Earth Song: Twilight Serenade (39 page)

“Thank you, senior species,” Minu said and bowed.

Of course a number of Beezer were present, including Captain Pakata, leader of their new merchant marines. The higher leaders of his species weren’t exactly hostile towards her anymore, but they were far from kind.

A trio of Traaga were there, and on surprisingly good behavior. And there were dozens of other minor species, all either looking to meet the new humans (who’d made quite a splash when the great crystal tree acknowledged their arrival).

She met the leader of the Taccari, one of the few avian species of the Concordia. He towered more than half a meter above her, even when he bowed. His huge black-on-black eyes regarded her keenly, silvery beak gleaming in the reception hall light. The most interesting arrival was a representative of the Capdep. Huge six eyed spiders, they were seldom seen outside of their world.

“We believe it was important to meet you,” it chittered and clicked then bowered. Minu thanked the being, and tried not to throw up when she bowed back. She wasn’t over thrilled about spiders. Thankfully there were only a handful of arachnids on Bellatrix. As the Capdep walked away on its eight legs she was suddenly reminded of the Weavers. Cold ice water trickled down her spine.

One of the others she remembered meeting was a Targ. For all the world they looked like evolved Kloth, down to the six limbs and two sets of eyes! Ted arrived from their quarters having watched with the others on video and spent the rest of the night in fevered theory discussion with Bjorn that the Kloth were aboriginal Targ, left behind when that species was removed from its home world.

Aaron brought Mindy, of course, and the baby wouldn’t let Minu put her down for a second. She wasn’t exactly scared of all the aliens, but she also wasn’t exactly thrilled at the strange sounds and smells. She was at the age when sudden changes in her environment often frightened her.

The exception was the Capdep. She couldn’t take her eyes off the arachnid species and watched its every move. Minu thought she was frightened of it at first. But that wasn’t right. The baby was interested, not frightened.

Then the reception was over and the last of the guests were leaving. But a single Tog was there waiting for Minu. She had no memory of hser coming in. She took a moment to recognize hser. “Z’kal?”

“Correct, Imperator,” hse said and bowed. “I was always impressed with your and your parent’s ability to tell us apart. So few humans have that skill.”

Minu gave hser a little bow. “P’ing-so declined to attend, I certainly did not expect you of all Tog. Considering we have…history.” She could have sworn the Tog smiled.

“I hold no animosity against you in particular,” Z’kal said. “All clients try their bounds that hold them. Now if your Pip had survived, I might have issues with that one.”

Minu grinned and hse took out a chip from hser equipment belt.

“This is the last thing we will give you, Imperator. With this transfer, our duty is complete.”

“What is it?”

“The funds you were promised,” hse said, “and the encryption key unlocking full access to all public areas of the Concordian database. You will need to purchase a full node to add to your planetary database administration system. The one we provided will expire in three days.”

Minu took the chip and looked at it. A fortune, and all the knowledge in the universe, in one little chip. “I thank you.”

Hse nodded and turned to go. Then hse seemed to remember something and turned back. “P’ing-so had one final thing to say.” Minu asked hser to go ahead. “Try to not hate us.”

The space they’d been given for their reception seemed quite large now with all the guests gone, yet everyone heard what the Tog had said. No one said anything as the door closed behind hser.

“Is that what I think it is?” Ted asked of the chip she held. All of her friends, many not Legates, gathered around her and looked at the chip.

“Yes,” she said and took a tablet from her belt. With no further fanfare she plugged it in.

Encryption Key Present, the computer told her and showed a little icon. Minu linked her tablet with the Concordian data network. “Limited Client Access” it told her. Minu took the encrypted key, and dropped it into the access point. “Full Access Granted” the computer said. “Extend All Access to Species?”

Minu was a little surprised by that. She hadn’t expected to be able to limit who could see what on the Concordian database.

“What do I do?” she wondered.

“A little knowledge is dangerous,” Ted said.

“All the knowledge is liberating,” Bjorn said.

“I’d say that is your decision,” Dram told her. “But I think you already know what you’re going to do, don’t you?”

“I do,” she agreed, and pressed Yes.

With unlimited access, the party devolved into a late night computer network binge party. Those not so inclined for hard research just trolled the various boards within the Concordia. Much of it was previously available, but being on Nexus the access data transfer rates were phenomenal.

It was well past the planetary equivalent of midnight when Minu finally found what she was looking for. Awakening protocols. Rules for master species towards their clients and other unAwakened species.

She read on in silence, following several links before suddenly stopping under files labeled “Rescue Protocols”. She clicked icons and read, her breath coming faster, her face turning red, and the veins starting to stand out on her neck.

“Aaron!” Cherise called across the room where he’d been talking with Sergeant Selain. He looked up and saw the look on her face and turned to see his wife.

“Minu?” he asked and was instantly at her side, “What’s wrong?”

“Those motherfuckers,” she said, standing up, tears beginning to form completely against her will. “Those rotten fucks.”

“What?” Aaron asked, both worried and scared.

Minu got just enough control of herself to trigger the file she’d been reading to transfer to Aaron’s tablet. He accessed it and gasped as Minu move to the center of the room. “Lying, good for nothing, motherfuckers.”

“Tell us?” Cherise begged. Everyone was watching her with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

“They didn’t rescue us from Earth,” Minu said. Her right hand’s bionics whined as they overloaded and the tablet fairly exploded in her hand. “They killed our planet to make us their slaves.”

Epilogue

“Why don’t you go in there?” Cherise asked.

Aaron took a deep breath and looked down. “You’ve known her as long as I have,” he said. “You, me, Gregg, and Pip were the team. We joined the Chosen together. I’m her husband, you’re her sister. Would you go in there right now?”

There were no more sounds of destruction. Just looming silence. The rest of the Legates stood and floated to one side, Minu’s honor guard on the other. Ted, Bjorn, and Faye all sat in chairs near the door. Faye looked afraid, Bjorn and Ted asleep.

“I’ve never seen her like this,” Cherise admitted, turning and looking. Aaron glanced at her face. Mindy was in her sling and, gratefully, asleep. The look on Cherise’ chiseled features was a mixture of concern and fear. She had worry lines on her face. Why was it the first time he’d noticed that?

“We’ve all seen the various stages of Minu,” Gregg said, “this is a new one. This is murderous. I love her. I’ve never in my life been afraid of her.”

“She doesn’t trust me as much as she used to,” Cherise admitted quietly.

“What happened between you two?” Aaron asked.

“I… let her down at a critical moment.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gregg cut her off. “you are still closer to her than anyone. At least as close as her and dipshit here,” he said and hooked a thumb at Aaron.

“Thanks,” Aaron said. Gregg gave him a wink. “The point remains, someone needs to go in there.”

“I’m willing,” Lilith said.

“I’m sorry,” Aaron said, “but we need a potentially emotional appeal.”

“I agree,” Lilith said, “that aspect of familial relationships sometimes escapes me.”

“Maybe seeing the baby will help?” Cherise asked.

Aaron shook his head. “I…don’t want to take her in there just now. You saw the look on her face. She snapped.”

“I’ll go.” Everyone turned to see Bjorn standing there. Everyone was surprised to see him awake. Ted was still asleep. “She’ll listen to me.”

Everyone looked at each other and exchanged shrugs. Bjorn was certainly the least excitable of them all. Minu held him in the highest respect, having been her first commander in the Chosen.

Bjorn didn’t wait for their approval. He just nodded and turned down the hall.

“Be careful,” Cherise warned him.

“I will,” Bjorn said.

The room for their reception had been at the end of the hall in a section at the rear of the Concordian audience dome. The hall led from a series of offices deeper behind the dome, cut from solid rock. Bjorn stopped at the door and took a deep breath. He’d appeared calm to the rest but he was anything but. He’d known Minu for a lot of years, and this was not like her to just lose it. Her temper ran hot, as the legend said of all redheads. But behind rage, there was always control. Calculation and control.

Not this time. They’d all fled in terror nearly an hour ago as their newly promoted leader of planetary defense went on a rampage of unthinking destruction. He touched the control and the door slid open, then stopped halfway. A fist shaped dent in the dualloy stopped it. There was just enough room for him to slip through.

Lights were flickering in the room, casting intermittent rectangular illuminations into the hall. It was hard to see details. He struggled to focus on the interior.

An hour ago it had been full of tables covered in snacks, drinks, and such. The walls had been lined with sculptures of different abstract designs and tables from cut wood of a hundreds star systems. The seating was a mixture of human and alien design, comfortable and expensive.

The room was in ruins. The bioluminescent light fixtures were shattered, most only casting dim light now and others flickering on and off, creating the stark pattern he’d seen first seen. In the middle of the room, sitting cross-legged on the remains of what had once been a four meter long conference table made of some exotic hardwood was Minu Groves. He started to clear his throat.

“What do you want, Bjorn.”

He stammered for a second. “W-we were worried about you.”

“It isn’t you that needs to worry about me.” She turned her head slightly revealing half her face. It was covered in sweat and dust from the extensive deconstruction of the room. Her waist length hair, usually in a meticulously maintained and braided ponytail was mostly loose around her head, wild and uncontrolled.

“I know this was a dark revelation,” Bjorn said, “but what does it really change?”

“You’ve had some time while I worked it through in here,” Minu said, “what else have you found out?”

This is working it through? Bjorn wondered to himself. “That we’re far from unique,” he said. She gave an emotionless chuckle.

“Destroying most of a species is not only acceptable, but preferred in many cases,” he recited from memory. “The law makes note that it creates a more compliant client species, instilling a sense of desperate willingness to comply and do whatever is necessary in order to ensure survival.”

“Do they talk about how it’s better to keep it all a secret?”

“It’s in the laws of Awakening,” Bjorn said.

“Yes,” Minu said.

“It says that it is their highest law,” Bjorn continued. “To break this rule, to wake a sleeper, as they call it, will bring the worst of all possible punishments.”

Minu nodded. “Annihilation.”

They were quiet for a time. Minu picked up a statue she’d been holding. It was of some alien being, carved an unknown time ago for unknown reasons. It wasn’t familiar to Bjorn.

“Did you ever study ancient Earth literature?” she asked.

“I went to the Keeper’s Academy, same as you.”

She considered the statue for a moment. “The imminent death of twenty thousand men, that for a fantasy and trick of fame go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot whereon the numbers cannot try the cause.”

“Minu…” Bjorn said.

She held up a hand. “Which is not tomb enough and continent. To hide the slain? Oh, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”

“You’re scaring your friends,” Bjorn repeated.

“You aren’t the ones that need to be scared,” she said again.

“So what now, Minu?”

“Now?” She stood and looked down at the statue. With a whine of high powered servos it cracked and exploded into a thousand shards, raining through her fingers to the floor. “Now we go home.”

The entire time her mother had been going through her emotional event, Lilith was working on her special project. She’d taken the opportunity of the newly won Concordia network access to do some networking with planetary computers on Nexus. The planet was amazing in how many computer systems were present, many usable for free.