A few weeks later….
“So anything else I need to know before I meet with the leadership group?”
“Yeah,” Ammer said, flipping through his pad. “Titan Party’s numbers have spiked in my most recent models. 30-40 probably, 50 isn’t out of the question.”
Loona leaned back in the chair. “Gorram, knew that was coming, but….”
“Zeramblin’s in a precarious position. Most of the Titan Party support is coming from disgruntled conservatives mad about the First Contact vote. It’s a political winner overall, but it’s a wedge issue for his caucus. Question is whether you want to kick out the stool, or not.”
Loona frowned. “I suspect you have an opinion.”
“I do, but it’s not my call. May not be yours, either, but….”
“What are the chances of a liberal takeover?”
“About five, ten percent. All the races would have to break our way. We’ll probably gain, but you’re coming from way back. Even if the non-Titan parties backed a liberal caucus, you’re probably short about forty seats.”
“With the Titan Party providing the majority,” Loona said. “Zeramblin wouldn’t bring them in, but if the conservatives need to bring them it, Zeramblin won’t be Floor Leader, Qorni will.”
“And you can kiss the Tarsuss Committee goodbye. She’ll never call the question.”
Loona nodded. “Right. So we need to be careful in our attacks. Push for liberals, but run more against the hard north than the Empire folks.”
“That’s my recommendation. My expectation is that the next legislature will be more polarized. The most likely good scenario is one where Zeramblin is still floor leader; he’ll listen to the south of the chamber, and he’s with us on the Tarsuss Committee. Plus his caucus has always been reasonable on education, even if they’re wrong – we can work with them.”
“Agreed,” Loona said. She checked her pad. “Well, I should get going. It’s good to have you back, Ammer.”
“Good to be back, Boss. And we don’t have to meet in my office every time. I’m really doing a lot better.”
“I’m sure, but you literally came straight to the office at my request, I had to give you a chance to change clothes, at least. I know, you always say you’re not here to be my friend, and when it comes to work, you aren’t. But when it comes to life…Ammer, you’re one of the best friends I have, and really…it’s good to have you back.”
“Boss,” Ammer said, with a smile, “being your chief of staff means I can’t be your friend – in the office. But…well, the feeling is mutual. Good luck, and don’t let Cethje get away with trying to run the show, he’s a deputy whip, just like you. He’s not minority leader, not yet.”
“Thanks, Ammer, I’ll remember that. Have you seen Inna yet?”
“She’s on her way,” he said. “I’ve talked to her on the pad, but haven’t seen her in person yet.”
“Well, say hi to her for me. And both of you, I appreciate that it was her mom…but there are a bunch of us ready to take her apart if you want us to.”
Ammer laughed. “Don’t know if that’s necessary…but it’s appreciated,” he said.
Loona took her leave, and Ammer sighed. The house on his desk was pleasant enough, and had been his home for most of the nine years he’d been here, but it wasn’t home anymore. It was a place to crash – and he often did during the day, he was human, after all – but home was with Inna.
He just hoped he was right, that he was ready….
“Mr. Smit?” the pad chirruped. “The policy director for the Tarsuss Committee here to see you.”
Ammer took a deep breath, and let it out. “Send her in,” he said.
Inna walked through the door, but maintained a respectful distance. She wanted to rush to the desk and seize up Ammer, hold him and never let him go…but she loved him too much to do that. So she simply walked through the door, let it close behind her, and said, “Hi.”
“Hi, Inna,” Ammer said. He nodded to himself. “You can come closer, it’s okay, I don’t bite.”
Inna chuckled. “You do too. Just lucky you’re small.”
“You like it,” Ammer said. “Or I wouldn’t.”
“Never said I didn’t,” Inna said, walking over to the desk. She bypassed the chair, and knelt down by him, getting as close to his level as she could. “I missed you,” she said.
“I missed you,” Ammer replied. He smiled. His anxiety was about a two, and he thought to himself that the anxiety was mostly about being anxious. “It’s good to see you.”
Inna sighed. “I’m so sorry, Ammer,” she said. “I…I should have grabbed you, the second my mom….”
“We’re not starting this again,” Ammer said, holding up his hands. “I dunno, maybe you should have. And if you had, I would have been mad at you, because you were trying to protect me, and I didn’t need protection…and I wouldn’t have known that I did. What I know is that you didn’t hurt me, Inna. All you’ve ever done is respect me, and eventually, love me. Tease me? ‘Punish’ me? Sure, but it was all in good fun. You’ve never done anything to me I didn’t fully consent to; I like to think the converse is true.”
Inna nodded; her big green eyes were full of tears. “Ammer, I love you. I just…I love you enough that I want what’s best for you. And if you ever…if you felt safer on Avalon….”
Ammer laughed. “I did, Inna. Always will. But I wasn’t happier on Avalon, and not because of my job, or the work I do here. You weren’t there. And I’m not going to be happy without you.”
Inna sniffled. “I’m not going to be without you. But I don’t want to hurt you. Or scare you, like….”
“I’ve gotten some good help,” Ammer said. “Good treatment, and a good support group, of people who are suffering due to trauma. Some have PTSD, like me, some have depression, or other disorders. But they helped me understand what I’m gonna have to go through. And that it’s totally worth it. I’m on some medication – serotonin booster, so if I seem extra-happy, that’s why. I’m not cured. Never can be. But I can manage it. And Inna,” he said, quietly, “there will be some times you scare me, by accident. Like I said…I can’t be totally cured. It’s always there. But there are ways we can deal with that.”
“How? How can you be with me if I scare you?”
“One of the people in my support group – I can’t tell you who, but you’ve met him – he’s with a Titan. And he’s dealing with trauma a lot like mine. And he’s been dealing with it for years, and he still has the occasional issue, and…and you’ve met him, you’ve met his partner, and you would never question that they’re in love. And neither would I. And neither would they. If they can deal with it, we can deal with it. And we will. Because,” Ammer said, swallowing hard, “Inna, if I was told that for the rest of my life, I’d be scared of you once a day, for an hour a day, every day, but the rest of the time I’d be fine – I’d take that, to be with you. I love you.”
Inna wiped her tears. “Can I…Ammer, I’d like to hug you.”
Ammer laughed. “I’ve been waiting to hug you for a long time.”
She scooped him up carefully, and held him to her chest; he felt a tiny flutter, just at the start, but it passed. He sighed contentedly. Yeah, there’d be tough moments. But they would be moments. And that was good enough.
* * *
A few days later, Inna sat on her couch, looking out on the city; the news was covering the political upheaval in the minority caucus, and the new minority leader was being dissected, but she was barely paying attention. Ammer was sleeping, and she didn’t want to disturb him; it was late, she would join him soon enough.
Ammer had been brave, and he’d done well. Part of that was that he’d been ludicrously busy, and work helped, but even when they were together….
He’d told her when he was scared, and had been more help to her than she to him. Anxiety had only crept in a couple times, and only for a moment each time. . He wasn’t upset by those moments; he took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes, opened them and shook his head, and soldiered on.
She was hopeful that they could find their way through this. That he was right when he said they weren’t bad, and not nearly as bad as they were before he left. That didn’t mean she was unconcerned about the future. She still felt that Ammer deserved better than the Empire. She simply hoped that maybe, just maybe, she herself was a good enough Titan to deserve him.
Her pad chirped, and she looked at it; she had half a mind to hurl it across the room, but she forced herself to answer it; if Ammer could forgive, she could…well, at least be barely civil. Barely.
“Hello, mother,” Inna said.
“Hi, Inna,” Xene said. If Inna hadn’t been filled with bile, she would have been rather surprised by Xene’s appearance. It was not that she looked unwell – she was tanned, and though she appeared to have lost a bit of weight, she was otherwise hale and hearty. But her hair was somewhat unkempt, and her cheek had a bit of dirt on it; the Xene Lektas that Inna knew would never have accepted a call in that condition, much less placed one.
“What is it you want?” Inna said, tersely.
“I’m on Nuvokorafia…I don’t know if your father told you. I’ve been trying to sort through some things.”
“He did,” Inna said.
“I think…I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Inna. Not just Ammer – though that was the one I most wish I could undo. But….”
Xene sighed. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, if I’m ever going to regain any of your trust. I just wanted you to know…I’m still not sure I can ever support you and Ammer. But I can at the very least tell you that I support you…and that what you want out of life is your business, so I will support you no matter what you decide. I will certainly say this – unlike me, Ammer’s never tried to kill anyone. By that measure, he’s a better person than I am.”
“Not just that measure,” Inna said, evenly.
“No, likely not,” Xene conceded. “How is he?”
“Physically fine. He has a trauma-reactive dysfunction. He’s gotten therapy, and he’s coping.”
Xene sighed. “Humans really are like us in many ways, aren’t they?”
“Less awful, but yes.”
Xene nodded. “I’m coming back to Selana; I need to work. I can’t just quit, there are bills to pay. I’m going to get an apartment while I work things out with your father. He should not have to leave the house…it was my fault, not his. You are welcome to stop by whenever you want, as is Ammer. You are also welcome not to. I hope…coming back to Nuvokorafia has reminded me of many things. Not all of them good. If you wish to stay away for years on end, I understand. Should you ever wish to come back, ever…I will be here. And if I wait for the rest of my life…then I wait.”
Inna blinked. She was fighting not to tell her mom how sorry she was, and how much she loved her – she had never seen Xene this vulnerable, and she had never seen her this self-aware.
But she also knew that Ammer had to take a few deep breaths when he woke up this morning. Xene should feel awful. It should never have taken his near-death experience to make her feel like this.
“Ammer has forgiven you,” Inna said. “He’s done so in no small part because he knows a trial would lay bare his legal status, emphatically. I understand and respect that; if it were up to me, you’d be in prison. You tried to kill a person, no matter what the law says. I can’t easily forgive that.”
“Nor should you,” Xene said. “What I did was unforgivable. I doubt our relationship will ever be the same. And if you changed your mind…Inna, when you told me you would destroy me…if you ever choose to do so, give me enough warning that I can protect your father and sister, and you. And then do what you must.”
Inna nodded. “I will. Don’t forget it. And no, our relationship will never be the same, mother. But prove to me that you mean what you say – back your words with actions – and maybe there can be some sort of relationship.”
Xene nodded. “I will do my best, Inna, I promise. And tell Day…tell her if she wants to be an actor that she should do her very best.”
“You should tell her yourself,” Inna said.
“I left her a message. Unlike you, she didn’t answer my call.”
“I had half a mind not to.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t,” Xene said. “I am sorry, Inna, and tell Ammer that I am sorry.”
“Prove it,” Inna said, then softened, just a little. “I mean it…I want you to prove it.”
“I know,” Xene said, tearing up, for she knew just how hard this was for Inna – she knew that she could try to guilt her daughter into some sort of forgiveness, at least for the moment…but she knew that would be ephemeral. She knew that true reconciliation required true atonement. And she knew that was up to her. “I love you, Inna. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Inna said, switching off the pad.
She wondered if her mother would follow through; she knew Xene felt bad, but didn’t know if she felt bad enough to truly change.
But that was a concern for another day. Xene would have to earn her way back into Inna’s life. For now, her boyfriend was sleeping on the pillow of her bed, and she was ready to join him. And so she switched off the vidscreen, and headed off to bed.
* * *
“You ready?”
Tig laughed. “I am so beyond ready I can’t even tell you.”
Ulala shook her head, and smiled. “You two are just ridiculous. Ted ready? Never mind, of course he is.”
“Not quite, but to be fair, he’s got more work to do. But he’s burning through his pre-commissioning run leave to get it done. I keep telling him I don’t care, but he says he’s damned if he’s going to give me anything less than the best wedding he can. And he is, because I’m marrying him.”
Ulala groaned. “Seriously, Tig, bad enough you’ve got to find true love in my quarters, but you’ve got to be so giddy about it all the time! It’s been months since First Contact. You’d think you’d settle into domesticity at some point.”
“Oh, we have, as much as we’re gonna. That doesn’t mean I’m not crazy in love with him, though. That’s never going to change.”
“Emperor’s behind, everything’s perfect,” Ulala teased; Tig, however, sobered.
“No, not perfect,” she said. “I mean…I told mamá – Ted’s mom – about the way humans are treated. She took it…well, she took it well, all things considered. ‘Chiquita, I know you love Ted…but your people are a bunch of pendejos.’ I told her that I had no intention of taking him into the Empire, save maybe to Azatlia, and only because Azatlia is considering emancipating humans immediately. I’m not going to risk him. And I told her that if I ever thought he was in danger of being seen as a thing…well, I love him too much for that.”
“But he’s still going. Not deep, but….”
“Yeah. To 39Π002, and then 39Π003 – they’re uninhabited, and lightly-traveled. I don’t worry about that. But eventually, he’ll go to Avalon, that’s the plan. And it terrifies me. I know, the current agreement between the Empire and Earth gives humans native to Earth the right to transit with approval, and he’ll get them, and the military will protect him, but there are settlements between here and there, and one joyriding felgercarber….”
She shook her head. “I don’t want him to run into anyone else who sees him as a thing. He already has, once. It’s so wrong. And I…I can’t prevent it.”
“No, you can’t,” Ulala said. “And you don’t want to. Because him going to other stars, traveling to Avalon…that’s how they change it. They can’t keep humans class two, not if they’re a true warp species. Not forever, anyhow. The further the Alcubierre flies, the harder the argument gets.”
“It only takes one,” Tigoni said.
“Yeah, well, that may be,” Ulala said. “But if anyone goes after Ted, they’ll have to deal with one furious, murderous Imperial officer.”
“Yeah,” Tig said, “I will hurt them, that’s for sure.”
“You?” Ulala said. “I’m talking about me. They will hurt my best friend’s husband only by passing over my corpse. Truth be told, there will be a lot more than me standing in line to defend him, or any of the others. Every Titan on this station, every Dunnermac, Ler, and Avartle. Anyone who had any doubts…well, even the willfully blind have to see what the humans have managed. I’d trust the humans on this station more than the Imperial officers, frankly.”
Tig smiled. “Ulla…I remember you saying they were people, but not us.”
“That’s right,” Ulala said. “They aren’t us. As someone told me back then, they’re better than us. They don’t see us as pets.”
Tig embraced her friend. “Thanks.” After a moment, she added, “I’m still sorry about tying you up.”
“I’m still sorry about kidnapping Ted. Now, don’t you have a rotation?”
“Yes I do, Decanus Ix,” Tig chuckled, slipping on her duty uniform and pinning her rank insignia on. Ulala did a quick double-take.
“Wait – when….”
“Oh…yesterday, end of shift. Not sure it will stick, it’s a brevet, but still….”
Ulala came to attention. “Decurion Belfsec…that has a nice ring.”
“It does,” Tig said, returning the salute with a grin. “Not as good as Praetor Belfsec, but….”
Ulala laughed. “Just don’t forget, you’ll need a linguist on your way up.”
“Gorram right,” Tig said. “Don’t forget, shuttle leaves tomorrow, 48:00.”
“I’ll be there in full dress. And don’t worry,” she said. “Your wedding will be amazing, and your marriage will be amazing. You’re marrying the fastest human alive, you’re not gonna do better. Ted’s settling, sure, but you’re nice enough. I guess.”
Tig laughed out loud, and said, “I’m gorram lucky, is what I am. To have a good future husband, and a good family, and a good friend.”
“Yes, you are,” Ulala said. “Someday, maybe I’ll be lucky.”
“I’m telling you, Hala Nejem….”
“Bah!” Ulala said. “We can’t all date humans, Tig!”
“Can’t we?” Tig chuckled, as she and Ulala left, Tig heading toward Ops, Ulala toward the linguistics lab…by way of the human residence area.
Almost forgot : “the news was covering the political upheaval in the minority caucus, and the new minority leader was being dissected”
Interesting. What kind of upheaval ? Is it possible there’s a new and unforeseen minority leader ? Representative Armac maybe ?
I wouldn’t be surprised.
Since Campaign, it seems a given (to me) that Loona is gonna end up Floor Leader. But to do that, two things need to happen :
1 – for the liberals to win the House. Human emancipation might be the issue over which it happens.
2 – Loonah needs to be the leader of the minority when the House shifts.
Could it be that #2 just happened ?
2 – Loonah needs to be the leader of the minority when the House shifts.
Loonah Armac (born 21XX MA in Tannhauser Gate, Tannhauser, Archavia) is half of the first known human ♀ × Titan ♀ hybrid twins. The daughter of Loona Armac and Nonah Armac and identical twin (except for size) sister of Nonaa Armac takes after both her mothers and is currently a proof reader and aspiring political flunky…
ok we have;
“Empire and Earth gives humans native to Earth the right to transit with approval, and he’ll get them, and the military will protect him, but there are”
Err… earth humans need approval to travel? to Avalon? I can understand the other worlds… Soo let me get this straight, while everybody is shouting about equality and first contact and all… earth humans still need permission to travel? to a Terran dominated world?..Hmm not a ringing endorsement for the empire is it?
Welcome to the empire – you are still considered a thing/object, your fellow humans are legally in a state of thrall, you need permission to travel to our worlds (Avalon is NOT a human world its still a legal possession of Titans and so is Earth, Los Titanos are kind enough to let humans live there – for now..) and oh… on occasion some of the crazies among us could still abduct you/kill you/eat you/sell you to the buggies without significant ramifications..slap on wrist.. a bit of time in rura penthe …
_____
We also have;
“Ammer said, swallowing hard, “Inna, if I was told that for the rest of my life, I’d be scared of you once a day, for an hour a day, every day, but the rest of the time I’d be fine – I’d take that, to be with you. I love you.”
Thats just strange to me..scared everyday of your life – of the person you love…
The permission thing : I understand it as permission to cross the interdiction sphere surrounding Earth, because you need military permission for that; and special legal protection from the common status of humans in the Empire.
And yeah, legally, Earth and Avalon are Titans’ properties and so are all humans living on those worlds.
Earth isn’t, at least anymore; the Treaty of Titan Station recognized Earth sovereignty from Jupiter in, at least, and essentially agreed to temporary joint sovereignty from Jupiter out to 1 light year. But while Earth has recognized Avalon, the Empire has not; it remains the property of Pryvani Tarsuss from an Imperial standpoint.
Needless to say, the Empire has a legitimate claim on space around Earth, and Earth does not dispute this; therefore, crossing into Imperial territory requires permission, just as I need permission to fly a plane from the US to Canada. In an odd way, this represents a significant increase in recognition for humans, as it is a clear recognition that Earth is an independent, sovereign entity, and that its citizens are not under Imperial jurisdiction. Though of course, their actual legal status in the Empire remains fuzzy, as a number of Terran expatriates can attest.
Though of course, their actual legal status in the Empire remains fuzzy, as a number of Terran expatriates can attest.
Interestingly enough, under the treaty the UN could exercise a property claim in Imperial courts that all the expatriot Terrans were in fact illegal contraband at the time of their seizure and were subject to return to Earth from the date of the treaty. Going forward from the effective date of the treaty all native terrans while in the empire are foreign nationals.
The UN could further force the emancipation issue by extending that claim to anyone with human DNA if not otherwise claimed as a citizen by the empire. Titans might be able to make a claim for loss of property in imperial courts if they could prove the humans they hold were decended entirely from humans removed from earth prior to the conservation act but they’d have no legitimate claim to hold those humans even under current empire law.
Rergarding the first group, of the couple dozen Earth humans captured 130 years ago, I can’t think of any still alive who would want to return to earth permanently. As for the second group, Earth was already expanding to the moon, Mars, and beyond presumably due to population overflow. I doubt they would seriously pursue an en masse immigration of humans into the solar system. While it’d be legally questionable, and possibly morally more so to demand the return of humans whose ancestors were displayed millenia ago, it’s logistically nonsensical.
A much more likely secenario in my opinion would be for groups of humans *who want to* to be able to colonize other suitable Super Mu planets. There’s also the possibility, and maybe I missed mention of it either in story or in comments, that there are groups of people who are otherwise competent but prefer the carefree lifestyle of living under the care of a Titan. I’m sure there’s going to be a decent sized group of humans, myself included were I in that situation, with the knowledge I have now, who while they would perhaps want something more than amounts to a cage, are unable or don’t want to live an independent lifestyle.
While it’d be legally questionable, and possibly morally more so to demand the return of humans whose ancestors were displayed millenia ago, it’s logistically nonsensical.
Ah, but that’s the beauty of it…no one has to relocate to Earth and the Empire doesn’t have to change its laws. Until the treaty there could be under Titan law no aggrieved party to claim injury for the removal of humans from Earth even if those removals were in violation of Titan law. Now if the empire fails to emancipate humans in a timely manner the United Nations can offer humans residing in empire jurisdiction Earth citizenship and at the same time claim them as contraband property under Titan law subject to return to Earth.
To settle the deal without a mass migration the UN would offer trading credits with Earth to registered owners of humans in the empire in return for renouncing any claims for loss of property. The remedy being that though the class 2 status remains on the books for now there are no humans remaining in legal possession of any empire citizen. The humans continuing to reside in the empire are without ownership and protected under Titan law as foreign owned property until the class 2 status is repealed and as foreign nationals until humans get full citizenship.
In other words, the next time Xene loses it and throttles her son-in-law, even if she survives Inna, she’ll be the instigator of an intergalactic diplomatic incident and will find her next roommate will be the ex-Lady Fand.
Need permission to fly to Canada? I thought all you need was a passport? Reason for a passport to travel to other countries is for the other countries to know who is entering and leaving their territories, restrict undesirables etc.. My understanding is that a human would need written permission to travel and that would include travel to Avalon. (excluding Titan dominated worlds and for safety reasons) That tells me that the empire still controls the movement of humans – or wish to. 2nd class status is implied. Are there similar restrictions for the other races?
When you show a passport, you’re applying for permission from the border agent to enter the country. For a law abiding American, showing your passport is all you need to get permission to enter Canada. The Titan Empire situation sounds like applying for a visa before traveling.
It’s not just that Humans need permission to travel from Earth to Avalon (or anywhere else) though. These days on Earth, while most countries have agreements between each other for airlines to fly between them, there’s still places with restricted airspace. In the case of space, the entire orbit where Titan lies is part of that restricted space. Any pilot (or some organization on their behalf) would need to get permission to cross through that space.
Regarding general travel of humans. Difficult to say, because most empire humans are still considered pets, so I don’t know if travel from say Archavia to Avalon, is permissible. Right now, it’d be logistically difficult to travel without a Titan companion (owner or otherwise) to most places in the empire.
Right now, it’d be logistically difficult to travel without a Titan companion (owner or otherwise) to most places in the empire.
Zeno’s Paradox is entirely human manned and travelling between Avalon and Titan Station/Earth and potentially other spots in the empire. As far as registry it’s probably on the books as owned by Tarsuss Corp and Taron is the listed pilot but he’s not flying it.
Avalon is too far away for Earth ships still. The way I read that is what he’s getting is the right to use Titan transportation to fly to Avalon (or anywhere else). A second point, just as governments control airspace on Earth, Titans control er, space-space within the empire. Presumably Titans have an implicit right to travel most of this space without needing a pre-approved flight plan. As for Earth humans, having prior approval and protection in place makes sense, regardless of their Citizen class. It’s just one of those areas where size and practical issues outweigh any legal/moral issues, and something humans will always have an at least linear disadvantage in.
Regarding your second point, Ammer, like in the case of Alex with Rixie, has been emotionally and physically scarred by a Titan. However despite all this he loves Inna too much to give her up, even though it pains him (sub)consciously. While that exact scenario is obviously impossible on earth, I’m sure there are similar cases and don’t really find it strange at all.
Fear should not accompany love. They are opposite emotions
Or incompatible – better word 🙂
Not really. Hate is the opposite of love. Fear is neither good nor bad, and is often necessary for your own good. For example, a fear of fire helps to keep you from being burned. In my opinion, the human protagonists actually have an unrealistic lack of fear towards titans in these stories. On one hand, you have the group of inherantly evil characters, Solis, Fand, Dorak to name a few, and on the other, the Titan protagonists. In the middle though, you have this huge group of Titans who while they might not intentionally harm a human, may not have the mindset to actively prevent harm.
All this to say, humans’ fear of Titans, even if the extreme case of one they love, isn’t unfounded at all, and to be honest, I’d be more concerned if it were lacking entirely.
No as I understand the passage, permission is required to travel – anywhere. No matter the mode of transportation. It doesn’t quite sit well with me…
I would think there should be unfettered transit between Earth and Avalon -given of course agreement between the two. Travel to normal Titan worlds? Well I would understand prior approval and that is a different situation..
As a comparison, do the Ler, Dunnermac (w/o cheese), Avartle need permission to travel to an empire world?..Yeah I know they are full blown citizens C1 and all but still..
Aaaaaand… Indifference is the opposite of Love. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin (or two on one and the other is a picture of my 5th grade math teacher…..or…….)
Well, as DX says above (and he wrote the thing), Travel is banned between Earth and the Empire without permission. Period. For both Humans and Titans alike. Specifically, either group can fly in their respective area, or in the disputed area, but not past that. That area being from Jupiter’s orbit to 1 earth light year out. See here, especially article III: http://titanempire.wikia.com/wiki/Treaty_of_Titan_Station
It’s an irrational fear though, and he loves her enough to get over it. He’s basically saying I’ll take one shitty hour, for the rest of the time you make me happy. I don’t think it’s hard to understand.
Living in constant fear of the one you love doesn’t compute for me.. Alex had a temporary fear which was mostly resolved through therapy. He doesn’t live in it constantly..The same for Nick and Sophia…(I think)
Or in other words to trade the love for fear (even if its only 1 hour of it) would destroy the love I M O *whoa*
wait…I meant trade fear for love … or tears for fears or… fear of flying … or *any John Hughes movie* or……..
“But he’s still going. Not deep, but….”
“Yeah. To 39Π002, and then 39Π003 – they’re uninhabited, and lightly-traveled. I don’t worry about that.
Better re-read that wiki Tig. I sense another set up for a continuing adventure when captain Ted & crew arrive at Tau Ceti (39Π003) and drop in for a visit on Tau Ceti e.
Tau Ceti e has a surface gravity of 1.06 g⊕, about 6 percent higher than that of Earth. It has a fairly diverse biosphere, but no intelligent life. Imperial scouting has shown life on the world to be biochemically similar to that on Earth and Archavia, utilizing guanine/cytosene and adenine/uracil XNA coding, which is very similar to the g/c-a/t coding found on Earth and Archavia. Various proposals have been made over the years to exploit these creatures, as many of the plants and animals and their derivatives would be safe to consume; however, because of the difficulty in mounting significant operations on a high-gravity world and the distance between Archavia and System 39Π003, the plans have not been developed.
Oh, and it’s claimed by the Hive too. BTW nice work by the authors to subdivide exoplanet candidate Tau Ceti e (approx. 2G) into an earthlike 1G wprld in common orbit around a martian twin.
Titan Party’s numbers have spiked in my most recent models. 30-40 is probably, 50 isn’t out of the question.
Wow ! They had only 4 seats before ! And they were described as political pariahs, one step away from neo-Nazis or something.
And they got such a huge boost from just the First Contact vote and the commission ? About a “hello” and a discussion about maybe, perhaps, at some point, starting to begin to talk about maybe granting rights to humans ?
A big chunk of Titans are not ready at all for this, I don’t see how it’s gonna work itself out. And I wasn’t too optimistic before !
For Azatlia, as Locutus said, they are both liberal (big Dunnermac population) and near Earth, so in a position to become a trade center with Humanity. And if not, it’s a good publicity stunt for the colony.
Legally, they probably don’t have the right to do that.
However, Lers, Dunnermacs and Avartles do have extensive legal authority over their own provinces. If they probably can’t grant C1 status to humans on their worlds, they sure could forbid the trade and forced breeding of humans. After all, as long as humans are legally animals, they surely have legal authority on such matters. I wonder why they haven’t done so already.
ps : I recall that Zeramblin has a girlfriend who owns a human pet. I would be curious to see how Zeramblin has changed his view and behavior towards that human (if at all). To see how far he’s come since Background Chatter.
To be fair it’s 50 (at most) in a 1000 seat legislature, and as Ammer was implying the seats they’re winning are from other conservatives.
These Titans are likely moving from the far right to the extreme right. They’re still a decided minority, but now they have a little power. Still depressing, but not the end of the world…yet.
Still, that’s a ten fold increase for a party that practically only represented a single very bigoted star system.
Most of the Titan Party support is coming from disgruntled conservatives mad about the First Contact vote.
These are likely mostly seats in Federation strongholds where the Titan party candidate is usually finishing a narrow 2nd behind the ruling conservative Empire candidate. Rather than a large scale shift to the right (or north as is the case here) in opinion it represents the electorate becoming more polarized and pulling away from the center.
Was expecting a backlash but for some reason The Titan Party surge blindsided me. From the way they were always described I always thought they were a step too far for most Titans.
That said with the albeit slight chance at a liberal majority, and Azatlila considering emancipation the future is going to be very interesting.
A satisfying conclusion that sets the stage for the stories to come.
Well this little epilogue was chock full…
because Azatlia is considering emancipating humans immediately
So do individual worlds really have this authority or is this an open question, Sorta like the social reverse of South Carolina’s nullification crisis. Either way but the long term result could be the same. Taken with the political splits discussed above the empire continues taking little steps towards no longer being an empire.
Plus now the folks who brought us Loona-Nonah have given us Hala-Ulala 🙂
I imagine regions of the empire are allowed to have their own laws, much like states in the USA can have their own laws.
Loona/ Nonah was totally my bad. I take no credit for Hala/Ulala.
If Azatlia changed its laws to emancipate humans, would it be overridden by Imperial law on humans?
Azatlia is a titan founded colony but has a very large Dunnermac population around 20%. It’s also the closest empire world to earth so it’s motivated by both being a more liberal and diverse population and the practical potential of moving from being a backwater remote colony to an economic trading center between the empire and earth.
The real question is whether the would be sufficient organized resistance in the imperial legislature to punish the colony for recognizing human liberation. There closest example in American history would be the battle around the fugitive slave act but the Titan party’s political clout, even with the numbers Loona was talking wouldn’t even begin to approach the relative clout of the antebellum South.
No more likely it ends up being a creeping change, like the one going on now with marriage laws, where conservative portions of the empire adopting by popular vote reinforcing the class 2 definition as a reaction to the long term trend they can’t fight.
We know that Titan party will play a major role in Hybrid but if tables are turning over already the future gonna be not easy for Loona & Co.
Good for Xene to make her action right but route for redemption is still very long.
Ted shoud be careful solis has still friends
The ultra-conservatives had their precious status quo changed, and nothing riles them up more than change!