by DC Bastien
That got her a sideways look, and the bar vanished into the Human's clothing. "You're new around here, aren't you?"
"Is it really so easy to tell?" Loap asked.
"You're supposed to say-- never mind. Who told you to come?"
"The vendor in the electronic repair shop, in the fifth quadrant."
"I see. He tell you weapons aren't allowed, where we're going?"
"He told us nothing but a time and place," Kre said. She clutched her rucksack tighter.
"Well, that was mighty charitable of him. Listen: if you're coming, you'll be asked to check any weapons or sharp things at the door, and you'll get a tally for them. It's a rule of the circle. If you object, you'll never be invited again."
"Does everyone hand in their weapons?" Loap asked.
"Yep. Even though it leaves some species--" and the Human eyed Kre up and down, "...at a natural advantage over others. C'mon."
***
The Human led them through some twists and turns between narrow streets, and then to a side-door of a building that purported to offer legal counsel by day. The frontispiece was a little worse for wear, but in-keeping with the other establishments here. This was the side of Lineon that was kept hidden from the tourists and investors, the one where most of the inhabitants lived and worked.
True to his word, they were asked to check in their weapons at the entrance. Kre had misgivings, but she pulled out the sidearm, plus the knife. There were gadgets in her bag that a scan wouldn't reveal as weapons, and if it came to it, she would use those... or her claws. Loap's arsenal was a little more involved, and she watched with some surprise as he pulled more and more tools out at the insistence of the large Sianar security guard.
"I never knew you were so well armed," she hissed as they were guided deeper into the complex.
"My jaws do not have the same strength as yours, nor do I have the power in my limbs that you do. It is necessary to protect oneself accordingly."
Kre snorted. "I'm impressed. Remind me not to upset you in future."
"I will."
Down they went, and across. The stairway they were taking seemed to project somewhere beyond the upper footprint of the office building, implying it was either a front, or the basements were shared. It was lit just enough to be functional, but it wasn't welcoming. Eventually the path opened up into a small hall. At the front there was a little makeshift stand, and there were a few chairs and tables around the outskirts, but mostly there were small groups of people hovering on foot. There was some segregation along species-lines, but less than Kre expected. Indeed, she saw unmarked Sianar and Roq alongside one another, Humans, one Hleen and three Kior-Dhalias.
"I thought their kind were mistrusted?" Loap asked Kre, 'subtly', but loud enough to be overheard.
"He owns the building," came a voice from down by their ankles.
Kre halted, almost stepping on the Kior-Dhalia by mistake. "I did not see you there."
"No one ever does," she said with a wink. She fluttered her large, translucent wings and started to hover at a height between the Roq and Sianar's eyelines. "But we trust him. He's one of the founding members of this group. Before we worked out what was happening."
"What is this group?" Loap asked. "We were invited, without much explanation."
"I see." The smaller creature scanned their expressions, then relented. "Well. We're concerned citizens and business-runners. Concerned because of the recent... changes in justice delivery."
"The Hleen?"
The Kior-Dhalia patted her tiny hands on Kre's face. "No. Yes. Mostly them... Humans too. More that it's the Ur - of any species - favouring the Hleen. Judging their way when it patently should go another. Promoting changes and exclusions to the sector's running that marginalise other species. We seek to trade and deal with our problems in private, now."
"Private law? How does that work?" Loap frowned. "I can see how hidden trading might benefit you, but redress?"
"It's unofficial redress. We identify where there needs to be recoup made, and we take it... invisibly. We network, and we know who to avoid selling our goods to. We even the scales in our favour again."
"Is that...?"
"Legal? It's a private club. We simply work as a co-operative for some of our business. We don't refuse Hleen service, we just don't offer them the benefits of our... members."
Kre was impressed. It seemed an inventive way of dealing with this. "Has anyone tried to bring a grievance to another sector? About the unfair judgements?"
"Oh, we've tried. But anyone who does? Yes, you will see how quickly the Ur close ranks. Even if they listened to a poor trader's appeal, they rarely re-judge against a previous assessment. It weakens their position, you see. And whoever complains is - we suspect - marked in their books as a trouble-causer, and life is... difficult for them, from then on."
"But there must be some way to circumvent that! Some proof you can take to the Prime Ur-Court?"
"What? We don't have records of all the judgements, and even if we did... we're sure there's plenty of false reports in there to make the numbers look fair."
"So... you simply... trade in private?" Kre asked.
"For the time being. It can't last forever, though."
"What do you think will happen?"
The Kior-Dhalia fluttered, her glittering skin flashing in the dim light. Her laughter was a gentle, melodic ripple that caressed the ears, no matter the species. "This sector was founded after the Roq-Sianar treaty. It belonged to no ethnic group beforehand, so there is no underlying authority to appeal to. Still. I've heard more and more calls to arms. It won't be long before--"
"Juline, are you letting your big mouth flap?" a Roq asked, his voice a gravelly threat. "What have I told you about inciting violence?"
The little fae flapped over to him, twirling around his head a few times before hovering by his shoulder. "It's not my violence I sing of, but the ones I hear."
"We're a peaceful group, no matter what this little imp told you," the Roq insisted. "All this nonsense about revolution and secession is just the hot air of young fools. Please. Do you come to buy, sell, trade, or seek employ?"
The two shared a glance, before a nod settled it. "Sell," Kre told him.
"Well then, let's see what you've got, eh?"
***
[Sianor: Tell me you've seen it! Tell me!]
[Ashroe: Okay, I have.]
[Sianor: AND?!?]
[Ashroe: We totally called Kre and Loap. Which I'm over the moon about.]
[Sianor: Prophets of canon :)]
[Ashroe: Yep! I'm glad we got the first few chapters up already.]
[Sianor: It's so good to have it back, but now I kind of feel nervous about every episode.]
[Ashroe: Why?]
[Sianor: What if they fuck it up? What if we called something wrong? Or... I don't know! What if they hurt my babies?]
[Ashroe: They won't be dumb enough to kill any of the main cast, I don't think. The ensemble is what makes it.]
[Sianor: I think you know the bit I mean.]
[Ashroe: You mean the character assassination of Saidhe? Yep. I knew it was coming.]
[Sianor: What? Why? How? Which? ???]
[Ashroe: When they employed Harding. She's a good writer, but she hates women.]
[Sianor: Really?]
[Ashroe: Look at her writing credits. She either writes for male-dominated things, or she bowdlerises the women into 2-D characters with 3-D chests.]
[Sianor: Ahaha, sorry but that cracked me up. I guess you're right. I just didn't see Saidhe acting like that. Do you think she's backlashing about the way fandom seems to not like Vaidhe and ships Petdim? Which is the dumbest pairing name ever, IMHO.]
[Ashroe: I know, why didn't they go for Vaders?]
[Sianor: Ugh. People.]
[Ashroe: Petdim just sounds like those OTPers who attack anyone shipping Vadim with someone other than their 'true' pairing. It annoys the hell out of me. DIM.]
[Siano
r: Let's not talk about them or my blood pressure will go up again.]
[Ashroe: Yes. Agreed. But other than the complete OOCness of Saidhe, I thought it was a good ep. I'm not going to read the synopses or even titles of future episodes, though. I like to be surprised, for good or bad.]
[Sianor: And I am a spoiler whore, hehe.]
[Ashroe: One thing you can tell me is if you find out if Avery's coming back on. But not when.]
[Sianor: I will keep my eye open. I hope he is. I'm getting really fond of your Ithon.]
[Ashroe: He's just enough of a selfish dick for me to fall for him.]
[Sianor: Is that your type?]
[Ashroe: Only in fiction. He'd annoy me too much in reality, even if the sex would be smoking-hot. And let's face it... we tend to pick muses that are close to our own character in some way.]
[Sianor: Are you saying you're a lurking dick?]
[Ashroe: No, I'm a blatant dick.]
[Sianor: And I want to lick you XD]
***
"Do you really think they will try to leave Ur-law behind?"
"It's possible," Loap replied. "I know that some Roq places were so anti-Sianar that they wished to set up as independent states, rather than be forced to work 'for' a Sianar."
Kre's head dropped sadly, as she shrugged her rucksack back on. "I was sheltered from much of the negativity, when I was younger. Not all of it, but I am sure I missed out on a lot of the more... incendiary parts of our races' past."
"You were lucky, then. It was terrifying for me, as a hatchling. I thought that at any moment I might be snatched away from my parents. It was a foolish fear, but one fuelled by the agitators."
"And yet, a few generations earlier..."
"I know. It happened to some of my maternal line. No one that I know, but the stories would be whispered."
"What would happen if they tried to leave?"
Loap suppressed a shudder. "I don't know. Could the Ur stop them?"
"Well," she said, after a moment's thought, "...it's currently illegal to overthrow a government by force, and not by democracy. No one has yet wanted to obtain neutrality, though new stations large enough to count for census and tax did win the right to remain independent. But a planet as large as Lineon - or this whole sector? If they were allowed to secede, then it would be the beginning of the end."
"Who would benefit from that?"
"Not the Ur. And you have to wonder what other group would be financially strong enough to push such an issue through? It would need to be a major corporation, or an ethnic group. The Hleen don't actually benefit, and I would suspect that although it began as Hleen-positive discrimination from the Ur, the anti-Hleen discrimination by everyone else as a result will lead to violence."
"Riots?"
"Perhaps worse."
"...war?"
"War. The Ur-Enforcers may not be military, but you could see how they quickly could mobilise. They are a larger group than any single race's military force. It was one of the worries when they were formed, and it is why there are so many restrictions on their jurisdiction. But in the event of pan-galactic unrest... I can see things being... waived."
"And then..."
"And then I do not want to think what would happen next."
"Neither do I."
***
[Ashroe: Okay, I need to check I am not going insane.]
[Sianor: I'm not the best to ask, but shoot!]
[Ashroe: Did you see imphart20's post?]
[Sianor: No... show me?]
[Ashroe: Here.]
[Ashroe: When you've read it, I want to know what you think.]
[Sianor: K.]
[Sianor: What the fuck?]
[Ashroe: So it's not just me?]
[Sianor: Where the fuck does s/he get off?]
[Ashroe: I think he's masculine, or uses male pronouns anyway.]
[Sianor: I don't know if that makes it worse or not. I have never come across such a misogynistic post in all my life!]
[Ashroe: Yep. I particularly like how my well-typed meta was met with illiterate abuse. I'm all for a healthy debate, but NOT flaming or personal attacks.]
[Sianor: Has he ever met a woman?]
[Ashroe: One must have spat him out of her nethers once, but that might be the extent of his knowledge.]
[Sianor: God's sake.]
[Ashroe: My favourite bit is where he says: 'Its not your show. They aren't your characters. You don't get to say whats in caracter or not, that's what people who get paid to write'. Sic.]
[Sianor: FFS.]
[Ashroe: Yep. Although I did check his account and he did write some atrocious fic which I won't inflict upon you, where he was similarly incapable of expressing eloquent thoughts. I mean, I know I'm just a fanfic writer and I'm not paid to do this, but I'd like to think I get a handle enough on characters to be able to call an episode for being 'off'.]
[Sianor: Not once have I ever thought you went out of character. Or 'caracter' lol. But seriously... when there's a group of writers they do sometimes have off-episodes. And unless there's some hidden reason for her being all catty and jealous over nothing - like her being mind-altered, or replaced by a shape-shifting alien, or in some kind of Hleen-heat - then it was way OOC and he needs to wind his neck in.]
[Ashroe: I know. I mean I read lots of episode reviews where people have different opinions to me, and some of them I will wade in and politely discuss, but I wouldn't ever call someone a 'menopausal worrier'. I bet he had to look that spelling up.]
[Sianor: He's a dick. And the argument that it can't be misogynistic if a female wrote the episode is just bull.]
[Ashroe: I want to make him spend one day in an office dominated by men and see what he thinks. I'm not a militant feminist, and I stand my own ground, but I've been in some environments that were just plain toxic. Not just for women, but for non-heteros, non-whites, non-atheists...]
[Sianor: Hun, just because there's a few trolls, that doesn't mean everyone's like that.]
[Ashroe: I know, it's just that... well. He's in some of the big community groups and I always see his Petdim stuff there getting so many replies. I just... ugh. You know if we wrote Petdim we'd have so many more fans.]
[Sianor: But we'd have to see the ship.]
[Ashroe: And I'd vomit a bit inside every time I did it. I know, I know. I just wish they valued quality over... over being in the in-crowd.]
[Sianor: Yeah :(]
[Ashroe: And with this, I actually hoped I might like the main ship for a while. I mean, I'm not ageist, and I like the interaction of Kip and Peters, I just... I don't see it as anything more than a mentor relationship. I did think about one of the het ships for a while - been a long time since I actually liked some females because there were PEOPLE not just... not just tokens... but I just... I don't see it. Not because I don't love the girls, but because the chemistry isn't right, and I don't think a female is somehow lacking because she doesn't have a dick between her thighs.]
[Sianor: And you don't need to. Who are you writing for?]
[Ashroe: You're right. Me.]
[Sianor: And me ;) but yes. Don't just go with the flow. Write it because you have the words brimming in your head. Don't write for an audience, because when you start trying to tailor your inspiration to please others, you're just... you're selling out.]
[Ashroe: Hipster Ash is Hipster?]
[Sianor: That's the spirit. Don't reply to his rant, or just say thank you but you disagree. And then delete any more he says. You will feel better. If you really get angry, write up the response you want to say, email it to me, and then draw a line under it.]
[Ashroe: Yes. Yes I will. Come on, I want to be mean to our babies... I might just be a PMSy bitch today.]
[Sianor: Mmmmm pain.]
***
Chapter Eighteen - Mission: Complication
"Care to tell me what you've got in that bag?"
Kre stopped short, checking her forwards motion. The Ur-Enforcer in her path wa
s Hleen, and was obviously resting his dominant hand on his side-arm.
"My travelling toiletries, plus a change of clothing, and some devices of my own invention," she said, carefully. "Is there a reason why you ask?"
"We've got reports of illegal immigrants in the vicinity."
"I see. We only arrived today."
"And how long do you plan on staying?" the Enforcer asked.
"Excuse me," Loap said, trying hard not to sound antagonistic, "...but I did not know that there was a habitation restriction on this - or any - planet."
"There isn't. But there is a restriction on people ducking registration, or registering on the wrong planet for reasons of law-evading."
"We are simply here part time. We're on a trading trip, looking to find backers for my engineering business," Kre said. "I could show you samples of my--"
"That won't be necessary. I think you should follow me to the Enforcement building, where I can register your details. Then we can make sure you don't make a habit of unannounced 'business trips'."
All of which was complete bullshit, because there were no restrictions at all like this. And for people like the Messenger's crew, who were mostly migrant, it was perfectly legal to register your home as wherever the ship originated from.