“Thanks for coming out, Ted, I hope it didn’t put Tig out.”
Ted MartÍnez smiled. “Nah, it’s Gimmel-Ten-Bravo-Three,” he said, in a recitation of Titan Station dayparts that would only make sense if you had been serving on the station for years, which, of course, the two people at the bar had. “Tig’s asleep and so’s César, so it’s basically free time for me. If he wakes up she may message me to come back and spot him for a while, but I don’t expect him to. So what’s going on?”
Hala wrung her hands, and sighed. “Ted…do you think I’d…would I be a good partner? In a relationship, I mean,” she said, cutting Ted off from his answer about how of course he did, they’d been in scrapes before. “Like…would I be worth marrying?”
“I’m not sure how you can even ask that. Of course you would! Before I met Tig, when we were hooking up…I wasn’t anywhere near ready, but I definitely considered it in a far-distant, maybe-when-we-get-home kinda way. I know we broke it off for the Lem’s trip out to Saturn, but it was about both of us wanting to be focused on the mission. I mean…that’s what I thought.”
“It was. Really! I don’t mean you, personally. I just meant…generally.”
Ted leaned back. “What’s Ulala done?”
“Nothing. That’s the problem,” Hala said. “It’s…it’s always just…it’s like when we were…well, ‘dating’ isn’t the right word. Hooking up…we’re just…hooking up. And have been for eighteen years. And I don’t want to demand that we do something more because I don’t want to drive her away, but….”
“But you’re owed more than that. You are,” Ted said, firmly. “Vice Admiral Hala bint Basir ibn Mohammed Nejem, Joint Commander Terran Titan Station, Hero of First Contact, the very reason I’m alive to have this conversation – you are a skilled, tough, beautiful woman and one of my best friends, and Ulala is lucky you’re willing to hook up with her. And I like Ulala. Despite her kidnapping me that one time. Don’t you dare think for a second you aren’t good enough for her. Or anyone.”
“I just…I try to be patient. I know that for her, it’s three years, not twenty. We can’t all be you and Tig, agree on everything all the time.”
“We don’t,” Ted said with a shrug. “We fight. We’re a couple, we disagree. Love hit the two of us like an asteroid, but it didn’t make us perfect people. It just means that if she’s frustrated that I can’t do more of the physical work cleaning up or caring for César, and she vents about it, that I know she isn’t gonna dump me over it. And if I get mad at her for getting mad, she knows that I’m gonna apologize for it eventually. And we’ll talk it out and figure out things that work for both of us. We both can live with that. I know it’s harder when you don’t know that. A lot harder. But Hala…you still have to tell her. I mean…I can have Tig talk to her, but….”
“No, she can’t fight my battles for me. Even though she’s really good at fighting battles. Just…Ted, will you at least let Tig know I’m doing this? I don’t….you two are friends with me, and friends with Ulla, and I don’t want either of you to feel like you’re caught in the middle if…well…if it doesn’t work out.”
“We’ll support you both,” Ted said. “You’re both good people. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t,” Hala said. “I just…why does she have to be so gorram beautiful?”
* * *
Darren had the office halfway cleared out. The records had all gone to the archives, and he’d been slowly clearing out 170 years’ worth of bric-a-brac. They had set the date for the formal dissolution of the Guard, and soon enough, Epistratichos Velos would formally relinquish command to Sebastokrator-Imperator Tarsuss, and the AOC would take over defensive operations. Darren’s primary work now was helping the new Secretary of Peacekeeping, Rybil Izis, with building a civilian peacekeeping division. Izis had been the Archon in charge of peacekeeping in Kapuled Kweye before getting into politics, and she had a police officer’s spirit; in many ways, she was a better leader for the peacekeepers than Darren had been.
That was fine, as far as Darren was concerned. It’s the way life’s supposed to work. The world changes ‘cause it’s always changin’, and you can cry about it or you can recognize that nobody runs the whole race. You didn’t start it, and you won’t finish it. You’re just a part of the relay. Your job is work hard, do your best, and then pass the baton to the next generation when it’s time to move on.
He was surprised when the viewscreen on his desk buzzed. “Mr. Secretary, I have a call for you.”
“Was about to head home, Palemst, who is it?”
“The Floor Leader, Mr. Secretary.”
Darren paused, and walked back to his chair. “Palemst, whomever you’re serving in the future, if the President of Avalon or the Floor Leader of the Empire calls, you don’t ask, you put it through.”
“Yes, Mr. Secretary. I’ll put her through.”
Presently, Loona Armac’s face popped up on Darren’s screen. “Hi, Hillary,” he said. “I’m guessin’ this is a business call. Hope Avalon’s not at risk.”
“It isn’t, Darren,” Loona said. “And it’s…not just a business call.”
There was a brief, awkward pause, before Darren said, “I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. I know you felt blindsided, and I get why. If I’d known you’d end up Floor Leader….”
“In the end,” Loona said, “it was lucky the Acolytes were on Tau Ceti. But the way you did it….I don’t think you ever would have used them against the Empire unless you had to, but….”
“You know, it’s funny,” Darren said. “There’s one question nobody in the Empire’s ever asked me, in all the time since this came out. And y’all have asked a lot of questions. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”
Loona frowned. “What…didn’t I notice?”
“The first CAAG was Ted Martínez, and the first DCAAG was Ryan Carey. Good pilots, good leaders, good people. They earned their stripes, and they’re the reason that we held Tau Ceti, far more than the Acolytes themselves. They have something in common besides that, though.”
Loona looked down for a moment, then looked back at her screen. “They both are married to Titans.”
“Yep. Yeah, Twixie was only engaged at the time, but I’ve known him and Tee long enough, they were a rock-solid couple. And Pooh and Tigger, met them both at First Contact, they’re close as a hand in a glove. And I got pushback when I asked for ‘em, but Doc and I…we both knew we needed them.”
“Why?” Loona asked.
“So that this wouldn’t turn into an offensive weapon,” Darren said. “At least, not without good reason. There are a lot of officers who I coulda put in there who would have taken an order to attack the Empire at face value and done it. Not Ted. He’d’a asked why in God’s name I wanted to attack his wife. Ryan woulda asked what possible gain we thought we were getting by attacking his wife’s people. And then, if I kept at it, or someone else did, I knew that one of them, and probably both, would raise the alarm, even if it cost them their careers, because both of them knew gat’damn well that whatever you thought, attacking the Empire would be stupid and wrong. I wanted to get the Acolytes in place in case that changed – so that Avalon and Earth could defend themselves if they had to, if we were abandoned. And as long as Qorni was Floor Leader, that was a possibility. But I had my failsafes in place. And trust me…Doc woulda probably gone and found you long before it got to Twixie having to get in touch with Perspicacious. He was always this close to closing up the whole program. He was scared of what it could do. And he was right to be.”
Loona sighed. “It still doesn’t mean you did it the right way.”
“Maybe not,” Darren said. “Still glad I did it, though. Have to be. Just wish it could have worked out that I didn’t lose a good friend in the process.”
“You didn’t lose any friends, Darren.”
“You ain’t taked to me in a Terran year. And I don’t blame you, Hillary. You can’t cozy up to me, and I get why.”
“The Floor Leader has to be careful,” Loona said. “She has a responsibility to serve the Emperor and lead the Empire. And sometimes…that means she has to set personal feelings aside in some matters.”
Darren smiled. “You’re a commanding officer now, ma’am. Trust me, I get it.”
“Well, then I hope,” Loona said, “that you also know I won’t be Floor Leader forever.”
Darren nodded. “I do. But I hope that change isn’t imminent. I like shootin’ the shit with you, but right now…we all need a firm hand at the wheel. Men and women I’ve trained up and sent off to fight with the Empire…they need a leader who’s gonna repay their service with respect and care. I saw you at Tau Ceti. Universe needs more leaders like you. And if we don’t chat as much, well…I get that. Just hope Obi’s taking good care of you.”
“She is. Very,” Loona said. “And as for caring for those in the military…I had the opportunity to talk with Rixie Carey today. She’s putting together a very interesting unit of advisors. Strategists. Their expertise is in a particular strategy game. Have you heard of Tol-Bot?”
“I’m familiar with the game,” Darren said, with a grin. “And with Trixie in charge, that would be a formidable group. I’m hoping she talked to Obi about joining?”
“She’s going to be a part of the group, as will some others. But Rixie told me that she would very much like to add a former champion to her team. The Marionette. Couldn’t always get past Felltree, but still, he was pretty good, from what I remember. Anyhow, she knows you know him…and she asked me if I thought you should get a hold of him, so she can bring him on board. If I thought that would be all right. And Darren…I do.”
“You…do?”
“Yes, I do,” Loona said. “You should be expecting a call from Rixie, she can go over the details with you. From what I understand, she wants The Marionette to be her second-in-command in this unit. It would carry a military rank. But – and this is the important part – before I tell her to call you, I want your word, on all you count as important, that you will never go against the Empire again. Even if you think it’s what needs to be done to defend Earth and Avalon.”
“Loona,” Darren said, “I had to worry, before, about whether the Empire was on the side of humans. But that was before. Even if you leave your office tomorrow…we’ve been through Tau Ceti together. We’re fighting together. Even Lali Berisen is talking up the alliance. I’m just glad the acolytes didn’t fuck it up. Seems to me Earth and Avalon and the Empire are all on the same team now, and I’m not gonna be the one to get in the way of that.”
“Good,” Loona said. “And Darren…you remember that I was willing to give Tau Ceti away to Earth, right?”
“Was a smart offer. If the bugs hadn’t’a attacked I’m willing to bet Qorni would’ve agreed.”
“Yes, well…the Floor Leader would certainly never want a foreign power, one with legitimate grievances against the Empire, to be armed with dangerous weapons. Neither would Rep. Armac. But Loona Armac…Loona Armac just might have been okay with it.”
Darren grinned. “Hillary…the Secretary of Defense for Avalon had to do what he did. But that doesn’t mean Darren Xanthopolous didn’t have some sleepless nights over it. Some day, when we’re both retired, remind me to tell you the whole story of how this went down. ‘Cause it’s a doozy.”
“I bet it is,” Loona said. “I bet it is.”
* * *
Olissi was surprised to receive a call after 55:00 – not many friends called that late unless there was an emergency. But she’d always been a night owl, something the person calling her knew, and she’d always pick up this call.
“Ulala, how’s my favorite niece?” Olissi said, opening the channel.
“I’m your only niece,” Ulala said.
“That doesn’t mean you aren’t my favorite. How’s Titan Station?”
“It’s fine. Busy. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Always. What’s wrong?”
“Why do you think something’s wrong?”
“Because it obviously is, kid.”
Ulala frowned. “Aunt Olissi…ordinarily I’d talk to Tig about this, but it’s…complicated. And frankly, I don’t want to go to some of my other friends, because I don’t know if they’d understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Well…I’ve been seeing a human for a couple years. Three years, now, I guess. Not serious, or at least, I didn’t think it was serious, but she’s…she’s been upset with me, the last couple times we’ve talked.”
“Well, couples will get upset with each other,” Olissi said.
“Yeah, but…it’s not that. Like I said, I didn’t think it was serious, but I think she thinks it may be serious. Or maybe she wants it to be serious.”
Olissi leaned forward. “You said you’ve been seeing each other three years. Is she Avalonian?”
“No, Terran. I actually met her at First Contact, it’s…Hala Nejem, she was the one who did the EVA, the first one I met from the Lem.”
“The engineer who saved the Sally Ride.”
“That’s her. Tougher than I’ll ever be.”
“Is she life-extended?”
“She says she’s heard rumors about it becoming available, but….”
“Ulala, you didn’t need to call up your engineer aunt to do the math for you, did you?”
Ulala grimaced. “I…I know,” she said. “It’s been twenty years for her. I didn’t…I didn’t think about that. I mean, it’s just…she’s gotten older, faster, she’s a human, but she’s still pretty, and funny, and I didn’t really care about her looking a little bit older, but it’s not…gods, what kind of a horrible person am I? I didn’t even think about it! I’m not…I like Hala, I think…maybe, like, I think if I’d been thinking about it…it was three years for me, and three weird and tough years, I didn’t…I didn’t even look at it from her perspective. Another gorram selfish Titan, forgetting that we aren’t the gorram center of the universe.”
Olissi smiled. “I think you’re being a bit hard on yourself, Ulla.”
“Am I? Hala is a flag officer, she’s a gorram hero, I’m a linguist. I hadn’t even been thinking about us in terms of us, and she’s given me twenty years of her life, and how can I possibly be worth that?”
“Well, it seems to me that Hala thinks you’re worth it,” Olissi said. “She hasn’t broken up with you yet, has she?”
“No, but…it’s causal, it’s not serious, you know?”
Olissi shook her head. “If it wasn’t serious, you wouldn’t be calling me. Flings end, usually with everyone happy about them. You know this isn’t a fling; you’ve known it for a while, I bet.”
Ulala dabbed at her watering eyes. “I have. It’s…I know Tig and Ted make it work. I know it can, but….”
“But you know that it’s hard, because you grew up in the Empire, and you remember the coverage of the Freemans. And all the Zeramblin Acts in the universe won’t make it easy. There will be those who will disapprove.”
“I know the family will be good,” Ulala said. “And I know Tig will be. But I still worry, if I bring Hala home, even with the laws what they are now….”
“It won’t be easy,” Olissi said. “It isn’t always easy for Gugbdwuhgt and me, and Ler have been a part of the Empire for much longer than humans have been. But I wouldn’t trade my husband for anyone, and every bit of difficulty is worth it.”
Ulala smiled. “You two are great together. And he’s my favorite uncle.”
“And your only uncle.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Olissi nodded. “No, it doesn’t. And if my niece becomes partners with a human, no matter what, the two of us will be behind you, as will your cousins, and your father and mother, and your grandparents. And selfishly, I’d like to have someone else around who understands me.”
“My best friend’s in a mixed-species relationship, Aunt Olissi.”
“No, no, I meant it would be nice to have another engineer to talk to once in a while at a family gathering.”
Ulala smiled, but it slid off her face. “I don’t know. Not about being with her, I…you’re right, I wouldn’t be worried if I didn’t want more. But…I didn’t even think about it, how long it was for her. I don’t know if I deserve her.”
“Who deserves anyone?” Olissi said. “I don’t deserve Gugbdwuhgt. But he thinks he doesn’t deserve me. We love each other, who cares about deserving? Ulla, if she didn’t care about you, if she didn’t want something more, she wouldn’t be upset.”
“Or maybe she’s finally had it with waiting,” Ulala said.
“Maybe. And maybe next time you meet up, she’ll break up with you. But if you want more, if you really do, then you owe it to yourself to say so, kid. And you owe it to her.”
Ulala sighed. “You’re right. You usually are. Dad always said you were the first person in the whole family to figure out humans.”
“Well, that’s just because I had to take physics from Dr. Freeman. You couldn’t walk out of that thinking humans were foolish; you walked out of that thinking we were. And we are. But we don’t have to be, do we?”
“No,” Ulala said, “we don’t.”
D.X. Machina and Dann,
Understand where you are coming from, having interned with a legislative body rules can always change… However likely a part of the ‘power sharing’ agreement between Loona and Qorni was that Qorni’s people were the ones to have a enough of a check to prevent a change in the rules from allowing a vote of no confidence to occur before the required time (and Qorni played all sorts of games with the actual vote on Freedom, no doubt she would of done the same if they tried to change the rules on her). So I do see the lame duck thing, even if there is a theoretical chance of the motion being done with suspended rules, amended rules, ect.
With the Emperor, and his hesitancy to intervene. It is ‘not’ needed to elect an anti-emancipation legislature to repeal the Zeramblin Act, not entirely required. All you need is young party loyalists who don’t read and allow committee assignments/party loyalty to be to important as well as them not reading the bill or calendar. Just get a bunch of you freshly elected conservatives who may in some manner or another support the concept of the Zeramblin act, but see that there is a need for more time is required to get the infrastructure in place. That a temporary repeal and ‘better’ crafting would work better for all involved. Also the voters may wish to reward the conservatives for dealing with the Federation while not wanting them to repeal the Zeramblin act. Both of these factors could have Qorni channelizing them into a rapid vote with limited information(see how many bills are passed through congress without most of the reps/senators reading them) and with ‘assurances’ that all will be well. So the people could vote for one thing and the Reps could be ‘assured’ that they were making things better, but once it’s past she could just brazen it out with the hope that the anger will blow over, or that she can over time win their votes (think Civil Rights act of 56 in which LBJ filibustered and then when he was president passed roughly the same bill in 64)
I have thoroughly enjoyed your novels, I would like to discuss some things if you both are amenable somethings that would be handled best outside this forum (nothing bad or hopefully stupid… 🙂 ). Please let me know if both or either of you would be willing to exchange notes and opinions on DA.
Thank you very much for your time
I mean, yea I’m always up for a chat, but if it’s politiking you’re after, you really want D.X or OHH, I really had very little to do with the political stuff in these novels.
That said, my Deviant Art account is the best way to get a hold of me, I wont speak for D.X.
https://www.deviantart.com/tinydann
I check my DA page regularly and respond to private messages promptly.
thanks for the answer Dann
Been reading this series a long time, and the whole issue of Loona I feel I want to release and vent on!
Loona is an issue that isn’t going to go away, she was supposed to be Pryvani’s right-hand woman in the legislature, a natural as politicians go so why did she get lobotomized in Hybrid? Three points that don’t require “doing everything right” just the character performing at best 50% of her written capacities.
1. humans need time and funding to become established. Realize a story needs drama, but the Occam’s Razor this one is so clear that when Qorni suggested “unity” government it should have been laughed out of the room.
You already have the head of the previous government backing your legislation, hell it has his name on it Zeramblin act and at this point, he’s still the floor leader. All you have to say is ‘Empire’ and he should jump on board holding the government together until the next election, yes you will lose or compromise some on your other issues, but as far as funding and education of the former pets he would be on your side and it would be infinitely better than the alternative. I am sure you will point out it was a one time deal and the coalition wouldn’t last, but again just use the word ‘Empire’ and everyone seems to jump into line. It wouldn’t of need to hold forever just a one more day thing, those conservatives he brought over already know they aren’t getting good committee assignments from Qorni and after a sit down they would realize they would get a much better deal from Armac and Zeramblin then Qorni, it would only have to last till the next election with human integration going well the support of human equality would be at least 60% even without the drama of Federation succession and Insectiod war.
*(logical progression of drama, ignore if you aren’t inclined) However seeing the writing on the wall Qorni and the Titan party could of fully joined forces and several provinces to include the Federation province could have succeeded as a last desperate attempt to hold onto their ‘heritage’ and have a broader civil war with the Insectoid war. Being a bit saner each ‘Titan’ side could have agreed to a cease-fire until the war with the Insectoids was won, provide different interaction between humans and each part of Titans, being oppressed but needed by Qorni’s faction (leading to increasing rights) while doing all they can for Zeramblin Government. No need to lobotomize Loona.
2. This thing about service to the empire is INSANE, I am sure she and Darren went over Lincoln and over presidents firing of generals, that she and Niall went over Chamberlain and what a disaster he was during world war two as well as why he had to be replaced. Qorni had let a law she disagreed with lapse, she had allowed a party that was for the downfall of everyone but them hold the key votes, she failed to keep the Federation province in, this wasn’t about changing horses in mid-stream, it was about keeping the rider from drowning in a flooded river the horse already died. But at the word ‘Empire’ Loona goes robotic and states “I will support you Qorni.” Loona had so many options to end Qorni’s term as Floor Leader and it wouldn’t have affected the fight for the Federation in the least. I guess the Churchill option wasn’t discussed…
3. Contact the Emperor and get him involved, let him know there was a good chance that even though his population supported doing the right thing that Qorni may be able to pull the wool over their eyes long enough to get a majority and frog march them into voting to repeal human rights. That he and his family should comment regularly about their love of tradition and how once one species gained equality that it was enshrined and sacred and if a Floor Leader was to Repeal such freedoms well then His love of tradition would encourage him to correct that mistake so that no other species could feel like their rights would be taken away. At best Qorni has a constitutional crisis to deal with and likely even more support for the Emperor from her own party. She wouldn’t have time for a repeal vote, or likely the votes (all those freshmen reps would think at least twice before voting for something the Emperor was going to invalidate hours after, and see how fast they ask to re-vote when hammered by constituents for voting against their wishes, the repeal would be a close vote regardless, Qorni and her whips would have to burn a lot of political capital and twist a lot of arms and after all that it gets at best put into the courts by imperial decree, her government is on its death bed as it starts)
None of these options takes a whole lot of brain power, or innovation, but the awareness Qorni is going to do everything she can do enslave a species. Which Loona already knows, but still works with her, yes understand the reasons, but you only work with the devil for as long as you must then you enact a Faustian revolt on their asses. Loona hearing the word ‘Empire’ seems to lose all desire to fight.
As for Darren, would love to see a scene were they both drunk and the ‘ranks are off’ in which Darren makes clear that this was the Feast of the Overseer (Rutger Massacre) writ large. That he was humanity and even with everything Titans did for him under the law he still ended up in Lyroo’s hands broken and almost destroyed. That for all their efforts under the law it was Aisell that saved him and he didn’t want to know how because it was likely against the law (hinting that Loona didn’t seem to have much of an issue with her girlfriend breaking the law). That everything she tried if it even if it did work at least humans in the Empire would have been like him broken and likely destroyed (maybe even crying quite a bit) and maybe Qorni wanted to end all hopes of humanity and do a Solis on Earth, his entire species would be enslaved cause the Titans who said they would stop her, couldn’t, wouldn’t or were too afraid to confront their own culture and laws.
Since we never saw a Plan B, C or D maybe Loona could respond with what she had planned to stop it beyond give Earth Tau Ceti and hope Qorni didn’t invade Earth. Maybe she backs down from this ‘Empire’ fetish she has and state if your conscience requires you and other humans doing something like Aisell(extra-legal and to avoid personalizing it with Darren, giving it more credence since it was her Girlfriend who did it) did that they warn her first, just something general to say she was in the loop and not to be blindsided again.
Thank you for your time, I apologize if I was too ranty but these items with Loona have been building up since at least Hybrid.
Okay, I think I can handle this.
1. The problem for Loona (and Zeramblin) was simply that Loona didn’t have the votes to form a government. There was a small group of Empire Caucus members who followed Zeramblin only as far as passing the Zeramblin Act, they did not want to stay allied with the liberals. Certainly, Loona (and Zeramblin) lobbied them, and there were a few that switched their caucus to Aspire or Independent, but not enough to give Loona a clear majority of the House. (This was actually worse for Zeramblin; the liberals weren’t especially thrilled with the longest-serving conservative floor leader serving as their premier, and there was no way he was going to remain floor leader past the vote, and needless to say, he was not going to be able to go back and lead the conservatives.)
She and Qorni were therefore in a position where they each controlled about 480 votes out of 1000, with the Titan Party controlling about 40. The problem for Loona is that *if* Qorni could get the Titan Party to back her and avoid significant defections, Qorni would have an outright majority. The Titan Party was, obviously, an existential threat to humans and the Empire in general, and Loona did not want to risk them gaining a foothold in power. Now, Loona could have played chicken with Qorni (and vice versa), but neither of them could be sure how things would break if Qorni tried to bring the Titan Party in. Given all this, all Loona could do is try to form a grand coalition government and hope that keeping a significant liberal presence in the cabinet would allow her to keep Qorni honest.
Now, it should be noted that Qorni *did in fact manage to get the Titan Party to back her*, at least tacitly. Which suggests that had Loona played chicken, she might have lost, and put Qorni fully in charge.
2. After the assassination of Yamanu Neutha, Loona had the votes to oust Qorni, and only procedural issues prevented her from going forward. Under the rules of the House, there was literally no point between Yamanu’s assassination and the Battle of Tau Ceti where Loona could have tabled a motion of no confidence. The only way to remove her was to have a majority of the cabinet vote to remove her under the Magilna precedent, and the threshold to do that was extremely high. But Loona has made common cause with the head of the conservative Empire Caucus, and while Pane Segdi isn’t necessarily ready to remove Qorni, she’s willing to if things get any more sideways:
Pane nodded, and rose. Any trace of mirth disappeared with the motion. “Goes without saying that we’ll have to be careful about this; it’s a potential civil war now.”
“Yeah, it is,” Loona said. “But that’s all the more reason.”
Pane Segdi sighed. “I like Forna, Loona. I know she drives you nuts, but she’s not a bad person. Let’s hope that this wakes her up. I’m not saying I won’t back you if it comes down to it. We’re in agreement, she frakked this up, and people died because of it. She has to change course, and if she doesn’t, I’ll make the motion myself. But….”
“But the Empire comes first. It always comes first,” Loona said. “I agree. Just….”
“Don’t worry. The Empire comes first, and if this doesn’t wake her up, then our duty is clear, isn’t it?”
Bluntly, Loona has the Minister of Defense and one of Qorni’s ideological allies saying that she is ready to remove Qorni if Qorni fails. And indeed, that’s exactly what Segdi does after the Battle of Tau Ceti’s conclusion. Essentially, Qorni was a lame duck from this point forward; she was only maintaining her office because the House was in a recess and that when it met in emergency session, a motion of no confidence was out of order.
3. Loona does take the survival of the Empire seriously, because, well, it’s her home country and she cares about it. She doesn’t want to see it blown up. That doesn’t mean she trusts it blindly. She offers Tau Ceti to Earth precisely because she doesn’t trust that she will be able to outmaneuver Qorni. She thinks she can. But if she’s wrong, she’s risking millions of people’s futures. So she offers Tau Ceti to Earth, which is in fact a quiet betrayal of the Empire. She’s giving Earth millions more people and another star system.
And Loona isn’t going to drag the Emperor in further if she can help it, because Tiernan has already been clear that he wants this to be handled democratically. Would he have stepped in if Qorni tried to repeal the Zeramblin Act? I think he would have — but the truth is that if the people of the Empire were willing to elect an anti-emancipation legislature after the act’s passage, humans would be struggling no matter what.
You can disagree with all of this, of course. Most of this is metatextual, or hinted at but not spelled out explicitly. But I don’t think Loona was doing too badly with the hand she was holding. As for her hating Darren, she simply doesn’t. And she’s basically told Darren that while she can’t approve of what he did…she doesn’t exactly disapprove, either. Loona put her career on the line with the call she made at Tau Ceti, and she did so to save humans. Is she going to hate the guy who put weapons in place that saved her career and her niece’s life? No, she isn’t.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but I will say that Loona is very much feeling the weight of her office. She’s an honest politician, and that’s a problem, because she knows that the issues she’s facing are a lot bigger than she is or can be. She is standing on principle in some ways as a defense mechanism — because she already is looking at xenocide of the Insectoids, and she’s a bit afraid of what she’s already proved capable of ordering. To quote the Eleventh Doctor, “Good men don’t need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many.”
And while I’m defending Loona here, I want to tell you that I absolutely don’t mind ranty complaints, as long as they’re respectful and well-thought-out, as yours was, and thanks for your continued interest.
so i need to ask this: my comment in the previuos chapter was respectful and well-thought-out?
Always, very few comments actually managed to get under our skin. Especially D.X, he is a pro when it comes to “death of the Author”
That said, if eventually you do push a button, which is extremely hard to do, most of us will let you know 😉
well…I will anyhow.
And to SechMarquis:
Wow, I haven’t seen an in depth comment like that in ages, it’s nice to see this series still evokes such strong sentiment out of people. I’ll never shy away from some good conversation, but I’m glad D.X took this one on!
ehm perhaps i’m a little stupid but… how the “death of the author” fits into this context?
Because D.X understands, perhaps more than the rest of us, that a reader will see things as they will, even if these are things the author never intended. Therefore it is a lot harder to get under his skin by arguing about content from the story?
When I read stories and make any comments on them I don’t post them with the intent to alter the story or anything with my approval or disapproval of a characters actions etc. I just get very invested and like to chime in on what’s happened.
Nah, it’s cool. I like open discussion. If people disagree with the characters it means we’ve made them interesting enough to disagree with, and that’s the goal.
good Loona, very good Loona.
Strange, i didn’t saw that Hala was bisexual in contact, or notice that her and ulala was interested each other
i don’t understand the ryan’s nickname “twixie”, can you explained please?
Frak your Empire Loona. That Empire is responsible for that massacre on Tau Ceti. 112.000 human deaths. Without the acolytes? No survivors among the colonist.
That’s the primary reason that nobody’s really going after Darren over this. Whether it was right or not to have built the Acolytes, everyone agrees that it’s incredibly lucky that they were there. That said, if the governor of my state secretly built a nuclear bomb, one that was at least partially intended to defend against the US government, and that bomb happened to be critical to the defense of Earth during an alien invasion…well, that still wouldn’t undo the fact that he built a bomb with the intent of maybe using it against his own country.
Darren has never been particularly upset about the way things played out, because he’s a soldier, and there have been many times where he’s been willing to give up his life to save others. Just giving up his career? Not a big deal in his mind. He knows that he did the wrong thing for the right reasons, or maybe the right thing for the wrong reasons, but he also knows that if he hadn’t the colony would have died. He’s fine with that trade.
And you know, so is Loona, deep down. Or she wouldn’t be willing to talk to Darren at all. She’s the political leader of an Empire that just went through a brief civil war. She’s trying to pacify Federation Province. It could be devastating to the stability of the Empire if it came out that Avalon was in fact also building a superweapon even as it became a province — and that Loona was turning a blind eye to it. And yet that’s what she’s doing. She can’t approve of Darren’s decision, not if she wants to lead the Empire. But does that mean she hates Darren, or wishes the Acolytes hadn’t been built? Not at all. As Darren noted, she’s in command now. And that means you have to worry about the greater good. Which is something Darren very much understands.
“Twixie” is a portmanteau of Darren’s nicknames for Ryan’s parents — “Trixie” for Rixie and “Twit” for Alex. As for Hala, her bisexuality is hinted at in Contact (Ted mentions that Hala and he had hooked up after Hala broke up with someone named “Wafia” — which is a woman’s name.) As for Hala and Ulala, that’s teased a bit in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”
ah right, but Trixie and Twit has some particulary significant?
i didn’t know that Wafia was a female name, i’m really sorry
so seems Loona can’t separate the floor leader way of thinking from her personal feeling…
Darren’s nick names are the second best part of writing for this series…well…maybe third…no lower than FOURTH….
Really needed the convo between Loona and Darren. I understand her reasons of how she treated him etc. but damn she pissed me off with that. Nice to finally see that Ulala and Hala were and are a thing DX ;).
Oh, it’s fair to be frustrated with Loona. But if all our characters did exactly the right thing all the time the story would get pretty dull.
Oh I support it. I don’t advocate constantly doing the right thing and everyone having a happily ever after and all. I hope I didn’t come across that way.
You think it pissed you off…should have heard me when it was first written/discussed years back 😉
Haha!