Hab Lemescu waited patiently, watching the coverage of the riots on the viewscreen in the Floor Leader’s anteroom. Typical Imperial slant, going after the Federation for its provincialism. They were letting the Empire slip away, and tut-tutting the only people left willing to fight for it.

Ah well, he was unsurprised. This was never going to play well in the Empire, but hopefully it would scare off the outsiders long enough to allow them to make their move.

In a way, he felt bad about this coming meeting; he was about to lie to the Floor Leader. Not that this was new, but she was the first Floor Leader he’d ever served with who had treated the Federation not like an embarrassment, but as a potential friend. He wished he could be lying to Armac, that sanctimonious bhatwa-lover.

“Representative-from-the-Federation, the Floor Leader will see you now,” an Avartle aide said; if Lemescu had cared to know anything about the People, he would have known that her tail, and her rocking back-and-forth, were clear signs of disrespect. Of course, he would have taken her disrespect as a badge of honour; his slight grunt and bare eye contact was no less a sign of his.

“You wanted to see me, Madam Floor Leader?” Lemescu said, sweeping ahead of the Avartle.

“You’re gorram right I did. Sit down. Junior-Aide-to-the-Floor Leader, thank you, please leave us.”

“Yes, Floor-Leader,” the Avartle said, only too happy to take her leave.

“What can I do for you” Lemescu asked, as the doors closed.

Forna Qorni laughed bitterly. “Tell me what the frak is going on in Walak, to start.”

“Well, outside agitators….”

“Shut the frak up,” Qorni said, drumming her fingers. “They held a rally, and your frakking sortaku sormado comes in and fraks things up.”

Hab did not correct the Floor Leader; yes, she’d called them the “Knife-Wielder Block,” not the “Black Block,” but “Knife-Wielder” was an old euphemism for masturbation, and the pun was an old slander against the Blockers.

It did make him feel less bad about lying.

“Madam Floor Leader, I assure you, if any Black Blockers were involved, they were freelancing. Poron Cesil has been….”

“He’s been a frakking closed book, is what he’s been. Look, I don’t like emancipation any more than you do, but if you want to make gorram sure the Empire embraces it, you keep fighting this. I mean, frak, at least ten humans dead….”

“They shouldn’t have been at the rally, it’s not safe….”

“TEN FRAKKING HUMANS DEAD,” Qorni shouted, slamming her palm on the desk. “Minimum. Nobody’s heard from Jako A since the rally, nobody’s heard from any of the rally organizers. They dead? I frakking hope not, because that’s going to make things very difficult for you.”

“How do you figure? A human….”

“A human with a following, Emperor’s teats, are you that stupid? I’ve already got pressure on me to invoke Article XXII, and no, I’m not going to, but for frak’s sake, YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR SHAKA IN ORDER.”

Hab nodded. “Madam Floor Leader,” he said, evenly, “the last word I have is that the Federation’s government is prepared to crack down on the violence and restore stability and security. If we find the leaders of the rally, we will make sure that they are safely placed on a transport ship back to their homeworlds.”

“They have a right to be there, Hab!”

“They do, most certainly, but we need to let things cool down. Surely it’s in everyone’s best interest for everyone to cease their provocations.”

“You can encourage, you can’t force them. And if they stay in the Federation, as long as they’re simply speaking their mind…Article XXI is very, very clear, Representative. All Imperial citizens may travel and live freely throughout Imperial territory. All of them.”

“And the humans?”

“By law, the humans are citizens. You don’t have to like it, but you are bound to obey the law, and you are definitely bound to obey the Charter.”

“We will certainly follow the law,” Lemescu lied. “But Madam Floor Leader…you came to us in the first place. We gave you what you needed for support. Right now, the Federation needs you not to lose your temper. This is a major change, and one that most of our citizens oppose, strongly. You must give us time to work things out. If not…well, we will not be quiet while our way of life is destroyed.”

“Don’t frakking threaten me,” Qorni growled.

“It is not a threat. Simply a reminder that we have helped you, and a request that you repay our assistance in kind.”

Of course, it was a threat, and a naked one. But Lemescu wasn’t wrong; she had gone to them. She’d been very careful not to make the Titan Party an overt ally, because she knew that would fracture her coalition. If Armac ever called her bluff, she’d end up out of power. Armac couldn’t afford to call the bluff, the risk was too great, and that suited Qorni fine. But if Lemescu started talking up their alliance…well, it would take all of five minutes for Armac to demand clarification, and all of fifteen minutes for Qorni to have to repudiate them, and once that happened, Armac would very much have the upper hand.

“Representative, I have no desire to go interfering with your local affairs. Or those of any other province. But Representative, you need to understand full well that I cannot be infinitely patient. This government cannot endure in the face of lawlessness and brutality in your province. And if that’s what brings me down, I guarantee the next Floor Leader will not have the slightest interest in working with you.”

“Of course,” Hab said. “Poron Cesil will make a statement later today calling for calm, and I will relay to him that it’s best if the organizers of the event are found safe.”

“You do that,” Qorni said. “And make clear to him that I cannot wait forever.”

“Of course not, Madam Floor Leader,” Lemescu said. “Of course not.”

****

“Stay with me, Bidi.”

“’m with you. Just…I lost a lot of blood. Hospital’s over that hill.”

“You okay, Terta?”

Terta was huffing from the exertion, but the guard was barely able to walk; she knew that his life depended on her being okay. So she said, “Yeah…okay.”

“Halt!” a voice called.

Xealo closed his eyes, and offered a silent prayer. “This man is hurt. We’re taking him to the hospital.”

“You were part of the rally today, the organizers,” the voice said.

Xealo turned back over his shoulder, and looked at the peacekeeper. “I was.”

“We all were,” Terta said, though it came out as a croak.

The Peacekeeper was a large, stocky man, and he regarded them carefully, as if weighing something. Then, he suddenly stood straight.

“Affirm, Watchtower,” he said. He then slipped an earpiece out of his right ear; Xealo noticed his standard-issue earpiece remained in his left. “All right,” the peacekeeper said. “It’s…good that you’re all right. He needs to get to the hospital?”

Xealo nodded, watching carefully for a trap.

“All right, young lady, I’m sure he’s too heavy for you. I’ll take his left side, you come with. Ready? All right.”

The peacekeeper carried Bidi in silence, taking them into the emergency entrance to the hospital and waiving over a medic.

“Look,” he said, as Bidi was loaded onto a bed, “It’s good you’re alive. Nobody wants anyone dead. But I do hope you realize this is gonna happen if you keep riling people up.”

“Is it now,” Xealo said.

“Yeah, it is. This young lady can tell you, we Federationers don’t like it when outsiders try to tell us what to do. Best if you leave this to us.”

“That’s funny,” Terta shot back. “I was born here. And the human citizens, my friends, were born here. Why is it these outsiders care more about us than you do?”

The peacekeeper glowered at her, but shook his head. He had his orders. “Listen, makka, don’t know where your humans are, but the best thing you can do for them is to shut the frak up, got it?”

Terta stared back, not deviating her gaze.

“All right, you should all get checked on. I….”

At that moment, however, there was a commotion, as another peacekeeper accompanied an injured woman into the room, accompanied by two medics.

“…lost a great deal of blood, the emergency tourniquet seems to have worked, but you will need to get her into surgery quickly.”

“Understood, Peacekeeper Viaf,” the medic said.

“Viaf, you old slag! Who’s the victim?”

“One of the organizers of the rally, Tchol,” she said to the stocky peacekeeper. She looked over at Xealo, who was staring at the woman on the gurney. “She should be okay,” Viaf added.

Xealo stared in horror; “okay” tended to ignore that Garae was missing an arm. He wondered if this peacekeeper was the one who’d inflicted the injury; it took all his faith to keep him from lashing out.

“You recognize this guy, then.”

“Yes, another organizer. You’re long overtime, aren’t you?”

“You gonna volunteer to keep an eye on ‘em for me? My husband would appreciate it.”

Viaf shrugged. “Long as I’m single, may as well pick up the extra pay.”

“Good woman! And if you ever need a frak, me and Solu are always available.”

Viaf chuckled. “You and Solu are always available no matter what, least that’s what Terk says.”

“Terk’s just mad we haven’t invited him over for a while. And yeah,” Tchol said, “he’s right.”

Viaf sighed. “Get on home to Solu then, don’t waste time here. I’ll keep tabs on the organizers.”

“So we aren’t free to go,” Terta sighed.

“Oh, you are,” Viaf said, watching Tchol leave, “but it’s probably not safe for you to do so. Medic,” she said, to a woman passing by, “please tell Dr. Janga that Safym Viaf needs to see him.”

Xealo looked down at the ground; Terta leaned back, and fished two small people from her jacket pocket, nodded to them, then put them away. She was rather surprised to see a third placed on her leg.

“Aranta….” Terta whispered. She looked over at the peacekeeper, who gave her a very slight nod. Terta nodded back, and said, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Viaf said. “There’s a reason I asked for…Dr. Janga.”

“Viaf,” the Dunnermac said. “What’s going on?”

The peacekeeper reached in her pouch, and gently pulled out an unconscious human. Dr. Janga’s face lit up bright ultraviolet in shock, but he quickly pulled himself together.

“I see,” he said, taking the human in his hand. “I will do everything I can.”

“I know you will,” Viaf replied. “I’ll be here. Are there any guest rooms available?”

“Just one, we’re quite busy, as I’m sure you know,” Janga said. “I’ll have the nurse turn it over to you. Are these….”

Janga looked over at Xealo and Terta, and Aranta, who was watching him with concern. “I will do all I can. And….”

He looked around, and then said, as softly as he could. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Terta replied. He certainly didn’t seem sub-Titan. Indeed…he seemed quite superior.

She hoped so. Jako had not moved once. He would need to be superior to help save him.

****

“I like this.” Myrell said cheerfully to Alesia. “It feels…much more right, ya know?”

Myrell was referring to the fact she was standing in front of a class of around thirty Humans who were busy practicing basic multiplication. Nothing about her alluded to the fact that she was a Titan other than her pink eyes. In fact, she was currently one of the shortest people in the room. Although technically she was on the second floor of the Titan compound in the holoroom beside Sorcha’s office.

Alesia smiled. “You will get no argument from me. It’s important to live with the reality of our differences but it is nice to pretend from time to time.”

“It’s surprising really. You can’t tell the difference at all like this. Titans like to pretend we’re better but in reality we’re all the same. Titans, Ler, Dunnermac, Avartle, Humans; all the same. You cut us, we bleed. Hells, Humans and Titans bleed the same blood.” Myrell said.

“You’re totally right.”

“Did you know that the Insectoids didn’t even realise that Humans and Titans were a different species?” Myrell asked.

This was new information to Alesia. “I hadn’t heard that, no.”

“It wasn’t until after the Titans declared Earth off limits or a bit after that I think.” Myrell said. “I just shows how small the differences are if another species can’t even see them.”

“That’s fascinating. Where’d you hear that?” Alesia asked.

“Old research paper by Dr Kharee Selil. She found it out while doing research on Insectoid metamorphosis.” Myrell replied.

Alesia let out a small laugh. “Dr Selil used to own my father.”

“No way!” Myrell faux gasped.

“Yes. And she’s the reason that despite being over an Earth century old I only look about thirty.”

“I’d say you look mid-twenties. Tops.” Myrell said.

Alesia blushed and waved a dismissive hand. “Oh stop, you don’t need to kiss my ass. Your work here speaks for itself.”

Myrell shrugged. “Suit yourself. I wasn’t ass-kissing. Just saying what I think.”

“What are you? Twenty one?” Alesia asked.

“Nope, twenty seven. The pink hair makes me look younger. Which is why it is pink! That and to match my eyes.” Myrell said, which was partially true.

The Human woman smiled. “You’re a curious one, Myrell. You’re off shift and should be asleep but here you are helping out and perkier than I am.”

“I can’t help it. What we’re doing here is huge. It’s important to so many people. I guarantee it’ll change the galaxy as we know it.”

“Well I wouldn’t go that far.”

Myrell shook her head. “Just you wait and see…”

A hand went up in the class.

“Excuse me…Alesia…I’m not sure about this one.” A man said.

Myrell happily skipped towards the man. “Don’t worry Lessy, I’ll take this one.”

The man pointed to his work sheet and mumbled something to the short woman who had knelt by the side of his desk.

“Oh I see!” Myrell smiled. “Don’t worry! It gets hard after you get past the ten times tens! I have trouble remembering them as well. Now let’s see…”

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Apologies for the delay, the database went down. Thanks to D.X for resolving and the content in this chapter.