Post by Lorpius Prime on Jun 10, 2009 3:14:11 GMT -5
"What are the Montevideo Accords?"
"What?" Pascual said sleepily. He had been dozing with his head down on the conference table, and he rubbed his forehead.
"What are the Montevideo Accords?" Hyong Yaheek asked a second time. He was sitting in another one of the table's chairs, tapping at a monitor. "I don't have access to my embassy's network anymore and I did not think to back up all the reference materials myself."
"And that's not in the ship's library?" Pascual yawned.
"It has taken me twenty minutes to figure out how to access your news services; I thought it would be easier to simply ask you."
"Um," Pascual shook his head, "that's the agreement that founded Earth Fleet. In 2050. Why?"
"'The New Mars Company claims that Chief Molinas' seizure of its colony ships is illegal under the Montevideo Accords,'" Hyong read.
"It might be." Pascual poked a finger in one ear and worked his jaw, trying to clear a pressure difference. "No one really had a clear idea of how Earth Fleet would work at the beginning."
"So this expedition is a criminal act?"
Pascual snorted the question, and felt relief when his ear popped.
"No," he said. "The OES Charter takes precedence over the Accords. Are they really arguing that?"
"According to…" Hyong paused, "CNN."
"Huh." Pascual shrugged, "That's a pretty weak position."
"Why?"
"Well it's the same—" Pascual stopped and looked at Hyong. He sighed, "How much of our history do you know?"
"I have occasionally followed your news since my arrival on Earth. And one of my Human friends has told me some stories about your very ancient past, from before Humans had even left your atmosphere."
"Which was about a century ago, so you've only missed all the actually important stuff. Isn't gathering information about us supposed to be your job?"
"My superiors are much more interested in what your species can do now."
"Well, the context matters if you want to really understand us."
"I would like to. But most of our leaders do not believe they have any need to understand Humans. And they are right, from the perspective of their own objectives. With your current capabilities, Humans are of no great concern."
"Heh," Pascual rubbed one cheek. "But the more trades we make like this one, and the more we develop our technology, the more you're going to have to take notice."
"That is likely to be the result, yes."
Pascual nodded, "So, do you think we'd be safer if we didn't? Your people weren't very happy about our deal with the Tadpoles. Would we be better off if we just kept our heads down and tried not to draw your attention? If you were making the decision from our perspective, I mean."
"That is… an interesting question," Hyong said slowly.
"No kidding," Pascual chuckled. "The reason I ask, though, is because we have some pretty powerful reasons to think that we would be much worse off if we didn't try our hardest to acquire new technology."
Hyong didn't say anything, so Pascual decided to go on.
"Um, basically, there are two main landmasses on Earth where Humans live. Several centuries ago—a long before we went into space or had even invented airplanes—the Humans on one of the landmasses had much better technology than the Humans on the other landmass. You know where Europe is, right?"
"This is one of your political subdivisions," Hyong said, he sounded unsure.
"Yeah, the EU, pretty much. At the time that I'm talking about, the Europeans were the ones with all the technology. They had guns and metal, while the people on the other landmass—the one where Caracas is now—were still using stone tools.
"So when the Europeans first discovered the Americas—the other landmass—and sent ships there, the Native Americans were totally overwhelmed."
"You don't mean space ships," Hyong said.
Pascual blinked, "Uh, no. I mean boats, big wooden vessels that float on water. That was the only way to get between the continents at the time, since there weren't any airplanes and there are these big oceans separating the land."
"Ah yes," Hyong nodded, "I have seen these devices. The geography of my homeworld is different; I did not consider the implications for your species."
"Right," Pascual said, "I imagine being able to fly changed things, too. Anyway, the Europeans established colonies in the Americas to extract resources—rare metals and whatnot. And for a while, the Native Americans weren't all that worried. The colonies weren't very big at first, and the natives didn't have much use for most of the things the Europeans were taking. The Europeans also weren't out to really destroy the Native Americans or anything like that at first, either, and the natives had their own political squabbles among themselves. The whole result of this was that, for the first few hundred years, there was never any unified or well-planned opposition to the Europeans from the Native Americans.
"Well, eventually the number of European colonists grew, and their settlements expanded. And by the time the natives started seriously trying to resist that, it was too late for them. The Europeans ultimately overran the Americas, and very nearly wiped out the Native Americans."
"I see." Hyong scratched at his throat with the claws of one hand.
Pascual nodded, "Yeah. And now, just a few decades ago, we've started seeing alien civilizations appear in our own star system. These aliens have technology far beyond our ability to replicate or even understand at this point, a lot of it weaponry. They also already have far-reaching and well-established states from which they've been sending colonists to the planets in our star system. These facts make a lot of people remember the story of the Europeans and the Native Americans, and none of them want to end up the same way. That's why it's been so important to our leaders for us to make a united and determined effort to acquire the same sorts of technology that you have."
"I can understand how such a history might influence your decisions," Hyong said, "but I believe the analogy is flawed, at best."
"That wouldn't surprise me," Pascual replied, "but it's hard for us to be sure with such limited information. Our leaders make decisions based on the lessons of the past, but all of our past experiences have been interactions among Humans. We have no way to know how well those lessons apply to our interactions with other species, or whether they do at all."
"I understand the dilemma."
Pascual nodded, "Anyway, so whether you and your government thinks we ought to be pursuing technology as aggressively as we are, that's why we're doing it."
"Well, my government would certainly prefer that you not seek such technology," Hyong's wings fluttered noticeably before returning to their original folded position. "But I am not sure whether they would take the same actions in your place, with all of the knowledge that we have. The situation is… complicated."
"Usually is."
Suddenly, Hyong took his computer off of his vest. "I wonder if…" He poked at the device with a claw.
The Bats' computers filled roughly the same niche as PDAs and cell phones did for Humans. They looked like flexible sheets of thick black plastic, but could display images across the entire surface and emit sounds without any visibly independent speakers. Most bats carried them attached to the front of their vests, and could peel them off at need. The devices were presumed to be much more powerful than any Human PC, but Earth had never been able to acquire one.
"All right, this will do," Hyong said. He laid his computer on the table between the two of them. There were images on the screen, but Pascual couldn't make sense of any of it.
"This is the Republic."
Hyong tapped one claw against the screen, and Pascual jumped back in his chair. He didn't adjust the movement for the half-gravity acceleration of the ship, however, and flew up out of his chair, smashing his thighs painfully against the bottom of the table before falling back into his seat. Pascual groaned.
The pain was a secondary concern, however. Pascual's eyes were focused on the Bat's computer, which apparently had another function that Earth hadn't been aware of.
A semitransparent gold sphere about the size of Pascual's fist was hovering in the air about ten centimeters above the computer.
The OES had known the Bats had impressive volumetric projection technology, of course. But they had assumed that the devices had to be as large as the Orrery in the Earth Fleet Museum. That they could fit into something as small and light as a Bat's personal computer was news indeed.
"Are you all right?" Hyong asked.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn't know they could do that," Pascual pointed to Hyong's computer.
"Ah, yes. It is only a basic display, there is no, ah, interaction." Hyong passed a hand through the gold sphere, which flickered for a second.
Pascual nodded, "I see. Please, continue."
"This, as I said, represents the Republic."
Now that Pascual was looking more closely, he could see that the gold shape was not quite a perfect sphere; it was wider than it was tall, and one side was flattened. As he leaned closer, Pascual could also see lines that looked like fine silver thread forming a grid in three dimensions, with the gold ball at the center.
"Now this," Hyong tapped on the computer again, "is Charterling territory."
A new shape appeared, a blue one this time. It had less form than the gold sphere, but Pascual might have described it as something like a squashed egg. It butted up against the sphere on the flattened edge, and had a divot near the top, like a chunk had been removed with an ice-cream scoop.
"They're bigger than you," Pascual observed. The blue shape was almost twice as large as the gold sphere.
"Yes," Hyong said. "I could display all the inhabited star systems, but it would only be clutter at this resolution, the solids are an easier visualization. Anyway, the Charterlings have almost one and a half times as many populated star systems as us, spread over a much larger area."
"Your representatives have always claimed that the Republic was far greater than the Charterlings."
Hyong barked in laughter, and then said, "Part of that is propaganda, of course. But you should also not be misled by a simple comparison of territory. Our ships are better and our weapons much more powerful than those in the Charterling Fleet. We have won more battles than we have lost against them in our war."
"And what would the Charterlings tell me if I asked them about that claim?"
"A Charterling would probably tell you that they have won every battle against us, and that their technology is incomparably superior to ours," Hyong said.
Pascual raised an eyebrow at him.
The Bat shook his head, "I am not attempting to twist your view of their species, Ambassador Molinas. The Charterlings are an eminently formidable opponent. Their technology is not as good as ours, but it is still effective, and they put it to good use. But you should never trust a Charterling talking about its own species. My colleagues will lie to you about the Republic to accomplish some specific objective. A Charterling will lie to you about his race out of sheer principle. They are… almost pathological propagandists. They don't lie to each other—dishonesty among Charterlings is usually a fatal error—but they will exaggerate their greatness to other species. That way they don't diminish their prestige."
"Um, okay," Pascual said with a shrug. He wasn't very interested in a lecture about whose propaganda was the more trustworthy.
Hyong looked back at the display. "I'm showing you this so you can better understand your relative position in all of this. Your star system is approximately here."
He extended one finger and moved his claw in a circle around a point in space near the bottom of Charterling space, on the far side of the blue area from the gold sphere of the Republic.
"The Charterlings are between us and you?" Pascual was a little miffed.
"Yes," Hyong said. "But once again, you should not be misled. The Charterlings have only recently settled the stars in this region," he poked at the lower extremity of the blue area, "and the colonies here are not well developed. Occupied systems are also not an obstacle to our ships. You cannot intercept a vessel moving faster than light, so it is hardly troublesome for us to reach this system. The only deterrent is the time it takes. Earth is about two and a half years from Karee by our fastest ships," Hyong indicated a point near the top-right of the gold sphere. From where Pascual was sitting, the solar system was on the bottom-left edge of the display.
"And you're about one year away from the Charterlings' nearest hub system by their fastest ships." He pointed to a spot about halfway up the blue volume from Sol.
"All right," Pascual nodded slowly. "I'm grateful for the perspective, but what does all of that mean?"
"Humans have mostly escaped the notice of any serious authorities within the Republic or the Charterling government. There are two reasons for this. First, your star system is very distant from the core systems of both our nations. We're on the very fringe of settled space, which is why no one has yet sent a serious battle fleet here to permanently eject the others. All of these systems," he waved at the colored regions, "are controlled by only one of the major races, and any other native intelligent species are subject to their authority.
"The other reason you haven't drawn much attention is because you're insignificant." Pascual bristled at that, but Hyong went on before he could say anything. "By that I mean that you don't pose any sort of threat or have much to offer anyone. You only inhabit one world and your military technology is hopelessly outclassed, so no one considers you dangerous. Nor do you have any real impact on the interstellar economy. You've got some agricultural products that my people enjoy, but that's it. The Charterlings might also see some potential in you because of your fertility, but they aren't even close to desperate enough to waste resources here just because of that."
Pascual grimaced at this ominous statement. Hyong didn't clarify, however. Instead, the Bat made a gesture with his hand, opening and closing his fingers.
"All of that is likely to change," he said, "if Humanity starts acquiring technology that could present any sort of threat to either the Republic or the Charterlings. If you develop the capacity to have an impact on the war, then both sides will begin worrying about that impact. I am sure you would prefer to remain neutral in the conflict, but that may not be possible. Both of us will fear what Humanity could do for the other, and either may attempt to either co-opt your assistance first, or neutralize you."
It was probably inevitable that there were purely self-interested calculations behind all political dealings. But even though he knew that, Pascual still felt disgusted when presented with the honest truth.
"So all the time the Bats have played up the 'friendship' between you and Humanity, the reality was—"
"It was what we said," Hyong cut him off. "We do consider Humanity to be a friend to us, or at least to our colony here. Some of us feel more strongly about that than others, but on the whole we do still like your species.
"But that friendship will become more difficult if Humanity ever begins to attain serious military power. I do think that you would have an easier time cooperating with us than the Charterlings as our… personalities are much more similar. But the Charterlings are closer to you, and would have an easier time applying serious pressure to your government or bribing you. And the fact that both of us would realize both of these facts would require my people to confront unpleasant decisions about our future."
Pascual nodded unhappily, "So you're saying that we probably shouldn't be making this sort of move to build ourselves up. Because it's going to drag us into your war with the Charterlings?"
Hyong made a low hissing noise that lasted for several seconds. A sigh?
"That is probably what I would conclude if this were the entirety of the situation Humanity faced."
"But…?"
Hyong reached out a hand and tapped his computer with a claw again.
The blue and gold shapes in the volumetric display shrank relative to the silvery grid, and were pushed to one side. A new shape appeared, this one a dark green color. It looked like the bulging cap of a mushroom. It was at least four times the size of either the Republic or the Charterling territory, and threatened to engulf both. The gold sphere was now totally enclosed, squeezed between the Charterling territory and a pocket in the center of the new shape. The green bulge folded all the way around the Republic to touch on the boundaries of Charterling space at its extremities.
"These are Kyhyex-controlled stars," Hyong said.
"What?" Pascual said sleepily. He had been dozing with his head down on the conference table, and he rubbed his forehead.
"What are the Montevideo Accords?" Hyong Yaheek asked a second time. He was sitting in another one of the table's chairs, tapping at a monitor. "I don't have access to my embassy's network anymore and I did not think to back up all the reference materials myself."
"And that's not in the ship's library?" Pascual yawned.
"It has taken me twenty minutes to figure out how to access your news services; I thought it would be easier to simply ask you."
"Um," Pascual shook his head, "that's the agreement that founded Earth Fleet. In 2050. Why?"
"'The New Mars Company claims that Chief Molinas' seizure of its colony ships is illegal under the Montevideo Accords,'" Hyong read.
"It might be." Pascual poked a finger in one ear and worked his jaw, trying to clear a pressure difference. "No one really had a clear idea of how Earth Fleet would work at the beginning."
"So this expedition is a criminal act?"
Pascual snorted the question, and felt relief when his ear popped.
"No," he said. "The OES Charter takes precedence over the Accords. Are they really arguing that?"
"According to…" Hyong paused, "CNN."
"Huh." Pascual shrugged, "That's a pretty weak position."
"Why?"
"Well it's the same—" Pascual stopped and looked at Hyong. He sighed, "How much of our history do you know?"
"I have occasionally followed your news since my arrival on Earth. And one of my Human friends has told me some stories about your very ancient past, from before Humans had even left your atmosphere."
"Which was about a century ago, so you've only missed all the actually important stuff. Isn't gathering information about us supposed to be your job?"
"My superiors are much more interested in what your species can do now."
"Well, the context matters if you want to really understand us."
"I would like to. But most of our leaders do not believe they have any need to understand Humans. And they are right, from the perspective of their own objectives. With your current capabilities, Humans are of no great concern."
"Heh," Pascual rubbed one cheek. "But the more trades we make like this one, and the more we develop our technology, the more you're going to have to take notice."
"That is likely to be the result, yes."
Pascual nodded, "So, do you think we'd be safer if we didn't? Your people weren't very happy about our deal with the Tadpoles. Would we be better off if we just kept our heads down and tried not to draw your attention? If you were making the decision from our perspective, I mean."
"That is… an interesting question," Hyong said slowly.
"No kidding," Pascual chuckled. "The reason I ask, though, is because we have some pretty powerful reasons to think that we would be much worse off if we didn't try our hardest to acquire new technology."
Hyong didn't say anything, so Pascual decided to go on.
"Um, basically, there are two main landmasses on Earth where Humans live. Several centuries ago—a long before we went into space or had even invented airplanes—the Humans on one of the landmasses had much better technology than the Humans on the other landmass. You know where Europe is, right?"
"This is one of your political subdivisions," Hyong said, he sounded unsure.
"Yeah, the EU, pretty much. At the time that I'm talking about, the Europeans were the ones with all the technology. They had guns and metal, while the people on the other landmass—the one where Caracas is now—were still using stone tools.
"So when the Europeans first discovered the Americas—the other landmass—and sent ships there, the Native Americans were totally overwhelmed."
"You don't mean space ships," Hyong said.
Pascual blinked, "Uh, no. I mean boats, big wooden vessels that float on water. That was the only way to get between the continents at the time, since there weren't any airplanes and there are these big oceans separating the land."
"Ah yes," Hyong nodded, "I have seen these devices. The geography of my homeworld is different; I did not consider the implications for your species."
"Right," Pascual said, "I imagine being able to fly changed things, too. Anyway, the Europeans established colonies in the Americas to extract resources—rare metals and whatnot. And for a while, the Native Americans weren't all that worried. The colonies weren't very big at first, and the natives didn't have much use for most of the things the Europeans were taking. The Europeans also weren't out to really destroy the Native Americans or anything like that at first, either, and the natives had their own political squabbles among themselves. The whole result of this was that, for the first few hundred years, there was never any unified or well-planned opposition to the Europeans from the Native Americans.
"Well, eventually the number of European colonists grew, and their settlements expanded. And by the time the natives started seriously trying to resist that, it was too late for them. The Europeans ultimately overran the Americas, and very nearly wiped out the Native Americans."
"I see." Hyong scratched at his throat with the claws of one hand.
Pascual nodded, "Yeah. And now, just a few decades ago, we've started seeing alien civilizations appear in our own star system. These aliens have technology far beyond our ability to replicate or even understand at this point, a lot of it weaponry. They also already have far-reaching and well-established states from which they've been sending colonists to the planets in our star system. These facts make a lot of people remember the story of the Europeans and the Native Americans, and none of them want to end up the same way. That's why it's been so important to our leaders for us to make a united and determined effort to acquire the same sorts of technology that you have."
"I can understand how such a history might influence your decisions," Hyong said, "but I believe the analogy is flawed, at best."
"That wouldn't surprise me," Pascual replied, "but it's hard for us to be sure with such limited information. Our leaders make decisions based on the lessons of the past, but all of our past experiences have been interactions among Humans. We have no way to know how well those lessons apply to our interactions with other species, or whether they do at all."
"I understand the dilemma."
Pascual nodded, "Anyway, so whether you and your government thinks we ought to be pursuing technology as aggressively as we are, that's why we're doing it."
"Well, my government would certainly prefer that you not seek such technology," Hyong's wings fluttered noticeably before returning to their original folded position. "But I am not sure whether they would take the same actions in your place, with all of the knowledge that we have. The situation is… complicated."
"Usually is."
Suddenly, Hyong took his computer off of his vest. "I wonder if…" He poked at the device with a claw.
The Bats' computers filled roughly the same niche as PDAs and cell phones did for Humans. They looked like flexible sheets of thick black plastic, but could display images across the entire surface and emit sounds without any visibly independent speakers. Most bats carried them attached to the front of their vests, and could peel them off at need. The devices were presumed to be much more powerful than any Human PC, but Earth had never been able to acquire one.
"All right, this will do," Hyong said. He laid his computer on the table between the two of them. There were images on the screen, but Pascual couldn't make sense of any of it.
"This is the Republic."
Hyong tapped one claw against the screen, and Pascual jumped back in his chair. He didn't adjust the movement for the half-gravity acceleration of the ship, however, and flew up out of his chair, smashing his thighs painfully against the bottom of the table before falling back into his seat. Pascual groaned.
The pain was a secondary concern, however. Pascual's eyes were focused on the Bat's computer, which apparently had another function that Earth hadn't been aware of.
A semitransparent gold sphere about the size of Pascual's fist was hovering in the air about ten centimeters above the computer.
The OES had known the Bats had impressive volumetric projection technology, of course. But they had assumed that the devices had to be as large as the Orrery in the Earth Fleet Museum. That they could fit into something as small and light as a Bat's personal computer was news indeed.
"Are you all right?" Hyong asked.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn't know they could do that," Pascual pointed to Hyong's computer.
"Ah, yes. It is only a basic display, there is no, ah, interaction." Hyong passed a hand through the gold sphere, which flickered for a second.
Pascual nodded, "I see. Please, continue."
"This, as I said, represents the Republic."
Now that Pascual was looking more closely, he could see that the gold shape was not quite a perfect sphere; it was wider than it was tall, and one side was flattened. As he leaned closer, Pascual could also see lines that looked like fine silver thread forming a grid in three dimensions, with the gold ball at the center.
"Now this," Hyong tapped on the computer again, "is Charterling territory."
A new shape appeared, a blue one this time. It had less form than the gold sphere, but Pascual might have described it as something like a squashed egg. It butted up against the sphere on the flattened edge, and had a divot near the top, like a chunk had been removed with an ice-cream scoop.
"They're bigger than you," Pascual observed. The blue shape was almost twice as large as the gold sphere.
"Yes," Hyong said. "I could display all the inhabited star systems, but it would only be clutter at this resolution, the solids are an easier visualization. Anyway, the Charterlings have almost one and a half times as many populated star systems as us, spread over a much larger area."
"Your representatives have always claimed that the Republic was far greater than the Charterlings."
Hyong barked in laughter, and then said, "Part of that is propaganda, of course. But you should also not be misled by a simple comparison of territory. Our ships are better and our weapons much more powerful than those in the Charterling Fleet. We have won more battles than we have lost against them in our war."
"And what would the Charterlings tell me if I asked them about that claim?"
"A Charterling would probably tell you that they have won every battle against us, and that their technology is incomparably superior to ours," Hyong said.
Pascual raised an eyebrow at him.
The Bat shook his head, "I am not attempting to twist your view of their species, Ambassador Molinas. The Charterlings are an eminently formidable opponent. Their technology is not as good as ours, but it is still effective, and they put it to good use. But you should never trust a Charterling talking about its own species. My colleagues will lie to you about the Republic to accomplish some specific objective. A Charterling will lie to you about his race out of sheer principle. They are… almost pathological propagandists. They don't lie to each other—dishonesty among Charterlings is usually a fatal error—but they will exaggerate their greatness to other species. That way they don't diminish their prestige."
"Um, okay," Pascual said with a shrug. He wasn't very interested in a lecture about whose propaganda was the more trustworthy.
Hyong looked back at the display. "I'm showing you this so you can better understand your relative position in all of this. Your star system is approximately here."
He extended one finger and moved his claw in a circle around a point in space near the bottom of Charterling space, on the far side of the blue area from the gold sphere of the Republic.
"The Charterlings are between us and you?" Pascual was a little miffed.
"Yes," Hyong said. "But once again, you should not be misled. The Charterlings have only recently settled the stars in this region," he poked at the lower extremity of the blue area, "and the colonies here are not well developed. Occupied systems are also not an obstacle to our ships. You cannot intercept a vessel moving faster than light, so it is hardly troublesome for us to reach this system. The only deterrent is the time it takes. Earth is about two and a half years from Karee by our fastest ships," Hyong indicated a point near the top-right of the gold sphere. From where Pascual was sitting, the solar system was on the bottom-left edge of the display.
"And you're about one year away from the Charterlings' nearest hub system by their fastest ships." He pointed to a spot about halfway up the blue volume from Sol.
"All right," Pascual nodded slowly. "I'm grateful for the perspective, but what does all of that mean?"
"Humans have mostly escaped the notice of any serious authorities within the Republic or the Charterling government. There are two reasons for this. First, your star system is very distant from the core systems of both our nations. We're on the very fringe of settled space, which is why no one has yet sent a serious battle fleet here to permanently eject the others. All of these systems," he waved at the colored regions, "are controlled by only one of the major races, and any other native intelligent species are subject to their authority.
"The other reason you haven't drawn much attention is because you're insignificant." Pascual bristled at that, but Hyong went on before he could say anything. "By that I mean that you don't pose any sort of threat or have much to offer anyone. You only inhabit one world and your military technology is hopelessly outclassed, so no one considers you dangerous. Nor do you have any real impact on the interstellar economy. You've got some agricultural products that my people enjoy, but that's it. The Charterlings might also see some potential in you because of your fertility, but they aren't even close to desperate enough to waste resources here just because of that."
Pascual grimaced at this ominous statement. Hyong didn't clarify, however. Instead, the Bat made a gesture with his hand, opening and closing his fingers.
"All of that is likely to change," he said, "if Humanity starts acquiring technology that could present any sort of threat to either the Republic or the Charterlings. If you develop the capacity to have an impact on the war, then both sides will begin worrying about that impact. I am sure you would prefer to remain neutral in the conflict, but that may not be possible. Both of us will fear what Humanity could do for the other, and either may attempt to either co-opt your assistance first, or neutralize you."
It was probably inevitable that there were purely self-interested calculations behind all political dealings. But even though he knew that, Pascual still felt disgusted when presented with the honest truth.
"So all the time the Bats have played up the 'friendship' between you and Humanity, the reality was—"
"It was what we said," Hyong cut him off. "We do consider Humanity to be a friend to us, or at least to our colony here. Some of us feel more strongly about that than others, but on the whole we do still like your species.
"But that friendship will become more difficult if Humanity ever begins to attain serious military power. I do think that you would have an easier time cooperating with us than the Charterlings as our… personalities are much more similar. But the Charterlings are closer to you, and would have an easier time applying serious pressure to your government or bribing you. And the fact that both of us would realize both of these facts would require my people to confront unpleasant decisions about our future."
Pascual nodded unhappily, "So you're saying that we probably shouldn't be making this sort of move to build ourselves up. Because it's going to drag us into your war with the Charterlings?"
Hyong made a low hissing noise that lasted for several seconds. A sigh?
"That is probably what I would conclude if this were the entirety of the situation Humanity faced."
"But…?"
Hyong reached out a hand and tapped his computer with a claw again.
The blue and gold shapes in the volumetric display shrank relative to the silvery grid, and were pushed to one side. A new shape appeared, this one a dark green color. It looked like the bulging cap of a mushroom. It was at least four times the size of either the Republic or the Charterling territory, and threatened to engulf both. The gold sphere was now totally enclosed, squeezed between the Charterling territory and a pocket in the center of the new shape. The green bulge folded all the way around the Republic to touch on the boundaries of Charterling space at its extremities.
"These are Kyhyex-controlled stars," Hyong said.