Post by Lorpius Prime on Sept 6, 2009 1:51:05 GMT -5
Hyong gently unwrapped the metal foil packet, taking great care not to tear the material with his claws. Inside the packet was a small bundle of green leaves. Hyong carefully pinched the end of one, and peeled it off the top. Then he raised the leaf to his mouth, and laid it on his tongue. Hyong resealed the packet and placed it in a pouch on the back side of his vest.
As he chewed the leaf, he felt the muscles of his face relax as a tingling sensation and then numbness spread through his mouth. Hyong had to be careful chewing. Unlike Humans, his own teeth were mostly designed for ripping and tearing flesh, and without feeling in his mouth he was at a greater risk of injury from accidental biting.
Hyong felt as if his sinuses were opening after a period of illness, and he breathed deeply, enjoying the air which had previously been uncomfortably cool and stale. He felt smarter, too, as if his perceptions were expanding and his thoughts becoming sharper.
He knew very well the feeling was illusory, of course. But that did not mean Hyong could not enjoy it all the same. There were any number of drugs which could be synthesized by the colony that Hyong could have taken to feel the same or even more powerful effects. Something about the way the tactile sensation of chewing the leaf combined with the psychoactive chemicals was especially pleasing to Hyong, however. And there were quite a few members of the colony who agreed with him, which was why the colony bought so many of the "coca leaves" from the Humans.
When they first attempted to secure a steady supply of the leaf, the colony's importers had encountered severe difficulties with getting large contracts approved by their Human counterparts. Eventually, the embassy had gotten involved, and was surprised and frustrated to find a number of Human politicians attempting to forbid any sort of sale at all. Eventually, the importers had had to pay much higher prices than they anticipated—though still absurdly low compared to what such a product would cost within the Republic. The political resistance eventually quieted, and Hyong had heard importers mention that they expected to get much better prices after the old contracts expired.
Hyong adjusted his posture slightly as the hatch at the far end of the vestibule opened and a Human male in a red jumpsuit stepped through. Two more similarly dressed Humans followed him. They were taller, but he was clearly the leader of the group, and the others took up positions behind and on his flanks when he stopped.
The Human nodded to the others in the vestibule and then Hyong.
"Good afternoon," he said, "and welcome aboard. My name is Rafael Kirk, and as of two days ago I have a temporary commission to Earth Fleet at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Since I'm the commander of the NMC Discovery, while you're here you should feel free to call me Captain Kirk."
The Human paused and smiled at the others. Hyong had the impression that he expected some sort of response, but neither Hyong nor any of the four Kekregka said anything. After a moment, Kirk frowned and sighed.
"Wrong audience," he said. He shook his head, "Anyway, I'm here to take you on the grand tour of the ship and habitat. Are there any questions before we begin?"
"Yes," one of the Kekregka said at once. It was the male scientist, the engineer, Vurk. "The published information about these vessels is quite superficial and we will need more details."
Captain Kirk tilted his head slightly and smiled. "Yes?" he asked.
Vurk took a computer from his tool belt into one hand. "What is the power output of this vessel?"
Kirk blinked. "Um," he shook his head, "we're running at about 20 megawatts right now. The reactors can pull just under 300 if they're all going flat out, but we can only radiate waste heat up to about 70% of that. As she is, I mean; plan was to build bigger radiators before we were fully populated."
Vurk nodded silently. Beside him his partner, the physician, spoke up. "What chemical process do you use to recover oxygen from carbon dioxide, and what volume can you convert per day?"
"Okay!" Kirk slapped his hands together in front of him. "Change of plans, why don't I take you down to our control room first thing, and our engineering chiefs can walk you through a copy of the technical specifications?"
He phrased it as a question, but did not wait for anyone to respond before half turning and making a rotating gesture with one arm. "Follow me right this way," he said, and strode back out the hatch through which he'd come.
As Hyong trailed after the group, it occurred to him that at some other time he might have been disappointed by the alteration to their tour. But as he rolled the little wad of coca leaves across his tongue, he realized that he wasn't worried by the prospect of boredom at all. Chewing happily, he followed along, listening in fascination as Captain Kirk described the efficient design of his vessel's outer walkways.
Pascual sat strapped to a bench in the EFS Enyo's cafeteria. A tray of food was clipped to the table in front of him, and Pascual picked at it lazily. There were a handful of others in the cafeteria, all of them spacers, but Pascual was eating alone.
Ambassador Rokden's delegation and the Bat Hyong Yaheek were currently taking an introductory tour of the NMC Discovery, the space station component of the Mars Colony which would be turned over to the Tadpoles. Pascual could have accompanied them, but there wouldn't have been much for him to contribute and he could see the ship himself on a later excursion. Discovery's crew could manage the aliens for one day just fine without him. Plus, Pascual rather wanted to be alone at the moment.
His uncle had responded to the email Pascual had sent him about Commodore Lee that morning:
Pascual, if your father were still here he'd beat you for even thinking about asking me this. And he'd beat me if he knew I had helped you.
Since he's not here, all I can tell you is: this is a really bad idea. Lavrentiy picked Commodore Lee for this job personally, and I have absolute confidence in his opinion. You'll remember that I met the woman too and, yes, she did come across as a little uptight. But she's also got exactly the sort of mind we need and I want out there right now.
So, my little nephew, tough luck, deal with it. You've got your mother's brains so you're twice as smart as I am, handling difficult people should be no trouble at all for you if you actually put in the effort to figure it out yourself. And that's what you're going to have to do, Pascual, because I'm certainly not coming to your rescue.
Con todo mi cariño,
Uncle Ed.
P.S. The new Bat Ambassador's a real character. See if Mr. Yaheek will tell you anything about him.
Pascual had been brooding since reading the message. He wasn't sure if he was more annoyed at himself for asking his uncle to pull political strings for him, or if he was more annoyed at Eduard Molinas for refusing when he did ask. Pascual had always taken pride in his refusal to tap his family connections for influence. At the same time, though, the knowledge that he could use those connections had made him feel powerful. Now that feeling was gone, it was as if he'd been cut off at the knees.
Pascual was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the other man approaching until he sat down right across the table.
"Mind if I join you, Ambassador?"
Pascual almost snapped back with an angry yes, but years of social conditioning restrained him at the last possible moment.
"Not at all," he said, although he wasn't totally able to hide the surliness in his voice.
The man across the table looked vaguely familiar, but Pascual couldn't quite place his name. He had platinum-blonde hair which hung off his head in long curls that stopped just short of his shoulders. His face could serve as the model for a sculpture bust of a classical Greek hero. Pascual found his eyes slightly disconcerting, however. They were emerald green, and there was a sharpness behind them which did not quite match the man's disarming smile.
The rank insignia on his uniform declared that he was a Rear Admiral, which meant that he and Pascual had almost certainly been introduced when Pascual first arrived on Enyo. Since Pascual still couldn't remember the man's name, however, he was forced to bluff.
"Good afternoon, Admiral," he said, injecting a bit more politeness into his voice and nodding.
"Alvah Goldhirsch," the Admiral said, seeing right through Pascual, "Chief of Operations for Third Fleet. And you are Ambassador Pascual Molinas, the OES' representative to the Tadpoles aboard Task Force One. We met earlier, if you can call a handshake 'meeting' someone."
"So we did," Pascual said with a slight chuckle, at least now he could recall the image of their meeting in his mind. "So what brings you here, Admiral Goldhirsch?"
"Officially, I'm dropping in for a late lunch," he gestured at the small salad on the tray he'd brought with him. Then he leaned forward and lowered his voice, "The truth, however, is that I noticed you were here and I thought that I had better take the opportunity to more properly introduce myself. You see, I'm rather jealous of you."
He used a fork to ingest a bite of his salad, and his smile stayed intact and perfectly formed as he chewed. Pascual raised an eyebrow.
"Jealous?"
"Oh yes," Goldhirsch said after swallowing. "I was quite excited when I got this assignment, flag rank at my age and all. But of course, now it means I can't be a part of Humanity's first manned expedition to the outer solar system. Your mission to Titania is probably the most exciting episode in space travel since first contact with the Bats. My own commission is actually rather boring by comparison."
Pascual watched the man eat for several seconds; Goldhirsch's easy smile never broke for even a moment.
Finally, Pascual asked, "And that's why you're here? You're impressed with my current mission?"
The Admiral's smile became one of amusement. "You doubt my sincerity?"
"I meet a lot of people trying to cozy up to power," Pascual said. He was a little surprised by his own frankness, but he forged on. "My uncle's the President of Mexico and the Chief Executive of the OES, and that's the reason most strangers will pick me out of a crowd. But I suppose that has nothing to do with why you want to talk to me."
"Ah, but of course it does, Ambassador Molinas," Goldhirsch said. Then he laughed at Pascual's stare. "Don't mistake me, Ambassador; I'm not a lamprey attempting to attach myself to your or your family's success. You'll notice that I'm doing well enough all on my own, thank you," he gestured to his rank insignia, and then to the station around him. "But I'll readily admit that I am fascinated with… men of influence, let's say. And whatever your family connections may be, Ambassador Molinas, you could not have reached your current position if you were not plenty influential in your own right."
Pascual couldn't help himself, he snorted.
"Influential, am I?" he said to Goldhirsch's raised eyebrow. "Not so far as I can see."
"You're leading the most important expedition in Human diplomatic history."
"Ah, but I'm not," Pascual had forgotten his own meal and shook a finger at the Admiral's face. "I'm just a face, a contact point for the aliens. Commodore Lee is in command of the expedition, and she has made it quite clear that she has no intention of diluting her authority even enough to treat me as an advisor." And Uncle Eduard's made it just as clear that he's okay with that, Pascual thought sulkily.
"I see."
Admiral Goldhirsch's eyes had lost focus as he peered into the distance. He did not elaborate on his observation.
"So I'm sorry to say," Pascual continued, "that you were mistaken, I am not one of your 'men of influence'."
Goldhirsch emerged from his faraway expression to smile even more brightly at Pascual.
"No, I don't think I was," he said simply. "Although I should have anticipated that you might be in this position."
"What?" Pascual felt like he'd missed something.
"Ambassador, it's pretty obvious that you've already had a confrontation with Commodore Lee," Goldhirsch said. "Xi Feng was in my class at the Academy. I'm… familiar with her style."
Pascual's eyes narrowed, "Are you?"
"Oh yes!" Goldhirsch laughed. "She kicked my ass regularly in our war games until I actually knuckled down and stopped underestimating her. She was the only one who did, if I may say; it taught me a little humility."
A very little from Pascual's impression of the man.
"Anyway," the Admiral went on, "Commodore Lee wouldn't be well-disposed to like you, I'm afraid. She has something of a grudge against all politicians."
"I'm a diplomat."
For the first time, Admiral Goldhirsch's smile vanished and was replaced with a look of… disappointment?
"At a high enough level to be irretrievably political. Hell, Ambassador, I'm a politician to be where I am, no matter what the non-political military traditions say. And even if you weren't in your position, Xi Feng would see you as a politician just because of who your uncle is."
"And yet my uncle likes her well enough," Pascual groused.
Goldhirsch's smile was back in an instant, "Oh she's easy enough to like so long as she's not actively trying to offend you. You're uncle's Chief Executive and Commodore Lee's devoted enough to military tradition to respect that in public." He put a finger to his chin and looked up at the ceiling, "Actually, that may be part of the reason she'd give you a hard time. She has to pretend to like Eduard Molinas. The rest of the Molinas family though…" Goldhirsch caught Pascual's eye and shrugged.
"Well thanks for cheering me up, Admiral. I feel a lot better now that I know the reason I won't be able to do my job properly is because the Task Force's commander has an irrational hatred of my career and my family."
"It is a dilemma isn't it?" Goldhirsch chuckled. "But you should cheer up. Unless I've entirely misread you—and I still don't believe that I have—it should be well within your abilities to, ah, pacify the Commodore."
There were a number of responses to this statement which ran through Pascual's mind. Finally, he rejected all of them and simply remained silent.
Goldhirsch's smile grew even wider, "I think I might even be willing to help you out with that."
As he chewed the leaf, he felt the muscles of his face relax as a tingling sensation and then numbness spread through his mouth. Hyong had to be careful chewing. Unlike Humans, his own teeth were mostly designed for ripping and tearing flesh, and without feeling in his mouth he was at a greater risk of injury from accidental biting.
Hyong felt as if his sinuses were opening after a period of illness, and he breathed deeply, enjoying the air which had previously been uncomfortably cool and stale. He felt smarter, too, as if his perceptions were expanding and his thoughts becoming sharper.
He knew very well the feeling was illusory, of course. But that did not mean Hyong could not enjoy it all the same. There were any number of drugs which could be synthesized by the colony that Hyong could have taken to feel the same or even more powerful effects. Something about the way the tactile sensation of chewing the leaf combined with the psychoactive chemicals was especially pleasing to Hyong, however. And there were quite a few members of the colony who agreed with him, which was why the colony bought so many of the "coca leaves" from the Humans.
When they first attempted to secure a steady supply of the leaf, the colony's importers had encountered severe difficulties with getting large contracts approved by their Human counterparts. Eventually, the embassy had gotten involved, and was surprised and frustrated to find a number of Human politicians attempting to forbid any sort of sale at all. Eventually, the importers had had to pay much higher prices than they anticipated—though still absurdly low compared to what such a product would cost within the Republic. The political resistance eventually quieted, and Hyong had heard importers mention that they expected to get much better prices after the old contracts expired.
Hyong adjusted his posture slightly as the hatch at the far end of the vestibule opened and a Human male in a red jumpsuit stepped through. Two more similarly dressed Humans followed him. They were taller, but he was clearly the leader of the group, and the others took up positions behind and on his flanks when he stopped.
The Human nodded to the others in the vestibule and then Hyong.
"Good afternoon," he said, "and welcome aboard. My name is Rafael Kirk, and as of two days ago I have a temporary commission to Earth Fleet at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Since I'm the commander of the NMC Discovery, while you're here you should feel free to call me Captain Kirk."
The Human paused and smiled at the others. Hyong had the impression that he expected some sort of response, but neither Hyong nor any of the four Kekregka said anything. After a moment, Kirk frowned and sighed.
"Wrong audience," he said. He shook his head, "Anyway, I'm here to take you on the grand tour of the ship and habitat. Are there any questions before we begin?"
"Yes," one of the Kekregka said at once. It was the male scientist, the engineer, Vurk. "The published information about these vessels is quite superficial and we will need more details."
Captain Kirk tilted his head slightly and smiled. "Yes?" he asked.
Vurk took a computer from his tool belt into one hand. "What is the power output of this vessel?"
Kirk blinked. "Um," he shook his head, "we're running at about 20 megawatts right now. The reactors can pull just under 300 if they're all going flat out, but we can only radiate waste heat up to about 70% of that. As she is, I mean; plan was to build bigger radiators before we were fully populated."
Vurk nodded silently. Beside him his partner, the physician, spoke up. "What chemical process do you use to recover oxygen from carbon dioxide, and what volume can you convert per day?"
"Okay!" Kirk slapped his hands together in front of him. "Change of plans, why don't I take you down to our control room first thing, and our engineering chiefs can walk you through a copy of the technical specifications?"
He phrased it as a question, but did not wait for anyone to respond before half turning and making a rotating gesture with one arm. "Follow me right this way," he said, and strode back out the hatch through which he'd come.
As Hyong trailed after the group, it occurred to him that at some other time he might have been disappointed by the alteration to their tour. But as he rolled the little wad of coca leaves across his tongue, he realized that he wasn't worried by the prospect of boredom at all. Chewing happily, he followed along, listening in fascination as Captain Kirk described the efficient design of his vessel's outer walkways.
* * *
Pascual sat strapped to a bench in the EFS Enyo's cafeteria. A tray of food was clipped to the table in front of him, and Pascual picked at it lazily. There were a handful of others in the cafeteria, all of them spacers, but Pascual was eating alone.
Ambassador Rokden's delegation and the Bat Hyong Yaheek were currently taking an introductory tour of the NMC Discovery, the space station component of the Mars Colony which would be turned over to the Tadpoles. Pascual could have accompanied them, but there wouldn't have been much for him to contribute and he could see the ship himself on a later excursion. Discovery's crew could manage the aliens for one day just fine without him. Plus, Pascual rather wanted to be alone at the moment.
His uncle had responded to the email Pascual had sent him about Commodore Lee that morning:
Pascual, if your father were still here he'd beat you for even thinking about asking me this. And he'd beat me if he knew I had helped you.
Since he's not here, all I can tell you is: this is a really bad idea. Lavrentiy picked Commodore Lee for this job personally, and I have absolute confidence in his opinion. You'll remember that I met the woman too and, yes, she did come across as a little uptight. But she's also got exactly the sort of mind we need and I want out there right now.
So, my little nephew, tough luck, deal with it. You've got your mother's brains so you're twice as smart as I am, handling difficult people should be no trouble at all for you if you actually put in the effort to figure it out yourself. And that's what you're going to have to do, Pascual, because I'm certainly not coming to your rescue.
Con todo mi cariño,
Uncle Ed.
P.S. The new Bat Ambassador's a real character. See if Mr. Yaheek will tell you anything about him.
Pascual had been brooding since reading the message. He wasn't sure if he was more annoyed at himself for asking his uncle to pull political strings for him, or if he was more annoyed at Eduard Molinas for refusing when he did ask. Pascual had always taken pride in his refusal to tap his family connections for influence. At the same time, though, the knowledge that he could use those connections had made him feel powerful. Now that feeling was gone, it was as if he'd been cut off at the knees.
Pascual was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the other man approaching until he sat down right across the table.
"Mind if I join you, Ambassador?"
Pascual almost snapped back with an angry yes, but years of social conditioning restrained him at the last possible moment.
"Not at all," he said, although he wasn't totally able to hide the surliness in his voice.
The man across the table looked vaguely familiar, but Pascual couldn't quite place his name. He had platinum-blonde hair which hung off his head in long curls that stopped just short of his shoulders. His face could serve as the model for a sculpture bust of a classical Greek hero. Pascual found his eyes slightly disconcerting, however. They were emerald green, and there was a sharpness behind them which did not quite match the man's disarming smile.
The rank insignia on his uniform declared that he was a Rear Admiral, which meant that he and Pascual had almost certainly been introduced when Pascual first arrived on Enyo. Since Pascual still couldn't remember the man's name, however, he was forced to bluff.
"Good afternoon, Admiral," he said, injecting a bit more politeness into his voice and nodding.
"Alvah Goldhirsch," the Admiral said, seeing right through Pascual, "Chief of Operations for Third Fleet. And you are Ambassador Pascual Molinas, the OES' representative to the Tadpoles aboard Task Force One. We met earlier, if you can call a handshake 'meeting' someone."
"So we did," Pascual said with a slight chuckle, at least now he could recall the image of their meeting in his mind. "So what brings you here, Admiral Goldhirsch?"
"Officially, I'm dropping in for a late lunch," he gestured at the small salad on the tray he'd brought with him. Then he leaned forward and lowered his voice, "The truth, however, is that I noticed you were here and I thought that I had better take the opportunity to more properly introduce myself. You see, I'm rather jealous of you."
He used a fork to ingest a bite of his salad, and his smile stayed intact and perfectly formed as he chewed. Pascual raised an eyebrow.
"Jealous?"
"Oh yes," Goldhirsch said after swallowing. "I was quite excited when I got this assignment, flag rank at my age and all. But of course, now it means I can't be a part of Humanity's first manned expedition to the outer solar system. Your mission to Titania is probably the most exciting episode in space travel since first contact with the Bats. My own commission is actually rather boring by comparison."
Pascual watched the man eat for several seconds; Goldhirsch's easy smile never broke for even a moment.
Finally, Pascual asked, "And that's why you're here? You're impressed with my current mission?"
The Admiral's smile became one of amusement. "You doubt my sincerity?"
"I meet a lot of people trying to cozy up to power," Pascual said. He was a little surprised by his own frankness, but he forged on. "My uncle's the President of Mexico and the Chief Executive of the OES, and that's the reason most strangers will pick me out of a crowd. But I suppose that has nothing to do with why you want to talk to me."
"Ah, but of course it does, Ambassador Molinas," Goldhirsch said. Then he laughed at Pascual's stare. "Don't mistake me, Ambassador; I'm not a lamprey attempting to attach myself to your or your family's success. You'll notice that I'm doing well enough all on my own, thank you," he gestured to his rank insignia, and then to the station around him. "But I'll readily admit that I am fascinated with… men of influence, let's say. And whatever your family connections may be, Ambassador Molinas, you could not have reached your current position if you were not plenty influential in your own right."
Pascual couldn't help himself, he snorted.
"Influential, am I?" he said to Goldhirsch's raised eyebrow. "Not so far as I can see."
"You're leading the most important expedition in Human diplomatic history."
"Ah, but I'm not," Pascual had forgotten his own meal and shook a finger at the Admiral's face. "I'm just a face, a contact point for the aliens. Commodore Lee is in command of the expedition, and she has made it quite clear that she has no intention of diluting her authority even enough to treat me as an advisor." And Uncle Eduard's made it just as clear that he's okay with that, Pascual thought sulkily.
"I see."
Admiral Goldhirsch's eyes had lost focus as he peered into the distance. He did not elaborate on his observation.
"So I'm sorry to say," Pascual continued, "that you were mistaken, I am not one of your 'men of influence'."
Goldhirsch emerged from his faraway expression to smile even more brightly at Pascual.
"No, I don't think I was," he said simply. "Although I should have anticipated that you might be in this position."
"What?" Pascual felt like he'd missed something.
"Ambassador, it's pretty obvious that you've already had a confrontation with Commodore Lee," Goldhirsch said. "Xi Feng was in my class at the Academy. I'm… familiar with her style."
Pascual's eyes narrowed, "Are you?"
"Oh yes!" Goldhirsch laughed. "She kicked my ass regularly in our war games until I actually knuckled down and stopped underestimating her. She was the only one who did, if I may say; it taught me a little humility."
A very little from Pascual's impression of the man.
"Anyway," the Admiral went on, "Commodore Lee wouldn't be well-disposed to like you, I'm afraid. She has something of a grudge against all politicians."
"I'm a diplomat."
For the first time, Admiral Goldhirsch's smile vanished and was replaced with a look of… disappointment?
"At a high enough level to be irretrievably political. Hell, Ambassador, I'm a politician to be where I am, no matter what the non-political military traditions say. And even if you weren't in your position, Xi Feng would see you as a politician just because of who your uncle is."
"And yet my uncle likes her well enough," Pascual groused.
Goldhirsch's smile was back in an instant, "Oh she's easy enough to like so long as she's not actively trying to offend you. You're uncle's Chief Executive and Commodore Lee's devoted enough to military tradition to respect that in public." He put a finger to his chin and looked up at the ceiling, "Actually, that may be part of the reason she'd give you a hard time. She has to pretend to like Eduard Molinas. The rest of the Molinas family though…" Goldhirsch caught Pascual's eye and shrugged.
"Well thanks for cheering me up, Admiral. I feel a lot better now that I know the reason I won't be able to do my job properly is because the Task Force's commander has an irrational hatred of my career and my family."
"It is a dilemma isn't it?" Goldhirsch chuckled. "But you should cheer up. Unless I've entirely misread you—and I still don't believe that I have—it should be well within your abilities to, ah, pacify the Commodore."
There were a number of responses to this statement which ran through Pascual's mind. Finally, he rejected all of them and simply remained silent.
Goldhirsch's smile grew even wider, "I think I might even be willing to help you out with that."