Post by Lorpius Prime on Feb 11, 2009 2:45:21 GMT -5
"Marta."
"Nyarda."
"Close enough," the Human said with a sigh.
"I am sorry," Hyong said, "our mouths are simply less versatile than your own, as some of my friends enjoy telling me. But it is a lovely name nonetheless, Marta."
"Well thank you, Mr. Yaheek," the Human said, "you have an… interesting name yourself."
Hyong showed his teeth in imitation of her own smile. Eugene had told him that the expression could actually look more threatening than friendly, but Gracia had encouraged him to use it anyway. And the Human female who had been assigned to watch Hyong had seemed understanding enough.
She laughed softly, confirming the point. "Ah, are you sure there's nothing else I can get you, Mr. Yaheek?" she asked.
He flicked at the air with one claw, "If I have to wait here very much longer, I may have to ask for a meal. But nothing else for the moment, thank you."
Marta nodded. At first she had just stood against the wall near the room's exit after informing Hyong that he could inform her of any requests he may have. After a couple of hours with very nearly nothing to do, however, Hyong had managed to pry her away from her spot to join him at the big table in the center of the room. Before she had spoken, Hyong had thought she was a male, since her black helmet and heavy uniform concealed the simple visual cues Hyong usually used to separate Human females from males. She had quickly corrected his error.
Hyong was happy for the conversation; it was a decent distraction from his boredom.
"So, Marta, you are a soldier in your species' military?"
"I was," she said. "I was an Őrmester—a Sergeant—in the Hungarian Army." She paused for a moment, then added, "That's one of the countries in the European Union."
Hyong nodded, although the clarification meant very little to him.
She went on, "Anyway, after my last term was up the EPS offered me a nice contract since I'd been in the Special Forces. The money's a lot better with them, and there's fewer people trying to kill you, so I signed on."
"But this, ah, EPS, it is not your military?"
"No, we're private contractors. We provide most of the security for the OES here in Caracas, and we protect the Chief Executive. The Fleet is the only military for all of the planet, everything else is just for each nation."
"Yes, so I understand. But you would not serve on your species' warships?"
She laughed, "Hell no. I like breathing real air too much."
Hyong laughed politely as well, although he thought her reluctance was foolish.
"I find the disorganization of your species fascinating, Marta," he said. "The number of redundant institutions on your planet would be unimaginable in the Republic."
"What?" she asked. "Bats don't have their own version of the OES?"
Hyong shook his head in the human negative gesture, "We have a government, all of our worlds are members of the Republic. But, your Chief Executive told me that he would have to cooperate with an organization he called the UN—which I understand is a second government for your species, and with the same authority!"
She tilted her head to one side, "Well, yeah. But the UN's just for all the whiny countries who don't know when to quit. The OES has the real power."
"I find the entire arrangement unnecessarily complicated."
She moved her shoulders in a shrug. "Well if you're so smart, how do you think we should do things?" she asked.
Before Hyong could answer, the an alert popped up on his monocle. He shut his mouth and took a moment to read the message.
"Ah," he said. He reached under the combat harness he was still wearing to unclip his computer from his vest. "Excuse me," he said to the Human woman across the table, and activated the computer to work on it.
Marta said nothing, but pushed herself back from the table and stood up from her chair. Hyong focused on the notification that he had just received.
A high priority message had come in from the colony for the embassy with Governor Shyankyang's key. Actually, it was several messages, only one of which was directed to Hyong. It was high priority, but low security, and didn't require Hyong's cipher to open. He did so.
He had to skim a third of the way through the message before he could be sure that it was the response he needed. Hyong respected Governor Shyankyang's intelligence, but he was entirely too formal for Hyong's taste. Hyong closed the message; he could read it in its entirety later. Right now, he needed to make sure it got through to the rest of the recipients.
Hyong pulled up the control console for the network of satellites he had in low orbit around this planet. They were reconnaissance satellites, not communications models, but they could do in a pinch, and they were the only ones to which Hyong had command access. More importantly, since the Humans were still aggressively jamming the embassy, they were the only satellites to which anyone had command access.
Hyong looked around the room somewhat unhappily. There were no windows here, and he wasn't sure if his computer would be able to link up with the recon sats using its low-power transmitter alone. It was an aspect of this plan that he had not considered in his haste to assemble it, and he hoped it wouldn't undo him now. There was no help for it now, though.
Using the console, he copied the messages from the colony and ordered their upload to the satellites. Then he programmed three of them to de-orbit and make their way back to the embassy. There, they would re-broadcast the message at close enough range that it could be picked up by the staff's personal computers despite the Human jamming efforts. Instructions written, Hyong sent them off to the satellite network, and then held his breath.
He only had to wait a few seconds before another alert popped up on the monocle, a confirmation signal from the satellite network. Hyong let the air back out of his lungs with a satisfying hiss.
"I am sure you understand, Chief Molinas, that I cannot leave the embassy to deliver this message in person."
"I'm afraid I do, Commander. I wish the circumstances were different."
"Yes, so do we."
It was not necessary to have studied Bat mannerisms to see just how difficult it was for the Bat on the video screen to keep up his façade of calm. Pascual was actually glad that they were communicating remotely. He had never met Commander Horexker before, but the alien was by far the largest Bat Pascual had ever seen. His shoulders and arms were all out of proportion with his head, making him look like the Bat equivalent of a champion weightlifter. If he lost his temper, Pascual did not want to be in the same room with him.
"I have a message from Governor Shyankyang which I am to relay to you," Horexker continued. "We've converted it according to your protocols and I can send it over this signal, if you wish."
"Please do," the Chief Executive said, and nodded.
The Bat flotilla had left Earth space almost as quickly as it had arrived, and without any further communication. They had simply turned around and sped back to their colony with the same absurdly high acceleration under which they had arrived. After their departure, Eduard Molinas had lifted the jamming of the Bat embassy, and less than half an hour later Horexker had called with this message. Pascual and the other OES civilians in Caracas had left the crisis room to participate in the call from a much plainer conference room that Earth Fleet wouldn't mind showing off to aliens.
Horexker's image on the video screen was replaced by that of another Bat who was much smaller, but still impressive in his own way. The fur of every Bat Pascual had ever met ranged in color from reddish brown to black. This Bat's fur was a gray-white color that looked to human eyes to be a sign of age. His beret-like hat was also a different color from those of other Bats; where most tended to be blue, green, or black, his was a solid golden yellow. The Bat's image was frozen for a moment before springing to life.
"Greetings, Chief Executive Molinas," Governor Shyankyang said. Or, rather, a translator said it. Governor Shyankyang did not speak English, and it was obvious from the movements of his mouth that the audio had been recorded separately and overlaid on the video image of the Governor. The Bat went on, "It has come to my attention that recent incidents involving both of our peoples may have created some unfortunate misunderstandings. As Earth is a noble and important friend to our people, I was of course dismayed to learn of this potential for confusion, and have issued instructions that I hope will correct any ill feelings that may have resulted. Allow me to clarify our actions on behalf of my people."
Across the table from Pascual, Willy Trautmann's head was leaning to one side as he untangled the Governor's words. Pascual and the other diplomats in the room just took it in stride.
"Some days ago, a military vessel arrived in Earth space from the Kekregka colony in this system." All the Humans blinked as the recorded voice switched from a relatively smooth English to the harsh tones of the Bats' language when it came to their own name for the Tadpoles. "As the Kekregka, by way of an alliance with the Charterlings, are at war with our nation, we were very concerned by this action. Ambassador Hyarahek requested the assistance of armed vessels from our patrol squadrons to counter the possibility that the Kekregka could threaten our security interests or your own. My advisors agreed with this assessment and I ordered the vessels dispatched. It was never our intention to trespass on the traditional claims of your people to be the sole defenders of your own sovereignty, and we deeply regret any appearances to the contrary."
At the end of the table, Durante turned away from the video screen and rolled his eyes at Pascual. Pascual clenched his teeth against a giggle, and simply nodded.
The Governor's message kept going. "While I fully endorse Ambassador Hyarahek's actions and concerns, I have decided, in the interested of preserving the good faith which has always marked relations between our peoples, to replace the Ambassador with someone else whose responsibilities will not be marred by any unhappy memories. Ambassador Hyarahek will be recalled on the first available transport to our colony, and a new Ambassador will be selected and sent for your accreditation. Until then, I have instructed that the next highest ranking member of our embassy, Commander Horexker, to handle any communications which may be necessary between your government and the embassy. No doubt you have already spoken with the Commander before he delivered this message.
"In addition, I have ordered the immediate and full withdrawal of our patrol vessels from Human space. While I do not trust the Kekregka, I recognize that you have accepted their representatives as guests of your government, and we will not interfere with them as long as they remain so. Please understand that I can only provide this guarantee so long as they are not a threat to our own people. Should they become so, then we will have no choice to take action for our defense, just as I know your Earth Fleet would do the same.
"By this understanding, and should your negotiations with the Kekregka succeed, I will order that no action be taken to impede efforts taken by your government to provide limited assistance of a non-military nature to the Kekregka colony on the condition already transmitted to your government. Earth must allow a representative of our government to accompany such an expedition who can provide assurances that there is no threat to our own colony. Given the years of friendship and our own assistance to your people, I do not believe that this requirement should be too great a burden.
"Finally," the Bat said, "to expedite the return of normal relations and show the good will of our people towards yours, I have arranged for a gift to be presented to your government. It will accompany the next merchant vessel which departs for your planet. It should, I believe, be more than adequate to demonstrate the benefits to be had from further cooperation with our species."
The Governor looked to one side of the camera for a brief moment, then looked back. He put his hands on his chest and leaned forward very slightly: a Bat's interpretation of a Human bow. "Commander Horexker is authorized to answer any further questions you may have, Chief Executive Molinas. Good day to you."
The recorded message ended, and Horexker's image returned to the video screen. Before he or anyone else could speak, however, Chief Molinas held up one hand.
"Excuse us a moment, Commander. I need to confer with my advisors," he made a small gesture to a technician behind the camera in his conference room, and Horexker's side of the screen went black.
Wilhelm Trautmann, the Financial Councilor, was staring slack-jawed off into space. "Did… he just agree to everything we wanted and more?" he asked.
Councilor Durante nodded and looked over to the Chief Executive on the video screen, "Yeah, how the hell did we pull that one off?"
Pascual pulled out a chair and ran a hand through his hair before sitting down. It had been a long day, for him and most everyone else in the OES. But even though the sun was setting over Caracas, Pascual's work was far from finished.
He pulled himself up to the table and tried to display a pleasant smile. Whether the façade was even worth the effort, Pascual couldn't say.
Across the table, Ambassador Rokden was not smiling. That might not mean anything, Humans didn't yet know whether Tadpoles smiled at all. But even if they couldn't, Pascual wouldn't have bet money that this particular Tadpole was very happy at the moment.
"Ambassador Rokden," Pascual began, "please accept my apologies and those of my government for delay in arranging this meeting. You will understand that we have—"
"Am I a prisoner here, Mr. Molinas?"
Pascual shook his head, "Of course not, Ambassador."
"Then why were my staff and I not allowed to leave this building? Do Humans keep all their guests confined this way?" The Tadpole kept his voice even, but even his normal tones were still plenty intimidating.
"Once again, let me confer our apologies. There was an administrative error on our end that caused your requests to be misdirected."
"But surely it hasn't taken this long to correct the mistake?"
Pascual winced. "No," he admitted. "But I'm afraid that by the time I learned of your situation, I was dealing with a crisis that required the full attention of me and my government."
The Tadpole leaned back slightly on his stool. "That crisis was the reason our delegation requested departure for our ship. By keeping us here, you put us all in danger. We are not pleased by your behavior."
"I understand your frustration, Ambassador. But please understand, by the time we could have returned you to your ship, the Bats would have already arrived in our space. We regret the bureaucratic failures that prevented proper communication, but keeping you and your people here was the safest course of action."
"Forgive me if your concern for our safety strikes me as less than sincere."
Pascual was truly amazed at how quickly Rokden had picked up Human language conventions. Most of the Bats he talked to still had trouble expressing sarcasm properly.
"Fortunately," Pascual said, trying to move on, "the crisis has passed, and the Bats have agreed not to interfere with our negotiations anymore."
"And you trust them?" If Pascual hadn't been looking right at the alien, he could not have said that his voice wasn't coming from a Human. Even the Charterlings had problems with proper inflection.
"Not especially," Pascual said. He tapped the folder of documents that was lying on the table between them. "But I think your people will be happy with the implications for our deal. We're moving up the start of our delivery mission. If we expedite the transfer, hopefully the materials will reach your colony before the Bats have a chance to reconsider."
Rokden just looked at Pascual silently for a moment, then rotated his head. The black ridge along his neck bent smoothly, and was clearly not as stiff as it appeared.
"When will your ships depart?"
"Four days," Pascual said.
"That is indeed sooner than we had hoped."
Pascual nodded, "We'll be sending the warships and support vessels to Mars first, and they'll escort the colony ships from there. You may be interested to know that this will be the largest long-range operation Earth Fleet has ever mounted."
Rokden nodded too. "Our colony here was the same for my people," he said. "I am sure the historical significance will not be overlooked. And your assistance will be greatly appreciated."
Pascual smiled for real this time.
The Tadpole leaned forward again. "Please forgive my earlier hostility. I see that I was wrong to doubt you Humans."
"We're trying to survive in a dangerous bit of space, Ambassador. We're smart enough to want all the friends we can get."
"It is a struggle that my species understand very well. You Humans should be grateful that you live so far from Kyhyex space. Making friends is not so easy when your planet is as close to their borders as ours."
Pascual raised an eyebrow, "It seems to me that there's a Kyhyex presence in this system, too."
Rokden laughed. It was a short, heavy bark that rattled Pascual's ears. It took a measure of self control to refrain from clamping his hands to the side of his head.
"A minor outbreak," Rokden said, "the Bats were the carriers, of course. But not even they will lift a claw to help when the Charterlings finally bring the reinforcements to wipe it out. You can't truly know the Kyhyex until you've fought off monthly waves of their colony ships. Not until you've lived in constant fear that you've gotten too good at killing their colonists, because then their battle fleet might notice you."
Pascual said nothing, and Rokden laughed again. "You think your star system is dangerous space, Mr. Molinas. But my people came here for the safety. For your sake, I hope you never learn what dangerous truly is."
"Nyarda."
"Close enough," the Human said with a sigh.
"I am sorry," Hyong said, "our mouths are simply less versatile than your own, as some of my friends enjoy telling me. But it is a lovely name nonetheless, Marta."
"Well thank you, Mr. Yaheek," the Human said, "you have an… interesting name yourself."
Hyong showed his teeth in imitation of her own smile. Eugene had told him that the expression could actually look more threatening than friendly, but Gracia had encouraged him to use it anyway. And the Human female who had been assigned to watch Hyong had seemed understanding enough.
She laughed softly, confirming the point. "Ah, are you sure there's nothing else I can get you, Mr. Yaheek?" she asked.
He flicked at the air with one claw, "If I have to wait here very much longer, I may have to ask for a meal. But nothing else for the moment, thank you."
Marta nodded. At first she had just stood against the wall near the room's exit after informing Hyong that he could inform her of any requests he may have. After a couple of hours with very nearly nothing to do, however, Hyong had managed to pry her away from her spot to join him at the big table in the center of the room. Before she had spoken, Hyong had thought she was a male, since her black helmet and heavy uniform concealed the simple visual cues Hyong usually used to separate Human females from males. She had quickly corrected his error.
Hyong was happy for the conversation; it was a decent distraction from his boredom.
"So, Marta, you are a soldier in your species' military?"
"I was," she said. "I was an Őrmester—a Sergeant—in the Hungarian Army." She paused for a moment, then added, "That's one of the countries in the European Union."
Hyong nodded, although the clarification meant very little to him.
She went on, "Anyway, after my last term was up the EPS offered me a nice contract since I'd been in the Special Forces. The money's a lot better with them, and there's fewer people trying to kill you, so I signed on."
"But this, ah, EPS, it is not your military?"
"No, we're private contractors. We provide most of the security for the OES here in Caracas, and we protect the Chief Executive. The Fleet is the only military for all of the planet, everything else is just for each nation."
"Yes, so I understand. But you would not serve on your species' warships?"
She laughed, "Hell no. I like breathing real air too much."
Hyong laughed politely as well, although he thought her reluctance was foolish.
"I find the disorganization of your species fascinating, Marta," he said. "The number of redundant institutions on your planet would be unimaginable in the Republic."
"What?" she asked. "Bats don't have their own version of the OES?"
Hyong shook his head in the human negative gesture, "We have a government, all of our worlds are members of the Republic. But, your Chief Executive told me that he would have to cooperate with an organization he called the UN—which I understand is a second government for your species, and with the same authority!"
She tilted her head to one side, "Well, yeah. But the UN's just for all the whiny countries who don't know when to quit. The OES has the real power."
"I find the entire arrangement unnecessarily complicated."
She moved her shoulders in a shrug. "Well if you're so smart, how do you think we should do things?" she asked.
Before Hyong could answer, the an alert popped up on his monocle. He shut his mouth and took a moment to read the message.
"Ah," he said. He reached under the combat harness he was still wearing to unclip his computer from his vest. "Excuse me," he said to the Human woman across the table, and activated the computer to work on it.
Marta said nothing, but pushed herself back from the table and stood up from her chair. Hyong focused on the notification that he had just received.
A high priority message had come in from the colony for the embassy with Governor Shyankyang's key. Actually, it was several messages, only one of which was directed to Hyong. It was high priority, but low security, and didn't require Hyong's cipher to open. He did so.
He had to skim a third of the way through the message before he could be sure that it was the response he needed. Hyong respected Governor Shyankyang's intelligence, but he was entirely too formal for Hyong's taste. Hyong closed the message; he could read it in its entirety later. Right now, he needed to make sure it got through to the rest of the recipients.
Hyong pulled up the control console for the network of satellites he had in low orbit around this planet. They were reconnaissance satellites, not communications models, but they could do in a pinch, and they were the only ones to which Hyong had command access. More importantly, since the Humans were still aggressively jamming the embassy, they were the only satellites to which anyone had command access.
Hyong looked around the room somewhat unhappily. There were no windows here, and he wasn't sure if his computer would be able to link up with the recon sats using its low-power transmitter alone. It was an aspect of this plan that he had not considered in his haste to assemble it, and he hoped it wouldn't undo him now. There was no help for it now, though.
Using the console, he copied the messages from the colony and ordered their upload to the satellites. Then he programmed three of them to de-orbit and make their way back to the embassy. There, they would re-broadcast the message at close enough range that it could be picked up by the staff's personal computers despite the Human jamming efforts. Instructions written, Hyong sent them off to the satellite network, and then held his breath.
He only had to wait a few seconds before another alert popped up on the monocle, a confirmation signal from the satellite network. Hyong let the air back out of his lungs with a satisfying hiss.
* * *
"I am sure you understand, Chief Molinas, that I cannot leave the embassy to deliver this message in person."
"I'm afraid I do, Commander. I wish the circumstances were different."
"Yes, so do we."
It was not necessary to have studied Bat mannerisms to see just how difficult it was for the Bat on the video screen to keep up his façade of calm. Pascual was actually glad that they were communicating remotely. He had never met Commander Horexker before, but the alien was by far the largest Bat Pascual had ever seen. His shoulders and arms were all out of proportion with his head, making him look like the Bat equivalent of a champion weightlifter. If he lost his temper, Pascual did not want to be in the same room with him.
"I have a message from Governor Shyankyang which I am to relay to you," Horexker continued. "We've converted it according to your protocols and I can send it over this signal, if you wish."
"Please do," the Chief Executive said, and nodded.
The Bat flotilla had left Earth space almost as quickly as it had arrived, and without any further communication. They had simply turned around and sped back to their colony with the same absurdly high acceleration under which they had arrived. After their departure, Eduard Molinas had lifted the jamming of the Bat embassy, and less than half an hour later Horexker had called with this message. Pascual and the other OES civilians in Caracas had left the crisis room to participate in the call from a much plainer conference room that Earth Fleet wouldn't mind showing off to aliens.
Horexker's image on the video screen was replaced by that of another Bat who was much smaller, but still impressive in his own way. The fur of every Bat Pascual had ever met ranged in color from reddish brown to black. This Bat's fur was a gray-white color that looked to human eyes to be a sign of age. His beret-like hat was also a different color from those of other Bats; where most tended to be blue, green, or black, his was a solid golden yellow. The Bat's image was frozen for a moment before springing to life.
"Greetings, Chief Executive Molinas," Governor Shyankyang said. Or, rather, a translator said it. Governor Shyankyang did not speak English, and it was obvious from the movements of his mouth that the audio had been recorded separately and overlaid on the video image of the Governor. The Bat went on, "It has come to my attention that recent incidents involving both of our peoples may have created some unfortunate misunderstandings. As Earth is a noble and important friend to our people, I was of course dismayed to learn of this potential for confusion, and have issued instructions that I hope will correct any ill feelings that may have resulted. Allow me to clarify our actions on behalf of my people."
Across the table from Pascual, Willy Trautmann's head was leaning to one side as he untangled the Governor's words. Pascual and the other diplomats in the room just took it in stride.
"Some days ago, a military vessel arrived in Earth space from the Kekregka colony in this system." All the Humans blinked as the recorded voice switched from a relatively smooth English to the harsh tones of the Bats' language when it came to their own name for the Tadpoles. "As the Kekregka, by way of an alliance with the Charterlings, are at war with our nation, we were very concerned by this action. Ambassador Hyarahek requested the assistance of armed vessels from our patrol squadrons to counter the possibility that the Kekregka could threaten our security interests or your own. My advisors agreed with this assessment and I ordered the vessels dispatched. It was never our intention to trespass on the traditional claims of your people to be the sole defenders of your own sovereignty, and we deeply regret any appearances to the contrary."
At the end of the table, Durante turned away from the video screen and rolled his eyes at Pascual. Pascual clenched his teeth against a giggle, and simply nodded.
The Governor's message kept going. "While I fully endorse Ambassador Hyarahek's actions and concerns, I have decided, in the interested of preserving the good faith which has always marked relations between our peoples, to replace the Ambassador with someone else whose responsibilities will not be marred by any unhappy memories. Ambassador Hyarahek will be recalled on the first available transport to our colony, and a new Ambassador will be selected and sent for your accreditation. Until then, I have instructed that the next highest ranking member of our embassy, Commander Horexker, to handle any communications which may be necessary between your government and the embassy. No doubt you have already spoken with the Commander before he delivered this message.
"In addition, I have ordered the immediate and full withdrawal of our patrol vessels from Human space. While I do not trust the Kekregka, I recognize that you have accepted their representatives as guests of your government, and we will not interfere with them as long as they remain so. Please understand that I can only provide this guarantee so long as they are not a threat to our own people. Should they become so, then we will have no choice to take action for our defense, just as I know your Earth Fleet would do the same.
"By this understanding, and should your negotiations with the Kekregka succeed, I will order that no action be taken to impede efforts taken by your government to provide limited assistance of a non-military nature to the Kekregka colony on the condition already transmitted to your government. Earth must allow a representative of our government to accompany such an expedition who can provide assurances that there is no threat to our own colony. Given the years of friendship and our own assistance to your people, I do not believe that this requirement should be too great a burden.
"Finally," the Bat said, "to expedite the return of normal relations and show the good will of our people towards yours, I have arranged for a gift to be presented to your government. It will accompany the next merchant vessel which departs for your planet. It should, I believe, be more than adequate to demonstrate the benefits to be had from further cooperation with our species."
The Governor looked to one side of the camera for a brief moment, then looked back. He put his hands on his chest and leaned forward very slightly: a Bat's interpretation of a Human bow. "Commander Horexker is authorized to answer any further questions you may have, Chief Executive Molinas. Good day to you."
The recorded message ended, and Horexker's image returned to the video screen. Before he or anyone else could speak, however, Chief Molinas held up one hand.
"Excuse us a moment, Commander. I need to confer with my advisors," he made a small gesture to a technician behind the camera in his conference room, and Horexker's side of the screen went black.
Wilhelm Trautmann, the Financial Councilor, was staring slack-jawed off into space. "Did… he just agree to everything we wanted and more?" he asked.
Councilor Durante nodded and looked over to the Chief Executive on the video screen, "Yeah, how the hell did we pull that one off?"
* * *
Pascual pulled out a chair and ran a hand through his hair before sitting down. It had been a long day, for him and most everyone else in the OES. But even though the sun was setting over Caracas, Pascual's work was far from finished.
He pulled himself up to the table and tried to display a pleasant smile. Whether the façade was even worth the effort, Pascual couldn't say.
Across the table, Ambassador Rokden was not smiling. That might not mean anything, Humans didn't yet know whether Tadpoles smiled at all. But even if they couldn't, Pascual wouldn't have bet money that this particular Tadpole was very happy at the moment.
"Ambassador Rokden," Pascual began, "please accept my apologies and those of my government for delay in arranging this meeting. You will understand that we have—"
"Am I a prisoner here, Mr. Molinas?"
Pascual shook his head, "Of course not, Ambassador."
"Then why were my staff and I not allowed to leave this building? Do Humans keep all their guests confined this way?" The Tadpole kept his voice even, but even his normal tones were still plenty intimidating.
"Once again, let me confer our apologies. There was an administrative error on our end that caused your requests to be misdirected."
"But surely it hasn't taken this long to correct the mistake?"
Pascual winced. "No," he admitted. "But I'm afraid that by the time I learned of your situation, I was dealing with a crisis that required the full attention of me and my government."
The Tadpole leaned back slightly on his stool. "That crisis was the reason our delegation requested departure for our ship. By keeping us here, you put us all in danger. We are not pleased by your behavior."
"I understand your frustration, Ambassador. But please understand, by the time we could have returned you to your ship, the Bats would have already arrived in our space. We regret the bureaucratic failures that prevented proper communication, but keeping you and your people here was the safest course of action."
"Forgive me if your concern for our safety strikes me as less than sincere."
Pascual was truly amazed at how quickly Rokden had picked up Human language conventions. Most of the Bats he talked to still had trouble expressing sarcasm properly.
"Fortunately," Pascual said, trying to move on, "the crisis has passed, and the Bats have agreed not to interfere with our negotiations anymore."
"And you trust them?" If Pascual hadn't been looking right at the alien, he could not have said that his voice wasn't coming from a Human. Even the Charterlings had problems with proper inflection.
"Not especially," Pascual said. He tapped the folder of documents that was lying on the table between them. "But I think your people will be happy with the implications for our deal. We're moving up the start of our delivery mission. If we expedite the transfer, hopefully the materials will reach your colony before the Bats have a chance to reconsider."
Rokden just looked at Pascual silently for a moment, then rotated his head. The black ridge along his neck bent smoothly, and was clearly not as stiff as it appeared.
"When will your ships depart?"
"Four days," Pascual said.
"That is indeed sooner than we had hoped."
Pascual nodded, "We'll be sending the warships and support vessels to Mars first, and they'll escort the colony ships from there. You may be interested to know that this will be the largest long-range operation Earth Fleet has ever mounted."
Rokden nodded too. "Our colony here was the same for my people," he said. "I am sure the historical significance will not be overlooked. And your assistance will be greatly appreciated."
Pascual smiled for real this time.
The Tadpole leaned forward again. "Please forgive my earlier hostility. I see that I was wrong to doubt you Humans."
"We're trying to survive in a dangerous bit of space, Ambassador. We're smart enough to want all the friends we can get."
"It is a struggle that my species understand very well. You Humans should be grateful that you live so far from Kyhyex space. Making friends is not so easy when your planet is as close to their borders as ours."
Pascual raised an eyebrow, "It seems to me that there's a Kyhyex presence in this system, too."
Rokden laughed. It was a short, heavy bark that rattled Pascual's ears. It took a measure of self control to refrain from clamping his hands to the side of his head.
"A minor outbreak," Rokden said, "the Bats were the carriers, of course. But not even they will lift a claw to help when the Charterlings finally bring the reinforcements to wipe it out. You can't truly know the Kyhyex until you've fought off monthly waves of their colony ships. Not until you've lived in constant fear that you've gotten too good at killing their colonists, because then their battle fleet might notice you."
Pascual said nothing, and Rokden laughed again. "You think your star system is dangerous space, Mr. Molinas. But my people came here for the safety. For your sake, I hope you never learn what dangerous truly is."