “All right. We can work with that. Ambassador, do you want some advice?”
“Please.”
“Don’t share this in any public statements. But be honest about it when talking directly with our governments. Let them know what you just told me – that you’re working toward our people’s freedom. And let them know that you would like to discuss this more publicly only after our freedom is secured.”
Eyrn offered a bare hint of a smile. “Your crew is bound to talk.”
“Nope. I’ll order them not to discuss it. And they’ll listen. Every one of them saw you put your lives on the line for them. If I tell them we need to give you time, they will. Just – please, Eyrn. If we have to take them all in as refugees, or help them resettle somewhere, or send teachers and aid workers…whatever it takes, we will, but please, try to make your people understand that this can’t last forever. Eventually, it becomes too big a provocation. Earth can’t sit by eternally while our people are held as property. We will be patient, and we will give you time, but our patience is not infinite.”
“Shang Xiao, I will relay that. And I want you to know this – your ship, your crew, have been the catalyst for this. You are the best argument any of us has managed to come up with for the basic equality of humans. Mùlán, I have very good friends who are officially pets. My best friend…well, I’m not gonna go through all of it. Point is, there are an awful lot of us who just want our friends to be seen as the people they are, who have wanted that for hundreds of years, and you’ve made that more likely. I can’t ever express my gratitude enough. Thank you.”
Mùlán smiled back, warmly. “Eyrn, thank you. Now, I suppose we should head down?”
“Yeah,” Eyrn said. “The party can’t start until we get there.”
* * *
Imperator Tam observed the two women as they walked out of the restaurant, swearing and cursing at each other. She followed them at a distance after they passed her, and listened carefully to their conversation.
“You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, Jana? Gorram, what are we supposed to do now?”
“I’ll ask my mom for money, Inni,” Jana said with a sigh. “That’ll keep us until we can find another job.”
“Well, if you’re gonna wig out every time you see a human, we need to go somewhere else,” Inni said. “I was talking with Kes, she said the humans made it out here on their own. There are only gonna be more of them.”
“Well. More to play with.”
“Would you shut up? You’re not cluing in, they’re not gorram pets. They’re wild humans. From Earth. Wear clothes. Ring any bells?”
Jana looked at Inni in shock. “No way. He couldn’t have been from Earth.”
“I don’t know. I think we need to get rid of his outfit. If they’re here, and someone finds….”
Inni didn’t finish the sentence, because it’s difficult to talk when you’re howling in pain. That was okay, though; Jana was howling as well. Her right arm felt like it was being pulled out of its socket, mirroring Inni, whose left arm was getting a similar treatment. Before they even had time to react, they were slammed to the ground by their assailant.
“Hello, ladies,” a metallic whir of a voice said. “Couldn’t help overhearing you. So. What didn’t you want someone to find out?”
“I…uh…GAH!” Inni said, as Rixie applied some force. “We didn’t do anything to him! He was alive!”
“Shut up, InnAIGH!” Jana said.
“I heard you talking about him; he was indeed from Earth. I can have him identify you if you’d like.”
“So what?” Jana said. “Who are you anyhow?”
“I’m an imperator,” Rixie growled. “You know what an imperator is, don’t you, red?”
“Oh, shaka. I….”
“Shut up, Inni! We didn’t break any laws.”
“Didn’t you?” Rixie said with a jerk of Jana’s arm.
“No! We put him in our mouths and stuff, did some other things, scared him, but he wasn’t permanently injured or nothing!”
“That’s not what he said. I have enough to charge you both with attempted killing of a class two sentient. That’s five years on Rura Penthe for each of you.”
“Oh, no,” Inni cried.
“Shut up, you brat! She can charge us, but she can’t make it stick.”
“Really?” Rixie said, jerking Jana’s arm one more time. “Well, then you can come with me to detention. I was going to let you off easy, but….”
“Whatever it is, I’ll take it! It was Jana’s idea anyhow!”
Rixie smiled. So predictable. “All right, Inni, so you get the deal. Jana, we’ll see if you’re smart enough to take it. After all, we now have your friend testifying against you.”
“All right! All right! We weren’t gentle with him. But you can’t prove we were trying to kill him!” Jana pleaded.
“Maybe I can, maybe I can’t, but frankly, I’m too busy to be bothered,” Rixie said. “Go back to your apartment. Pack. And stay there until you get on the shuttle leaving tomorrow morning for Vorsha. I’ll have tickets delivered to your room. If you’re on that shuttle, congratulations, you won’t be arrested. If you’re still here…well, good luck.”
Rixie got off of them, and they both wobbled up, rubbing their shoulders. “And ladies? I told you, I’m an imperator. Got a lot of friends who are imperators. Head of the Imperators’ Corps? My old partner. I’ll be keeping an eye on you two. For your own sake, I’d play nice with humans from now on, got it?”
Inni turned around, and stared up at the giant of a Titan before her. She was frankly more terrified than she’d been when her arm was being wrenched behind her. “Y…y…yes ma’am,” she stammered.
“Red?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jana said. No matter how brave she was, one look at Rixie Tam was enough to tell her she was better off complying.
“Good. Now get lost. I have a reception to go to,” Rixie said, smiling as the two women ran down the corridor, away from her. Sadly, they were right – no way she’d get anything serious to stick against them. But that was okay. She had a feeling they’d behave themselves from now on.
“A part of my history and yours. And Nick’s, and Alex’s, Luke’s, Pierce’s, and Sam’s.”
It’s about selling humans, so that explains why Sophia is not mentioned. This also tells us that at some point Niall met Pierce. Interestingly, Niall’s club of Earth humans for sale does not include the two women from Pursuit. Does that mean he never gets to meet them?
Or this was finished being written before JS started Pursuit.
Coupla things;
1) “You’re firing me over a human?” Jana said, looking at her boss in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding. I get stunned over a human, now I’m getting fired by a human?”
“Got stunned over a human? Why?” Alex said, innocently.
“Half-tempted to grab you and show you, you little….”
______
Thats a tad over the top for bigotry. Yeah I know DX was trying to show the disdain certain aspects of Titan society has towards humans. But this is a bit too much. Thats like trying to punish (torture) a gerbil who was talking with you. In other words these two girls are sociopaths and should not be in the general public anyways..Its been shown here (in the real world) that animal cruelty often leads to human cruelty.
——
Okay Dos ..(thats 2 fyi) :
“Eyrn, we kept you in a cage for a century. I don’t know what we’d have done to the Titans if we had reached the stars before you, but I know enough history that I can guess. Your species is very…well, human. And that’s not always a good thing.”
_____
Well the comparison here is that since Titans have enslaved humans, (or kept humans as prisoners) humans have kept Eyrn as a prisoner..And thats simply not true *listens to the collective gasp from the peanut gallery*
I see Eyrn as being sheltered at Groom Lake. (Personal accommodations notwithstanding) She stayed on her own volition. If she wanted to she could have escaped rather easily. Of course she had that kill switch installed so that kept her from doing harm – which she wouldn’t anyway. People also forget that she was raised by loving, caring people during her early years – and not caged. The Fitzgeralds raised her as if she was their own daughter. If the US government had the means to return her somehow I’m sure that they would. She would present no military or scientific benefit any more than what they already know.
3)
“If I tell them we need to give you time, they will. Just – please, Eyrn. If we have to take them all in as refugees, or help them resettle somewhere, or send teachers and aid workers”
——
Xu is making a few assumptions about Earth. Making verbal promises she does not have authorization to make. Earth already has too many issues to deal with at that moment (unless global Kumbaya has kicked in and all is copacetic)
Also; teachers and aide workers? Uhh ok that might help a bit, but if Los Titans are serious about emancipating humans then they should set up Isreali style kibbutz(es) in designated areas to train aspiring human settlers in earth compatible worlds..Thats unless Avalon has the urge to take in a billion or so addition people….
Finally:
Nytyalone…man look what a big ass tip from a zillionare can do for a person..just sayin’ ………
As far as your second point… While I would agree that Eyrn was sheltered, not imprisoned (at least, no more ‘imprisoned’ than any other child is) you have to remember that you and I have read Exile, Xu has not. All she’s seen is a comparatively brief file on the subject and a handful of pictures.
1) Jana and Inni aren’t your regular bigots. These are the two who abused Ted. Since they’re capable of abusing a human on no more basis than that they were bored when they came across him, is it any surprise that Jana starts threatening a human when it insults her intelligence and then costs her her job?
2) While I agree that it’s unrealistic to expect Eyrn to be able to just wander around unrestricted, the US government always kept her very existence a secret, thereby depriving her of any contact with the outside world and making her personal accommodations less than ideal.
3) Rather than making verbal promises I think that Mùlán is just saying what she thinks that Earth’s people are going to do.
I wasn’t referring to Jana and Inni in particular, I believe DX was trying to show that those two represent a segment of Titan society. My comment was that I thought this view/behavior was extreme.
I agree with you about Eyrn’s accommodations, it could have been nicer, more like a comfortable apartment on Archavia. As for contact with the outside world, that is a bit more problematical. TD did that intentionally, remember? The army’s primary objective was to keep her safe and that meant limiting her contact with the outside world. She did have visitors on occasion and I suppose that the army could have let her attend college..but you would have to bring the class to her and then it becomes a logistics issue. 🙂
As for Mulan, I don’t think she really knows how many humans are in the empire or how they are really treated. Unpleasant surprises are in store..
I wonder how Avalon is going to react to this. They haven’t established “first contact” with Earth or set up any formal diplomatic relations yet. Avalon is not technically part of the Empire and given their desire for independence (independence in general not necessarily independence from the Empire) I imagine they would want to go about things their own way. Choose their own ambassador to earth. I vote Sophia.
While some Titans may view Earth as a legitimate diplomatic entity – and not everyone will think so – Avalon is in the public’s eye, an animal’s preserve in the possession of a weirdo dilettante trillionaire.
Even the “reveal” than Avalon is self governed might not change that view : it is still, after all, a lot less advanced than Earth while being helped along by the richest woman in the Empire. Perhaps not all that impressive to many Titans.
Yes but I was talking about Avalon-Earth relations. I doubt very much that Earth or Avalon care what the Titans think about them. Avalon is going to want to establish contact with Earth separately from the Empire, especially since the Empire is not going to take Avalon into account when dealing with Earth. The Empire does not officially recognize Avalon’s government, so Avalon will have to go around them.
Given that Darren is, if I’m not mistaken, Avalon’s current secretary of defense i’d be shocked if Earth isn’t at least made aware of Avalon. I could certainly see some under the table, unofficial (to the empire at least) relations happening.
Currently Avalon operates under an unenforceable agreement between the Tarsuss Corporation and the Council of Avalon. My guess is that as soon as there is a formal agreement of any kind between the United Nations of Earth and the Empire then precedent for recognition of human governments as legal entities will allow Privani to make the Avalonian agreement legally valid and transfer ownership of the moon to the government of Avalon which would either be a protectorate of the empire, a member state of the UN, or independent.
Loving me some Freeman’s, always a great scene with them as a family.
Not so hopped up on Eyrn Xu exchange. First off Xu is a warrior and commander not a diplo from her training and experience so no idea how she thinks Earth leaders will agree with her assessment regarding patience and letting the truth out slowly (closely akin to lying) to the people. I would be shocked if all the earth govs agreed. Definitley feel there’s some room here for an Illusive Man esque character (mass effect) to emerge, especially if Hybrid opens with “7 years following first contact and the committee still deliberates humanity’s status.”
Earth governments have a long history of not giving a shit about people who are not their citizens. They do nothing to stop people getting killed in Syria and Yemen and North Korea. They do nothing for child slaves in Haiti. Do you think they’ll go to war over Scroof?
No. Some of them might want to go to war over the idea of Scroof.
Most people will go to war over the idea they might be treated like Scroof but precious few will worry about how others literally light years away might get treated. Indeed offered incentives such as life extension and other tech as gifts most of Earth’s population and leadership would quietly look the other way for years or centuries…as they have done now and in the past to justify slavery right here on Earth.
No one is going to war over Humans. Earth will be satisfied that these race of Giants won’t subjugate them..Now they won’t be happy over the treatment of humans in their empire but it won’t prevent them from going forward with treaties and exchanges and the like.
And (almost forgot);
“Nope. I’ll order them not to discuss it. And they’ll listen. Every one of them saw you put your lives on the line for them. If I tell them we need to give you time, they will. Just – please, Eyrn”
This stuff is going to leak out no matter what, and when it does there will be problems, especially if the expectations on the Terran’s side was that these are friendly benevolent Giants..DX is trying to be political here and it will backfire..Los Titanos will have to lay it all on the line and be prepared for the reaction..In the meantime before this will hit the fan it would be helpful if the legislation granting the ‘framework’ of emancipation is enacted so that it might blunt the effect…Or be political and wait for the inevitable shitstorm to come and then deal with a much bigger problem
@Nitestarr : “This stuff is going to leak out no matter what”
It’s a given. It would be highly unrealistic if it didn’t. And when it does… Well, the big players on Earth are democracies. If people don’t like the way leaders deal with titans, they’ll be ousted from office.
The democracies on Earth could change leaders in less than a titan year. The Empire is going to find their usual slow progress plagued by frequently having to start over from scratch. In truth, they have maybe a 5 Ty window before the current reasonable generation of power holders age out.
@Nitestarr Well Solis and Gerhart were certain there would be. And when it comes to knowledge of humans the two were among the most invested and learned in the Empire.
Expecting the humans in the Empire and their status as pets to remain a secret for years to come is unrealistic. I think Mùlán was just telling Eyrn not to talk about it out of turn, so that Earth’s leaders can make the reveal at a time of their choosing. That way they can ensure that there are measures in place to deal with the civil disorder that is sure to follow when the general public learns the truth.
yeah Eryn good luck for hiding the pet status about humans in Empire, leaking is inevitable !!!
Earth right now has no choice but patience. Militarily they are hilariously outgunned and they know it, if they wanted any chance at winning a conflict they’d have to wait decades anyway.
Now that doesn’t mean they won’t hold a grudge, and it will probably encourage rapid military development, but I can’t see them doing anything within the timeline Eryn gave.
“hold a grudge…rapid military development” That’s how I’m reading it. They’ll speak softly while they build a big stick.
Wait! I dit reread the chapter, so Rixie faced the 2 dumb mean servers before Alex open his big mouth with Jana? First I thought Alex seek Rixie’s help after he provoked Jana.
The part with Alex opening his mouth came before Rixie’s confrontation with Jana and Inni.
Anyway, I think that Alex didn’t realize at first that Jana was one of Ted’s abusers instead of merely one of the many titans who are convinced that humans are dumb pets, and only connected the dots after Jana said that she got stunned over a human. I’d also like to point out that shortly after talking to Jana, Alex is “looking over at the security officers being briefed by Rixie”. Meaning that Rixie and those security officers were right there to intervene should Jana have been stupid enough to actually try and carry out her threats.
Whew, disaster averted. I’d hate to imagine Tig and Ted walking into the restaurant only to find Ted’s abusers among the waiting staff.
“I was fifty percent off?”
This nearly made me laugh out loud. It’s made even funnier by almost certainly being just as much a lie as the “new batch” that Jeska (the pet shop owner) mentioned once Naskia proved reluctant to take any of the humans on display.
On a more serious note, that was a good lecture that Niall gave Sorcha. We are taught many things throughout life. It’s almost impossible to spot an untruth hiding among all the truths before somebody points it out for you. Even keeping an open enough mind to acknowledge that something is wrong when society and everyone around you claims otherwise is far from easy. And I agree that remembering the mistakes of the past is the best way to avoid making those same mistakes in the future.
Occurs to me that Tig was a witness to their planning to kill him, and actually interrupted them in the act of it.
I knew they forgot to report those two. That they were almost servers for the reception would have been a disaster. Still, Jana and Inni got off way to easy.
They mistreated, almost killed, a diplomatic representative of Earth and a hero of the Empire. His clothes in their room would be enough to connect him there. They took Ted’s statement to remove Solis on Imperial order, they wouldn’t take his statement these two threatened to kill him?
Either Rixie wants to put them on ice to deal with later, or they just won the lottery with a slap on the wrist.
Ted is a rape victim in an interplanetary crisis, I don’t think it’s an issue of no one believing his reports and more of an issue in Ted choosing not to report it. Why bring up the embarrassment of official charges, especially when what the girls were doing was, so far as I can tell, entirely legal.
The class system being as it is, specifically designed to ensure the crippled, the stupid, and the economically poor all have the lowest level of rights and protections, while physically harming a human is certainly a fairly minor crime, simply raping one or removing it’s “belongings” is hardly a charge worth bothering with, and if more heat were brought to bare on these two it might actually confuse the issue more and set back the delegations to an even greater degree.
After all, how can a human ever be classified as a class 1 species when two people can gang rape one without even trying. And on the other side how can Earth put yet more trust into this race of giants who’s first introduction with earth was to declare themselves gods and demand sacrifices, and who’s SECOND introduction involved kidnapping, shots fired, poisonous gas aimed at unarmed civilians, and an attempted frame job by one of their higher ranking officials.
What the girls did wasn’t legal. The Empire does have laws against animal cruelty. Unfortunately there are complications. One, Ted was the only witness. Two, Tig attacked them with a stun rod instead of calling law enforcement. Three, said stun rod came from an attack on station personnel, an attack that Rixie and Aertimus are covering up. And four, if the incident goes public it can damage the already unsteady relationship with Earth even further.
A lot of what happened on Titan Station will get buried including Ted’s not so excellent adventure but Jana still has another shock coming. Somewhere along the process of selling emancipation to the legislature and before the trial of Ziah Solis it will become politically advantageous for the emperor to hang medals on the Lem crew for what does need to be remembered of that day. If having Rixie Tam grab you by the throat isn’t sobering enough watching on empire wide television the human you tried to kill buddy-buddy with the emperor certainly will give pause for reflection. 🙂
Fifth, while these girls have a terrible concept of how to treat humans, they aren’t hardened criminals per se. Which is better: send them to Rura Penthe for 5 years, or scare them into behaving? Hopefully they’ve learned there lesson, and if not, they will get in trouble for it eventually. They aren’t the smartest two around.
“They mistreated, almost killed, a diplomatic representative of Earth”
That’s not quite true. At the time, Ted was an enemy officer infiltrating a military base. We like him because he was on a rescue mission, but imagine some Al Qaeda guy attempting to break into Guantanamo to rescue some comrades.
Of course those girls didn’t know any of this, but that doesn’t change the nature of his mission.
Seriously? Comparing Ted a highly trained and educated astronaut to a terrorist?
Also how is he an enemy officer? Has the empire declared war on Earth? .. That would be interesting… in one quick shot going from cute harmless little animals to an enemy combatant ..
Back to the hard realities after a few feel good chapters. Xu’s advice to Eyrn was practical but that’s not a secret that’s going to keep for very long and the load of guilt Naskia’s feeling ain’t nothing compared to what Eyrn will have to bear for years to come.
Rixie doesn’t miss many opportunities but she certainly could have put an even bigger scare into Inni and Jana if she’d let’em know if they didn’t scram she’d be back to visit them and bring along their “unknown assailant”.
“And let them know that you would like to discuss this more publicly only after our freedom is secured.”
Which according to Eyrn would take 15 to 20 Earth years, so 2 to 3 Titan years.
1) Does Eyrn really believes it will go that “fast” ? Seems unlikely.
2) Is Eyrn really suggesting that diplomatic relations should be officially established, yet that the general population of Earth be kept in the dark about the status of Humans in the Empire ? And for 20 years ?
“Shang Xiao, I will relay that. And I want you to know this – your ship, your crew, have been the catalyst for this. You are the best argument any of us has managed to come up with for the basic equality of humans.
Eyrn’s spent the last 20T years making a profession of studying the sociology of all the known species in the galaxy, titans included. She’s been fighting the debate in public for most of those years as well so she’s probably a good judge of the public attitude on the titan side. It might be wishful thinking but obviously she sees first contact as a potential tipping point for a shift in thinking that’s already been moving for those 20 years.
Keeping it quiet on Earth was Mulan’s idea and Eyrn is obviously doubtful that would work but as the face of the empire she’s got to take that approach for now because she isn’t going to be very popular on Earth until there is some official action. What Eyrn has to do In the interim is follow up on Xu’s thought that Earth, and more likely Avalon become a safe haven for humans in the empire and probably that even if titan laws aren’t changed quickly that humans living in the empire be granted diplomatic protection treated as foreign nationals by the empire until the empire resolves its own problems.
Good thing Inna and Jan were fired before the reception started, and it’s good to see Ntyalone come back changed.
I don’t care what anyone says, we can’t have a sweeter couple than Niall and Naskia. Alex and Rixie are cute, as are many of our favorite pairs, but Nas and Niall introduced us to the Titanverse and will always have a very special place in our hearts. Sorcha still needed some edumacation, but Niall handled it sweetly.
And yay, Eyrn, and super yay Rixie! This is a superb chapter (never a surprise) that takes us well into the future. Too frigging awesome! (to coin a phrase). Mulan is handling things well, too, isn’t she?
Niall is right to want to frame the sign. How bittersweet a memory that will keep safely in their home. Mostly sweet, in this day and age… ;-} What a relief Alex has recovered enough to enjoy this event. He will ensure the other Humans also enjoy it. He is a consummate host and caterer. Hustain for everyone!
I thought Nick and Brinn were the first couple? Or maybe Rixie and Alex?
Cheers for saying. DX has done a great job with those two.
Oh Sorcha, so full of fire but though you may not have the direction yet, I still love you so much. You’ve really done a fantastic job in making the Freemans my absolute favourite of all the families in this Titanverse. I can’t wait to see what she does in Hybrid, hoping it focuses on the children of our main characters seen so far, it could kick off Phase 2 of the series.
I’d say technically Rixie and Alex, though they didn’t know it yet at the time. They were pretty much a couple before she retired. They were certainly more than just friends.
Brinn didn’t really get to that point until after Nick’s therapy with Kiri. She certainly loved him, and it was certainly as more than as a pet, but it wasn’t quite as an equal yet, not until they had settled a bit into the new lifestyle that Kiri prescribed. And by the time they got back to Avalon, Zara and Taron had already gotten to that point because of their work with the Avalonians.
Peggy may have read Titan: Physics first.
Good point. Not everyone started with Titan – I read Naskia and Eyrn Do Vegas first, then Exile because CSP hadn’t been updated in awhile, and I was itching to read a TD story. That’s when I decided to take the plunge and do a Titan-Physics marathon.
It was Physics. I don’t mean to offend JS but Titan itself just doesn’t compare to Physics, that was the story that really launched the whole thing.
JS’ writing has improved, you can tell from Pandemic and everything since that but OOH did a great job of drawing you into the lives of the characters, you really feel for Niall and Naskia.
Lol very funny you should say that nostory. Physics was only the second thing I’d ever written. No just in relation to this genre. Second thing ever.
Js got full edit privileges and was instrumental in making physics a readable story. I do get people have preferences for characters and plots but js is a far superior writer to myself.
I’ve improved but he’s still better and I still ask for advice.
Actually, I tolerated Titan because my husband loved it for the fetish content, then I moved on to Physics and sucked it up for the story. I recommended it to my friends and family; I tell them to read them in order so they can follow it well, but I will always go back to Physics as the starting point for me.
Nick and Brinn did not start as a couple, to my mind… I probably just didn’t get it. Niall and Nas developed an actual relationship which has been sweet and awesome.
JS is a signal genius, creating plots beyond my imaginative capacity. OHH and tiny Dann iced the cake, and Dx has been a star this last year. I appreciate the talent and work you guys have invested in entertaining me. Thank you very very much.
OHH, I never knew that but I guess the early chapters confirm what you said. Never knew JS did that, I have seriously underestimated the man, my apologies there.
While I was hoping our two Trell lites would get something stiffer Rixie’s probably right in making things stick would probably be hard without permanent injury. Guess I’ll have to settle for their heads getting cracked, being fired, and getting the piss getting scared out of them.
Ntyalone was interesting, and familiar, has she appeared before as a side character? I’d dig through Arena if I had the time.
Sorcha, oh Sorcha, I can understand the anger but placing it on your Mom? Really? This is why you can’t be part of the delegation. Still Niall turned into a tender moment.
Props to Eryn for being open about it on all matters, expected nothing less. Titans move slow, but until Humans have fully functioning warp contact between the two is still going to be limited so yes there’s some time to work out emancipation. Though I can tell not all human leaders are going to be as accepting as Xu.
Ntyalone is the waitress from the start of Titan: Exile that nearly placed a plate on top of Darren (and still got a huge tip). I wonder if either of them is going to recognize the other at the upcoming party? Hard to say on way or the other; a lot of years have passed since then.
She might. He was with “The Wild Girl” after all, and Eyrn was kind of a big deal at the time, still in her undesired 15 minutes of fame.
Actually he wasn’t. The scene with Ntyalone was part of the framing story. Darren was with Pryvani at the time, which was after his “rehabilitation” by Lyroo and shortly before the 2102 Grand Tribute.
Oh, then that’s even more memorable then, as the Pryvanni insisted she treat Darren as any other customer, and the tip Pryvanni left her was enormous.
Well, Pryvani has always been a big deal
Wow good catch. Her development is cleary an example on the power of a good tip. 🙂
Can I tell you all a secret about Ntyalone?
She was supposed to be Renna Ntyalone, who’s name was later changed to Renna Tolemtra.
When I posted that chapter, J.S asked me if he could use the waitress, her huge tip from Pryvani was going to be in some way connected to events that later happen to Renna in Arena, but J.S felt the timeline with Exile and Arena didn’t work so he dropped that idea and changed Renaa Ntyalone, to Renna Tolemtra.
Also, he had changed Ntyalone to her last name because he doesn’t like my names and thought it was funny sounding 😛
But yea…Renna from Arena and Ntyalone from Exile at one time where supposed to be the same character.
I’m not sure that D.X’s placing her here was an intentional nod to that, or consolation.
Actually, now that I think about it. the huge Tip idea was J.S’s idea because he was going to at one point in Arena call back to it, otherwise it served no real point to Exile’s plot and had originally been a set up for Arena. Though I think D.X salvaged that so it wouldn’t seem like a Checkov’s Gun thing.
I swear the next great Titan novel is just chapters of the authors revealing secrets/bitching at each other. It shall be both tragic and glorious.
so… you want to see our chat logs then?
“It is a small world. You do not have to live in it particularly long to learn that for yourself. There is a theory that, in the whole world, there are only five hundred real people (the cast, as it were; all the rest of the people in the world, the theory suggests, are extras) and what is more, they all know each other. And it’s true, or true as far as it goes. In reality the world is made of thousands upon thousands of groups of about five hundred people, all of whom will spend their lives bumping into each other, trying to avoid each other, and discovering each other in the same unlikely teashop in Vancouver. There is an unavoidability to this process. It’s not even coincidence. It’s just the way the world works, with no regard for individuals or for propriety.”
–Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys
—
Also, if we’re going to have the really juicy chat logs, let’s post the ones where OHH and Dann argue. JS, help me out, I believe those logs cover the entirety of the logs, right? 😀
They could do commentary on each chapter, easily, like the commentary tracks on a DVD.
It would be weird if in a universe of 49 billion people the same waitress kept turning up everywhere. We already keep having the same people turning up again and again.
It’s not really that weird for the same people to keep turning up. After all, our settings are mostly limited to Titan Station, Avalon, and select locations on Archavia. Plus, a selective bias for which characters of a universe appear in a series is fairly common among stories. Indeed, I think the Titan Universe is already more fleshed out than many other fictional places.
interesting family talk with Freemans. Niall was super ! And Another comfirmation that alex can’t keep his mouth shut!
“And Another comfirmation that alex can’t keep his mouth shut!” I wouldn’t have it any other way.