by DC Bastien
"G'way."
"Please. If you do not wake soon, your cycle will become very erratic. It is half way to high-sun."
The voice wasn't familiar, and Saidhe jumped up in alarm, hands reaching for some form of weapon as she did. Her mind was ahead of her body, though, because she was left blinking owlishly into the room, her eyes not yet functioning properly.
"Wha--?"
"Your name is Saidhe, is it not? I am Faria. My mate Greach asked me to tend to you."
The room slowly resolved from blur into shapes, and Saidhe realised she was sitting on the edge of a bed, brandishing a shoe. She put the shoe down, and put a hand up to her head.
...no bow-strings. No scarf. The sudden shock of being found so unprepared made her stomach lurch, and she scrabbled on the bedside table to make herself presentable. "S'ry. Just. Woke."
The Roq's eyes slid away, respectfully, and Saidhe realised she'd made the other being just as uncomfortable and nervous by her sudden fluster of activity.
"Just surprised me. Don't worry," she said, the words coming a little easier.
"I did not want you to sleep too long, in case it disrupted your pattern tonight, too. I left you as long as I dared. The rotations here are different to the universal standard."
"That's... thanks. Faria? Nice to meet you."
Saidhe hadn't got herself looking perfect, but she was at least vaguely decent now. She slid her feet into her shoes, and realised there was a bowl of cooling cereal on the table, too.
"It's for you," Faria said, his voice sounding strangely apologetic.
"Thank you. That's really kind of you." She took the bowl, and stood up. Saidhe was a little rusty on Roq protocol, but she knew enough. "Would you like to share with me?"
"Most respectfully, no, I have already eaten. But your kindness is appreciated."
Kindness. The Roq had brought food for her, and thought being offered half of it was polite? Saidhe could never get to the bottom of Loap's people's customs. She waved back to the small living room, and they both sat.
"I've crewed with Loap for years," she explained, as she started to eat. "But any mistakes in my behaviour are mine, not his."
"We do not expect outsiders to follow our rules, so anything you do is an honour, in our eyes," Faria said, with a smile. "I am aware that to some, it is an excessive layer of formality to everyday activities."
"I like it," she said, and it was mostly true. "Shows respect. Thought. Can't say I'd want to do it every day, living on a small ship, but that's because I didn't grow up doing it."
"Your travelling partner is with our elders now," the young Roq told her. "He thought it best to plead your case alone. This... this is not meant as an insult to you."
"Nor is it taken as one. Loap knows protocol better than I do, and... well. It seems I was asleep on the job."
"Greach went with him - my partner - to be his vouch. He will accompany him back when the decision is made."
"How long is it likely to take?"
"It... it can be as short as minutes, or as long as days. It depends on the complexity, on... on the risk."
Saidhe had to laugh at that. Risk? Could it get much more risky than a diplomatic incident involving the Sianar and potential loss of life?
"Your ship is refuelled," Faria went on. "It is part of the provision for you. Your ship is an extension of your property, and it is also your means of leaving if the elders decide not to shelter you."
"I see. And the ship is..."
Faria's body-language was much more Roq than Loap's. Perhaps it was because he'd been around Humans and Hleen for so long, but Saidhe could tell the difference. There was not as much obvious movement of the body, and only the slightest hint of emotion in the voice. Could she smell Faria, no doubt his scent would be telling the other half of the story.
"She is fine. I... I did not expect to come across an intelligence in a craft so small."
"Well, it was a bit last-minute," Saidhe agreed. "Our real ship is much bigger."
"She... thanked me."
"Yep."
It was a little cruel of Saidhe to toy with the Roq like this, but the sudden flash of utter confusion was worth it.
"Why? Did you program the unit to mimic R-- Hleen behaviour?"
"Nope. Well. None of us programmed her, per se. She came with the ship, pretty much like you'd expect of an AI. Guess being around us has rubbed off on her. Plus, she'll have been lonely last night."
That was being cruel, telling Faria that Mes felt loneliness. Mes was, after all, a little more... idiosyncratic than most AIs.
"But..."
"She's normally in a freighter," Saidhe said, feeling sorry for him. Probably 'him'. Hard to tell what Faria preferred, as a pronoun. "Has - mostly - six crew working in her. And then all the sensor data... being yanked into a little hopper has to be like being put in time-out."
"I... see."
"So now you know about me and my ship, why don't you tell me a bit about you?"
The young Roq blanched, his scales loosening then pulling back flush. "There is nothing much to tell."
"Really? I doubt that, somehow. Why did you come to help me out? I mean... why you, why not someone else?"
That hit a nerve. Even Roq couldn't control pupil dilation when very stressed. "Greach was the one closest to the Hale this morning. It was... it was simply chance."
"Right. So... it could have been anyone, is what you're saying?"
Faria nodded. Saidhe did not believe him.
***
[Ashroe: Considering we decided half of the genetics, I do wonder how on-point we are. I mean about where the male/female line is drawn.]
[Sianor: You mean with them referring to only - gah, I don't even have the vocabulary for this - but the homozygous, all-X ones as female, and everything else as male?]
[Ashroe: Yes. I think it's a cultural thing. Like, amongst themselves they would consider nadir and zenith to be worthy of names, but the others?]
[Sianor: The invisible third (and fourth, fifth and sixth) genders being so unimportant that there isn't even a word for them?]
[Ashroe: Yes. Then all of a sudden these bi-gendered races come along, and the XX, YY and ZZ types of all kinds are left with the decision of becoming male or female.]
[Sianor: I can actually see it as being a bit of a cultural revolution, almost. Like, everywhere else only sees the world in black and white, in yes-or-no. And either the other cultures have to expand to have the third (fourth, fifth, sixth) as words (either one for each, or a joint word), or the mixes get elevated up one step.]
[Ashroe: You know, because they don't even have an assigned role in reproduction - like a boy always shoves bits in, and a girl always carries the young - what's to say even the XXX would be female?]
[Sianor: Wow. Yeah. That's so cis-centric of me.]
[Ashroe: Maybe they pick whatever gender word they want.]
[Sianor: Very possibly! Maybe to begin with, they found the concept and either didn't bother to pick a pronoun, because it wasn't something that meant anything to them, and then the mixes thought: 'we can capitalise on this, we can be seen as equal parts of society in other species' eyes, even if not in our own'.]
[Ashroe: And by that time it was too late. The Roq wouldn't want to obviously push for a hir/they/xie or other gender-neutral pronoun set, and if they picked one gender for their nadirs and zeniths, they'd have to change a lot of existing pronouns and genders, and it would draw attention to it. Plus... which gender would they down-grade?]
[Sianor: It would depend on how the gender politics of other races plays out. Humans do have a history - sadly - of being anthrocentric in some communities and cultures. From what we've seen of the Sianar, they have the women as strong as the men. They seem to be physically similar in build, and their culture was formed on strength, first and foremost.]
[Ashroe: We don't see enough of the Kior Dhalias to judge, we have no idea if the Bankers even reproduce sexually... which leaves the H
leen.]
[Sianor: We know the Hleen still discriminate on genetic aberrations, but there's never been any kind of hint that women are second class citizens.]
[Ashroe: A very, very cynical part of me wonders if that's to avoid backlash. Even if they treated the problem properly, and used the alien way of thinking as an Aesop to discuss feminism.]
[Sianor: Well... fan communities are very weighted towards the female. I mean, the active fans. Passive fans I don't know. We see guys talking meta, but they're definitely a minority.]
[Ashroe: And yet, we still have a lack of strong females, very often. It's getting better, but part of the reason I enjoy slash so much, and write male characters... is because in the source material they are the ones who are the most interesting.]
[Sianor: True. I also... I like the thought experiment. I know it's weird, but I enjoy trying to think like a man.]
[Ashroe: I think the fact that you even can say that is telling about how Humanity views genders.]
[Sianor: Yeah. I do wonder how much of it is genetic and inherited, and how much of it is... because it's always been like that.]
[Ashroe: Nature vs. nurture. Same with sexuality, I guess. I think there are some differences in mentality, in focus. I don't think a man who likes cushions is automatically gay.]
[Sianor: Me either. But even if we think that a 'male' is biologically very similar to a 'female', there's still that cultural difference. They do think differently, because society told them to.]
[Ashroe: True.]
[Sianor: I wonder why Loap went with male? Hmm.]
[Ashroe: Someone should ask him IC some time.]
[Sianor: Yes, we'll hold on to that one.]
[Ashroe: Speaking of... shoo! Back in character!]
[Sianor: Slave-driver.]
[Ashroe: Don't pretend you don't love the whip.]
[Sianor: Only when you wield it, my dear.]
***
The sun was high in the sky by the time Loap came back. He was walking side by side with Greach, and Saidhe turned to greet them.
She knew it was bad news, even before Loap shook his head. She could always tell, she knew him well.
"So... we being kicked out?"
"Not precisely," Loap said, and he hesitated for a moment.
"I will come back to take you to the evening meal," Greach said, apparently picking up on the cue.
"Thank you," Loap said.
Saidhe leaned back against the hopper's nose, revelling in the sun on her face. The warm metal behind her was comforting and solid. It was strange how out of water she felt, if she was too far from hull and hum.
"So, we're not kicked out immediately, then?" she asked, when Greach had gone far enough. "Sup and go?"
"No. We've been granted hospitality for as long as we need it - within reason, of course - but they will not lend us any aid. Just the basics of shelter and company."
"What did you ask for?"
"Help in tracking down your sister and Kre. In finding out what happened to the Captain and the ship."
"And they said no because...?"
Loap jumped into Mes' temporary shell behind her, a claw over his eyes, leaning far back in the chair. "I had to tell them we were working for Ail."
"Ah."
"Yes."
She was looking away from him, arms folded over her chest. The sky was very pretty, here. She wondered if the core worlds were all core because they were pretty, or if they stayed like that because people could afford to cut back on pollution? There were tall, spindling buildings that rose up like fingers or teeth over the horizon and into the ether, but the dusky pink behind was just strangely soothing. For a moment, she just... stood.
"I had to," Loap said, at last. "I couldn't conceal it from them."
"No. I imagine they'd get annoyed when they found out."
"It... was likely worse because of my heritage. For a Hale to be 'colluding' with the Sianar..."
Saidhe snorted. "Sorry. It's just..."
"I know." Loap kicked at the control panel.
"Please warn me next time," came Mes' voice, tinny and faint. "I nearly acted on your input."
"Sorry, Mes," Loap said, sheepishly. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I was not injured, either physically or psychologically, but your concern is duly noted."
The Roq chuckled at that, and lowered himself to a more relaxed position in the chair. "You always know what to say."
"I am programmed to."
Saidhe was grinning, too. "Okay. So they won't help us out, but they'll let us stay. Which at least means we have a base to work from. Mes, can you try tapping into comms and so on?"
"I am very limited in my capabilities when in this vessel," the ship replied. "And the security systems on a core world will be much more stringent than on an outlying one. However, I will do what I can."
"I don't think we're completely without allies, though," Saidhe said.
"Ah. You caught that?"
"While you were gone, Greach's partner approached me. He - I'm assuming he? - was very friendly."
"I'm not sure what pronouns they prefer," Loap agreed. "But yes. Greach was an interesting acquaintance. I'm sure there's something more to that, but I can't quite work out what, yet."
"I can trawl through the open information on the two, if you provide me with their full names," Mes offered. "I may also still have some access routes that... Ur officials may have used when aboard. If they have not yet been shut down, of course."
"Mes, you're a darling," Saidhe said, landing an air-kiss just above her hull.
"I have little else to do when I am grounded like this," she replied. Almost - but not quite - self-effacingly.
"Faria is the other one," Saidhe said. "I don't know about sur- er, first names."
"I think they are Gaunt."
"Very well," Mes replied. "I will page you if I find anything of note."
"It's still working?"
"Your communications pagers will work for me to access, but I disabled any other access to them. I thought that the potential for harm would outweigh the benefits. I could attempt to re-activate them, but if the authorities have a track on your settings..."
"Leave them off, for now," Loap decided. "Come on, Tho-Sai. I think we'll have visitors to show hospitality of our own to, soon."
***
Chapter Fourteen: Mission - Proposition
Kre turned her head to the window where the slightest glimmers of the sunrise were stealing through the gaps. Biann had finally fallen asleep somewhere around the point of life first evolving on Sianar planets, bundled up in her blankets and with her head resting on Kre's knee. It probably wasn't the most comfortable of positions for her, for the long-term, so Kre carefully eased out from under her.
Biann curled around her arms when she was lifted, mumbling to herself. Kre smiled, and put her down on the rather lavish, obviously Hleen-influenced bed. The young woman said something unintelligible, pulled the blankets harder, rolled back and forth four times and then started to snore.
It was really rather adorable, in a way. They slept for so long, so defenceless, that Kre wondered how they'd managed to become the apex species on their world? Or was it just that no other species had managed to get the foothold before them? Possibly. She wondered what Sianar would be like, had they been first born on Aniba, instead of Raboros. Would they have been so quick to value rigorous scientific principle, or would they still have grown sharp teeth and claws?
She ran the soft pad of one digit over her canine, feeling the length of it. There had been plenty of times she'd wished she'd been born hairless, chalk-white and purple-eyed, instead of furry and full of fury. Her time with Maister Waith had made her hate her heritage for a long, long time. Now... now it was complicated. She still thought that perhaps her internal life was that of a traditional wandering Hleen scholar, but... did she really reject her childhood? Her upbringing? Her family?
Ail had given her the chance to learn from o
ther cultures. He could have kept her, Eru and Cil in isolation, but he'd let them see how everyone else lived. Eru had breezed through lessons with her usual brusque charm, taking only what was necessary and moving on. Cil... Cil had been... different. If Kre saw herself as Hleen, Cil would have been a Kior Dhalia. He'd been such a poetic soul, so full of wonder and so awake to the beauties of the universe. She missed him. She missed Eru, too.
Come back. That's what Ail had said. Come back, and I will name you my heir.
Kre didn't want that. She really, really didn't want that. Who would? She'd seen what her father had to do, all the endless judgements and pronouncements, the formal behaviour, the way you had to keep your public persona intact at all times... never show weakness, never waver. It would be horrific. Wouldn't it?