Niobe's mother Linda was one of the chief marine biologists on Cels. She and her team were responsible for monitoring the stability of the bioformed oceans around Western Cels. Indeed when Amanpreet and her crew arrived at Niobe's family home - a large single story whitewashed house of lovely naturalistic curves and no hard edges which stood on the tropical coast several miles from the nearest city - her mother and two assistants were just making their way up the beach dressed in wetsuits and carrying boxes of samples.
"Mum!" Niobe ran down the beach to greet her and Linda immediately put down the samples she was carrying and swept her into a hug. Niobe seemed completely unfazed by the fact her clothes were getting soaked as she hugged her back. "Let me help you with this." She reached for the samples.
"Nonsense." Linda picked them up before she could. "You and your colleagues are guests." She lead them back the beach and into the porch where she stripped off the wetsuit and shrugged on a robe without a hint of self-consciousness before letting them into the rest of house. "Welcome, dear friends. You're a bit earlier than I expected but make yourselves at home, most of you know where everything is. I need a shower so I'll join you soon." She disappeared into the bathroom.
Amanpreet flopped onto one of the comfortable sofas in the main living area. "I wonder how long Kayla will be."
"Not too long I imagine," Niobe said. "It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to fill the forms and get her papers."
“I hope your mother doesn't mind you bringing us as well,” Oni said.
“Nah,” Niobe said. “When I told her you and your colleagues were aboard she insisted I bring you as well. She enjoys entertaining especially since Dad is away at Tinia station so much.” She saw Oni's puzzled look and grinned. “He's a linguist like me and was part of the first contact team who contacted the Mez when they appeared in system and started bioforming Tinia. Now he's our chief ambassador to them. I spent a lot of my childhood on Tinia station with him. It's why I know so much about the Mez.”
“I heard that the Mez did that when we first met them,” one of the other scientists said. “A bit rude starting to bioform a planet without asking the people who already live in a system first.”
Niobe shrugged. “They didn't realise we were here. Admittedly they hadn't looked. They knew warmer planets could support life but they'd decided it would never be complex life much the same way we thought of life on colder worlds until we met them.” She chuckled. “Dad says they were mortified when they realised but they've been pretty good neighbours since.”
“The Mez are alright.” Linda returned to the room and sat down beside her daughter. There could be no doubt the two women were related, with the same dark brown skin and high cheekbones though Linda kept her hair cropped close to her head unlike her daughter. “And I hear you have a lot to do with them recently.”
“Yes,” Niobe said. “Umi and Storm are from Tinia, and Am helped them out so much they've declared her family.”
“Oh, that's an honour!” Linda said. “Mez don't declare you family without cause. What happened?”
“It's quite a story,” Niobe said. “You heard about Promise, I guess?”
“The sophont Fish? Yes, the news has been full of it. This has something to do with that?”
Niobe nodded and began to tell her mother the whole story. When she finished Linda smiled at Amanpreet.
“Wow, what you did was really amazing,” she said. “ I can see why they claimed you as kin.”
“It wasn't that amazing,” Amanpreet said. “Anyone would have helped.”
“Don't be so sure,” Linda said. “People can be pretty selfish and even though it turned out not to be dangerous you had no way to know that.” She stood up and stretched but I had better get to work preparing dinner.”
“Excuse me, Doct-” Oni began.
“Call me Linda, please,” she said,
“Linda,” he said. “Would you mind if I use your terminal? I could do with checking my messages.”
“Of course you may,” she said. “And over dinner you must tell me more about your work. Studying the development of sophont species must be fascinating.”
“It is,” he agreed as he headed over to the terminal. “And I will.” He logged into the terminal and began paging through his messages. “Ah! We have news from Talis. They've managed to simulate stellar positions from the time of the disasters and ask the computer about Corona.”
“Oh?” Amanpreet said. “What did it say?”
“It's not a coincidence,” he said. “Corona was attacked as well. The Talis people had some contact with them and they were developing hyperspace travel but hadn't even managed a working prototype. They were doing pretty well in the war but the enemy managed to poison their biosphere triggering a mass extinction event and to stop them escaping.”
“I wonder if that's it.” Amanpreet narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
“Hmm?” He tilted his head at her curiously. “What?”
“Talis had a prototype hyperspace ship and Corona was developing one,” she said. “The enemy apparently can't tolerate hyperspace. I wonder if that's why they attacked them.”
“It's a viable theory,” he said. “They might find hyperspace travel threatening.”
“Yes,” she said. “And means we may all be in danger if the Talis computer is right about them still being out there.”
--
Prompt Post 30 is here. Come and leave a prompt.
Comments welcome
If you enjoy my writing and haven't already please consider becoming a patron via my Patreon page.Amanpreet had Kayla handle most of the hyperspace navigation for their trip to Cels in order for her to get used to the different feel of the Whisper compared to her smaller ship. She'd even sat in the dome with her on their first jump – ready to take over if she had a problem – but the Vaian girl had done her job with only minor wobbles and by the time they reached Cels she'd even got over that.
As they re-entered normal space and entered orbit around Cels, Kayla climbed down from the dome to join them.
“Well, how'd I do?” she asked eagerly. “I think it went better this time.”
“You're doing a great job,” Kane said before Amanpreet could reply. “This class of Stick is very different from your Dreamsong.”
“Not that different,” Kayla said. “Just bigger. I wouldn't like to try and navigate a Fish without extra training but this was fine.”
“Huh,” Amanpreet said. “Well you do have a talent or you wouldn't have been an exploration scout.” She pointed to the view screen. “Anyway this is your new home planet.”
From space, Cels was a beautiful planet. So many worlds that Amanpreet and her crew visited were still in the process of being bioformed for humans and still had vast tracts of barren land not yet fit for habitation. On some people were still confined to domes in order to breathe. Cels, on the other hand, was the second oldest human extrasolar settlement and fully bioformed. From orbit you would never know it had been a barren rock with only single-celled life in it's now bountiful seas and none on land when it had been discovered.
"Ah! So lovely!" Kayla exclaimed. "Looks nicer than Vaia, even without the political issues at home."
"It is," Niobe said. "Well, I'm Western Celish but the Northern Continent is lovely as well. Especially the North Celish Alps. The bioforming team modelled the environment on the European Alps. We used to go skiing there when I was little." She smiled a little. "It's summer in the North now but you'll see when you go there. The Northern government's administrative centre is in Maris City on Lake Demeter." She tilted her head. "Fortunately the spaceport is there as well."
"I don't know a government that doesn't have its administrative hub near its spaceport," Kane said blandly and Niobe chuckled.
"That's true," she conceded. "Anyway, when you've got your papers, my mother insists you catch a shuttle over to Western Cels for dinner before we shoot off again." She grinned at Amanpreet. "And she says she remembers you don't eat meat so don't worry."
"She never forgets," Amanpreet said. "And I was expecting that. We can't get within half a parsec of Cels without her feeding us. I mean last time we were only doing a supply run to Tinia and she knew we were in the system." She looked over at Kayla. "Are you sure it's okay going down there alone? What if the Vaians have set another trap for you?"
"The Northern Celish Defence Force are sending me an escort," Kayla said. "I doubt they'll go up against that." She jerked her head towards the communications console as it lit up indicating an incoming request to dock. "See, here's my escort."
"I'll double check it," Niobe said. "But it's certainly showing a NCDF transponder." She checked her console and then nodded. "It's genuine."
Amanpreet nodded. She expected as much but it paid to be sure. "Permission to dock granted."
***
Much to Amanpreet's surprise, there was a civil servant from the Northern Celish government aboard the escort vessel that had come to collect Kayla. She didn't even bother introducing herself before turning to Kayla.
“I'm afraid we need to talk before we go to the surface.”
“Did something else happen?” Kayla was obviously equally surprised. “It's only been three days.”
“It has,” the woman said. “Don't worry, we're still giving you your papers but we thought it best to explain what has happened before we escort you down, to explain the added security.”
“What's happened,” Kayla asked. “More threats?”
“A bit more serious than that,” the woman replied. “The Vaians attacked the blockading ships. Fortunately they were hit first and no one was killed in that initial skirmish and their Defence Force scattered when they realised that they couldn't win.”
“Damn!” Kayla bit her lip. “They don't know when to give up and I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“Two buts,” she replied. “Vaia is now under occupation but the Children of Masari sect there has its members fighting every step of the way and they seem to have been training for it.” She shuddered briefly. “It's messy, very messy. To make matters worse we haven't captured all the Vaian ships yet and they've taken to making hit and run attacks on shipping in hyperspace. They... They are being quite successful at that and they seem to be turning up everywhere.” She bowed her head. “So as well as the ship I came on, there will be two more ships escorting us and the Council have assigned an extra escort to your trip to Corona as well.”
“That makes sense,” Amanpreet said. “But it's going to make hiding our presence harder.”
“Of course,” The woman said. “the escorts they’ll be sending are concealment experts, don't worry. But you'll need to wait an extra day here for them to arrive.”
“Ah! That's fine!” Niobe said. “I'll call my mother. She'll put us up since she's already feeding us.”
“You're from Western Cels?” the woman asked. “Your accent certainly fits.”
“Yes,” Niobe agreed. “It should be safe.”
“Oh, no doubt,” the woman said. “But I'll notify the Western Government so they can keep an eye out just in case and arrange a private shuttle to bring Kayla to where you are staying.”
“That would be good of you,” Niobe said. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” the woman said before turning back to Kayla. “We should get going. The forms will take quite some time.”
--
Prompt Post 29 is here. Come and leave a prompt.
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If you enjoy my writing and haven't already please consider becoming a patron via my Patreon page.Amanpreet was enquiring after the bioforming supplies the Ishtari on Talis had asked her to obtain when Umi called.
"I thought Kayla would like to know the results of the Council of Planet's deliberations on Vaia," she said without preamble.
"Yes, I imag--" Amanpreet broke off as Kayla rushed over. "Yes, she definitely does."
"Have they come to a decision?" Kayla asked. "What are they going to do?"
"A blockade," Umi said. "As my people suggested. But the Humans and Ishtari insisted that vital food supplies be permitted past the blockade, since Vaia is not yet self-sufficient."
"I can see why," Kayla said. "But it's going to be a pain to enforce, isn't it.."
"Yes, and that's assuming the Vaians don't declare war. They are threatening to." Her slug-like body rippled with contempt. "That wouldn't be much of a war. Even given how tough you people are, it would be more like digesting a--" She spoke the next word aloud in her own language. Amanpreet looked over at Niobe who glanced up from the book she was reading before she could ask.
"It's a small amphibious creature from the Mez homeworld," she said. "About the size of your thumb. The Mez eat them sometimes because they are easy to engulf but they are neither tasty nor satisfying as I understand it." She shrugged and looked back at her book.
"So she means they don't stand a chance?" Amanpreet asked.
"Pretty much," Niobe said.
"I'm sorry," Umi said. "The idiom doesn't translate well. But, yes, we may be out of practice but our numbers are so superior they can't win.”
“That probably won't stop them,” Kayla said. “The Vaian military drill a lot and have a great deal of faith in themselves.” She pulled a face. “Actually there's a pattern of hubris in Vaian institutions.”
“And the pattern still holds true,” Umi said. “Having seen their ambassador charged with conspiracy to murder and been informed of the blockade, they still tried to have you charged with piracy and demand your ship back.”
Kayla hit her forehead with the heel of hand. “They what? After they tried to kill me? That's dumb even for them.”
“Indeed,” Umi said. “They were told no, in no uncertain terms. The human head of security apparently told the Vaian deputy ambassador to do something with her warrant that sounds like it would be painful. But they have withdrawn your passport and the Dreamsong's registration. Nothing we could do about that. So I took the liberty of contacting a human friend who's high up in the Northern Cels' government and asking if he'd arrange asylum for you and an emergency Celish registration for your ship. He agreed. I'm sending you the documents now but you'll need to go to Cels in the next Earth month to confirm your status and get permanent registry for your ship.”
“Month...” Kayla hummed to herself. “We need to talk to Oni again then, because we need to make a slight detour on our way to Talis. No other way I'll make it Cels in time and we need the Dreamsong for this job. I hope he doesn't mind.” She turned back to the screen and inclined her head to Umi. “Thank you for your help, Administrator Umi.”
“You're welcome,” Umi said. “It is the least we can do having heard your story earlier.”
***
“Yes, we can handle a diversion to Cels,” Oni said when Amanpreet asked. “It'll only add a few days to the journey anyway, as it's very much on route, and everyone on Aletheia knows about Kayla's situation and it will be a good place to obtain the bioforming supplies for the Ishtari.”
“Everyone?” Kayla exclaimed. “Why...”
“There were journalists viewing the Council session when you gave your evidence,” he replied. “And your testimony was pretty lurid. They lap that up.”
“I'm glad I haven't checked the press then,” Kayla said.
“I've seen it,” Amanpreet said. “You really don't want to. I'm amazed they haven't been trying to get interviews.”
“Security are keeping them away,” Oni said. “And your contact details are private. They can't reach you. They did get an interview with Promise apparently but that's a different matter.”
“Oooh, now that I do want to see,” Amanpreet said.
Oni laughed. “Don't we all. But more seriously, how are The Whisper's repairs coming along?”
“They're nearly done,” Amanpreet said. “The technicians say she'll be hyperspace worthy tomorrow.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Because we need to leave as soon as we can.”
--
Prompt Post 28 is here. Come and leave a prompt.
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If you enjoy my writing and haven't already please consider becoming a patron via my Patreon page."The main thing you need to know about an expedition to a prohibited world is that even on a sanctioned expedition landing is still completely forbidden. Indeed we must take great care to avoid being seen from the surface."
"I can see why," Amanpreet said. "From the surface we'd appear to be an unusual astronomical phenomenon if spotted and that could could influence the development of their cultures even without contact. But it won't be easy especially since you say they are launching their first extra-atmosphere vehicle. How do we observe and avoid being seen?"
"No, it's not easy," he agreed. "But there are protocols in place. I'll explain them in more detail while we're in transit as they are quite complex and your engineer-" He nodded to Vanna. "-Will need to tweak some things in preparation."
"Okay," Amanpreet said. "It's going to be a three week trip from Talis to Corona so that fits right in with the schedule." She tilted her head at him. "So what else do we need to know?"
“Hmm... Do you know much about Corona?” Oni asked.
“Not really, no.” Amanpreet shook her head. “I know it has two recognised class four intelligence species and I believe they are closely related.”
“Yes,” he said. “They seem to have diverged from a borderline sophont species during a mass extinction some two hundred thousand years ago. Interestingly that extinction even may have been caused by a now extinct Sophont species on the planet that reached a high technological level.”
“That's interesting,” Niobe said. “That's about the time Talis would have been wiped out as well. An odd coincidence, don't you think? Do you think it could have been the same aliens as apparently did that to Talis?”
“I heard about that.” Oni looked intrigued. “And it's worth considering. We'll have to discuss it with the dig scientists during our stop at Talis.”
“The book did say that Talis wasn't the only planet they attacked.” Amanpreet hummed to herself. “We could send a message to Sangat and ask him to consult the alien's computer to see if it knows.”
“That's an excellent idea,” Oni said. “I'll go and do that now as we need to notify him and his colleagues of their temporary reassignment anyway.” He nodded to them again. “I'll send through more details about Corona for you to study and give you more details if you need them. I don't want to bore you with too much technical data at once and as you notes we have time.”
“One thing we will need is navigation simulations for Talis to Corona,” Mark said. “I've not the slightest idea what the route would be.”
“Yeah, I feel the same,” Kane said.
“Talis to Corona?” Kayla said. “That shouldn't be too hard. I mean I know that the Corona pool is dim enough you might miss it if you aren't looking for it – probably because of that extinction event - but it's there and it's easily triangulated using Vaia, Cels and Earth. I use it has a reference sometimes. Goodness knows there's few enough good ones.”
“It's dim enough I've never noticed it,” Kane said. “But I'll take your word for it. I'd still like the simulations though.”
“Of course,” Oni said. “I'll have some made up for you and send them over.”
***
When the bundle of information from Oni arrived later that afternoon there was a message from the Ishtari on Talis station included along with a note saying this had come in with the information they'd requested from Sangat and he was passing it on. Amanpreet stared at it for a moment before opening it and scanning the contents quickly.
“Ah! I'm glad we hadn't purchased the supplies for the Ishtari yet,” she said. “They sent us a new list.” She read through it more thoroughly. “Ah! They need us to bring in some specialist supplies for the bioforming alongside the food and recreation stuff.”
“Bioforming supplies?” Kane said dubiously. “That's going to eat into the budget.”
“I know,” Amanpreet said. “But they say they'll pay and for them and just take the transporting them and buying the other stuff in payment for the repairs since it's beyond the original scope of our deal.”
“Uh,” Kane said. “Do the Ishtari even use money? I heard they didn't.”
“Only when they deal with species that do,” Amanpreet said. “For themselves... well the Kska and Tkin are both extremely prosocial species and it's made their economics rather strange by our standards, but they make for good neighbours and they wrapped their brains around money rather quickly once they realised it simplified trading with us.” She shook her head and looked back at the screen. “I'd better order this stuff immediately if it's to be fabricated and delivered to the Whisper before we leave."--
Prompt Post 27 is here. Come and leave a prompt.
Comments welcome
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Post three here
Phonology:
Consonants:
| labio-dental | alveolar | palatal | velar | uvular | glottal |
stops | p b | t d |
| k g |
|
|
fricatives | f v | s z |
|
|
| h |
affricates |
| ts dz |
|
|
|
|
approximants | w | r l | y | Å— |
|
|
nasals | m | n | ny | ng |
|
|
Notes: Yes, I dropped the aspirated stops. They were a complication I didn't need. The orthography for the velar approximant is subject to change if I can think of a better one since r and Å— aren't very distinct visually..
Vowels
| front | central | back | |||
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded |
closed |
|
|
|
|
|
|
mid | e |
|
|
|
|
|
open | a |
|
|
|
| o |
Dipthongs:
Dipthongs in Ketsai are best analysed as vowel-semivowel combinations but are orthographised here using vowels that don't exist as separate sounds in the language. In this context i is ɪ and u is ʊ:
ai au ei eu oi ou
Phonotactics:
(C)(A)V(S,N) (C=any consonant, A=Approximant, V-Any Vowel, S-Stop, N=Nasal)
CAV(S,N) can only occur when the initial C is not an Approximant.
Type:
Agglutinative (though I suspect the descendant languages will be fusional or even isolating)
Stress:
The first syllable of a word is stressed. Monosyllabic words are not stressed unless they are the final word in a question.
Pitch:
A rising pitch generally occurs on all the penultimate syllable of polysyllabic words but not on monosyllabic words. The exception is the last word of a question where the rising pitch is on the final syllable and monosyllabic words are also have pitch.
Phonology:
Consonants:
| labio-dental | alveolar | palatal | velar | uvular | glottal |
stops | p pp b | t tt d |
| k kk g | q qq gh |
|
fricatives | f | s ll |
| ch | sj |
|
affricates |
|
|
|
|
|
|
approximants |
| l |
| j | r |
|
nasals | m | n |
|
|
|
|
Notes: pp, tt, kk and qq are ejectives (pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis). Ll is a voiceless lateral fricative identical to the one orthographised that way in Welsh.
Vowels:
| front | central | back | |||
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded |
closed | i |
|
|
|
| u |
mid | e |
|
|
|
| o |
open |
|
| a |
|
|
|
Notes: Alisi has only pure vowels.
Phonotactics:
(C)V – Only the first syllable of a word can be V.
Type:
Agglutinating
Stress:
Stress in polysyllabic words is on the first syllable. Monosyllabic words are unstressed except for the question indicator particle (more on this later).
Start with the First Part or check out Part Twenty Five if you missed it. Or you can find every part to date archived at my website with easier navigation.
--
“Good,” Amanpreet said. “By the way, are they voting on the biosphere restoration plan soon?”
“For Talis you mean?” Oni asked. “They already did a few days ago. It was approved unanimously. The scientists have already moved the eggs into a large habitation dome and the Talis computer has released a few bio-robots to tend them now they are out of stasis. The linguists are making inroads on their language as well, thanks to the computer learning to understand you.”
“Yes,” Niobe said. “I imagine that would help.”
“Oh, by the way, are all your colleagues human?” Amanpreet asked. “Because we’re not really set up to handle Mez or Ishtari.”
“Few sticks are multiple environment,” Oni said. “So we’re asking your friend, Promise, if it minds helping out as well, now its kind have been recognised by the council. I think it may have been reading your files in transit because it asked if it would need insurance to carry passengers.”
“Er… no,” Niobe said. “That was my fault. I mentioned Liability Insurance during one of our conversations on route here and it was curious.”
“It probably would need insurance to carry people officially,” Amanpreet said thoughtfully. “And I doubt the Fish have currency.” She tilted her head as she considered the problem. “I’m sure someth–” She broke off as the communicator chimed again. “We’re popular today.” She opened the line to find one of the many Mez from Promise on the other end. “Niobe, can you take this please?”
“Of course.” Niobe came over and spoke to the Mez and then to Promise. After a moment she looked around. “Promise wants to know if you can hire it so your insurance will cover it. It’s opening an account with a Terran bank for its pay on another line as we speak.”
“Not just a class four intelligence,” Oni said. “But a clever one. I think I like your friend.”
“Hmm…” Amanpreet pursed her lip consideringly. “I’m willing and I have the credits thanks to this job but I’m not sure how much to pay it. Would the best rate be the same as I’m paying Kayla? As if I was hiring both ship and captain? I’ve never employed a sophont ship before.”
Niobe chuckled. “Who has?” She translated what Amanpreet had said then listened to the reply.
“Promise says it has never been hired before so you’re even there, and it will accept whatever you are paying Kayla until it learns more about how this works and then you can renegotiate.”
“That seems fair,” Amanpreet said. “We have a deal.” She grinned suddenly. “I always wanted a fleet of ships but I never expected it to come from my habit of taking in waifs and strays.”
“So you have three ships at your disposal now?” Oni said. “Your own Stick, a small scout Stick, and Promise. Hmm… we’ll have to up your fee to cover that. We’ve only paid for one but we can certainly make use of the scout’s equipment. It’ll save us hauling around so much of our own.” He turned to Kayla. “What’s your ship’s name, Miss?”
“The Dreamsong.” Kayla grinned. “You’ll want me to run detailed scans and atmosphere tests?”
“That’s right,” he said and Kayla grinned again.
“Well, it’s getting interesting, now. We’ll be looking for signs of industrial pollution and similar sophont caused environmental issues?” When he nodded again she looked thoughtful. “I’d better do some studying on route so I know what I’m looking for. Most planets a scout looks at are uninhabited so we don’t see industry much.”
“Have you ever discovered a planet with a fully sophont species?” he asked.
“Uh… maybe?” Kayla looked uncertain. “I don’t know if they eventually classed the two tool making species on Antigone as high Class Three or low Class Four. They were kind of borderline.”
“Oh! You’re the one who discovered Antigone?” Oni exclaimed. “That’s a fascinating world. One of those is definitely sophont – they have controlled use of fire. The other is close enough that we’ve classified it as Class Four out of caution. The fact the planet’s classification has been raised from highly restricted to prohibited should be announced in the next week or so.” He turned back to Amanpreet. “But we should discuss this mission. If you’ve never been on a sanctioned mission to a prohibited system before you need to know what to expect.
–
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The meeting chamber for the council of planets had been very carefully designed to allow it to be shared by species with such radically different physical needs without favoring one group over the others. So the vast circular room was divided into three equal slices separated by crystal walls with the chairperson for each group at the point.
As Amanpreet, Niobe and Kayla entered the human section the chairwoman waved them to three seats just behind her. As they headed over Kayla nudged her and whispered.
"The Vaian ambassador isn't here."
"I should think not," the guard accompanying them said. "We found financial links between him and the technician who attacked you and communications with the Vaian ships that attacked you. He's not denying it either. Called you ungrateful."
"He what?" Kayla shook her head in disbelief. "How do they think this will help their cause."
"I don't think they're thinking about their cause," Niobe said. "They know they're in trouble either way. This is about fanaticism. Remember how they reacted to those books of yours, Am?"
Amanpreet shrugged. "Yeah that was strange. Why would they object to a first edition of their own sacred texts?"
"I don't know," Niobe said. "But I can guess. Someone has altered the text and they know it. I know several Children from non-Vaian collectives and they are pacifist and profoundly in favour of religious liberty."
"Most non-Vaian Children detest the Vaian sect," the guard said. "It was the high priestess of the Cels collective who reported that she believed the planet was becoming a theocracy and initiated the investigation."
"Oh, Penelope!" Niobe said. "I know her. I'm not surprised." She looked over as the chairwoman cleared her throat. "I think they want to start."
***
Amanpreet's evidence went well. She simply described their encounters with Promise and its kind and told them how it saved them during the Vaian attack. Niobe gave evidence of her conversations with Promise as well before Storm and Umi gave their evidence. Not even the ambassadors from the more conservative Mez worlds asked many questions and the votes to give the Fish equal status and council seats passed easily. As did a secondary motion to provide a bioformed world for the descendents of the Mez slaves who the Fish had taken with them when they fled. They were currently living in domes on a world which was barely livable for them since neither they nor their rescuers had the correct skills to bioform a world.
Once the vote was passed the Mez chairperson said something that made a rippling wave of sound - the laughs of all four species - float around the chamber. Amanpreet looked at Niobe curiously and she grinned.
"He said that they would need to redesign the chamber again and he had no idea how to accommodate the Fish."
"Ah!" Amanpreet grinned too then sobered as Kayla's testimony began. Her newest crew member had only told her a little of how non-Children were treated on Vaia, but it was enough that she knew the Mez might be right to propose extreme action even if she still wasn't sure how they could handle such a thing ethically.
Once Kayla started speaking in a flat dead tone, describing denial of food rationing and healthcare in an attempt to force her conversion before moving on to even darker things Amanpreet found her jaw clenched as she wondered if the ethics really mattered. She wanted to stay strong for her new friend but she found herself on her feet and ready to rush from the room in tears until Niobe reached out and squeezed her hand. Amanpreet looked over and saw Niobe was crying too.
“Stay, Am,” she said. “Kayla needs us.”
“I-I'll try,” Amanpreet said. “But... hmm, I wonder how long I can keep this up. This is horrible.”
“I know,” Niobe said. “And everyone else does as well. Look.”
Amanpreet looked around and saw Niobe was right. The human ambassadors all looked as horrified as she felt and the Mez and Ishtari looked similarly distressed from what she knew of their body language. “Good.”
“I-” The chairwoman began once Kayla finished. “Well... we'll need the recordings you mentioned as evidence but I think we will have to do something about Vaia. Thank you. I know this has been hard for you. We'll let you go now.”
“Thank you.” Kayla was weeping as she got to her feet. Amanpreet wrapped an arm around her shoulders and helped her back to the apartment they were staying in.
A young man was waiting with two security guards when they got back. “Captain Amanpreet! I am Doctor Oni Azikiwe. I believe you've been hired for our run to Corona.”
“We've checked his ID and he and his colleagues all check out,” one of the security guards said.
“Oh, good. Please com-” Amanpreet broke off as what he said registered. “Wait did you say Corona? Isn't that a prohibited world?”
“It is,” Oni replied. “But this a sanctioned trip. One particular culture there is getting close to developing extra-atmosphere vehicles so we're going to gather data. It'll all be from high orbit so as not to disturb their cultures.” He followed her into the apartment. “But we need to go via Talis, if we may. Your brother and some of the other scientists at the dig have some skills we need for this mission.”
“We can,” Amanpreet said. “In fact do you think we can combine the two runs?”
“Er?” He looked at her blankly.
“Oh, sorry. We owe the Ishtari on Talis base a supply run for some repairs they undertook on the Whisper. We could take the supplies with us when we go to get Sangat.”
“Ah!” he said. “Yes, I think we can manage that.”
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Prompt Post 25 is here. Come and leave a prompt.
Comments welcome
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"Family of the soul?" Amanpreet looked over at Niobe. "What does that mean?"
"Hmm..." Niobe tutted quietly as she considered the question. "It's a concept found in several Mez cultures. We'd probably say family of the heart, but the Mez don't consider their hearts to be the root of their emotions. It's family you choose, rather than family you share DNA with."
Amanpreet thought back to her best friend from primary school and the day they swore they'd be sisters forever. "So like promising to be blood brothers or sisters?"
Niobe nodded. "Except under the law of most Mez governments such chosen family has equal standing with genetic family as long as it’s registered. Umi and Storm will likely ask us if we wish to formally acknowledge it soon. The Mez treat adopting kin similarly to getting into a romantic relationship - you can fall in love without marriage but it's the formalities that give it legal standing."
“Wow!” Amanpreet tilted her head at that. "Well, I do care about that pair, but I think I want to know more about what this entails before I get into any legally binding relationships."
Niobe nodded. "Very wise, and I know they'll agree, especially since I'm not sure how it would interact with Damkinan inheritance law."
"Badly," Amanpreet said. "The inheritance laws are a mess." She looked around as a soft chiming indicated another incoming call. “Well, we're popular today,” she murmured as she answered it.
"Captain Amanpreet." The speaker was a good looking black man with a friendly smile. He was dressed in the same uniform as the guard outside the door. "I am Denzin, head of human security for the Council chambers. They wish to hear your testimony about the Class Four Fish tomorrow morning. Is this acceptable?"
"It is," she said.
"Very good. They wish to hear navigator Kayla's evidence about Vaia immediately after yours, so I'll arrange an escort for you."
"That's sooner than I expected," Kayla said over Amanpreet's shoulder. "It wasn't due until the day after tomorrow."
"They heard about the attacks on you and took an emergency vote to bring the session forward," he said. “They are concerned for your safety.”
"Ah!" Kayla said. "I'm concerned for my safety as well. Thank you."
“You're welcome,” he said. “Tomorrow morning then.” He nodded and closed the line.
“That's good,” Amanpreet said. “We can give our testimony, pick up our supplies and, once the repairs are done, head back to Damkina to get cargo to run to Talis. Then we can pay the Ishtari for the repairs we did there. Hopefully, all without being attacked this time.” She turned back to the console. “And I need to check the accounts and see if we can afford to hire Kayla.” She tapped on the keyboard to bring up her statement and her eyebrows shot up when she saw the balance. “Well, that can't be right.”
“It's bad?” Niobe bent down to look at the screen. “How much!”
“It's not bad,” Amanpreet said. “But it must be an error. The supply run to Talis was lucrative but there's no way we're this much in credit.” She began to go through the numbers, carefully looking to see why the account was so much in credit. “Oh!”
“Ok, did you find it?” Niobe asked.
“Yes.” Amanpreet scowled at the screen. “We have a down payment from the Council for a science run of some sort. I know they can force hire vessels but I wish they'd bloody warn you when they are going to do that. Finding a ton of money in your account is a heck of a way to find out your ship's been co-opted.”
“Not the first time I've been on a ship that got force hired,” Kane said drily. “It's probably because we're here and thus convenient. And science work for the Council is lucrative, interesting and easy, so I don't think we should complain.”
“Oh, I'm not complaining about the money,” Amanpreet said. “I just wish they'd be less rude about it. I would have accepted it anyway.” She shrugged. “Oh well, I guess our supply run has been delayed. How do we find out what we've been hired for?”
“If the initial payment is in the account we should get contacted by the scientists soon,” Kane said. “Probably after you've given evidence, I imagine. But yeah, I quite agree on the dropping credits into people's accounts out of the blue.”
“Okay,” Amanpreet said. “Well, thanks to this unexpected contract, it seems I can definitely offer Kayla a job.” She looked over at her. “Would you like to join my crew? We can discuss terms and draw a contract up, if you do.”
Kayla gave a brilliant smile. “I think I'd like that.”
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Prompt Post 24 is here. Come and leave a prompt.
Comments welcome
A/N: Hi peeps, due to a change in my personal circumstances I'm running a donation drive. Please check out this news post for details and drop a few pennies in the hat if you can. :-) Thanks to the four wonderful peeps who've already helped out. :-)
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