“The future depends on what you do today.”

–Mahatma Gandhi

“Titan Station, this is Avalon shuttlecraft Zeno’s Paradox, on final approach.”

“Roger that, Captain Carey, this is Titan Control, we have you set for dock Gama-12, please follow the beacon in.”

“Wilco, Titan Control. We’ll be wheels down in five.”

It was a busy day in the command center of Titan Station. Well, there weren’t many days that weren’t busy, not lately. But for a variety of reasons, this had become an especially hectic day, and they weren’t even through the morning watch yet.

“Time check, Crewmate Feist?”

“T-minus 22 minutes, 17 seconds, Admiral Xú.”

“Thank you,” Xú Mùlán said from her command station. She and Centurium Starati shared command of the station proper; in practice, they generally focused on their own spheres of influence, but both were comfortable with the other in command of Ops, as Xú presently was.

Of course, at that moment, most of the operations going on in the Saturnian system were Earth-based. Though the Vorsha-Azatlia shuttle was due to stop in six hours, and two private craft in the next nine, the biggest operation of the day was very much in Xú’s bailiwick. “Crewmate Feist, who do we have down at Gama-12?”

“Sublieutenant Mbengu is lead.”

“Kgabu is great, but I want a more senior officer there to greet the delegation,” Xú said, punching a button. “Commander Nejem, this is Ops.”

“Not a great time, Ops,” Hala said. “Come on!” she shouted at a construction worker from Earth. “This is not hard! Conduit polarity has to be checked before you install! Sorry, Admiral,” she said. She had no idea what had possessed her to agree to oversee expansion of the base for its new human crew; well, okay, she was working on an entirely different world, and working directly for Shang…er, Admiral Xú, and it was fascinating, and…well, pretty much everything was great except the actual supervising of the workers, which should not have been nearly so difficult as it was.

“Sounds like you’re having fun,” Xú said. “I hate to do this, but I need you to get over to Hangar Gama-12 – we’ve got an Avalonian government shuttle en route. I’d meet it myself, but….”

“I know, a little bit busy. You sure someone else can’t handle it, like…well, damn, no, Ted’s not on the station, obviously. How about….”

Hala sighed. “Admiral, you realize that we’re never going to get done with this project if you keep pulling me away?”

“Well, you could trust your workers to work in your absence,” Xú said, gently. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Not sure I want to find out. All right, who’s the muckety-muck?”

“Chief of staff at their main teaching hospital and the Secretary of Education, en route to Earth to compare treatments and educational approaches and so forth. They’re going on the Porfirayon at the end of the week. A Captain Carey is in command.”

“Well then. Alex can get them where they need to go,” Hala huffed.

“Go to Gama-12, commander. That’s an order.”

“Aye aye,” Hala said. She groaned, but shouted, “Delacroix! You’re in charge while I’m gone!” as she stalked toward the landing bay.

* * *

Lessy wandered through the art display alongside Sorcha, rather impressed with the work she saw. “None of them have more than 24 Earth months of training,” she said. “Look at that! Every one a former pet. Love to see Lyroo Prenn explain this,” she grumbled. She was still bitter, though it had been months since Prenn and her lot had shifted their focus. It had meant her mother going to testify before the committee, and four hard-liners walking out rather than hear testimony from a “non-citizen.”

Of course, Pryvani had “accidentally” left her microphone on, and “accidentally” said to a staffer, “Well, I don’t understand that a bit. Are they heading to the bars already? It isn’t even mid-day! Oh…oh, oopsie!” It had brought down the house, and put the members who’d left in a bit of a jam, especially when photos of two of them at a bar surfaced later that day.

They were winning the war, slowly. Nonah’s testimony had been riveting – anyone who had it in their mind that the former pet was a puppet was left having to explain away how she’d taken Rep. Wantl’s question about the works of Besava and used it to riff on how Besava was similar to Tormalt, Shovlan, and Shakespeare, comparing the human author’s “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy with Besava’s “Shall I consign myself to slumber” speech, quoting both from memory. Twenty-six minutes, Nonah Armac had spoken, uninterrupted and off the cuff. Lessy was always proud of her mother, but never more so than on that day.

Still, the going was slow; the committee had two dozen more meetings scheduled over the next Titan year, and nobody thought there’d be a vote before the elections. That meant at least two Titan years, at least thirteen Earth years, before this would be resolved – and even the most optimistic of them knew that was only the beginning. The liberated pets who had come to Avalon had done marvelous work, but they were still working on a number of basic concepts. Most had been illiterate when they’d arrived, and almost all had lacked basic math skills. They were trying a system that moved them from large group homes to small group homes to, hopefully, independence within three years. But there was so much that needed to be done for them, even the ones who were thriving. It was asking a lot, moving them from pets to self-sufficiency. Lessy still didn’t know how her mom had done it – and reminded herself that she’d had help from Niall, Naskia, and Loona.

“You worry too much,” said Sorcha, playing with her hair.

“Says the woman who thought we should end our mission here eighteen months ago.”

“Yeah, well, I was wrong. Besides, we need to learn here, so that whoever helps the transition of liberated humans has some clue what they’re doing.”

“Hmpf,” Lessy said, examining a painting. “We have no idea what’s gonna happen, Sorch. We’re a long way from equality.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sorcha said. Then, she paused by one of the paintings. “Hey, nice.”

Lessy turned, and gasped at the painting. It was beautiful. A bit impressionistic, but she could tell that it was intentional, rather than the mark of an amateur. Other paintings around it verified that the artist had a keen eye for color and shape, and a knack for communicating emotion through symbolism. In the painting she focused on, a small figure – a human – was helping another human out of a cage, while two Titans looked on. Three women helping free a man. They were in a cave, but there was an exit, off in the distance, marked by bright light. The blonde human directed the dark-skinned human, and the brunette and the Titan with multicolored hair….

“Oh, my God,” Lessy said. “Sorcha, does this look familiar?”

“Huh? No. He’s good, though.”

Lessy grinned. “I should say so. Recognize the signature?”

She pointed to the corner, where a stylized May-Ona-Zhe signature denoted its creator.

“Moze? Moze did this?”

“You sound surprised,” Lessy said. “You said it yourself, humans from there go on to do great things.”

Lessy looked around, but didn’t see him, which wasn’t surprising – the artists didn’t have to stand by their artwork, and many were still a bit self-conscious. But she made a mental note to drop by and say hello to him, let him know how proud she was to see him succeeding. Her mom had been given support; Lessy thought maybe she needed to give more than she already had.

* * *

The Zeno’s Paradox had been repurposed from an old Imperial fighter; it was still oversized for its new task — serving as a warp ship controlled by the Avalonian government. But by comparison to a shuttle like the Galatea, or even the Porfirayon, it was downright tiny. Indeed, it was shorter than the Lem. A fair amount of care had gone into its retrofit, primarily to replace the Titan cockpit with quarters for its human crew. Technologically, it was well beyond anything Earth had produced, but of course, it had been purchased; Avalon had not developed warp travel on their own, not yet. But events had forced them to improvise; the Avalonian government was adept at it.

The gangway opened just as Hala Nejem stepped on to the dock; as it opened she tried to remind herself that she’d need to salute Alex, rather than reminding him of that one time Rixie ate him.

But it wasn’t Alex who stepped off the gangway; it was a much younger man, wearing a crisp Avalonian uniform. He didn’t look like Alex – or Rixie, for that matter. He was slight, short, and sinewy, with deep brown eyes, ruddy skin, and a calm, careful demeanor. And yet he smiled, just a bit, not on purpose – more as if he wore that expression naturally.

“Ryan Carey, Archon, Avalonian Guard, captain of the Zeno’s Paradox. Permission to come on station?”

“Granted, Captain,” Hala said, saluting. “Commander Hala Nejem,” she said, reaching out a hand.

“So you’re the woman who told my mom off for eating my dad,” Ryan said with a grin. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh! Very nice to meet you, captain. I still feel a bit bad about that, but in my defense….”

“Nah, don’t,” Ryan said. “Trust me, no better way to get in my mom’s good graces than to care about dad or me. And if you don’t…well, mom would never hurt a human. But she’s not above scaring you if she thinks she needs to make a point.”

“I got that sense,” Hala said. “So who are your passengers?”

As she asked this, two humans approached, one a handsome man in his…well, nobody could tell anymore, but if Hala had to guess, she’d say forties – and one a pretty woman wearing ocular implants gauged for humans.

“Dr. Nick Archer, Sophia Kramer, I’d like you to meet Cmdr. Nejem. She was on the Lem.”

Hala was not prepared for the ebullient response this engendered; Nick and Sophia were both immediately peppering her with questions and gratitude. When they finally paused for air, Sophia said, “You don’t even know what you did. You’re heroes to millions of humans.”

They appeared to be about to say more, when an Avalonian soldier entered the room, and said, “Thanks for telling me you were coming!”

The young woman grinned, and rushed up to the two Avalonians, throwing her arms around them. “Asker, I’m going to assume you know these two?” Hala said, caught somewhere between amusement and annoyance.

“Sorry, commander,” the woman said. “This is my mother and father – well, one of my mothers and one of my fathers.”

It was to Hala’s credit that she didn’t react to that; she’d gotten used to unusual family structures during her time with the Titans. It was unsurprising to her that this extended to Avalonians.

“Sophia was her birth mother,” Nick said. “Her biological father is our husband Taron.”

“Well, Asker Dande-Kramer, I can’t fault you for being excited to see your family, so we’ll let this breach of decorum slide,” Hala said with a wink. “Just make sure you don’t greet everyone from Avalon that way.”

“No, ma’am,” Manto Dande-Kramer said, with a grin. “Just my family. Promise.”

“Really, you should limit that to parents,” Nick said, tousling his daughter’s short brown hair. “She has 11 brothers and sisters.”

Hala smiled. “We’ll worry when we get up to her 13^th sibling. Asker, what are you doing right now?”

“Here to secure inbound ships, ma’am.”

“Mr. Mbengu,” Hala said to the officer who’d just come on deck, directing ground staff. “Can you spare Asker Dande-Kramer for a moment?”

“He can; Jolu,” Ryan said over his commlink, “can you get staff down to help ground crew out? Terrific. Thanks. And we don’t have a fast turnaround, Mr. Mbengu, no rush.”

“Thank you, sir,” the young African officer said with a grin. “We’ll take our time. Next Thursday work?”

Ryan laughed. “In all honesty, at some point I’m going to have to take you up on that. My Aunt Emily has demanded I visit Earth sooner or later, but we need to get back to Avalon shortly – first run to Earth, we’ll need to make sure the Zeno made it through all right. As for Asker Dande-Kramer, Manto has been trouble for as long as I can remember, so it’s probably going to save you time if you spring her.”

Manto sighed, and rolled her eyes. “Sir, I’m only ever trouble when you and Odin are involved.”

“Strange, I’m only trouble when you and Odin are around too. Weird,” Ryan said.

“At any rate,” Hala said, feeling she was not going to catch up with the conversation in anything less than a couple of hours, “you’re relieved for the moment. You can take half an hour to catch up with your family.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Hala hit her comm link. “Nejem to Ops.”

“Ops, Xú.”

“Admiral Xú,” Hala said, trying to ignore that Nick and Sophia literally squeed at the Admiral’s name. “Zeno’s Paradox is grounded, and I’ve spoken with Captain Ryan Carey; bring our guests to their quarters?”

“Well, you could,” Xú said. “But I think you should swing them by Ops. We’re twelve minutes from something rather important.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Hala said. “Captain, would you like to come too?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Ryan said. “Jolu,” he said, as his exec reached the deck, “I’m going to head up to Ops for a moment. The ship is yours.”

“Aye aye,” Jolu Atrern said. “I might take it for a spin; I’ll bring it back, though.”

Ryan laughed. “No racing, Chilaearch.”

“Our guests are coming with, as is Captain Carey. Also, I relieved Asker Dande-Kramer; turns out our VIPs are her parents.”

“Cleared with Mr. Mbengu?”

“Aye, ma’am.”

“Roger that, commander. As long as the soldier is back down there in T-minus 60, we’re fine.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Hala said. “See you in a moment, Nejem out. All right, this way, folks. You’re about to witness history.”

They stepped out of the hangar through the human-sized access door, and Hala motioned to a small pod; they got in, and she punched a code in, causing it to slide sideways; soon, it had found its track in the wall, and before long, it was ascending to about hip-height on a Titan, bound for Operations.

“You know, it’s funny,” Hala said, as they began their brief trip, “If I remember right, Captain Carey, your dad had a friend named Taron. Is it a common name?”

“In the Empire, yeah,” Ryan said. “Of course, in this case it’s the same Taron.”

Hala paused just a moment, and gave a half-smile. “I see. And if memory serves, he’s a Titan?”

“He is.”

Hala turned to Manto. “Asker, did you request a Titan-Human hybrid duty schedule?”

“No, ma’am,” she said. “I…didn’t want to be singled out.”

“Understandable, and silly,” Hala said. “Anyone who has trouble with hybrids is going to have trouble on this station, trouble with Admiral Xú, trouble with Centurium Starati, and trouble with me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Manto said.

“And Dr. Archer, Dr. Kramer, you should know that unlike some of the screw-ups I’ve got working under me, your daughter has a fine record, despite apparently being space-lagged all the time.”

Asker Dande-Kramer smiled sheepishly.

Hala chuckled. “All right,” she said. “We should be to the command center shortly, folks. Enjoy the ride.”

Meanwhile, in that command center, it was getting very close to the moment of truth.

“Time check, Crewmate?”

“T-minus eight minutes.”

Xú nodded. “Open the channel. Attention, alll ships involved in test 56-Alpha-12, this is Admiral Xú at Titan Operations, Flight Control. We need a final go/no go. Chase One, Sally Ride?”

“Sally Ride actual. Go flight.”

“Very good, Captain Bobrova. Captain Marechera, Telemetry One, Stanisław Lem?”

“Go, flight,” Tatenda said, as the Lem maneuvered its sensors to record the test.

“Chase Two, shuttle Porfirayon. Go/no go?”

“Ops, this is Decurion Jons, we are go.”

“Excellent. Target Alpha, shuttle Thaya. Go/no go?”

“Belfsec, Thaya, go flight.”

Xú smiled. She could not have picked a better commander for the target ship.

“All right then. That just leaves the ship of the hour. Terran Space Ship Miguel Alcubierre, this is Titan Station. Captain Martínez, are we go/no go?”

“This is Alcubierre actual. We are green across the board. Flight control, we are go,” Ted said, from the bridge of the small ship. “We have begun to instantiate the warp field.”

“Roger that,” Xú said. “This is flight control, we are go. Initiating test 56-Alpha-12.”

Hala was well aware of the chatter, but she tried to ignore it, and focus on leading her tour group into Ops. She guided them toward the blue striping on the outside of the room. In some cases, it wound away from doors, but she was insistent that they stay on the track laid out. Nobody had been stepped on yet, but there was one incident where someone had thought he could take a shortcut through the red path marked for Titans, and…well, he’d been lucky that she’d been looking down at that exact moment.

“One minute,” Feist said, and everyone in the room, including a good many Titans – who had piloted faster than light ships on their own, literally hundreds of times each – held their breath.

Hala, Nick, Sophia, Manto and Ryan took a lift up to the human’s part of the command center; the commander nodded to Xú, and gestured to a couch where their guests could sit. She then took an open station, and ran down the engineering systems; Commander Chandrasekhar was on the Alcubierre, so Hala was unsurprised to find everything in perfect order. She looked up at the screen.

“Okay, folks,” Ted Martínez said, to his helm and comms officers. “Warp field is ready to engage. Stand by to engage warp drive in three…two…Ms. van der Graaf…engage.”

The Alcubierre didn’t even seem to move. The space around it twisted and bent, and suddenly, it was gliding along space itself. Or perhaps all of space was gliding along it. It didn’t matter, really; the ship rode the wave of the warp field, accelerating closer and closer to their goal.

“0.94 c,” van der Graaf said. “Chase Two is right with us. 0.96 c.”

“Porfirayon, this is Alcubierre actual, stand by to send reference tone,” Ted said watching the ship get closer and closer to the barrier, until….

“1.0 c. Repeat, 1.0 c. We are at light speed.”

“Porfirayon, send tone. Engineering, instantiate a partial second field. Let’s push it just a little faster.”

“Chandrasekhar to bridge, we have the beginnings of a second field, you should see a slight acceleration.”

“Helm?”

“Aye, sir… we are at 1.003 c. And holding.”

“That’s good enough, Commander Chandrasekhar. Helm, hold course and speed for the next…eight minutes, four seconds,” Ted said with a smile.

Now, all they had to do was make re-entry without burning up.

On the Thaya, Decurion Tigoni Belfsec sat in the command chair, watching the inbound ship, which was moving, she was pleased to see, at just a bit faster than light speed. She watched, and listened, and found her heart racing.

Right on time, just as it passed the Thaya, the Alcubierre began deconfiguring its warp shell, from low level two, down to level one, and within a few hundred thousand kilometers, down to no speed at all. Tig waited just long enough to hear the reference tone from the Porfirayon, traveling at light speed, finally make it to her.

“All right, Mr. Vayt,” she said. “Let’s go get ‘em.”

The Thaya approached the Alcubierre slowly, patiently. It opened its dock, and latched on to the tiny ship, pulling it safely inside. “Careful now. I’ve got you,” Tig murmured, nearly bursting with pride.

When, and only when, the Alcubierre was safely ensconced in the Thaya did Xú Mùlán finally remember to breathe.

“Mr. Feist, contact Houston,” Xú said, as the room broke into applause. “Advise them that the Alcubierre has broken the light barrier.”

Mùlán sat back down in her chair, and smiled as she flipped through messages and briefing notes, looking for the next part of their mission. They had just started to tiptoe into space. Saturn was so close to home, and the universe was awfully big.

But they wouldn’t have to do it alone. They’d have help. The Titans were imperfect, like everyone else, but like humans, most of them wanted to make the universe a better place. And as she listened to the Titans in Ops, congratulating their human counterparts without a trace of irony or condescension, she realized that would make the difference. Oh, there was much to resolve, but there always had been, and always would be. Humans had made it to Saturn by putting aside their differences and working with each other. Do the same with the Titans, and they could make it to the stars – and whatever lay beyond.

It was a big universe, and daunting for any species to face alone. But why on Earth would they want to if they had friends who were willing to help?

TO BE CONTINUED

In

TITAN: HYBRID
by OPEN HIGH HAT