by Isaac Hooke
“Nice,” Eric said.
“Boys,” Bambi said over the comm. “They always have to talk about the fight after its over.”
“You should see them after football games,” Crusher said. “They’re like, ‘oh my god, did you see the pass Henley made! Past four yard lines and into the end zone! That was gold!’”
“I like how she tries to describe football as if she knows what she’s talking about,” Brontosaurus said. “When she has no idea what the terms she’s saying mean.”
“I know what yard lines and end zones are,” Crusher said.
“Of course, thanks to your AI core,” Brontosaurus said. “But you had to dip in to check, didn’t you?”
“Guilty as charged,” Crusher said.
“I’m getting a hail from the surface,” Xander said. “It’s Jason.”
“Ask him if he can arrange a meeting with the queen as soon as possible,” Jain said. “We have a lot to talk about.”
22
Jain sat at a large conference table in front of a log cabin. Well, “log cabin” didn’t really do the building justice: chalet was more like it. To his right was a mountain lake, and the picturesque peak that served as its backdrop. Apparently it was the virtual environment Jason called home, and Queen Risilan had requested that they hold the meeting here.
The queen’s advisors sat across from him, all represented in human form. Jhagan’s avatar was present, as pointed out by Jason: a large man whom Eric said reminded him of “Friar Tuck” from Rocket Robin Hood—Jain had to look it up, and the resemblance was indeed uncanny. Jain supposed Jhagan had picked it right out of humanity’s cultural database, though where Jhagan had gotten access to that database, Jain didn’t know. Jason, perhaps.
Jason. Jain. Jhagan. So many names starting with J.
He smiled at the wanderings of his mind, before giving his attention to the other Tyrnari advisors. Jason hadn’t recognized any of the others, though that could be because he’d never seen them in human form before. Natively, the Tyrnari were a race that resembled land-dwelling jellyfish: their bodies were bluish, translucent sacs, with tentacles hanging down from their abdomens over starfish-like feet. They had chosen to meet in this form out of courtesy to the Mind Refurbs. Though the queen herself had yet to appear.
Seated beside Jain were his Void Warriors Sheila and Cranston, Eric and his Bolt Eaters Bambi and Marlborough, and Jason and his War Forgers Aria and Xin. The latter two women were ordinarily the most beautiful of the bunch, but Sheila and Bambi had made micro adjustments to their own avatars upon joining the table so that they looked just as lovely. Jain liked Sheila the way she was, but he didn’t say anything. He’d let these women compete with their looks without comment. The men certainly competed in other ways.
The other Bolt Eaters, Void Warriors, War Forgers and their clones had gathered behind him. They were on their feet, and would participate as observers only. At least, that was the plan.
A woman materialized, standing directly across from Jain. She was stunningly beautiful, of course, but that was expected for virtual reality. She had a pale face, framed by curly red hair, with a teardrop brooch at her temple hanging from a tiara. A yellow veil covered her hair, reaching to the waist of the red and gold gown she wore. Necklaces drooped down into her amply displayed bust.
“I present to you the Central, Queen Risilan, of the Modlenth Branch,” one of the advisors said.
Jason had told him that bowing wouldn’t be necessary—however, visitors often touched tentacles to the rough equivalent of the nose area upon entering the presence of the Queen, so Jain and the others all touched the outside of their noses with one finger.
The queen waved a dismissive hand, and Jain lowered his finger. She took a seat at the table.
“This is Eric,” Jason said by way of introduction. “The Essential of the Banthar. Their leader. With him are his advisors, Bambi and Marlborough. Beside Eric is Jain. He represents Earth, and the Mimic race.”
Jain inclined his head.
Jason pointed at the two Void Warriors with him next. “His advisors Sheila and Cranston. And with me over here, you already know Aria and Xin.”
Risilan gazed at each of the participants in turn, seeming almost bored, but when her eyes focused on Jason, they smoldered with desire. But the look was gone an instant later so that Jain wondered if he’d imagined it. He accelerated his time sense and did a quick rewind. Nope, they smoldered all right. He returned his sense to normal, unpausing reality.
“I am in your debt once again.” Her words had a very subtle seductive tinge to them. If he hadn’t caught that earlier look, he probably wouldn’t even have noticed. There was definitely something going on between the two. Not that Jain cared all that much—what people did in the bedroom with aliens was their business. Still, it could be useful if he needed Jason to manipulate the queen at some point. “You have helped protect my city from a rift attack by the Link, and you summoned allies to protect my planet from orbit. Tell me how I can repay you.”
“Well, it’s actually two debts,” Jason said. “I helped on the land side, yes.” He jerked his head toward Jain. “But Jain and Eric here, they’re the ones who protected you from the orbital attack. I didn’t summon them. They came on their own.”
The queen turned her attention to Jain. “I thank you for your help.” Her tone had flattened, he noticed, and lost that subtle hint of seduction. And though her words were thankful, her eyes seemed to gleam with a slight condescension. There was something else there, too, a remnant of that smoldering sensuality, as if she couldn’t completely suppress it, and perhaps had some interest in him as well. Probably Jain’s imagination.
I’m reading too much into something that isn’t there. And it’s not like I want to get with some multi-tentacled jellyfish, anyway.
“I’m glad to be of service,” Jain said. “But I have a question. What happened to your fleet?” Jain had asked Jason about that earlier, but he honestly didn’t know. And there was no point in forming an alliance if that fleet had been destroyed.
“I was tricked into sending most of my space navy to other systems,” Risilan explained. “You see, I attempted to attack the worlds where the Link presence was detected on the outskirts of my territory. A few hours after arriving, hidden Vaernastian jamming vessels trapped them in the system. I found out when I opened a rift to communicate. My navies reported that the Link vessels above the staging planets had jumped out shortly after the jamming devices became active. The Link had no intention of attacking, at least not yet. They meant only to divide us.”
“Sounds like the strategy they tried on humanity,” Eric said. “A very effective one, at that.”
“Yes, well, the members of my fleet in each system are tracking down the jamming ships as we speak,” the queen said. “And will return when the task is complete.”
“May I ask how many ships you have out there?” Jain said.
She regarded him suspiciously. “As I told you, they will return shortly, so you’ll find out soon enough. In any case, your presence in orbit is no longer needed. When we conclude our meeting here, I must ask that you move to an interplanetary orbit.”
“We can certainly do that,” Jain said.
She waited patiently for him to ask what he had come here to ask. He noticed that the queen didn’t directly tell Jain or Eric that she owed them, as she had Jason. She was being cautious.
I definitely might have to get Jason to convince her, if I can’t do it.
He’d been thinking of how to best broach the topic, but he still didn’t know what the best way would be. He glanced at Eric and Jason, but they were looking at him expectantly.
Well, might as well dive in.
“We’ve come because we seek an alliance,” Jain said.
The queen raised an eyebrow. “An alliance?”
“Yes,” he said. “Against the Link.”
“Ah,” she said, sounding somewhat disappointed.
“It ca
n be a temporary one,” he said, a little more quickly than he probably should have.
Can’t appear too desperate. The person with the most too lose during a negotiation is the one with the least leverage. Don’t let her get the upper hand.
“The relatively few number of ships they sent here to attack your homeworld, along with the reluctance to attack your navies in the systems you sent them to, tells me the Link is stretched thin,” Jain continued more calmly. “The numbers they lost during the war against Earth… the pressure exerted by the Fresnal… altogether, they could be close to breaking. Especially considering the departures of the Mimic, Banthar, and Tyrnari races from their empire. This is why now is the optimal time to strike. We have to seize the moment, carry through our momentum. We can’t give the Link time to recoup. We’re the tidal wave that could crush them against the rocks of the Fresnal.”
The queen was silent, apparently in thought.
“Did you ever consider that defeating the Link might be a bad idea?” Bambi said. “Do we really want the Fresnal to have free reign of the galaxy? What if they’re a worse enemy? What if the Link is the only thing protecting the galaxy from the evil Fresnal Empire?”
“Shh,” Eric said. “Don’t say that now. Not while he’s trying to convince the Tyrnari to help us!”
“Let her speak,” Risilan told the Bolt Eater. “It is good to consider all viewpoints.”
Bambi shrugged. “I’m just saying, we might have to deal with the Fresnal as soon as we’re done with the Link. Maybe that’s not a bad thing. But consider; we know almost nothing about them. Other than the Link supposedly invaded their territory, and the Fresnal fought back.”
Jain glanced at Eric.
“It’s true,” Eric said. “At least for the Banthar, the Fresnal have always been sort of a black box. We know what some of their ship types can do, but we don’t know their motivations. And we’ve never even seen what they look like.”
“So far, the Fresnal have made no aggressive actions against humanity or other races,” Jain said. “Whereas the Link have. If we’re victorious, and the Fresnal decide to attack us, then we’ll just have to deal with that when the time comes.”
Risilan waited, as if she still wasn’t convinced, and waited for Jain to say something that might change her mind.
He stared at her, wondering what else he could do. “We can come up with some sort of agreement, to split the spoils of the Link Empire, if that would help in your decision.”
She pursed her lips. “It would be tempting, if only for payback. Because in truth, we have no need of spoils, as you call them. The Tyrnari Empire has all the resources it needs.”
“Except ships, it would seem,” Jain said.
She bowed her head in acknowledgment of his point.
“Will you help us?” he pressed.
Risilan sighed. She closed her eyes. “I cannot do this.”
She opened her eyes, got up, and turned away.
“I can’t,” Risilan continued. “Jason convinced me to lend you twenty ships, and you can see what the consequences of that were. Imagine what would happen to me if I lent you my entire space navy.”
“Maybe nothing,” Jain said.
She spun on him. “Or maybe everything. What if it’s all a ruse? What if they’re not spread thin at all, as you say, and they want this?”
“Want what?” Jain asked.
“To leave our homeworld undefended!” Risilan replied.
“I’m not asking you to leave it undefended,” Jain said. “Keep as many ships here as your comfort level demands. Or leave a permanent rift open for communications so that you can return in a heartbeat during a surprise attack.”
She narrowed her eyes suddenly.
“And I am supposed to trust the Banthar and the Mimics?” Risilan said, glancing between Eric and Jain. “Trust that you won’t attack my fleet once I jump? You say you’ve left the company of the empire, but how do I know you truly have? Maybe that little attack in orbit was for show.”
“I don’t know how to convince you,” Jain said. “I can show you all the video archives I’ve made, which demonstrate all the work I’ve done to secure the allegiance of the Mimics. And Eric can show you his, for the Banthar.”
“But video archives can be faked,” she said.
“What if I gave them to you,” Jason said. “My own recordings, of my dealings with Jain and Eric.”
She studied Jason, then inclined her head. “That would help.”
“Transmitting now,” Jason said.
Her eyes defocused. No doubt she was watching the replays at that moment. She wasn’t an AI, so while she might be watching at a faster speed than normal humans could, it might still take her a while to view everything.
But surprisingly, she looked back at him after only a few minutes.
He glanced at Jason questioningly; apparently the leader of the War Forgers understood what was on Jain’s mind, because he said: “I sent her a series of selective clips, in case you’re wondering why she finished so quickly…”
“I was.” Jain returned his attention to Risilan.
She seemed to be regarding him in a different light. He thought there was more respect in her gaze, and less of that subtle condescension. “So it’s true. You’re not part of the Link. Or some of you aren’t, anyway. You represent a Mimic faction. That’s interesting.” She glanced at Eric. “And you are truly embedded in the central neural network responsible for Banthar Prime? The AI that rules them all?”
“You got it,” Eric said. “I’m on Banthar Prime even now.”
“Intriguing.” She closed her eyes and bowed her head. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it.” She opened her eyes and glanced at Jhagan. “We must look out for ourselves now, and ourselves alone, going forward. For the help you gave my people in orbit, I can repay you with either a thousand pounds of Tyrnari Molybdenum, a thousand gallons of our finest ale, or our galaxy-renown hospitality, but nothing more. If you will accept one of the three, then have Jason contact me. But otherwise there will be no alliance… no more starships dispatched your way. I am sorry if I could not fulfill your greatest hope.”
With that, she and her contingent winked out.
23
Jason blinked. “Well, that was rude of her.”
“But not entirely unexpected,” Jain said.
“She didn’t even give us a chance to launch a proper rebuttal,” Bambi complained.
“Tyrnari Molybdenum,” the one named Slate grumbled from behind. “We don’t have any use for this Tyrnari Molybdenum of theirs. I’m assuming that’s their money?”
“Right,” Jason said.
“And we can’t drink this thousand gallons of their finest ale, seeing as we’re robots,” Slate continued. “‘Sides, it’s probably poisonous to normal humans.”
“Yes, I’d agree,” Jason said.
“And their hospitality, well, I’m sure it leaves something to be desired,” Slate commented.
Jason pursed his lips. “Depends.”
“On what?” Slate said.
“On whether you’re the personal beneficiary of her hospitality,” Jason said.
Slate’s brow furrowed. “Personal beneficiary. I’m not sure what that means.” Suddenly he grinned in amusement. “Oh no. You’re not saying… you are, aren’t you?”
“He’s having sex with her,” Xin confirmed.
Slate stared at her in astonishment, and then broke out in laughter.
Jason felt heat rise in his cheeks, and he looked away. He hated that guy.
“So I guess we wasted our time here,” Crusher said.
“Not necessarily,” Eric told her. “For any of you who’ve ever had any sales training, I’m sure you’ve heard this before: no never means no.”
Brontosaurus sat down on the opposite side of the table, in the seat Risilan had just vacated. “You’re saying we can still convince her…”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Eric glanced at Jason.
“Or rather, it’s not we who can convince her, but Jason.”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t know. She seems pretty set on not doing this. I’m not sure there’s anything more I can do. Jain raised some fairly convincing points, and it still wasn’t enough. I can’t think of anything else I could add.”
“But she trusts you,” Eric said.
“Yes, but that trust only extends so far,” Jason said.
“You can sex her?” Slate said, then abruptly broke out in renewed guffawing.
Jason shot him a glare. He almost logged Slate out of his home VR environment. That, or transformed him into a beetle, so he could stomp him. Almost.
Aria sat back, and exhaled. “Well, we do have the support of the entire Banthar fleet now. Maybe that’s good enough. We have Mimics. We have Mind Refurbs. Maybe we don’t need the Tyrnari.”
“No,” Cranston said. “We need as many ships as we can get our hands on. It’s better to be over prepared, ready to inflict overkill, than to come in with a fleet that barely passes muster. The fate of humanity, and all Mind Refurb kind, hangs in the balance. Whether the Tyrnari agree to join us, or refuse, could mean the difference between winning this war, or losing it.”
Silence descended upon hearing those words, because everyone present knew Cranston was right.
“I think I know how we can convince her,” Jason said suddenly.
All eyes turned to him.
“So far, we haven’t offered her any proof of our claims,” Jason explained. “I mean sure, we’ve showed her how we built our alliance, with the video clips I sent her way. But she’s still reluctant to commit, because she thinks this could be some sort of grand ruse on the part of the Link. So why don’t we show her that it’s not? Why don’t we show her just how badly off the Link are? I know how she thinks, and if we could prove to her that the Link are weakened, then she’d be more inclined to help us.”
Jain nodded. “We’ve just assumed that the Link are weakened. We could be wrong. Eventually, we’d have to gather intel on them to confirm whether that was actually true or not, and to get a better idea of what we face. Why not do it now?”