“You know, there’s part of me that’s tempted to quietly torpedo him,” Teddy Xanthopolous said, shaking his head, his long hair tracing concordant angles as he did.

“Smitty? Why’d you want to do a thing like that?” his father said, stubbing out a cigar. “You can’t think Lethior is worth a goddamn penny.”

“No, no. We’re still trying to dig out from the damage he did as President. But I’m still not quite ready to forgive him for stabbing you in the gut.”

Darren snorted. “Never should have told you that fucking story.”

“Why not? It’s good to know that Smit will turn on you. Good to be on guard.”

“Son, is that what you think I was trying to tell you? Cause it wasn’t. Not at all.”

“No, Dad, I just….”

“Look,” Darren said, “you’re a smart kid, and you’re very good at keeping your temper in check, and that’s no mean feat, ‘cause you got that temper from me.”

“Thought I got it from mom.”

“Got it from both of us, and let’s be honest, you weren’t gonna win either way. Now hush, ‘cause I got a sermon comin’, so don’t interrupt me. Like I said, you usually keep your temper in check, ‘cept when someone insults you and yours.”

“That’s a bad thing?”

“Naw, it’s a good thing. You should wanna defend your family. Not saying you shouldn’t get angry. But you’ve gotta know that you’re liable to get angry, and make sure that when your temper flares up, you’re doing it for the right reasons. And in this case, you aren’t. Not by a long shot. Smitty didn’t stab me in the gut. He wasn’t thrilled with me, but he was working it so that my mistakes didn’t cost Avalon, and that was the right thing to do.”

“Your ‘mistakes’ saved the Empire, saved Earth, saved Freeman Colony. That’s not a mistake. You should have the Imperial Clade for your mistakes.”

“Don’t get me wrong, if I had it to do over, I wouldn’t change a thing, ‘cept maybe build more Acolytes. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t bend the rules to do it, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t have to face consequences for it. The consequences I face aren’t all that bad – really, shoulda retired about five years ago.”

“You should retire when you want to, not when you’re forced to. You’ve earned that.”

“Yeah, I have. Aerti Bass earned Imperii, and he shoulda been able to retire when he wanted. We don’t always get what we earn, we don’t always get what we want. I chose to serve, on Earth, and here on Avalon. I did it with my eyes open. And when you serve, you can’t get hung up on what’s best for you, personally. You know that. You chose to serve, too.”

“I just…it feels like you’re getting a raw deal. Ammer could have spoken up for you.”

“Aren’t you listening? When you serve, you can’t get hung up on what’s best for you! Smitty understands that. He wasn’t happy, but he wouldn’t have asked me if you could use help on your presidential campaign if he wanted me to hang. His duty was to this planet and its people. If the Imperial government can’t trust the government here, then things get very bad in a hurry. You want to have the government suspended under Article 22? You want to have Titans running things for a while? How do you think the people would handle that? You think they’d understand it was just them taking precautions, or do you think they’d see it as all our worst fears come true, the Titans stepping in right off the bat to make us pets? You know the answer to that, and so do I. So Smitty has the choice. Support me, the guy who mighta done the right thing, but did it in secret and against the law; or keep me at arm’s length, say that the way President Hearst and I did it was not the Avalonian way, and that it’s us that screwed up, not the province as a whole? Which one convinces them to trust us, and which one makes ‘em think that not a one of us can be?”

“Still don’t like it.”

“Don’t have to like it. I don’t like it, and I don’t think Smitty likes it much. But like I said, all of us agreed to serve, Smitty, Kilohertz, and me. And all of us understood what he was doing. And all of us are happy with how it’s gonna end up. Kilohertz and I are gonna retire, they aren’t forcin’ us out. The Titan government’s official line – well, you’ve heard it. Officially, we were doing this as full partners the whole time. So officially, I’m a hero. So’s the President. And most important, so’s Doc. And I’m gonna tell you flat, if I had to go to jail to keep Niall Freeman’s reputation spotless, I would. He laid down his life as clean and pure as any soldier I’ve ever commanded, and saved more lives than anyone I know save Navarchos Bass, who’s got him tied. They say your honor guard in Hell is based on the number of baddies you take out along the way. They’re in the tens of millions, I reckon. I don’t want anyone looking at what he managed and questioning it for a second.”

“So you’re telling me I should just forgive and forget?”

“I’m saying there’s nothing to forgive. Smitty did his job, sure as I did mine. And if you want my vote in the new year, you need to understand that. I love you, Teddy, and I respect the hell out of you, but there are times I think you woulda done well to have served a year in the guard. If you had, you’d know that a soldier isn’t fighting for themselves, or their friends. And sometimes the choice is between your buddy and the town, and hard as it is…you’ve gotta save the town.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to like it,” Teddy said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Darren replied.

“So can I at least give him a piece of my mind in private?”

“Oh, hell, you do it if you want to. Guarantee Smitty will tell you he was in a tough spot, probably tell the truth and tell you that I put him there. May swear a bit about how I fucked him over. But he’ll also tell you that he woulda spoken up had they really wanted to jail me. Honestly, it’s a waste of your time, but I won’t stop you, and Ammer’s faced down worse.”

Teddy took a swallow of beer, and thought a long minute. “What does mom think?”

“Your mom already cussed him out on a phone call not long after I got back, and Smitty and her went about six rounds, and your mom stopped about then and said that she hated all this political junk and that this was probably why she’d been a lousy dictator. And then she asked when he and Inna were gonna have kids, and invited him round for dinner when he’s back next.”

“Well,” Teddy said, “I doubt I’m gonna call him any name mom hasn’t already used.”

“Son, she knows profanity I’ve never dreamed of. She’s as fine a woman as this universe has ever produced.”

“She put up with the six of us, she’s gotta be tough,” Teddy said. “All right, as you used to say, we’ll leave water over the bridge when the well’s run dry. He did ask for a recommendation for his campaign manager; I was going to stay mum…but Ulku Onthola is very good. And Lethior is really awful.”

“Give him a call. And if he has advice for your campaign, take it. Smitty himself is pretty straightforward, but you give him a chance to plot, and he’ll come up with a campaign that’d sell pig shit to a farmer.”

“I will. And thanks, Dad. I still think you got a raw deal.”

“Nah, your mom got a raw deal. She’s already trying to convince me to find something else to do with my time once I retire. Might go back into Tol-Bot, though not full time. Maybe coach or something. Not in a rush, though. Need the time to figure out how to scare Tommy Archer-Kramer when he comes around askin’ for Amelia’s hand.”

“Like you’d turn down Tommy. You remember who she was dating in high school, you know she could have done a lot worse. Well…tried to. If she was bringing home Leroi Faliisa, all of her brothers would be plotting with you.”

“If she was gonna marry Leroi, Lysis woulda taken him out already. Nah, I won’t turn Tommy down. I like Tommy, kid’s got a good heart. But still, it’s my duty to scare him.”

“Earth has some weird customs. But Amelia knows what she’s getting Tommy into. Just don’t actually scare him off, or mom will murder you in your sleep, if Amelia doesn’t first.”

* * *

“Mom! Can you tell Jylora to stay out of the pool!”

“Come on, Takar! I just wanted to swim for a bit. It’s no big deal!”

The Titan teen trailed after her younger brother, both dripping saltwater all the way. Their mother sighed.

“I have guests coming in approximately ten minutes, is it possible to do this in a manner that does not destroy the house?”

“Sorry, mom, but I just went for a short swim, but Takar got all weird about it.”

“But…it’s…um…I just wanted to swim alone for a bit, that’s all,” Takar said. “Can you just tell Jylora to give me some time to swim alone? Please?”

Kymie Abaforad looked at her son’s face, using the latest iteration of Dhan Armac’s glasses to register the embarrassment that lit up his face in ultraviolet. She couldn’t imagine what would be making her 11-year-old Dunnermac boy so embarrassed. Well, for a moment she couldn’t. Then, as the penny dropped, she absolutely could.

“Oh. Oh! Oh. Yes, Jylora…Takar needs some time in the pool alone. Just…it’s a Dunnermac thing. Give him space, okay?”

Jylora blinked, eyelids briefly hiding her softly-glowing artificial eyes. “But Mom, I don’t…oh! You’re going through ygnephua! Why didn’t you just say so!”

“MOM!” Takar shouted. Well, to be precise, his vocalization jumped two octaves above the already ultrasonic levels it was always at, but it registered as a shout to his sister and mom, and accurately so.

“Jylora!”

“What? Dad always says we shouldn’t be ashamed of our biology. We’re all just squishy bags of meat and water and stuff. Ygnephua isn’t that bad, I read about it. You’re lucky you don’t have to deal with what I did when I hit puberty, female mammals go through what’s called menstruation, it’s when….”

“Jylora Geen Abaforad, I swear, you have all the issues I had at your age, but in reverse,” Kymie sighed. “Whether we should feel ashamed of our biology, we often do. After all, you didn’t exactly handle your first period calmly.”

“Well…I mean, I had to go to dad, and…I know he’s a doctor, but….”

“Uh-huh. And Takar had to go to you and me, and neither one of us has ever had to deal with ygnephua ourselves – and I’m sorry, Taka, I can feel you getting more embarrassed every time we use the word. We will stop. And Jylora, remember what your father told you when you said you wanted to be a doctor?”

Jylora smiled weakly. “That I would really need to work on my bedside manner?”

“Yeah. That. Taka, take all the time in the pool you need, your sister and I won’t come in unless you tell us it’s okay. Okay?”

“Thanks, mom,” Takar said. “And I know, I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but….”

“Taka,” Kymie said, “You shouldn’t be ashamed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ask for privacy and discretion. Okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, mom. And Jylora…please don’t tell me anything more about menstruation. I already read about it for one thing. You mammals are weird.”

“I wouldn’t say weird, I mean, mammals are….” Jylora looked back at her mom, paused, and said, “…well, okay, we are kinda weird. I need to study anyhow, but if the pool is safe to get into, can I later tonight? I miss Our Home, when I could just wander down to the sea.”

“Yeah, dad always said you’re part Dunnermac,” Takar said. “I’ll…uh…let you know?”

“Fair enough,” Jylora said.

“Now, Jyla, you mop down the hall, my friends are coming in approximately six minutes.”

“Why do I have to mop the hall?”

“Because you’re older,” Kymie said, heading back into the kitchen.

Kymie left her daughter to clean up, and finished grabbing the hors d’oeuvres she’d prepared. Okay, she had a couple kinds of crackers, with a caviar spread and a cheese spread, and a couple of pitchers of juices.

She missed their larger kitchen in their house on Great Ocean. Oh, this was a very nice condo – there were few in Tannhauser Gate with a whole floor set aside for a Dunnermac pool habitat. But it couldn’t replace their home – and she really felt like it was home, now.

She had been leery about going there, at first, but the trip back to Tannhauser Gate had convinced her to make her temporary move to the Great Ocean Center for Higher Learning a permanent one. She found the challenge of teaching Dunnermacs to be invigorating. They were just enough different in their thinking to keep her on her toes, to push her mind down paths she had almost forgotten.

It must have been, she thought, how Niall felt, teaching Titans.

The doorbell chimed. Kymie chuckled. Right on schedule. Of course they were.

* * *

“I want to thank you again for taking the time to speak with us, Ms. Sokuyo.”

“Please, Mr. McClure, call me Santea. It’s the name I’ve had the longest,” the woman said, proffering a hand.

“Then you must call me Lennox, Santea. And you’ve already met my wife, Veronica.”

“Hello again, Ms. Ng,” Santea said. “Is that common on Earth? To have different last names among married couples?”

“It’s not uncommon,” Veronica said, setting up her second tripod. “It really depends on where you live, what the traditions are, how much people pay attention to those traditions…basically, it’s a mess.”

“So very much like the Empire then,” Santea said, with a smile.

“Just smaller,” Veronica replied. “Okay, Len, we’re ready.”

“Great. And again, I do appreciate this. I know you have been avoiding non-Sheilian press.”

“I’m making an exception for Earth media. This one time, anyhow,” Santea said.

“All right, are we ready? Okay, good. I’ll be asking questions, we’ll edit it into the broader piece. As I told your campaign manager, let me know if anything needs to go off the record, we’ll talk. Ready?”

“Go ahead,” Santea said, settling into her seat.

“You’re the first human outside of Avalon to stand for a seat in the Imperial Legislature, but you’ve said that you don’t want to be viewed that way. Why?”

Santea leaned in, just a bit. “I don’t want to be a human who happens to represent Sheilus and Junu Metropolitan. I want to be the Representative from Sheilus and Junu Metropolitan who happens to be human.”

“Right, you used that line in your announcement. But win or lose, this is a historic accomplishment for you and humans in the Empire. Why not embrace it?”

“Because that’s not what this is about,” Santea said. “Look…I could have made a vanity run, stand for this seat just for fun, maybe make some good points for why humans should continue to be integrated into the Empire, but that would be disrespectful. Disrespectful to my potential constituents, disrespectful to humans, disrespectful to me. The person who represents this district needs to represent all of its citizens, no matter their species, their religion, their background. If I run as a human first, I am excluding the vast majority of my constituents. That’s not just bad strategy, but it would make me unworthy of the office.”

“You make it sound like Minister Smit is short-changing his constituents.”

“Not at all! For one thing, Minister Smit has non-human constituents. And though he’s only been in the position a short while, he’s been a strong advocate for all non-Titans in his role as minister. But Rep. Smit represents Avalon. Most of his constituents are human. And so he can and should serve as a human representative first, especially as long as he’s the only human in the House.”

“But he’s also the Minister of Non-Titan Affairs, so….”

“Rep. Smit has done a very good job, in his short time in office, representing humans and serving as head of that ministry. It so happens that right now, most of the concerns of non-Titans revolve around humans, but Rep. Smit strikes me as a representative who respects all the citizens of this Empire. And he’s married to a Titan woman, so I doubt he’s ignoring everyone but humans.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“About what?”

“Smit being married to a Titan?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know Ammer Smit personally. He wrote me a letter when I entered the race wishing me luck, but that’s about it.”

“There are some humans I’ve talked to who see it as somehow….”

“There are humans who see it as being a ‘traitor to the human race,’ I read blogs too. I’ve heard some Titans do, too. Wouldn’t be a problem for anyone if we couldn’t have kids, but we can.”

“Do you see it as a problem?”

Santea tented her fingers. “I see it as a concern. Don’t misunderstand me – I am not calling for a ban on human-titan relationships, or a ban on children from those relationships. Our experience liberating humanity is proof that it is not just wrong but counterproductive to create a second-class level of citizenship. But that does not mean that I have no concerns about the dilution of the human race over time. As I said, we have just been liberated; are we to have gained our freedom only to see our species absorbed into the titan one? To be free only at the end of our existence as true humans? And I’m sure that there are many titans just as concerned. Now, if hybrids are just an occasional thing, and most humans marry humans, and most titans marry titans, this is not a big deal. But there are certainly a number of very prominent human-titan marriages. I hardly need to go into them.”

Lennox filled in a few. “Sen. and Praetor-Imperator Tarsuss, Prince Pierce, Sen. Carey, and his son, of course….”

“Not to mention Admiral Martínez and his wife, Centrium Belfsec. It’s not just the Empire where this is a concern.”

“No, it isn’t,” Lennox said. “But Earth, of course, gives us the counterargument: my wife and I are of different ethnic backgrounds. There was a time when our marriage would have been barred, and a longer time when it would have been seen as unseemly. We view that as a horrible part of our past, like Apartheid and bans on same-sex relations. Does this concern not echo the horror of miscegenation laws?”

“You said it yourself, though,” Santea said. “You were from different ethnic backgrounds, not different species. There is a difference. Again, don’t get me wrong – I’m not opposed to some relations, some hybrid children. Trying to outlaw such things is like trying to outlaw solar radiation. But that doesn’t mean these things should be encouraged, and it’s why I do favor the proposed alternate life extension theory….”

“The Hamonor-Nypo process?”

“Yes. Dr. Selil’s process was certainly welcome, and very helpful to humans, but it comes with the unfortunate side effect of humans and Titans having compatible DNA. Drs. Hamonor and Nypo have solved that issue, it sounds like, and I would hope that would be the process that is used on most humans in the Empire. We should have our lives extended, but not at the cost of our species’ genetic integrity. And this would also solve the problem of human-titan relationships. Without the risk of children, they would be no problem. And by requiring additional genetic therapy to have children…well, that would keep things to a reasonable level.”

“But what if we are the same species, or at least, closely-related?” Lennox asked. “You know the new common ancestor hypothesis, I’m sure.”

“I just…I like titans. But I can’t believe that we and they are really the same species. Size matters, after all. We’re both worthwhile, both of us deserve to live in peace and freedom, but I’m not Dunnermac or Drazari, and I’m not a Titan, and I don’t want to be.”

“All right,” Lennox said, looking down at his notepad. “So let’s move on to simpler issues. Let’s talk about the Earth-Empire alliance….”