Post by Lorpius Prime on Oct 24, 2023 20:56:33 GMT -5
Every synapse in Yenga Goying's subconscious screamed at her not to call the meeting. This time, only a small portion of that impulse came from her reluctance to meet Ambassador Goyeharg. Instead, the greater share of anxiety was simply the knowledge of an inevitable future she did not want to endure.
Yenga's sense of duty prevailed over her base fears, as it always must. She summoned the principal officers of the Republic's embassy on Earth to an emergency conference.
If she had not done so, Commander Horexker would have in short order upon receiving the same intelligence. And then he might have asked Operative Goying why she delayed.
Arreyux Goyeharg entered his office in a bad mood. Yenga lately suspected that the Ambassador was always in a bad mood. But he was usually better at hiding it. The time was quite late at night, but Goyeharg did not appear to have slept. His usually slick fur was crusty in patches. Yenga did not want to know what substance had caused that.
Commander Horexker clearly had been sleeping, but the squat male had brushed up rapidly and stood alert in front of the Ambassador's desk. Yenga was seated, but not slouched or showing any other visible sign of the disrespect she felt for Goyeharg.
The Ambassador hissed softly to himself as he strode in behind his desk. He dug the claws of one hand into a perch post, but did not climb as he sometimes would. It was just a perfunctory gesture of violence to an object built to receive it.
"Please explain," he gestured between his military and intelligence advisors.
"The Human flotilla has seized the Kekregka warp ship," Yenga said without any color of emotion. "There was a brief fight, in which the Humans suffered minor losses. The Kekregka were badly defeated and appear now to have fully surrendered their colony, vessels, and equipment."
"The warp ship is still intact?" Horexker asked. Yenga had forwarded her entire brief to him before the meeting, but he had either not fully absorbed it, or was asking for the Ambassador's benefit.
"Yes," Yenga said. "It seems to have some internal systems failures, but it is still intact and supporting its crew. And as agreed in their surrender, the Kekregka will teach the Humans how to operate it."
"They have a warp ship," Goyeharg said, just above a whisper. All hint of exhaustion was gone from his eyes, and Yenga did not like what had replaced it.
"Not faster than light. But at the scale the Kekregka built, they could almost brute force it."
"Does Shyankyang know?"
Yenga and Horexker exchanged an uncertain glance. "His office has a copy of Operative Yaheek's report, and they have their own sensor and intercept intelligence. But—"
"But I am still in charge of Human policy," Ambassador Goyeharg said. The smirk extended across his entire body, and he did not try to stop his wings unfurling in full triumph. "The colony will wait for my report before acting."
"We will send ships," Horexker said gravely. "The warp ship has to be destroyed. The Humans will attack when we do, and their flotilla will be destroyed as well. We must prepare the embassy and secure our citizens on the planet as soon as possible—"
"No," Goyeharg said. He ripped a tiny piece of dense foam out of his perch pole and flicked it at Horexker's head. The projectile bounced off the Commander's blue beret and fell to the floor.
Horexker was not usually the subject of the Ambassador's displays himself, but he had witnessed plenty. He showed characteristic restraint, and did not respond at all.
"We will advise Governor Shyankyang. Ships must be sent. But they are to offer their assistance and defend the Humans and the Kekregka against Charterling retaliation."
"What?" Yenga was utterly incredulous. Even after so long enduring Arreyux Goyeharg's eccentricities, her mind simply could not generate a theory of what the male was thinking this time.
"This is the best possible action the Humans could ever have taken for us," the Ambassador said. His teeth, claws, and wings were now all on full predatory display. "They are ours now. And they will give us the system."
"An undeveloped, aggressive species stealing warp technology—"
Goyeharg flicked another piece of foam at Horexker to shut the military advisor up.
"You think like a Karee bureaucrat." He waggled a claw at Yenga, "Both of you do. Squash anything that deviates from the master plan just because it's simpler that way.
"The real bureaucrats won't shit different whether we live or die. We are bottom-perch exiles. We have no value to the Republic unless we do something to create or find value."
He glared at each of them for a second, daring them to speak, before continuing.
"The Humans are the only thing remotely interesting about this star system. And they have just further damaged their chances for good relations with the Charterlings. We will ensure that damage is irreparable. We will now be their best and only friends among the powers. Because that is our best and only chance of securing our colony permanently against the Charterlings, the Kyhyex, and the Karee bureaucrats who would just as soon see us choke."
The Ambassador turned, furled his wings, and leaned with both arms against his desk. The chill expression in his eyes remained.
"I will draft my message to Governor Shyankyang now. Prepare to attach your own endorsements. After that is sent, we will prepare our messages to the Humans."
Hyong Yaheek was already inside the office when Pascual returned. Pascual had no secretary here to guard the doors, so the Bat spy had simply let himself in. Pascual had no sensitive equipment in the space yet, but he would have to warn its future occupants to perform a thorough search just in case his guest left any surveillance devices.
Now that Discovery was a Human station again, Pascual had finally moved off the Barn Swallow. The OES would be sending a governor—hopefully a civilian rather than an Earth Fleet officer—to oversee the Tadpole colony for the foreseeable future. In addition to laying the initial legal framework for how the occupational government would work, Pascual was busy requisitioning and preparing the physical space in which the Human authorities would work.
Pascual and Commodore Lee had finally allowed Yaheek out of his confinement as well. Earth Fleet considered him less of a security risk removed from their ships, and the Tadpoles no longer had the authority to refuse his presence on their territory. Having the Bat on Discovery was also more convenient for Pascual if diplomatic consultation was necessary.
But mostly Pascual just felt sorry for Yaheek. He had been going stir crazy aboard the Barn Swallow as well.
Hyong was standing facing the rear wall of the office when Pascual entered. Discovery did have a few windows, but most of them were in public concourses, easily monitored and accessible to maintenance. Instead, the walls of the office were fitted with large monitors that could display external visual feeds, or any other image desired. The one on at the rear wall was currently showing a camera feed of an Earth Fleet transport, EFA Nightingale, tethered to one of Discovery's axial ports.
"Mr. Yaheek," Pascual said a few seconds after the door slid shut behind him. He doubted the Bat had missed his entrance, but best to be polite about it.
"Ambassador Molinas," Hyong said without turning around. His clawed hands were clasped behind the small of his back. Pascual did not think he had ever seen any Bat in that posture before. It looked rather Human. Or Tadpole.
"Congratulations," Hyong added.
Pascual grimaced. "For what?" He was not exactly proud of any recent achievements for which the alien might credit him.
Hyong did turn around now. He was wearing the black eyepiece Pascual had sometimes seen over his right eye. It made the gaze from his left eye feel all the sharper.
"You and all the other Humans in orbit around this waste of a planet are not going to die as I expected a short while ago."
Pascual needed a few seconds to decide how to respond to that. He settled for, "Excuse me?"
Hyong raised one hand and wiggled his claws, tapping at an invisible interface. Pascual's PDA buzzed with a new priority message.
"Our Ambassador Goyeharg asked me to forward his message to you, personally," Hyong said. "He sent a similar message to your government on Earth. I imagine you will receive a copy of that shortly, as well."
Pascual opened the message. It was long, and he could not sense the meaning at a glance.
"Ambassador Goyeharg also congratulates Humanity," Hyong was helpful enough to explain, "on your well fought victory against the people who begged for your assistance and never once threatened you. As well for the great technological spoils that you have won from them, as soon as you can clear out their corpses."
"Is that official sarcasm?" Pascual asked. He resented the judgment all the more because he shared it.
"By rights your fleet here should already have been wiped out by our warships. That is what Ambassador Hyarahek would have ordered. It is what Governor Shyankyang would have ordered if he bothered to form his own judgment. It is very possibly what I would have ordered were I in position to make such a decision."
"The Organization of Earth States does not appreciate threats, Mr. Yaheek. I had thought you realized that by now."
"Your government has no appreciation of the risks it takes, Ambassador. I had thought you might have realized that by now. I have tried to teach you."
Pascual curled his lips inward and spread his arms in an all-encompassing shrug, "Given where we are now, I think you underestimate us."
"I do not," the Bat shook his head. He was clearly imitating the Human gesture, because the movements were fast jerks to either side, not smooth turns. "You have been lucky beyond all reason. I fear to see the results when you are not so lucky."
"Well, I thank you for passing the message along," Pascual waved his PDA at Yaheek. "It sounds like your Ambassador's perspective may be a more pleasant one."
"We are sending the warships," Hyong said. "They will be here within a day. Their orders are to guard your ships and your prize against Charterling reprisal."
Pascual felt a chill of adrenaline. He did not know what Commodore Lee would think, but he knew what she would say, "We don't need your assistance."
"You do. The Charterlings may not attack. But if they did you would be destroyed as easily as by us. Our ships should discourage them."
Pascual was not sure if Hyong knew about the Charterling engineer the marines had killed on the arkship. Commodore Lee and Pascual both had decided to suppress that information as much as possible, only reporting it in the single most heavily-encrypted report Commodore Lee had sent, and only with an oblique reference that should be difficult for an outsider to interpret. Still, they could not be totally sure what information sources Yaheek might have, nor what the Tadpoles themselves might have snuck out despite their Human overseers.
"This space is under Earth jurisdiction now," Pascual said, trying to hide his anxiety, "your vessels may not approach without our authorization."
"The ships will be here," Hyong insisted. "You may discuss details with their commander, but her orders are to take station here and to defend you. She will obey those orders regardless of you. I advise you against attacking, that may complicate her instructions."
He cocked his head to one side, still looking at Pascual. "Your government is suicidally foolish but I know that you are not, Ambassador. Take the gift."
Pascual glared back for a few seconds. Then said through clenched teeth, "I will speak with Commodore Lee."
Hyong turned back around to face the wall display. The monitor blinked, and the camera view from Discovery was replaced with recorded footage of the Tadpole arkship, post-conquest. The light was artificially enhanced, making the pockmarks and splinters of its bombarded surface easily visible.
"Did you know, Ambassador? When I first came to your world, I found your species refreshing. So many of my people act only out of ruthless calculation for the advantage of the Republic and themselves. Our language barely has a word for your concept of principle.
"But I have read so many Human declarations and treaties and poems that advocate principles and rights that so many of my people would mock if they even understood. Many of them are foolish, contradictory nonsense. But they seemed important to your species, foundational to your societies and governments. I admired you for it."
Yaheek gestured at the image of the ruined arkship.
"This is something my people would do."
Yenga's sense of duty prevailed over her base fears, as it always must. She summoned the principal officers of the Republic's embassy on Earth to an emergency conference.
If she had not done so, Commander Horexker would have in short order upon receiving the same intelligence. And then he might have asked Operative Goying why she delayed.
Arreyux Goyeharg entered his office in a bad mood. Yenga lately suspected that the Ambassador was always in a bad mood. But he was usually better at hiding it. The time was quite late at night, but Goyeharg did not appear to have slept. His usually slick fur was crusty in patches. Yenga did not want to know what substance had caused that.
Commander Horexker clearly had been sleeping, but the squat male had brushed up rapidly and stood alert in front of the Ambassador's desk. Yenga was seated, but not slouched or showing any other visible sign of the disrespect she felt for Goyeharg.
The Ambassador hissed softly to himself as he strode in behind his desk. He dug the claws of one hand into a perch post, but did not climb as he sometimes would. It was just a perfunctory gesture of violence to an object built to receive it.
"Please explain," he gestured between his military and intelligence advisors.
"The Human flotilla has seized the Kekregka warp ship," Yenga said without any color of emotion. "There was a brief fight, in which the Humans suffered minor losses. The Kekregka were badly defeated and appear now to have fully surrendered their colony, vessels, and equipment."
"The warp ship is still intact?" Horexker asked. Yenga had forwarded her entire brief to him before the meeting, but he had either not fully absorbed it, or was asking for the Ambassador's benefit.
"Yes," Yenga said. "It seems to have some internal systems failures, but it is still intact and supporting its crew. And as agreed in their surrender, the Kekregka will teach the Humans how to operate it."
"They have a warp ship," Goyeharg said, just above a whisper. All hint of exhaustion was gone from his eyes, and Yenga did not like what had replaced it.
"Not faster than light. But at the scale the Kekregka built, they could almost brute force it."
"Does Shyankyang know?"
Yenga and Horexker exchanged an uncertain glance. "His office has a copy of Operative Yaheek's report, and they have their own sensor and intercept intelligence. But—"
"But I am still in charge of Human policy," Ambassador Goyeharg said. The smirk extended across his entire body, and he did not try to stop his wings unfurling in full triumph. "The colony will wait for my report before acting."
"We will send ships," Horexker said gravely. "The warp ship has to be destroyed. The Humans will attack when we do, and their flotilla will be destroyed as well. We must prepare the embassy and secure our citizens on the planet as soon as possible—"
"No," Goyeharg said. He ripped a tiny piece of dense foam out of his perch pole and flicked it at Horexker's head. The projectile bounced off the Commander's blue beret and fell to the floor.
Horexker was not usually the subject of the Ambassador's displays himself, but he had witnessed plenty. He showed characteristic restraint, and did not respond at all.
"We will advise Governor Shyankyang. Ships must be sent. But they are to offer their assistance and defend the Humans and the Kekregka against Charterling retaliation."
"What?" Yenga was utterly incredulous. Even after so long enduring Arreyux Goyeharg's eccentricities, her mind simply could not generate a theory of what the male was thinking this time.
"This is the best possible action the Humans could ever have taken for us," the Ambassador said. His teeth, claws, and wings were now all on full predatory display. "They are ours now. And they will give us the system."
"An undeveloped, aggressive species stealing warp technology—"
Goyeharg flicked another piece of foam at Horexker to shut the military advisor up.
"You think like a Karee bureaucrat." He waggled a claw at Yenga, "Both of you do. Squash anything that deviates from the master plan just because it's simpler that way.
"The real bureaucrats won't shit different whether we live or die. We are bottom-perch exiles. We have no value to the Republic unless we do something to create or find value."
He glared at each of them for a second, daring them to speak, before continuing.
"The Humans are the only thing remotely interesting about this star system. And they have just further damaged their chances for good relations with the Charterlings. We will ensure that damage is irreparable. We will now be their best and only friends among the powers. Because that is our best and only chance of securing our colony permanently against the Charterlings, the Kyhyex, and the Karee bureaucrats who would just as soon see us choke."
The Ambassador turned, furled his wings, and leaned with both arms against his desk. The chill expression in his eyes remained.
"I will draft my message to Governor Shyankyang now. Prepare to attach your own endorsements. After that is sent, we will prepare our messages to the Humans."
* * *
Hyong Yaheek was already inside the office when Pascual returned. Pascual had no secretary here to guard the doors, so the Bat spy had simply let himself in. Pascual had no sensitive equipment in the space yet, but he would have to warn its future occupants to perform a thorough search just in case his guest left any surveillance devices.
Now that Discovery was a Human station again, Pascual had finally moved off the Barn Swallow. The OES would be sending a governor—hopefully a civilian rather than an Earth Fleet officer—to oversee the Tadpole colony for the foreseeable future. In addition to laying the initial legal framework for how the occupational government would work, Pascual was busy requisitioning and preparing the physical space in which the Human authorities would work.
Pascual and Commodore Lee had finally allowed Yaheek out of his confinement as well. Earth Fleet considered him less of a security risk removed from their ships, and the Tadpoles no longer had the authority to refuse his presence on their territory. Having the Bat on Discovery was also more convenient for Pascual if diplomatic consultation was necessary.
But mostly Pascual just felt sorry for Yaheek. He had been going stir crazy aboard the Barn Swallow as well.
Hyong was standing facing the rear wall of the office when Pascual entered. Discovery did have a few windows, but most of them were in public concourses, easily monitored and accessible to maintenance. Instead, the walls of the office were fitted with large monitors that could display external visual feeds, or any other image desired. The one on at the rear wall was currently showing a camera feed of an Earth Fleet transport, EFA Nightingale, tethered to one of Discovery's axial ports.
"Mr. Yaheek," Pascual said a few seconds after the door slid shut behind him. He doubted the Bat had missed his entrance, but best to be polite about it.
"Ambassador Molinas," Hyong said without turning around. His clawed hands were clasped behind the small of his back. Pascual did not think he had ever seen any Bat in that posture before. It looked rather Human. Or Tadpole.
"Congratulations," Hyong added.
Pascual grimaced. "For what?" He was not exactly proud of any recent achievements for which the alien might credit him.
Hyong did turn around now. He was wearing the black eyepiece Pascual had sometimes seen over his right eye. It made the gaze from his left eye feel all the sharper.
"You and all the other Humans in orbit around this waste of a planet are not going to die as I expected a short while ago."
Pascual needed a few seconds to decide how to respond to that. He settled for, "Excuse me?"
Hyong raised one hand and wiggled his claws, tapping at an invisible interface. Pascual's PDA buzzed with a new priority message.
"Our Ambassador Goyeharg asked me to forward his message to you, personally," Hyong said. "He sent a similar message to your government on Earth. I imagine you will receive a copy of that shortly, as well."
Pascual opened the message. It was long, and he could not sense the meaning at a glance.
"Ambassador Goyeharg also congratulates Humanity," Hyong was helpful enough to explain, "on your well fought victory against the people who begged for your assistance and never once threatened you. As well for the great technological spoils that you have won from them, as soon as you can clear out their corpses."
"Is that official sarcasm?" Pascual asked. He resented the judgment all the more because he shared it.
"By rights your fleet here should already have been wiped out by our warships. That is what Ambassador Hyarahek would have ordered. It is what Governor Shyankyang would have ordered if he bothered to form his own judgment. It is very possibly what I would have ordered were I in position to make such a decision."
"The Organization of Earth States does not appreciate threats, Mr. Yaheek. I had thought you realized that by now."
"Your government has no appreciation of the risks it takes, Ambassador. I had thought you might have realized that by now. I have tried to teach you."
Pascual curled his lips inward and spread his arms in an all-encompassing shrug, "Given where we are now, I think you underestimate us."
"I do not," the Bat shook his head. He was clearly imitating the Human gesture, because the movements were fast jerks to either side, not smooth turns. "You have been lucky beyond all reason. I fear to see the results when you are not so lucky."
"Well, I thank you for passing the message along," Pascual waved his PDA at Yaheek. "It sounds like your Ambassador's perspective may be a more pleasant one."
"We are sending the warships," Hyong said. "They will be here within a day. Their orders are to guard your ships and your prize against Charterling reprisal."
Pascual felt a chill of adrenaline. He did not know what Commodore Lee would think, but he knew what she would say, "We don't need your assistance."
"You do. The Charterlings may not attack. But if they did you would be destroyed as easily as by us. Our ships should discourage them."
Pascual was not sure if Hyong knew about the Charterling engineer the marines had killed on the arkship. Commodore Lee and Pascual both had decided to suppress that information as much as possible, only reporting it in the single most heavily-encrypted report Commodore Lee had sent, and only with an oblique reference that should be difficult for an outsider to interpret. Still, they could not be totally sure what information sources Yaheek might have, nor what the Tadpoles themselves might have snuck out despite their Human overseers.
"This space is under Earth jurisdiction now," Pascual said, trying to hide his anxiety, "your vessels may not approach without our authorization."
"The ships will be here," Hyong insisted. "You may discuss details with their commander, but her orders are to take station here and to defend you. She will obey those orders regardless of you. I advise you against attacking, that may complicate her instructions."
He cocked his head to one side, still looking at Pascual. "Your government is suicidally foolish but I know that you are not, Ambassador. Take the gift."
Pascual glared back for a few seconds. Then said through clenched teeth, "I will speak with Commodore Lee."
Hyong turned back around to face the wall display. The monitor blinked, and the camera view from Discovery was replaced with recorded footage of the Tadpole arkship, post-conquest. The light was artificially enhanced, making the pockmarks and splinters of its bombarded surface easily visible.
"Did you know, Ambassador? When I first came to your world, I found your species refreshing. So many of my people act only out of ruthless calculation for the advantage of the Republic and themselves. Our language barely has a word for your concept of principle.
"But I have read so many Human declarations and treaties and poems that advocate principles and rights that so many of my people would mock if they even understood. Many of them are foolish, contradictory nonsense. But they seemed important to your species, foundational to your societies and governments. I admired you for it."
Yaheek gestured at the image of the ruined arkship.
"This is something my people would do."